Showing posts with label Allison Brook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Allison Brook. Show all posts

Friday 17 February 2023

Love To Read Books with Cats? Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #230 featuring **Buried in The Stacks** A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brooks PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins

Book Reviews with Amber Valentine's Banner ©BionicBasil®, Amber the ginger and white cat, owns her own library

Hello furbulous library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ

This is one of my favourite snooze spots, in the wicker basket at the top of the stairs. And in the afternoons, if it's sunny, it gets really nice and warm. 

Amber's Book Reviews #230 ©BionicBasil® Amber's Basket and Top Sunspot - ginger and white tabby sleeping in a wicker basket in the sunshine

Do mew have a favourite snooze spot?

I do have others, but this week, this one takes the catnip, plus Melvyn really likes it too, so if I'm in it, he's not! MOL


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Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.

1. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that _________.

2. I am disappointed with _________.

3. I _________ when I hear _________.

4. I didn't believe _________ until I saw I saw it for myself.


The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my old sewing machine which stopped working a couple of years ago, worked last week when I plugged it in. Very strange, I need to take it for a service just to be certain it's ok.

2. I am beyond disappointed with how the government is dealing with the cost of living crisis. I think its truly scandalous that British Gas posted profits of 3 billion pounds yesterday. When supposedly the wholesale price has gone up so much, that would mean if it were true that the profits would have been roughly the same as the year before with the customer price increases, not two point one billion more than the 2021 figures. This just shows how much we are being ripped off by large corporations, and still the government does nothing apart from tax us even more. And then it doesn't even tax these corporations properly, we are living in truly peculiar times. I liken it to the feudal systems of the 14th century, we are going backwards, not forwards.

3. I love it when I hear good news. Nothing makes me happier than when I hear things are going well for others.

4. I didn't believe it until I saw I saw it for myself. And the it, was one lone dwarf daffodil growing under the tree in the courtyard, it's the first one this year, and quite early.

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Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

This week's top book pick is...

Amber's Book Reviews #230 What Are We Reading This Week ©BionicBasil® Buried in The Stacks by Allison Brook
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

Buried in The Stacks


 A Haunted Library Mystery Book 3

by

Allison Brooks

 Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities. 

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her - and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library's resident ghost, six years earlier. 

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I reviewed the previous books in the series here:



Book three carries straight on from book two, and if mew read that review, I didn't enjoy that as much as book one, so I was hoping that book three would be a much better read.

 Book three is a better story with a better plot than its predecessor, and has a lot of new characters emerge throughout.

The main character Carrie and her cat Smokey Joe are front and centre throughout, trying to help the homeless peeps of Clover Ridge, her Aunt and Uncle are not present in this adventure, spending the winter months in the Florida sunshine, unlike the previous two books.

Obviously, it wouldn't be a cozy mystery without a murder, and this time the victim happens to be a work colleague, and after a couple of false starts while the plot warmed up, the gates opened, and off we trotted.

It's nicely paced, and after the initial hurdle of scene setting the story unfolds, plus as there are so many new characters, it was hard to pinpoint the perpetrator!

I really did prefer this to book two, and I may even go for book four now.

My main gripe was the narration, please see the text below.

As with the previous narration in books one and two:

At times I felt the narrator made the main character sound whiney.

I would recommend reading this novel for the best enjoyment.

There are six books in the series. I have now listened to three of those as they were included with my Audible account, so if mew have an account go and listen for free as they are still available in the UK at the time of this post. But don't say I didn't warn mew about the narration.

Paperback: 320 pages
Audio: 9 hours 5 mins

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My Ratings Scale

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Ratings of:

Buried in The Stacks

Overall Enjoyment

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Let me know if mew read today's top book pick, and what mew thought! 

It's time for me to say BFN or bye-for-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just for mew, and don't forget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page.

Until next time

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


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Follow me at angry_amber_badtemperedkitty
& @BionicBasil® on Instacat

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Friday 20 January 2023

Love To Read Books with Cats? Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #226 featuring **Read and Gone** A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins

Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®

Hello gorgeous library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ 

Thank mew for joining me in the stacks today.

I don't know about mew, but I have my own special blankys on the sofa. Now these are grey blankys and only go on the sofa when I want to be on the sofa.

They are not for anypawdy else, under any circumstances. So mew can imagine my horror when this happened!

Amber's Book Reviews #225 ©BionicBasil® Amber and Fudge on the Sofa

Just look at that ginger floofball, getting all his orange, fuzzy fur all over my blanky. And yes, I know I'm part orange too, but Fudge's fur is a completely different vibe to mine and he needs to keep it to himself.

I know I'm being rather crotchety and somewhat crabby about this, but it's my fluffing blanket and he's got oodles of snuggle mats all over the house.

Not only that, he's only on because it's freshly laundered.

He has no respect or boundaries for my purrsonal property.

If this systamatic a-buse of my sofa snoozing paraphenalia continues, there will be repurrcushions.

What do mew think, am I being unreasonable?


Part of The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®
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Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.
1. _____________________makes me feel old.
2. ____________________makes me feel young.
3. Recently, _________ came in very handy.
4. I think that _________ is the most useless __

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. Knowing I'm 54 in a couple of weeks makes me feel old. 

2. ________ makes me feel young. You know, in this moment I can't think of anything that would adequately suffice for this statement. I still feel exactly the same in my mind as I did when I was 25, 35, and 45. I believe that if we still feel young in the mind as a constant, that helps to keep you young.

3. Recently, a spare sieve came in very handy for fishing the poor, frozen froggies out of the pond.

4. I think that social media is the most useless, time-sucking, pointless, brain numbing thing ever created. And yes, I still do it because Wing Commander Basil and the B Team, say they enjoy it, and who am I to question that kind of directive?! LOL #ruledbycats

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Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

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This week's top book pick is...

Amber's Book Reviews #226 What Are We Reading This Week ©BionicBasil® Read and Gone by Allison Brook
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

Read and Gone


A Haunted Library Mystery 


by 


Allison Brook


       Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

Twenty million dollars' worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton's long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life, and it's up to Carrie to clear his name.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn't know since her dad Jim's been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a 20-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again. 

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I reviewed the previous book in the series here:


In all honesty, I didn't love this as much as book one, due to the main character, Carrie sounding extremely whiney and somewhat pathetic throughout. I think it had a lot to do with the way it was narrated, and I feel that if I'd actually read it, it would have been considerably more enjoyable, hence the three paw rating.

The story continues on from book one and is centred around her estranged father, who is now no longer absent but is now causing more mayhem upon his return to the small town of Clover Ridge.

There's a jewel robbery, a murder and Carrie's extranged father is the number one suspect. And given his track record, I'm not surprised! MOL

Anyhoo, Carrie investigates to try and clear her fathers name, and so the plot begins to twist and turn as with all cozy mysteries.

At this juncture, I'm not sure if I will continue with this series, I really wanted to love it. But I will let mew know my final thoughts when I review book three in a few weeks.

As with the previous narration in book one:

At times I felt the narrator made the main character sound whiney.

I would recommend reading this novel for the best enjoyment.

There are six books in the series. I have now listened to three of those as they were included with my Audible account, so if mew have an account go and listen for free as they are still available in the UK. But don't say I didn't warn mew about the narration.

Paperback: 316 pages
Audio: 9 hours 47 mins

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My Ratings Scale

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Ratings of:

Read and Gone


Overall Enjoyment

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Other Fun Blog Hops to Join in Today



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I really hope mew enjoy the book as much as I did if mew decide to read it.

It's time for me to say BFN or bye-for-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just for mew, and don't furget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page.

Until next time...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


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& @BionicBasil® on Instacat

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another review! 

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Friday 25 November 2022

Love To Read Books with Cats? Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #218 featuring **Death Overdue** A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins + Photo Fails Blog Hop

Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®

Hello gorgeous library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ 

Thank mew for joining me in the stacks today, and I just want to say I really hope mew all had a really...

Amber's Book Reviews #218 ©BionicBasil® Thanksgiving Banner

It's done nothing but rain, rain and rain some more at BBHQ this week, luckily we've had a fire all week and this is what I was doing the other evening!

Love is... snuggling with the P.A.

Amber's Book Reviews #218 ©BionicBasil® Snuggling with the P.A.

Also, mew may remember on last weeks post the internet service was down; there's a little update on the Midweek News if mew missed it. 

But needless to say, we are limping along, or in true BBHQ fashion Keeping Calm and Carrying On, although the posts are taking much longer to produce due to the extremely slow speed, it's like being back in 1997 on dial-up, well that's what the P.A. says! MOL

Part of The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®
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Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.
1. I would like a __________________________ of my own.
2. On Black Friday, I ____________________________________.
3. For me, the holiday season begins _________.
4. If I won a large sum of money, _________ would be the first thing I bought

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I would like a jacuzzi/swim spa of my own. It would be absolutely fabulous to have one of those and would really help my back issues.

2. On Black Friday, I will check Amazon to see if there are any really good bargains for stuff that I don't really need, but as it's so cheap I probably won't be able to resist! LOL

3. For me, the holiday season begins on about the 20th of December.

4. If I won a large sum of money, a new house roof would be the first thing I bought. The clay tiles on the barn are the original tiles made in the mid-17th century, so they're pretty old and some are starting to fracture. Luckily this isn't causing an issue at the moment, but it will do in the future.

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Today, as it's the last Friyay of the month, we're also joining in the furrbulous...


So do drop by the marvellous Mudpie's blog at www.mochasmysteriesmeows.com to join in.

Today Melvyn's back with another:

 Epic Modelling Fail!

Pet Photo Fails  ©BionicBasil® Melvyn's Epic Modelling Fail

We can't even decipher what's going on in this photo, but it was when he was modelling for this week's Midweek News, go check out his purrfect photo here.

AND

Check out the latest Cat Walk strut in his TikTok video or in his Instagram video.

He's even started posting to YouTube, and each video has different mewsic, yep that's how Melvyn's roles! MOL

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Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

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This week's top book pick is...

Amber's Book Reviews #218 What Are We Reading This Week ©BionicBasil® Death Overdue by Allison Brook
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

Death Overdue


A Haunted Library Mystery


by

Allison Brook

       Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she is offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death 15 years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.

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This is the first book of another new cosy mystery I discovered over the summer.

On Amazon it says; For fans of Miranda James so how could I not try it? MOL

Anyhoo, so I started this book with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. It has a really good plot and an interesting family dynamic all set in a quaint little town.  

There is a rather nasty nemesis at the library who wants our main character gone and will do almost anything to ruin Carrie's new job, but our protagonist has more grit than that, plus the help of a friendly library ghost.

The kitty Smoky Joe doesn't have a speaking role, but he does go to the library.

I didn't guess or figure out who the murderer was, which is always the sign of a good cozy mystery novel. The plot is well crafted, although there are a couple of scenes that could have done with a little more padding and/or explanation, but it's not a deal breaker, I find when this happens keep reading and let it go!

It was a fun listen, although at times I felt the narrator made the main character sound a little whiney, hence four stars. 

I would recommend reading this novel for the best enjoyment.

There are six books in the series. I have now listened to three of those as they were included with my Audible account, so if mew have an account go and listen for free.

I really enjoyed the story, and will share book two soon.


Audio: 9 hours 27 mins
Paperback: 352 pages
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My Ratings Scale

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Ratings of:

Death Overdue

Overall Enjoyment

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Other Fun Blog Hops to Join in Today


          Brian's Home   Catblogosphere    Feline Friday   Nature Friday    Flashback Friday   Friendship Friday          

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I really hope mew enjoy the book as much as I did if mew decide to read it.

It's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just for mew, and don't furget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page.

Until next time...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


Amber's Book Reviews Pink Review ©BionicBasil®





Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

& @BionicBasil® on Instacat

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another review! 

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 graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com