No Mark Upon Her Review and Giveaway (US, Can)

no mark upon her

No Mark upon Her: A Novel

By Deborah Crombie

No Mark Upon Her is a mystery story featuring 2 Scotland Yard detectives, Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, as they try to solve the case of a rower who drowned.  The rower was a fellow Scotland Yard detective, and it not immediately clear if the drowning was an accident or murder.  The dead woman was an accomplished sculler and an Olympic hopeful, so the idea that her death was accident doesn’t seem plausible, and the investigation becomes very complicated.  The detectives want to discover what happened to their colleague, but there is plenty of pressure from above not to discover anything that could embarrass Scotland Yard.

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Girl Land Review and Giveaway

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Girl Land

By Caitlin Flanagan

This is a book about teenage girls and the trials that they face growing up in today’s society.  Flanagan talks about the passage from girlhood to adulthood, and how it has changed over the years.  I certainly remember my teenage years as a confusing time, and since I have two teenage daughters I was interested in reading this book and getting someone else’s perspective.   Flanagan makes a lot of good points, like about how the culture is overly sexualized, and girls are pressured by self esteem issues.

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Gun Games by Faye Kellerman Book Review

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Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel

By Faye Kellerman

This novel by Faye Kellerman is one in a series featuring LAPD lieutenant Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus.  This novel focuses on a young teen, Gabe Whitman, who is living with them in LA.  Chris’ father is a notorious gangster, and Peter and Rina welcome him into their home when he needs to get away from his father.  Much of the story revolves around how Gabe is adjusting to his new life, and how he meets and falls in love with a young Persian girl, Yasmine.  Meanwhile Decker is investigating a series of teenage suicides which might not really be suicide, and the story switches back and forth between these story lines.  It isn’t until over halfway through the book that the plot really takes off, and the two story lines intersect with the young teens being bullied by a vicious group of teens from a local prep school. 

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The Confession Book Review and Giveaway

The Confession by Charles Todd

The Confession: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery (Ian Rutledge Mysteries)

By Charles Todd

This mystery story by Charles Todd is the latest in a series of books set in London after World War I that feature Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge.  I am a fan of mysteries, but I don’t usually read ones set in the past, and this was the first of this series that I had read.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am planning to read more from the series.  The book is very well written, and  juggles multiple, complicate plot lines. 

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The Money Saving Mom’s Budget Book Review

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The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year

By Crystal Paine

When I first started reading blogs one of the first one I read regularly was Crystal Paine’s blog, Money Saving Mom.  I still subscribe to her emails and click over to read a articles a few times a week.  I like the blog because it is very practical, and doesn’t ask you to save money by doing unrealistic things.  So I was thrilled to review her book, which is being released on January 10th.

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Spontaneous Happiness Review and Giveaway

9780316198974-SpontaneousHappiness

Spontaneous Happiness

By Andrew Weil, MD

Happiness is something everyone wants, but it is not always simple to find.  In this book Dr. Andrew Weil describes a program that is an integration of mind, body and spirit. He doesn’t focus just one one thing, but on all the ways that you can improve your emotional well being.  This is the season for making New Year’s Resolutions, and instead of making a resolution to lose weight, get a better job or become more organized maybe it makes more sense to resolve to be happier!  Being happy with who you are and your life doesn’t mean you can’t make changes, and in fact it can help you make the changes you want to make.

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Book Review–KBL : Kill Bin Laden

KBL book

KBL : Kill Bin Laden : A Novel Based on True Events

By John Weisman

This book is a fictionalized account of how the US government was able to find and kill Bin Laden in Pakistan.  It doesn’t pretend to tell us what really happened, but instead gives one way it could have happened.  This is an interesting premise for a book, and a different way of writing about an actual historic event.  My guess is the truth is probably not nearly as exciting as this book is, but it certainly makes for a fascinating read. 

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See Mix Drink Review and Giveaway

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See Mix Drink: A Refreshingly Simple Guide to Crafting the World’s Most Popular Cocktails

by Brian D. Murphy

I have never been one for making mixed drinks, but this new book from Brian Murphy makes it seem easy!  This book is a great resource for making cocktails and mixed drinks.  It has all the information you need to make a wide variety of drinks and is very simple to follow, because it is all based on pictures.

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Five Chiefs by John Paul Stevens Review and Giveaway

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Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir

By John Paul Stevens

This book is a memoir by retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, describing the five Chief Justices he has personally known.  The book provides a great overview of the workings of the Supreme Court and the behind the scenes descriptions of how things really work.  Justice Stevens was the 3rd longest serving Justice in U.S. history, and his term spanned over 30 years, so he has many years worth of knowledge and insight.

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Double Dexter Book Review

double dexter

Double Dexter: A Novel

By Jeff Lindsay

This book is the latest by Jeff Lindsay in the Dexter series, which has been popularized by the Showtime series.  As happens many times with books that are made into TV shows the book series and TV show diverge quite a bit.  Many of the   In this book a witness accidently sees Dexter chopping up a body.  The witness doesn’t respond by turning Dexter in, but by making his life miserable and stalking him. Dexter spends most of the book thinking his secret will be discovered at any time and looking over his shoulder.

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