Diner Impossible by Terri L. Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fun, fun, fun! This is a fun book! When I began reading, I didn’t realize that this book was part of a series.

Rose Strickland is a waitress and part time crime solver. She comes from money but decided to live on her own, independently of her family. In this book, she pops back into her family to help solve the murder of the police chief’s secretary. The police chief’s wife is her mom’s friend.

The characters in this book are awesome and larger than life. Entwined with the story of the investigation, is the hilarious story of two rival Star Trek clubs and their missing prize uniform. I guess it was made even funnier in that it was unexpected to me from the way the story began.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to read the two Rose Strickland Mysteries that came before it! 🙂

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Léonie by Sveva Casati Modignani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, here’s another book I really loved. It was translated from Italian to English and there were just a couple of places where I thought it read “funny” but the story is excellent.

I love books that travel through generations and this is a book like that. You grow to love the characters so much by the time the book is over you don’t want it to end.

Leonie, is a poor French girl who was basically unwanted by her mother and raised by two older neighbors. She was very smart in school and, in the end, life.

She marries Guido Cantoni, the son of an industrialist who has left the family, plumbing fixtures business. She feels he has a secret that makes him sad. Eventually, she has a secret, that takes place every year, that makes her happy.

Through the course of the story, Leonie has five children and joins the family business and is a factor in growing and modernizing the company.

At the end of the story, after so many years of secrets, Guido and Leonie realize they have loved each other all along.

If you like getting lost amidst the story, this is a great book suggestion for you. 🙂

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Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an intriguing book. I’ve read the Bible but this is an historical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

As a Christian that hasn’t done much study about the history of Biblical times, I found that the author did a good job of describing the evolution of the Christian church, the Roman Empire and the Jewish peoples of that time.

The book was thought provoking and I stopped many times to discuss different ideas that were presented with my husband who is a better student of history than I.

If a book about the history of anything can keep my attention, and this one did, it’s a good book.

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Seven Deadlies by Gigi Levangie Grazer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love, love, loved this book! It was funny and off the wall and sort of twisted.

I used to love reading Kurt Vonnegut for the same reasons: because his books were funny, off the wall and sort of twisted. Having read all of his books, I was thrilled to find a similar read with a Beverly Hills twist.

Perry Gonzales, a high school freshman at an elite Beverly Hills school relays stories that describe the Seven Deadly Sins but happen in her life as a tutor to the very kids she goes to school with.

Perry’s mom is a nurse and Perry thinks the world of her. She is also very wise, like Buddha according to her daughter.

I read this book straight through and it is so clever. I adore clever and I think you’ll adore it too! 🙂

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Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fabulous book! I have made no secret of the fact that I’m not really into reading historical works. Real history, fictional history, just not my thing. But I loved this book. It is fascinating and interesting and it never felt like “history” but, rather, a really good story.

The book is about Huguette Clark, the last daughter of millionaire industrialist W.A. Clarke who made most of his wealth in copper.

The descriptions of the empty mansions and the life of the Clarks was awe inspiring. The jewelry, the artwork, the gatherings. But most endearing and readable was the information about Huguette herself.

Huguette had a sister who died when she was young, the sister only 17. After that she was extremely close to her mother, even more so after the passing of her father. Her mother wanted her to be married and she did marry briefly but ended up getting one of the first Las Vegas divorces. Huguette was a loving soul. She enjoyed children very much. She loved and collected dolls and miniature castles. She was an artist and a photographer. She outlived so many in her family, only recently passing in 2011 at the age of 105.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the history of America or learning of this wonderful woman who was seemingly a hermit but had many loving friendships over the years.

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Compliments of a Friend by Susan Isaacs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven’t read a book by Susan Isaacs in a while but have loved her work in the past.

This was a fun, short story reprising characters from her earlier book, Compromising Positions. The author states at the end of the book that she had never written a short story before. Nor does she read a lot of short stories.

I’m the same way. I really like a story I can get involved with and have time to grow to love the characters.

But this was fun and fast and I liked it a lot. I’m planning to go back and see which of the authors books I haven’t read and read them! 🙂

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