Saturday, April 1, 2017

Weekend Book Reviews

The Backyard Gardener by Kelly Orzel is a wonderful guide to gardening.  The six chapters cover everything from soil to a monthly gardening calendar.  Many plants from flowers to vegetables are covered with thorough information.  I especially appreciate Ms. Orzel's guide to succession planting and companion planting advice.  While very helpful for beginners, this book will also appeal to longtime gardener's too.  The beautiful photographs added to my enjoyment of the book.  It will be a book that I refer to for many years to come.

Hoedown Showdown by Misty Simon is part of the Ivy Morris Mysteries series.  Ivy's children are visiting their grandparents for the week, and she has plans to enjoy her child-free time.  Those plans come to a halt when she discovers a dead body in a neighbor's shed and a new overbearing police officer comes to town.  This book could have been great.  The mystery was interesting.  My problem was that the main character spent way too much time talking about her sex life.  Nothing graphic was mentioned, but the topic got old fast.  I thought I was reading a mystery, but for most of the book I had serious doubts.  I did make it to the end of the book, but this will be the only one I will read in the series.

Vicky Delaney's Elementary, She Read is the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series.  Gemma is an Englishwoman living in Cape Cod and running her uncle's Sherlock Holmes themed bookshop.  Her friend, Jayne, runs an adjoining tea shop.  Gemma's super observation skills get her in trouble when she discovers two bodies.  I adored everything about this new series.  The characters are charming, and the setting is almost perfect.  Readers do not need to be Sherlock Holmes fans to enjoy this book.  I look forward to reading more in this series!


disclosure:  I received these e-books from NetGalley but was not otherwise compensated for these reviews.  All opinions are my own!

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