I will for sure read this book again. I received it as a birthday gift because of my love of hockey smut and was completely engulfed while reading. Sleep was lost but pages needed to be read.

Romeo and Juliet (one of my least favorite plays) set in the forest community of Shady Hollow. He’s a hardworking otter, she’s a (former) beaver heiress. Their parents can’t agree on much, but do believe the couple need to split up. The otter patriarch dies during a very dramatic, very public fight at the top of Twilight Falls. Vera Vixen, reporter, is as horrified as everyone else, but she’s the only one who feels the whole scene was . . . wrong. All clues and an anonymous note point to the young beaver lass. But her beau insists they were together in the woods and surely he wouldn’t lie to protect his father’s killer.

Absolutely devoured this read. Made driving to the grocery store so much easier! Definitely will recommend this listen to a fellow book nerd

Herbert Lee Clark mixed folk wisdom with his own observations to write practical notes on all aspects of rural/farm life. Unfortunately good advice is mixed with very questionable or flat out bad ideas. Do not read the section on training pups to hunt coons or the having a stranger (to the dog) whip your dog as part of guard dog training. Do not inject Lysol into any animal for any reason. I discussed that tip with a vet; it’s too bad Clark didn’t before adding it to his journals.

This is always an ongoing read for me. I bought the special edition from b&n years ago and read it with my teen and tween

Garland compares beliefs about the afterlife, funerary issues like mummification and embalming, and general attitudes to death and dying across the peoples of the ancient world. Unfortunately the ancient world in this book only covers the various ancient societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome (only the original kingdom, not the full empire), plus the Etruscans, Jewish people, early Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Zoroastrians. That's a lot of course, but look at a map and you see what a very small part of the ancient world. Nothing east of India or west of Italy, north of Italy or south of Egypt. So while it is really interesting, I'm hoping for a volume two covering the Far East, Africa, Australia, and the whole western half of the world.

I’m slowly making my way through the series. I loved ACOTAR and thought this series would be right up there with it, but I’ve been let down. There is a lot in the book that’s just page filler that’s unnecessary

Absolutely chilling read. I didn’t realize it was a true story until I was halfway through. Made it even more intriguing and disturbing. The authors capabilities on portraying events leaves little to the imagination.

Second book in the Shady Hollow Mysteries. Imagine animal characters like those of The Wind in the Willows in a cozy mystery series. Reporter Vera Vixen is on the case when the rabbits dig up a skeleton along with a dead apple tree. To her skunk of a boss old bones equals old news. Her beau, constable Orville Bruin, orders her off of the investigation. A slinky new mink in town seems to have Orville’s attention while the gossip columnist vents her professional jealousy.

An intimate charity auction on a secluded estate. A storm. A murder. It’s straight out of a Christie novel — or the multiplayer game, Murderscape, designed by Addie. Addie is her grandmother’s plus one to the party. There’s something odd with her grandmother, beyond the murder, but Addie is living her Nancy Drew dream chasing clues and interviewing suspects. This Is Not a Game is fun fluff at times, annoying fluff at others. I’m pretty sure the author has never lost electricity due to a storm. She definitely overestimates how much one candle can light up a large room in a blackout.