Book Review: Sit, Stay, Heal: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Living Well by Renee Alsarraf

Sit, Stay, Heal: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Living Well
by Renee Alsarraf (Biography Alsarraf)

This book will take you on an emotional journey.

 

Dr. Alsarraf is a veterinary oncologist helping her clients to the best they can for their pets. When she gets diagnosed with cancer it changes her, and this is her story.

 

She not only discusses the good and bad outcomes for her clients as she deals with her own cancer treatment, she also has to deal with the diagnosis and treatment of her own beloved Boxer, Newton.

 

I loved and hated this book, I loved the inspiring stories, but I also cried several times as well. Dr. Alsarraf is an exceptional writer and a wonderful story teller. If you love animals, this book will be one to read.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Education of Will: A Mutual Memoir of a Woman and Her Dog by Patricia McConnell or The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My tale of Madness and Recovery by Barbara Lipska.)

 

( official Sit, Stay, Heal web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Winter's End by Paige Shelton + reminder of this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight

Winter’s End
by Paige Shelton (Shelton)

It’s spring in Benedict, Alaska. Time for mud and the annual Death walk, where citizens come to town to mark down that they made it through the winter. When an older gentleman named Al doesn’t show up. Beth and Orin hike up to check on him. When they find him he’s ill and hadn’t eaten in a while. Beth fixes him food and begins to care for him while Orin goes for help.

 

Though help arrives Orin doesn’t return, soon after that Beth realized her new friend Kaye was checked off the “census,” but hasn’t been seen for a while. When someone finds her dead Beth starts to ask questions. The Millers (Kaye’s husband’s family and the Oliphants are the modern Alaskan Hatfield and McCoys, it comes to light that Kaye has been hanging around with the Oliphants and may have been having an affair with Cyrus the younger son. Beth is also still looking for her father who’s been missing for many years. Could the killer have been Kaye’s husband? Her lover? Or did she stumble on Beth’s own father?

 

I like the characters in this series and this is a great addition. Beth is becoming more comfortable with her new role in life and we’re learning more about the townsfolk. I was attracted to the series because it’s set in Alaska and this book does not disappoint in the mystery or the description of life in Alaska.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Breakup by Dana Stabenow, or Bitter Rain by Shannon Baker.)

 

( official Paige Shelton web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

---

If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight, April 27th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's book assigned topic of discussion is also the title selected for annual statewide One Book One Nebraska reading program, Mignon G. Eberhart's 1930 novel, The Mystery of Hunting's End.

 

Even if you haven't read anything for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Book Review: A Streetcar Named Murder by T.G. Herren

A Streetcar Named Murder
by T.G. Herren (Herren)

Valerie Cooper is a widow with two college age boys living in New Orleans. When Collette, a “mean girl” and the mother of one of her boys’ friends bumps into her at a local store, she asks when Valerie will be selling her house. Soon after that, Valerie discovers she’s inherited part of an antique shop and her sons have inherited money from her late husbands estranged Great Uncle Arthur. Valerie attends a costume party and finds Collette has been stabbed and killed. As the police interview her Valerie discovers Collette has a deep hatred of her. She can’t figure out why, so she begins to ask questions. Valerie finds some of the answers are not easy to accept.

Ultimately, the inheritance and her questions bring her to the attention of the killer and Valerie has to fight for her life.

 

I liked this books a lot, I read for the characters and this certainly has great characters. The descriptions of New Orleans and life in NOLA were fascinating. The mystery was well done, though I thought I knew who the killer was soon after it happened, I didn’t get all the answers until the end of the book.

 

I hope this turns into a new series it’s a wonderful read.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Death in the Margins by Victoria Gilbert, or In the Dog House by V.M. Burns.)

 

( publisher’s official T.G. Herren web page )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: A Deadly Bone to Pick by Peggy Rothschild

A Deadly Bone to Pick
by Peggy Rothschild (Rothschild)

Molly Madison moved from Massachusetts to California to get away from the gossip and bad memories. After she quit the police force she became a PI, while investigating a woman accused of cheating, her husband Stefan, ends up dead. Though the police looked at her very carefully, they finally discovered her client killed Stefan because he was the man his wife was involved with. Now in California she ready for a fresh start.

 

The very first day while moving in she meets a lovely neighbor named Seville and another neighbor’s dog Noodle, nicknamed Frankendoodle and Sir Drools a Lot. Since Molly is at loose ends, she volunteers to help Noodle’s owner and train him to be a better canine companion. Seville finds Molly charming and as a house warming gift gives her business cards claiming she’s a “Dog Wrangler” and thanks to the cards and flyers Seville posts around the neighborhood Molly becomes the local dog trainer.

 

When Noodle finds a dismembered hand on the beach and then Seville is murdered, the local police focus on Molly. She’s always been curious and can’t help but begin to ask questions.

 

Throughout the book we find out the Molly was a K9 officer, but wasn’t allowed to keep her partner. She owns a Golden Retriever who she competes in Agility with, I loved the fact she had training equipment and practiced in the back yard. I’m always cautious about books with dog trainers, often the information is quite unrealistic, but mostly it was well done.

 

The mystery was good and the characters interesting. I really liked this book, up to the point that the main character does some insta-training with the dog. Two weeks is not enough time to reliably train a dog.

 

If she writes more books, I’ll probably continue to read the series, but that one small error made me keep from giving it a higher rating.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier or Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bassette.)

 

( official A Deadly Bone to Pick and Peggy Rothschild web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews

Dashing Through the Snowbirds
by Donna Andrews (Andrews)

This Christmas, Meg Langslow has a house full of Canadians. Rob’s company Mutant Wizards begins to collaborate with a company that provides genealogical information. The idea is to help them expand their DNA testing services. The head of the company is rude and entitled. He demands that his people move to Caerphilly to work at the Mutant Wizard office instead collaborating online. He also failed to realize there wouldn’t be any rooms available for his staff ergo the house full of Canadians.

 

When Ian is found bludgeoned to death, Meg begins her search for who killed him. Was it one of his employees? His father, not wanting to see him ruin the company he worked so hard for? A man who was convicted of murder thanks to the information in their fledgling DNA database?

 

I was kind of disappointed her previous Christmas book, but this shows she’s not lost her touch. I loved the changes happening with Meg and her family. I like that the mystery is well done and that the books still have the subtle humor I’ve come to love.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Bones of Holly by Carolyn Haines or Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs.)

 

( official Donna Andrews web site )

 

See many more items like this in the Mistletoe Mysteries booklist here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New BookTalk Booklists from Marcy G. - Fall 2022

South and Gere Branch staff member Marcy G., who also serves as the organizer/host of the weekly South Branch BookTalks, has stepped in to provide two recent entries in that series of booktalks.

Check out both of Marcy's latest lists, in these booktalk booklists on the Lincoln City Libraries' BookGuide reader resources pages at the following link:

A Bag of Books - Fall 2022

Books on my To Be Read pile - Fall 2022

Book Review: The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier

The Wedding Plot
by Paula Munier (Munier)

Mercy Carr is getting ready for a 4-day extravaganza that’s called her grandmother’s wedding. Being held at an inn and spa she’s not looking forward to it. When her mother contacts her, she and demands Mercy find the director of the spa or Mercy will be dusting off her Yogi skills and leading the yoga class for the wedding guests. Mercy begins her search at his home. what she finds instead is a dead stranger stabbed with a pitchfork and that Bodhi, the spa director, isn’t who he said he was.

 

Concerned the murder might have something to do with her grandmother’s fiancé’s family she has to find out what’s going on before the wedding is ruined, or someone else is killed. I really like this series and this book did not disappoint. I’ve been concerned about how the author will keep the series fresh and I’m less concerned now. The use of the dogs Elvis and even Susie Bear does not seem out of place. The mystery is fast paced and well done. Though there’s some humor in the book, this is not a cozy. It’s can get quite dark and intense. If you like the character driven mystery, (with dogs) you’ll love this book.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try One for the Books by Jenn McKinlay or Breaking Creed by Alex Kava.)

 

( official The Wedding Plot page on the official Paula Munier web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

If you're a mystery fan, join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tomorrow, August 25th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's books up for discussion are "Camino Island" and "Camino Winds" by John Grisham -- you only have to read one of the two.

 

Even if you haven't read this specific book, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Book Review: The Diva Says Cheesecake by Krista Davis + Just Desserts reminder

The Diva Says Cheesecake

by Krista Davis (Davis)

 

Sophie is hired to plan a party for the Cheesecake Queen of Old Town the caveat is she can’t serve Cheesecake. When Bobbie Sue’s husband doesn’t show up for her party, Bobbie Sue is concerned but not enough to call the police.

 

When Tate still hasn’t come home by the early morning Bobbie Sue calls Sophie and asks for help finding her husband. Sophie and her best friend Nina go along with Bobbie Sue to search for Tate. Sophie is the one to find him, dead in his restaurant’s basement.

 

At first, Bobbie Sue tries to hire Sophie to find out what happened, but as time passes Bobbie Sue changes her tune and tells her to back off. When Bernie a friend of Sophie and owner of a competing restaurant is accused of Tate’s murder, Sophie can’t leave it alone and has to find out who killed him.

 

The mystery was very well done, a lot of twists and turns. Natasha is still part of the story, but not nearly as annoying as previous books.

 

I always worry that as a series progresses the series will decline in quality. I can say this one is as good; (dare I say even better?) than earlier books.

 

If you love cozy mysteries, lots of food references, and a amateur detective with a dog you’ll love this book.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try No Grater Crime by Maddie Day, Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay or Curses, Boiled Again! by Shari Randall.)

 

( official Domestic Diva series page on the official Krista Davis Mysteries web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations

 

If you're a mystery fan, join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight, July 28th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's book up for discussion in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Velvet Was the Night".

 

Even if you haven't read this specific book, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Book Review: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, and Just Desserts meeting tonight!

Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala (Manansasla)

When Lila Macapagal returns to her home town to recover from a broken heart, she discovers her family restaurant on the verge of bankruptcy. To add on to the restaurants troubles, another ex-boyfriend of Lila’s is a food critic that seems to be targeting the restaurant.

 

This book has a lot of references to Filipino culture, the use of many Tagalog words and of course wonderful descriptions of foods often served in the Philippines. This was the best part of the book.

 

I want to point out I am not the target audience of this book. I love cozy mysteries, and I wanted to love this book, but the main character Lila is so frustrating. She’s immature and not very bright; she’s annoying and unlikable. Now maybe if I weren’t 50-something I might have a different view point. I’m now finding a few mysteries where the main character is really not someone I can identify with or even like. Overall, the mystery is okay, the book seemed incredibly long, but I recommend it for the great look into Filipino-American life.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes, Hummus and Homicide by Tina Kashian or Grounds for murder by Tara Lush.)

 

( official Arsenic and Adobo web page on the official Mia Manansala web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

If you're a mystery fan, join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight, May 26th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's is "Series Share" -- all participants were encouraged to read the first or second of ANY new mystery/thriller/suspense series and be prepared to share some information about their selection with the rest of the attendees. Even if you haven't read this specific book, you can still participate, and learn about great new series to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Book Review: For Batter or Worse by Jenn McKinlay

For Batter or Worse
by Jenn McKinlay (McKinlay)

We’re approaching the big day, Mel and Joe’s wedding. When Mel and Joe show up for their cupcake tasting at the resort, where Oz is the head pastry chef, they’re just in time to see an argument between Oz and the Head Chef Miles. Later when Oz finds Miles with his head bashed in, he’s the prime suspect. With the wedding coming soon, will Mel find out who killed the head chef before Oz is arrested? will the wedding actually take place?

 

The books in this series have been up and down and this is an “up” one. I enjoyed the mystery, often I don’t care if I can tell who the killer is. The point isn’t the end result but the journey to get there. In this series there’s always a bit of romance and best of all is the interplay between the characters. I heard one person describe cozy series’ as “visiting my friends” and I really think reading each new book fits the description. This is the 13 in the series, and you really don’t need to read them in order!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews, Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates or One For the Books by Jenn McKinlay.)

 

( official Cupcake Bakery Mysteries page on the official Jenn McKinlay web site )

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South and Gere Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New Booktalk Booklist: Women Private Investigator Mysteries with Marcy G.

 

In January 2022, as part of our South Branch BooksTalks on Zoom, mystery fan Marcy G., from the Gere and South Branch Libraries, presented a talk on "Women Private Investigator Mysteries" -- featuring forty significant books or series that chronicle the presence of female private investigators throughout literary history, from 1864's "The Female Detective" by Andrew Forrester, to today's many contemporary and historical female sleuth series.

Check out Marcy's list of recommended reads, in this booktalk booklist on BookGuide at the following link:

Women Private Investigator Mysteries

Book Review: The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly

The Secret Staircase: A Victorian Village Mystery

by Sheila Connolly (Connolly)

 

Kate Hamilton has the money in place to begin restoring the Barton House. She decides to begin with the kitchen. After bringing three contractors out to look over the project only one of them seems at all interested in taking on the job. Morgan even brings an endoscope along to check out what’s in the walls. Sadly, his first look into the kitchen walls he discovers a hidden staircase and a dead body. A hundred-year-old body, but still another dead body. After the police remove the dried bones, Kate gets to meet the crew that will be working on the house. Bethany an electrician and Steve and his brother Lars the plumbers. One evening she overhears an argument between Morgan and Steve. That night someone finds Steve’s body on the basement stairs, he’d fallen or been pushed down them.

 

I felt The Secret Staircase was slow to start. This is the third book and they hadn’t done any renovation on the house or the town. But as the heroine and her trusty sidekick Carroll find the lady of the house’s diaries and more information comes to light it picks up pace.

 

The characters aren’t as developed as well as they could be, but they aren’t unlikeable. The descriptions of the house are fantastic I can just picture the beauty of the old mansion. The mystery is well done and keeps the reader guessing..

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Walled Flower by L.L. Bartlett, Better Late Than Never by Jenn McKinlay or Draw and Order by Cheryl Hollon.]

[ official Victorian Village series page on the official Sheila Connolly web site ]

Recommended by Marcy G.
South Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

If you're a mystery fan, join us for the next Just Desserts meeting on August 26th, where we'll be discussing the suspense novel The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian. The Just Desserts group has returned to in-person meetings as of June 2021. Join us at 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. on the last Thursday of each upcoming month. For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Book Review: Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma and the Fight for Justice by Pam Fessler

Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma and the Fight for Justice

by Pam Fessler (362.196 Fes)

 

When Pam Fessler, NPR correspondent, discovered that her father-in-law’s father was taken away from his family for having contracted Hansen’s disease (leprosy) during the 1902 campaign in the Philippines. (He, along with an unknown number of Americans, contracted the disease while in the Philippines, Japan and other parts of the world fighting for the US Military.) She decided that this was the book she needed to write. The Louisiana Leprosarium was established in 1894 and the state of Louisiana contracted with the Catholic Daughters of Charity to run the home. This was not a luxury hospital as many of the Tuberculosis Sanatoriums. This was a rundown mansion where the Sisters lived, and the slave shacks on the former plantation housed the victims of the disease.

 

Though the medical community could not come to a consensus on the disease, Hansen’s was not exceptionally contagious, unlike Tuberculosis. Also unlike TB the people who contracted Hansen’s were still considered at cause for their disease and treated as outcasts and often punished for having the disease. Ms. Fessler’s extensive research gives us an inside view to what life was like at the home and how individuals fought for their rights and for better accommodations. In 1921 the Federal Government took over running the home, though it brought better food, it did not necessarily bring better living conditions. The home did not close until 2005.

 

Though we learn a lot about what Hansen’s disease is and how the cure was discovered, we also learn that medical professionals still don’t know really how it’s spread. This book is mostly about the patients and the caretakers of Carville’s Leprosy Colony.

 

I’ve read some information about Hansen’s disease, but this is by far the most informational and fascinating look at the disease and how the patients were treated in America.

 

I highly recommend Carville’s Cure to people who like history books, social justice books, and medical history.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Pox: An American History by Michael Willrich, The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic — and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson, or The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark by Kate Moore.]

[ publisher’s official Carville’s Cure web page ] | [ official Pamela Fessler Twitter feed ]

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!