Lie Down in Green Pastures: The Psalm 23 Mysteries #3 by Debbie Viguié
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was free when I downloaded it to my Nook. I just finished book#2 in the series and I wanted to finish the remaining book I had in my Nook library by this author.

This book gets 3 stars instead of the 2-stars I rated the last book because it broke my suspended belief fewer times. I continued reading because I wanted to know the author gets the characters out of their predicament.

I recommend it to fans of the series.

View all my reviews

Silencing the Women: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons by Kathy-Ann Becker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Silencing the Women: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons was written by a friend who has done what many genealogists and family historians aspire to do: publish a book about an interesting ancestor who wants to be found.

The style the author uses is biographical fiction. She uses dialogue to move the story along in scenes. The prayers of Mary Bliss Parsons are in italic font. I was quickly pulled into the author's story in the prologue and into Mary Parsons' story in chapter 1. The book also contains an historical epilogue, a four-page bibliography, and a descendants chart.

This 17th-century woman's story is relevant to the 21st century when we consider the dangers of gossip which seeks to find blame when events cannot be explained. Gossip can destroy work relationships, reputations, and still inflame communities.

I recommend this book to all readers. In addition to genealogists and family historians, I recommend this book to readers of 17th-century romances (she did bear 13 children), to readers of Christian fiction for Mary Parsons was devout, and to readers of womens studies literature for Mary Bliss Parsons has a story to tell from another culture and another time.

View all my reviews

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was free when I downloaded it to my Nook. I enjoy reading Barnes & Noble Classics on my Nook Tablet or HD+ because I can quickly go to an endnote with a touch on the screen. The endnotes enhance my enjoyment of the classic with definitions and quick explanations of allusions which Twain's first readers were more likely to catch than 21st-century-me.

Twain's commentary on the power of a privileged class seems as timely a discussion with our current 1% as the Gilded age's 1% and Arthur's class of knights and nobility. My favorite quote is "Did you think you had educated the superstition out of these people?"

I recommend this book for all readers.

View all my reviews

I Shall Not Want: The Psalm 23 Mysteries #2 by Debbie Viguié
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I Shall Not Want was free when I downloaded it to my Nook. I enjoy finding new-to-me authors in cozy mystery genres.

This book dropped from the 3 stars I start with because it had a high body count for a cozy mystery and there were three places in the book when the author broke my suspended belief: when the point of view switched from Cindy to Jeremiah; when Joseph could not smell a decomposing corpse in his own mansion; and when all stores were closed on a holiday so Cindy could not smell Old Spice. This fictional town with two homicide detectives in its police department does not have a 24-hour Walgreens? The rating did not slip all the way down to 1 star because I returned to the book to read how the author would wrap up things.

I recommend I Shall Not Want to fans of the series.

View all my reviews

Sweet Baklava by Debby Mayne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sweet Baklava was free when I downloaded it to my Nook library. The author was new to me, and I enjoy reading books in the Christian romance genre.

Another Goodreads reviewer, Barbara, noted inconsistencies between the characters who have Greek heritage and how real people with similar backgrounds would be more likely to attend a Greek Orthodox church than an evangelical church. This made Nick more of a caricature of the romantic lead than he needed to be. I found enough inconsistencies with Paula as the owner-operator of an expanding candle and soap business to make her also a caricature of the heroine. I'm sure the Hallmark movie channel could easily cast them with actors from their stable of performers. The story is still entertaining.

I recommend it for fans of the genre of Christian romance. I don't recommend it to readers who want anything more than to be entertained for as long as it takes to read the book.

View all my reviews

Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection by Loren D. Estleman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was free when I downloaded it to my Nook, and I enjoyed reading a new-to me author in a genre I enjoyed.
Thirty-two stories are gathered in a collection to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Amos Walker, a private detective based in Detroit and who works all over the state of Michigan.
I recommend it to all readers who enjoy detective noir.

View all my reviews

Game on: Find Your Purpose--Pursue Your Dream by Emmitt Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook was free when I downloaded it to my Nook.

I could easily give this book a 2-star rating for its simplistic style and repetition of advice that Emmitt Smith was given by his grandparents, his parents, his pastors, and his mentors. It gets 4-stars for it is still good advice and I can recommend this to friends.

I recommend it to any reader who can read it with an open mind and an open heart.

View all my reviews