A Piney Woods Christmas by Eilish Hawes-Fraser
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I could not read any more.


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Cardinal Cabin by Joanne DeMaio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook was the December 2019 Serial Reads from Barnes and Noble.
I read several books by DeMaio this year, and this was worth recommending to my friends who enjoy a romance with a location as an additional character.


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The Fifth Risk by Michael   Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from Overdrive from my local library. I enjoy this type of non-fiction.
I learned more about the information collected by the government, and how data scientists often use it to provide services we need for the common good. It was disheartening to read how poorly prepared the Trump campaign was about a mandated transition team and what poor choices were made for the administration when the priorities valued more campaign contributions than knowledge and experience.
I highly recommend this for all people of the voting age. Yes, some of the rhetoric does seem like Trump-bashing; yet, if you read with curiosity about what the federal government can do for the common good and where these departments are administered, there are lessons to learn for all of us who feel frustrated that politics intereferes with what might actually be done.


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Drawing Zentangle Sea Life by Catherine Ard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I borrowed this ebook thru the Hoopla app from my local library.
It is only 35 pages long, and it was fun to do some of the drawings with my 8-year old granddaughter. I like the idea to use pictures from children's coloring books as the "string" to fill in with tangles.


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Protector by Laurel Dewey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2012 when Barnes and Noble offered a free download of the ebook.
The author managed to show growth for our protagonist and drive the suspense of the story.
Some readers might be uncomfortable with Jane's use of the F word, but it seems to fit her character.


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With All My Heart by Stephanie Payne Hurt
My rating: 2 of 5 stars




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Zentangle Basics: A Creative Art Form Where All You Need is Paper, Pencil & Pen by Suzanne McNeill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Subject 375 by Nikki Owen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Barnes and Noble offered this for the Serial Reads selection for Nov 2019. C'mon Amazon, let ebook edition show up when I look through editions.
The author tells the story with an unreliable narrator because Maria has Asperberger's on the Autism spectrum. This is an origin story and first part of a trilogy.
I am not interested in reading any more from this trilogy.


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One Zentangle a Day: A 6-Week Course in Creative Drawing for Relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun by Beckah Krahula
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book provided so much more than 1 zentangle a day because it gave at least 3 new tangles plus a suggested zentagle and new information about tanglenhancers. It was more advanced that my current understanding. I only finished 16% of the book at the end of 3 weeks, and I was unable to renew it through my library's Hoopla app.


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Sketching with Markers by Thomas C. Wang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an easy read, and there are ideas for practice.


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The Easy Low Sodium Diet Plan and Cookbook: Quick-Fix and Slow Cooker Meals to Start (and Stick To) a Low Salt Diet by Christopher Lower
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My favorite quote, "You are not giving up foods you love, just changing them."


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He Needed Killing by Bill Fitts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




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The Last Bride in Ballymuir by Dorien Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




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The Titanic Secret by Clive Cussler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




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Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I eagerly anticipate books written by Craig Johnson. I am glad he finished up the storyline from the last book, and we can get back to Wyoming.
I recommend it to fans of the series.


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The Long Way Home by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the last book in Snelling's "A Secret Refuge" series.
I am a fan of Snelling's historical fiction.


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What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this despite a friend who told me she was confused by the content and she did not like it. I understand part of her objections: it is written with more stream of consciousness than other books by Barr, plus the stream of consciousness narration may be unreliable. Is the unreliability because Rose has Alzeheimer's or because Rose has been drugged by someone unknown to her for unknown reasons? I also think my friend was also confused by many of the allusions used by Rose while she is thinking and many of the shorthand communication between Rose and Mel that is never fully explained in the text. Because I am the same age as Rose, I think I was more likely to understand some of the tv and movie references than my friend was. For example, I was an avid watcher of Kung Fu so I understood the terms of affection when Rose calls Mel, Grasshopper, and when Mel calls her Gigi Rinpoche as being between student and elder teacher.
I recommend this book because I enjoyed it.


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Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir   Eyal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was attracted to the title because when I do research for my hobby of genealogy, I am often distracted by what my fellow genealogists call BSO-Bright, Shiny Objects-that we often find, are curious about, and follow a trail for hours while the original task remains incomplete. It is usually because the original task is rather boring (trigger for discomfort) documentation which needs done; but it does not satisfy my curiosity the way new information does (reward).
I learned a lot from this book about internal triggers, external triggers, and ways to acknowledge what my priorities really are.
I recommend it to all readers because I believe all readers can recognize we have more opportunities for distractions and others who try to hold our attention for longer than we might chose to let them (in the words of newscasters, more after these messages.)


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My Spiritual Journey by Dalai Lama XIV
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was free with my subscription to Prime.
This is contains many of his speeches, and thus it becomes repetitive.


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The  TV Detective by Simon Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since I downloaded it from Barnes and Noble when it was offered for free in 2012.
It was entertaining and I enjoyed the characters.
I recommend it to any readers who enjoy mysteries.


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 Sisters of the Confederacy by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of books by Lauraine Snelling.


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The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting by Emily  Mills
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Now all I have to do is practice daily and build my icon library. This book was fun.


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The Brushstroke Legacy by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoy this author's historical novel series.
This combines both present day restoration and the story of her ancestor who came to this house as a housekeeper.
I recommend it for all readers.


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Joy of Zentangle: Drawing Your Way to Increased Creativity, Focus, and Well-Being by Suzanne McNeill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had not heard about zentangles before finding this book at my local library.
I used the patterns in this book during Inktober 2019 to do an ink zentangle each day in October.


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One Year Home by Marie Force
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barnes and Noble recommended this book to be read after their Oct 2019 Serial Reads, 5 Years Gone, and I found it at my local library. I just had to know what happened next to John, Ava, and Eric.
It is a quick read. The sex scenes are too graphic for this prude so just skip over them.
I recommend this for fans of Marie Force.


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Game of Hearts by Kate Donovan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since I downloaded it in 2012 when Barnes and Noble offered it for free. It is in a genre of a romance that I often enjoy. It lost a star because the heroine was stubborn when she did not know what the facts were and that made her judgmental. A little bit of that can make this reader not care about the outcome of the story because the reader knows the outcome will be what the heroine wants to believe.


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Five Years Gone by Marie Force
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook was the Serial Read from Barnes and Noble during October 2019.
I recommend this to readers who enjoy character development with people who have problems that may not have been explored in other books.


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Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was able to read it for free with my subscription to Amazon Prime.
I wanted to read it to assess the level of violence in it before recommending it to my 92-year old father who expressed an aversion to books with killing in it. This is is favorite author so I may ask how he feels about books where the wounded are treated and the dead are buried.
I take 1 star away because this book ends with "WAIT, THERE'S MORE-style ending" and this is just the beginning of a trilogy. If Dad decides he wants to read this Civil War era book, he will want all 3 in the series.


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Celtic Empire by Clive Cussler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My husband and I both enjoy a Dirk Pitt novel. It is entertainment we fans have come to expect.


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Fatal Affair by Marie Force
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library when I downloaded it for free from Barnes and Noble in 2012. It is a good suspense mystery. The author wraps up this case so it can be recommended as a stand-alone or it may be a good place to start this 15-book series.
I took away a star because this prude only scan the sex scenes until the story moved on. For this reason, I do not want to recommend it to many of my friends.


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Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




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The Ivy by Lauren Kunze
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2012 when I downloaded it for free from Barnes and Noble. This ebook was entertaining as we meet 4 roommates in their freshman year at Harvard and guys. This book is just their origin story and it is not a stand-alone novel. This ebook ends before Thanksgiving break.


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Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I realized I better this one read before Land of Wolves is ready to pick up at my library. I have been reluctant to read this one because I dislike books where some character I care about is in jeopardy the way that Cady is, and I did not like the way the #13 hurt so many of the recurring characters.
This book is not a stand-alone book nor should it be the first one you read in this series.


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Tear It Down by Nick Petrie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I went immediately into the fourth book after reading the third Peter Ash book because I wanted Peter to heal enough from his PTSD enough to make a life with June. He is doing better but he can still get involved when other people need his protection.



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Half Finished by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the book after my father was finished with this latest Snelling book.
Sometimes when Snelling gives as much detail to the chores and tasks that modern women do that she does to the chores and tasks of historical women, I can get a bit eager to get on with the story because I am as busy as these characters are. I know that I never would be as good a friend to Ginny as Amalia is.
I may not have unfinished craft projects; but, I do have many books on my to-read shelf and my currently-reading shelf. Thank you, Goodreads for giving me a place celebrate books finished and to hold myself accountable for books already in my home library, for those I borrow from town library, for those I download when they are free, and for the purchases I make.


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The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading this book and watching YouTube videos about BuJos, I had my Evernote, Dropbox, OneNote, OneDrive, Google Calendar, family calendar, Tools4Wisdom planner, my daily journal, and 6 journals for 6 projects on which I was not making much progress. The biggest help I immediately used was making indexes for those project journals and learning to thread topics in the indexes. Another big help was migrating tasks and discarding irrelevant ones!
I look forward to seeing my progress in the next 3 months before 2020.


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Light It Up by Nick Petrie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoy these suspense-filled dramas with Peter Ash, and I am reading them in order.


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A Song of Joy by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I purchased this book for my father who enjoys Snelling's stories of frontier life with minimal violence. I enjoy them too. Her books give my father and I something to talk about on which we can agree.


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Silent Run by Barbara Freethy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This ebook was the September Serial Reads from Barnes and Noble: a chapter a day until the ebook is finished.
It was an entertaining read and I was eager to read each day until it was completed.
I have read several books from different series by Freethy, and it is likely I will look for more by her.


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Murder Through the Looking-Glass: Supernatural Beyond Time Romantic Mystery by Cathy A. Corn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Murder Through the Looking-Glass entertains with a story that balances the suspense of a murder mystery with the suspense of romance. Supernatural Beyond Time Romantic Mystery indicates a genre for a reader. There is enough character development for Suzanne and the men in her life to hold the interest for every reader of mysteries who is curious about the outcome.


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Burning Bright by Nick Petrie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




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 Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 by Kevin M. Kruse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I selected this book when its subtitle caught my eye from the new book display at the library. How can there be enough history since 1974, the year of my college graduation, to make a whole book? I mean, in my high school history classes our outdated textbooks never got past the WWII, let alone any history since my birth; and the only current events were from our Weekly Reader.
The Fault Lines are: 1. Growing Economic Inequality that separates rich from poor and left the middle class in a state of insecure anxiety; 2. Racial Division; 3. Political Polarization; and 4. Gender Identity and Sexuality. These topics are well-researched with footnotes for further information. I wished there could be more information about how the banking system, Federal Reserve, and low yields on Treasury Bills make it so much more difficult for us to save money for our future of retirement and for our children to save for their children's college and their own future.
I recommended this book to my Book Club for discussion because the women in my club are of a certain age to have lived this history.


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The Beach Inn by Joanne DeMaio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the fifth book in the Seaside Saga series, and it is the last one available at my library. While it is an entertaining series, it is not one I want to pay full-price (any price) to read because I do not find it that different from other series in the genre of drama within a community of friends. I feel like a gossip when I read books in this genre.
I recommend it to fans of the series.


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The Drifter by Nick Petrie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series was recommended to me by my DH when he saw that Lee Child recommended this author.
I enjoyed this suspense-filled action-adventure with this character, Peter Ash.
I highly recommend it, and look forward to the next one in this series.


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Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from my public library because it is the October 2019 selection for my book club.
This memoir will have some good discussion based on the questions in the Reading Group Guide at the back of the book.
I recommend it to readers who like memoirs.


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Let's Play Ball by Linda Gould
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since I downloaded it when it was free from Barnes and Noble.
I was disappointed in the last two chapters that rambled on past a conclusion. This book may have been better with a ruthless editor who might delete repetitions of thoughts and tighten up the possible motive or the message. I may have found an error on page 192 where I believe the word ethically should have been ethnically.
It was OK.


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Thy Kingdom Come by Don Helin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2012 when I downloaded it for free from Barnes and Noble.
This is an adequate suspense novel that tells the story of an assignment for undercover agent Sam Thorpe who works for an anti-terrorist investigative team. It wraps up this assignment. The characters move the plot along without any personal growth.
It is OK.


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By the Seat of My Pants by Don George
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This Kindle book was free with my Amazon Prime membership. I selected it because of the book's affiliation with Lonely Planet and Don George.
It was fun to read a story a day.


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Look Closer, Draw Better:Expert Techniques for Realistic Drawing by Kateri Ewing
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I chose to read this book because I follow this artist and author on YouTube and I bought her classes on Craftsy.com which is now known as Bluprint.com. I was able to read it with the Hoopla app from my local library.
This is still aspirational reading for me as a beginner. Ewing has step-by-step instructions with pictures that show the step-by-step appearances! It isn't just the instructions and a picture of the final product that too many instructional books think we beginners can understand what our progress might look like. This book contains lessons for these media: graphite, charcoal, pen, ink washes, and watercolors.
I highly recommend this book.


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Beach Breeze by Joanne DeMaio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I finished reading Barnes and Noble's Aug 2019 Serial Reads, Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans, I checked Goodreads to discover just how many books are in DeMaio's Seaside Saga and I checked my library to see which of those books my library had available. I had previously read #3 so my next read was this #4.
I like the characters DeMaio has created in this series. I find it intriguing to follow how each characters is reacting to the death of Sal even though they agree to a pact where they will wait a year before making any life-altering choices; but do they stick to that agreement?
This is entertaining and a chance to live vicariously through the strong emotions of fictional characters.


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