Botanical Line Drawing: 200 Step-by-Step Flowers, Leaves, Cacti, Succulents, and Other Items Found in Nature by Peggy Dean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I chose this Kindle book because I had been drawing the flowers in Inky Wonderlands with Johanna Basford and I wanted to draw more real flowers. There are no photos of the models that Dean may have used in the book so I have to believe her line drawings are what she named them.
There are always five steps for each illustration. Sometimes I question where she started or question how she got to the next step. There is a Table of Content but no Index.
I used this book to practice line drawings with pencil and then ink the sketch; I practiced with fine liners; I practiced with brush pens. I stored this for reference in case I want to use other media such as color pencils or watercolors.

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Wreath Between the Lines by Daryl Wood Gerber
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This ebook was the Dec 2020 Serial Read from Barnes and Noble.
I took a star away because I did not like the protagonist, and the author did not earn any stars back by the end of the book. Not even four chapters of recipes earned it a star for being more of a cookbook than a cozy mystery.
I found the protagonist to be a judgemental gossip, and I did not wish to be involved in her point of view. I prefer to read along when the protagonist is more curious.

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The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After by Julia Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I downloaded it during Barnes and Noble's #monthofthanks promotion. These second epilogues will be enjoyed by the fans of her series.

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The Girl with the Pearl Pin by Lynne Connolly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook in 2020 when I had difficulty downloading books from my library in the cloud on one of my Nooks. I expected a mystery with a romance which should have given it 4 stars. However I took away a star because this prude was unprepared for the descriptions of sexual activity--I mean there is not much skin revealed in the cover art--and I am reluctant to recommend it to my friends.

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The Last Ride by Gregory Payette
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I just finished book 1 as part of Nov 2020 Serial Reads and found this one on Hoopla through my local library.
I took away a star because I thought another murder beyond what Walsh was investigating was unnecessary for the story line.

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Gatsby Girls by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook to my Nook library when Barnes and Noble offered it for free in November 2014. I shelved it with my Nook Classics in my Goodreads library which is more of a location than a shelf.
The eight short stories, inspired by Zelda, were first published in Saturday Evening Post between 1920-1922. I enjoyed these short stories much more than the required Great Gatsby. Even though it has only been 100 years since these were written, I notice a huge difference between what Fitzgerald wrote and my understanding of the culture of the wealthy where these Gatsby Girls flourished attending dances, proms, and seeking husbands likely to maintain a level of society.

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A Blessing to Cherish by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I looked forward to reading another story about Ingeborg, and this is not the story I expected. In my imagination, based on all the stories from all the novels, Ingeborg was much older than the 55 years that she is in this book. Surely, she must be older than I am by now. I had been sharing this series with my 93-year old father who had been raised by his grandmother who was also born around 1858. The stories of life on the farm and the town of Blessing reminded him of his childhood. In chapter 8, I was uncomfortable with how disconnected David was with his own children and how he judged them as harshly as he did his board of directors, with an inability to separate family from business. I was uncomfortable because it seemed to reinforce my own father's judgements and righteousness at the end of his life when he could not understand nor respect the difficulties of decisions made in the time of a pandemic. I recommend it to fans of the series because it cannot be read as a stand-alone. .


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Chili Cauldron Curse by Lynn Cahoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this novella as part of Barnes and Noble's #givethanks promotion for Nook books.
It is entertaining, and it introduces new characters in Lynn Cahoon's Kitchen Witch series.
I read it the same period of time that I am reading Barnes and Noble's Dec 2020 Serial Reads which is Wreath Between the Linesby Daryl Wood Gerber as part of his Cookbook Nook Mystery series. The characters are too similar for me to read at the same time without merging their worlds in my imagination.
I'm giving the extra star to Cahoon because this is the one I might recommend to friends.

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Lady Gone Bad by Sabine Starr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook when Barnes and Noble offered it for free on Feb 22, 2013. I should have known by the amount of exposed skin on the cover that it was more graphic than what this prude usually reads but I took a star away anyway.
I thought it might be historical fiction but I classify it as sexual fantasy in a Western setting.

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Change of Scene by Mary Kay Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this novella ebook when it was offered for free as part of Barnes and Noble's #givethanks promotion. It is a prequel to the series this author calls Beach Town.
It was entertaining.
I recommend it to readers of this author and to those readers who enjoy the genre of continuing stories about interesting characters.

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This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I borrowed this memoir on Overdrive from my local library.
I eagerly anticipate the new Maisie Dobbs novels by this author, and looked forward to her memoir. She writes about her childhood and her relationship with her family of origin. It was nice to read about her extended family during 2020 Thanksgiving season when we are socially distanced from our own extended family.
I recommend it to all readers who enjoy memoirs and to all readers who enjoy this author's novels.

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Dead at Third by Gregory Payette
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barnes and Noble offered this as a Serial Reads for Nov 2020.

I give it 4 stars for it was an entertaining mystery that I can recommend to friends.

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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the way this author and his translator play with words to increase our awareness of others.

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Know the Past, Find the Future: The New York Public Library at 100 by Various
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded it when Barnes and Noble offered it as a free Nook book in 2013.
I might have enjoyed it more as a coffee table book, something to look at to see photos in a larger format and to skim the essays.

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Restore My Heart by Cheryl Norman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book has been in my Nook library since 2013 when it was free to download from Barnes and Noble. I thought it would be more of a mystery, and it was more of a romance.
It was entertaining; but, I took away a star because I am reluctant to recommend it to friends due to the graphic nature of some of the sex scenes.

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The Sentinel by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Modern-era Reacher. Give me a little time to adjust that he has not aged and yet I did. Of course, I felt the same way whenever DC updated Superman for another generation.

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Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook to my Nook library when Barnes and Noble offered this for free in Feb 2013.
It gets 4 stars because I could recommend it to a friend who enjoys what I call a police-procedural mystery, and it was entertaining.

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Red Heart by James Alexander Thom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has been in my hardcover home library for a long time. It could have been there since 1997.
It is a well-written, well-researched historical fiction based on the real-life of Frances Slocum who was taken by Lenapeh Indians from her Quaker family to replace a murdered daughter. Her journey began in the Wilkes-Barre region of Pennsylvania and ends in the state of Indiana, just a 70-minute car ride from where I currently live. There is a Frances Slocum State Recreation Area where a reservoir currently floods the land she owned.
I highly recommend this book to readers of history.

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Big Shot by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I downloaded when it was offered as Free-with-Prime in May 2020.
I took away a star as I had I hard time getting into this world when I found these quirky characters difficult to like if I were to compare them to other groups of chick-lit characters. I think the author might be targeting readers of that audience as there is a list of discussion questions at the end.

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Once Upon a Time in Silver Lake by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Way Out West by Blanche Marriott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook was downloaded to my Nook library when it was offered for free in Feb, 2013. Nook servers were under attack in Oct 2020, so I had to wait until that attack was repaired to retrieve it from Barnes and Noble's cloud storage. I was successful Oct 24, 2020.
This was a light romance that was fun to read.

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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was recommended as the November 2020 Book Club selection from Indianapolis' Eiteljorg Museum of Western and Indian Art. I was aware Edward Curtis was a photographer, but I never gave much thought about his life story before this book.

Egan makes this non-fiction book as easy to read as a narrative novel, and that is a talent and craft I appreciate. It also made me question why a nation built with a freedom of religion as a basic right would do as much as possible to destroy the religion of these indigenous people. This was nothing I thought about before this book.

I highly recommend this book to all readers.

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The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this celebrity memoir and I recommend it to all my friends who watch Jeopardy.

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The Devil's Revolver by V.S. McGrath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook was the October 2020 Serial Reads from Barnes and Noble. A consecutive chapter is available daily to read on Nooks.
This was in the genre of a western with magic. The story was interesting and the pacing was excellent as it held my interest. It loses a star as I cannot think of a friend to whom I might recommend this book.
There are four books in this series.

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Christmas with the Sheriff by Victoria James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this to my Nook library whenever Barnes and Noble offered it for free. It was one of the few I was authorized to download to an SD card in my Nook. I'm glad to have some I may save to an SD card because I was able to read it when Nook's servers were under attack around October 11, 2020.
It is a Christian fiction romance that I can recommend to friends who also enjoy this genre.

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The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded this Kindle book when it was offered as part of their 2018 World Crossing event or Read the World event.
This may be a book in the psychological suspense genre, and it is not my favorite genre, and that is why I gave it only two stars.

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Searching for Coach Taylor by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this group of essays when the offer was free-with-Prime.
The essays are humorous looks on life from the author's perspective. Four stars for helping me find some humor, and worth recommending to others.

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Securing Caite by Susan Stoker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since Sept. 13, 2020. It was already downloaded for me to read during the time Barnes and Noble had an attack on its servers when I could not access an ebook I got for free in 2013.

I enjoy the suspense of this story. I took away a star because this prude would feel uncomfortable recommending it to friends for those scenes when the romance turned erotic.

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Kind of Hindu by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Please Like Me [But Keep Away] by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Help Is On the Way by Mindy Kaling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Maggie's Journey by Lena Nelson Dooley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2013 when I downloaded it for free.
It is an entertaining story set in historic times. I knew it was Christian fiction, and it is a problem when the author gets a bit heavy-handed with its MESSAGE of trust the Lord when this reader wants to hasten the pace of the story.

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The Tube Riders by Chris Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since May 15, 2015. I chose this one to read after I finished one by the same author. The title changed in 2015 from The Tube Riders to Underground.

This author does a good job of world-building and creating a cast of characters the reader cares about. I am not in the mood for dystopian fiction, and I will not seek out the next volume in this trilogy.

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Awakening and Selected Short Fiction by Kate Chopin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I finally finished the last of the Barnes and Noble Classics in my library since I bought my first Nook.
I'm grateful for the easy-to-use footnotes that explain words that are out-of-use. This is not a cheerful book, and it is not easy to read during a pandemic when its protagonist is feeling trapped by society and her marriage. The short fictions were not easy to read either.

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The Children of First Man by James Alexander Thom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has been in my home library probably since its publication date of 1997. I read his Panther in the Sky and enjoyed it. Back then, I had the hobby of buying books that I wanted to read "some day," and twenty-three years elapsed until I read it.

It is excellent historical fiction that reimagines what may have happened to the Welsh prince Madoc and descendants of the families who traveled with him to the land of Iaghral over 700-years.

I highly recommend this book.

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The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded it for free-with my prime subscription when it was offered as a First Reads for April 2020.
I enjoy this mystery for the suspenseful pacing as new characters are introduced. This is the origin story of Underwater Investigation Unit, and how Sloan MacPherson and George Solar came to work together.
I recommend this book.

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The Lighthouse by Jessie Newton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook was the September 2020 Serial Reads offered by Barnes and Noble, a chapter or two a day.
I like books with a central character who has a problem and five or more supporting characters who may be the focus of other books. I read this as a stand alone because I do not care enough about these characters to buy more of the series.

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Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook in 2013 when it was offered for free from Barnes and Noble. I have to warn some readers that if this were a movie it might be rated R, or at least PG-13 due to the erotic, well-written scenes between these consenting adults.

I enjoyed all the characters because they all contribute to the story, and they are not in the story as stereotypes as one might find in lesser stories in this genre.

Well done, Ms. Lowe.


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The Puzzle of You by Leah Mercer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I borrowed this for free with Prime on July 9, 2020.

I think it will be a good book for discussion for book clubs of young women who are similar ages to the protagonist. It is also good for both marriage partners to talk and to listen to each other.

I think the ending of Charlotte being offered a better job within a few weeks after she quits Cellbril to be a 'fairy-tale ' ending . "Charlotte was pleased someone had recognized how Ed had pushed her aside."

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Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard by Elizabeth Easton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book when I visited an exhibit at Indianapolis Museum of Art on July 28, 2012. I looked at the pictures in the book before, and now I take the time to read the text.

The artists included in this book and the exhibit were: Pierre Bonnard; George Hendrick Breitner; Maurice Denis; Henri Evenepoel; Henri Riviere; Felix Valloton; and Edouard Vuillard.

The text seemed directed to readers who have a greater academic knowledge about this subject of the Nabis brotherhood of these Post-Impressionist painters than this general interest reader.


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Come Fly With Me by Sandi Perry
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2013.
It was entertaining and worth 3 stars. I took away a star because it was aggravating that Allison did not seemed to be concerned her behavior with her employee Alex was sexual harassment.

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Think Smart: A Neuroscientist's Prescription for Improving Your Brain's Performance by Richard Restak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book by Richard Restak in my library's holdings. I borrowed the books after finishing The Great Courses lectures called "Optimizing Brain Fitness" taught by Restak.

Some good advice to help set priorities when choosing lifestyle options is If it is good for the heart, it is good for the brain. Learn and use stress-reducing behaviors to protect your hippocampi from cortisol and other stress-related hormones. There is so much good advice that I cannot use it all at once!

I recommend this book for all adult readers whose prefrontal cortex is ready to use this information.



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Bluegrass State of Mind by Kathleen Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook has been in my Nook library since 2013 when I downloaded it for free.
It was entertaining.

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Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain's Potential by Richard Restak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I checked my library's holdings after I finished watching a Great Courses Plus course called "Optimizing Brain Fitness" taught by Richard Restak. This is the first of two books my library had.

Since this book was written in 2001, some of the text seems outdated. An example is the suggestions for the many uses of a laptop for what many of us already use our phones and apps like Evernote to do for us.

There are practical suggestions in each of the 28 chapters.

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The Question of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book has been in my Kindle library since April 2018 when I downloaded it as part of Amazon's Read-The-World promotion.
It reminded me how little I know about Indonesian culture and how little I paid attention to the political events in Indonesia at the time these events occurred.


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The Hermitage by Mikhail Piortrovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was purchased at a port side gift shop at St. Petersburg, Russia as a souvenir of our cruise and the two days we had at the Hermitage. The plates of the art works are beautiful and the text is informative. This book was offered in several different languages and we made certain we had the English edition. It is a large and heavy book that I brought home in my backpack because I did not want to lose it. I had to sit the book on a high table to read.

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The Declutter Challenge: A Guided Journal for Getting your Home Organized in 30 Quick Steps by Cassandra Aarssen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a guided journal. You will get out of it what you put into it by writing your reflections on the questions, suggestions, and do-it-now tasks.

The title says 30 Quick Steps but I need more than 30 days of 15-minute tasks to do what must be done to my stored sentimental items that I kept for my hobby of writing family history and genealogy, my hobby of organizing photos into digital copies that are tagged with the names of the people in the photos with the goal of making photo books, and my hobby of reading. I am making daily progress to reduce space these items have used in the past to make room to expand the storage for the art hobbies I had time to explore during the 2020 pandemic.

This book is helping me build on what I used from the information with Marie Kondo. I was really stuck when the category came to Sentimental and I stored too much stuff in my organized hobby closet and organized garage shelves. Other family members do not share my hobby of genealogy and my memories attached to what I stored. The time to declutter these totes is sooner rather than later. The time to organize with the goal of preparing the collection for an appropriate family history archive is sooner rather than later.


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Moribund by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded this to my Nook library when it was offered as a Free Weekend Reading on us, formerly known as Free Friday selection.
This was not my preferred genre.

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Broken by Christopher Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was the August 2020 Serial Read from Barnes and Noble.
Miyu and Jack are distinct characters that a reader will grow to like.

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