The Spook in the Stacks, by Eva Gates

The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars, I liked it.

Book 4 in the series.

I loved this series, and I was really sad when it was canceled in the Berkley Purge. I was thrilled to see the series picked up by Crooked Lane, and even more thrilled to find it on NetGalley for review!

Lucy and friends are as fun as always, the mystery was interesting and kept me guessing. Lucy hating Halloween was disappointing to me personally since in my opinion, it's the best holiday, haha. And I really dislike Louise Jane. To the point where she's become a major distraction from the story. There's not one single thing I can find to like about her, she's just flat out nasty. It'd be one thing if she were a minor player, but she's not.

Still, I will continue to read the series and hope that Louise Jane falls down a well. I am looking forward to more of the Lighthouse Library mysteries.

*I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley*


View all my reviews

Reading binge

I've been on a bit of a binge lately.  I'm going to have to stop soon and get my thoughts down for some reviews.

Reading List:
Reining in Murder, by Leigh Hearon
Kernel of Truth, by Kristi Abbott
Hearse and Gardens, by Kathleen Bridge
A Story to Kill, by Lynn Cahoon (NetGalley)
Out of Nowhere, by Susan Dunlap (NetGalley)

And those are just the ones that I have read (or am still actively reading) in the last week!  The TBR pile on my coffee table doesn't seem to be getting any shorter.  And we won't talk about all the books waiting on my Kindle...

There are a few more books on NetGalley I would love to request, but I have 3 more books on my new shelf to read, so I am holding off on requesting anything more until I have at least finished a few and left reviews.

By the way, the sock I was knitting on during the Readathon?  It's about to hit the frog pond.  After 2.5 repeats, I realized that the blasted chart in the pattern is not only upside down, but reads from right to left as well.  *Sigh*  This is why I usually hate charts. I shall be stealing a sheet of graph paper from my daughter and re-writing it before I start again.

Success!

I may not have made it all 24 hours, but the hourly Challenges I could join in on were great fun, and I did get a lot of reading done (a dead washing machine and a trip to the laundromat helped a bit there, even if I am still not happy about the washing machine part!).

I got finished:
Last Wool and Testament, by Molly MacRae
Dead End Street, by Sheila Connolly (review to be posted soon-ish, it's already up on Goodreads).
Pleating for Mercy, by Melissa Bourbon

I started Kernel of Truth, by Kristi Abbott and Hearse and Gardens, by Kathleen Bridge (What?  They're in different rooms of the house, bedroom versus living room reads, haha).

I did NOT finish knitting my sock  Knitting and being tired does not mix, so I just read more instead.

Thanks very much to Franz Chapman for pulling the Readathon together and to all the authors who donated both items and their time for things like Q&As.  You all ROCK!

Hour 12!

Challenge: find cozies that have certain attributes:

a cozy set in a beach town- Lynn Cahoon, Tourist Trap mysteries

a cozy that includes recipes- Cleo Coyle, Coffeehouse mysteries

a cozy that has a ghost in it- Molly MacRae, Haunted Yarn Shop

a cozy where the protagonist is a business owner- Duffy Brown, Cycle Path Mysteries

a cozy that has a color in a book title or series name- Blood Orange, China Bayles series, Susan Wittig Albert

a cozy with a cat(s) that have special abilities- Sofie Kelly, Magical Cats

Readathon

They're still going strong @SaveOurCozies #Readathon! 

Me, I took a bit of a nap around 3:30 am, but I was back at it by 7.  But now I have to put the books down and deal with a broken washing machine for a bit.  *Crossing my fingers that it's an easy & reasonable fix*

I'm in the middle of Dead End Street, by Sheila Connolly.  It feels more cozy then mystery at the moment.  Nell was involved in a drive by shooting in which one woman is killed, but so far she's more focused on the epiphany she had after her near death experience than on finding the shooter.

Despite that, I am enjoying the book.  The characters are always fun to visit with.

Hour 3

I'm still listening to Molly MacRae's Last Wool and Testament, "The colors and textures displayed in the windows and the enticing glimpses of more skeins and fibers farther in lured even the most resolute," and any one who knows fiber crafters knows, we're not all that resolute, haha.

That sentence is actually what first hooked me on the Haunted Yarn Shop series, I wanted to move into the Weaver's Cat, lock, stock and barrel ;)

I love books that combine crafts with mysteries, and if that craft has to do with yarn?  I'm all over it! 

Hour One

Listening to Molly MacRae's Last Wool & Testament as I knit on my sock.  Up next (when I am too tired to knit and in danger of dropping stitches) is Melissa Bourbon's Pleating for Mercy on my Kindle.

My companion for the night is Mortimer Moose.  He's soft, and he doesn't hog the couch!