Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists

By cartoonists Nick Abadzis; Andrew Arnold; Kate Beaton; Vera Brosgol; Nick Bruel; Scott Campbell; Lilli Carre; Roz Chast; JP Coovert; Jordan Crane; Rebecca Dart; Eleanor Davis; Vanessa Davis; Theo Ellsworth; Matt Forsythe; Jules Feiffer; Bob Flynn; Alexis Frederick-Frost; Ben Hatke; Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez; Lucy Knisley; David Macaulay; Mark Martin; Patrick McDonnell; Mike Mignola; Tony Millionaire; Tao Nyeu; George O’Connor; Mo Oh; Eric Orchard; Laura Park; Cyril Pedrosa; Lark Pien; Aaron Renier; Dave Roman; Marc Rosenthal; Stan Sakai; Richard Sala; Mark Siegel; James Sturm; Raina Telgemeier; Craig Thompson; Richard Thompson; Sara Varon; Jen Wang; Drew Weing; Gahan Wilson; Gene Luen Yang; Stephanie Yue; and an introduction by Leonard Marcus.


This collection brings together 50 known cartoonists to illustrate 50 famous nursery rhymes in their own unique styles. Some give quite literal illustrations, while others take things in a completely original direction. All present something fun and curious to read though, with fantastic and fanciful drawings on every page.  They range from from the incredible cuteness of the donkey lifting his horn "To wake the world this sleepy morn" so expertly portrayed by Patrick McDonnell, to Lucy Knisley's decidedly different visual take on There Was and Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe. The old woman in this version is Ruth of Ruth's Rock n Roll Babysitting Service. Ruth is an old woman wearing a skull t-shirt and sporting tattoos on both arms. Her rock band is the whips, and the kids sleep off an afternoon of rock and roll till their parents come and pick them up. Quite a few of the comics are faithful interpretations of each rhyme, such as The Itsy Bitsy Spider. There's a spider, there's a spout and he gets all washed out, the only addition is that he's carrying luggage. Cute stuff! Jack Be Nimble is mad because he jumped over a candlestick - the last frame shows a decidedly red bottom! Solomon Grundy is a bit creepy, and Croak said the Toad is just beautifully illustrated.

This collection is great fun, I purchased to send to my niece and nephews and hope they laugh out loud as much as I did.

Marcelo in the real world by Francisco X. Stork

Seventeen-year-old Marcelo Sandoval is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He is comfortable at Patterson, his school for students with different abilities, and is looking forward to working with the school's horses in the upcoming year.  His entire life changes the summer his father insists that he work in his law firm's mailroom-the "real" world-if he wants to return to his school in the fall. Marcelo learns, with the help of his compassionate co-worker, Jasmine, and a case that he is drawn to after finding a picture of a girl with a half a face, that not everything in the real world is as it appears.

Marcelo harbors an obsession with religion (he regularly meets with a plainspoken female rabbi, though he's not Jewish); hears "internal" music; and sleeps in a tree house.  But Marcelo sees things are they really are and knows when he finds a photograph that an injustice has been done by the law firm his father owns. 

I've read several books now (or I should say listened to as all have been on CD) Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Speed of Dark and think I found this the most compelling as Marcelo seems like a real person who you could imagine working in your office or seeing in your neighborhood.   I've enjoyed all these novels and really found this story engaging.

Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier


Bespectacled Walker Bean has listened to his grandfather's tales of adventure on the open seas. Now Walker finds himself smack-dab in the middle of his own thrilling escapade when his ailing grandfather asks him to return a human skull to a trench deep in the ocean floor. Once part of a skeleton of a witch's enemy, this skull has now been transformed into pearl. Armed with his grandfather's journal, an amazing message bottle, assistance from a few trusted friends, and his own clever and inventive mind, Walker braves pirates, evil witches, and his own fears in this tale of derring-do and skullduggery.

Along the way Walker meets up with pirates, a mysterious doctor, and two ancient merwitches that want the skull back and will do all they can to get it.


I've tried to read this a few times and this time I got through the first 2 pages. In the past it always seemed too confusing to read but this time it just started to flow. I did find myself really enjoying it and wanting to know how it would end. Now I’m looking forward to reading the next installment.

Catching fire by Suzanne Collins

2nd book in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have just settled into their lives back in district 12 as co-winners of the 74th games.  But President Snow pays Katniss a surprise visit to inform her he knows they are faking their love that things are going to change.  And change they do as the Capital starts imposing harsher and more violent laws on the districts.  As Katniss & Peeta go on their 12 district journey they see more and more civil unrest.

But when the 75th Hunger Games are announced Katniss knows her days are numbered as all living winners will be in these games to the death and there can be only one winner!  But this time the winners all know each other so what will be the outcome and can Katniss keep Peeta alive?  The book leaves us with a burning desire to read the final book in the triology.

I finally made myself read the 2nd book as while I did really enjoy the 1st one I wasn't sure I wanted to be sucked in and now I can't wait until I read the final book.  Thank goodness it is already out.

Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Latest adventure featuring our favorite serial killer - Dexter Morgan.  While on the surface he appears to be a normal family man who works for the Miami PD blood-spatter expert at night he kills evil people in his spare time.  Yes, you might find yourself cheering on the killer but he only kills really bad people.

While serving up brutal justice to his latest victim (a serial child abuser and killer), Dexter was seen. He barely caught a glimpse of the car as it sped away, but he knows that somewhere out there is a witness. At first he panics, but then his cold, clinical side takes over, and he thinks: I work for the police department, and in my hidden life, I'm an expert at tracking down people who don't want to be found. So he decides: he'll find the witness and dispense with him.

But Dexter underestimated the witness has he discovers that he might just be as devious and maybe even more so than Dexter.  As at every turn Dexter is one step behind and then finds himself implicated in a coworker's murder.

Dexter is one of my favorite series and I always am ready for the new book to come out.  This did take me awhile to get into as much of the book is him self-evaluating the situations.  Plus his wife Rita just drives me nuts by how badly she communicates and she's seemed to have become a closet alcoholic.  But thankfully this book ends with the right amount of craziness and violence that makes us read on.  Plus as my former carpooler would say "there is a great shark scene".

Suite française by Irène Némirovsky

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.

The first, "Storm in June," chronicles the connecting lives of a disparate clutch of Parisians, among them a snobbish author, a venal banker, a noble priest shepherding churlish orphans, a foppish aesthete and a loving lower-class couple, all fleeing city comforts for the chaotic countryside, mere hours ahead of the advancing Germans. The second, "Dolce," set in 1941 in a farming village under German occupation, tells how peasant farmers, their pretty daughters and petit bourgeois collaborationists coexisted with their Nazi rulers.

When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died at the age of 39.

For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.  What is really most fascinating is that she wrote this during the time of the war and Nazi occupation, not just as historical fiction after the fact.  So I was very suprised by the emotions it brought and the saddness I felt knowing we would never know how the other 3 suites would be.

Both stories are intertwined with characters and the situation but very different tones. I have to say I really hated the first suite as the majority of the characters were so terrible but when they started getting killed off with almost comical ways I had to keep reading.

Taste of the nightlife by Sarah Zettel

First in a the series - Vampire Chef

Charlotte Caine is a human chef who runs a restaurant with her vampire brother Chet called Nightlife which caters to the "paranormals" as vampires, witches and warlocks, and werewolves who live among humans are called. When a celebrity restaurant critic, who happens to be a vampire, shows up Charlotte knows a postive review from him could mean instant success. But a drunk warlock shows up the same night and casts a spell that almost burns the building down, dashing any hope of a good review. Then the same drunk turns up murdered on the restaurant doorstep. Evidence points to Chet as the killer and as Charlotte struggles to clear his name, she discovers she must put her trust in a handsome warlock and a charming vampire who are also rivals for her heart.

I picked this up at the library as i was intrigued by the concept and I really enjoyed it.  I don't know if it will be the kind of series I want to read more of but it definitely fit my mood at the time and if I see additional titles come out I'll give it a try.

The Cat, the professor, and the poison by Leann Sweeney

Cat lover Jillian Hart already has her hands full taking care of four preemie kittens at Mercy Animal Sanctuary's office with Deputy Candace Carson.  But when she rides along with Candace to answer a milk cow disappears from a neighbor's farm call she follows a cat to a nearby farm and leads to the discovery of a huge number of needy stray cats and the body of a professor. 

But while the professor seemed kind of crazy who would want the professor dead? What is the connection between the professor and all the stray cats? The more Jillian investigates, the more determined she is to solve the case. Jillian might just need a little help from her cats to solve this one. When cats' welfare is at stake, cats can depend on Jillian Hart!

I have to say I enjoyed this book even more than the first book I read a few months ago.  The characters are much more developed and with the introduction of her dead husband's daughter, Kara it brings a fresh perspective to the series.   This is a fun and relaxing series and I admire the character Jillian as she really tries to practice what she preaches.

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

Set in 1950, seventeen year old Kit Corrigan has fled from her family in Providence, Rhode Island, and she's broken off her tempestuous relationship with a boy named Billy, who's enlisted in the army.  She now works as a chorus girl in a Broadway show that's so tiny that well, she's barely clinging onto her dream and she's pretty much a nobody in New York.  It's so bad that she lives with one of the other chorus girl's parents couch.


Never make deals with the devil, of this case a Mob lawyer.  When Nate (Billy's father) offers her an apartment, Kit jumps at the chance to leave the hard life behind but her gut tells her differently. There's always a catch and this one a pretty big one.  If she wants the apartment, she'll have to get back in contact with Billy and do a couple small favors for Nate.

So with Nate's help she suddenly becomes a somebody. She gets a job as a Lido girl (working at a nightclub and dancing), has her own apartment, and gets a brand new wardrobe.  But small clues point to something more sinister.  When she finally writes Billy he immediately comes back on leave and feelings inevitably resurface.

A lot of the story is told through flashbacks - most only a few months old.  We learn what makes Kit the woman she is becoming and why she had to leave everyone behind she loved to follow her dream of becoming a Broadway star.

I liked the noir aspects of the story and this really has a YA feel as the sexual overtones are very subtle.  Blundell does a great job giving the flavor of the time and life in New York City.  She has a bibliography at the end that makes me want to read more about this time period.

As the pig turns by M.C. Beaton aka Marion Chesney

22nd in the Agatha Raisin series

Agatha has a run-in with an overzealous policeman, Gary Beech, who tickets her for basically nothing on a clogged road outside her Cotswolds village of Carsely. After Beech tickets her a second time for slightly exceeding the speed limit, Agatha announces in the village store: "I'd like to kill him.... May he roast slowly over a spit in hell!" When Beech turns up dead, his decapitated body substituted for the pig that was supposed to be roasting over a fire as part of a post-Christmas celebration on a neighboring village's green, Agatha falls under suspicion. Meanwhile, she must cope with, among other personal problems, uncertainty about the men in her life, including her ex-husband.

There are very few series I can't wait to read and this is one of maybe 4.  It is always such a delight and I've re-read this series many times now.  You do have to suspend some belief but I read these more for the characters versus the actual mystery.  Though this had more mystery elements than previous. I'm always ready for a new Agatha Raisin book!

Live Wire by Harlan Coben

Latest in the Myron Bolitar series, an injured basketball player turned sports agent in New York City

Suzze Tervantino, a former tennis prodigy and one of Bolitar's first clients, visits his New York office and shows him a Facebook posting that suggests that her husband, rock star Lex Ryder, isn't the father of the child she's carrying. When Ryder, also a client of MB Reps, disappears, Suzze begs Bolitar to find him. In the process, Bolitar catches a glimpse of his sister-in-law, Kitty, at a crowded nightclub, and begins a search for her and his estranged younger brother, Brad, whom he hasn't seen for 16 years.

With his sidekick, Win, Myron has unexpected encounters with his estranged sister-in-law, who's entangled with rock stars, scandals, and drugs. Adding momentum to Myron's search, his dad suffers a life-threatening heart attack and asks to speak with Brad, his long-lost son. Along the way, Myron confronts his own buried secrets and recognizes that his abandoned sister-in-law and nephew interpret his big-heartedness as unwanted interference.

I'm not sure how I read this book as it isn't the first in the series like I normally do.  The book is a kind of roller coaster read as the story was tight and engaging.  But I enjoyed the ride.  I listened to it on CD so would go back and try one of the earlier book to get a better feel for the series.

Troublemaker. Book one written by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich ; drawn by Joëlle Jones ; background pencils, Ben Dewey ; inks, Andy Owens ; colors, Dan Jackson ; letters, Nate Piekos of Blambot.

Graphic Novel sequel to Metro Girl and Motor Mouth.  Alexandra Barnaby ("Barney") and Sam Hooker are back together in this fun graphic novel. Sam's a NASCAR racer and Barney his mechanic and spotter, so chase scenes figure prominently in these lighthearted tangles of repartee and rotten villains. This time, Barney's friend Rosa has been taken hostage by a voodoo cult. Off scurry Barney and Hooker to rescue her, and we're in for a diverting mix featuring a swamp chase, breaking and entering, a botanical proprietress, and a meddling cougar of a mother.

It is pretty short - 100 pages with only 3-4 panels per page.  So it is easy to follow along and you don't even need to know the 2 other books as each character is introduced in full page glory. The only thing that bugged me is that the ending is left open for the 2nd book to come out.  I wish they had just made one book with all included. it would have been more satisfying.

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So just after a few months of marriage Philip dies on safari leaving her a young widow but feeling little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek.

Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.

But when there are rumors of an English man found in the bush of Africa carrying her photography Emily is convinced that Philip is not dead and sets out to find him.  But can she trust the people who claim to be her friends or is there something more sinister?

An interesting look at Victoria society with a hint of intrigue. Not the most exciting book but a light easy read. I prefer the older but still going series featuring Amelia Peabody.

True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

When twelve-year-old Gratuity (“Tip”) Tucci is assigned to write five pages on “The True Meaning of Smekday” for the National Time Capsule contest, she’s not sure where to begin. When her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens – called Boov – abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it “Smekland” (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod to the Human preserve.

But it ends up being so much more as we learn how Earth was invaded by the Boov and the name of the planet is now Smekland.  On Christmas Eve which is now called Smekday Tip's mother is sucked up by what looks like a giant vacumm but ends up being the Boov.  Several weeks before Tip's mother complained about having a new mole that glowed.  Tip notices it getting bigger and glowing more and that her mom is talking in Italian and English in her sleep - yelling out what sounds like vocabulary.  But the worse is yet to come on Christmas eve when Tip is now alone with her cat Pig.

What follows is a heartbreaking yet hysterical cross country journey to Florida.  Along the way she picks up a Boov - or rather after her car breaks down and J.Lo fixes it.  So now her car floats and she's nicnamed it Slushes after the slushes tail fins it now sports.  After some very surreal conversations with J.Lo Tip discovers that her mother is one of the teaches to the Boov so they can learn human language.  But while they can speak and understand Human language they can't read.  The Boov use these complicated bubbles to communicate with. When they get to Florida they discover that the humans have been moved to Arizona because the Boov love oranges and want Florida for themselves.


So now they have to get to Arizona. Their car breaks down in Roswell, NM and they find a small colony of humasn still living there.  But worst of all aother alien group called the Gorg are invading Earth and the Boov are now fighting to save Smekland/Earth.


Chief Shouting Bear (aka Frank) who owns the Area 51 spaceship, Mitch, the guy in the missing persons bureau who always talks in questions?, and Daniel Landry who may not be the fantastically great guy everyone seems to think he is--but they need leaders and he's rich, so that must make him a good leader! The future looks dim for the humans and it seems like the new and improved group of aliens may just win the day...except for a little glitch in their nature that Gratuity figures out!


I read this on CD after recommendation by friend Teresa.  It was hysterical and heartwarming at the same time.  The reader, Bahni Turpin was awesome and she fit the personality of the characters perfectly.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson

Born in 1951 in Des Moines, IA this follows Bryson's childhood growing up in the midwest.  Bill's recollections ran the gamut of those of any kid of either sex from that era: family vacations, the first televisions, favorite TV shows, the nature of contemporary comic books, toys, soda pop and candies, parents' occupations and eccentricities, Mom's cooking, the specter of The Bomb and Godless Communism, drop and cover drills, Saturday afternoons at the movie matinees, the National Pastime (major league baseball), the State Fair, Dick and Jane books, visits to Grandpa's farm, paper routes, strange relatives, and Best Friends.

A few years ago I read his book "Notes from a Small Island" and was surprised at his witt and humor that he is able to portray. I listened to both books on CD and find myself enjoying his stories spoken aloud as it gives it a new element.

I grew up in Omaha, only about an hour and half away from Des Mo

ines but 15 years later and still much of the innocense I read in this memoir was what I remember of my childhood.  I had a paper route and ate TV dinners and my mother was a working mom who was always running late and forgetting things. It doesn't make me nostalgic but rather smile with fondness about a time I had not thought a lot about since I've moved to my adult life.

Clea's Moon by Edward Wright

A John Ray Horn Thriller

John Ray Horn is a former rodeo bronc-rider turned B-Western star who tanked his career when he decked the son of the head of his studio, putting the guy in the hospital with a broken jaw. He did two years in prison for that, and when he returned, he discovered that his old boss had blacklisted him and his acting career was over. His faithful Indian sidekick, Joseph Mad Crow, had invested his earnings from the movies and bought a poker parlor/casino on the edge of L.A., so he offers Horn a job collecting bad debts from gamblers. Horn reluctantly takes it, though he hates the work.

When a friend, Scotty Bullard, approaches him with some intriguing information about Horn's former step-daughter (the wife divorced him while he was in jail), he decides to look into things. But when Bullard apparently committs suicide just before Horn goes to visit - he knows it can't be true so wants to find out the truth there too.

But most of all Horn wants to find Clea, his former step-daughter who has been missing for over a week.  She's barely 16 and he's worried by her sudden disappearance.  He knows it must be related to the photos Bullard showed him before he died.  When he looks more carefully at the photos he actually recognizes the location as a cabin he used to go to when he will worked for the studio.  Now Horn is on the hunt for the people behind the photos, death of Bullard and Clea's disappearance.  But will he be able to figure it out before they get him.

This felt very realistic look at the time of the western movies and when Hollywood was still a romantic place to come find your fame. But it shows the seedy side of the industry as well.  I enjoyed the complexity of John Ray Horn's character and his relationships with his former side-kick now boss Joseph Mad Crow and tries to reconsile with former friends.  An interesting look at time period that I don't know much about but since I've lived in LA it intrigues me.

On Parole by Akira Yoshimura

Shiro Kikutani, a man who has just been released to a lifetime of parole after spending 16 years in prison for murdering his adulterous wife. Kikutani's time in jail has stunted his ability to act independently, so that the first chapter finds him in a halfway house, suffering abdominal pains because he is unable to walk from his room to the bathroom down the hall.  He feels so weighed down by the weight of wearing clothes and leather shows.  For 16 years he wore a scrub type outfit with paper slips. 

But under the tutelage of his gentle parole officers, Kikutani gradually overcomes this fear and others, learning to walk out of lockstep and ride escalators, handle money, keep a job (once a teacher, he is demoted to working as a janitor in a chicken factory).  But having the time to think during his commute allows him to slowly adjust.

Some of these episodes are described in minute detail, weaving the story of man whose emotional life has been blighted by his imprisonment and whose hard-won equanimity unravels under the relentless demands of those around him. Through flashbacks we learn what happened to put him in prison, that upon finding the adulterous couple in bed, he violently stabs his wife to death and wounds her lover, follows the lover to his home, torches it, and accidentally kills the lover's mother in the fire.

This book covers 3 years of his life after he gets his parole.  In their final acts his permanent parole officers pressure him to get married to a widow, but when his new wife insists he must repent of his crime, which he always considered inevitable and not his fault, he is unable to explain his true emotions. Under increasing stress, he snaps.

This was an intriguing and almost edge of your seat as the author really portrays the isolation and fear Kikutani feels from the beginning to the end of the story.  But never will he admit to responsibility for his actions - rather he only seems to react to the situations given him.  And as events move inexorably toward the novel's violent climax, it gives an eye opening look at a man no longer able to express his own will.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Teresa after I couldn't stop talking about "Devotion of Suspect X" that I read several months ago.  Also set in Japan but more of  psychological mystery On Parole is a look at a the Psyche of a man who is broken.  This is not an easy book to read and it is deceiving as it is so short, barely 250 pages but so much is in it. 

First grave on the right by Darynda Jones

P.I. Charley Davidson sees dead people. Well, she not only sees them, they are drawn to her. Because she is shiny. You see, Charley Davidson is the grim reaper as well as the portal (the shining light) through which all souls must travel to gain entrance to Heaven.

The advantage to having these miraculous talents is that Charley Davidson not only helps the dead move on, she also helps her father and Uncle who work for the local police solve "unsolvable" cases. The only downside is that lately people are trying to kill her -  literally.  To even make things more complicated she's having these red hot steamy dreams that include a very hot studly man but she is starting to wonder if the man might be a dead guy or a ghost or something even worse.

This was a fun and sarcastic kind of look at the undead - Jones has an almost Janet Evanovich style of writing. All the characters are very entertaining.  The way this book leaves you hanging there is hopefuly a sequel.

English tea murder by Leslie Meier

Lucy Stone Mystery series

Ok, I will admit it.  I read this book for the cover.  I did a double take and had to read it.  Wouldn't you want to read it after this cover?

This is something like #17 in the series and I normally would never just jump into a series but I wasn't that interested in reading the rest until I had read this one.

Lucy Stone is the main character and joins her 3 girlfriends, Sue, Rachel & Pam to a trip to England sponsored by Winchester College. She soon finds that England may be old, but at times, not very jolly. They barely get off the ground when the tour guide, College Professor George Temple suffers an allergy attach that proves to be fatal as he dies on the way across the pond.  I had to laugh when they have to leave him in his seat as it is a full flight and no where to put the body. 

Others on the trip as the sad Smith family, Dr. Cope and his supposed anorexic granddaughter, Jennifer, tough and totally Goth Amber, and last but not least, fretful Laura Barfield and her "wild child" son, Will. To add some spice to all of the drama, Quentin Rea, a Professor for whom Lucy had a slight crush many years ago, is sent by the college to replace Professor Temple and escort the group to various sites of interest in London and beyond.

I think everyone knows that that Temple didn't just have an allergy attack but is really murdered.  Lucy starts to suspect everyone and then wonders if it isn't really an almost Agatha Christie style "Murder on the Orient Express" but who is really responsable and why?

Deadly Descent by Charlotte Hinger

In western Kansas, historical Lottie Albright marries Keith, whose adult children are older than his new wife. Her twin sister clinical psychologist Josie objects as she assumes her sibling married for money. To prove everyone wrong, Lottie works as director of the Carlton County Historical Society; a role she thought would be fun. She is also the district manager of the election campaign for senate by Zelda's nephew Brian Hadley.



It seems like the ideal job to get connected to the small town and close community. But suddenly one of the family's stories blow up in her face, Zelda St. John's contribution of a racist account of the history of her Rubidoux ancestors.  Her twin sister, Fiona Hadley demands the copy of the story as she feels it will destroy her son's political careeer. Though Lottie refuses to release it and Fiona seems to retreate but the next day Zelda found murdered.  Along with the story's disappearance valuable historical letters have gone missing as well.  Thankfully Lottie kept a copy of Zelda's story and had sent it to her own twin sister, Josie, to analyze, since Josie is a clinical psychologist.


When Zelda's daughter, Judy, insists her Aunt Fiona murdered her mother, Lottie tries to shut down those comments. As campaign manager for Fiona's son, who hopes to be a state senator, Lottie doesn't want the family's dirty laundry aired in the small community. But she wants to help Judy, so provides her with a job at the historical society. To get further insight Lottie volunteers as the town's deputy which gives her more ways to investigate the current case as well as a historical unsolved mystery.

I'm really not much of a fan of historical mysteries but the story was compelling and since I get up not far it was fun to read about a small town and see how an outsider tries to fit in.  Hinger does a fabulous job describing the tiedious job of hunting down historical data, it was fascinating.  I didn't find the mystery as compelling but the rest of the story was well written and interesting. I'll try one again someday.

Templar legacy by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.

It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.

This book is a combination political intrigue and historical religious novel. Much of the book focuses on the history of the rise and fall of the Templars. The primary questions about the Templars that have yet to be answered are: 1) How did the organization manage to acquire the power that it did? and 2) What happened to its much-rumored treasure, which was seemingly lost forever when the Templars experienced a rough disbanding at the hands of an alliance of convenience between church and state?

Berry even devotes the epiloge to the books he read that helped him write this novel.  There were parts I enjoyed like the puzzles of trying to figure out the solution but I didn't care for the graphic torture scenes or the shoot-outs that reminded me of the DaVinci Code books.

A distant neighborhood Vol. 1 / Graphics, Jiro Taniguchi ; graphic adaptation by Frédéric Boilet ; [translation, Kumar Sivasubramanian].

One morning, 48-year-old business traveler Hiroshi Nakahara boards the wrong train—a recently built express to his old hometown. Upon arriving, he visits his mother's grave, where he is mysteriously transported back in time. Hiroshi finds himself 14 years old, with full adult foreknowledge of all that is to come.  Hiroshi slowly embraces his ability to relive his youth differently and prepares to address the great mystery of his childhood: the disappearance of his father.

This is a very quiet yet intense graphic novel so many layers to this very subtle book.  I've linked up the online version on the title listed above.  Now I don't have to try to find the next volume at the library as I can read it online at my leisure.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

First in the Leviathan series.

This is World War I as never seen before. The story begins the same: on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated, triggering a sequence of alliances that plunges the world into war. But that is where the similarity ends. This war, however, won't be waged with mustard gas or in trenches; Aleksander's Great War is one split down the middle of two factions: the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers depend on mechanics and steam power, man-made machines with legs that mimic animals and firepower that rivals the creative weaponry and biotechnology of their rivals. The Darwinists are inspired by Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution. In Leviathan, the mystery of DNA --brought forward a few decades for the sake of plot--has been discovered and manipulated to create crossbreeds of animals and huge, living dirigibles as part of their military power.

Deryn Sharp--disguised as a boy so she can fly the floating airships and Alek Ferdinand--heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, are both 15-year old but very new to the ways of the worlds they've been thrust into. Most of the story is from both their separate points of view until Deryn's ship crashes near Alek's hide-away in the mountains. 

Once their stories intertwine the story gets more interesting as Deryn teases Alek about his irrational fears and disgusts over the conglomeration of living bodies that make up the Leviathan; Alek makes sure Deryn sees the advantage of machines. In between their banter is the truth of the situation: the survival of everything dear to them depends on teamwork; biotechnology is as necessary as gears, metalwork, and engines. Cooperation is the key to success.

Many interesting characters and since this is so obviously first in the series it will be interesting to see how everyone develops.  It is an intriguing concept written in some historical truth but goes much further with a cyberpunk aspects.  Looks like this will be a trilogy so looking forward to the rest of the books - maybe look for on CD.

Binky the space cat  & Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires

This simple graphic novel for young readers is an absolute delight.

Binky is a space cat since he has never left the family "space station" he thinks anything outside the house is outer space.  So Binky has a mission: to blast off into outer space (outside), explore unknown places (the backyard) and battle aliens (bugs). Binky must undergo rigorous training so he can repel the alien attacks that threaten his humans. As he builds his spaceship, he must be extremely careful with his blueprints - the enemy is always watching.

But the enemy are bugs and they are everywhere, so Binky spends a lot of time chasing and eating the bugs to save his humans from life under alien control.

Soon Binky is ready to voyage into outer space. His humans go out there every day and he's sure they need a certified space cat to protect them. But just as he's about to blast off with his co-pilot, Ted (stuffed mousie), Binky realizes that he's left something very important behind and it's not the zero-gravity kitty litter.

In the 2nd book Binky the space cat and Ted, his stuffed mouse, fall out of the window and find themselves adrift in outer space (the backyard), the cat has to rely on his training to combat the aliens (bees and spiders) and to get himself home again. Although the feline returns safely, his trusty cohort has been left behind and Binky must save his best friend as one never leaves a mouse behind!

These are so utterly delightful.  I love the cat elements while still making this kid friendly.  It's hysterical when Binky toots after eating too many bugs "aka aliens".  Can't wait to read more Binky adventures.

Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters

For 20 years Mrs. Ranelagh has quietly collected evidence about the suspicious death of her neighbor, a black woman known as "Mad Annie," whose body was found in the gutter one evening. London police concluded that Annie was hit by a passing truck. But Ranelagh now armed with letters, statements and testimonials from both official and nonofficial sources is convinced she was beaten to death in a fury of racial hatred. Moreover, she suspects that one of her neighbors, or even her husband, Sam, may have been the killer.

From such an intriguingly simple setup springs another searingly narrated psychological drama by Edgar-winner Walters in which manners and other forms of propriety slowly give way to raw, ugly emotion. Ranelagh, the story's narrator, is a middle-aged woman whose restrained public persona masks a bitter, unsparing nature driven by a life of disappointment and futility. She herself was scarred by Annie's death, terrorized in the months following for being a "nigger lover" and publicly doubting the police version. Not only does she want to find out who killed Annie, she wants personal revenge. One by one, she confronts her old neighbors a disparate cast of losers and social climbers now spread across the London area. Ranelagh's search, however, turns into not only a quest for justice but an agonizing odyssey that forces to the surface painful truths about herself and her family.

This was an extremely painful book to read.  There is much about torture of cats and just terrible people in general. I found it almost too much.  But obviously Walters did a lot of research about this and felt it was an important element of the story. I had to skim those parts.  I just can only read one of her books every couple of years as though they are really well done are extremely disturbing.

The cat, the quilt and the corpse : a cats in trouble mystery by Leann Sweeney

Jillian Hart's cat is allergic to people. When she returns home from a quilt show, the sneezing of her cat Chablis raises a red flag. Jillian uses a special shampoo and takes precautions so Chablis has no reactions to her. The sneezing can mean only one thing. Someone has been in her home while she was away. A further examination of the premises reveals that her Abyssinian cat Syrah is nowhere to be found. Convinced that Syrah has been kidnapped, Jillian Hart starts her own investigation, an investigation which leads her to stories of more missing cats and a murder.

Living in a small town South Carolina Jillian hasn't really bonded with anyone as her husband died just after they moved their earlier that year. So everyone knows her business but she is oblivious to what has been going on around her. Her world centers around cats, not only her beautiful rescue cats but she imparts her knowledge and love of cats in everything she does. She makes little cat quilts as a business and for the local shelter. When her cat quilts show up at the murder scene, the clues become even more mysterious and the stakes more personal. As she narrows down the possible suspects, Jillian suspects more cats are in trouble and she might just need to save herself as well.

The ending was unexpected as I really didn't have the killer figured out and enjoyed Jillian try to figure out the small town politics and find connections when she has been isolated for so long.

This was a fun cat mystery that has the flavor of the Cat Who books which used to be one of my favorite series from my high school days.  It makes a nice change from traditional cozy mysteries.  I'm looking forward to more by this author.