Ashleigh's Bookshelf

A Knit Before Dying by Sadie Hartwell NYC fashion designer Josie is settling into her new life in rural Connecticut as the owner of a yarn shop and landlord. Hopefully, her new tenant, an antiques dealer, will help bring some life to the sleepy downtown. However, when an unexpected death calls up memories of a unsolved missing persons case, yarn is the last thing on her mind. It will be difficult for me to review this book without giving away too many spoilers, but I will try. While the first chapter helps set up the scene, it almost wasn't enough to engage me enough to keep reading. Honestly, if I weren't reading this for a Book Bingo square, I might not have continued past that first chapter. As the book continued, I did grow more interested in the story. However, it felt as if the main character was a little too focused on the cold case than the current mystery. Her obsession made me think early on that the two might be connected. There were also sever...

Worth the Effort: Ella's Story by Kai Strand When Ella encounters a homeless teen behind the coffee shop where she works, she struggles to overcome her fear of him. Curious about how he ended up on the streets, she learns more about herself than his story. I found this story very enjoyable. I liked learning about Ayden and watching Ella grow. I would have liked to have learned a little more about Ella's world. Why was she working at the coffee shop. Did she have any close friends? I didn't get the impression she did. Overall, I found this a cute story and look forward to reading Ayden's side. I would rate this story four quills and place it on my middle shelf.

Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal On a paddling journey, a young boy and his mother discover the plants and animals that call the pond their home. My family and I stumbled upon this story when a hike through a local wooded trail turned out to be a neighborhood story walk. This was not our first story walk and my children were excited to read the new (to us) book. My husband was surprised to learn that dragonfly larvae live underwater. My seven-year-old loved this book because "she learned what different animals ate". Overall, the book was a cute way to educate young readers on some of the plant and animal life found in a pond. Many of the organisms were those found near us, so we were familiar with them. However, although the facts were interesting, the pages didn't always feel like they flowed together to create a story. Even two facing pages sometimes felt disjointed. I would have liked to...

A Town Called Potato by Gary Blaine Randolph When computer expert Gabriel Lake meets with a new client, he expects them to ask him to develop a new app. He doesn't expect them to ask him to help find a missing person. Not just any missing person. Someone who doesn't belong on Earth. And that's just the beginning of the adventure. This book felt like A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy crossed with Sherlock Holmes . Throughout the book, the main character admits he has no idea what he is doing, but he is drawing his knowledge from the noir mysteries he loves to read. Set on several other planets, this book required a lot of worldbuilding. And the author did not disappoint. Perhaps it was his likening it to science fiction shows I had seen, but I could really picture each new location, as well as the aliens who lived there. I also really enjoyed not only the explanation of how the chrono drive worked, but also watching it in motion. The author used ...

Back to School Murder by Leslie Meier It's the first day of school in a peaceful little Maine town. For Lucy Stone, this means a few childless hours to work at the local newspaper and contemplate night classes. However, when she gets reports of a bomb in her children's school, Lucy starts to wonder who put it there. When her prime suspect ends up dead and an innocent man is arrested, Lucy becomes determined to clear his name and discover the truth. This book jumped out of me because Lucy Stone is a mother of four--three girls and a boy, just like me--who lives in a small New England town. I really wanted to like this book and, although it was a little dated, I must say, I did enjoy it. This is an older story, written in an era before 9-11 and the Columbine school shootings. The story opens with a bomb in the elementary school. In case readers find such a scenario disturbing, I will put this spoiler: No one is killed in the explosion and there is only one...

The One Great Gnome by Jeff Dinardo illustrated by Jhon Ortiz When eleven-year-old Sarah is transplanted from New York City to rural Connecticut, she has no idea how she will survive. Never could she have imagined that a garden gnome come to life would lead her to an underground adventure to save the entire gnome race. I listened to the audiobook version of this story and absolutely loved the addition of sound effects to enhance the story. Looking at the printed version, I saw the addition of illustrations with the text as well. I thought these nice additions. However, while my seven-year-old daughter found this story enjoyable, I had a difficult time getting into the story. Although it is geared toward a younger audience, I was frustrated by the overuse of dialogue tags and, at least in the second half of the story, the near absent use of pronouns, leading to names being repeated many times in a short period. An example of thi...

Publishable By Death by A.C.F. Bookens It's opening day for St. Marin's newest -- and only -- bookstore and owner Harvey can't be more excited. Books are on the shelves, coffee is in the cafe, a dead body is in the stockroom. While no one seems too upset by the loss of one of it's residents, Harvey wants to find the murderer before bad publicity ruins her reputation. I found this book to be extremely entertaining. I enjoyed watching the romance unfold between Harvey and a certain mechanic. I loved working with Harvey to figure out the identity of the murderer (although I have to admit I figured it out long before she did). I also loved learning the history of the bookstore. I look forward to reading more about St. Marin. Overall, I would rate this story four quills and place it on my middle shelf.