Lisa's Cubby

Two things before I start. I was not, nor am I now, a fan of Star Wars. And, I was fortunate to receive a signed copy of Fisher’s last book The Princess Diarist weeks before she passed away.

I have always enjoyed Carrie Fisher as a writer, her one woman shows, her appearances in movies and television, and especially when she would be on the Graham Norton show which she happened to be just a few weeks prior to her death.

With all that said, The Princess Diarist is as funny and insightful as all her other books, filled with her honest opinions and hilarious storytelling. She explains how she happened to find her old diaries one day in her bedroom and began reading them. And then proceeds to show/compare her 19 year old Carrie Fisher to her 59 year old Princess Leia/Carrie Fisher.

The book (and diary) in part relay her secret affair with Harrison Ford during their 3 month filming of the first Star Wars movie in England. A bittersweet relationship with an older man whom she instinctively knew would end when their time in England ended and how a young 19 year old who unbeknownst to herself would be plunged into stardom would need to deal with it all.

She also gives hilarious accounts of meeting rabid fans at conventions and how the dialogue would flow between Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher and her fans.

Sadly, there are many references to her and her mother on passing away which are poignant and heartbreaking, not meant to be, I believe, while she was writing the book, which ironically was put together quickly, all quite significant in retrospect.

A quick funny read which I am sure all Star Wars and Carrie Fisher fans will enjoy. I am just grateful I get to keep the book in my collection forever.

Maddie Kosloski is the owner of a paranormal museum in San Bendetto. She is busy preparing for her Magic of Chocolate exhibit at the museum when she accidently finds the body of one of the owners of the chocolate store Reign dead, smothered in chocolate.

In the meantime her latest haunted museum piece is keeping her very “rattled”.

As Maddie searches for clues as to who would want to kill the chocolatier, the suspects keep adding up. As for her newest paranormal find, she needs to investigate its history to figure out why (and if) it is haunted.

She has assistance from her friends Adele and Harper as well as her boyfriend Detective Jason Slate. She perhaps gets her “extra sensory” help from her cat GD who keeps her on her toes.

This book 4 of the series and although there were references to the previous books (naturally) which went over my head, it was not a problem in understanding the story.

Chocolate a la Murder is a funny, cozy read on a snowy day (which I did) with a nice cup of hot chocolate!

The book has just come out. Thank you #NetGalley #Midnight Ink #Chocolate a la Murder #Kristen Weiss for the advanced copy.

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin is the most beautiful story of the beginning, middle and end of Maurice Hannigan’s life. It’s about what he loved, what he lost, how he loved and what he most regretted.

Over the course of one night, 84 year old Maurice Hannigan sits and drinks at a bar in a hotel he knows only too well, and toasts the five most important people in his life before he goes up to his hotel room to go to sleep for the last time. Through each of the chapters we learn of his all consuming love for his brother and his wife Sadie who he lost two years ago to the day. The story follows his life including the heart wrenching loss of his child, Molly, who although she died before being born has been his moral compass for most of his life. We feel the longing he has to be with the love of his life Sadie, and how proud he is of his only child, a son Kevin. We empathize with him when he questions if perhaps be could have been a better husband and father. We feel his unspoken hate and revenge for a family he feels destroyed his own. We understand him when he talks about regrets.

This is such a powerful book with so many lessons for one to take from it. You fall in love with Maurice and dread the book coming to its end, hoping there will be a different outcome. And then you cry. You feel as if you have lost a good friend.

A remarkable story which you will keep in your heart,

Thank you #NetGalley #When All Is Said #Thomas Dunne Books #Anne Griffin for the incredible read. The book will be out on March 5.

The Stranger Diaries is a tale of murder, mayhem and with a ghost story thrown in for good measure!

English teachers are being murdered at Talgarth High School in England.

Clare Cassidy, an English teacher herself at the High School who is writing a book on Gothic writer R.M. Holland, the author of a short story entitled “The Stranger” and coincidentally the former owner of what is now the High School loves her job, her daughter Georgie and their dog Herbert, who is named after R.M. Holland’s own dog. She has had a case of writer’s block on her hunt for information on the reclusive Holland. Until now…

Then her best friend and colleague is murdered. Beside her body is a hand written piece of paper with a line from Holland’s short story. As the police begin to investigate, Clare, Georgie and even Herbert become embroiled in a murder mystery and ghost story which seems to revolve around Clare. She finds writing in her diary which is not hers, but matches the handwriting on the note found next to her friend’s body. Could she be the next victim? How did the writing get there? Everyone is a suspect, (except Herbert!). As the detectives try to put the puzzle together the story races to surprising conclusion.

I enjoyed the separation of sections in the book in which particular scenes are told by each of the main character’s perspective which gives the reader insights into what each was thinking and seeing as different situations occur.

Also, as a nice touch, Holland’s short story is told in increments as the book progresses. This gives the novel an eerie, haunted feeling. A Gothic thriller, The Stranger Diaries has twists and turns and mystery. It has ghosts and even witches. I hope everyone picks this book up!

Thank you #NetGalley #Houghton Mifflin Harcourt #The Stranger Diaries #Elly Griffiths for the advanced copy. The book will be out March 5.

Class mom is a ridiculously funny look at what it is like to be a class mom and what it is like to have to deal with the many personalities involved.

Jen Dixon is an “olderish” mom who led quite the life in her early 20’s and has two college daughters to prove it. Now married, she has a son going into Kindergarten. Having been a class mom years ago for her daughters, Jen is gently “pushed” into being the class mom for her son Max’s class by her best friend Nina. Jen thinks, been there, done that easy! Um…maybe not!

From the hilarious emails she sends to the parents (at least she thinks they are funny) to dealing with a young sexy kindergarten teacher who does not believe in “Hallmark” holidays or parties, Jen is in constant motion. To add to the chaos, her daughters are having their own crisis and her husband has become not so thrilled with her. Anyone who has ever been a class mom can identify with the different parental “personalities” as well as the land mines one has to avoid in order to keep the peace.

I laughed from beginning to end and I look forward to reviewing the sequel, You’ve Been Volunteered, which is coming out in July. @Goodreads #Class Mom

The Lost Night begins with Lindsay by chance meeting a former friend from ten years ago. The last time they saw each other was the night of her best friend Edie’s suicide.

In 2009 Lindsay was a blackout very angry drunk who partied and fought with a tight group of friends. One night her best friend Edie kills herself and leaves a suicide note. Devastated she walks away from those friends and gets her life together. She stops drinking and becomes a successful magazine fact checker with great friends…a good life.

Until this chance meeting. When Lindsay discovers her memory (as much as she can remember of it) of the night of Edie’s death differs with what may have actually happened. She begins to have flashbacks of that time when she was friends with Edie. She decides to try and piece together what actually happened that night by using her resources as a fact checker as well as finding those friends from her previous life.

Could it be possible Edie did not kill herself? Slowly Lindsay starts to realize that not only could it be possible, but she could be an actual murderer. How can she be sure? How does she not start to slip into her old habits which got her into this mess. Can you ever forgive your friends for their past mistakes and especially, can you ever forgive yourself.

The Lost Night is a fast paced story which weaves in and out of 2009 and now. The story lines are all incredible and the characters believable. This is Bartz first book and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for her next!

The Lost Night goes on sale February 26. Thank you #NetGalley and #Crown for the advanced copy.

Sorry Not Sorry by Sophie Ranald is a hysterical romp through life while dating and all its hits and misses (or messes) which comes with it. It’s about losing a best friend to marriage and working endless hours at a job that you feel unappreciated. In other words…life!

Charlotte is tired of being alone and single. With her best friend moving out to get married and having to adjust to new housemates, she’s feeling pretty low. Until she comes across a podcast called “Sorry Not Sorry” which challenges single women in each podcast to one exercise in order to improve their love lives. She begins taking the challenges from the mysterious woman who dishes out the advice while telling listeners her own dating mishaps. Charlotte begins to gain a sort of confidence by trying the advice.

During this same time she is faced with losing her best friend due to reasons she does not quite understand and helping her new roommate Tansy navigate a relationship while knowing she is keeping some sort of a secret about her past, all the while desperately trying to keep her job by working long hours and never saying no.

This story is very relatable to anyone who has had to juggle the trials of working, dating and maintaining friendships. It is an uplifting funny story which will make you both cringe yet empathize with Charlotte’s choices.

I cannot wait for the sequel!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy. The book will be out on February 13.

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben is the first book in the Myron Bolitar, sports agent/lawyer/investigator series. This book was published in 1995 which for those of us old enough to remember is a story within the story in itself.

Anyway, Bolitar is an up and coming sports agent to up and coming athletes. The story shows how cutthroat the business is and how agents will try just about anything to outdo each other in order to get athletes to sign with them.

But the main plot is Bolitar’s ex-girlfriend’s sister, who went missing over a year ago seems to suddenly reappear in a series of seedy pictures and phone calls, which includes to one of Bolitar’s star athletes. What unravels is the mystery of what happened to college student Cathy Culver, who had turned her life around and seemed to be finally happy and in love. Could she really be alive? Her family needs some closure especially since her father has just died of what appears to be a random mugging. Could the two deaths be connected? And how and why?

A definite page turner with an I can’t stop reading until I know who did it and how and why aspect. It reminds me of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series with that same quick wit and sarcasm and easy dialogue. I enjoyed the book as well as the flashback to the 1990’s.

Chef Bartolomeo Scappi, the head cook for the Popes during the 1500’s in Rome, dies suddenly and leaves most of his estate to his nephew, apprentice Giovanni Scappi who then steps into the head cook role

Giovanni is given Bartolomeo’s cooking knife and a set of keys and is told to destroy what is in the boxes. Giovanni’s curiosity gets the better of him and he opens one of the boxes to find his Uncle’s journals dating back years, Unfortunately much of the journals are unreadable because they are in codes. Instead of burning the journals, he decides to decipher them to find out what Bartolomeo had been hiding all these years.

Within the notebooks Giovanni begins to see a different person than the kind, loving hardworking uncle he had always looked up to. He discovers Bartolomeo’s secrets and even a murder. Bartolomeo, who never married had been carrying on an affair with a woman who was given the pseudonym Stella to hide her true identity. Who could Stella be?

The Chef’s Secret is filled with intrigue, suspense, love, deception, and many feasts. The story reads like a juicy soap opera!. Anyone interested in the history of Renaissance life in Italy will be fascinated with the intricate details of the Vatican, the architecture of the day, artwork of the period as well as the massive amount of foods which were consumed during feasts and some of the delicacies’ origins.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy. The Chef’s Secret will be out on February 12.