My Cozy Book Corner

Sunday, January 11, 2015

His Majesty's Hope (Maggie Hope Mystery #3) by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope is back. First she cracked a code and saved a church while working for Churchill as a secretary, then she saved Princess Elizabeth, and now she is going to Berlin on an undercover assignment.

McNeal again spins a tale filled with intrigue and danger. In the third book in the series we get to know more about Maggie's family including a big surprise.

So far this has been a really well done series that has left me wanting more. Maggie Hope is a great character and going along with her as she breaks into traditionally male roles has been a great ride, sometimes scary but always interesting and exciting.

(Finished January 10, 2015)

Friday, January 9, 2015

To Save a People by Alex Kershaw

Most people have heard of Oskar Schindler but not many have heard of Raoul Wallenberg. This is his story. It is also the story of the thousands of Jews who were spared death at the hands of Adolf Eichmann in Hungary because of the young Swedish diplomat.

At great risk to himself and with no desire for reward Wallenberg intervened time and time again during the bloody summer of 1944. He faced down Eichmann and members of the Arrow Cross to save such a great many people.

Then the Soviets finally arrived which was supposed to bring safety and liberation. That was when the mystery began. What happened to Wallenberg at the hands of the Soviets?

Those he saved never forgot him and neither will you after reading this.

(Finished January 9, 2015)

Princess Elizabeth's Spy (Maggie Hope Mystery #2) by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope is back for another assignment. After her success breaking a code as Mr. Churchill's Secretary she is now posing as a maths tutor for the princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.

Proving again that women can do anything men can do Maggie isn't perfect but she is good and smart.

MacNeal spins a good tale and the mystery is well drawn. The tension is thick right up until the end and beyond thanks to a big cliffhanger.

I am looking forward to starting book 3.

(Finished January 7, 2015)

Monday, January 5, 2015

2015 Book List

Missed my goal of 60 by 6 books. I think had I not had such a rough semester and spent over a month sick near the end of the year I would have passed my goal. (12/31/15)

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

At first I wasn't sure if I liked this one. It took about 100 pages for me to start to really get into it and then I couldn't put it down.

What if you were born, died, and then born again....over and over? That is what happens to Ursula. She is born February 11, 1910 and dies before she can breathe. Then she is born again. Every time she dies it is at a different point in her life and she is immediately born to live her life over again. Each time her life and the life of those she come into contact with turns out a bit different depending on the choices made.

At some point she begins to remember having lived this life before in a hazy deja vu way and that too changes outcomes of the current timeline.

While each run through has its share of tragedy there are so many interesting thoughts woven in. If someone you love and trust turns away from you is it the situation and time or is it the person's character? Or is less simple than that? What does it mean to be a mother? What does it mean to be a family? How much of a ripple effect does even the most seemingly insignificant action have?

(Finished January 5, 2015)

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin

I will read anything by Martin that has to do with Westeros which is why I grabbed a copy of this very thin book.

It is listed as a YA novel but it is really more of a short story for young readers, it clocks in at about 120 pages and I read it in a short time.

The art work by Luis Royo is beautiful and worth seeing.

The Ice Dragon is the story of Adara who is a child of winter and her love and sacrifice. She also gets to ride an ice dragon, and hey, who wouldn't want to ride a dragon?

(Finished December 30, 2014)

The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad #5) by Tana French

I love the way Tana French writes so I was looking forward to reading book 5 of the Dublin Murder Squad series.

My favorite thing about mysteries is not figuring out the who in who-done-it. Part way in I thought I had it and while I was correct I ended up still enjoyed the unfolding of how and why.

In The Secret Place the world of teen girls and the angst they suffer and cause each other to suffer is the world where the murder of a teen boy takes place. The creep factor inherent in the world of mean girls drips off the page and that is meant as a compliment to the writing. There were times I wanted to slap more than one of the characters. At a school where the headmistress is determined to protect the rich girls and their families someone has committed a murder and for a year has gotten away with it. They would have continued to remain free if not for the daughter of a police officer figures it out and wants justice for the dead and those who loved him. But is she really guided by the desire for justice or does she have something to hide?

While this is the 5th in a series (In The Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor) it wouldn't be confusing to start here. Each story stands alone and what makes it a series is that it follows those who are part of or want to be part of the murder squad, names thread through the books but the stories can be read out of order without difficulty.

(Finished December 30, 2014)