What I'm Reading--

I have been a busy bee when it comes to turning pages lately, and I haven't stopped to write a review on a single one of them. I will try to catch up :] Have a great weekend. I am planning on spending most the weekend reading and baking so, beware for the pictures. They will make your tummy rumble.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley


Review:
11-year-old sleuth, Flavia de Luce, returns to find her self laying in a graveyard wondering what it would be like to be dead and if her family would miss her dearly. Flavia is brought back to reality when she hears crying across the yard. She meets Nialla, an assistant to the puppeteer Rupert Porson, who Flavia immediately warms to. Since the two are stranded in Bishop's Lacey they agree to put on a show for the village in three days time. But when Rupert Porson is sizzled and falls like the Great Big Giant, Flavia finds herself once again tangled in two mysteries. However, the mystery from the past still clouds the village of Bishop's Lacey. Flavia and her only friend, Gladys (her trusty bicycle) will have to go all the way to Gibbet Wood to be able to piece together these two crimes.  Add an obsessed German, a Mad Woman, and a Crazy Aunt and you have a great book from end to end. 


I am becoming a huge fan of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. Not only is she an 11-year-old genius, but she also tries to find different and clever ways to trick her sisters. I enjoyed this book almost more than the first because the reader is able to get a better understanding of each character, both minor and major. However, the reader is aware that a crime is going to be committed but it does not happen until the first quarter of the book is complete. I was anticipating the entire quarter waiting for something to happen. That is the only bad thing I have to say about the second book in this series. I have already placed a hold on the third, Red Herring Without Mustard at the library to read this weekend. Review to come :]

After I completed The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, I decided to get caught up on the Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett. Book number five of Booktown Mysteries:

Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett

Review: 
Back in Stoneham, New Hampshire things are trying to return back to normal. Bob Kelly has put aside a weekend for the village to celebrate Founder's Day. The Bookstores have been putting Stoneham on the map but Bob wants more publicity and more tourists because that will bring more profit. But when the plane carrying the Founder's Day banner comes crashing down on Deborah Black giving the welcome speech, Stoneham is back on the map but not for a good reason. Tricia Miles the owner of Haven't Got A Clue, also referred to as the town jinx, witnessed the horrible event. And when Deborah's husband sells her bookstore, Happy Domestic, within hours of her death Tricia finds herself questioning the act. Was it really an accident? Tricia will find herself reading between the lines of more clues than just the ones in the novels in her store. As long as she does not find herself in the cross hairs before another crime is committed. 

This series is still one of my favorites in the cozy mystery genre. Tricia is not nearly as perfect as she has been in the previous books. She is finding herself questioning everything around her. Does she trust people to easily or does she never allow herself to fully trust the people around her? Her love life is a mess, and maybe that is because she has never allowed herself to let go of Christopher he ex-husband. Just I side note. I DO NOT trust Ginny's boyfriend, Antonio. I am very happy for this new step in Ginny's life because she is one of my favorite minor characters but I have a feeling there will be more to her story line in the next few books. Now we have to wait for Murder on the Half Shelf to be published..... Hurry up!