MURDER IS BINDING by Lorna Barrett [Book recommendation]

Book obtained from: Library New Books shelf, Audio book

Description: Tricia Miles, a city slicker, moves to a small town and opens a book store selling mystery books.  The town is a tourist stop for book lovers, with a LOT of specialty bookstores.  This is the first book in a series.

Plot:  Tricia has landlord troubles, sister troubles, and love life troubles.  One day Tricia finds Doris, her business neighbor and the resident curmudgeon, dead in her cook book store.  The Sheriff believes Tricia killed Doris and that she's the town jinx.  Tricia has to clear her good name.

Characterization: Some of the minor characters were a little flat, but the major characters [Tricia, her sister, and her employees] were reasonably well developed and had their own personalities.

Setting: Stoneham, New Hampshire. This is the first book I've ever read from that area of the country.  The descriptions were good, I was able to picture every scene without it being over-described.

Other:  The who-done-it kept me guessing, and guessing wrong, until the end.  Very well done.

Overall: A good, light mystery.  The audio book is read by Cassandra Campbell, who read it well with different voices for the different characters altho some did sound very similar.

Grade: B+

TRICKY TWENTY-TWO by Janet Evanovich [Book recommendation]

Book obtained from: Library New Books shelf, Audio book

Description: Stephanie Plum, the protagonist, is an inept but very lucky bounty-hunter. She also moonlights for her friend Ranger, a security expert and also bounty-hunter. In this 22nd book in the series, she's searching for a fraternity member who was arrested for beating up the dean of students at Kiltman College, and missed his court date.

Plot: Stephanie is searching for a fraternity brother, who is apparently “the supreme exalted zookeeper” [leader] of an Animal House type fraternity. A secondary story line intersects, with a terrorism angle.  The plot is somewhat improbable, but it does hang together.  One of the things I really like about Janet Evanovich is she can weave together several seemingly-unrelated plots which all come together at the end.

Characterization: The characters are reasonably well developed and had their own personalities.  Stephanie is still inept, extremely lucky, and very funny.  She really hasn't changed over 22 books, which is disappointing to many readers but I still find her funny.  The two main male characters, Morelli and Ranger, don't have much role in this book.  Lula and Stephanie's mother have larger roles, which is a nice change.

Setting: Trenton, New Jersey. The descriptions were good, I was able to picture every scene without it being over-described.

Other: There are several “facts” in this book which are inconsistent with “facts” from previous books [like the description of Ranger's headquarters], which makes me wonder if Evanovich either didn't write this book, or is having memory issues.  They don't detract from the story if you haven't read others in the series, but for fans like me who have read all the books, it did throw me out of the story, which was disappointing.  Some of the scenes are almost identical to scenes from previous books, just a few changes but definitely recognizable.  For example, this is at least the second book which begins with a lady threatening to jump from a high location.

Overall: A good, light mystery. Funny.  The audio book is read by Lorelei King and she's awesome, a unique and appropriate voice for each character.  This book is significantly shorter than the other books in this series.
 
Grade: B-

A to Z Challenge 2016 Reflections

Today is the day we report on our A to Z experience.

Last year, I signed up approximately 3 days before the challenge started, and I wrote my posts as they came due [this was nightmare-ish].  This year I signed up in January and wrote my posts in advance.  They were finished in March.  This made my experience MUCH easier, altho I still didn't have as much time as I wanted for visiting the other A to Z bloggers.

Here's a list of the blogs I enjoyed the most for this challenge:

KD James wrote a 40,000 word story, and it's awesome

John Frain wrote amazing 6-sentence stories

Colin Smith wrote 100-word flash stories based on Paul McCartney songs

Julie Weathers wrote information on the Civil War and included excerpts of her novel-in-progress

Kate Larkindale with New Zealand Films

K.Ridwyn with Lessons from God's Metaphors, complete with needlework

EM Goldsmith with Musings and Short Stories

Life in Dogs wrote on the A to Z of Dog Rescue

Insecure Writer's Support Group wrote on Writing Resources

Stats from my own blog:

Letters with more than 50 views:
B, E, F, G, N

Countries with the most views:
USA, Russia, Australia

Themes:
2015  Legal Definitions
2016  Military Definitions
2017  ??  [If you have a suggestion, please post it in the comments]

Thank you all for visiting, and congratulations to all my fellow A to Z Challenge bloggers!

A pause to rest

The AtoZ Challenge for the month of April is over!  I hope you enjoyed reading my military definitions.

Congrats to all of my AtoZ co-laborers.  We made it!

My AtoZ Reflections will be posted on Monday May 9.

This blog will resume its regularly scheduled programming on May 16.

Thanks for your patience.

Military Definitions - Z

A to Z Blogging Challenge.  My topic is MILITARY DEFINITIONS.

Z – Zulu

morse code – dash dash dot dot

Zero point - the location of the center of a nuclear detonation. The zero point may be in the air, or on or beneath the surface of land or water, depending on the type of burst.  Thus dit is distinguished from ground zero, which is the point on the surface of the earth either at, below, or above the nuclear detonation.

Zulu time – also called universal time and Greenwich Mean Time.  For current Zulu time - click here 

Thank you for sharing this AtoZ Blogging Challenge with me and for reading my blog.

And for all of you also participating this year in AtoZ Blogging Challenge, CONGRATULATIONS for finishing!
  
We are all entitled to a nap =)

Military Definitions - Y

A to Z Blogging Challenge.  My topic is MILITARY DEFINITIONS. 

Y – Yankee

morse code – dash dot dash dash

Yaw — the rotation of an aircraft, ship, or missile about its vertical axis.

Yeoman - an enlisted person within the US Navy who performs administrative and clerical work - protocol, naval instructions, enlisted evaluations, commissioned officer fitness reports, naval messages, visitors, telephone calls and mail. They organize files, operate office equipment, order and distribute office supplies, type letters, notices, directives, forms and reports.
 

Military Definitions - X

A to Z Blogging Challenge.  My topic is MILITARY DEFINITIONS.

X – Xray

morse code – dash dot dot dash

[I'm cheating a little on this one.  I found no interesting X so I'm using EX]

Exercise — a military maneuver or simulated wartime operation involving planning, preparation, and execution, for the purpose of training and evaluation.

Exfiltration — the removal of personnel from areas under enemy control by stealth, deception, surprise, or clandestine means.

Expedition — a military operation conducted by an armed force to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country.

Explosive ordnance disposal — the detection, identification, evaluation, rendering safe, recovery, and final disposal of unexploded explosive ordnance.  Also called EOD.  At one point my son applied for this job.  Mommy was NOT happy.

Extra Military Instruction - EMI. A supposed learning opportunity for a serviceman to better learn some military instruction. Usually a non-judicial punishment consisting of some menial task like running in place with arms outstretched from the chest while holding a rifle (Army) or changing into every uniform once an hour for inspection (a "Fashion Show") (Navy).