Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross - this is the first in the series. Miss Julia is recently widowed and just beginning to feel out from under the thumb of her husband when she is shocked to find he's the father to a 9 year old boy. And the boy has been left with her! This book has several things I find irritating: busybody small town people, overbearing pastors, and people grabbing for money. Also, Miss Julia is a little behind the times. I don't think I'll continue the series.
2 stars
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China Dolls by Lisa See - three very different Chinese American girls meet in S.F. in 1938. They become friends and entertainers together. They all have secrets. Love and jealousy (and WWII) cause problems. I didn't find any of the girls totally sympathetic.
3 stars
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Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir by Frances Mayes - the author of Under the Tuscan Sun writes of her Southern childhood with volatile parents. It was a little hard for me to get into at first but then I got used to the style.
3 stars
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The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill - Hector Selgado is a policeman in Barcelona. Just returned from time off because of a violent episode, he's sent to do an unofficial investigation of an accident. Debut novel by an author who is a translator by profession. It seems he's been paying attention to the crime novel while he's been translating. A surprise reveal (at least for me) and then a cliffhanger that makes me very anxious for the next book. Language and some sex.
4.5 stars
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Dead Heading by Catherine Aird - a case of vandalism at two greenhouses is connected to a missing person and murder. Lots of repetition in this, by page 96 all that had happened was lots of talking about the vandalism. Total surprise who did it at the end but dulled by all the repetition. Also, not really fair to the book, but I get quite grumpy when there are lots of editing errors.
1 star
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Field of Prey by John Sandford - the killers are known from the outset, what's not known is how many they've killed and for how long. Way too many sexual remarks, which is supposed to be how cops talk. Also a totally unnecessary sex scene at the beginning when the first body is found. And too many other plot lines that don't go anywhere but just pad the story.
2 stars
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Weird Al: The Book by Nathan Rabin with Al Yankovic - not a neutral biography, more of a (comical) story of Al's career by a fan. Al provided the picture captions. It was interesting to see how Al keeps up with the times.
3 stars
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Faceoff edited by David Baldacci - several authors and their creations collaborate on a book of short stories for charity, two authors per story. Of course I enjoyed the stories more when I was familiar with the characters. Some of the authors I hadn't read so that gave me more fodder for my reading list.
3 stars
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The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930's America by John F. Kasson - not a biography as such. Instead, the author believes Shirley and her movies came along at just the right time to help raise spirits during the Depression. I had not realized just how popular she was during the 30's.
3 stars
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