Stamped Out

Stamped Out by Terri Thayer is the first book in a new series with April Buchert, a interior designer who has moved back to her small home town in Pennsylvania. She's been in California for awhile and is not sure she is glad to be home - even if it means shedding her deadbeat husband behind. But she has not mentioned that to her parents yet. She's still learning to deal with them being in the same town. Her dad and his partner have invited her to work with them on the latest project they are general contracting. And while checking out the site to be demolished, a body is found.

Who is it? No one has gone missing for years. This was a house her dad had worked on before and had bankrupted his company on the job. This house was trouble from the start, with continual changes from the owner, it's eventual fall into disrepair, and status as the local teen hideout. How many old memories will have to be dug up? How many old grudges? April learns that she was not the only one with troubles on her mind, the summer the house was built.

This book has some interesting characters, April who is an artist and trying to come to terms and change things in life, and there is her best friend Deana. Deana is the one organizing and hosting the rubber-stamping parties but her main job is her family's funeral home. (And actually that is pretty interesting.) During these crafting nights - all sorts of gossip is let loose and you learn a lot about the rest of the characters. (This does happen at some craft nights!)

Thayer's book is billed as "A Stamping Sisters Mystery" but really it is just a mystery with some rubber stamping thrown in. Let's hope there is a little more integration between the topics for the next one, because I like the characters and I'm interested in seeing what happens next. A good read.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

A chance encounter with a book by Charles Lamb, leads to a inquiring letter written to an author, who just happens to be looking for her next project, and her curiosity leads her to the island of Guernsey in the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows have written a book that is full of characters that we want to get to know - right away- and the format that the authors use - personal letters between characters - gives us the opportunity to be eager (and inquisitive) for the next missive.

Their letters give us the chance to examine the relationship between the characters, as it grows from being formal strangers, and moves to becoming beloved friends. They contain a lot of the minutia of life, and give the reader a bit of the background of the main writer - Juliet and what her life has been like during the war. All of the characters are experiencing the recovery of Great Britain from the war, but those on Guernsey have a special reason to be grateful after the sorrowful years of occupation.

The Literary society came about because of a special pig dinner. Special because it was being hidden from the Nazis. And as the islanders bonded over dinner and being in trouble, the society grew to be more than just a group of people talking about books. And one person, Elizabeth, seems to be the catalyst that brings them all together. When Juliet learns about their stories, she wants more than ever to bring their tale to light in a book because she is falling in love with the island too.

Filled with war stories, book references, British slang, and good humor, the authors have a definitely created a great story to tell. If you don't like the style of the book - personal letters - you might have trouble with it. But I think it is splendid! A very good read.

Bitter is the New Black

Jen Lancaster is not a nice person sometimes. Come on and sit next to me, sister! In her memoir Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-centered Smart Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office - yeah what a subtitle - she tells it like it is. She goes from being a "on her way up the corporate ladder" yuppie/shopaholic to being an unemployed mess, and trying to recover from the downfall. In the meantime, she marries her long term boyfriend (for the gifts - their broke, but the fact that the hotel where they have it is having a porn convention is a stitch), gets a pair of dogs that like to chew her expensive footwear, and starts a website to get rid of the frustrations. And that website catches on. And thus a writing career is born.

This book is a combination of many things. It's a a study of employment dos and don'ts, job searching dos and don'ts (if they tell you they want you to work on a pretend business plan and come back for another interview - they really are just scamming you out of a consulting fee - cause they are going to steal it if it is good.), and learning how to live within your means. Along the way you have the wacky family stories (her mother being hungover the day of the wedding - insisting she only had one glass of wine - that kept getting refilled), the touching moments between Jen and Fletch (he's a keeper!), and an example of what not to do while your drinking too much (phone calls are bad). It is also a book about the myth of the American dream that mass marketers want everyone to spend their money and time achieving. She learns that one the hard way. But everything is done with humor and being a smart ass doesn't help sometimes - but it sure is funny.

Take the Office, mix it with Bridget Jones, with the acidity of Seinfeld, and add Chicago and there you will have this book. Cause you know it is all about Jen. Very funny. I can not wait to read the next one.

Running Hot

Jayne Ann Krentz's Running Hot continues her Arcane Society series with a bang. Being a member of the society means that you have a paranormal talent, in this case, the aura readers. Aura readers are dismissed as "not important" talents. But what happens if your talent has a twist like Grace's? Or can be used to manipulate others' auras, like Luther's skill? These talents aren't so little any more.

Grace, a society genealogist and aura talent, is on her first assignment for Jones & Jones. It is supposed to be a routine case. She needs to identify a man who is suspected of murder. Her bodyguard showing her the ropes is Luther. Sounds simple. But what happens when they find out there are more sensitives at this hotel than just their suspect. And it looks like they have been experimenting with the Founder's formula. Did they stumble on a meeting for Nightshade? What are the odds?

Grace and Luther make a great team because they are not perfect. They are both people with a past. Their experiences and talents help them in the race to have J&J figure out what is going on in the ongoing battle against Nightshade. It also doesn't hurt that they are attracted to each other.

Krentz has written some great characters here and has set up the next adventure in the Arcane Society series quite nicely. It would be great to see some of Grace and Luther in the next book too. Her secondary characters are developed and she leaves us with a urge to see what is going to happen next to Fallon - who has been in all the books. And she leaves us with more information about the growth of Nightshade, but leaves us dangling to see what is going to happen next. A great series and a fun book. Can't wait for the next one!