Book Review: Killer in the Crowd

Katie March 31, 2022 0 Comments

I’ve been on a bit of a murder mystery book kick lately, so it seemed only natural to add in a mystery that takes place with a band!  The book follows Cath Edgley.  She may seem like a boring school teacher, but her Mom is a punk legend and so was her Dad.  After the man she believed to be her father is found dead, many believe he may have been murdered, including Cath.

Cath’s Mom, Betzy Blac, has been missing since Cath was 7 years old.  No one knows if she just ran off or if she died.  Cath decides she is going to get to the bottom of it all and starts receiving mysterious texts telling her to “trust no one”.  Cath finds herself in and out of sticky situations but ultimately ends up suspended from her school teacher job and joins her Mom’s old band, Decollete, for a reunion of sorts.  Cath thinks that if the band is back together, with her playing the part of Betzy, they can get the information they need to find out who killed Raven and where her Mom is.

There are a LOT of different (shady) characters in this book so it makes it a bit difficult to actually have a theory of “whodunit” and many think that Cath is just following a conspiracy theory and that the deaths aren’t at all connected.  Once I got into the meat of this story, it was really hard to put it down, so many twists and turns as we followed Cath into trying to figure out what happened to her Mom.  Quite the roller coaster of a book and if you’re into murder mystery and concerts, this ones for you.

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Live music is in her blood, but as the death threats arrive, she fears there’s a Killer in the Crowd…

“Trust no one”

Cath Edgley is just a normal schoolteacher… until she hears the shocking news that fading rock star Raven Rain has been murdered. Because, to Cath, Raven Rain is more than just a picture on a magazine – he
was also the ex-lover of her missing mother, lead singer of ’80s punk girl band, Décolleté.

Warned by a string of mystery text messages to “trust no one”, Cath is inspired to solve the mystery of her mum’s disappearance, once and for all.

Cath finds herself thrust into the sordid underbelly of the ’80s music scene, when rock and roll played second fiddle to the sex and drugs.

Can Cath find the killers before she becomes their next victim?

Are the superstars she encounters all that they seem?

And what exactly happened to her mother, the punk superstar, Betzy Blac?

If you love mystery thrillers with a musical twist, then you’ll love this debut novel from journalist Phil Johnson.

Book Review: 100 Days of Adventure

Katie March 29, 2022 0 Comments

Due to download constraints, I wasn’t able to review the full 100 days.  The book separates out the 100 days by season, with 25 activities for Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring.  While this book is geared towards children, a lot of the activities and learning can be done by anyone of any age!  There are recipes, outdoor activities, ways to help your community and all sorts of fun activities included. Some of the summer activities I’d most like to try are: tying knots, making smores and kayaking! There are a lot of great ways to fill the days of summer vacation in the book.  I also was able to get a sneak at some of the Fall activities as well – and my favorites of those that I checked out were: Make wax leaves, see a symphony concert, and a “day trip to another country” – which is essentially finding a neighborhood near you that might celebrate cultures different than your own.

If you have kids with adventurous spirit, I am sure they will find plenty to do within this book – I only was able to look at a portion of it, and it gave me plenty of ideas as well!

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Second-generation homeschooling mom Greta Eskridge shares 100 hands-on, learning activities for kids that will connect and enrich your family through adventures, small and big. Turn off the screen and turn on the creativity, curiosity, and love of nature as you have a meteor slumber party, attend a symphony concert, take a hike in the rain, preserve colorful fall leaves, make nettle pesto, and venture into the great, wide, real world.

In 100 Days of Adventure, children ages 6 to 10 will

unplug from electronics and explore the world, from backyard bugs to farmer’s market veggies and plants along the traillearn about nature, art, music, and themselves through STEAM projects and new experiencesbond with parents and siblings, learn new skills with individual investigations, or explore with friends in an educational or homeschool group

This full-color activity book for kids includes

100 indoor and outdoor activities, projects, experiments, crafts, recipes, and field trips, divided by seasonmany activities that are free or low cost, with options for different kinds of families and locationsstep-by-step directions, nature journal prompts, tips, and checklistsbeautiful photos and helpful illustrationsa note to parents with encouraging start-here guidance on growing a family culture of curiosity and adventure

Whether your family is looking for fun activities for school breaks at home, road trip vacations, or everyday ways to learn together, this collection of interactive educational activities will help your kids get creative, get into nature, and get closer to each other.

Don’t miss Greta’s essential guide for parents on building a connected and loving family through exploration, Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids.

Book Review: Sex and the Single Panda

Katie March 8, 2022 0 Comments

Sex and the Single Panda: The Revolting Pursuit of Love in the Animal Kingdom.  This book had me intrigued from the cover.  And even more intrigued as I read the introduction and saw “You may see yourself in here. Or maybe you’ll recognize an ex. You may find yourself saying things like ‘I would have sex with the clownfish!'” and “Although everything in this book is what you might call ‘disgusting.’ I’ll ask you to remember that everything depicted here is 100% from nature, and nature can never be wrong.”  Then I started wondering just what I got myself into by opening this book…

Turns out I’m a parasitic fly, so, there’s that… There’s also way too many spiders in this book for a book with a panda on the cover!  And you will finish this book knowing way more about animals mating habits than you ever really wanted to, but hey, maybe they’ll come in handy as fun facts at parties?

This is a quick read, a little gross, a lotta fun and worth it if you have some time to kill. (and you might not be the only one?)

I received a free e-copy of this book to read from NetGalley and was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

All about the absurdities of animal courtship, Sex and the Single Panda: The Revolting Pursuit of Love in the Animal Kingdom is an illustrated humor book detailing the factual—and often disgusting—mating habits of a wide variety of animals gone wild—from big beasts to wee beasties.

Through a series of funny dating profiles, find out more about the unbelievably weird mating habits of a variety of bachelors, bachelorettes, and gender non-binary bachelorx, from capuchin monkeys and praying mantises to hyenas and hippos. Raunchy, yet informational, and packed with helpful infographics, guides, and more, this is a laugh-out-loud delight for animal lovers and comedy fans alike.

HILARIOUS YET EDUCATIONAL: The author’s bitingly funny, wildly imaginative dating personas of a wide variety of animals includes factual explanations of their oft-astounding mating habits.

AS FUNNY AS IT IS GROSS: This R-rated yet informational book will make a laugh-out-loud gift for animal lovers and comedy fans everywhere.

GREAT BIRTHDAY OR GALENTINE’S GIFT: Whimsical and witty yet informative, Sex and the Single Panda makes a great gift for any animal lover, science lover, or comedy enthusiast.