Book #50

Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've enjoyed all the books in this series so far. I especially enjoyed learning more about Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project. Very interesting stuff. I'm surprised it hasn't been the setting for more novels/mystery/thrillers. The fate of Dr. Garcia weighs on me and I'm anxious to read the next in the series to find out how things are resolved.


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Book #49 of 2012

Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

another good book in this series. While the mystery wasn't all that I've come to expect, the book was still a good one. There wasn't enough of the forensic anthropology in this book. It was more focused on detective work and so it lost some of it's appeal for me. Also it was set in Canada, but at a remote location not in Tempe's home away from home. The aboriginal aspects seemed to be just thrown in for no good reason. Still a good read, just not the best of the series.


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Book #48

11th Hour by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This installment in the Women's Murder Club series was much better than the last one. There were two murder mysteries to solve and the focus was with Lindsey Boxer. The other women played very small roles in 11th Hour.


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Two Kindle Singles #46 & #47

The Second Son by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

great little Kindle single about Reacher as a kid. Fun read.


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Snatched: A Novella by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved this novella/Kindle Single about some of the time Will had to spend at the Atlanta airport. 

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Book #45

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Her books never disappoint me and this one is no exception. Great story about a flawed, but believable family of women. My only complaint is that it didn't go into enough detail about the things that happened early on. I wish Joshilyn Jackson had made this one a trilogy with a book for each story. Ginny's, Liza's and wrapped it all up with Mosey's. I just wanted more.


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#44

Criminal by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Karin Slaughter is amazing. This book was wonderful. We learned so much about Will Trent and his family. The flashbacks were great. Loved reading about Amanda and her early years as a detective in the Atlanta Police Department and the role she had in Will's early life. The crimes and detective work in this book were brutal. The detective work was smart. I'm just sad that I have to wait a year for another book by Karin Slaughter.


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Book # 43

Stolen Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An unthinkable crime. Brutal. An entire family tortured and killed. As Lucas Davenport and the BCA in Minnesota investigate this crime, it leads to a Mexican drug cartel and it's laundered money that has been stolen after it was laundered. A Federale comes north to help with the investigation and brings with him an assistant. There are other facets to the murders. Who are the murderers, who stole the money, where is the money? There's a secondary crime that Virgil Flowers is trying to solve. Lucas is mugged by a couple of tweakers while out jogging.
I love John Sandford and I love the Prey books. This one is another great one. The suspense of the man hunt for the brutal killers. The search for the the the mastermind behind the stolen money. The only thing I didn't like was the very end. I won't spoil it for you by telling you what I didn't like, but it just felt wrong to me.


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Book #42

Paskagankee by Allan Leverone
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had a hard time finishing this one. I read about half of it and put it down for a couple of weeks, started another book, took a long time to read it and finally picked this one back up and finished it. I'm not sure if I was just in a reading slump or if I picked some books that were just not very good.

So, first for what I liked about this book. I really liked the plot. The story. The Indian legend that the crimes were based on and the way the the crimes ended and were resolved.

And what I didn't like about the book. I was a little disappointed with the dialogue in the book. It sounded stilted, stiff and a bit amateurish. I hated the love story component. It was too quick and unbelievable. I think the characters (and author) would have been better served by letting the relationship develop for awhile before jumping in. This is the first in a series so jumping in to the relationship was premature.

Not sure if I'll read book #2.


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Book #41

Finally!

Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think I might be in the minority when I say I didn't love this book, but I didn't love this book. I despised the two main characters. I kept trying to find something about Nick and Amy to love, or even to like, or just something to tolerate. And I found NOTHING! Nothing about either character. The book would have gotten one star if not for the story. The story was interesting and the bit players were likable. Go was a twin sister who just wanted to believe in her brother but was caught up in the evidence. Boney was a good cop in a small town who also wanted to believe in Nick. Amy's parents were just plain weird. This book took me forever to read too. I just got bogged down in it. The story was interesting, but I just didn't really care how it ended since I didn't like the main characters. Wouldn't recommend this one to anyone.


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Win a signed copy of The Syndicate by Shelena Shorts

The Syndicate by Shelena Shorts Win a copy here!

I haven't read this one, but the synopsis sounds great. I've entered and you should too!

Book #40

Initiation by Imogen Rose
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was an okay book but I was sorta disappointed. I always enjoy the Young Adult books set at boarding schools. I wonder why that is? No idea really, but it's a setting I liked. It was hard to figure out if the main character was supposed to be Faustine or Cordelia. This was listed as the 1st in the Bonfire Academy series but it seemed that there were some things that I never quite understood. Then I see there's a book called Faustine but it's #1 in the Bonfire Chronicles. Kinda pisses me off that now I've read this book and there was a previous book that probably should have been read first. So there are two series with some of the same characters? Confusing and not sure if it's worth my while to continue with either series.


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What's Cooking?

Crock Pot Cafe Rio Chicken

Cooked some of this chicken yesterday and have it in the fridge ready for some quick meals.

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Just made a batch of this Alfredo Sauce. Yummy stuff. Added some sauteed mushrooms over angel hair pasta. Quite a tasty meal.

#39

Catch Me : A Detective DD Warren by Lisa Gardner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I figured it out too soon. That always disappoints me just a little. Otherwise, this was a good read. Easy and quick. Not too involved. Some brutal subject matter but it's another good outing for DD and company. Enjoyed the moments with her family.

Detective DD Warren is investigating a murder when she finds a note on her car and catches a glimpse of a person lurking around the crime scene. When she confronts the woman, Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant tells her a story unlike anything she's ever heard. Charlie believes that she will be murdered on January 21 at 8pm. You see for the past two years her best friends have been murdered on that date at that time and she knows she's next.


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What's Cooking?

Sunday I did the Beer Crock Pot Chicken. It was quite tasty. Made some pan roasted squash and mashed potatoes to go with it. It wasn't a very colorful meal but it was good. Forgot to take a picture.

There was leftover chicken so on Monday I used it to make these Chicken Bacon Taquitos. The avocado sauce is excellent. Good stuff. Had some nice fresh watermelon to go with and it was good eating at my house for lunch!

Pinterest has sucked up loads of my time, but I've found some truly wonderful recipes. There's loads of fun stuff to be found there!

Book #38

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second book in the Divergent series and it explained a great deal about the factions. The fighting and the war that takes place in this book is again brutal. The manipulation that Jeannine perpetrates is appalling. The romance between Four and Tris was just about right. The family story was phenomenal. I enjoyed then ending and can't wait to read the next book to find out even more.


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What's for dinner?

I've gone through my food board on Pinterest and chosen some recipes for the week. Not sure when I'll make everything, but hopefully I'll get to all these:

Beer Crockpot Chicken
Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin
Bacon Mushroom Quiche
Spaghetti

That's my plan for the week. Hopefully I can stick to it.

Book #37

Shock Wave by John Sandford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read this one while I was at the beach. Didn't take the time to do the review. Oh boy, why do I do that? I love John Sandford. The Lucas Davenport Prey series is one of the best series out there and is a must read for me. Virgil Flowers had made some appearances there and he's a great character. This series is almost as good.
There's a huge mega store coming to town and not everybody is happy. There are the towns people who are probably going to go bankrupt and lose their businesses. There are the fishing enthusiasts who are worried about the run off ruining a great river. The politicians who seem to have taken bribes to change votes and approve the big store. And somewhere among all those folks is a bomber who is intent on stopping the store from being built and killing a few bystanders. Virgil Flowers gets the call on his day off and travels to another small Minnesota town to help the local Sheriff solve the crimes. There are some good twists and turns. Some good suspects who get cleared. And of course Virgil gets his guy.


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#36 of 2012

Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What to say about this book? It's YA. It's dystopian. It's family drama. It's brutal. I liked it alot. Can't wait to read the next book and see what happens.


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Book #35

Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the reviews of this book and expected something really good. It delivered. Reviews warned of a twist and I guess you could call the end a twist. I expected a couple of things that happened, but that didn't make this book less satisfying. I think I'm a pretty savvy reader so there's not much that gets past me. (except the ending of My Sister's Keeper, I'm still pissed off about that twist. I literally threw the book across the room and hit the wall!)

When a teenager is murdered in Newton, Assistant DA Andy Barber is called to the scene to get the investigation going. The boy is a classmate of his son Jacob. Andy has a suspect, but is blindsided when his son is arrested. Andy never waivers in his fight to prove his son's innocence. Even when his past comes to light.

It's a murder mystery, a crime drama, a courtroom thriller and a family study. Great read.


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My version of Chicken Parmesan

My son loves my chicken parm. It's not what you'd get in a fancy restaurant or even in a not so fancy restaurant. It's what you get when I cook . I hate measuring ingredients so there are no measurements here. Use as much as you think you'll need to feed your family. Today, I used 2 chicken breasts, one 24oz. can of sauce and a box of noodles.
My easy Chicken Parm
boneless skinless chicken breasts
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Spaghetti sauce
noodles
olive oil, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

look at all that brown goodness!

because it's not chunky 

Cut your chicken into pieces. I like bite sized pieces, but you can cut your's any size you want them or you can leave them whole. It's all up to you. Season the chicken with garlic and Italian seasoning. You can add salt if you want, but I don't. My favorite thing to season the chicken with is some of that mix you can get that you put in olive oil to dip bread into. You know what I'm talking about. Stuff is good, but if you don't have it just use Italian seasoning. Brown your chicken in olive oil. Once your chicken is browned, put it in a casserole dish and sprinkle it with some Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese then pour your spaghetti sauce over it. I use Hunt's Four Cheese Pasta Sauce. You could make your own or use your favorite jar sauce. Add more cheese on top and pop it in the oven at about 350°. Cook it until the cheese is all melty, bubbly goodness.  Cook up some noodles (we like angel hair) and serve it up hot and delicious.

Please don't look at the burnt stuff on the casserole dish!

Can you see the steam?