Review: Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders

Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders by Brady Carlson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book was OUTSTANDING!!! I am one of those Presidential geeks that would love to visit every single Presidential site in America. I am very aware that I will never obtain it, so this was wonderful to hear about some of the dead Presidents that I find fascinating. Carlson evens mentions some places that I have been and he added new facts to what I saw (mainly because I was herded through places at a fast pace). What a brilliant idea to visit all these Presidential places of the dead leaders and then write about them.

Simply awesome!

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Review: Granny Gets Fancy

Granny Gets Fancy by Harper Lin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

And I would love to give it to you. Granny has a boyfriend, Octavian. They decide to get all dressed up and head to the country club where, as you would expect, a murder will take place. Granny/Barbara has to interview all the fancy folks of Cheerville to see exactly who committed the crime.

I do think you can read this as a stand-alone book, but I don't know why you would want to do so. Just read them all. They are all great for a vacation where you want some time by yourself, but you probably can't carve out too much time.

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Review: The Beantown Girls

The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I did the audiobook version of the Kindle book (what do I call that?). I was thinking while listening that the book wasn't perfectly written, but it was written perfectly enough for me to get sucked into the storylines and have a hard time NOT finishing it faster. I thought it had nice storylines of the Red Cross girls and their lives. Some were about love, some death, some promise and all of the girls had hope. We fall the Red Cross Clubmobile girls from their training to their post-war lives. I adored how these girls that met in carefree college find themselves in the middle of the fighting in WWII.

The narrator was easy to understand, she had a soothing voice and I loved how she read the men parts as a man, in a deep voice.

Very nice.

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Review: American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt

American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt by Stephanie Marie Thornton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Historical fiction about Presidents is sometimes hard for me, so while I longed to read this I was nervous since it would mention my beloved TR. I didn't keep that nervous feeling for long. The picture that Ms. Thornton painted of Alice was exquisite. Alice has always been known to have been a devil may care lady (I would have loved to have met her) and it was perfectly portrayed here. I did see spots that history was embellished, but it was done wonderfully. I wanted to be able to jump into the pages of this book and live right there alongside Alice. I loved every part of this tale.

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Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fantastic book! It was like an episode of VH1 Behind the Music. A band that had it all, being interviewed in the present about the past. How they became who they were, the songs that made them legends and the drugs that made them forget some of what happened.

I really wish I could have read this at one sitting because it was "unputdownable". I was so invested in every single character just like they were real rock stars that I grew up listening to on the radio and they now appear on the classic radio station. I sing along with the songs just as if I was 16 again. I mean it was THAT good.

This book is for every rock fan.

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Review: The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide

The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide by Jenna Fischer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kind of out of my realm of knowledge because this is more a guide to being an actor. I do think she would have great tips for anyone trying to be in the business.

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Review: Comfort Food Shortcuts: An "In the Kitchen with David" Cookbook from QVC's Resident Foodie

Comfort Food Shortcuts: An "In the Kitchen with David" Cookbook from QVC's Resident Foodie by David Venable
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is exactly what I expected from my favorite QVC personality. A well done, well-organized book with beautiful photos. Knowing David, I knew that things were going to be simple, fun, and full of shortcuts. I will make quite a few of the recipes in this book, however; my boys are picky so I will have to do a little editing (I know it stinks). I think the mac n cheese recipe is going to be divine!!!!! Trust me, David knows his mac n cheese.



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Review: The Beautiful Strangers

The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WOW just WOW!!

I was interested in this book because of the grand cover. Then I saw it would be set at the place where Some Like it Hot was filmed and that Marilyn Monroe was going to have a small part...this book was a no brainer for me.

The story was very neat it weaves in and out the early 20th century and 1958. Kate Morgan longs to do more than just work in her family's restaurant, but her circumstances prevent her from doing anything about it. That is until she has a conversation with her grandpa about a Beautiful Stranger. After this conversation Kate will embark on a journey she longed to take but never thought she would.

In the past, we met another Kate Morgan that was murdered. She is a ghost that hangs around the hotel that is really the main character of this book and I love how the book ends on August 5, 1962.

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Review: American Duchess: A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt

American Duchess: A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt by Karen Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First of all, I have seen photos of Consuelo and she was a vision of loveliness. I was super excited to get this book because of the photos I had seen because I knew nothing about her. When I read the book, I did not like the mother. A typical woman that pushes her child into something that she doesn't want to do (marriage) for status and a title. A common move in those times, but I still hate it. Time seemed to move at a regular pace after the marriage but escalated after that. I am not sure I liked that part and I believe that is what kept me from granting a 5-star rating. Time was moving with the pace of the book and then all of the sudden we skipped to 10 years ahead.

Other than that part, I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed how a Duchess can get out of a loveless marriage and find that true lifelong, fated love. I LOVED the Winston Churchill parts. I loved everything about him, to me he was a secondary character after the Duchess and I enjoyed every second we got to spend with him. Ivor was my third favorite character.

This book didn't blow me away, but it was nice.

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Review: That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I try to read every book that I can on Wallis. I am not sure why she fascinates me so much, but she does. Ever since I was a little girl I wondered how a King could give up all for a woman? How much love did he have? It must have been some love story. Well this book goes more in depth to Wallis's early years and the courtship, but also the abdication. I very much enjoyed the parts on how the whole abdication and wedding occured in real life. I found the part from wedding to death to be too swift, but otherwise a perfect books.

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Review: Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: A True Love Story

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: A True Love Story by Peter Turner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like Gloria Graham in the picture show, and I have never seen this film, but the Gloria I know is seductive, funny, perky...this lady was sad and sick. I felt so sorry for her. She was also alone! It was just a sad tale for me. I can't say I enjoyed it and can't say I didn't. All I can say is I have wanted to read it for some time and now I have.

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