When thinking of historic moments or teams in Major League Baseball, the 1948 Cleveland Indians did not leap to mind. That changed when I read Luke Epplin’s new book, Our Team: the Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball. A very good friend recommended that I read “Our Team”. He […]
Charlie Wheelan is standing on a train platform in Medellin, Colombia and two of his children are missing. So begins Charles Wheelan’s account of his family’s gap year adventure. Charlie and Leah decided to take a year (or 9 months) and travel around the world with their children ages 13-18. We Came, We Saw, We […]
Caroline B. Cooney is known for her young adult novels but she was intrigued with telling the story of someone who chose or was forced to live their life as a different person and managed to do it for almost 50 years. The resulting novel is her first for adults, Before She Was Helen. Cooney’s […]
Hidden Treasures by Jane Cleland The Crystal Cave Trilogy by Susan Albert Wittig Game of Dog Bones by Laurien Berenson Yesterday’s Echo by Matt Coyle Over the past few weeks I’ve been catching up with some of my cozy mystery series as well as checking out a new to me author. Jane Cleland’s Hidden Treasure […]
I enjoy mysteries with well-developed characters and if it is part of a series, all the better. Ellery Adams’ Secret, Book and Scone Society series has everything I like. The series gets its title from the first book, The Secret, Book & Scone Society. The setting is the small town of Miracle Springs, North Carolina. […]
The Summer of Love occurred in the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco in 1967. Tens of thousands of young people converged on the neighborhood for music, drugs, and free love. Max Tomlinson chose this setting to begin his novel, Vanishing in the Haight. Margaret Copeland, problem child in her wealthy family, left home to join […]
Even before the events that have changed our lives over the last few months, 2020 was going to be an eventful year. It is a presidential election year and a census year. The U.S. Constitution mandates that every 10 years the population be counted. The count is very important as it determines electoral districts and […]
Eighty-eight-year old Duffy Sinclair is a little bit of a crank, a flirt, a prankster, and scared of losing his home. He and Carl share a room at the Centennial Assisted Living Facility in Brooke Fossey’s novel, The Big Finish. Sharon, the new owner of Centennial, has plans to remodel and double the fees but […]
On March 9th I was headed east around 9:00pm and saw a spectacular sight – a supermoon. It appeared huge on the horizon with an orange hue and wisps of clouds. Beautiful. 2020 will have three supermoons occurring in 3 consecutive months, March, April and May. I did catch the April event but it was […]
March is Women’s History Month and I’d like to be able to tell you my review choice reflects that but it doesn’t. Both of these titles have strong female leads but they are entirely fictional and contemporary. The premise of Chris Hauty’s debut novel, Deep State, seems to have been pulled from current headlines, a […]
1901 East 20th Street
Joplin, MO 64804
Phone: 417-623-7953
