Hotel California : an Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories - Multiple Authors

 

Hotel California : an Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories - 231 pages

Eight deliciously talented mystery authors have lent their skills of crafting murder and suspense to this collection of gripping short stories. Each of these eight provocative tales is designed to entertain and mystify—and maybe even chill you to your core. 

Each story is different and does not relate to any of the others.  Some leave you hanging, wanting to know more of the story.

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 11 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 11 by Yukito Kishiro-165 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis: Yoko, Erica, and Keun are all taken back to Grünthal for further examination. Erica is tasked with proving herself an asset before she can be allowed to learn the ways of Panzer Kunst. To do so, she and a crew travel to the Canyons of Despair, where she faces off against Zoe with the Great Treasure of Mars on the line… FINAL VOLUME!

Thoughts: I enjoyed reading this final volume of Yoko, Erica, and Keun's story on Mars. This is Alita's (Yoko) origin story. To be honest, it's been a little while since I last read any volumes in this series, so it took a minute for me to remember some details of previous events. Overall, I continue to enjoy anything Battle Angel Alita. 

Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas | 406 pages | 2012

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

Finally got around to reading this one (RIP to the copy I left on an airplane in 2017). It got better as it went along, and I'm definitely hooked on the series. I can tell from some of the clumsy writing that it's early in SJM's career, which is a weird adjustment after having read all of her later books. I look forward to the flow getting better as I read further in the series.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald-180 pages

⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis: James L. W. West III to include the author’s final revisions and features a note on the composition and text, a personal foreword by Fitzgerald’s granddaughter, Eleanor Lanahan—and a new introduction by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

Thoughts: This book is decent/okay. I didn't really find any of the characters likeable and I didn't care very much about any of the characters. It lacks a bit of depth. The characters are somewhat shallow. I was bored in the first couple of chapters, but then it picked up. I'm not upset that I read it, but I wouldn't read it again. It is tragic, but not really sad. 

WHO WAS JIM THORPE by BUCKLEY JAMES JR

 WHO WAS JIM THORPE by BUCKLEY JAMES JR  (Pgs 112)

While most athletes excel in just one sport, Jim Thorpe was different. Born in Oklahoma in 1887, he played both professional football and baseball, and ran track and field. Jim was not only a sports icon but also a trailblazer. Raised as part of the Sac and Fox tribal nation, he was the first Native American person to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States.

And although his personal life was not always as successful as his career, Jim remains one of the greatest athletes in American history.

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

 This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer, 304 pages, ⭐

This is going to be Dylan's big break. Her friend Clay, a geology student, has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan's boyfriend Luke, she is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. 

Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one body a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.

But Dylan is still missing. Followers of her Instagram account report seeing disturbing livestreams, and some even claim to have caught glimpses of her vanishing into the thick woods, but no trace of her—dead or alive—has been discovered. 

Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force? Is Dylan still alive, and does she hold the answers?

Salt Pepper Season Spice by Jacques Pasquet

 

Salt, Pepper, Season, Spice: All the Flavors of the World by Jacques Pasquet -- 48 pages

I read this book in preparation for a homeschool class.  It was very interesting.  It gave the history, uses, and process of making eleven different seasonings and spices.  It would be great for kids who like food or just random information.