Death by the Book by Julianna Deering

I just finished reading "Death by the Book" by Julianna Deering. It was not a book I really enjoyed -- I'm a busy mom and like to read but I felt like this book moved along so slowly that I didn't really look forward to having time to read it.

The book is set in (?? not sure, early 20th century maybe??) England and the main characters are folks who seem to live lives of leisure, interspersed with privately investigating crimes. Drew (the main character) has some kind of an "in" with the local police and is key in investigating mysterious murders all around him. He is also waiting for a "yes" to marriage from his love, and is trying to win over her aunt. Multiple murders occur and the police and Drew gather clues to try to figure out who is the killer. The end is kind of odd, but resolved.

I felt that this book was very dry and stilted, and sloooowww moving. I would not really recommend it. It did not have objectionabe parts, just very blah (basically not my style). If you look at other reviews of this book it appears that a lot of people really enjoyed this book, so I'm guessing it's just a case of it's not my type of book. Maybe it is yours :)

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Knitted headband pattern

My 13-year old daughter made up a knitting pattern!! :) It's for a sweet headband -- quick and easy to make! Give it a try!

:) Here are the instructions:

(size 10 needles)

Cast on 8 stitches

YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog

repeat this for every row till you hit your desired length to either tie it in a knot or else end it shorter and attach elastic so that it is stretchy.

Bind off.

YO = yarn over

K2tog = knit 2 together

Storming the Black Ice by Don Brown

Do you like military suspense books? Here's one for you! Storming the Black Ice by Don Brown is a military-suspense type book, published by a Christian publisher, and though there's little "Christian-y" type stuff, it IS a pretty clean book, not saturated with swearing as some suspense books are.

The book centers over a fight for oil found under Antarctica, claimed by Britain and Chile. They are attacked by forces from Venezuela and Argentina. British military and civilians are captured, and an American/Chilean crew save the day. :) Basically that's it. There are many side-stories and some character development,(oh, and lots of submarine info) but that's the big picture.

There are side stories about loyalty and military service, love and romance, family, faith(well, a little), intrigue, death, and more. Some of the characters are introduced just to die shortly. Others have a peripheral part of the story. The hero (Austin) is a hero of good character, seems like an all-round great guy, wise and militarily cunning.

Some parts of the story seemed a little weird or strained, such as the mystical nun that shows up in multiple places, speaking words of wisdom. Also, Austin's child's mother who flies from Britain to Chile when she hears of his capture in Antarctica -- and then her best friend and child who also come to Chile. Really?? Sounds a bit unrealistic and really quite unnecessary to the story.

The role of the guy from Texas who was Chilean -- a little confusing and kind of peripheral as well.

Despite these kind of irregularities, I would recommend the book. It was an interesting story with a happy ending :) ALSO -- my husband, who's not much of a reader, raced through this book--thoroughly enjoying it. That says a lot as well!

I received this e-book for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.