"Mai Tai One On"

Six months ago, if anyone would have told Em Johnson she'd end up divorced, broke, and running the dilapidated Tiki Goddess Bar on the magical North Shore of Kauai she would have told them to shove a swizzle stick up their okole.

As if all that isn't bad enough, when an obnoxious neighbor with a grudge is found dead in the Goddess luau pit, suspicion falls on Em and the rest of the Goddess staff. With the help of a quirky dance troupe of over-the-hill Hula Maidens, Em and the cast of characters must ban together to find the killer and solve the mystery before the next pupu party.

My Thoughts...

After reading two books that were not favorites of mine, I decided to read this cozy mystery, and what a refreshing surprise this story was. It drew me right into the story from the very first line: "They would have found the body sooner if it hadn't been two-for-one Mai Tai Night...."

It was fun and sometimes silly, but delightfully charming, especially the 'quirky dance troupe of over-the-hill Hula Maidens' I can just picture them in my mind, as I read about their out of step dancing...The book was a fast read for a  sunny afternoon of fun reading on your favorite beach. Oh! if only I could have been reading this on the beaches of Kauai, Hawaii, with a Mai Tai or two or three, by my side,  the tradewinds sweeping along the beach keeping me cozy and cool, my favorite kind of memory.

Even though this book is the first book in a series it is also a stand alone book as well. This book is part of my Kindle library, I liked it and therefore awarded it 4****  

"The Fine Color of Rust"

Set in the Australian bush, a wryly funny, beautifully observed novel about friendship, motherhood, love, and the importance of fighting for things that matter. Loretta Boskovic never dreamed she would end up a single mother with two kids in a dusty Australian country town. She never imagined she’d have to campaign to save the local primary school. She certainly had no idea her best friend would turn out to be the crusty old junk man. All in all, she’s starting to wonder if she took a wrong turn somewhere. If only she could drop the kids at the orphanage and start over . . . But now, thanks to her protest letters, the education minister is coming to Gunapan, and she has to convince him to change his mind about the school closure. And as if facing down the government isn’t enough, it soon becomes clear that the school isn’t the only local spot in trouble. In the drought-stricken bushland on the outskirts of town, a luxury resort development is about to siphon off a newly discovered springwater supply. No one seems to know anything, no one seems to care.

With a dream lover on a Harley unlikely to appear to save the day, Loretta needs to stir the citizens of Gunapan to action. She may be short of money, influence, and a fully functioning car, but she has good friends. Together they can organize chocolate drives, supermarket sausage sizzles, a tour of the local slaughterhouse—whatever it takes to hold on to the scrap of world that is home. Warm, moving, and funny, The Fine Color of Rust is “a story about love: where we look for it, what we do with it, and how it shows up in the most unexpected packages”

My Thoughts...

Without the synopsis of this book above I would have trouble trying to decide what this book was about. I did not find this book 'wryly funny' as I struggled through reading the WHOLE book, why? Because I bought it with my hard earned money and decided I was going to read it no matter how long it took me to get it read. 

I found in this book a lot of whining about the heat. A lot of ranting, moving from one situation to another. Many times I got a bit lost in the story and had to back up and try to figure out..."What is she ranting or whining about now?" I was never drawn into the story, it was boring, boring, boring, but I must say after a week and a half I finished the book. I awarded myself 5 stars for finishing it, and one star for the boring book.

I realize I was a bit harsh with this review, but  when I set down to read I want to be entertained...Not whining and ranting about who knows what. I decided to read this book because it had many 4 and 5 stars reviews, boy was I disappointed. I wonder if we all read the same book. 

This book is part of my Nook library.  

"No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club"

Marie Sharp is heading toward sixty and is just fine with it. She’s already had plenty of excitement in her life: sex and drugs in the freewheeling sixties, career and children, marriage and divorce. Now she’s ready to settle into a quiet, blissfully boring routine. No Italian classes or gym memberships or bicycle trips across Europe, thank you very much! Marie just wants to put her feet up and “start doing old things.”

She’s even sworn off men! But as it turns out, life still has some surprises in store, the biggest of which is a new grandson on the way. What’s more, Archie, her old childhood crush, suddenly reenters her life, and her closest friend falls seriously ill. Armed with a biting sense of humor, Marie wrestles with a life that refuses to follow her plans—and may still offer more possibilities than she realizes.

My Thoughts...

I found this book at a going out of business bookstore for $1.00. I loved the title, and thought it sounded like it would be a fun book to read. It is the fictional diary of Marie Sharp, a retired art teacher. It started out full of cranky wisdom and the ordinary ways of facing old age.  However....

I'm on the fence about this book, even though it had some fun moments at the beginning of the story, I did not find it a screamingly funny story about embracing life beyond middle age. It started out with a few cute and witty challenges that come with getting older, but as the story progressed it became more of a rant about being a grannie and what a wonderful grandson she had. Then there was a lot of talk about death, because she had a friend who was dying of cancer. It fizzled out about a third of the way through the book for me, when the fun and humor ended. Therefore...

I awarded this book 2**. This book is part of my personal library.