Death at a Fixer Upper - Sarah Hobart

This was a fun and sometimes silly murder mystery.  We have Sam Turner, real estate agent and awesome single mom with some old relationship issues.  And then we have everyone else.  She is the story teller so it is all about her.  But she isn't an "its all about me" kind of character.  She is actually all about others, sometimes to her detriment.  In the end that is what saves her, her caring and compassion that everyone thinks makes her weak is what makes her successful. 

I found this to be a quick and easy read (when I found time to actually read).  Sam is relatable.  I might not be a single mom but I could feel her struggle.  She may have been dealt a bad hand but she raised a wonderful son and seems to genuinely care about others.  Even though she should be cut throat to sell sell sell she just can't.  She can't in good conscience do something that she knows is wrong, especially if it could harm someone. 

It is a wonderful story about the insanity of selling a derelict home with many hidden secrets.  Of course when prospective buyers start dying, things go a little sideways for poor Sam.  She finds her self in absolutely insane situations, I mean who else gets locked in an office while trespassing and has to jump out of a window.  We are led to believe something supernatural is happening but that isn't really the case.  The evil in the world isn't of another dimension...it is 100% human.  Human(s) who will murder, threaten, harm, solely for their own benefit.   But Sam is smart, she does dumb things like run off Bernie, but she is smart.  She starts to figure it out.  Once that happens the book is really hard to put down. 

I received this book for free from Random House and Chatterbox for free to read and give my honest review. 

SPOILERS
I love that her kindness to the "bum" is what saves her.  All of her business prospects fall apart and then like a knight in shining armor her least prospective person turns out to be the only option.  He inherited money.  He is an old friend of the deceased owner.  He wants to buy this horribly decrepit property and make it his own.  Had she not befriended him by being a wonderful person, he may not have gone to her the way he did.  She was inspirational to so many.  Including but not limited to Max her son and Merritt who was scared to to the right thing for fear of being unjustly punished.  Her bug heart and goofy attitude makes this such a fun story. 

The ending seemed a tad rushed BUT I am assuming Merritt now has the money or at least a reward to help her and Lily get on their feet.  Curly gets his old friends property and will do right by it.  Max gets to sort of have a relationship with his estranged father.  And Sam gets Bernie, or Bernie gets Sam.  As much as she tried to push him away because of her flighty sister she still got the guy, along with the sale, her own home, and a seemingly happy ending.

The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins

Its been a few days since I've finished this book and I am still not sure how I feel.  Don't get me wrong, I liked it quite a bit but it was one heck of a roller coaster ride of strange.  We have a brood of weird adult kids whose father has gone missing.  But these are no ordinary kids.  They have "powers" but not how you may think.  One is the "master" of languages, One is the "master" of animals, One is the "master" of battle, One is the "master" of death, One is the "master" of healing, etc.  But they are not allowed to overlap, they can't study each others catalogues.  The father they speak of isn't their actual father.  He adopted them after some tragedy where their parents died. 

The book  jumps back and forth between the past and the present.  It seems a little pointless at first but it really is the only thing that makes sense at the end.  You can sort of figure out where things are headed but it keeps enough secrets to keep you interested.  The thing is, this book made me insanely uncomfortable.  not because of the religious undertones but because of the off the wall things that the "siblings"  did and said.  I get that they were secluded from the world until their father went missing but they are complete neanderthals...very little sense of humanity.  

The whole book I was like is he God and they are angels?  Then it said he was "a fallen soldier" or something like that so then I thought is he Lucifer and they are his minions?  Clearly he is some sort of deity.   And his friends/enemies are deities also.  It was a very strange way of explaining the unexplainable things of the world.

The book was disturbing, at times disgusting, quite funny, and very very good. I would recommend it.  It is different.  I have noting to compare it to because I've not read anything like it.  I almost want to read it again because I feel like I may have missed somethings because too many things were going on that I was trying to follow. 



SPOILERS
While I wanted to like Carolyn because she was the most human of the bunch, she scared me.  She appeared to want to do the right thing but most of her decisions were based on very selfish reasons.  She hurt someone she really cared about because she thought she had to.  She deceived her father and her family.  She killed people.  She was becoming a vengeful demigod.  Her brother Michael was my favorite.  He was innocent.  He was perfectly happy in nature and not dealing with anyone.  David absolutely terrified me.  He was the epitome of animalistic thinking.  He only cared about himself and his needs.  Even if that meant  taking it by force...trigger warning.  The other "siblings" played a smaller part.  WE hear about Jennifer who can heal and Margaret who walks with the dead but they aren't as prominent.  Steve was a good person with a flawed sense of self.  He tried to do right by everyone.  Erwin was a hero.  He was brash and a tad scary but he was a hero. 

Then we meet Father.  Yea I was just as shocked.  He seemed like such a jerkface when described by Carolyn and I am sure he was but he had his reasons.  He did unspeakable things but it was to keep the world in balance.
 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books to read and give an honest review.

Oh, you meant THAT Doyle, this just got 100 times more interesting

Right so I need something to fill the void left by Lucifer having its season finale *le sigh*.  So OF COURSE I just started watching the show that filled it's time slot.  All I knew was that it was Houdini & Doyle and that they were something like a crime solving duo.  I did not realize the plot.  I didn't read up about it.  I just saw Houdini and said "COOOOOOOL!" 

So the the show starts with a Houdini illusion, sweet.  Then jumps to a man entering a party.  I was eating and not paying full attention but I heard "I love Sherlock, I can't wait to read more" or something of that nature and the man replies "Sherlock is dead!  Remember the falls."  And I'm all "wait, what show am I watching...?"  Then it clicks.  "Oh, THAT Doyle.  As in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!?!" 

So this new show I am watching is about the greatest illusionist of all time and the author of one of my favorite fictional characters teaming up to investigate unusual crimes that may or may not pertain to the supernatural?!!?!  And the one who is unbelieving is the f**king Illusionist!!!  Hold up a second, I may actually enjoy this.  Houdini is a Grade A prick, Mr. Doyle is more likeable but also a bit of a pain in the butt, but Adelaide Stratton is WONDERFUL!  She is a woman working as a police officer in a time when that is 100% unheard of.  I love her already.  She is smart and confident and looks like she could be a bit of a bad@$$ and is a bit pretty.  I love it. 

 

No one takes her seriously but she is determined to  prove them all wrong.  I was so incredibly angry at Houdini when he went off on her, called her stupid, and said she should "find a nice man who would buy her nice things" or something of that nature.  I wanted to punch him and I think she did too but instead she fires back at him and earned some respect!  Ha, take that @$$hole. 

Doyle believes in the Supernatural.  He is an intelligent man but he still believes.  He trusts mediums, he believes in ghosts, he doesn't look for the logical explanation.  Houdini believes in fact.  He debunks everything.  There is a logical explanation to all the weirdness in the world.  Hmmmm, interesting.  But there is something about him.  He almost exists on another plane.  Weird things happen around him and while he can explain most away, the piano playing at the end almost proves that something not of this dimension is at work. 

I think I like this crime fighting duo.  Its like Sherlock and Watson but with magic and ghosts (Doyle is Watson and Houdini is Sherlock).  I can't wait to see where the writers bring us as we delve into the antics of Houdini & Doyle.