The third or fourth book in the series, depending on how you see it. I liked it. Anne goes to college. 4 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Anne is a bit of a happiness catalyst and has more than a little in common with Ted Lasso. That thought pleases me.

This is the junior novelization; not what I thought I was getting when I ordered it. 😄 I liked it about 3-stars' worth. Most readers liked it more. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com My issue? The cutting and rounding off took out much of the tension and excitement. IMO. 🤷‍♂️

This is my second book by this mid-20th century author. I liked the first and loved this one. 5 stars. Blaise is a great hero, and Anne Russell makes a fantastic foil for him. Good spy adventure; excellent writing. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Highly recommended.

My first book by this Western author (and his son, I guess). I liked it pretty well. 4 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com I like the main character, and I hope the couple sequels are also well done.

Another good book in the Bedwyn series. I think the author bends but doesn't quite break the rules of the genre. I liked it. 5 stars. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com Mary Balogh makes excellent characters, all quite different, that the reader cares about. That's a pretty good skill.

I’m enjoying my second book by this author. Look at this description in his historical fiction novel set in 1500s France and Switzerland. Samuel Shellabarger—writing in 1950. How did I never encounter his novels until now?

This was interesting--and pretty entertaining, in a Elizabethan comedy sort of way. 3 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com I've got 4 more plays in a little volume of his works, and I'll give the others a look, eventually. Recommended for anyone who is curious about it.

Some beautiful writing and a touching story. Funny, too, now that I think about it. 4 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Nice to see Northern Michigan get some love. It's not all sweet, but it feels like it was once you're done. Recommended.

I first read this about 9 years ago. Loved it then and now, rereading it. Such a great series. Just added an edit to my original review. (And a few paragraph breaks. Not sure why I wrote it like an email...) 😄 My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Five stars. Recommended.

Did I vibe with this period mystery? No, I did not. Mostly, I thought the MC was a terrible spy. And the pacing is very much bad. IMO. My thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com I finished it, so I gave it a 3. I will not be looking for any sequels, though.

I liked this old German novel about a real man who protected Berlin during the war with Russia and Austria but wasn't protected when he needed help. Reminded me of Timon of Athens. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com 4 stars.

I've never read this series before and tried it on a whim. I enjoyed it. Well-written, tight, fast-paced--it's a good read. 5 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com This is #15 in the series. I may need to back up a bit and try the earlier books. Recommended.

This is the first of 11 middle grade novels made in the 1990s tied in to the cartoon series. I didn't know they existed until recently. I loved me some Jonny Quest back in the day. 4 stars. Here are my brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com I liked it. Wish they had gotten a better response.

I hoped to like it more than I did. 3 stars. It didn't feel much like an Indiana Jones story, and he didn't seem like Indy. This got better near the end, though. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com There are a bunch of these books, and I think maybe I'll try one or two more.

This book hovers around a 4 on GR, with the biggest group agreeing with me--a 5. But the ones who didn't like it disliked the very things I thought made it stand out. 🤔 My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com I loved the family story that ran in the background. Very touching.

My second play by Euripides. Kinda enjoyed it. 3 stars. The gods really ruin stuff for this family. Dang. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com I wonder what it was like to see this in real life back in the day?

Pretty fun short action novel. Mack Bolan is tracking down missing treasure (with important intelligence hidden with it) in the Congo, circa 1980. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com 4 pulp-fiction stars.

I dunno. I wanted to read all of it, not just bits. He's smarter than I thought. He makes his very unethical advice sound so reasonable. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Three stars for mild interest in history and such. Zero stars for his humanity.

I really enjoyed this book by Bulwer-Lytton. It's a great novel, but I also have a lot clearer image of who is who during the Wars of the Roses. Elevated prose; tight plotting; great characters; lots of action. 5 stars. My thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com Recommended. 👍

This was a new-to-me series and author. I liked it. 4 stars. Lots of big science ideas in a retro-SF way, with a breezy and fast-paced story. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com I don't think we should build stuff that could break the sun by accident. Opened my eyes to that problem.

One of those "Shakespeare kinda wrote this" plays. I liked it a lot, actually. 5 stars. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com When his son was in a tight spot and needed rescuing, Edward said he had other kids. The prince survived, but I wonder if anyone told him what dad said...

People said this was good. People said it was funny. I don't trust people. Turns out... they were right. Very entertaining. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com I gave it 5 stars. Doy.

I like the book and this series, though I have reservations. It's fun, though. 4 stars. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com The MC rubs me wrong, but she's a good character in most ways. And the historical setting is very good. Recommended.

I thought the beginning was a bit awkward--or maybe I was just mad at the MMC--but it worked very well after that. 4 stars. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com Recommended for readers of romance and anything Regency (which was how I got here). 😄 Devlin and Gwyneth are likable characters.

McWhorter is always informed and entertaining. This is a look at language change and varieties--particularly Black English in the second half of the book--and what our attitude should be to toward different forms of speech. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com 5 stars. Good discussion.

Julian May is awesome, and I wanted to like this series and this last book so much more than I did. It was a slog to the end. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com I gave it a 3, but her other series are so much better.

I didn't trust the hype, and almost wasn't gonna read this, but it turns out this is very entertaining, well-written, and hopeful. Which is what the people said. Sometimes they're right. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com 5 stars. Good fantasy and good fun.

Not a standard Ainsworth novel, but still fun to read. The middle is all about the highwayman Dick Turpin, though that's a secondary plot. The rest is historical romance mixed with Gothic. My brief thoughts: inspeculation.blogspot.com Despite some things I found odd, it's still a 4 from me. 🙂

I don't remember for sure whether I ever read the entire Inferno before. I think so. But it was worth reading it all in one go as an adult. 4 stars, mostly for the notes and images. My brief thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com Not great fun to read, IMO, but curiosity is a good reason.

Some bits of interest in this novel--but I didn't have much fun reading it. 3 stars. My thoughts are here: inspeculation.blogspot.com It's impressive in scope and artistry--but it's a slog to read. YMMV