Book Review: Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18) by Lee Hollis

-
Image
Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18)  by Lee Hollis  opens with Tom Farley and his neighbors in a snit because he's the last holdout to sell his house to a property developer who wants to build a resort. When Tom is shot at a pre-Thanksgiving community gathering and hospitalized, Hayley Powell puts her amateur sleuthing skills to good use. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this cozy mystery. I received a copy of this book for free in exchange of my honest opinion and review of the story. I loved the fact that this latest installment of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery  series had a theme around the Thanksgiving holiday and included live turkeys in the plot. It was good to visit some familiar characters. Since this is the eighteenth installment in the series, Lee Hollis didn't go into much detail of the background of those reoccurring characters; however, she...
Post a Comment

Listography: 6 Books That Are Required Reading In Middle School

-
The six books listed below were required reading for me in middle school. I'm sure the list has changed quite a bit since then, but as a late bloomer to reading, all but one of these books made me love reading that much more. I plan on rereading all of these books so I can review them with a fresh perspective and see if they are still just as great as I remember.

  1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: Originally published in 1961, this novel takes place in the Ozark Mountains where Billy Colman adopts two dogs with the intent of training them to hunt. 

    2.
  2. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - First published in 1950, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was the first book published in the Narnia series and is the most popular. Four siblings are relocated to a country home during a wartime evacuation. While keeping themselves occupied, Lucy, the youngest of the siblings, finds a whole new world called Narnia by going through a wardrobe in one of the spare rooms. The four children go on an adventure of a lifetime. 

    3.
  3. The Odyssey by Homer - Published in the late 8th century, the sequel to The Illiad takes place after the Trojan War and follows Odysseus' ten year voyage home. 

    4.
  4. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - Originally published in 1939, it was originally published under a different name before being renamed. It has also alternatively been published under Ten Little Indians. And Then There Were None takes place on an isolated island off the coast of England where eight people have been invited for different reasons. The guests are met by the butler and cook who inform them the hosts have yet to arrive but have left instructions. After dinner, a recording is played accusing each of the guests of murder. And then, one by one, each of the guests die. 

    5.
  5. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - Published in 1947 after being found in an attic, The Diary of a Young Girl is the diary of thirteen year old Anne Frank where she writes what her parents, older sister, and herself do on a daily basis while hiding from the Nazis. 

    6.
  6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (The Adventures of Tom and Huck #2) by Mark Twain - Published in 1884, this novel is the telling of the adventures that Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave have as they travel down the Mississippi River.

Where these books on your middle school required reading list? If so, did you love or hate them? If they weren't on your required reading list, what books were?

Follow Us On Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/runningbibliophile/https://www.instagram.com/therunningbibliophile/https://www.pinterest.com/therunningbibliophile/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Dare by Natasha Preston

-
Image
The Dare by Natasha Preston is a young adult horror novel about Marley and her friends Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse are seniors in high school.  The senior pranks are fun and lighthearted until Rhett starts doling out dares that are more serious.  Will Marley and her friends survive? A huge thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy of The Dare  by Natasha Preston.  The last book I read by this author was so well written, I knew I wanted to give her latest story a try. The first thing I noticed about the story is it's reminiscent of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, which brought back all the feels from my childhood.  Pretty quickly, the storyline shifts and is eerily similar to the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer .  It's at this point that I became disappointed with the book and almost stopped reading it.   Additionally, there were other parts t hat reminded me of The Secret Diaries by Janice Harrell.  So, overall, The Dare wasn't ...
Read more

Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

-
Image
The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...
Read more

Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich

-
Image
Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich  is the latest installment in the Stephanie Plum book series and opens with Joe Morelli asking Stephanie to dog sit his dog Bob while he is out of town testifying at a trial.  The typical chaos ensues when Stephanie has to bring Bob along to apprehend all of her FTAs and has her asking herself if she wants to be married. Each book in this series typically follows the same formula and is wrapped up in a neat, tidy bow at the end.  It's because of this that I enjoy the series . . . I always know that Stephanie is going to get herself into some sort of trouble and need Ranger or Morelli to help her, and the bad guy is always caught.  Sometimes, I just need something familiar and predictable to read.  And, I don't mean that in a bad way either because it allows me to escape reality and gives me a few chuckles along the way.  It's like the ...
Read more