Book Review: Ashley's War, The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

-
Image
Ashley's War:  The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a non-fiction book published in April 2015.  The story follows several women and their quest to become the first women to be in combat along the Green Berets and Army Rangers. This is a book that was selected in my workplace for discussion between women and/or veterans.  The book discussion was broken into three parts much like how the story was broken up.  It garnered great conversations. Some of the things that happened in the book didn't surprise me, such as how physically demanding the tryouts were to be part of the special operations.  It's a demanding job that requires people to be not only physically strong but mentally strong.     What did shock me was that it took the military so long to allow women to fight along men on the battlefield.  Another thing that astonished me were how accepting most of the men in the Army Rangers were of the women fight
Post a Comment

Book Review: Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier

-

book review back to school murder leslie meier

Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier opens with Lucy Stone temping at the local newspaper office when she hears that a bomb threat has been called into the elementary school. When a teacher realizes one of the students is unaccounted for, the vice principal rushes back into the school to save him. However, she's found murdered a few days later. Who would want her dead?

What I loved about this particular edition in the Lucy Stone Mystery series is that there were a lot of red herrings. I felt sure that a specific character was the murdered for most of the story, but as Back to School Murder progressed, I changed my mind and ended up being completely wrong on everyone I suspected. Leslie Meier did a fabulous job with all the suspects and keeping me guessing.

One of the situations I found believable was that Lucy was feeling unappreciated and unattractive, and when she received a bit of attention from another man, she feel for it and felt bad about it afterwards. The reason I found this plausible is because marriages do go through their ups and downs. Another believable situation was the agenda that the Reverend wanted to implement religious teachings into the public school system, which is something I've seen happen in real life. The portrayal of the religious community in this book may offend some people though.

However, there were a few things that frustrated me about this particular book. The most notable thing that irked me was Lucy's husband Bill because he was written as extremely old fashioned. Bill didn't want Lucy working and wanted her home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. He didn't seem to care that she loved working. Another thing that annoyed me was that when events from previous books were mentioned, there was an asterisk and a footnote mentioning which book it took place in . . . however, whoever was editing must of used "find and replace" because the same book was mentioned when the events took place in different books. 

Four out of five stars is the rating I gave Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier. If you enjoyed this book, you may enjoy Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #1) by Christy Fifield.

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

Product Review: Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist - Gain Scent

-
Image
One particular weekend night, I was watching television, and a commercial came on advertising Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist. In the ad, it mentioned that it would take off grime and dirt after spraying it on the surface and wiping it off with a simple swipe. It went on to mention that it could be used in the bathroom, and I thought, "I really need to try this product on my bathtub." Excited, I couldn't wait to buy it and looked for it at the grocery store the next day while I was getting my weekly groceries. I wasn't expecting to actually find it in stores yet because it usually takes the stores in my area a few weeks to get products in stock after I see it advertised on television. Much to my surprise and delight, my local Kroger Grocery Store actually had the Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist in stock and in no less than two scents. I grabbed the Gain Scent bottle and stuck it in my grocery cart. Eventually, I decided to use it to cle
Read more

Product Review: Naturelle Biotera, Anti-Frizz Intense Smoothing Shampoo & Conditioner

-
Image
As a woman with wavy hair that frizzes horribly whenever the humidity is high, and let's be honest, the humidity is high in the Southeast, I thought I'd try out Naturelle Biotera Anti-Frizz Intense Smoothing Shampoo  and Naturelle Biotera Anti-Frizz Intense Smoothing Conditioner . I purchased my product at a local Sally's Beauty Supply, and they said that if I didn't like the product that I could return it, which is a win win situation for the customer. What I didn't realize until I was using the product is that for the best results, Biotera recommends using not only the shampoo and conditioner but the leave in conditioner as well. Since I didn't buy the leave in conditioner, my review is solely on the shampoo and conditioner. For those of you who don't like a strong scent, then you'll be pleased with the light scent of this product. The aroma has hints of cinnamon apple. Where I love the scent of cinnamon and apple, I personally don't care for the t
Read more

Book Review: Hidden Beneath (Maine Clambake Mystery, #11) by Barbara Ross

-
Image
Hidden Beneath (Maine Clambake Mystery, #11) by Barbara Ross is the story about Julia and her mother Jacqueline attending a memorial service on Chipmunk Island for Ginny, who was an old friend of Jacqueline.  When something seems off at the memorial, Julia decides to delve into the cold case of Ginny, and in the process of the investigation, a murder takes place on the island. Thank you, NetGalley and Kensington Books, for the Advanced Readers Copy of Hidden Beneath (Maine Clambake Mystery, #11) by Barbara Ross in exchange for my honest review.  I first became familiar with this series and author while reading a collection of short stories that included one from the Maine Clambake Mystery series.  I was excited when I was approved to read this newest book and was not disappointed. This newest edition can be read as a stand alone as the author does a fantastic job of recapping the backstories of the characters from previous books in the series.  I found all the main characters to be
Read more