Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

#MyFirstLearntoReadSightWordsWorkbook #NetGalley

This book is geared to kids between the ages of four to seven. It is visually appealing and colorful. The goal is to help kids to learn 101 sight words. If children stick with this title, that goal will be achieved.

Note that this is a workbook and the way that the exercises are set up may start to feel repetitive to some children. Some kids will love that predictability while others may be a bit bored.

Kids will color and trace a word and then look for it in a sea of fish or complete a sentence, look for the word in a small grid or write a sentence in these exercises. The end of the book includes some larger word searches and coloring activities.

This book would make an excellent book for review over the summer months.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Cider Mill Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 07 July 2026

Description

Dive into reading success with an exciting underwater adventure that transforms learning 101 essential sight words into the ultimate treasure hunt!

My First Learn-to-Read Sight Words Workbook takes young readers on an ocean exploration where every page brings new discoveries and reading victories. This comprehensive 144-page workbook turns learning into play with engaging exercises that help kids learn to read with confidence. Designed for beginner readers from Pre-School up, this activity-packed adventure combines hands-on games, treasure map word searches, underwater coloring activities, and pirate code-breaking challenges to reinforce the most important high-frequency words.

Each page is designed to keep kids motivated, moving, and learning—whether they’re following treasure map paths to trace words, solving deep-sea puzzles, coloring coral reef word hunts, or decoding the pirate’s secret messages. With delightful ocean-themed illustrations featuring friendly sea creatures and a clear, encouraging tone, this workbook makes mastering sight words feel like an exciting underwater quest—not homework.

Organized into four progressive levels, children advance as they build their reading skills. Perfect for use at home or in the classroom, this book offers a fun and engaging way to build foundational reading skills through repetition, recognition, and joyful practice.

Poetry

by Barbara Kingsolver

Pub Date 22 Sep 2020

#HowtoFlyInTenThousandEasyLessons #NetGalley

I have read and enjoyed novels by Barbara Kingsolver and so was both excited and intrigued to see that she was publishing a book of poems. I read about this volume in an interview with the author that said her poetry was personal and could not have been put out into the world earlier in her life.

The poems themselves cover many topics. The first section, aptly in view of the title of this collection, is all about how to…how to Have a Child, Cure Sweet Potatoes, Survive This and more. There are a number of other sections as well.

The poems can, of course, be read in any order. I loved many of them. There is a life wisdom that Ms. Kingsolver has acquired and shares; take part in it. Read this title.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

#Madoo #NetGalley

I have long been curious about the gardens at Madoo (translated as My Dove according to the author). Now, I have had a glorious virtual visit and cannot wait to visit this special place in person.

This beautifully photographed book is organized by sections on the property. A few of these include The Summer House, The Pompeian Court, The Long Border, The Summer Lawn, and also The Maze, The Sunken Terrace and the Yellow Arch (all in one section). Readers see both outdoor and indoor aspects of the property.

In addition to the photos, there is art work by Robert Dash. He is the one who brought this abandoned property to life and there is material that he,himself, wrote in these pages. Others have also contributed to this title.

Armchair and dedicated gardeners will both find much to enjoy in these pages. Those who live close enough to visit will surely want to. Those who can’t will be happy to have had a virtual visit.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: 16 June 2026

Description:

from the publisher

A portrait of an iconoclastic garden in the Hamptons where painter, poet, and self-taught horticulturist Robert Dash created an eclectic plant paradise and a literary and arts salon.

During the 1960s, painter, poet, and gardener Robert Dash set out to create a haven where art and the garden existed in tandem. What began as a fallow farm field over time became a beloved public garden and Hamptons treasure that The New York Times has called an “ever-changing masterpiece.” Madoo is a living tribute to this eclectic, beautiful place. Sumptuously photographed by Tria Giovan, the book  is filled with stunning images of interiors and gardens, archival pieces illustrating Madoo’s early days, paintings and drawings by Robert Dash, and essays from contributors who have witnessed its evolution. Madoo appeals to a broad range of readers infatuated with American culture, the gardens of artists, and the enduring appeal of the Hamptons. “Madoo,” which is Old Scots for “my dove,” was both Dash’s personal haven and a forum for collaborative, creative discourse and critique, marked by the arcadian confluence of art, music, literature, and poetry. It was also a refuge for many famous artists and poets—John Ashbery, Fairfield Porter, Willem de Kooning, James Schuyler, and others—who spent time at Madoo, were deeply inspired by it, and often referenced it in their work.

Since the mid-1960s, Robert Dash has been regarded as an accomplished painter for his depictions of a now all-but-vanished Hamptons landscape. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Yale University, and the University of Missouri’s Fine Arts Building and is included in the collections of the Modern Art Museum in Munich, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts, and more. His archive of poetry and garden writings was acquired by Yale University’s Beinecke Library in 2011.

From the Publisher

An e book bargain

I’ve been thinking about how to best write about this book by first time author Jess Montgomery. First time author! Wow, Ms. Montgomery writes like an experienced novelist as she effectively creates a place, characters and narrative tension. She has written what I consider to be a truly excellent debut novel.

The Widows are Lily and Marvena, each of whom has children, has lost a husband and is trying not to lose her way. Life in Bronwyn County, Ohio for them and those they love, following WWI is full of hardship. Coal is king and a harsh master. Poverty and company scrip rule many lives.

In this world, Marvena and her common law husband John have worked to organize the miners. This is a freighted and difficult task given the strong arm tactics of the mine owners. Pinkertons are brought in to quell resistance. Other outsiders try to dominate illegal moonshine businesses.

On the surface, Lily’s life looks better. She is married to Sheriff Daniel Ross, a former boxer and half brother to the mine owner. However, early in the novel, Daniel is killed. The circumstances surrounding his death are a central mystery in the novel.

Both Marvena and Lily have relationship history with Daniel. Each realizes that she did not fully know him. As they come to know one another, Lily and Marvena come to also know themselves.

Peopled with many additional characters that come vividly to life, this novel is engaging, realistic and compelling. Put it on your TBR pile for January when it will be released. I recommend this one very highly.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Minotaur for this fantastic read!

#TheWidows #NetGalley

apple.news/ACn28_jttTLqgA0irEuvQug

Julia Kelly is a talented author of historical fiction. She brings the the women about whom she writes vividly to the page.

The Dressmakers of London is a story that takes place during WWII. It centers on two sisters who have had divergent lives with Sylvia “marrying well” and distancing herself from her family, and Izzy who stayed at home and worked with her mother at Mrs. Shelton’s Fashions.

When Mrs. Shelton dies, Izzy and Sylvia come back into contact. Izzy is harsh and unforgiving while Sylvia is constantly apologizing. This is the dynamic that has been set up when Izzy is called up for National Service and needs Sylvia’s help to keep the shop running. Sylvia agrees to assist.

Readers enter the worlds of the sisters. Sylvia is struggling in her marriage and elegant life. Izzy becomes a balloon girl after her WAAF training and begins to experience friendships and growth.

Both characters grow over the course of the book. That said, I was a bit tired of the dynamic as it played out for many pages before resolving.

Readers get to learn a lot about fashion in general and, in particular, clothing that was worn during the war with the changes that rationing brought. I enjoyed this aspect of the book. Another thing that I enjoyed was reading the many letters that went back and forth between Izzy and Sylvia. Of course, I also liked seeing how each character grew over time and spending more time with the people they knew.

Readers of women’s and/or historical fiction will want to give this title a look. I am glad that I did.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 18 February 2025

Post first published on 7 April 2026

Description:

from the publisher

The author of the “enthralling” (Woman’s World) The Lost English Girl returns with a heartfelt new novel about estranged sisters who inherit their late mother’s dress shop in World War II London.

Isabelle Shelton has always found comfort in the predictable world of her mother’s dressmaking shop, Mrs. Shelton’s Fashions, while her sister Sylvia turned her back on the family years ago to marry a wealthy doctor whom Izzie detests. When their mother dies unexpectedly, the sisters are stunned to find they’ve jointly inherited the family business. Izzie is determined to buy Sylvia out, but when she’s conscripted into the WAAF, she’s forced to seek Sylvia’s help to keep the shop open. Realizing this could be her one chance at reconciliation with her sister, Sylvia is determined to save Mrs. Shelton’s Fashions from closure—and financial ruin.

Through letters, the sisters begin to confront old wounds, new loves, and the weight of family legacy in order to forge new beginnings in this lyrically moving novel perfect for fans of Genevieve Graham and Lucinda Riley.

From the Publisher:

Note that there are reviews of other books by this author on my site.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/books/review/best-police-procedural-novels.html

#DeathTimesSeven #NetGalley

I have been reading Anne Perry’s novels since the very first in her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series was published many years ago. This book’s protagonist is Charlotte and Thomas’s son, Daniel, an attorney. This is the seventh book that features him. Note for those who are new to Perry; there are also the Monk Elena Standish series.

It is so hard to know that there will be no more books by Ms. Perry as she died a couple of years ago. She was an author whose books were always must reads for me. I, and other readers, will miss her.

So, it was a bit elegiac for me to pick up Death Times Seven, knowing that it would be my last encounter in Perry’s world. That said, I dove right in.

There are several challenges for Daniel in the pages of this historical mystery. His friend and fellow lawyer, Toby, is faced with a horrific tragedy and some questions about exactly what happened to his parents and Daniel is there for him. In another story line, there is a case in the Old Bailey that Toby was defending. Daniel will become involved in that as well. Daniel’s wife Miriam will also have a role in these pages, something that fans of the series will welcome.

I recommend this book to those who already know Anne Perry’s novels. Those who are new to her books, may want to start one of the series in order. They will undoubtedly catch up and then read this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 14 April 2026

Post first published on 6 April 2026

Description:

from the publisher

Two violent crimes challenge the investigative skills of young Daniel Pitt and his wife, Miriam, in the final novel of iconic mystery writer Anne Perry’s beloved Daniel Pitt series.

“A towering achievement from a towering talent—superb!” —Jeffery Deaver, author of the Colter Shaw series

1913: Junior attorney Daniel Pitt must step in for his friend, fellow attorney Toby Kitteridge, whose parents have been brutally attacked. Toby’s mother is dead and his father, a village vicar, is barely alive. With Toby returning to the family home in rural Ipswich, struggling with grief and disbelief, Daniel remains in London to substitute for Toby and defend Peter Ward, on trial for the sexual assault and murder of a young woman.

Daniel is convinced that Ward is innocent, yet the evidence seems to prove otherwise. Eager to assist, his pathologist wife, Miriam fford Croft, offers her forensics expertise and exposes a community of fellow pathologists who may have purposefully omitted information from their autopsy reports. Despite Miriam’s involvement in the case, Daniel finds himself distracted by his desire to help Toby, who is too distraught to investigate the attack on his parents. And when the evidence points to Toby’s father as the killer of Toby’s mother, Daniel faces two of the greatest challenges of his young career: proving the innocence of both Peter Ward and Reverend Kitteridge. One mistake in London and a blameless man will hang. One mistake in Ipswich and Toby’s father will go to prison for life.

Death Times Seven, the seventh and final novel in Anne Perry’s Daniel Pitt series, was completed by Victoria Zackheim, an author and editor as well as Perry’s close friend. Rich in intrigue and courtroom drama, this engrossing novel marks a fitting finale to the career of an author widely praised as the queen of historical crime fiction.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/books/review/cozy-mystery-novels.html

This book features two characters as they go for what is described as a first doctor’s visit. There is a kind of space mission feel to the excursion with no adults along.

Kids will learn a bit about a few basics in a check up. These include the otoscope and stethoscope. There is attention paid to a healthy diet.

A few quibbles with this book. It is about a first doctor’s visit, even though these characters are not babies. The exam is cursory and there is no mention of immunizations, blood tests or other things that sometimes happen at visits.

This book is fine but I have read better ones about going to the doctor.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 23 June 2026

Description:

from the publisher

Mission Milestone picture books help kids face first experiences with confidence by turning everyday milestones into fun, rewarding adventures. Children will boldly grow alongside Ollie the panda and his alien friend Sid, who lead the way and earn Star Scout badges for every accomplishment.

In this mission, Ollie and Sid visit the doctor for a checkup!

Ollie and Sid are ready for their first visit with a new doctor—a mission that helps them learn how to care for their bodies and minds. With courage, curiosity, teamwork, and friendship, they discover that a checkup isn’t scary—it’s an adventure in staying strong and healthy.

Packed with adorable illustrations, Visit to the Doctor is the perfect confidence-building picture book for ages three to seven. Ideal for read-aloud story time, preschool and kindergarten classrooms, or preparing kids at home for their own doctor’s visits.

Join Ollie and Sid on more Star Scout missions to help kids navigate early life experiences—because every new milestone is an adventure waiting to happen.

Comes with a sheet of stickers!