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

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The holiday season can be a time of great cheer and joy. For some though, it is a time of year when anxiety reaches its peak. While this book is not about the holidays, it is a very good resource on anxiety in general. The author is a practitioner of CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy. He sets out a way to understand and work with anxiety so that it does not rule one’s life. Dr. Minden has a three step plan which includes making “useful predictions, not anxious fictions”, taking action and accepting and redirecting. The author’s hope is that “these approaches will help you move from reactive to proactive, from emotional to logical, from avoidant to active and from judgmental to accepting.” Through keeping a notebook and following the strategies in this book, you may find that you can cope better.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

English Elegies is a book of poems.  I was very moved by the first one that I read which was about Anne Frank.  I just purchased this book.

Dorothy Sayers Peter Wimsey sereies is a classic.  Here is a chance to get four titles for a great price.

My earlier review of the Amanda Cross book:

This week in class we discussed In the Last Analysis, the first book in the Kate Fansler series of mysteries. The book was written under a pseudonym with the author, Carolyn Heilbrun being a feminist scholar and professor at Columbia.

The author’s protagonist is herself an English professor at Columbia. A student of hers asks for a recommendation to a psychoanalyst. Kate refers the student, Janet, to Emmanuel Bauer. Emmanuel is a Freudian analyst which leads to some interesting asides in the book. He is also a past lover of Kate’s.

Janet is murdered. Kate is invested in learning what happened both because she is the one who referred Janet to Emmanuel and because Kate and Emmanuel have been good friends, even though their affair ended. She is concerned that he not be found guilty if he did not commit the crime. From this point, Kate uses her resources and delegation skills to gather the pertinent facts. The solution to the mystery, in my opinion, is less interesting than other aspects of this novel.

Kate is perhaps one of the first feminist detectives. She is very urban, does not seemingly want to marry, supports herself, smokes, drinks and is a curious, intelligent woman.

By the end of the story, which is improbable in spots, the case is solved. In accord with mystery traditions going back many years, order is restored as the perpetrator is caught. Along the way, there are references to classes that Kate teaches, other literary references (one of which is important), life on campus and psychoanalysis.

This book was written about 50 years ago but seems contemporary in terms of the issues that are still important. If you have not read the series, it is worth a try.

One in the Sidney Chambers series, one by the author of Big, Little Lies and a modern classic.

This is a book of gently amusing comics about a relationship.  Reflective of every day life and mostly sweet, this book will be enjoyed by those who know the ups and downs of daily life with a significant other.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

#Snug #NetGalley

A first novel and part of a long term series today.

This inspiring book is geared toward middle school readers.  As the title says, it is organized in alphabetical order as a dictionary.  Some of the words included in the book are acceptance, compassion, diversity, forgiveness, gratitude, hope, justice, kindness,peace, understanding and more.  This title has some lovely illustrations; the book opens with one of flowers in a mug that sets the tone. The first entry is a twenty–six line poem with a line for every letter of the alphabet.  Each of the following entry also includes an editorial comment and something to try.  One example from the book: The letter C.

Courage

Sometimes

courage can be

getting up to face life’s

stormy world when you’d rather hide

in bed.

Author Charles than comments and there is a Try It!

This book can be read in order or dipped into.  Hopefully, readers will be encouraged as they pursue the entries in this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

#DictionaryforaBetterWorld #NetGalley

My review:

This is the first book that I have read by Ellery Adams and I truly enjoyed it. The protagonist, Nora, is a bookseller who believes that there is a book that is just right for each customer’s particular emotional state; the notion that one could get meaningful suggestions from a bookseller was lovely in this day of internet sales. I enjoyed the many literary references and the back stories of the protagonists. There are also hints of romance. If you like cozies, I would recommend this book highly.

Part of a long historical mystery series set in Egypt.

I  enjoy this series very much.

An older mystery that was reissued.

 

I once heard a Math teacher say, never tell your children that you can’t do or don’t like Math.  She went on to say that adults would not say that about reading.  Learning Math and enjoying the process is so important and builds skills for a lifetime.  In this book, the author takes on the challenge of making Math fun and challenging for kids as they learn.

Chapters include Math with Fine Artists including Paul Klee’s Geometric Mosaic and Jasper Johns’s Hidden Number Art; Art with Graphs & Grids, Numbers & Equations which features a Square Numbers Tower and Splash Patterns among others.  There is also Symmetry in Art including for example Mandala Drawing and Rose Window Stained Glass and Cultural Math with Native American Quilt Art and an Ancient Cretan Labyrinth.  Finally, there is Edible Math Art including Pattern Block Cooks, Stained Glass Gelatin Art and more.

The author notes that she did not love Math as a child.  When she began homeschooling her children and heard similar sentiments, she began to move Math away from worksheets to activities.  Using these more fun approaches, the author teaches math concepts including addition, subtraction, algebra, geometry and more.

This book is a terrific adjunct resource for parents and teachers.  Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

From the publisher:

#MathArtandDrawingGamesforKids #NetGalley

This is part of the Elm Creek quilters series.

Jenny Colgan is a good reader of light women’s fiction.  This is part of a series.

  A bargain today and I just, just reviewed this

Dorothy Simpson wrote police procedurals set in England.  I have read and enjoyed many of them.  They are not new but if you like British mysteries, you might want to give this a try.  I always like books by Donna Leon.  Helene Hanff’s book is the sequel to 84 Charing Cross Road, another Anglophile title.  Alice imagines the life of Alice Liddell, think the basis for Alice in Wonderland. I just purchased Summer Hours.  Enjoy.