The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is a murder mystery with a twist. Our main character, Aiden, must relive the same day over and over, as he tries to figure out who murders/murdered Evelyn Hardcastle.
I started this on Audible, and I have to say, I was so confused. I often don’t read the summaries or descriptions of books before reading, and this one I purchased months ago. Regardless, I missed the bit where he wakes up everyday in the body of a different guest, and felt that the story doesn’t make that clear nearly soon enough.
Also, I didn’t care for the narrator or the style of the novel. I eventually switched to a library copy so I could read, rather than listen to, the ending. Otherwise, I felt like I might never finish.
With Aiden jumping from host to host, the events are repeated over and over, from each point of view. Often, it’s hard to follow what time of day it is, or what’s already happened.
As Aiden pieces together the mysterious series of events leading to Evelyn’s murder, I didn’t feel, as the reader, that I was brought along on his journey. In the end, there is the big reveal of the murderer as well as the reveal explaining how Aiden (and Anna) came to be stuck at Blackheath Manor, trying to solve the murder. Both of these were disappointing and convoluted.
This is the second book in the Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer. These books are pretty quick to read (or listen to), and have a quirky sense of humor. Good for those moments when you want a light and easy book.
I recommend this book a lot. This was my second time reading it, and I feel pretty much everyone should read it. It’s not just about giving and receiving feedback in a work environment; the topics here can also be applied to personal relationships.
Another quick read. However, I feel this could be shortened into an article. Of course, the book gives a lot of examples, and the author shows how she uses what she’s learned personally. However, a condensed form or checklist would be useful for sharing the content/information, and for remembering it. I read this in May, and I feel like I already forgot a lot of the content.
I went into this expecting a road trip adventure. While Emmett and Billy do get an adventure, it was not what any of us were expecting. I really disliked some of the characters, and ultimately didn’t care for this novel very much. Also, Towles made a decision to dispense with quotation marks for the dialogue and often I found it very hard to decipher who said what in a conversation.
A wild ride! Is the plot of a book ever a sure thing? I don’t want to spoil anything, but I found this intriguing, although I wasn’t surprised by the ending.
Ah fantasy novels! This one captured my attention with interesting characters and the premise that certain individuals can be vessels for spirits (demons). Once summoned into, they are powerless as the spirits within them are compelled to do the summoner’s bidding.
This was our August book club selection. This is a YA/romance/crime-thriller. The story centers around Daunis, who is struggling to fit in, as she’s biracial and an unenrolled tribal member. So it’s also a story about race and coming of age. I enjoyed it but overall felt it was trying to be too many things at once.
Originally published in the 1970’s, this is a novel about growing up lesbian in America. It saddens me to think that some of the themes and problems highlighted here are still an issue today.
As Arthur Less turns 50, he arranges for an 80-day around-the-world trip to avoid going to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. It’s cute, it’s sappy, it’s a movie I’d watch if Neil Patrick Harris starred as Less.
This is mostly a biography about David Starr Jordan with the author’s memoir wrapped inside. David Starr Jordan is famous for discovering about a fifth of all known fish and was the founding president of Stanford University. And it turns out he was a pretty horrible person. Spoiler alert – skip this one and instead read this: There is no such thing as a fish.
Someone recently shared an article with me about creating a trail mix for your dog. Prior to this, I had never given much thought to planning or curating a snack mix for my pups. I usually grab something and give them a treat from whatever’s handy.
The article mentioned that the variable reward levels presented by the various treats helped with training and engagement. This all sounded great! Previously, I had relied on varying the reward level by using more (or less) of certain treats.
Now the only question was, what would I put into Roxy and Indy’s Custom Blend Miracle Reward Puppy Snack Mix?
The author of the article uses cheerios as their low-value treat base. Ugh. That’s a lot of sugar! Most dogs don’t normally eat anything sweet (except when they sneak some bites of things they shouldn’t be eating). I also wonder how many people feed their dogs grain-free food and then treat them with Cheerios or some other nonsense. I’m not opposed to grains, and I don’t feed my dogs grain-free food, but I still think Cheerios are not a great idea.
I decided the simplest ingredient to use as a base is plain old dog kibble. We often do training sessions at mealtimes to re-enforce some of their tricks; Indy and Roxy do tricks for treats using kibble.
For the high-value treats, I went with a mixture. The freeze-dried chicken they love always has crumbs and flakes left at the bottom that are impossible to feed. These went into the mixture since they stick to the other treats and raise the value of everything!
I then added some chunks of the freeze dried chicken, and pieces of jerky. To round out the middle range, I put in small pieces of two types of soft treats: peanut butter treats, and lamb and salmon treats.
The result? Roxy and Indy are both very pleased and eager to get rewards. At first, when they’d get a good treat, I’d call that a jackpot, which evolved into calling the whole mixture/container the Snackpot™.
Indy and Roxy waiting to see if they’ve won the Snackpot™.
