Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Amy  

nonfiction

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI is the story of the Osage tribe of Native Americans.  After being sent away from their homelands and pushed into a small, unattractive area of Oklahoma, the Osage ended up becoming wealthy from oil found underneath their lands. However, the white leaders never trusted them to have control of their own money and laws were passed that assigned guardians to oversee the Osage spending of their own money.  Then, the Osage started being murdered in the 1920s so that their “headrights” would fall to greedy outsiders.  Also, those who attempted to solve the crimes were murdered so that the guilty could not be identified and punished. For years, the crimes went unsolved until the group that later became the FBI got involved and finally cracked one of the largest networks of evil.

I had not previously heard about the Osage Murders. In fact, I had never heard much about the Osage Native Americans—perhaps because, as an easterner, my schooling was mostly about eastern tribes.  I had heard of Osage County, Oklahoma thanks to the play August: Osage County (which was a great play!)

It was interesting learning about early law enforcement with its inherent corruption and the sections regarding the formation of the FBI including an early portrait of J. Edgar Hoover and the men who helped him form his reputation.  I liked the way the David Grann dug deep into some of the specific people involved in these tragedies and then he included other findings to illustrate how these plots were widespread and nefarious. It’s a depressing tale that deserves attention. 

The book has three major sections and each was narrated by a different person: first Ann Marie Lee, second Will Patton, and lastly Danny Campbell.  They all did a pretty good job considering it was mostly a report. Some of it read like a novel but much of it read like an article.  None of them needed to stretch their acting or use many different voices in these roles.  I will say that Will Patton has a unique vocal tone which was a bit distracting at times.   But, overall, I’d give them all an A.

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good and An Elderly Lady Must Not be Crossed (Elderly Lady #1, #2) by Helene Tursten

Lynnie    
Amy       

contemporary fiction

The title of the book is the summary. :)

Lynnie's Review

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good was an unexpected pleasure! I won't lie, I only downloaded it from the library because the title and cover caught my attention.

Maud- the elderly lady in question- is indeed up to no good at all! Stubborn, irascible, calculating and disarmingly spry for her age, Maud's tales of murder and mayhem often made me laugh out loud in disbelief. Is any of it realistic? No, not really but, honestly, I didn't care; I'm only sad that it's over. I would have never thought that a book about a serial-killing old lady would be so entertaining, and I feel somewhat guilty about enjoying it as much as I did, but there you have it. None of Tursten's stories in this collection are particularly surprising and you might even say it was formulaic, but it was a few hours very well-spent, in my opinion.

Amy's Review

Maud is an 88-year-old Swedish woman who often finds herself at odds with people.  She’s reclusive, wealthy, well-traveled, and comfortable in her own skin.  She is also decisive, confident, self-serving, and lethal!  This book is a quirky oddity of a story collection and I couldn’t help but be amused while reading about Maud’s antics and scenarios.  It’s a quick read.  The book was translated from Helene Tursten’s Swedish so felt a bit clunky to read at times. But it flew by, nonetheless.

Amy  

fiction

This sequel to An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good provides more examples of Maud’s poor behavior.

I could have done without this sequel.  Having another book full of even more awful manipulations and premeditations by Maud takes her evil deeds beyond quirky, toxic, and shameful to downright criminal and psychopathic. I don’t remember all the stories from the first novel but I don’t remember them feeling this dark and deranged. I really grew to despise Maud in this book. In fact, I would’ve stopped listening to the audiobook halfway through, but I didn’t have another one available and it’s a very short novel. The author attempts to redeem Maud in the end, but it was too little too late. The woman is unredeemable in my mind and I’m seriously concerned about the author, Helene Tursten, too. This was not amusing or cute at all.  Further, for a short novel, there were many long, boring sections between the meatier servings of the story.

The audiobook was read by Ann Richardson. She had a decent repertoire of female voices (although, no accents) and wasn’t a bad actor when voicing characters. But she had no male repertoire at all. She also had one of those robotic “narrator” voices when not voicing a character. I’ll give her a B-.

Practical Magic (Practical Magic #1) by Alice Hoffman

Amy     

fantasy

How disappointing.  I loved The Rules of Magic, which I somehow read without realizing it was a sequel.  So, I was expecting to love the original novel in the series, Practical Magic.  I had never seen the movie which I’d heard was good.  Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy this novel.  In fact, it bored me so much that I often set it down for days at a time, choosing to do other things instead of reading.  It put me to sleep on more than one occasion.  It did not grab me until the very end.  I thought the characters were all described heartlessly and I wasn’t drawn to any of them. And there was no plot until the last half of the novel.  To me, it was just aimless descriptions of the characters and their non-endearing oddities. Here's why this person cannot form healthy relationships.  And here's another person who cannot handle people. And another one.  Blah blah.

I’ve read several of Alice Hoffman’s novels and have enjoyed some and not enjoyed others. So, the hit-or-miss streak continues.

Cookbook Reviews: America's Test Kitchen, Samin Nosrat, & Ali Rosen

I love cookbooks but don't have the space for them in my kitchen. Therefore, I am a serial cookbook borrower- from the library or friends, it doesn't matter- I read them, write out the recipes that look good to me, and send the book back for someone else to enjoy. I recently joined the cookbook club at my local library, which has been a lot of fun.  We all read the same cookbook and everyone chooses a recipe (or two) to make so we can try them out while discussing the cookbook. These are the most recent cookbooks we explored.

 -Lynnie 

Vegetables Illustrated: An Inspired Guide with 700+ Kitchen-Tested Recipes by America's Test Kitchen 

This is the first cookbook in ages that I've read that I am actually considering buying. We eat vegetables every day in our house, but I tend to fall into routines for how to prepare them.

There are so many wonderful recipes in this book and so many ideas about what to do with any type of vegetable. This book is particularly helpful to me because we participate in a summer farm share and often get unique vegetables that I've never worked with before. America's Test Kitchen has created a collection of recipes that are easy to follow, with tips on how to clean, cook, and use whatever veggie you can think of. This is not a vegetarian cookbook- there are meat recipes included but, in each, the veggie is the star. I particularly liked that it was organized by vegetable rather than by appetizer, entree, etc... truly a 5-star cookbook.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat

I was originally very excited about this selection based upon my experience with the Netflix show of the same name. Sadly, I was disappointed. I think if you are relatively new to cooking and creating flavor you will get a lot out of this book but, honestly, I’ve already had this journey. I got very little out of the detailed explanations of the science of food and the included recipes simply didn’t offer much that was new to my collection.

Clearly I’m not the target audience for this book, but I think that if you’re just beginning your culinary adventures you will appreciate what it offers.

Bring It!: Tried and True Recipes for Potlucks and Casual Entertaining by Ali Rosen 

 
Overall, I was impressed. This book takes the guess work out of potluck events with specific instructions of what to serve hot or cold and the best ways to transport it. We made a variety of the dishes with the big winners being salmon cucumbers, spicy Brussels salad tart, and the S'mores Bars.

The recipes were easy to follow and rarely used an ingredient that was hard to find. If you're looking for ideas for your next potluck, this is a great place to start.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Amy     

fiction

Due to mixed reviews, I’ve been hesitant to read The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  It was intriguing.  Four young siblings visit a gypsy to be given the dates of their death. And then their lives play out, highlighted one at a time. 

It was interesting to see the choices each sibling made based on how long or short they expected their lives to be.  I thought the story was well-crafted, telling the entire tale in pieces that tied together to the larger whole.  It gave me some things to think about, which I always appreciate in a novel.  Would I have made different choices if I expected a short life, for example?  

I don’t agree with the title of the book.  They were not living their lives as if they would live forever.  Rather, each of them was very conscious of their predicted death dates even though they sometimes pretended not to be.  I would have preferred The Mortalists. I also didn’t understand the tree design on the cover unless it was meant to give the idea of the family tree, which I would accept only begrudgingly.  So, as I typed this up I just looked up the cover design and found an article about just this thing!  Yep, family and also the cycles of death and growth.  Hmm. Okay. I’ll allow it but, even though I like the aesthetic appeal of the tree, I don’t think it is a meaningful cover for this novel.  Nobody cares what I think, though, and the novel has done very well so it worked for them!

The narrator of this audiobook was Maggie Hoffman.  She had a small repertoire of voices and had some great acting moments, but I didn’t love the tone of her voice and she mispronounced a few words.  I’ll give her a B+.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Amy        
Lynnie     

fiction, historical fiction

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman is a feel-good slice of life story.  CeeCee is unfortunate to have an unmedicated psychotic mother and a careless, mostly absent father.  After facing devastating circumstances, CeeCee is sent to live with her great aunt in Savannah, GA.  This is when CeeCee’s life improves.  

Amy's Review

Lucky for CeeCee, her aunt is a wealthy, childless, kind-hearted widow just itching for someone to care for.  CeeCee makes friends, lives a little, and her future looks bright by the end of the novel.  That’s it. Nothing outstanding—just a girl’s story with some quirky characters and a bit of attention to unfair treatment of African American people in the south.

The best part of this novel was the outstanding narration of the audiobook by Jenna Lamia.  Her natural voice is very child-like with a middle American accent. (Although, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's not her natural voice.) Her repertoire of different voices and accents is wonderful!  And her voice acting was outstanding.  A+ all the way! She was perfect to bring all of these characters to life.

Lynnie's Review

Full disclosure, I read this book in 2014, but I'm glad Amy picked it up now.  I thought the story was very cute - it would make a great beach read a the characters truly are larger than life (as any wonderful Southern character ought to be!) and tended to make me smile regularly. Nothing of note particularly happens in the story but it's a nice character sketch. You won't learn much but you'll have fun learning about more of Savannah's finest.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Amy      

mystery, psychological thriller

The Woman in the Window tells the story of a woman who thinks she sees a murder take place through a neighbor's window.  

This novel has to have one of the most unreliable narrators in the history of literature. As Anna's story develops and the layers are removed, the reader begins to wonder if they're reading a total fantasy or not because Anna, obviously, cannot tell fact from fiction herself. At the same time, you know there must be some truth to it because of the facts and evidence she peppers throughout her story. It's not a surprise the way things turn out. In fact, I had figured it all out. But, the telling of the tale and the pacing was great. I liked the device of having Anna be a psychologist so that she could educate the reader about agoraphobia.  In that way, it reminded me of The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle where the protagonist was able to give insight to the reader about the mental anguish through which she was living. However, at the same time, while I assume it's possible, I wonder how realistic it is that someone so educated in psychological disorders would develop such a debilitating phobia.  Apparently, education is not prevention. And I do understand that phobias are not logical. I appreciated the way black and white films playing throughout the novel mirrored the situations in Anna's life.  Cleverly done by A.J. Finn, even though I'm not familiar with most of the old movies mentioned.

The audiobook narrator was Ann Marie Lee and she did a great job, especially with the voice acting. I wouldn't have minded if she read a little faster at times but she did present a repertoire of different voices for the characters. I'll give her an A.