Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

 Relevant reading as a response to my Africa trip (including hike around Mt. Kenya). This book was originally published in Italian in, I think, 1947, and soon after translated into English. It has been reissued many times.     Title: No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three P.o.W.s' Escape to Adventure Author: Felice Benuzzi. I can't find info about the translation. Publication Info: See note above. My Kindle edition was put out by Quercus in 2017, and has an unknown number of pages, though the paperback appears to have 320. Source : Library Publisher's Blurb (from Overdrive web site): In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of POW Camp 354, captured in Africa during World War II. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the firs

For some reason I have long resisted reading Kerry Greenwood's non-Phryne Fisher mysteries. I finally changed that, and can't for the life of me figure out what my problem was. I suppose I was afraid that nothing could measure up to that series. The whole thing does at least offer insights into book marketing--I don't think my new series is doing as well as the old, though I think it is better (okay, until later this year it's also only one book, so hardly a series. I'm working on that!).     Title: Earthly Delights: A Corinna Chapman Mystery Author: K erry Greenwood Publication Info: Poison Pen Press, 2012 (US Kindle edition. Originally published 2004 by Allen and Unwin). 250 pages.  Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: One day, Corinna Chapman, high profile accountant and banker, walked out on the money market and her dismissive and unpleasant husband James, threw aside her briefcase, and doffed her kitten heels forever. Now she is a baker with her own busi

Having beta-read a later book in this series and enjoyed it very much, I was delighted to get a review copy of The Scry's the Limit and learn more of Aly's story.   Title: The Scry's the Limit. Shady Grove mysteries #2. Author: Ada Bell Publication info: Empress Books, 2021. Read on Apple Books, 133 pages. Source: Review copy gifted by author Publisher's Blurb: Now that she’s accepted her psychic gifts, Aly’s determined to solve the mystery of what happened to her sister-in-law.  Unfortunately, between work, starting classes, and her brother’s unwillingness to seek answers, Aly’s having more trouble getting answers than she expected. Just when she thinks Kevin may be warming up to the idea of helping her, they find Aly’s academic advisor and favorite professor dead. Professor Zimm was one of the school’s most beloved teachers. Who would want to kill her? The professor who could make tenure in her absence? The privileged student who hates having to retake the

Another in my long list of books about being in or traveling in the wilderness, Boyd Varty's memoir is a little different.   Title: Cathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Home Author: Boyd Varty. Audiobook narrated by the author. Publication info: Random House Audio, 2014. 9 hours. Hardback Random House 2014, 304 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: When Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, he needed a place to recover and adjust to his new life. He went to Londolozi Game Reserve. Founded over eighty years ago by Boyd Varty's great-grandfather, Londolozi started as a hunting safari. But in 1973, Boyd's visionary father, Dave, transformed it into a nature reserve, creating a blueprint for modern-day conservation. This transformation is the backdrop of Boyd's family history and his own personal odyssey. Alongside his feisty, daring sister, Bronwyn, Boyd grows up learning to track lions, raise leopard cubs, and pilot L

I'm grateful to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read this fun holiday mystery!       Christmas Lights and Cat Fights: A Jules Keene Glamping Mystery Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series Setting – Virginia Level Best Books (October 17, 2023) Print length ‏ : ‎ 285 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CJQKWK3F Christmas has come to Fern Valley, and the town’s decked out with enough glitter and sparkle for a month’s worth of celebrations, each more over-the-top than the previous one. The idyllic setting, filled with laughter, carols, and sweet treats, is shattered, along with some of the decorations, when the current wife and the ex-wife of a big-cat showman have a knock-down, drag-out fight in the center of town. Jules Keene, owner of the Fern Valley Glamping Resort, tries to keep peace among her guests and with the town council, but it turns into a catastrophe when Tabbi Morris, winds up dead in one of her ex-husband’s tiger cages. And if the murder wasn’t en

One of my friends sent me this book, and I've already managed to forget who. Thanks--it was a good read and I learned a lot.     Title: Ladies of the Canyons: A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the American Southwest Author: Lesley Poling-Kempes Publication Info: University of Arizona Press, 2015.  373 pages Source: Gift Publisher’s Blurb: Ladies of the Canyons is the true story of remarkable women who left the security and comforts of genteel Victorian society and journeyed to the American Southwest in search of a wider view of themselves and their world. Educated, restless, and inquisitive, Natalie Curtis, Carol Stanley, Alice Klauber, and Mary Cabot Wheelwright were plucky, intrepid women whose lives were transformed in the first decades of the twentieth century by the people and the landscape of the American Southwest. Part of an influential circle of women that included Louisa Wade Wetherill, Alice Corbin Henderson, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Mary Austi

This is book #7 in the "Murder Most Unladylike" mystery series, and while the series at least began as children's books, they are murder mysteries, and our main characters are growing up. I'm happy to see that they seem to have stopped renaming--and maybe "translating"?--the books for US audiences. Title: Death in the Spotlight Author: Robin Stevens Publication Info: 2018, Puffin Books. 400 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: 'The whole theatre seemed on edge. There was a feverish atmosphere seeping into every corner of the Rue, as though the whole cast was sickening. Daisy and I both knew that something was brewing.' Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are off to the beautiful Rue Theatre in London, where they will face an entirely new challenge: acting. But behind the theatre's glittering facade, the girls soon realise that there is trouble at the Rue. Jealousy, threats and horrible pranks quickly spiral out of control - and then one of

  Jemima Pett has been hosting the SpaceTime Reading Challenge for a few years now, and I keep signing up and then losing track. If you are a SF fan, like a little mind-bending time travel now and then, or just want to find out if you do, sign up and jump in. I recommend following jemimapett.com for ideas about what to read--I've gotten a lot of good tips from her reviews! Sign up here --it's never too late. The SpaceTime Reading Challenge #spacetimereads You can read any book that is from the science fiction/time-travel genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres.  Non-fiction is not included in this challenge. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews (even one-liners) to link up. (blog, Goodreads, booklikes, shelfari, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back here with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be novellas or novels, although anthologies count if they meet the pag

A flawed but still gripping sequel to I Lived on Butterfly Hill , which I reviewed in 2015 . Title: The Maps of Memory: Return to Butterfly Hill Author: Marjorie Agosín, read by Kyla Garcia Publication Info: Audio Book 2021, Tantor Media. 7hours 47 min. Hardback published 2020 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 368 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: In this inspiring sequel to the Pura Belpré Award–winning, “dazzling and insightful” ( BCCB ) I Lived on Butterfly Hill , thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to a very different Chile and makes it her mission to rebuild her community, and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi’s time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valparaíso, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she’s finally returned home to find the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Celeste is determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill get bac

  The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery) by Mark Waddell The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery) by Mark Waddell About The Body in the Garden The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery) Queer Cozy (“Quozy”) Mystery 1st in Series  Setting – The fictional town of Crescent Cove on Vancouver Island, Canada Crooked Lane Books (August 22, 2023) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639104402 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639104406 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BN582M9W In this queer cozy series debut perfect for fans of Ellen Byron and Ellery Adams, Luke Tremblay is about to discover that Crescent Cove has more than its fair share of secrets…and some might be deadlier than others. Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following hi