Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

 

This is the second book in the White Trash Zombie series with Angel, who was turned into a zombie by Marcus, a sheriff’s deputy, in order to save her from death. Angel works at the coroner’s office where she has a nice supply of brains. Their friend Ed, who tried to kill them because they were zombies, is on the run after decapitating three or so zombies. 

Her and Marcus jumped into a relationship and now Angel feels the need to end it because he treats her like a child and wants to make decisions for her.  His family and friends look down on her for being a high school dropout, though in accordance to her probation,  she is studying for the GED.

When she returns with two bodies to the morgue, someone comes to the door and puts a gun to her face and demands that she give him one of the dead bodies. She complies, but later an article in the paper brings up her past and indicates that she lost the body. The coroner puts her on non-paid leave, which means no more brains. 

There’s a super secret lab working on making brains and growing back the zombies from their heads alone. This lab is looking for a live zombie now in order to create more zombies and use the fake brains to feed them.

This book has it all: mystery, espionage, thrills, horror, humor, and a dash of romance. It is better than the first book, which was an incredibly funny mystery. Rowland has created a whole new world with zombies and humans and humans who want to be zombies. It will take all of Angel’s smart ass instincts and common sense to solve this complex puzzle. 

Quotes

Hello my name is Angel, and I’ll be your zombie today.

Diana Rowland (Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues p 3)

Screw that. Life’s too short to be with someone for the wrong reasons.

Diana Rowland (Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues p 142)

Rebels? Seriously? A rebel alliance of zombies?

Diana Rowland (Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues p 182)

Zombie Super Powers, activate, you fucking bitches.

Diana Rowland (Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues p 280)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Even-White-Trash-Zombies-Blues-ebook/dp/B007P7HXT2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2GBGXPSA5H7H1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cqcm97AV0unFzyMKU08l_iobPf-dHvoTSF9aHgc0RUI_LeX0piDdve8f7jdzOB2MlwmVu94Gc54hZJas6JwPMmHxNmfeQ5uW4yqqCNNbOg7ftyD3r4HrFIRpyr2luWJD9SciHs0quC1ADK_HNCUCctRZL0nI1mRINhlMVHmypc3zaUZbHhYmAzwqjdy1oJu4civZ7wtkMk9HJblCIecRKBwUvcatvkiW6IAB4-ZyKwg.IWQ_TXtE0D2moI15ITb8119Q9uIaawEYNAzGhYICi3I&dib_tag=se&keywords=diana+rowland&qid=1775238897&s=digital-text&sprefix=diana+rowlan%2Cdigital-text%2C223&sr=1-3

Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/even-white-trash-zombies-get-the-blues_diana-rowland/372938/?resultid=f131d6a3-40e6-4ec2-9e23-8ebe8b99e772#edition=6722586&idiq=6001303

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

Nora Seed woke up one morning to a knock on the door. A jogger was there asking if she had a cat because he found one dead in the street. When she goes to work she finds out she’s been fired. On her way home, her elderly neighbor tells her that he doesn’t need her to pick up his prescription for him, which was one of the few social interactions she had. Then she gets a call from the parent if her only piano student saying that the child will not be taking any more lessons.  Nora isn’t just having a bad day, though. She’s having a bad life.

That night Nora ODs on pills to try to kill herself but finds herself in between life and death at a magical place known as. As the Midnight Library. The librarian is her old school librarian who helped her a lot when her father died. There is a Book of Regrets that is very full of all the  things she had missed out on that would have made her life come out better.

The library is full of an infinite number of books that open to put her into a multiverse of possibilities. The librarian tells her she must try out different lives until she comes to the one she likes best. In each life she is placed there with no memory of that life before that moment. When she finds her life she will gain those memories back.

Some of the lives she tries are an Olympic swimmer, deciding to say “yes” to Dan, a glaciologist, and a singer in a world famous rock band.  Sometimes she stays in a world for half an hour before being drawn back to the museum and sometimes weeks or months.

This is a fascinating look at regrets and what they cost us and getting an answer to what could have happened. Who wouldn’t want to glimpse at the “road not traveled”. The novel’s prose is quite quotable, as you can see below, and memorable. The book has a sequel entitled “The Midnight Train” that I can’t wait to read. This is a beautifully written book that opens your eyes to many possibilities and how to live a life without regret. 

Quotes

A person was like a city. You couldn't let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don't like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p. 48)

She stepped outside, wondering whether a life could really be judged from just a few mistakes after midnight on a Tuesday.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 50)

It turned out to be near impossible to stand in a library and not want to pull things from the shelves.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 68)

Librarians have knowledge. They guide you to the right book. The right worlds.. They find the best places like soul-enhanced search engines.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 84)

Regrets don't leave. They weren't mosquitoes. They itch forever.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 84)

“I don't know if I can do this.”

“You're overthinking it.”

“I have anxiety. I have no other type of thinking available.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 109)

Grief is a bastard.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 120)

There are more possible ways to play a game of chess than the amount of atoms in the observable universe.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 195)

Nora wanted to live in a world where no cruelty existed, but the only worlds she had available to her were worlds with humans in them.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 197)

Nora wondered, quietly, if there was any place Dylan didn't or wouldn't love. He seemed like he would be able to sit in a field near Chornobyl and marvel at the beautiful scenery.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 204)

She had known three types of silence in relationships. There was the passive-aggressive silence, obviously, the we-no-longer-have-anything-to-say silence, and then there was the silence that Eduardo and she seemed to have cultivated. The science of not needing to talk. Of just being together, of together-being. The way you could be happily silent with yourself.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 210)

Fear was when you wandered into a cellar and worried that the door would close shut. Despair was when the door closed and locked behind you.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 215)

Shle realised that you could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 242)

It was interesting, she mused to herself, how life sometimes simply gave you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 281)

Alas, String Theory is no longer able to trade in these premises. Due to an increase in rent, we simply couldn't afford to go on. Thanks to all our loyal customers. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, You Can Go Your Own Way, God Only Knows What We'll Be Without You.

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, p 258)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Library-Novel-Matt-Haig-ebook/dp/B085BVSXS9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=R54EFNL0QZZB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ewdrwdpu2v6EQwcVD2wcEsuwDuXXxHYUsbZ5iJHNbnmb_2eaUBj98rw3ikftwPRVBh_--N2UkKD7M1hjQhvT_h2aUDzkhY5HOzOxQbw2z0DnRhCP2rw-rBH4WtILo6JJSxz_hOqoTJgwTGo4eVD4hrW0brkp_MBoq4zfak8VU3gqWcBat9hgWMr1LM_5o8Y5A1oY5rdbtDkngcZHluntqo65XGBF2CCZyMkYjiY5cAY.CkfV-frOhGOEwhOz49tY0DvpgIyeEVxqg0jw4pwHvNY&dib_tag=se&keywords=midnight+library&qid=1775239090&s=digital-text&sprefix=midnight+li%2Cdigital-text%2C194&sr=1-1

Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-midnight-library_matt-haig/26805242/?resultid=f154e0df-9482-4ab7-90df-ebb960851255#edition=30129282&idiq=42743577

To Catch a Spy by Mark O'Neill

 

In 1952, David Dodge wrote To Catch a Thief, which was turned into a stellar Hitchcock movie with CarGrant and Grace Kelly.  O'Neill has written a sequel to this book/movie. It's a year later, and Francie is coming back to the Riveria to model clothes designed by Marcel Julian.  John Robie is still there and staying mostly on the straight and narrow.  John and Francie stayed in touch until her last letter, when she tells him how selfish he is, only thinking of himself and how he'll always be a thief.  John was devastated by the letter and is determined to see her while she is in Cannes and convince her otherwise.  However, Francie has moved on to a man named Alex, who was the one who introduced her to Julian and who only thinks of her, a decidedly different man from John.

John wants an invite to the party the night before the fashion show and knows that his government friend Paul, who is also a Count, will have tickets, so John offers his services to collect the information Paul needs to shut down a spy network at the party.   Paul has little information.  John uses his thief skills to learn more about this spy ring by first following someone across the rooftops and catching the man before he can jump, but the man escapes his hold and falls to his death with a bag full of money that John steals.  He was more scared of who he was working for and being caught alive than death.

John finds Francie, and she tells him off in a very hurtful way.  John tries to explain that his whole life, he has only had himself to depend on, which is why he seems selfish.  But then Alex shows up, puts his arm around Francie, and John realizes that she has indeed moved on and is happy.  John is by no means giving up on her. He does, however, become sidetracked by spies and a local cop who was made a fool of when John turned out not to be the cat burglar in the first book, who is trying to set him up if he can't catch him in the act.

It also turns out that Francie has been handing envelopes with secret messages to and from different people. While Paul thinks she may be in on it, John refuses to believe it of her.

The author winks at you a bit in this book when he makes a reference to an English director and when Francie lands in the Prince of Monaco’s lap at the fashion show. Grace Kelly met the Prince while shooting the movie and left Hollywood for him.

 This is a really good book. My favorite character is Vittorio, John’s house keeper who comes from Italy and works for him to pay off a debt she feels she owes him for helping out her and her twelve brothers. Vittorrio will jump on the back of a man to attack him and has a comedic way about her. I really would have loved to see Hitchcock make this book into a movie. 

 

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Catch-Spy-Mark-ONeill-ebook/dp/B0D1XMV53C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QRYMYRDF5OUU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VOVvIKhv__iHUAcfyOaQKyNHHisQrievzv0ioA5gj2nNcZE63hWkO9VLt4xDr2Gx9eLUKzJqvUXebmZ179YJYyPyyMe5WvCbvYh56c1rXuzd4bBE_sdj4eQXQHUmUHGJ0TGtpO_gyvCIgRcAwMeWHKSNVX8bl537rbh6M99pQVgmurVO_HJMOnysun6nH7RvAdlZVt5yy-OGGx-IUe_js0zk31LvuUXI-thJuxbc3As.GEB_oXSEjqWT5y0RA9K9Q5HJPwKWuuvsDumQ7urDPa0&dib_tag=se&keywords=to+catch+a+spy&qid=1775238724&s=digital-text&sprefix=to+catch+a+spy%2Cdigital-text%2C280&sr=1-1

Band of Sisters: The Women of Smith College Go to War by Lauren Willig

 

This book focuses on the lives of  Smith College graduates who formed the Smith College Relief Unit during World War I.  They formed in April of 1917 and were composed of women who wanted to help the people of France during the war in rebuilding and replanting their country.  

Emmaline Van Alden is from an old, rich family whose mother spends her time stumping for women’s rights and ignoring the work that her daughter does in the tenements. Emmie never feels like she belongs because everyone wants to be her friend due to her family name. 

Enemie’s only true friend is Kate who went to Smith on a scholarship and is now teaching French to rich girls, bored out of her mind. Kate hasn’t really kept in touch with Emmie because she overheard Emmie’s cousin, Julia tell someone that Kate was Emmie’s “charity case”. Emmie asks Kate to join her on this project and secretly pays her way so Kate would not have a reason to say no. Kate, being poor and Catholic, never fit in at Smith. 

Emmie is put in charge of buying the animals, cows, hens, and goats. The French rooster happens to look a lot like the American hen. After months of no eggs, they realize the hens are actually roosters and they need to buy hens. 

These women achieve amazing things in a short time, but then the boche (Germans) surge into the many villages that they are helping. These women risk life and limb to do a major evacuation of the villagers to somewhere safe from the bombs and guns. The British military told them to leave but they refused to do so until all of their people were safe.

Willig weaves the fiction of the characters with real life events to achieve an incredible novel that tells the untold story of these brave women who risked their lives to help strangers who became close friends. 

While the characters are fictional, all the events written about really happened, including a coup within the organization and the firing of the amazing woman in charge of the unit.  This is an amazing story of brave women who went beyond the traditional roles for women and let France know that they cared about them.  Willig has written a stellar novel that tells these women’s experiences in an engaging way and sheds a light on these women whose stories have been hidden and untold. 

Quotes

How did one scream in pain if one had no mouth left with which to speak?

Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p59)

You needn't sugarcoat it. Sugar's been ratoihned.  We've had our quota for today.

Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p 80)

Washing is highly overrated. There's nothing like a good layer of dirt for keeping the warmth in.

 Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p 229)

She'd been poorly for so long--we thought her illness was...a sort of hobby.

Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p 178)

If you want to be loved, don't take on responsibility.

Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p 373)

True friendship isn't abstaining from hurting one another, but forgiving each other when you do.

 Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters, p  373)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Band-Sisters-Novel-Lauren-Willig-ebook/dp/B089T1SYDS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1D2OQK96FELNG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.d3sNH9nf0PrdJ6IxBI_dSUXLeD35cznm_iaL3pQXAYM.-d_3CTsKLJqrpr2kRxRVX1tMbM5z6b95E53AU9Pnmyc&dib_tag=se&keywords=band+of+sisters+lauren+willig&qid=1774801199&s=digital-text&sprefix=band+of+sis%2Cdigital-text%2C186&sr=1-1

Link to Thriftbooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/band-of-sisters_lauren-willig/28116388/?resultid=c698cfa1-94d9-4095-8fe8-23258368f8fb#edition=35441987&idiq=45186468

Rules of Prey by John Sandford

This book was published in 1989. It was the first in the police Lieutenant Lucas Davenport series that takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lucas works Vice and has connections all over town. He is also a game designer and has made a great deal of money doing it. 

In this cop mystery, Lucus finds himself working alongside, yet independently, from homicide when a serial killer begins to stalk the streets of the Twin Cities. This killer ties up and rapes his victims before stabbing them in the chest. He also leaves notes behind that are his rules for murder and not getting caught.

Unfortunately, the killer leaves a witness with his third victim, Carla, who maces him and beats the crap out of him with a pipe. He gets away, but whatever he saw that was special about her, is now gone.  Carla is able to give Lucus information about the killer, such as, he has a Texas accent, is pale, and doesn’t work out. He also wore a pair of Air Jordan Nikes. The killer has a type, whether he knows it or not, which is dark haired, dark eyed women. 

Piece by piece Lucus begins to form an idea of this man who sees him as a challenge since he is a gamer. I have to say, this serial killer is one lucky S.O.B in that they keep getting close to him, but he manages to slip away. I enjoyed the looks behind the killer’s eyes and into his thoughts. Lucus isn’t a perfect stand up cop (he plants evidence, punches out a rookie, and breaks in to houses to see what he can find), he also loves sleeping with intelligent women, one of which informs him that she is pregnant. How he reacts says a lot about his morals. This book really kickstarts a long series that I can’t wait to read.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Prey-Book-1-ebook/dp/B000QUCO58/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XSZPA5VWUR8W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yyecbZNGQX2Ao4vR1wCIjqwuOFUOLdUznaL7biTsOT2zYG9DlD7gITR4rlKgQ4clzpp2lmMMf6JR9QLAsvnFMInMlivJYE4mxJjbje0qN1vcb095f3qlGriNQjg8L1ODBZZ8CwBwNF4HGhnswSf7y0VrTonOueFGmHk2NSXYhBlBrwL7QGMRTohmMg1BdkybvNUMMpLIpWjBiVhv_612BEfG0T95iiVB_fALWkmHzuk.KVab4zBcyL86TTnvtXVD6lYi1qOfhUv_jUnftNZHT7E&dib_tag=se&keywords=rules+of+prey+john+sandford+book+1&qid=1774802283&sprefix=rules+of+p%2Caps%2C235&sr=8-1

Borrowed Hearts by Kiva Hart

 

This novella is part of the Hearts series written by Kiva Hart and set around a holiday. The holiday in question is Easter. Aria is an elementary school teacher whose live-in fiancé she found having sex with a woman he works with—an affair that has been going on since he proposed. Aria realizes she needs a break and decides to go spend the money she got from pawning her engagement ring on a cabin at a resort in neighboring Whisper Falls. 

To add insult to injury, her car breaks down in the middle of the road on the way there. An obnoxious man named Becket, stops to yell at her for blocking part of the road. It turns out that he is the owner of the resort and he gives her a ride.

After checking into her cabin, she goes to draw a nice, hot, bath but discovers that there is no water. When she goes to complain at the front desk, Becket is there arguing with his mother about having a girlfriend. In exchange for a very nice upgrade, Aria proposes that she play the part of girlfriend when his family arrives for Easter weekend. Aria thought that she had come out on top of their agreement until she meets his family.

While I enjoyed the St Patrick’s Day novella more, as it was a better written novella, I still enjoyed this one in its simplicity and sweetness. This delightfully fresh novella is perfect for Easter and spring.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Borrowed-Hearts-Dating-Romance-Holiday-ebook/dp/B0GCTQ34P4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BN0T7WPKQ1EV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sHXYBibkAzcO9duvtnYhoWC-6JSRiuv3ZzAVEo--BtuOiGl04hF42QQ9Agum2dErSXJ08IhiCy8cZ75zqPmbpsqgRsEmdQ40hG0Ii-ESu9OJWPseXphmILRS4Czn8vyQYAdzOLoc6wR5LRGYKsnRTpKTWQmIv1vppUYHTDXSn67pIwYOBQwE4Jpn1PqDba08XksK4PT05bu3I482l3IV6EhcUPf1pKkdzYQZENU121Q.TTqmCo2Aj7dfzMDPBdXuZZPe5L6ZqSBmi0H6VE0Hbp0&dib_tag=se&keywords=borrowed+hearts+kiva+hart&qid=1774802201&sprefix=borrowed+h%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-1

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Millie has just been released on parole after serving ten years of her sentence. Life on the outside is tough for someone with a record. After losing her last job she is now living in her Nissan car. She has interviewed for a maid’s position living inside a large house on Long Island. Nina Winchester, the lady of the house, will be her boss.

When Millie shows up for her first day of work the house is trashed. Nina, it seems, has mental health problems and likes to make messes she knows Millie will have to clean up. Nina is also playing psychological games with Millie’s mind, such as asking her to drop everything and pick up her daughter from school, only to find that someone else is picking her up. 

Nina also acts very jealous of Millie when her handsome, sweet husband, is around. Her husband, however, only has eyes for Nina and is devoted to her and her child. The gardener, Enzo, warns Millie that she is in danger, though Millie doesn’t believe him.

This book has a mean psychological twist that keeps you guessing as to what’s really happening in the house. I saw what the twist was long before it happened, but that didn’t stop me from reading this book. This book was like eating cotton candy: fills the ache of a sweet tooth, while being a light read that you can enjoy anytime, but preferably in the summer. This was an enjoyable read and I will probably give the next book in this series a try.

Quotes 

I whirl around—​Cecelia is standing behind me, her pale blue eyes boring into me, wearing a white frilly dress that makes her look like a little doll. I’m of course talking about that creepy talking doll in The Twilight Zone that murders people.

Freida McFadden (The Housemaid p, 28-29)

I hate him so much for loving me.

Frieda McFadden (The Housemaid p, 262)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Housemaid-absolutely-addictive-psychological-jaw-dropping-ebook/dp/B09TWSRMCB/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1FT6WWUNRUE4S&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9sLRAWKJGR6-_V9aGjzdVesVC0mIHerYpX85kiFw_Ua4frMasoAthsehXdvIyulO37G1Q9rokGw6h86ZNUZB918JWGYm3hd335ET9wnsulCS-8R2iaL1mO69iitVXmthzcvktw_3qMu8Q3rboXVWGzHyxZY2z2JxboTfJBdlBqxygavPoWwK2mdGXnXGzUtLL9E9y5g4vXzrPO6wgoHuWA.rMtxUrs87kOnPwt1dQZPEX3ZTRQ1Yp33LKfJvY_sdXY&dib_tag=se&keywords=housemaid&qid=1774614998&s=digital-text&sprefix=house%2Cdigital-text%2C184&sr=1-1