The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis (eBOOK)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Monday, January 6, 2025
REVIEW - The Queens of Crime (eARC/eBOOK)
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (eARC/eBOOK)
OVERVIEW
This is my first eARC/eBOOK of 2025! This historical fiction mystery book was a great first ARC to start the year!
Two women Founding Members of the Detection Club in London persuaded three other women mystery writers to join. These five writers also form a subgroup called the Queens of Crime. The writers initially decided to solve the murder of a young English nurse in France, as a lark, but then the "detective work" becomes more real and they want to find the murderer for the victim.
This was my fourth book by Marie Benedict and it was another really good one! The Queens of Crime could become a series - I would love it!
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
Marie always writes lovely prose, descriptive language, and a twist. I loved how the author wrote about post-WWI London, a time rarely written about at all in historical fiction novels.
Character development: 4.5 stars
The main characters are Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. Apparently, all five were real-life mystery writers (I only knew of Agatha Christie).
The secondary characters are May (the victim), Celia (the victim's friend), Mac (Dorothy's husband and a newspaper journalist), and Ivy (Dorothy's cousin).
The tertiary characters are French residents, French police, Boulogne, and the suspects.
Again, many characters in the storyline were not developed fully. They, however, were necessary for the detailed storyline.
Storyline: 4.5 stars
The Queens of Crime decides to try and solve the murder of May in Boulougne-sur-Mer, France after playing a "closed room" game at their first meeting. The writers travel to the crime scene, retrace May and Celia's footsteps, and then discover many clues the French police missed or chose to ignore. It gets more mysterious and interesting as the murderer becomes known.
The "detective work" takes place in March/April 1931 with the ending set in December 1931. The five mystery writers solved this crime without resources other than their wit and puzzle-solving skill sets which the police were unable to do so. It shows that women need to be involved in crimes involving women.
The main locations were London, England, Boulougne-sur-Mer, France, and other locales in England.
Memorable/Informative: 4.5 stars
It was awesome that these five mystery writers joined the Detection Club and formed the Queens of Crime. I love women empowerment stories especially historical characters that I knew nothing about.
Unfortunately, I do not know how closely this novel varies from the real-life facts that it is fictionalized on. There wasn't an Author's Note so there were no source materials. With most historical fiction, there is a thorough explanation to wrap up the story in a nice bow.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Lovely!!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Great choice!
STRONG recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
NetGalley ARC (eARC/ebook)
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
320 pages
St. Martin's Press
FUTURE release date of 2/11/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next audiobook is...
Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa (audiobook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
REVIEW - The Girl on the Balcony (audiobook)
The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
I had heard of Olivia Hussey due to her work in Romeo and Juliet but had never seen it. When she, unfortunately, passed away recently, I checked to see if she had an autobiography or memoir. She did so I decided to learn more about her and her life by checking it out from the library.
For some reason, this book just didn't do it for me. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. After her breakthrough role, Olivia lived a charmed life but grew up too quickly without adult supervision. She lived a wild life of partying but didn't seem really happy. Her life finally settled down somewhat when she met and married Dino Martin.
TRIGGER ALERT: Alcohol abuse, drug usage, sexual assault, and some foul language
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5 stars
Writing: 3.0 stars
Olivia writes very choppily in bursts which is very odd to me as her son, Alexander Martin, a writer helped her with this book. She also left chapters hanging with a question and had no real transitions. It was very different from any other autobiography than what I had read. Was that the point? But it didn't work for me.
Narration: 3.5 stars
It was fine, but rather bland narration by Carol Monda, Normally, I choose to read memoirs or autobiographies narrated by the author. It gives more emotion and character to the audiobook. So it was disappointing not to be narrated by Olivia who is a professional actress.
Character Arc: 4.0 stars
The audiobook is primarily chronological with some flashbacks to fully explain important parts of the story. This is my preferred choice for memoirs and autobiographies.
But it was annoying that she would "foretell" the future at times and reveal a secret or tragedy that was discussed a few paragraphs later.
Memorable: 3.0 stars
Olivia had a typical celebrity actress life with many advantages, opportunities, and privileges. At times, it felt as if she really didn't appreciate what she had and who she had in her life. She squandered many opportunities for real love by allowing her and her partner's professional careers to come first.
She also did not have any strong adult figures to protect her. Olivia was unfairly used by Franco Zefferilli in Romeo and Juliet as a sexual being as a child. She needed an advocate to ensure that she was treated appropriately. This lack of role models also created a naive young woman who found herself in dangerous situations with dangerous people which was not her fault. It is just terribly sad.
Entertaining: 3.0 stars
This book was not so much entertaining as informative about her life.
It also dragged when she spent about 1/4 of the book discussing her spiritual guru, her spiritual journey, and India. This didn't interest me at all.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Gorgeous.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Recommend
STATISTICS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)
The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey
Blackstone Audiobooks
9 hours, 51 minutes
Release date of 7/31/2018
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Friday, January 3, 2025
2024 Year-End Recap
Hello, everyone!
The Holidays quickly snuck up on my family since Thanksgiving was so late this year so this is a short recap of a few booksbydorothea December 2024 posts. Since many of you limit your social media time during the holidays (like me), these two final posts may have been missed.
First up is the booksbydorothea Best Books of 2024! I have updated it with an ebook and an audiobook Best Books for 2024! There were 18 nominees with seven finalists in each category and two winners. You can find out more about the booksbydorothea Best Books of 2024 HERE.
The other end-of-year post is the booksbydorothea 2024 Annual Book Blog Wrap-up. This includes statistics, monthly recap links, a glossary, and a book rating detail. The booksbydorothea 2024 Annual Book Blog Wrap-up can be found HERE.
Any feedback on the booksbydorothea blog itself would be so appreciated. Also, if you have any book recommendations I would love that! Shout out to my dear friend, Jennifer, for recommending On Living by Kerry Egan (audiobook) which was a nominee and finalist for 2024!
Thank you for all of your support in 2024! See you in 2025!
Happy reading and Happy New Year!
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Amazon First Reads - January 2025
Hi, everyone!!
As a reminder, if you have an Amazon Prime membership, you get a FREE monthly Kindle book! The program is called Amazon First Reads!! You can find out more about the program HERE.
My Amazon First Reads email arrived this evening. Score, there are two free Kindle books this month!! This month neither of my book selections is a short story or about WWII which is a positive change for me!
My free Amazon First Reads are:
Glamorous Notions by Megan Chance
There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev
Have you selected your two Kindle books? Also, don't forget to "buy" AND download the FREE books from Amazon!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Goodreads 2025 Reading Challenge
Hi, everyone!
Initially, my Goodreads 2025 Reading Challenge was going to be 100 books. But instead, I increased to 101! It is a big number, but I will do my best to meet this challenge while having a lot of fun reading great books and audiobooks!.
To set your Goodreads 2025 Reading Challenge:
- Log in, if necessary.
- Go to the Main/Home page on the Goodreads page.
- Click on the 2025 Reading Challenge in the middle left of the Main/Home Page.
- You will be prompted to enter your 2025 goal!
- Good luck!
Happy reading!
Dorothea 💜
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
My next eARC/eBOOK is...
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (eARC/eBOOK)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next audiobook is...
The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey (audiobook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next audiobook AND Review - Me by Elton John (audiobook)
Me by Elton John (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
So I have begun listening to part of my selected audiobook before posting here on my blog and Goodreads. Normally, the audiobook sample provided by the library is not enough to get a feel for the audiobook. So that is how I missed posting about this particular audiobook.
But, I did have the benefit of it being my first audiobook of 2025. As I was finishing it way after midnight on New Year's Day, fireworks were going off which was appropriate for this autobiography! Outlandish, outrageous, and wild!
Thank you to my friend, Becky, for recommending this book. For some reason, I had returned it and barely read it! I am so glad that I checked it out from the library again!
NOTE: I have been a huge fan of Elton John since the early 1970s. Also, I even attended one of his concerts with my husband which included me knocking out one of his contact lenses. I guess I got a little too excited! LOL!
TRIGGER ALERT: Alcohol abuse, drug usage, foul language
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
Elton writes beautifully. He was honest, real, and raw. The strong writing doesn't surprise me as Elton is a child of the British school system, but he may have had a ghostwriter, too. Who knows and who cares?
Narration: 4.5 stars
It was good narration by Taron Egerton who played Elton in the movie, Rocketman. He is a great mimic and did fantastic voices. Taron and Elton have similar voices, but not identical.
Normally, I choose to read memoirs or autobiographies narrated by the author. It gives more emotion and character to the audiobook. So it was a little disappointing not to be narrated by Elton.
Character Arc: 5.0 stars
The audiobook is primarily chronological with some flashbacks to fully explain important parts of the story. This is my preferred choice for memoirs and autobiographies.
Memorable: 5.0 stars
Elton really spills the tea so to speak. He is a huge gossip which is so hilarious! However, he is a very loyal and devoted friend to his long-term friends including many celebrities and friends from his childhood.
His life has been a series of ups and downs with a difficult childhood, drug and alcohol addiction, health issues, and family of origin issues. I related to Elton and his life especially the working class upbringing and difficult family life. He set boundaries and kept them for himself, his husband, and his children. This is important to me as I have done the same. Thank you for the validation, Elton!
Entertaining: 5.0 stars
Oh, my goodness! Elton is a hoot! He told real and hysterically funny stories! Also, he really enjoyed sharing his life with such a dry sense of humor. Elton is another celebrity I could enjoy a meal, but enjoy the conversation even more!
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Book title: 5.0 stars
It sums Elton up!
HIGHLY recommend
STATISTICS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)
Me by Elton John
Macmillan Audio
12 hours, 28 minutes
Release date of 10/15/2019
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
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