A Witch's Spell - Barbara Cartland

This is the last Barbara Cartland I had sitting around that I hadn't read yet. The last one was disappointing, so I was hoping this one would be better.

Hermia (wow, the names BC came up with were crazy!) is the niece of an Earl, but she lives in poverty. Her cousin used to hang out with her, but when it became clear that Hermia was prettier, her cousin cut ties. Now, a Marquis is in town and the cousin has her eyes fixed on the title. But Hermia has her magic ways of saving the life of the Marquis, and that gives her an edge.

This was much better than the last one. It had the stammering woman, and the people ejaculating when they talk ("Oh, my!" he ejaculated.). And that woman had to be magic to be able to help carry Marquis man all the way from the woods. Also, she ran across the house and shot at a man. I also don't know how she could sound super intelligent while she's stammering all the time, but it's a common trait of BC's heroines. Even Hermia's mother was doing it. "I can't - believe it!"

Anyway, this one lived up to expectations. The end dragged on a bit with them being all lovey at each other for an extended period of time. And I think it was really unfair of them to leave his sister out of the wedding. They let her parents and brother be there. But for his side, it was, "If we invite one, we have to invite them all." But you said the same thing about your side and had immediate family! That poor woman! After all she did for Hermia! Bah. The book was still entertaining. And while I still don't know whether Hermia really saw one or two people on the roof, I'll give it a Good Book! review.

Dashing Through the Snowbirds (Meg Lagslow #32) - Donna Andrews

After reading Murder with Puffins, I was excited to read another bird mystery! I felt like it was going to be safe to read this one even though it was a huge gap (Puffins was the second in the series), so let's see if I was right.

Christmas is near, and Meg's house is full of relatives and Canadians. They're staying in Caerphilly to work with Mutant Wizards on a computer program to connect DNA family members. One of the men is a complete jerk, and he eventually turns up dead.

And I do mean eventually. I'm on Kindle, so I gauge in percentage. It took until 35% for someone to die. That's crazy for a mystery novel. Up to that point, I was reading about skating rinks, Christmas decorations, and putting up bird feeders. It was ridiculous.

Even after the murder, it seemed to be a subplot to the story. I couldn't really tell you what the main plot would've been. It seemed like it was a book of subplots. I probably read more about the pregnant cat and the software problem than solving the murder.

When I read Murder with Puffins, I felt like I would be able to read these out of order without an issue. I might have to rethink that opinion. In that book, Michael was Meg's boyfriend. This book had me a bit lost at first. She was married to Michael and had twins, and their names were just thrown about willy nilly. I picked up on it pretty quickly, but there were tons of family in there, and I'm wondering if some of the other characters were showing up in previous books.

One other issue I had with this book was Meg. She wasn't a great heroine. She was always eavesdropping or complaining. She was even petty about the pregnant cat when people didn't have nefarious intentions. Meg was just irritating. Overall, there wasn't enough mystery in this for me. It was pushed to the backburner, and for me, that's not my kind of mystery.

I Could Murder Her - E. C. R. Lorac

I can't remember how this ended up on my list, but it's part of a series about a detective named MacDonald who solves mysteries. This particular title is number 35 in the series! There were a total of 46 released, and the last one came out in 1959.

Muriel is the worst. She controls everything and everyone. She married a man who already had a daughter, and she treats that adult child like a slave. And since that daughter had a breakdown after the war, Muriel uses that against her to keep the daughter under her power. There's also other members of the household, and they're all dysfunctional. The only thing that will break the cycle is the murder of Muriel.

MacDonald is put on the case, and it seems like the dysfunction of the house is just making the case more muddled. By the end, things become clear, but the end is sad.

This book was interesting, but it seemed too long. It seemed like we spent the entire time in the house, so it was almost like it was meant to be a play. The different characters seemed to go over the same ground over and over. And the end made me sad, so I'm not giving this a positive review. It was a middle of the road mystery, and I felt like red herons (herrings to normal folk) were thrown in there just to be there. I have plenty of other authors I'd rather read.

An Archangel Called Ivan - Barbara Cartland

I needed a diet book to feel like I was making progress on my TBR pile. This one was super short, and I finished it quickly.

Arliva is rich and wants to be loved for who she is and not for the money she has. Her plan is to take a governess position in the country and find people who appreciate who she is. She is hanging out with three kids and their grandpa when she gets kidnapped. Then she meets Ivan, falls in love and gets married. The end.

This book was even stranger than most of the BCs I read. Arliva didn't want people to like her for her money, but apparently liking her because she was beautiful was just fine. Ivan didn't pop up until 80% into the book (I'm not kidding), and he rescued her from the kidnapping. I still don't understand how the Countess knew where Arliva had vanished off to. I guess they suggested since she'd created the wildly popular "fairy wood," people from all over had come and word of her fame had spread and now her anonymity was broken? 

And will no one think of the children? Arliva didn't really teach them anything useful and then she just disappeared from their lives without telling them she was okay. She helped them by attracting extended family (?) I guess, but she made it sound like she really cared for them. But she didn't care if they were worried about them while she frolicked about with her "archangel" - ugh what a pet name!

And that romance was way weird! She begs for his help in a brief encounter in a church while the kidnappers are setting up the wedding (strange), then he climbs up a window to help her escape. Then they spend a week together (you know they smell with only one pair of clothes), and then they head off to get married! Hooray for love!

Nah. This one isn't good. Some of these are great and fun. This one made me sad for the children. Everyone is rich, and they have those first-world problems that just make you want to play the world's smallest violin. And Arliva was just irritating with her pushy attitude. I think she was meant to be strong and independent, but she was bossy and spent all the old man's money without a second thought. I don't think governesses got away with stuff like that!

The Necromancers - Robert Hugh Benson

I hunted down this book after we watched Spellbound. I was disappointed in some of it and couldn't imagine parts of that movie following the book.

The plot is much the same. Laurie falls in love with the shopgirl, Amy, who dies suddenly. His sorrow leads him to the world of the mystics. It seems that he's a sensitive, and he falls into a trance where he reveals details only Amy would know. In reality, it's an evil force using the guise of Amy to gain control of Laurie.

I found the book to be much better. In the movie, there was a young woman named Diana who was just in love with Laurie and conquered the demon with love and sleep. In the book, the young woman, Maggie, is smart and able to cope with things intelligently. Mr. Cathcart is in the book, but he isn't present at the final moments. Maggie faces things head on and does it with love and courage.

The epilogue seemed unnecessary, and it didn't really add anything. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty good book. It was actually written by a Catholic priest, so that was interesting, considering some of the commentary on the priest character. I'm giving this one a Good Book! review.

The Ciano Diaries 1939-1943 - Galeazzo Ciano

Ciano was the son-in-law to Mussolini and close to him for part of the war. At some point, Ciano voted to get Mussolini out of power, and it cost him his life.

The diaries only go up to the early part of 1943. Ciano left Italy and fled to Germany in August and asked to transfer to Spain, which was neutral at the time. The request was denied, and Ciano was later arrested and tried as a traitor. He was executed by firing squad on January 11, 1944. 

The entries themselves are pretty dry. It took me forever to get through them. It's not that they were boring in content, but they were just dry. They weren't written with the future reader in mind. And that's okay. It's also something he mentioned in the final entry, which was written shortly before he died.

I wouldn't recommend this for everyone. It's something of a slog for sure. But you can see how Ciano didn't think Italy was ready for war, didn't want the war, and wasn't a fan of the Germans. I liked seeing the way he felt about how the war was going, but it's unfortunate the really interesting part of his life is missing. When it all fell apart, it would've been interesting to see how he felt about voting against his father-in-law and how that affected his family.

If you're really dedicated, this could probably be a great research tool. Otherwise, I feel like it's missing the vital part most people would be interested in.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Volume 20-23) - Koyoharu Gotouge - FINAL THOUGHTS AND SPOILERS

This is the wrap up for this manga:

Volume 20 - This entire volume basically revolves around the fight with the upper 1 demon. There is a lot of time devoted to his backstory. He had a twin and the relationship between the two was complicated. It started out sweet, but when his brother surpassed him, Kokushibo's brotherly love turned to envy, and eventually hatred. It leads him to the path of the demon, but he never escapes the shadow of his brother. When the end comes, he still is thinking of his twin. 

Volume 21 - The fight with Muzan continues. Tanjiro is seriously hurt, and he has ancient memories involving the life of Yoriichi. Muzan is able to heal faster than they can hurt him, so their only hope is to get him outside and keep him there until sunrise. They still have over an hour to go, so it isn't going to be easy. Nezuko knows Tanjiro is hurt, and she's on her way. I need some Inosuke involvement soon. We only have two volumes left!

Volume 22 - We're getting close to the end now! Muzan is getting weaker! Tamayo is getting her revenge, and Tanjiro is back in the fight! He's getting help from Iguro, and I really liked getting his backstory. I wondered why he was always so standoffish. We're really close to sunrise, and Nezuko is on the road when she undergoes a change and remembers who she really is. Yushiro has really come through by helping out everyone with his demon cat. I felt bad for it, but it seems to be okay (and I'm NOT a cat person). Let's finish this thing up!

Volume 23 - The end of the road for Muzan. The demon finds a way to make a pest of himself even after he's dead by infecting Tanjiro (rude!). His friends are able to bring him back, though, and really there's no other way to do it. Tanjiro has always been grounded by those he cares about. The rest of the volume is dedicated to the fallen and the healing of those left behind. I want to spend a moment on the final chapter. It was so well done. Seeing the effect the Demon Slayers had on future generations was so cute (I hate to use that word, but it was cute). I'm also glad Gotouge put the little explanations after the chapter end to clarify who was descended from whom. And the very end was great as well.

My overall thoughts on this manga are A+. I loved the whole thing. I loved the way the various backgrounds of both the slayers and the demons were woven into the story. The unique powers, appearances and fighting styles of the demons were also interesting and set it apart. The depth and development of so many characters is impressive, and I appreciate all the time and effort the author spent to make that happen. If I had one criticism, it would be that I would sometimes have an issue keeping some of the characters separate in my mind. Some of their names would be similar, and or they would look similar, and it would be confusing for me. I'll take the blame for it; I'm sure there were details in there to tell them apart. It's just that sometimes I couldn't get back to the story for a bit, and I couldn't recall names. 

I would definitely recommend this manga. It's unique, the art is cool, and the story is amazing and has a lot of depth to it. I also appreciated the humility shown by the author, and I always looked forward to seeing the little alligator at the beginning of the volumes. It was just so cute! It's been a bloody, demon-murdering ride, but it's been a rewarding one! Team Inosuke Forever!! Great Manga!