goodreads | Entries tagged with author: da

Title: Murder in the Bookshop
Author: Anita Davidson
Genre: Cozy mystery
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 272
Date read: January 2025

Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming.

The case is anything but textbook. With the discovery of a coded German message, and Hannah’s instinct that Lily-Anne’s husband is keeping secrets, she determines to get to the bottom of it. She can’t do it alone though. To crack this case, Hannah will need the enlist the help of her outrageous, opinionated, only-occasionally-objectionable Aunt Violet. They think they’re making progress until one of their chief suspects is found dead. And Hannah realises that she is herself now in the murderer’s sights. Will the final chapter be the ending of a killer… or just a killer ending?

A historical cozy mystery. It kept me well entertained while I was reading it, but I'm fine with just leaving it here - I don't need to read any more of the series. The titular bookshop - which was a huge part of why I bought the book - played a much smaller role than I had expected / hoped, and it more ended up like an Agatha Christie type mystery. Fine if that's what you're after, but not really my cup of tea ... of which they drank a LOT throughout the book! Very British of them!

Title: Midlife Mojo (NotToo Late #3)
Author: Victoria Danann
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 382
Date read: September, 2022

I have a daughter who knows nothing about my life in Hallow Hill and she's coming for college holiday break. Her visit will dovetail the Solstice Court Meet. It will be close, but if all goes according to plan, I’ll be out of magistrate robes in time to meet the plane.

The problem here is that I have to include the qualifier if all goes according to plan, and I ask you. When has anything in my life ever gone according to plan?

It may be too late for super shiny hair, going without a bra, or sleeping eight hours without a potty break. But it seems that it's not too late for navigating magical politics, expatriating, romance, and saving the world.

After finishing the first two books in just a few days each, this one took me 3 months to read! And I can't even tell you exactly why, other than that I put it down, and then forgot all about it. So I guess that's it for my visit to Hallow Hill this time around.

Like with the last book, my favourite parts by far are the court cases. Absolutely fascinating, and I love seeing how Rita handles everything. I also enjoyed seeing Rita and Evie together, but was more "meh" about the rest of it.

The last chapter ends with a major cliffhanger, and the fact that that didn't bother me or make me curious just confirms my thinking that I'm done with these characters for now. I may return later - we'll see.

Title: Midlife Blues (Not Too Late #2)
Author: Victoria Danann
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 260
Date read: June, 2022

Rita Hayworth is not just the only American in town. She's also the only human!

Begins with the formerly reclusive, gentleman vampire hosting a murder mystery dinner you'll never forget, and ends with the case of the captured kelpie. From Hallow Hill to northern Ireland, don't miss your favorite judge's magical adventures.

A lot shorter than the first book in the series (about half the length in fact) which was quite the surprise, but still very enjoyable. This book covers the first trials Rita presides over - some in a LOT of detail, others less so. Again the Mary Sue aspect is strong in this one, but the outcomes of the trials are so very satisfying that I don't even care :-P

I don't quite buy the relationship between Rita and Keir - the friendship is obvious, the romance seems to be more tell than show. I love seeing John David coming a bit further out of his shell though!

Quick read that was easily devoured in a day.

Title: Midlife Magic (Not Too Late #1)
Author: Victoria Danann
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 500
Date read: June, 2022

The day after my forty-third birthday, my husband announced he was trading me in. His words, not mine. The news was unwelcome at the time, but honestly? I needed a good goosing to get up and find my way to the door.

So. I was freed from the manual of expectations authored by my ex that had, over the years, grown into an encyclopedia of what a wife "should" be and do. The freedom was the good news. The flip side was less happy. Due to living in a state not friendly to discarded wives, I was also relieved of the financial 'security' I'd spent a lifetime accruing.

Starting over? I didn't plan on it. Didn't see it coming. But pulling a sheet over my head and waiting for the end didn't seem like my style. Granted. I wasn't sure what my style was because I hadn't thought about freedom of expression since I was twenty.

I'd never been a fan of optimistic adages like 'it's not too late', but that was before my life was divided into two parts; everything that came before the mysterious package and everything after. Fate shot me with a lightning bolt of attitude adjustment and thrust me head first into an adventure that was unforeseeable to say the least. If you'd told me what my life was going to be like, I would have used every synonym for crazy you've ever heard.

I 'inherited' a curious antique store in a tiny, picturesque English village where the world of fae magic lives side by side with the mundane. But that's far from all. Eight times a year, I receive magical dignitaries and magical lowborn alike and mediate their disputes; some comical, some deadly serious.

It may be too late for super shiny hair, going without a bra, or sleeping eight hours without a potty break. But it seems that it's not too late for navigating magical politics, expatriating, romance, and saving the world.

This has got to be the shortest 500 page book I've ever read.

it didn't take me long to fall in love with Rita and the inhabitants of Hallow Hill. Sure, Rita is a huge Mary Sue, but that seldom bothers me much, and it certainly didn't in this case. I loved reading about her introduction to her job and to the other villagers, and how she found her footing in the community.

There's hardly any plot in the book, but the characters are so engaging and enjoyable to read about that I didn't mind at all. I felt like part of the village - getting to know them at the same speed as Rita did. That said, I was VERY keen to read about the first trials by the time I got to the end, and immediately went to amazon to purchase the next book in the series.

Title: Var det mig, du mente?
Author: Kurt Dalsgaard
Genre: Memoir, christian non-fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 288
Date read: April, 2018

Kurt Dalsgaard's autobiography about his life as a missionary for Home Mission in Randers, Vejle and Brede, as coordinator of Copenhagen Home Mission, employed at Danish Bible Institute, as father and husband, but first and foremost as Christian.

Full disclosure: I've known Kurt Dalsgaard most of my life. He's the father of my childhood best friend and close friends with my own parents to this day. I'm not sure I would have picked up the book otherwise.

And that would have been a shame, because even taking my personal bias out of the equation, I found it a very interesting book. Kurt had a huge part in the shaping of IM (Inner Mission / Home Mission) in Denmark in the 80s and 90s, and as someone who was part of IM during those years (although as a child) it was interesting to see what went on "behind the scenes" so to speak.

But I also really appreciated the chapters on his personal life (even though some of them were heartbreaking) and connecting the Kurt of the book with the father of my best friend.

(Putting my personal bias back in, I was also really chuffed to see my parents mentioned more than once :-D Always fun with a personal connection like that.)

Title: The Scorch Trials
Author: James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~11hrs
Date read: October, 2012

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety... until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Unfortunately not nearly as good as the first book in the series. It suffers the traditional weakness of being a sequel to a dystopian book - now the reader knows what's going on (part of it, anyway) and the mystery just isn't as great any longer. Besides, I liked Teresa, and was sad to see her development in this book. However it was still good enough to keep me interested, and as it ended up with an even bigger cliff-hanger than the first book, I'll probably be reading the next one too... eventually, anyway.

... on the other hand, I've just read that my major questions aren't answered in book 3 either. Never mind then!

Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 375
Date read: January, 2012

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade... a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up... the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind

After reading a number of negative reviews about "The Maze Runner", I approached it with some trepidation. Would I end up giving up half way through?

Thankfully that wasn't the case at all. Quite the contrary, I had severe difficulties putting it down. In style and atmosphere it reminded me a lot of "The House of Stairs" by William Sleator. A group of kids are kept captive in an enclosed environment without knowing neither why nor how to get out. It's in many ways a chilling read, but also very captivating... no pun intended.

It's very obviously the first book in a series, but the cliff-hanger isn't too bad and thus didn't annoy me. I do want to read the next book though, in the hopes that it can live up to this one.

Title: The BFG
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 188
Date read: February 2011

"Well, first of all, " said the BFG, "human beans is not really believing in giants, is they? Human beans is not thinking we exist."

Sophie discovers that giants not only exist, but that there are a great many of them who like to guzzle and swallomp nice little chiddlers. But not the Big Friendly Giant. He and Sophie cook up an ingenious plot to free the world of troggle-humping -- forever.

Another old favourite. I first read this in 1990 and have been rereading it regularly ever since. On this read-through I read it aloud to make a recording of it, and loved all of the BFG's made up or jumbled words - even though it was surprising how often I messed them up and said the "right" word instead!

But it's a sweet story of love and acceptance - although somewhat more scary than I originally remembered it. I hope my nieces and nephew won't mind!

Title: Service Included
Author: Phoebe Damrosch
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 222
Date read: January, 2011

While Phoebe Damrosch was waiting for life to happen, she supported herself by working as a waitress. Before long she was the only female captain at the four-star New York City restaurant Per Se during its first year. Service Included is the story of her obsession with food, her love affair with a sommelier, and her amusing, eye-opening, and sometimes shocking experiences in the fascinating, frenetic, highly competitive world of fine dining.

I'm fascinated by books that give me an insider's description of some profession I'm not personally intimately familiar with. This was no exception, and I actually think it was just as good as "Waiter Rant" by The Waiter. Sure, it included a lot about Phoebe's personal life as well, but as her personal life was so directly influenced by her work, I didn't mind at all.

But just like any other book of this type, I got so hungry for good food while reading it!

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 121
Date read: January 2011, March 2022

For the first time in a decade, Willy Wonka, the reclusive and eccentric chocolate maker, is opening his doors to the public--well, five members of the public to be exact. The lucky five who find a Golden Ticket in their Wonka chocolate bars will receive a private tour of the factory, given by Mr. Wonka himself. For young Charlie Bucket, this a dream come true. And, when he finds a dollar bill in the street, he can't help but buy two Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delights--even though his impoverished family could certainly use the extra dollar for food. But as Charlie unwraps the second chocolate bar, he sees the glimmer of gold just under the wrapper!

The very next day, Charlie, along with his unworthy fellow winners Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Augustus Gloop, steps through the factory gates to discover whether or not the rumors surrounding the Chocolate Factory and its mysterious owner are true. What they find is that the gossip can't compare to the extraordinary truth, and for Charlie, life will never be the same again.

This was my first introduction to the works of Roald Dahl, and remains my favourite. I love reading about the Chocolate Factory, and wish there had been time to visit more rooms... In fact, that was my main problem with the movie as well, but I guess they couldn't add rooms to the movie that weren't there in the book ;)

Title: The Witches
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 200
Date read: September 2010

When the narrator's parents die in a car crash on page two, he is taken in by his cigar-smoking Norwegian grandmother, who has learned a storyteller's respect for witches and is wise to their ways.

The bond between the boy and his grandmother becomes the centerpiece of the tale--a partnership of love and understanding that survives even the boy's unfortunate transformation into a mouse. And once the two have teamed up to outwitch the witches, the boy's declaration that he's glad he's a mouse because he will now live only as long as his grandmother is far more poignant than eerie.

I remembered this book as being an amusing read, and was surprised to find that it's actually part horror! Well, horror for kids anyway, and phrased in such a way that it never struck me as particularly horrific as a child. The main character is turned into a mouse? Well, he doesn't mind, so why should I?

Roald Dahl definitely understands how to address children, and his books are probably the type that work best either when read as a kid or read to a kid.

I saw the movie version of this when it first came out, but remember absolutely nothing of it, so couldn't say how true to the book it is.

Title: Esio Trot
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 62
Date read: September 2010, September 2011

A tender story of authentic love between two elderly people, Mr. Silver and Mr. Hoppy, and nothing less than 140 turtles.

Another childhood discovery. Not too bad, but not amazing either. I can definitely see what attracted me to it when I first read it at age 10, but unlike many of Roald Dahl's other books, it really doesn't offer much to the adult reader. I AM glad he thought to tell us what happened to Alfie though, as that was one thing I was actually wondering about.

Title: The Twits
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 2.5/5
# pages: 96
Date read: September, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. Twit hate everything, including their trained monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, who now want revenge.

I vaguely recall rather enjoying this book as a child, but have to admit that it does not pass the test of time. Or rather, I still see what appealled to me as a kid, but it's actually the exact same things that I no longer like about it. It's really gross and full of 'come-uppance', which was totally deserved, but got a bit old to read about.

Title: De to komtesser (The Two Ladies)
Author: Valborg Dahl
Genre: Classic
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 159
Date read: August, 2009

After Count von Plessen had to sell his manor and admit to being bankrupt, he, his wife and their two daughters, the Ladies Addie and Gunni, have lived in a small apartment given to them by one of his childhood friends.

Gunni is an active and social girl who's well loved and spends a lot of time with the family Madsen - the town's richest family. Addie has been very sick throughout her childhood and has therefore mostly been raised by her aunt, making her shy and reclusive, which hides her sweet nature.

When Gunni is invited on a tour of Italy together with the family Madsen she makes plans to let Addie go instead.

This was one of my favourite books and definitely my favourite genre of books when I was a child/pre-teen. Unfortunately it doesn't quite pass the test of time. It's still a sweet story, but the romances depicted in it are a bit too unrealistic. I'm sure love at first sight exists, but this is just a tad too convenient for me to be able to suspend my disbelief.

Title: Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind
Author: Susie Davis
Genre: Christian non-fiction
Rating: 7/10
# pages: 183
Date read: September, 2008

Summary: Why is marriage so much harder than anyone ever dared to imagine? And how could the one man that a woman loves most in the world end up becoming the one person that she struggles to live in harmony with? In Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind, Susie Davis delivers biblical perspective and practical application intended to open the door for a woman to love her man with an abundance of understanding and grace. Exploring all the biggies where conflict and problems in marriage are concerned, this book also reminds women to remember often why they married their spouse.

Review: Rather disappointing book unfortunately. I'd bought it at a church sale because I thought it sounded interesting, and the few pages I browsed looked interesting. And it is well written, there was just no a lot of it I could use. The three main issues Susie said that all couples fight about are kids (we don't have any yet), money (nope) and in-laws (we don't)... I know to count myself blessed that neither of those topics are problematic issues to us, but it meant there were several chapters that weren't relevant to me at this point in time. She did have a lot of good points too though, but nothing that felt 'new' or that made me feel like I learned something from the book.

It's well written and a quick read though, so if it's already standing on your shelf, go ahead and give it a shot. I just wouldn't spend money on it.

Book List

Title: Den serbiske dansker (The Serbian Dane)
Author: Leif Davidsen
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 7/10
# pages: 244
Date read: July, 2008

Summary: Iranian imams have promised a reward of 4 million American dollars to whoever executes their fatwa, death warrent on the author Sandra Santanda. The Russian mafia want that money and hire the Danish-Serbian hitman Vuk to commit the murder when Santanda visits Copenhagen.
It is now up to crime detective Per Toftlund to prevent the catastrophy.

Review: I've long wanted to read more Danish novels, and Leif Davidsen is one of the bigger names in later years, so I thought he was an obvious place to start. I rather like his writing style, but thought the book was a bit slow starting - possibly because he spent quite awhile introducing the different characters. Something he did really well as they all worked, and especially Vuk was very intriguing, so I may just have to read some of the other works featuring him.

I wish I knew more about the Yugoslavian civil war though. It shames me that I know so little about something so close, something so recent and something so major.

Book List

Title: Matilda
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 9/10
# pages: 230
Date read: March, 2008

Summary: Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

Review: I was first properly introduced to Roald Dahl when I lived in New Zealand in 1990. My teacher read his books aloud in class, and they were the perfect difficulty for somebody like me, whose English vocabulary wasn't too big, and as they are also wonderfully crazy I loved them from the start. I've read them frequently over the years, and fortunately they are books that age well. Matilda is one of my favourite, probably because it's so easy to relate to her. Besides, magic always appeals :-)

Book List

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 6/10
# pages: 156
Date read: July, 2006

Review: One of my friends 'forced' me to read this one!!! Well... not quite, but we got talking about favourite childrens books, and she mentioned this one. As it's one of the few Roald Dahl books I couldn't remember having read, I had to get it out of the library and change that :-) It's typical Roald Dahl in every way. Absolutely delightful.

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Page Summary

Murder in the Bookshop - Anita Davidson
Midlife Mojo - Victoria Danann
Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann
Midlife Magic - Victoria Danann
Var det mig, du mente? - Kurt Dalsgaard
The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
The Maze Runner - James Dashner
The BFG - Roald Dahl
Service Included - Phoebe Damrosch
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
The Witches - Roald Dahl
Esio Trot - Roald Dahl
The Twits - Roald Dahl
De to komtesser - Valborg Dahl
Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind - Susie Davis
Den serbiske dansker - Leif Davidsen
Matilda - Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

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So many books, so little time.

Entries tagged with author: da

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Murder in the Bookshop - Anita Davidson

Midlife Mojo - Victoria Danann

Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann

Midlife Magic - Victoria Danann

Var det mig, du mente? - Kurt Dalsgaard

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner

The Maze Runner - James Dashner

The BFG - Roald Dahl

Service Included - Phoebe Damrosch

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

The Witches - Roald Dahl

Esio Trot - Roald Dahl

The Twits - Roald Dahl

De to komtesser - Valborg Dahl

Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind - Susie Davis

Den serbiske dansker - Leif Davidsen

Matilda - Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl