My December 2013 Reads

Well, it's that time of the month again.  Here's the summary of what I read in December with links to my full reviews.

All ratings are on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great).

THE GODS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter #2) - 4

After 11 years stuck on Earth, John Carter is thrilled to find himself back on Mars.  But he will have to fight hostile aliens and superstition to get back to his beloved wife.

I enjoyed this for what it was - an action novel.  The characters are rather thin, although I certainly found myself caring for the main characters.  And John's amazing ability to fight off waves of enemies gets a little tiring.  But it's still a fun book.  Watch out for the cliffhanger.

THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PEANUTS by The Walt Disney Studio - 5

In this well remembered picture book from my childhood, detective Donald is hired to help Mickey find out who is stealing the peanuts from the zoo shed every night.  He goes through some rather fun tangents on his way to the real culprits.  I loved this as a kid, my niece loves it now, and I enjoyed rereading it to her.

TELL NO LIES by Gregg Hurwitz - 5

Daniel Brasher is winding down his job as a therapist to released criminals when he starts getting death threats in his inner office main - death threats aimed at other people.  Can he figure out what is happening before the killer turns to him?

This author always creates great plots and outstanding characters and pull you in, and this book is no exception.  It's another amazing thrill ride from start to finish.

END ME A TENOR by Joelle Charbonneau (Glee Club Mysteries #2) - 4

Paige is thrilled when she lands the job of soprano soloist in a production of The Messiah along side world famous tenor David Richard.  But at their first rehearsal together, he takes a sip of his water and dies.  Meanwhile, she has to get her high school show choir into shape, including a new song, in just a few days or lose her day job.

There's lots going on here, and I did feel the mystery suffered a bit as a result.  On the other hand, Paige is such a great character I couldn't help but root for her even when the show choir sub-plot was taking center stage.

CLASH OF THE CLASS CLOWNS by Kirk Scroggs (Tale of a Sixth grade Muppet #2) - 4

Danvers' sister has gotten her own reality show, much to Miss Piggy's dismay.  Meanwhile, the new student at Danvers' school is a jokester who makes Danvers and his friends the main target.  Can Danvers use what he is learning from the Muppets to take this guy on?

There are so many story lines happening, yet everything keeps weaving together perfectly.  Meanwhile, the Muppets and the new characters are all enjoyable.  I just wish Pepe didn't use "okay" every time he was on the page, okay?

BRUSH WITH DEATH by Karen MacInerney (Gray Whale Inn #5) - 5

Natalie Barnes is enjoying the slower pace of winter on Cranberry Island when her niece's painting mentor is murdered.  Fernand was such a nice man, who would want to kill him?

There are plenty of storylines to pull you in and keep you reading, and the main characters are great.  The recurring characters aren't as sharp as I remember them being, but that's a minor complaint.

SECRET SANTA by Fern Michaels, Marie Bostwick, Laura Levine, and Cindy Myers - 4

Four Christmas novels - two romance, one mystery, and one chick lit.  I bought it for Laura Levine's mystery novella featuring her sleuth Jaine Austen.  I loved it as always.  Two of the other stories were enjoyable, but Fern Michaels's contribution was just plain bad on all fronts.

DUCK THE HALLS by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #16) - 5

With the town churches being overrun by a series of pranks, Meg is called in to organize a schedule so all the Christmas concerts and services can still go on as planned.  But who is behind the pranks?  And why have things escalated to murder?

This is a second Christmas entry in the Meg series, and it was purely delightful.  I finished it on Christmas Eve, and it helped put me in the Christmas spirit, yes even with murder involved.

THE BRIDGE TO NEVER LAND by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson - 4

Sarah and Aidan Cooper find a note hidden in a desk that leads them on a wild adventure.  Could it be that the Peter and the Starcatchers books were real?

The book starts off a little slowly, but once it gets going, it's a wild ride.  It takes the world they've created in the previous books and brings it to modern day America, so be sure to read the others first, but if you liked them, you'll like this one, too.