read Archives

Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion (1941)

1940s Nancy Tackles Murders, a Plane Crash, and a Leopard Author: Carolyn Keene I’ve been chronologically making my way through an eBay haul of Nancy Drew mysteries and finally got to the one I was looking forward to the most: The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion. The thing about an eBay haul is that some of the books are the 60s/70s “Flashlight” edition (which are quite sanitized and often have completely different stories) and some of the books are the original version (20s-40s usually), where our sleuth isn’t quite such a retiring lady. As a matter of fact, Nancy can be [...]

Frances Carden2026-07-05T13:26:40-07:00July 5th, 2026|Tags: book review, Carolyn Keene, mystery, Nancy Drew, read, reading, ya|

Small Sacrifices

The Story of Diane Downs Author: Ann Rule May 19, 1983, began as any normal day would. It ended with a blood-spattered car, two children critically wounded, one dead, and a surprisingly calm, barely injured mother arriving at the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon. At the hospital, the desperate staff fought to save the two children who were still barely alive: Danny Downs (aged 3) and Christie Downs (aged 8). Meanwhile their mother, Diane Downs, who was suffering a minor gunshot wound to the arm, calmly walked police through the events of the night: a mysterious shaggy-haired stranger, an attempted carjacking [...]

Frances Carden2026-07-04T15:41:09-07:00July 4th, 2026|Tags: ann rule, Anne Rule, book review, Diana Downs, Diane Downs, read, reading, true crime|

Thunder of Time

Dinosaurs in Space Author: James F. David I’ve been relieving my childhood dinosaur obsession since Jurassic World Rebirth. I have replaced my bathroom toilet paper holder with a T-Rex (because I’m classy like that), bought (and worn!) three different sets of dinosaur themed pajamas, re-watched every Jurassic Park movie (some multiple times), made a Jurassic Park themed cake (with the T-Rex attacking the car from the first movie), and, of course, hit up ever dinosaur themed book in my library. When I came to Footprints of Thunder, I enjoyed the nod to a traditional Michael Crichton book and the look at [...]

Frances Carden2026-07-03T17:58:54-07:00July 3rd, 2026|Tags: book review, dinosaurs, fiction, James F. David, read, reading, science fiction, Thunder of Time, time travel|