Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  I'm pretty sure I learned about this book from one of my fellow MMGM bloggers--they've been tipping me off to the best books lately.   Title: The Secret of Honeycake Author: Kimberly Newton Fusco Publication Info : Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2025. 363 pages. Source: Library Blurb (from Goodreads) : Hurricane is quiet while her Aunt Clare is a force of nature with very particular ideas--and a host of Latin sayings to back them up. When Hurricane gets stuck living with her, she retreats into herself...until a series of unexpected friends, including a mangy cat, help her find her voice in a whole new way. With a name like Hurricane, you'd think this girl would take the world by storm. But instead, she's almost invisible. And when her sister gets tuberculos...

Big thanks to the author and to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the chance to review this Hawaiian mystery, and extra thanks to the author for a great interview. I reviewed the first in the series a year ago.     Waters of Destruction (An Orchid Isle Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting – Hawaii Publisher ‏ : ‎ Severn House; Main edition (April 1, 2025) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1448312183 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1448312184 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DKXTRTX5 Retired caterer Valerie Corbin investigates a suspicious drowning in this Orchid Isle cozy culinary mystery, featuring a feisty queer couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i After a vacation of a lifetime in Hilo, Hawai‘i, retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have decided to move permanently to the beautiful – if storm-prone – Big Island. The couple are having fun furnishing their new house, exploring their new neighborhood and playi...

In my on-going quest to learn more about Iceland before I travel there in the fall, I picked out Hjorleifur Helgi Stafansson's collection of Icelandic Folk Tales as a follow-on to the biography of Thurídur Einarsdóttir . It made a nice complement, as some of the tales and their settings resonated nicely with the history I learned from the first book.   Title: Icelandic Folk Tales Author: Hjorleifur Helgi Stefansson Publication Info: History Press, 2020. 192 pages. Source: Library (Libby)  Publisher's Blurb: Iceland is a land where stories are as important as history. When Vikings settled the island they brought their tales with them. Every rock, hot spring and waterfall seems to have its own tale: cruel man-eating trolls rub shoulders with beautiful elves whose homes are hidden from mortal view, whilst vengeful ghosts envy the living, seeking to drag lost loves into their graves. Many of the stories in this collection are classic Icelandic tales, while others are comp...

I'm heading to Iceland later this year, so my reading has begun to include books of Icelandic history and legends, as well as guide books. This book caught my eye because it is the story of a remarkable woman, and also tells us a lot about the culture of the time.  Title: Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain Author: Margaret Willson Publication Info: Sourcebooks, 2023, 420 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: A notorious crime, a lone woman fighting for equality, and the thrills of the wide-open sea A daring and magnificent account of Iceland's most famous female sea captain who constantly fought for women's rights and equality—and who also solved one of the country's most notorious robberies. Many people may have heard the old sailing superstition that having women onboard a ship was bad luck. Thus, the sea remains in popular knowledge a male realm. When we think of examples of daring sea captains, swa...

Another of the books I've found browsing around the library catalog (I love those "similar books" lists!),  this was an interesting companion to Journeys North, which I reviewed last week . Title: The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind--and Almost Found Myself--On the Pacific Crest Trail Author : Dan White Publication Info : Harper-Collins, 2008. 427 pages, Kindle Edition Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: When Dan White and his girlfriend Melissa [note: her name, per the books, is Allison] set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches from Mexico to Canada through boiling desert and snowcapped mountain passes, his parents wondered how two people who had never shared an apartment could survive in a tent in the desert. But when Dan and Melissa, dubbed “The Lois and Clark Expedition” by a fellow hiker, quit their doldrum jobs to set out into the wilderness, the hardships of the trail provided these addled adventurers with a crystalline view of the Ame...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. I've been discovering some great reads there--like the one I'm reviewing today.   Title: The Long Way Around Author: Anne Nesbet Publication Info: Candlewick Press, 2024. 185 pages (Kindle edition) Source:   Library Publisher's Blurb:* During a hiking trip with their parents in the mountains of California, cousins Owen, Vivian, and Amy are finally allowed to camp for one night at a little lake all on their own. But when a massive earthquake blocks their return path, there’s only one way: the long way around, through a wilderness filled with fierce animals, raging rivers, unstable weather, and high passes. The hardest challenges the cousins face, however, are the troubles they’ve brought with them: bold Vivian’s fear of starting middle school and of changes she c...

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this fun cozy! A  Basket Case (Maddie Sparks Mystery Series) by Lesley A Diehl About A Basket Case       A Basket Case (Maddie Sparks Mystery Series)   Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series   Setting - Upstate New York   Publisher ‏ : ‎ Camel Press (November 12, 2024) Paperback ‏ : ‎ 250 pages   ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1684922208 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1684922208 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D4MWFWSP   Maddie Sparks believes she has found the perfect balance in her life--Zack, the man she loves, a book she loves writing and volunteer work at a local museum with a granddaughter she adores. An old flame from Zack's past arrives and drives a wedge into Maddie and Zack's romance, her writing stalls and someone murders the museum's director just as the museum is about to return a collection of Native American artifacts to the Onondaga and Oneida nations. Standing over the dead body o...

I'm a little late with today's post thanks to the massive bomb cyclone that hit the NW last night--power was out at my house for about 10 hours. Of course, if I weren't a procrastinator, it wouldn't have mattered, but I am, and it did :D     Title : Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Author : Robin Wall Kimmerer. Audio book read by the author. Publication Info: Audiobook Tantor Audio, 2003, 8 hours. Paper and ebook 2003 by Oregon State University Press, 176 pages.  Source: Library Publisher's blurb: Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses. Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead...

I don't know whether to review this as juvy or YA. I put it more toward YA both due to age of the characters (15) and subject matter (murder, in a cozy-mystery way).   Participating this week in the fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out his blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. I've been discovering some great reads there. Title: Top Marks for Murder   Author : Robin Stevens Publication info : Kindle edition, Simon & Schuster, 2023, 260 pages. Originally published 2019 by Puffin. Publisher's Blurb: Daisy and Hazel are finally back at Deepdean, and the school is preparing for a most exciting event: the fiftieth Anniversary. Plans for a weekend of celebrations are in full swing. But all is not well, for in the detectives' long absence, Deepdean has changed. Daisy has lost her crown to a fascinating new girl - and many of the Detective Society's old allies are now their swor...

 This is a classic of the genre, with the good and the bad that implies.     Title: The Singing Wilderness Author :Sigurd F. Olson. Illustrated by Francis Lee Jaques Publication info :Kindle edition, Knopf 2017. Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1956. 244 pages. Publisher's Blurb (per Goodreads): Sigurd F. Olson was for more than thirty years a wilderness guide in the Quetico-Superior country, and no one knew with the same intimacy the mysteries of the lakes and forests of that magnificent primitive area. To the many out-of-doorsmen who canoed and portaged with him through this wilderness, he was known honorifically as the Bourgeois--as the voyageurs of old called their trusted leaders through this same region. My Review: As is common with classics of nature and the outdoors, this book has both aged well, and aged poorly. There is no question that it is a beautiful paeon to the author's home, the lakes and streams on the boundary between Canada and the US on...

 Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Tours for a chance to read this mystery.     In the Event of Murder (A Starlit Bookshop Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting – Colorado Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (August 20, 2024) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639100709 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639100705 Digital https://amzn.to/3xRh1X8 It’s the star-studded event of the season in Silvercrest, Colorado—but some of the guests might not make it to the last dance alive in the second charming installment of the Starlit Bookshop mysteries from Agatha Award-winning author Cynthia Kuhn. Nestled on the banks of a breathtaking Rocky Mountain river and dotted with delightful boutiques and galleries, Silvercrest, Colorado, is a book lover’s paradise. Bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is looking forward to attending the annual Silvercrest Library Gala, a glamorous evening with celebrities including the legendary Whitney Willton, currently on the...