Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Before I get to my review, I need to report that reality has struck and I've shifted my launch date back to August 25. With luck, I can actually get all the parts together by then! Why does every book take at least a long as the last? You'd think I'd get the system down and be faster at this!   Now, on to today's feature: a great book I got for Xmas, about the first botanists to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, collecting botanical samples all the way!   Title : Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon Author: Melissa L. Sevigny  Publication Info: WW Norton, 2023. 290 pages in paperback. Source: Xmas gift  Publisher's Blurb: In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off down the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious expedition leader and three amateur boatmen. With its churning rapids, sheer cliffs, and boat-shattering boulders, the Colorado was famed as the mo...

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the chance to review another of Lena Gregory's fun mysteries!     Rocky Road to Murder (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Setting – New York Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (July 1, 2025) Number of Pages – 220 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F7MV3JW5 From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty summer murder mystery… Danika Delaney is thrilled that her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, has gotten a catering contract for the biggest party of the season, the Rutherford Manor Fourth of July gala. She’ll be providing desserts for the party as well as attending the exclusive event on Eastern Long Island. However her path to the gala quickly becomes a rocky road… Dani arrives at the event, only to find the gala’s hostess, Cressida Rutherford, dead! What’s worse, one of Dani’s signature parfaits sits next to the dead woman, with what looks like peanuts in it—a food Cressida is...

My June Pride reviews have spilled over into July! Here's another good MG book I read, about a lot more than just being non-binary, but that's part of the character. I think I like it best when the LGBTQ+ issues are balanced with other issues any kid might relate to. P.S. I'm out hiking, but I will return visits and comments!    Title: Just Shy of Ordinary Author: A. J. Sass. Read by P. J. Morgan Publication info: Little, Brown Young Readers, 2024. 7 hours. (Original hardback by Little, Brown, 2024, 384 pages). Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Thirteen-year-old Shai is an expert problem-solver. There’s never been something they couldn’t research and figure out on their own. But there’s one thing Shai hasn’t been able to logic their way through: picking at the hair on their arms.       Ever since their mom lost her job, the two had to move in with family friends, and the world went into pandemic lockdown, Shai’s been unable to control...

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Tours for the chance to read and review Campfires and Corpses .   Campfires & Corpses: A Maine Campground Cozy Mystery by Nikki Weber About Campfires & Corpses Campfires & Corpses: A Maine Campground Cozy Mystery Cozy Mystery/ Cozy Animal Mystery 1st in Series Setting – Maine Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (February 24, 2025) Paperback ‏ : ‎ 282 pages ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8311619622 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DS6KRK16 When the campground becomes the scene of the crime, will Noelle’s peaceful summer go up in flames? Down on her luck event planner Noelle Cooper is returning to rural Maine to do the one thing she swore she would never do: run her family’s campground. But it’s only for the summer, and the timing couldn’t be better–she’s lost her job and has nowhere to live. She hopes that a change of scenery will be the thing she needs to regroup and reinvent herself. But Noelle’s plans go up in smoke on h...

I found Matt Haig's The Comfort Book in the library listings while looking for his fiction, and decided that in these times, a book with that title was worth a closer look.    Title : The Comfort Book Author: Matt Haig. Read by the author Publication Info :  Penguin Random House 2021. 3 hours. Hardcover by Penguin Life, 2021, 272 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads) : “It is a strange paradox, that many of the clearest, most comforting life lessons are learnt while we are at our lowest. But then we never think about food more than when we are hungry and we never think about life rafts more than when we are thrown overboard.” The Comfort Book is Haig’s life raft: it’s a collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years that originally served as gentle reminders to Haig’s future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Incorporating a diverse array of sources from across the world, history, scienc...

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...