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We'll Always Have Cleveland by Les Roberts - Roberts is a guy who came to Northeast Ohio via SoCal, decided he loved the Cleveland area, settled here and wrote a bunch of mystery books set in the area. I've never read any of his books but both Mom and Dad did, and I remember them discussing them. I love it when famous, or semi-famous, people promote Cleveland; usually folks want to make jokes about "my" city or put it down. This non-fiction book is LR's love letter to his adopted city. He talks a little about his life here but he talks more about the not-to-be-missed Cleveland sites, the amazing food he's had here and the wonderful people he's met in Cleveland. This book isn't for everyone but if you like LR and love Cleveland, then you'll love this book. A.

The Black Painting by Neil Olsen - RL artist Francisco Goya painted 14 paintings at the end of his life that depicted both his fear of losing his mind and his despair at the state of humanity. Here, Neil Olsen takes a fictitious self-portrait from that period of Goya's life and sets it in the study of a rich New England man. Nobody but him is allowed to gaze upon it; to do so is to descend into madness according to the legend. One day the painting disappears; a few years later, the owner is found dead in his study, staring at the spot where the painting used to be with a terrified expression on his face. Who took the painting? Did the rich man die of natural causes or did someone kill him? Did the painting have anything to do with his death? Sounds interesting, right? Wrong. What we get is a long, tedious, poorly paced book with two mysteries and a quartet of grown grandchildren dealing with the fallout. Things picked up a little at the end but not enough to salvage the book for me, and the payout was neither sufficient enough nor shocking enough for me. I gave the book to Dad to read after me, or rather he saw it in the pile to be returned to the library and decided to read it as well. We both would give the book a C...and that might be generous.

The Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda - A couple heads off to Lakeside Chatauqua, Ohio (a real place in Ohio, near Marblehead and the ferry to Put in Bay--I've been there with bff) for a relaxing weekend at their lake cabin. But both are hiding something from the other. The entire novel takes place in the course of under 24 hours (the best day ever) and is narrated by the husband who speaks directly to the reader. I'm not spoiling much by saying you quickly realize the husband is...not a good person. I was expecting the book to be about the husband and wife fighting off some dastardly outside force together; instead it's more husband vs. wife, and you just pray the wife makes it out OK by the end of the book. I really, really, REALLY hated the husband, and not in a "ooo, he's so complex and interesting!" kind of way but more of a "someone's going to get triggered" kind of way. The resolution at the end was very good, and I enjoyed reading about places I've been in Lakeside Chatauqua...and that was all the good I got out of the book. C-.

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash - This is a fictionalized telling of the true story of Ella May, a single mother working in the mills in North Carolina in the late 1930s and being grossly underpaid. When the union comes to town, she joins the movement but at what cost? It was interesting to read this at a time in my life when I also consider myself underpaid...but my working conditions are so much safer than Ella May's. I was riveted by her story, plowing through at breakneck speed, and it motivated me to do a Google search about her life. I found out the song she sang at the union rallies--"A Mill Mother's Lament"--was real and gained a modicum of fame when Arlo Guthrie re-recorded it in the 1960s. Solid A.

How 60s Are You? Trivia of the Decade - Do any of you have an old friend who sometimes seems to be a bit stuck in the past? There's one remaining person from my group in high school that I'm still relatively close to. Her mom was the quintessential hippie chick, and she passed on her love of the 60s (and some of the clothing and records) to my friend. When my friend, two other friends and I all became fans of the Monkees during their second wave of Monkeemania in the mid 1980s, we occasionally had 1960s themed parties. But when I got older, I lost a lot of my interest in the decade. Sure, I like the music, and some of the fads were fun, but I'm not in LOVE with the 1960s. My friend still is...her daughter recently graduated from high school and the decorations at the party were VERY 1960s, with a lot of pink and orange and yellow and big flowers everywhere. My friend gave me this book...it was interesting but really, I'm NOT very "60s". Also, the author is British, so many of the questions are about British musicians or actors or politicians. This is a very niche book that any ex-hippie might love...I immediately tossed it into the donate pile. No rating because again, it's geared towards very specific readers, and I'm not sure anyone here would be one of them.