Plan for Disaster: Chronicles of St. Marys by Jodi Taylor

Kindle Customer: Another wonderful jump with St Marys. Another level added to I feel. All the while, maintaining a cosy and wonderful feel to it.

United Kingdom on Sep 26, 2023

SAS: Volume 11, just like the preceding 10 volumes was hilarious as well as heat warming! I have already purchased volumes 12 thru 14.

United States on Jul 28, 2023

Speedy Gonzales: Jodi Taylor calls her Annie Bessant, but does she intend to actually point us to Annie Besant?

From wiki: Annie Besant (née Wood) 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933 was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist, and campaigner for Indian nationalism. For fifteen years, Besant was a public proponent in England of atheism and scientific materialism. Besant's goal was to provide employment, better living conditions, and proper education for the poor. She became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS), as well as a writer, and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. Thereafter, she became involved with union actions, including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was a leading speaker for both the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation (SDF).

Perhaps Taylor can explain the use of Annie's name? There might be a good reason for this as it might appear in a future book about the late nineteenth century UK. Likely involving Bairstow, Annie, and...

United Kingdom on Jul 26, 2023

xlucent: As with all Jodi Taylor’s books, it’s a great story. Lots of history (ummm, I mean “History”), excitement and just plain fun.

But…At the best of times, Max is awfully self-absorbed and more than a bit of a hypocrite but in this book, she crosses over into totally hypocritical a-hole territory and I found myself actively disliking her. She really needs to get over herself.

Other than that, good story!

United States on Jul 22, 2023

Baron Rik: All the really good books (Or stories, or movies) have a plot twist in them. One that really grabs you and alters your reality. Well, this one has a doozy.
This book, therefore, turns out to be unique in the series. Once I knew the truth, I had to go back and reread the London section, just to put it in perspective. Here I thought I had all the scope and perspective of this series all figured out and now I have to re-evaluate everything. Read at your own risk. You've been warned.

United States on Jul 20, 2023

Katathome: I don't know how Jodi does it but, every book I read in this series, just keeps on getting better!

The various plotlines in this book were so labyrinthian, that it would take someone much better at puzzles than I, to have guessed the revelations this story contains.

I've spent the whole time while reading it, as usual, going from cackling with laughter, to floods of tears, and every single emotion in between!

This was a deep down serious story, but then, every one of them are, at the roots of them and, as with everything to do with people, those involved found those precious moments that they could, in relieving tensions, by doing something crazy.

It all worked out, this time, thankfully - though Clive Ronan had his much deserved comeuppance, at last, as Max got to close the circle on so many things from her past.

I'm actually starting to feel sad, now, as I know that there's only a few more St. Mary's books to go - for now, anyway - and, although I've a stack of her other books to read, that I know I'll love, too, they won't be these particular characters, and I'm going to miss them.

But, until that moment comes, I've got four short...

United Kingdom on May 06, 2023

Rachel Elsner Harrison: I found Book #11 oddly disjointed and lacking an arching story. While still well-written and full of Taylor’s trademark wit and snark, the book comes off as episodic, more like a series of short stories than a novel. This leads to a lack of cohesion and uneven pacing that make the story less enjoyable to read than previous installments. It does eventually get tied together - mostly, with a few gaping plot holes - but it feels kind of forced.

United States on Apr 06, 2023

Ashrae: Well... Having only just discovered this series recently I am now all caught up bar the Christmas special which I will be on next... It's been a wild ride and I am actually quite sad that I now have to join the other die hard fans in playing the waiting game for each new offering.
But, that said, oh my - I've always had a soft spot for Markham and, well, without giving anything away, we get to know him a wee bit better in this book. There was an enormous light bulb moment for me which made me gasp aloud - note to self - try to tone reactions down when listening to an audiobook, with earbuds hidden under a hat, when walking in public...!
Anyhoo... it's all change personnel wise at the beginning which really didn't have the consequences I though were coming later - well, not in this book anyway! That said, we also meet a new character whose insertion into a jump has, shall we just say, interesting consequences. And then there's a weird bit in the middle which, unless I missed something, doesn't really fit... maybe again, next time.
Other than that we have all the usual shenanigans and trials and tribulations, and tea drinking, that you'd expect from this series by now. With...

United Kingdom on Dec 26, 2020

Constant Reader: Jodi Taylor is amazing! I pre-ordered this book ages ago, so it was such a happy surprise to receive notice that it had been released and delivered to my Kindle. (You know what it means to have a happy surprise right now. Invaluable!) If you have not read any of her books, lucky you! You have a wonderful back-list of book from this series and others ahead of you. And by all means, do start at the beginning. If you have already read the previous volumes in this series, then lucky you, too, because this book does not disappoint. So much happens in this book! And I don’t mean just the investigation of history in contemporary time (time travel). The plot is complex, but never confusing. It is elegantly structured to make everything come together in a satisfying manner with no cheap tricks or cutting of corners. Jodi Taylor is a master of controlling a reader’s emotions without leaving any hint of manipulation. Once again, she made me laugh, and she made me cry. Sometimes in close proximity. She made me think, and she taught me history. The history in these books is compelling, and it feels very real. There is no resemblance to a sugar-coated period drama on Masterpiece Theater-...

United States on Apr 19, 2020

Meesha: We’re onto book 11 now, and I’m wondering what route Jodi is planning to take. Are we nearing the end? Or is she planning to go down the route of Janet Evanovich? (26 books - at the time of writing - in the Stephanie Plum series.) Or, heaven forbid, down the JD Robb route (51 books - and counting - in the Eve Dallas series.) There’s only so many times Max can get herself - and her team - into considerable danger. Time and time again.

The thing that keeps this series fresh for me, is that Jodi doesn’t stick to going to well known points in time. We land in Crete and London July 1483 and hop between other places but they’re never well known points in history (at least, not for me) and I am glad of that. As it keeps the cast of characters on their toes, wondering where their Mistress is going to dream up, to send them next.

This book is one of the funniest I’ve read in the series. There’s quite a few times where I had to stop reading, because the tears were rolling down my cheeks, I couldn’t see the words on the page anymore. And then when I did pick up the book again, I would read the same lines and the whole process would start over again. By page 25...

United Kingdom on Apr 19, 2020