51.
Title: The Princess Diaries
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 256
Genre: YA
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: June ?, 2012
Rating: ***

I've avoided reviewing this book - to the point that I cannot remember when I actually finished reading it - because of a rather lackluster response.  I didn't dislike the book any more than I actually liked it.  I enjoyed the fact that Cabot's original story is very different from the Disney movie (and I appreciated the drunk and slightly-scandalous grandmother in the novel), but it wasn't thrilling.  I'm giving it three starts because I'm sure others would enjoy it.

52.
Title: Witch Way to Murder
Author: Shirley Damsgard
Pages: 304
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: June 26, 2012
Rating: **1/2

Witch Way to Murder gets a low rating for inconsistency and poor research.  The story itself is what one would expect from any cozy - a librarian is attempting to solve a series of crimes in her small town - and a supernatural cozy  - she's inherited a skill for witchcraft which she is oh-so-dramatically resisting because of a past trauma.   

The big problems - inconsistency in plot and characterization - make the "little" problems all the more irksome.  I can think of two examples off the top of my head: there is a vision involving a young girl dancing ballet, described by the protagonist, and likely inspired by some juvenile fantasy of what ballet should look like.  Oh, sure, she throws in the word "arabesque" for good measure, but here's a big tell: ballet dancers don't cross their laces up to their knees.  I promise. 

The second irksome detail?  A librarian who doesn't know how to conduct research.  Specifically, research on the internet.  I can't imagine that a librarian attempting to do research related to the mystery she is solving would a) be so careless in her search attempts and b) would give up on said research after a single results return.  Really? 

Overall, the story seems careless; there are better examples of the genre to be enjoyed.