Randall Garrett, Lord Darcy. Lord Darcy is a Sherlock Holmes-type figure who lives and solves crimes in an alternate universe where most of the world is part of the British empire. I found some of the short stories contained in this volume engaging, but overall I wearied of Garrett's imaginary world fairly quickly. The constant reiterations of the background bogged the stories down, the inconsistency of the few items (such as "caffe" and "ouiskie") in the Darcy universe that were differentiated from those in our universe, and Darcy's lack of a personality kept me from being able to immerse myself in that world.
Jane Claypool Miner, Jennie. Part of a 1980s series about teenage girls in various times in American history, Jennie is about a girl who survives the Johnstown Flood. Sadly, there's very little character development, the experience during the flood is generalized and lacks urgency, and the romance is sketchy, at best. One of the lesser entries in the series.
Kathryn Kenny, Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Missing Millionaire. This is the best Trixie I've read in a while. The later entries tend to be on the weak side, but I enjoyed this one. It's about a set of swindlers, gives Trixie exposure to the way a professional detective works, and the various characters get more to do, both emotionally and plot-wise, than usual.
Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Cheaper by the Dozen. I've read this umpteen times, and I see myself reading it umpteen more. This cozy little memoir of life in the household of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, early American efficiency experts, is funny and touching and provides a nice glimpse of the times the Gilbreths' dozen children grew up in.
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