March 31-April 6, 2013

The Night and the Music by Lawrence Block - a collection of short Matthew Scudder stories. Some from the past when he's an alcoholic and some in the present when he's sober and remarried.

3 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The End of Your Life Bookclub by Will Schwalbe - true story of the author and his mother forming a bookclub of two while she is being treated for pancreatic cancer. Somewhat depressing, but she takes her illness better than anyone else. And I got quite a list of books to read.

4 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slow Dollar by Margaret Maron - another Deborah Knott mystery.

3 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne - another first time author that I enjoyed a lot. The book goes back and forth from the present and the past but I didn't find it irritating. It was almost like getting two mysteries in one. The book is about an 11 year old boy on trial for murder. In England, the age for being treated as an adult is 10.

4 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear - a Masie Dobbs novel. I didn't enjoy this one as much as previous books. To me, Masie is almost whiny in the way she is not satisfied with her life. Not whiny out loud but whiny in spirit. I think I'm in the minority with that thought, though, and am influenced by my personal philsophy.

3 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - a story of a family told from the viewpoint of the dog. And he's quite a smart dog. And of course I cried at the end.

4 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer Falls by Amelia Williams - an e-book published by BBC Books to go along with the Dr. Who episode from last Sunday. The book was being read by one of the characters in the episode.

3 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Father's Tears by John Updike - a collection of short stories. Mostly depressing stories about people who can't stay married, connect with their children or grandchildren and have lots of regrets.

2 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watching the Dark by Peter Robinson  - an Inspector Banks mystery. The murder of a policeman leads to investigations in immigrant trafficking and a 6 year old disappearance of an English girl in Estonia. I thought it drug on just a little too much.

3 stars