Jan 5 - 11, 2014

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons by Lawrence Block - the author thought he was retired and then discovered he had one more Bernie Rhodenbarr in him. Bernie is a bookseller/thief but his stories aren't so much about the thefts as all the things that happen before and after. Lots of witty talk and quite a bit of innuendo. I had a lot of fun reading this.

4 stars
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The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett - a recently widowed antiquarian bookseller finds a watercolor of a woman looking just like his wife. This leads to a possible important find in Shakespeare literature. A few sex scenes, not gratuitous.

4 stars
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The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius by Kristine Barnett - a true story of a boy who has an IQ higher than Einstein's. But his genius was almost lost when he was diagnosed as autistic and his parents were told he would never read. 

4 stars
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Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill - the author's parents were part of Sea Org, the part that runs Scientology, and they practically abandoned her for the cause. Her uncle is the man who runs everything now. Although the story itself was interesting the writing was not. Lots of acronyms, almost as bad as reading something military. It's hard to believe she had a co-writer, the book was  very poorly edited. I have to say I skimmed the middle parts.

2 stars
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Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki - first published in 1914 by H.H. Munro using his pen name of Saki. A collection of very short stories poking fun at British society of the time. Some of them don't age well and are certainly not politically correct. I especially enjoyed the stories of people refusing to be bored by tellers of tall tales by telling even more tall tales themselves.

3 stars
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Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers - written in 1913, it's a story of lies, corruption and romance, all told in a light-hearted style with lots of clever lines. My idea of what was going on kept changing as more people kept coming to Baldpate Inn, which is closed for the winter.

4 stars
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The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires by Laura Dent Crane - written in 1910. I couldn't decide if this was supposed to be written for adults or children, it was very Nancy Drewish.

1 star
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The Bat by Jo Nesbo - the first book in the Harry Hole series finally published in the US. It gives some background we've been missing because the books are published out of order. Harry is in Australia helping find a serial killer. Not quite as good as the brooding set in Norway books.

3 stars
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Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father by Alysia Abbott - Alysia's mother was killed in a car accident when she was 2 and she and her gay father move to San Francisco. She recounts what it was like growing up there in the 70's and 80's.

3 stars