Where Monsters Dwell by Jorgen Brekke - two murders, one in Virginia and one in Norway. They are both investigated separately until about the last third of the book. Fairly gruesome, in a Silence of the Lambs kind of way. I liked the detectives and evidently there is a second book coming about them.
3 stars
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Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason - an Inspector Erlendur novel, except he's not in it. One of his detectives investigates the death of a man suspected of being a rapist. I had no clue who did it until the detective figures it out.
3 stars
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The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes - a time-traveling serial killer meets his victims when they are young and then travels to kill them. One survives and begins hunting for him. The premise was interesting so I tried to look past the violence and language. But in the end, nothing was explained.
2 stars
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Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo - the 2nd in the Harry Hole series, just now translated. Harry is sent to Bangkok to investigate - or cover-up - the murder of the Norwegian ambassador. Some interesting twists.
3 stars
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Three Can Keep a Secret by Archer Mayor - the latest Joe Gunther story. Hurricane Irene has devastated Vermont and uncovered a couple of mysteries as well. A mental patient is missing and an uncovered coffin is full of rocks. I have to admit I skimmed part of this. I'm tired of the author bringing Joe's old girlfriend back into the picture and the political intrigue that brings. Thought the story was pretty weak.
2 stars
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Standup Guy by Stuart Woods - a Stone Barrington book. This was a ragbag full of many plot lines, some of them seemed to me to be introduced just to have something to write about in the next book. I wonder if the author is even writing these anymore. These people are just too rich. Stone is able to pull together 5 million dollars to ransom one of his many bed partners. And he has brought the problem on himself because he can't stay out of bed with every woman he meets.
2 stars
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The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo - the third Harry Hole book. Starts slow to introduce the characters and give some history but really gets going about the middle of the book. Harry is investigating neo-Nazis when he comes across a more immediate danger. If you're interested in this series, I think it's worth it to start at the beginning. Helps you understand Harry so much better.
4 stars
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Feb 16-22, 2014
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang - the author had access to recently released documents which put Cixi in a new light. Previously, most of what was known about her was told by her detractors.
3 stars
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The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick - Bartholomew finds himself alone after the death of his mother. He doesn't quite fit into the world and begins writing a series of letters to Richard Gere as a way to cope. One of the characters in the book uses the f word in every sentence, almost like a tic. It irritates me that authors seem to do this for the shock value, it could just as easily have been strawberry. If you can't make your eyes whoosh over that word, you won't be able to enjoy the story.
3 stars
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A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash - two boys see something they shouldn't and several people pay the consequences. Although this story - evil backwoods Southern preacher - has been told ad infinitum, I really like this author's writing. There is some wandering into the past that made the story meander.
3 stars
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A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith - 13 years after WWI, the US government decides to send gold star mothers - those who have lost children in the war - to the cemeteries in France where those children are buried. Mrs. Blake joins a group of four other women on the journey. How the women mesh together and the people they meet on their journey is only part of the story.
3 stars
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The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida - written by an autistic 13 yo boy in 2007 and translated to English in 2013. It's written mostly in question-answer form, with the author telling why he does the things many autistic children do. Interesting, but he seems to think all autistic people think the same way he does.
3 stars
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After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story by Michael Hainey - the author was 6 when his father died and many of his questions were unanswered. As an adult, he begins to dig for the truth. Written in a sparse style that I liked.
3 stars
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Never Go Back by Lee Child - a typical Jack Reacher novel, with Jack fighting for the underdog and breaking bones in the process. This time it's himself he's trying to save from trumped up charges. I thought the end was weird.
3 stars
3 stars
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The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick - Bartholomew finds himself alone after the death of his mother. He doesn't quite fit into the world and begins writing a series of letters to Richard Gere as a way to cope. One of the characters in the book uses the f word in every sentence, almost like a tic. It irritates me that authors seem to do this for the shock value, it could just as easily have been strawberry. If you can't make your eyes whoosh over that word, you won't be able to enjoy the story.
3 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash - two boys see something they shouldn't and several people pay the consequences. Although this story - evil backwoods Southern preacher - has been told ad infinitum, I really like this author's writing. There is some wandering into the past that made the story meander.
3 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith - 13 years after WWI, the US government decides to send gold star mothers - those who have lost children in the war - to the cemeteries in France where those children are buried. Mrs. Blake joins a group of four other women on the journey. How the women mesh together and the people they meet on their journey is only part of the story.
3 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida - written by an autistic 13 yo boy in 2007 and translated to English in 2013. It's written mostly in question-answer form, with the author telling why he does the things many autistic children do. Interesting, but he seems to think all autistic people think the same way he does.
3 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story by Michael Hainey - the author was 6 when his father died and many of his questions were unanswered. As an adult, he begins to dig for the truth. Written in a sparse style that I liked.
3 stars
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Never Go Back by Lee Child - a typical Jack Reacher novel, with Jack fighting for the underdog and breaking bones in the process. This time it's himself he's trying to save from trumped up charges. I thought the end was weird.
3 stars
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Feb 9-15, 2014
Tell No Lies by Gregg Huritz - a counselor for violent ex-offenders accidentally receives a death threat in his office mail. But it's too late and someone is dead. He gets caught up in the case and finds himself under threat. Pretty exciting in parts but I had a little trouble seeing the hero as indomitable as he apparently was.
3 stars
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This Dark Road to Mercy by Riley Cash - two sisters are in the foster system when the father they haven't seen in years comes looking for him. When he takes them from their bedroom at night and they go on the run, their court appointed guardian begins looking for them. Also searching is a scary person from the past. The story is told from 3 viewpoints and moves right along.
4 stars
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Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism by Martha and Ken Grimes - a mother and son account of alcoholism. I expected the chapters by Martha to be better since she is the author ( the Richard Jury novels) of the duo but I thought her chapters were very rambling. And she seems to think her way - rehab - is better than the 12-step program her son went through.
2 stars
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Before I Burn: A Novel by Gaute Heivoll - this is written as fiction but is based on a true story. A pyromaniac is setting fires in Norway and the author grew up hearing the stories and decides to write about it. I was totally confused by the way the story goes back in forth in time. It is never explained why the fires were set.
1 star
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Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - a 16 yo boy discovers the stories his grandfather has been telling him may be true after all. He travels to Wales to find out. The book is interspersed with pictures of very odd children. Fairly exciting at the end. First book in a series.
3 stars
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Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith - the authors decided to quit their jobs and visit all 58 National Parks. They tell their story in a series of emails to their friends. Not a park travelogue, but a description of their feelings about the parks, other visitors and each other. I laughed out loud several times.
4 stars
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The Martian by Andy Weir - an astronaut has an accident and is left behind on Mars by his crewmates because they believe him dead. Now he must survive 4 years before the next mission. In spite of all the techy talk, this is quite action packed. Surprisingly humorous in spots. Some language.
5 stars
3 stars
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This Dark Road to Mercy by Riley Cash - two sisters are in the foster system when the father they haven't seen in years comes looking for him. When he takes them from their bedroom at night and they go on the run, their court appointed guardian begins looking for them. Also searching is a scary person from the past. The story is told from 3 viewpoints and moves right along.
4 stars
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Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism by Martha and Ken Grimes - a mother and son account of alcoholism. I expected the chapters by Martha to be better since she is the author ( the Richard Jury novels) of the duo but I thought her chapters were very rambling. And she seems to think her way - rehab - is better than the 12-step program her son went through.
2 stars
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Before I Burn: A Novel by Gaute Heivoll - this is written as fiction but is based on a true story. A pyromaniac is setting fires in Norway and the author grew up hearing the stories and decides to write about it. I was totally confused by the way the story goes back in forth in time. It is never explained why the fires were set.
1 star
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - a 16 yo boy discovers the stories his grandfather has been telling him may be true after all. He travels to Wales to find out. The book is interspersed with pictures of very odd children. Fairly exciting at the end. First book in a series.
3 stars
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Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith - the authors decided to quit their jobs and visit all 58 National Parks. They tell their story in a series of emails to their friends. Not a park travelogue, but a description of their feelings about the parks, other visitors and each other. I laughed out loud several times.
4 stars
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The Martian by Andy Weir - an astronaut has an accident and is left behind on Mars by his crewmates because they believe him dead. Now he must survive 4 years before the next mission. In spite of all the techy talk, this is quite action packed. Surprisingly humorous in spots. Some language.
5 stars
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Feb 2-8, 2014
Last Rituals by Yrsa Siguroardottir - a rather uninspired telling of a murder with possible ritualistic overtones. Set in Iceland. Even though I didn't care for this book, I'll probably read the next in the series to see if it gets better.
2 stars
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The Apartment by Greg Baxter - one long introspective talking to himself ramble by a man in an unidentified European city looking for an apartment. There are no chapter breaks. I started off thinking I was going to like this but at the end I was just "huh?"
2 stars
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The Wind is Not a River by Brian Payton - WWII and a newspaper correspondent is shot down over the Aleutian Islands. While he is trying to survive on an island held by the Japanese, his wife decides to begin trying to find him. While I vaguely knew about this part of history, I didn't know what happened to the natives at the time. That's just a small part of the story, though.
4 stars
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Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd - an Ian Rutledge mystery. Two seemingly unrelated men are shot down a few weeks apart and Inspector Rutledge is sent to discover the cause. Set in the Fens, with lots of atmospheric weather. For some reason I had trouble keeping up with all the characters and I thought the solution was somewhat of a cheat.
3 stars
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Amelia Peabody;s Egypt by Elizabeth Peters - a non-fiction book with fictional characters from the Amelia Peabody books inserted. All the stuff about Egypt is true. Includes chapters about the Victorian attitude toward Egypt. Probably only interesting is you've read the Amelia Peabody series - which I recommend.
3 stars
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The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - 834 pages, a LOT of talking. I'm still not really sure how I feel about this book. It's a contemporary novel set in the 1860's and written in that style. The first half of the book is spent introducing all the characters and the situation. Once that was over is when it started to get pretty good. But then near the end the book changes again and I thought that was a weak point. All the chapters are introduced with astrological symbols and I think the author was trying to tie the story into that but I just ignored that part. Mostly because I don't understand it and don't care enough to try. At times I hated the book and at times I really enjoyed it. I did have to put it down two different times to read something else. I guess I'll average it out and give it
3 stars
2 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Apartment by Greg Baxter - one long introspective talking to himself ramble by a man in an unidentified European city looking for an apartment. There are no chapter breaks. I started off thinking I was going to like this but at the end I was just "huh?"
2 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wind is Not a River by Brian Payton - WWII and a newspaper correspondent is shot down over the Aleutian Islands. While he is trying to survive on an island held by the Japanese, his wife decides to begin trying to find him. While I vaguely knew about this part of history, I didn't know what happened to the natives at the time. That's just a small part of the story, though.
4 stars
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd - an Ian Rutledge mystery. Two seemingly unrelated men are shot down a few weeks apart and Inspector Rutledge is sent to discover the cause. Set in the Fens, with lots of atmospheric weather. For some reason I had trouble keeping up with all the characters and I thought the solution was somewhat of a cheat.
3 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amelia Peabody;s Egypt by Elizabeth Peters - a non-fiction book with fictional characters from the Amelia Peabody books inserted. All the stuff about Egypt is true. Includes chapters about the Victorian attitude toward Egypt. Probably only interesting is you've read the Amelia Peabody series - which I recommend.
3 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - 834 pages, a LOT of talking. I'm still not really sure how I feel about this book. It's a contemporary novel set in the 1860's and written in that style. The first half of the book is spent introducing all the characters and the situation. Once that was over is when it started to get pretty good. But then near the end the book changes again and I thought that was a weak point. All the chapters are introduced with astrological symbols and I think the author was trying to tie the story into that but I just ignored that part. Mostly because I don't understand it and don't care enough to try. At times I hated the book and at times I really enjoyed it. I did have to put it down two different times to read something else. I guess I'll average it out and give it
3 stars
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Jan26-Feb 1, 2014
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - an ordinary man gets pulled into the Under London world. This is not a light and airy fantasy. It was too grim for me and I didn't completely understand what was going on.
2 stars
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Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason - a young child is found murdered and the police must determine if it's racist in nature or something else. Part of a series of dark Icelandic mysteries led by Erlendur.
3 stars
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The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carissi - a convoluted tale of serial killers, a secret sect within the Vatican and a policewoman investigating the death of her husband, all set in Rome. While the story was good, the constant switching back and forth in time and between protagonists was quite confusing. I wasn't sure what was happening until about the last third of the book. The end was a shocker though. If I was grading on just the way it was written, it would get 2 stars. Actually, I liked the writing, but it was too disjointed. If I was grading on the story, 4 stars.
3 stars
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Light of the World by James Lee Burke - I don't know what it is about authors as they get older, they either get very verbose or formulaic. This particular story could have been told in about 200 less pages. More and more evil people doing more and more evil acts kept being introduced while the main protagonist prattled on about philosophical matters. A serial killer thought dead is trailing Dave Robicheaux's daughter, and even though he's a policeman, he's thinking about handling things his way. Fairly violent, including sexual violence.
2 stars
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Starting at Zero by Jimi Hendrix - the words of Jimi Hendrix, compiled from his writings, interviews, and lyrics. Put together by Peter Neal and Alan Douglas, who was his last producer. Jimi seemed like an intelligent man very much driven by his music. His last writings seemed to me to be very much influenced by drugs but maybe I'm projecting.
3 stars
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Red Light by T. Jefferson Parker - Merci Rayburn is back and this time she's investigating the death of an upscale hooker and a cold case from the 60's. And it seems her boyfriend is involved. This was a struggle to get through. Lots of angst.
2 stars
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The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro - a young married woman learns she has received an inheritance in Paris from a woman she doesn't know. The story moves from 1955 to previous years, but not in a confusing way. I really liked the way this was written. A little crude in some places.
4 stars
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Disappointed - I started a book by an author I gave 5 stars to last year and couldn't finish it. It really annoyed me and I figured out right away what I'm sure was supposed to be a big surprise at the end. Perfect by Rachel Joyce.
2 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason - a young child is found murdered and the police must determine if it's racist in nature or something else. Part of a series of dark Icelandic mysteries led by Erlendur.
3 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carissi - a convoluted tale of serial killers, a secret sect within the Vatican and a policewoman investigating the death of her husband, all set in Rome. While the story was good, the constant switching back and forth in time and between protagonists was quite confusing. I wasn't sure what was happening until about the last third of the book. The end was a shocker though. If I was grading on just the way it was written, it would get 2 stars. Actually, I liked the writing, but it was too disjointed. If I was grading on the story, 4 stars.
3 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light of the World by James Lee Burke - I don't know what it is about authors as they get older, they either get very verbose or formulaic. This particular story could have been told in about 200 less pages. More and more evil people doing more and more evil acts kept being introduced while the main protagonist prattled on about philosophical matters. A serial killer thought dead is trailing Dave Robicheaux's daughter, and even though he's a policeman, he's thinking about handling things his way. Fairly violent, including sexual violence.
2 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting at Zero by Jimi Hendrix - the words of Jimi Hendrix, compiled from his writings, interviews, and lyrics. Put together by Peter Neal and Alan Douglas, who was his last producer. Jimi seemed like an intelligent man very much driven by his music. His last writings seemed to me to be very much influenced by drugs but maybe I'm projecting.
3 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Red Light by T. Jefferson Parker - Merci Rayburn is back and this time she's investigating the death of an upscale hooker and a cold case from the 60's. And it seems her boyfriend is involved. This was a struggle to get through. Lots of angst.
2 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro - a young married woman learns she has received an inheritance in Paris from a woman she doesn't know. The story moves from 1955 to previous years, but not in a confusing way. I really liked the way this was written. A little crude in some places.
4 stars
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Disappointed - I started a book by an author I gave 5 stars to last year and couldn't finish it. It really annoyed me and I figured out right away what I'm sure was supposed to be a big surprise at the end. Perfect by Rachel Joyce.
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