The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle - the last unicorn in the world hopes it isn't the last one and goes on a journey to find the rest of the unicorns. Along the way she meets an inept magician who accompanies her on her quest. My library didn't have the original, instead I read the graphic novel. While the illustrations were beautiful, I think I missed something of the story itself.
2 stars
*RHC - one-sitting book
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Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - a collection of essays about the authors love of reading. I'm a common reader, she is not. Too literary for me. I liked the essay on reading aloud the best.
2 stars
*RHC - essay anthology
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The Chalk Pit by Ellie Griffiths - Ruth Galloway has been called to look at bones found in a tunnel beneath Norwich in this 9th book of the series. What looks at first like old bones boiled by an ancient method turn out to be much more recent and a matter for police. Are they connected to the recent disappearances of rough sleepers around town? A murder right on the steps of the police building ratchets things up in a mix of violence, missing people, and kidnapping. All while Ruth and DCI Nelson's personal lives get a bit messy. Not very much archeology in this one and I don't like the direction things are going with Ruth and Nelson. Not the best in the series IMO.
3 stars
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The Western Star by Craig Johnson - the 13th Walt Longmire book and my least favorite by far. The story jumps between the present and the 70's in a very erratic way, several jumps per chapter. Present day Walt is trying to prevent the release of a dying prisoner and the past Walt is trying to find out who on a train full of sheriffs killed one of them. And then there's a twist at the end that makes it seem as if this book was written just to set up the next. Unfair.
2 stars
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Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben - Nap Dumas hasn't been the same since his twin brother Leo and his girlfriend were killed by a train. And on that same night, 15 years ago, his own girlfriend, Maura, left town. Now he's a police detective and when he learns that Maura's fingerprints have been found inside a car associated with a cop killing he starts doing some unauthorized investigating. My only quibble with this is that it's told in first person present tense.
4.5 stars
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The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver - Milo and Amory Ames are vacationing in Italy when he receives a troubling letter from his old nanny. It seems she thinks the famous parfumier she works for has been murdered and there is no end of suspects. Is it one of his three children, his much younger wife, an old friend, or a business rival? These books are very much in the style of 30's English mysteries, which is the time they take place. Lots of witty repartee, endless money, and time to travel and indulge in mystery solving. Fun books when you don't want to think too much.
4 stars
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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn - Anna Fox has been imprisoned by agoraphobia in her house for 10 months. She mixes her medication with alcohol, watches black and white movies in the dark, and watches her neighbors with her camera. Then she sees something shocking at the new neighbors house and almost loses her tenuous hold on reality. Quite a page turner at the end. A few too many movie references and quotes.
4 stars
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The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon - Hector Lousart is a reclusive alcoholic who has avoided people, including his daughter, for 18 years, ever since his wife left him. He lives in two rooms of his very large house with his books and wine. One night he hears a shot and ventures out of his room. He discovers a strange man murdered in one of his bedrooms. Things have been happening in his house that he didn't know about. Written in 1940 during the German occupation of France and yet there's no mention of that in the book. This is more of a psychological study than a mystery. It's been on my TBR for a very long time and I finally bought it when I realized it fit two categories in my reading challenge.
3 stars
*RHC - Book with a cover I hate
Book of genre fiction in translation
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