Sunday, June 24, 2018
Sunday, June 17, 2018
June 10 - 16, 2018
Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas by Mark Kurlansky - almost more than you want to know about all kinds of milk and the uses for it. Too many recipes in the first part of the book reaching back many years and impossible to duplicate now even if you wanted to. The book also discusses the constant debate between bottle-fed babies and breastfed and how the pendulum swings back and forth every few years. Also some talk about the merits of raw milk versus pasteurized and organic versus non organic. I've read a few of this author's books, Salt was one of my favorites. This isn't quite as interesting.
3 stars
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Outside the Jukebox: How I Turned my Vintage Music Obsession in My Dream Gig by Scott Bradlee - I love almost everything Postmodern Jukebox does so when I saw that Scott was writing a book I actually pre-ordered it. He tells about all the hard work it took to become an "overnight" YouTube success. He also gives lots of encouragement to artists pursuing their dreams.
4 stars
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The Boy, the Bird, and the Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods - a plague robs Alberto of his family and he becomes the coffin maker for his town of Allora. A town where fish fly out of the sea and all the houses are brightly colored. Thirty years later Alberto discovers someone is stealing food from him. It's a young boy all alone except for his brightly colored bird. As he gradually earns the boys trust, Alberto discovers he's terribly afraid of someone. This is a children's book that is full of the ordinary and the magical. The illustrations are wonderful.
4 stars
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Lost Creed by Alex Kava - Ryder Creed's sister disappeared from a truck stop 16 years ago and it's the main reason he runs a dog training facility. When he gets news there may be a clue to Brodie's disappearance he is quick to join the investigation. As so often when a writer gets on a soapbox, the story is somewhat neglected. This was also very disjointed with multiple viewpoints and plot lines. The clues were so heavy I knew what was going on long before the characters. The Kindle version was also poorly edited. Human trafficking is a huge and ongoing problem, I don't think weaving it into a book in a preachy way is the best way to educate the public.
2 stars
3 stars
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Outside the Jukebox: How I Turned my Vintage Music Obsession in My Dream Gig by Scott Bradlee - I love almost everything Postmodern Jukebox does so when I saw that Scott was writing a book I actually pre-ordered it. He tells about all the hard work it took to become an "overnight" YouTube success. He also gives lots of encouragement to artists pursuing their dreams.
4 stars
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The Boy, the Bird, and the Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods - a plague robs Alberto of his family and he becomes the coffin maker for his town of Allora. A town where fish fly out of the sea and all the houses are brightly colored. Thirty years later Alberto discovers someone is stealing food from him. It's a young boy all alone except for his brightly colored bird. As he gradually earns the boys trust, Alberto discovers he's terribly afraid of someone. This is a children's book that is full of the ordinary and the magical. The illustrations are wonderful.
4 stars
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Lost Creed by Alex Kava - Ryder Creed's sister disappeared from a truck stop 16 years ago and it's the main reason he runs a dog training facility. When he gets news there may be a clue to Brodie's disappearance he is quick to join the investigation. As so often when a writer gets on a soapbox, the story is somewhat neglected. This was also very disjointed with multiple viewpoints and plot lines. The clues were so heavy I knew what was going on long before the characters. The Kindle version was also poorly edited. Human trafficking is a huge and ongoing problem, I don't think weaving it into a book in a preachy way is the best way to educate the public.
2 stars
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Sunday, June 3, 2018
May 27 - June 2, 2018
Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew DeGraff/Daniel G. Harmon - actual maps of 19 books drawn by DeGraff with a short essay about the book by Harmon. These seemed more like illustrations than maps. I really just skimmed the essays, especially the ones about books I hadn't read. Still a pleasant way to pass the time.
2 stars
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To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear - England is at war in 1940 but still, Maisie Dobbs is busy with clients. But a case somewhat personal begins when a local boy's father asks her to look for him. He's been working as an apprentice painter on secret business at the airfields. Maisie is also concerned about her good friend's son who wishes to be involved in the war effort even though he's underage. (Btw, is Priscilla's apparent alcoholism ever going to be addressed?) And there's still the question of Anna, Maisie's young ward living with her father.
3.5 stars
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Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson - Anna Treadway is the dresser for Iolanthe Green, star of screen and stage. When Green disappears after a performance there is a hue and cry but the search for her is soon pushed back by other matters. Anna is determined to find her and is joined by a young accountant from Jamaica. They begin a parallel investigation alongside the detective assigned to the case. This book is labeled a mystery but seemed more character driven and a social commentary on the times. It takes place in 1965, England, but some of the scenes could come straight from our news. This one left me vaguely unsatisfied.
2.5 stars
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Dead, to Begin With by Bill Crider - Sheriff Dan Rhodes is dealing with the usual crimes in Clearview, Texas. A woman taking a sledgehammer to the beauty salon because she's upset about her haircut, a chicken crossing the road and causing a four car pileup, and a road rage incident in the Walmart parking lot. Things get serious when the body of a wealthy recluse is found on the stage of the opera house he had just bought. It looks like more than an accident to the sheriff. This is the 24th book in the series. Sadly, there will be no more since the author passed away earlier this year.
3 stars
2 stars
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To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear - England is at war in 1940 but still, Maisie Dobbs is busy with clients. But a case somewhat personal begins when a local boy's father asks her to look for him. He's been working as an apprentice painter on secret business at the airfields. Maisie is also concerned about her good friend's son who wishes to be involved in the war effort even though he's underage. (Btw, is Priscilla's apparent alcoholism ever going to be addressed?) And there's still the question of Anna, Maisie's young ward living with her father.
3.5 stars
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Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson - Anna Treadway is the dresser for Iolanthe Green, star of screen and stage. When Green disappears after a performance there is a hue and cry but the search for her is soon pushed back by other matters. Anna is determined to find her and is joined by a young accountant from Jamaica. They begin a parallel investigation alongside the detective assigned to the case. This book is labeled a mystery but seemed more character driven and a social commentary on the times. It takes place in 1965, England, but some of the scenes could come straight from our news. This one left me vaguely unsatisfied.
2.5 stars
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Dead, to Begin With by Bill Crider - Sheriff Dan Rhodes is dealing with the usual crimes in Clearview, Texas. A woman taking a sledgehammer to the beauty salon because she's upset about her haircut, a chicken crossing the road and causing a four car pileup, and a road rage incident in the Walmart parking lot. Things get serious when the body of a wealthy recluse is found on the stage of the opera house he had just bought. It looks like more than an accident to the sheriff. This is the 24th book in the series. Sadly, there will be no more since the author passed away earlier this year.
3 stars
Sunday, May 27, 2018
May 20 - 26, 2018
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert - 17 yo Alice has spent most of her life moving from place to place with her mother. It seems a streak of bad luck is always following them. When her grandmother, a reclusive author of dark fairy tales, dies it looks like things might be changing. And they do, but not necessarily for the better. Alice's mother is kidnapped and strange people want her to go to the Hazel Wood, a place she has been warned against. I didn't "get" this book at all, especially when Alice enters another world. I didn't know what she was supposed to be doing or why. This is a YA book, it's possible I'm too old for it. Looks like it's the start of a series.
1 star
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The Temptation of Forgiveness by Donna Leon - in the 27th Commissario Brunetti looks into a suspicious accident that has left a man in a life threatening coma. Could someone have wanted him dead and why? Does it have something to do with his son's possible drug habit? Brunetti does most of his investigating by gazing out his window and thinking. He makes some missteps in this one by not listening to one of his co-workers. As always, much of the book is spent at home with the Brunetti's and their food, conversations, and what books are being read. Not the best in the series, but a calm, comfortable read.
3 stars
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Bittersweet by Susan Wittig Albert - China Bayles is out of her comfort zone in Pecan Springs when she visits her mother and stepfather on their ranch for Thanksgiving. She's worried that her mother won't be able to run their ranch as a birders retreat now that her stepfather is in the the hospital. Along with that worry she gets peripherally involved in the big money business of exotic game farming and hunting. The chapters alternate with China's part of the story and game warden Mackenzie Chambers investigation into the same issues. Although I actually enjoyed Mackenzies portion more I felt it wasn't realistic to the normal tone of the series. The story is told in the (too) folksy voice of China and then jumps to a point of view she couldn't know. The ending was a little rushed and abrupt. I consider these books cozy mysteries and read them when I want to take it easy.
2.5 stars
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Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan - David Loogan, editor of mystery magazine Grey Streets, receives a very short manuscript detailing the murders of three men. All three are named and two of them are already dead. It looks like someone is killing the members of a bank robbing gang but to what end? A very convoluted tale of possible political cover-up ensues. I may have read this book before, the plot seemed very familiar until the end. Too many twists and turns for me.
2 stars
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A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson - 12 yo Gerta wakes one day to see a barbed wire fence dividing east Berlin from the west. And her father and brother are on the other side. Her family has already been under scrutiny because of her father's activities. There doesn't seem to be any hope her family will ever be together again. But one day she sees her father dancing on one of the viewing towers in the west. He is acting out one of their favorite children's songs and she just knows he's sending a message. Do she and the rest of her family dare to act? This is a middle grade book but it certainly didn't seem childish to me. I found it quite exciting at the end. The only quibble I have is the precocity of Gerta but I think her circumstances certainly contributed to that.
5 stars
1 star
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The Temptation of Forgiveness by Donna Leon - in the 27th Commissario Brunetti looks into a suspicious accident that has left a man in a life threatening coma. Could someone have wanted him dead and why? Does it have something to do with his son's possible drug habit? Brunetti does most of his investigating by gazing out his window and thinking. He makes some missteps in this one by not listening to one of his co-workers. As always, much of the book is spent at home with the Brunetti's and their food, conversations, and what books are being read. Not the best in the series, but a calm, comfortable read.
3 stars
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Bittersweet by Susan Wittig Albert - China Bayles is out of her comfort zone in Pecan Springs when she visits her mother and stepfather on their ranch for Thanksgiving. She's worried that her mother won't be able to run their ranch as a birders retreat now that her stepfather is in the the hospital. Along with that worry she gets peripherally involved in the big money business of exotic game farming and hunting. The chapters alternate with China's part of the story and game warden Mackenzie Chambers investigation into the same issues. Although I actually enjoyed Mackenzies portion more I felt it wasn't realistic to the normal tone of the series. The story is told in the (too) folksy voice of China and then jumps to a point of view she couldn't know. The ending was a little rushed and abrupt. I consider these books cozy mysteries and read them when I want to take it easy.
2.5 stars
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Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan - David Loogan, editor of mystery magazine Grey Streets, receives a very short manuscript detailing the murders of three men. All three are named and two of them are already dead. It looks like someone is killing the members of a bank robbing gang but to what end? A very convoluted tale of possible political cover-up ensues. I may have read this book before, the plot seemed very familiar until the end. Too many twists and turns for me.
2 stars
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A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson - 12 yo Gerta wakes one day to see a barbed wire fence dividing east Berlin from the west. And her father and brother are on the other side. Her family has already been under scrutiny because of her father's activities. There doesn't seem to be any hope her family will ever be together again. But one day she sees her father dancing on one of the viewing towers in the west. He is acting out one of their favorite children's songs and she just knows he's sending a message. Do she and the rest of her family dare to act? This is a middle grade book but it certainly didn't seem childish to me. I found it quite exciting at the end. The only quibble I have is the precocity of Gerta but I think her circumstances certainly contributed to that.
5 stars
Sunday, May 20, 2018
May 13 - 19, 2018
Flash by Donna Ball - a routine home alarm check becomes a double murder and attempted murder of a police officer. The only witness who saw everything is a border collie puppy. Two years later the puppy, Flash, has become part of the police force and everyone is gearing up for the trial of the murderer. But the wounded officer is having flashbacks that don't quite add up to the official version of events. This was an odd book, action and plot development would be interrupted by dog facts. But it's fiction so I don't know if the facts were factual. I enjoy a dog story but this was dog was just too smart and psychically connected to his owner.
2 stars
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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - two women's lives intertwine after WWII when Charlie shows up on Eve's doorstep asking her to help find her cousin Rose. Eve was recruited into the Alice Network during WWI and is inserted into a restaurant where German officers meet. Her story is full of danger, courage, and betrayal. Charlie seems a little whiny but she's led a sheltered life with overbearing parents so perhaps she can be excused. Together they travel across France on what ultimately becomes a search for revenge.
4.5 stars
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Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern - three very different people come together at a library in a small dying town in New Hampshire. Kit, a librarian, has made a quiet life for herself after arriving in the town four years ago. Sunny is sentenced to community service at the library after attempting to steal a dictionary. And Rusty finds himself there after losing his well paying Wall Street job during the economic downturn. The story is told from the viewpoint of all three and Kit also tells the story of her marriage. I was a little disappointed in the ending, it seemed to peter out.
4 stars
2 stars
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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - two women's lives intertwine after WWII when Charlie shows up on Eve's doorstep asking her to help find her cousin Rose. Eve was recruited into the Alice Network during WWI and is inserted into a restaurant where German officers meet. Her story is full of danger, courage, and betrayal. Charlie seems a little whiny but she's led a sheltered life with overbearing parents so perhaps she can be excused. Together they travel across France on what ultimately becomes a search for revenge.
4.5 stars
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Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern - three very different people come together at a library in a small dying town in New Hampshire. Kit, a librarian, has made a quiet life for herself after arriving in the town four years ago. Sunny is sentenced to community service at the library after attempting to steal a dictionary. And Rusty finds himself there after losing his well paying Wall Street job during the economic downturn. The story is told from the viewpoint of all three and Kit also tells the story of her marriage. I was a little disappointed in the ending, it seemed to peter out.
4 stars
Sunday, May 13, 2018
May 6 - 12. 2018
The Knowledge by Martha Grimes - a cabdriver delivers a beautiful, wealthy couple to the hottest spot in London, an exclusive casino/art gallery. They're shot right in front of him and the shooter gets in his cab and tells him to drive. This begins a jumbled tale of possible art smuggling, tanzanite smuggling, gambling, and precocious children. Quite a few coincidences and preposterous actions by the precocious children make this rather unbelievable. The ending read like the author had several possibilities and stuck a pin in one to decide. I always like the usual roundup of characters in a Richard Jury book, especially Melrose Plant. The series titles are always pub names, The Knowledge is a pub no one can find only for the famous London Black cab drivers, whose intimate knowledge of the streets of London is called exactly that.
2.5 stars
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The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer - Jim Zwicharowski is a mortician at Dover Air Force Base. Here is where our fallen soldiers are received and made ready for burial by their families. It's also where autopsies are performed on those killed in less "public" ways. Jim has asked to do the autopsy on Nola Brown, an acquaintance of his own deceased daughter. But the woman is not Nola and this starts the search for the real Nola. This leads to the discovery of a secret government group associated with Harry Houdini. What does this have to do with Nola? Lots of going back in time to Nola's life as a young girl. Lots of action but I didn't really connect with the characters.
2.5 stars
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Smoky Mountain Tracks by Donna Ball - Raine Stockton, along with her semi-trained golden retriever, is called to join the search for a young girl believed abducted by her father. But when they find the body of the father things don't look good. A short fluff book for when you don't want to think a lot. The beginning of a series but I probably won't continue since my library only has a few of the titles.
3 stars
2.5 stars
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The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer - Jim Zwicharowski is a mortician at Dover Air Force Base. Here is where our fallen soldiers are received and made ready for burial by their families. It's also where autopsies are performed on those killed in less "public" ways. Jim has asked to do the autopsy on Nola Brown, an acquaintance of his own deceased daughter. But the woman is not Nola and this starts the search for the real Nola. This leads to the discovery of a secret government group associated with Harry Houdini. What does this have to do with Nola? Lots of going back in time to Nola's life as a young girl. Lots of action but I didn't really connect with the characters.
2.5 stars
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Smoky Mountain Tracks by Donna Ball - Raine Stockton, along with her semi-trained golden retriever, is called to join the search for a young girl believed abducted by her father. But when they find the body of the father things don't look good. A short fluff book for when you don't want to think a lot. The beginning of a series but I probably won't continue since my library only has a few of the titles.
3 stars
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