No Middle Name:The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories by Lee Child - just what the title says. From his teenage years, through his military career, and his ramblings around the country, Jack always manages to get himself out of a predicament.
3 stars
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The Right Side by Spencer Quinn - the author of the Chet and Bernie series takes a much more serious tone. LeAnne Hogan doesn't remember what happened during a military operation in Afghanistan that went wrong during which she suffered serious injuries and lost her right eye. Bitter and confused, she leaves the hospital after her roommate, Marcie, suddenly dies. Almost by accident she arrives in Marci's hometown where she learns Marci's daughter is missing. She's also adopted by a large stray dog, no one's idea of a pet. Her search for Mia becomes a search for herself. I don't know if this will become a series but I hope so.
4 stars
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Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley - a used bookshop has a section where the books aren't sold, instead they are used by people to leave letters and notes to others. And that's the most interesting part of the book. Otherwise it's a typical YA book with language, sex, and the always present love triangle.
2 stars
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Aug 13 - 19, 2017
Still Dead by J.A. Jance - a J.P. Beaumont novella. J.P. is a little bit at loose ends since he retired and his wife became chief of police in Bellingham. So when a friend offers him a 30 year old cold case he's interested. A woman's empty car was found at Deception Pass Bridge but her body was never found. The case is pretty easily solved and I liked the way he got a confession. I enjoyed this because it takes place where I used to live. A fun, quick read.
3 stars
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Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths - Brighton, 1951. DI Stephens is looking for two missing children and not having much success. No one has seen anything and there are very little clues. When it becomes a case of murder, he's desperate for any help. His friend, Max Mephisto, performing in a Christmas pantomime, tells him of a possible link to an old murder many years ago. The very slow pace of the investigation wouldn't be tolerated now. Lots of red herrings with a surprise (to me) ending.
3 stars
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Flask of the Drunken Master by Susan Spann - samurai Hiro and Father Matteo are after justice again when their friend is accused of murdering a man outside his sake brewery. Given only a short time by the magistrate before Ginjiro is executed, they have many suspects to talk to. Lots of walking, as there would be in 16th century Japan, but I found it tiresome. I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous two in the series.
2 stars
3 stars
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Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths - Brighton, 1951. DI Stephens is looking for two missing children and not having much success. No one has seen anything and there are very little clues. When it becomes a case of murder, he's desperate for any help. His friend, Max Mephisto, performing in a Christmas pantomime, tells him of a possible link to an old murder many years ago. The very slow pace of the investigation wouldn't be tolerated now. Lots of red herrings with a surprise (to me) ending.
3 stars
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Flask of the Drunken Master by Susan Spann - samurai Hiro and Father Matteo are after justice again when their friend is accused of murdering a man outside his sake brewery. Given only a short time by the magistrate before Ginjiro is executed, they have many suspects to talk to. Lots of walking, as there would be in 16th century Japan, but I found it tiresome. I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous two in the series.
2 stars
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Aug 6 - 12, 2017
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths - it's Brighton in 1950 and parts of the body of a young woman have just been found. It reminds Edgar Stephens of a magician's act performed by Max Mephisto, an old friend from the war. The two of them join forces when it looks like someone has got their sights on their unit from WWII, the Magic Men. A new series by the author of the Ruth Galloway series, this didn't engage me quite as much. I'll still read the next in the series. A low
3 stars
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What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi - a collections of short stories with absolutely no meaning whatsoever as far as I could tell. The blurb said they interconnect but I didn't find it. Confession: I skipped the last two stories as I was exhausted from the tedium of trying to find an actual story.
1 star
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Wrath of the Furies by Steven Saylor - the third in the Ancient World Series, these are the stories of Gordianus the Finder when he was a young man. The ancient world is in upheaval with Mithidrates conquering Roman Asia, Italian states rebelling against Rome, and a coup in Egypt. Among all this, Gordianus sails to Ephesus to find his old tutor who may be in some trouble. He gets there just in time to be caught up in a plot to kill all the Romans in town. I first met Gordianus in the Roma Sub Rosa series and enjoyed this younger version of him.
3 stars
3 stars
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What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi - a collections of short stories with absolutely no meaning whatsoever as far as I could tell. The blurb said they interconnect but I didn't find it. Confession: I skipped the last two stories as I was exhausted from the tedium of trying to find an actual story.
1 star
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Wrath of the Furies by Steven Saylor - the third in the Ancient World Series, these are the stories of Gordianus the Finder when he was a young man. The ancient world is in upheaval with Mithidrates conquering Roman Asia, Italian states rebelling against Rome, and a coup in Egypt. Among all this, Gordianus sails to Ephesus to find his old tutor who may be in some trouble. He gets there just in time to be caught up in a plot to kill all the Romans in town. I first met Gordianus in the Roma Sub Rosa series and enjoyed this younger version of him.
3 stars
Sunday, August 6, 2017
July 30 - Aug 5, 2017
Making Faces by Amy Harmon - plain girl Fern(except she's not really, is she?) has been in love with beautiful boy Ambrose for years. A story about what makes us actually beautiful. I found the characters too good to be true. A strange combination of bodice buster without sex, typical Harlequin romance, and religious overtones. Once again, I am very much in the minority on Goodreads.
2 stars
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant has very poor social skills and lives a solitary life, usually speaking to no one at all on the weekends. She has good reason for her lack of skills which is very gradually revealed. She suddenly develops a crush on a band singer and begins to take an interest in her appearance to be worthy of him. In the meantime, she develops a friendship with the sloppy IT person at her work when they witness the medical emergency of an elderly man. Funny, sad, hopeful, and angry were some of my feelings as I read this.
5 stars
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Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson - Kate has always been anxious and when an ex-boyfriend kidnaps her before ending his own life, hers is brought to a standstill by anxiety attacks. When her cousin suggests an apartment swap, his in Boston for hers in London, she takes it, hoping for a fresh starts. When she arrives, she learns the woman in the apt next to hers has just been found murdered. Clues point to her cousin, or is it the rather odd but interesting man in the building? Told from different viewpoints, I found it hard to relate to any of them. The suspense part was good.
3.5 stars
2 stars
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant has very poor social skills and lives a solitary life, usually speaking to no one at all on the weekends. She has good reason for her lack of skills which is very gradually revealed. She suddenly develops a crush on a band singer and begins to take an interest in her appearance to be worthy of him. In the meantime, she develops a friendship with the sloppy IT person at her work when they witness the medical emergency of an elderly man. Funny, sad, hopeful, and angry were some of my feelings as I read this.
5 stars
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Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson - Kate has always been anxious and when an ex-boyfriend kidnaps her before ending his own life, hers is brought to a standstill by anxiety attacks. When her cousin suggests an apartment swap, his in Boston for hers in London, she takes it, hoping for a fresh starts. When she arrives, she learns the woman in the apt next to hers has just been found murdered. Clues point to her cousin, or is it the rather odd but interesting man in the building? Told from different viewpoints, I found it hard to relate to any of them. The suspense part was good.
3.5 stars
Sunday, July 30, 2017
July 23 - 29, 2017
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - a story of haves and have-nots in New York City during the late '30s. A woman at an art exhibition with her husband sees the picture of an old love and spends the rest of the book reminiscing about the year she met him. The writing was lovely but I didn't like many of the characters. I'm glad I read the author's latest book first or I probably would not have after this.
3 stars
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Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane - on the first page, Rachel shoots and kills her husband. Then we explore the reasons why. Rachel seemed to be on the road to recovery from her anxiety attacks. But then she sees something that rocks her world. We don't discover what's really going on until the last fourth of the book and then it's a fast ride from there. Rather an abrupt ending.
4 stars
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Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII by Deborah Cadbury - beginning with the abdication of Edward VIII, the reluctance of George VI to take the throne and the rise of Churchill at a time when he was most needed. Not only was George VI worried about the Duke of Windsor's actions, he wasn't sure his two younger brothers would step up. Took me awhile to get into the book and figure out who all the royals were but I was glad I persevered.
3.5 stars
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In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear - war has just been declared when Maisie Dobbs is asked to look into the murder of a former Belgian refugee from WWI. Soon there's a similar murder and Maisie tries to make connections between the two. She has a feeling she's not getting the whole story from her client, a shadowy figure in the government. There's also a lesser mystery involving a little girl evacuated from London who is not speaking and no one knows where she belongs. Maisie does her usual job of not only finding the culprit but also why they acted as they did. All the while England is bracing for the war and families are changing rapidly. Characters and animals were introduced that I hope to see again.
4 stars
3 stars
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Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane - on the first page, Rachel shoots and kills her husband. Then we explore the reasons why. Rachel seemed to be on the road to recovery from her anxiety attacks. But then she sees something that rocks her world. We don't discover what's really going on until the last fourth of the book and then it's a fast ride from there. Rather an abrupt ending.
4 stars
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Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII by Deborah Cadbury - beginning with the abdication of Edward VIII, the reluctance of George VI to take the throne and the rise of Churchill at a time when he was most needed. Not only was George VI worried about the Duke of Windsor's actions, he wasn't sure his two younger brothers would step up. Took me awhile to get into the book and figure out who all the royals were but I was glad I persevered.
3.5 stars
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In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear - war has just been declared when Maisie Dobbs is asked to look into the murder of a former Belgian refugee from WWI. Soon there's a similar murder and Maisie tries to make connections between the two. She has a feeling she's not getting the whole story from her client, a shadowy figure in the government. There's also a lesser mystery involving a little girl evacuated from London who is not speaking and no one knows where she belongs. Maisie does her usual job of not only finding the culprit but also why they acted as they did. All the while England is bracing for the war and families are changing rapidly. Characters and animals were introduced that I hope to see again.
4 stars
Sunday, July 23, 2017
July 16 - 22, 2017
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is condemned to house arrest at the Metropol, a luxury hotel, for being an unrepentant aristocrat. But he can't stay in his suite, he must live in a small room at top of the hotel. Here he lives as the decades pass and those in political power rise and fall. He begins to make friends with employees who previously had been acquaintances. And he makes friends with a young girl with a quick mind who will have a great impact on his life. Little bits of subtle humor and beautiful writing.
"By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration - and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion, until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."
5 stars
"By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration - and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion, until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."
5 stars
Sunday, July 16, 2017
July 9 - 15, 2017
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly - Kit is an eclipse follower and when he and Laura become a couple she joins him in his obsession. At an eclipse festival in Cornwall, 1999, she witnesses a horrifying event that has ramifications for many years. Told from Laura and Kit's viewpoint in 2015, when Laura is finally pregnant with twins, and Laura's viewpoint in 1999/2000. Lot of twists and turns right up to the last sentence. I didn't find the characters sympathetic but the story was great.
4.5 stars
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The Devil Wins by Reed Farrel Coleman - this is a continuation for the Jesse Stone novels by Robert B. Parker. After a storm, a body is found in a collapsed building. And next to it are the skeletal remains of two girls who went missing 25 years ago. Now Jesse has to solve a current murder and two from the past. The villain was easy to figure out and Jesse seems more morose than ever. This one didn't hit the spot.
2 stars
4.5 stars
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The Devil Wins by Reed Farrel Coleman - this is a continuation for the Jesse Stone novels by Robert B. Parker. After a storm, a body is found in a collapsed building. And next to it are the skeletal remains of two girls who went missing 25 years ago. Now Jesse has to solve a current murder and two from the past. The villain was easy to figure out and Jesse seems more morose than ever. This one didn't hit the spot.
2 stars
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