My gosh, it's the second week of January and I haven't updated yet! I have read a few books, but am packing to move at the end of the month, so reviews are going to be very sketchy if they are forthcoming at all.
Top news: I met my 2011 Book Resolution--not to purchase for money ANY books during the year! Yay me! And right now I'm so broke, I haven't bought any yet this year either. LOL My 2012 Book Resolution is to read one "classic" a month. Some are more recent classics, others older, but I'm just trying to expand my horizons a bit. I read mostly mysteries and sometimes get tired of the same old, same old...have gotten pickier in my dotage, too.
1. MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE by Victoria Thompson. (#12 "Gaslight" historical mystery) B+
2. A GAME OF LIES by Rebecca Cantrell (#3 Hannah Vogel historical mystery) A+
3. THE RISK OF DARKNESS by Susan Hill (#3 Simon Serrailler mystery) (AUDIO) A+
4. DEVIL'S PEAK by Deon Meyer (#1 Benny Griessel mystery) (KINDLE) A+
5. THE STRANGER by Albert Camus (my classic for the month) B+
6. ABOUT FACE by Donna Leon (#18 Commissario Guido Brunetti) (AUDIO) B
7. BLOODY MARY by J.A. Konrath #2 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) B+
8. BRYANT & MAY ON THE LOOSE by Christopher Fowler (#7 Bryant & May mystery) A+
9. I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett (#38 Discworld, #4 Tiffany Aching sub-series) A+
Currently reading:
THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville (#1 Jack Lennon mystery)
DRAGONSEYE by Anne McCaffrey (#4 Dragonriders of Pern fantasy)(KINDLE)
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny (#7 Armand Gamache "Three Pines" mystery)
DNF: THE MERLOT MURDERS by Ellen Crosby (#1 Wine Country mystery) (AUDIO)
Most likely won't be reading as much for the next month or two til we get settled in the new place, but I plan to enjoy whatever it is I do read! :)
Cheryl
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
TOPS n BOTTOMS 2011
END OF YEAR SUMMARY
Total Books Read: 214
DNFs: 6
Books in/books out (note that this is since Feb. 1, 2011 so is actually only 11 months worth:
Books Acquired (all from Paperbackswap and Amazon Vine): 92
Books Lost (traded, sold, donated) from physical TBR shelves: 543
Net loss: 451 books
Total left on TBR: To be announced--still compiling...
TOPS n BOTTOMS:
This was VERY difficult...but this is what I eventually settled on. Even with the honorable mentions listed, there were a LOT of excellent books that didn't make the list!
TOP TEN MYSTERIES (in no particular order...but I did cheat a little, counting series books that I read this year in the same series as one entry)
1. A TRACE OF SMOKE/A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES by Rebecca Cantrell (#1 & 2 Hannah Vogel series)
2. BREATHING WATER/THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan (#3 & 4 Poke Rafferty series)
3. AMONG THE MAD/THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH/A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (#6, 7 & 8 Maisie Dobbs series)
4. THE VICTORIA VANISHES by Christopher Fowler (#6 Bryant & May mysteries)
5. A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD/I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley (audio) (#3/4 Flavia de Luce series)
6. SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN/BLOOD HINA by Naomi Hirahara (#3/4 Mas Arai series)
7. LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE/SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill (#7/8 Dr. Siri Paiboun series)
8. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery)
9. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines mystery)
10. THE WEAVER AND THE FACTORY MAID/FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN/MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#1/2/3 "Haunted Ballad" mysteries)
Honorable mention:
A FIELD OF DARKNESS by Cornelia Read (#1 Madeline Dare mystery)
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (#1 Leo Demidov mystery--note: I didn't like the second one nearly as well)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (#1 Simon Ziele historical mystery)
THE LIONS OF THE NORTH by Edward Marston (#4 Domesday medieval mysteries)
THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery)
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT/THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#1/2 Vish Puri mysteries)
FROM THE GROUNDS UP/A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#5/6 Maggy Thorsen mystery)
TO FETCH A THIEF/THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (audio) (#3/4 Chet & Bernie)
TOP "OTHER" GENRES
1. THE WEE FREE MEN/A HAT FULL OF SKY/WINTERSMITH by Terry Pratchett (Discworld fantasy series, Tiffany Aching sub-series)
2. THE LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell (#1 Saxon historical fiction series)
3. THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS by Joe Abercrombie (#3 First Law fantasy trilogy)
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon Cycle trilogy, fantasy)
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (audio)
6. THE EAGLE'S BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy)
7. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery)
8. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest (#1 Cheshire Red paranormal)
BOTTOMS--WORST MYSTERIES (that I actually finished...DNF's not counted)
MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN by Deborah Sharp
CAT OF THE CENTURY by Rita Mae Brown
CUT SHORT by Leigh Russell
DEAD CONNECTION by Alafair Burke (audio)
PRETTY GIRL GONE by David Housewright
THE INDIAN BRIDE by Karin Fossum
I will amend this post later to do a summary of my year's reading--# of books, the status of my TBR pile, etc. Roll on 2012...it's going to be a GREAT year! :)
Cheryl
Total Books Read: 214
DNFs: 6
Books in/books out (note that this is since Feb. 1, 2011 so is actually only 11 months worth:
Books Acquired (all from Paperbackswap and Amazon Vine): 92
Books Lost (traded, sold, donated) from physical TBR shelves: 543
Net loss: 451 books
Total left on TBR: To be announced--still compiling...
TOPS n BOTTOMS:
This was VERY difficult...but this is what I eventually settled on. Even with the honorable mentions listed, there were a LOT of excellent books that didn't make the list!
TOP TEN MYSTERIES (in no particular order...but I did cheat a little, counting series books that I read this year in the same series as one entry)
1. A TRACE OF SMOKE/A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES by Rebecca Cantrell (#1 & 2 Hannah Vogel series)
2. BREATHING WATER/THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan (#3 & 4 Poke Rafferty series)
3. AMONG THE MAD/THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH/A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (#6, 7 & 8 Maisie Dobbs series)
4. THE VICTORIA VANISHES by Christopher Fowler (#6 Bryant & May mysteries)
5. A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD/I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley (audio) (#3/4 Flavia de Luce series)
6. SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN/BLOOD HINA by Naomi Hirahara (#3/4 Mas Arai series)
7. LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE/SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill (#7/8 Dr. Siri Paiboun series)
8. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery)
9. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines mystery)
10. THE WEAVER AND THE FACTORY MAID/FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN/MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#1/2/3 "Haunted Ballad" mysteries)
Honorable mention:
A FIELD OF DARKNESS by Cornelia Read (#1 Madeline Dare mystery)
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (#1 Leo Demidov mystery--note: I didn't like the second one nearly as well)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (#1 Simon Ziele historical mystery)
THE LIONS OF THE NORTH by Edward Marston (#4 Domesday medieval mysteries)
THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery)
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT/THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#1/2 Vish Puri mysteries)
FROM THE GROUNDS UP/A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#5/6 Maggy Thorsen mystery)
TO FETCH A THIEF/THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (audio) (#3/4 Chet & Bernie)
TOP "OTHER" GENRES
1. THE WEE FREE MEN/A HAT FULL OF SKY/WINTERSMITH by Terry Pratchett (Discworld fantasy series, Tiffany Aching sub-series)
2. THE LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell (#1 Saxon historical fiction series)
3. THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS by Joe Abercrombie (#3 First Law fantasy trilogy)
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon Cycle trilogy, fantasy)
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (audio)
6. THE EAGLE'S BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy)
7. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery)
8. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest (#1 Cheshire Red paranormal)
BOTTOMS--WORST MYSTERIES (that I actually finished...DNF's not counted)
MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN by Deborah Sharp
CAT OF THE CENTURY by Rita Mae Brown
CUT SHORT by Leigh Russell
DEAD CONNECTION by Alafair Burke (audio)
PRETTY GIRL GONE by David Housewright
THE INDIAN BRIDE by Karin Fossum
I will amend this post later to do a summary of my year's reading--# of books, the status of my TBR pile, etc. Roll on 2012...it's going to be a GREAT year! :)
Cheryl
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
December 2011
Well, here it is, the last month of my self-imposed book-buying ban. I can't say I've really suffered much--the Hennepin County Library System is wonderful, and I've still allowed myself books from Paperbackswap, so it's not like I've been totally bereft. There are lots of great books to read for Kindle that are free from the library and the Kindle Lending Library (free with my Prime account) so haven't needed to buy any even for that. I am going to do one last big TBR culling this month and then consolidate what's left on the bookshelves to see how I'm doing space-wise. I'll issue a final report after the first of the year on how I did with paring those TBR shelves down. AND to let you know the first books I actually buy in 2012. :)
Now, on to the reading list for December!
1. CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey. (Kindle) B+ Second in the Darko Dawson series, with Darko being a police detective with CID in Accra, Ghana. A series of brutal murders of street children in Accra has Dawson chasing down an invisible killer, while he also has to deal with the deteriorating health of his seven-year-old son who has an atrial-septal defect. Very good second in series--I liked it better than the first, am finding Dawson's character more fleshed out in this book and getting to know the secondary characters better as well. I also did not figure out whodunit til nearly the end. Excellent immersion into a culture which is totally foreign to me, something I always enjoy.
2. THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker. B+ #4 Company fantasy series. It's really hard to describe this series, about an all-powerful Company from the future who makes orphaned children immortals and sends them into the past to save various relics, artifacts, works of art and the like. Sounds noble, but it's more for the financial benefit of the Company, run by Dr. Zeus. In this book, one of the characters we've met in the first three books, the Botanist Mendoza, has disappeared, and her recruiter, the Facilitator Joseph, as well as her dear friend Lewis (who is secretly in love with her) are determined to find her. Fearing that the Company has sent Mendoza to some unknown facility and deactivated her somehow, they must covertly search, as their actions and speech are monitored by The Company. Sometimes confusing with the forward and backward time frames, the series is otherwise brilliant--you just have to be sure to focus totally while you're reading as small bits of information end up being important later on.
3. THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn. (AUDIO) A #4 Chet & Bernie mystery. Another great entry in this series set in Arizona, told from the point of view of Chet, a failed police academy dog and his partner Bernie Little. Together they are the sum total of the Little Detective Agency, which is always on precarious ground--not because of any failing in the private detection part, but because Bernie's a bit less than a stellar business manager and often too kind-hearted and generous with his time. So when big-time PI company owner Georgie Malouf offers Bernie a permanent job with a substantial increase in pay and benefits, it stands to reason that he'll accept. Right? Wrong. Bernie likes his independence and shows it by accepting a case to essentially bodyguard a woman who is picking up her son from a mountain camp and expects trouble from her ex-husband. And trouble there is, although not the kind they expected. Devon, her son, has disappeared, wandered off the trail, and Chet & Bernie are off to search, only to find the murdered body of the camp counselor who was on the hike with Devon's group. Crooked cops with something to hide end up shanghi-ing Bernie into jail where he finds himself accused of the murder.Meanwhile, Chet finds his way back home, hooks up with Bernie's girlfriend Suzie and...well, you'll have to read it. Or listen. I have listened to all this series in audio format and as long as they continue to be available, will continue to do so. The reader is absolutely brilliant in depicting Chet's "voice" and the tone of the books. I always enjoy these immensely--and then am sorry that I now have to wait so long for the next one.
4. BY A SPIDER'S THREAD by Laura Lippman (Kindle) A #8 Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. An Orthodox Jewish man seeks Tess on the recommendation of her uncle (Tess is, despite the name, half-Jewish herself) when his wife disappears without trace with their three children. Mark Rubin can think of no good reason for this, insisting that their marriage was happy, but the police refuse to investigate, finding no evidence of any foul play. Tess finds the going slow at first--Natalie Rubin used no credit cards to make her escape and she seems to have faded into the woodwork. Until the elder Rubin son, Isaac, aged nine, manages to phone Mark briefly leaving a caller ID of a pay phone at a McDonalds in a small town in Indiana. Then Tess's newfound online circle of female PI's known as SnoopSisters swings into action and Tess's digging begins to pay off. Another great entry in the series, which I like because there's just the right balance of personal and professional details and of action and introspection.
5. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND by Fred Vargas. A #4 Chief Inspector Adamsberg mystery set in France, although this one takes place partially in Quebec as Adamsberg and his close associates go there for a two-week training seminar on forensic advancements. Adamsberg is on the trail of a serial killer who has killed over decades, often spacing his kills by years and then vanishing from the area such that suspicion is not aroused. It's personal for Jean-Baptiste though, as one of the people whom this killer--also a powerful Judge--framed was his brother Raphael, when the boy was barely out of his teens. Now, after a long hiatus, he seems to have struck again--despite having died sixteen years ago! But the Judge knows Adamsberg is on his trail and sets him up for a fall much like his brother's and it will take every bit of the wily detective's cunning--and a little help from his friends--to nab the crafty killer. While this whole scenario seemed to me wholly implausible in many ways, it still sucked me in and kept me interested right through til the end, and I very much look forward to the next book in the series.
6. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest. (AUDIO) A #1 in the Cheshire Red series, featuring vampire Raylene Pendle whose alias is Cheshire Red, a notorious thief who's been stealing valuables for decades and is presumed to be a man. Raylene is a lone vampire, not affiliated with any House, and seldom interacts with other vamps. Paranoid almost to a fault, she has several safe houses, multiple identities and almost no one except a couple of very discreet clients have her cell phone number, much less know where she lives. So when she is contacted at her home by Ian Stott, who wants to hire her to steal papers and medical records from a study he was involved in, she is intrigued--and horrified--because the experiments, which were done against his will, left Ian blind, and physical deformities are just not something that happen to vampires. To top it off, the studies were conducted by the U.S. Government which shocks Raylene, as she had no idea Uncle Sam was even aware of the existence of vampires. Raylene goes against all her usual tendencies--which include running and hiding at the first sign of trouble--and heads right into danger to find out what horrible things the government might be intending for vampires--including herself. If she's caught, that is--something Raylene is not going to allow to happen. Excellent first book in this paranormal series, not a cozy "but I'm a GOOD Vampire!" type series at all with plenty of off-color language, adult situations and...well, Raylene isn't exactly a good vampire. Audio version read perfectly by Natalie Ross. Looking forward to the next in series.
7. DEAD CONNECTIONS by Alafair Burke (AUDIO) C- #1 Ellie Hatcher mystery. Singularly uninspired first in series about a NYC detective, pulled from general duty to the murder squad to help with a serial killer who's using an online dating site to choose victims. Ellie Hatcher has a haunted past herself, trying to convince the world that her father did not commit suicide but was the victim of the serial killer he was after and never could catch. While this book was competently written, and wasn't horrible, it felt sort of like an "instant mystery" where you add boiling water to a cup o'noodles and wait for 3 minutes. It is a story, but there's not much meat, the flavor's less than savory and the overall impression is one of "I'll only eat this stuff (read this series) again if there's nothing better." The characters were more like caricatures without any real substance, and I was never very interested in the case, finding it and the characters just blah--including Ellie herself. I believe I will pass on the rest of the series.
8. THE LONE TRAVELLER by Susan Kelly. A #1 Supt. Gregory Summers mystery set in the Thames Valley. It's the summer solstice and the gypsies and New Age enthusiasts have come into town for the faire and celebration at a nearby stone circle. Tensions heat up between the two groups, and between the townsfolk and the travellers, and when a six-year-old girl goes missing, those tensions mount high, and explode once the inevitable happens and the girl's body is found. Summers has all he can do to try to keep the town under control and precious little time to actually work on investigating young Jordan's death. This book captured me right from the beginning, although at first, one aspect of the main character's personal life was a little off-putting--those of you who have read it will know what I mean. But by the end of the book, I felt I knew Greg Summers much better and although I figured out his mystery for him before he did, I am definitely going to be reading on in this series.
9. THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan. A+ #4 Poke Rafferty mystery set in Bangkok, Thailand. In this fourth Poke Rafferty mystery, the story is all about Rose, Poke's wife. A man from her past recognizes her in a restaurant as Poke, Rose and their daughter Miaow are dining and threatens her. The usually unflappable Rose turns into an instant basket case, claiming she thought he was dead--and that she had killed him! Eventually she tells her story from the beginning to her family--from when she was Kwan, a seventeen-year-old village girl until she became Rose, a dancer, bar girl and prostitute. This is a very typical story for Thai girls from outlying villages who come to Bangkok and become workers in the booming sex trade industry. Poke knew of Rose's former occupation of course, but nothing about Howard Horner, whom Rose took up with years previously, thinking they were going to marry. There is not much to be said about this book that "WOW!" won't cover. This has quickly become one of my very favorite series for a whole lot of reasons and I had been hoarding this book for months before I couldn't take it any more and had to read it. Now I just hope the author has the next one in the wings for publication SOON...so I can hoard that one for awhile. LOL
10. INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Imogen Robertson. (Kindle) B+ First of a series set in 1780's Sussex, UK and featuring Gabriel Crowther, a gentleman who relinquished his title and is now mostly a recluse and a 'man of science' and Harriet Westerman, who runs the manor next door while her sea captain husband is away. Mrs. Westerman finds a murdered body on her land and having read a paper Mr. Crowther wrote about evidence at murder scenes, seeks him out immediately. This leads to an extensive investigation which is tied to the missing heir of Thornleigh Hall (another neighbor of theirs). Eventually a couple of other murders yield more clues as the pair investigate, since the local squire seems to be in Thornleigh Hall's pocket and isn't much interested in the truth. I freely admit that this is not my favorite historical time period, so I started the book with a bit of a jaundiced eye. The characters and the story were interesting enough to get me into it right away though, and the writing style is easy to read and well-constructed. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that it did bog down a bit in the middle and was a bit overlong--I'm not sure all the detail about Captain Thornleigh's past and flashbacks to years previous were really necessary. The mystery itself was fairly easy to figure out but I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely read on.
11.EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES by Marcia Muller. (AUDIO) B+ First of the Sharon McCone series in San Francisco, this was published in 1977, which is the year I graduated from high school, so it's OLD. LOL The book has Sharon, a P.I. working for a law cooperative, looking into first a series of vandalism and property attacks in a small neighborhood to the murder of one of the proprietors, an older woman who ran an antique shop. Because Sharon had inside information about the locals from her investigation, she 'independently assists' the police with their inquiries. A little bit dated, which is only to be expected from a 35 year old book, but I enjoyed it anyway...in a time when detection meant going to the library for research, not turning on a computer, and when you didn't have a cell phone to ring the police when you were in trouble. This is the first time I've read this author and I will definitely be continuing on with the series--I like Sharon already and the tone of the writing is middle of the road--neither dark and gory nor sweetness-and-light cozy. It will be a LONG time until I can catch up, too...there are many many books in this series, so obviously a few other people liked it too. :)
12.DEATH OF THE MANTIS by Michael Stanley (Kindle) B. In this third mystery set in Botswana, Assistant Supt. David "Kubu" Bengu is settling into life as a new father when an old friend of his, a Bushman that he knew in childhood, calls him about a murder case in the Kalahari which has resulted in the arrest of three Bushmen for the crime. Bushmen are by nature non-violent and although Kubu is loathe to get involved, he feels that he owes his friend at least a look-see, so he leaves his struggling wife Joy and baby daughter for a trip to the desert country. He begins to see immediately that his friend is right--the detective in charge of the case has made up his mind that the Bushmen are responsible, and thus remains closed against other possible suspects. Kubu points out several inconsistencies and a lack of hard evidence results in the Bushmen being released--followed, of course, by more deaths. I love the characters in this series--it's more realistic and true-to-life than the super-cozy Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series, set in the same general locale. The immersion into the culture is very interesting, and the perspective changes generally enhance the storyline too. But this book was not quite up to par with the others, I didn't think. The bad guy was very obvious to me early on (those clues seemed almost circled in red!) and there was a lot of extraneous and repetitious prose; I really felt that a hundred pages could have been lopped off without losing the story at all.
13.THE ROUGH COLLIER by Pat McIntosh. B+ #5 Gil Cunningham mystery set in 15th century Glasgow and environs. Gil and his bride Alys are off to visit his mother in the country and while there his expertise is sought when a corpse is found in a peat bog by peat cutters. At first they think it's a local who's been missing for a few weeks, but later it's determined that the body has been there much longer. However, Gil is curious as to why the hue and cry hasn't been officially raised about the man who's been missing some five weeks, and further investigation uncovers a lot of different reasons why he may have disappeared. I really enjoy this series and the immersion into the culture of the place and time, the only drawback continuing to be the repeated use of the vernacular in the dialogue, which at times makes it difficult to understand since there isn't even much resemblance to modern-day Scots slang. I've had to stop and look up words that I'm not able to sort out even with context--which is distracting from the story itself. I don't mind learning new things, but most of the words I'll never have need of again so it seems a bit pointless. I complain about this every time and still I read on though--I do like the the characters and series otherwise and would give it 5 stars if it weren't for this one issue.
14. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by Agatha Christie. (AUDIO) A The very first Hercule Poirot mystery, narrated by the actor who does the TV character of Poirot, David Suchet. Reading Agatha Christie is always a treat for me--I love her characters, and she was a master at plotting, as I never can figure out whodunit. Well, rarely--and usually if I do, it's a guess at best. This one was no exception, even though I did read this book years ago. There are so many of them, the plots get mixed up in my head. Anyway, if you've never indulged in an audio version of one of these books, I would highly recommend them!
15. MOM, WILL THIS CHICKEN GIVE ME MAN BOOBS? by Robyn Harding. C- Autobiographical account of the struggles of a whiny Canadian woman with trying to be "green" and live an eco-friendly life. I guess I was just expecting more hints and tips--or even some real INFORMATION about living a green life rather than just a long-winded justification as to why she didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do certain 'green' things. She tried to be funny, but the humor was forced and most of the time didn't even elicit a smile from me. She mostly sounded like a spoiled brat whose sole purpose was to appear to be a certain way to people around her. It was guilt trip after guilt trip as she showed how she didn't keep up with the Greens in her efforts, followed by a big shrug and "Oh well, I did try, and at least I'm not a crazy nutball like the real tree huggers." Whatever. If this hadn't been my bathroom book, read in small chunks over many weeks, I doubt I would have finished it.
16.SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill. A+ #7 Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery set in 1970's Laos. Dr. Siri really wants to retire from his post as the national coroner of Laos. He's only just recovered from near-death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge and since he's over seventy, he figures he deserves to spend a few years relaxing with his wife. But he gets roped into one last job on a junket to northern Laos looking for the remains of a missing American pilot. Accompanying Siri--at his insistence, via a little blackmail of Judge Haeng, his nemesis--will be his wife Madame Daeng, his nurse Dtui and her policeman husband Phosy, his morgue assistant Mr. Geung, his good friend Civiali, a few Lao officials and a bunch of American officials, including a delightful American girl who was raised in Laos by missionary parents who serves as their interpreter--since the Judge's nephew who is the 'official' interpreter doesn't actually speak English. When one of the American contingent ends up dead--a supposed accidental suicide--the niggling thought Siri's been having that the whole trip is a set-up comes to the fore as the pieces fall into place and he begins to sort things out. Another wonderful adventure filled with wry humor, outstanding characters and a unique perspective on life. Can't wait til the next one!
And here I am...3 hours and 10 minutes from the end of my self-imposed book buying moratorium. Happy New Year and roll on 2012!
Cheryl
Now, on to the reading list for December!
1. CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey. (Kindle) B+ Second in the Darko Dawson series, with Darko being a police detective with CID in Accra, Ghana. A series of brutal murders of street children in Accra has Dawson chasing down an invisible killer, while he also has to deal with the deteriorating health of his seven-year-old son who has an atrial-septal defect. Very good second in series--I liked it better than the first, am finding Dawson's character more fleshed out in this book and getting to know the secondary characters better as well. I also did not figure out whodunit til nearly the end. Excellent immersion into a culture which is totally foreign to me, something I always enjoy.
2. THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker. B+ #4 Company fantasy series. It's really hard to describe this series, about an all-powerful Company from the future who makes orphaned children immortals and sends them into the past to save various relics, artifacts, works of art and the like. Sounds noble, but it's more for the financial benefit of the Company, run by Dr. Zeus. In this book, one of the characters we've met in the first three books, the Botanist Mendoza, has disappeared, and her recruiter, the Facilitator Joseph, as well as her dear friend Lewis (who is secretly in love with her) are determined to find her. Fearing that the Company has sent Mendoza to some unknown facility and deactivated her somehow, they must covertly search, as their actions and speech are monitored by The Company. Sometimes confusing with the forward and backward time frames, the series is otherwise brilliant--you just have to be sure to focus totally while you're reading as small bits of information end up being important later on.
3. THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn. (AUDIO) A #4 Chet & Bernie mystery. Another great entry in this series set in Arizona, told from the point of view of Chet, a failed police academy dog and his partner Bernie Little. Together they are the sum total of the Little Detective Agency, which is always on precarious ground--not because of any failing in the private detection part, but because Bernie's a bit less than a stellar business manager and often too kind-hearted and generous with his time. So when big-time PI company owner Georgie Malouf offers Bernie a permanent job with a substantial increase in pay and benefits, it stands to reason that he'll accept. Right? Wrong. Bernie likes his independence and shows it by accepting a case to essentially bodyguard a woman who is picking up her son from a mountain camp and expects trouble from her ex-husband. And trouble there is, although not the kind they expected. Devon, her son, has disappeared, wandered off the trail, and Chet & Bernie are off to search, only to find the murdered body of the camp counselor who was on the hike with Devon's group. Crooked cops with something to hide end up shanghi-ing Bernie into jail where he finds himself accused of the murder.Meanwhile, Chet finds his way back home, hooks up with Bernie's girlfriend Suzie and...well, you'll have to read it. Or listen. I have listened to all this series in audio format and as long as they continue to be available, will continue to do so. The reader is absolutely brilliant in depicting Chet's "voice" and the tone of the books. I always enjoy these immensely--and then am sorry that I now have to wait so long for the next one.
4. BY A SPIDER'S THREAD by Laura Lippman (Kindle) A #8 Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. An Orthodox Jewish man seeks Tess on the recommendation of her uncle (Tess is, despite the name, half-Jewish herself) when his wife disappears without trace with their three children. Mark Rubin can think of no good reason for this, insisting that their marriage was happy, but the police refuse to investigate, finding no evidence of any foul play. Tess finds the going slow at first--Natalie Rubin used no credit cards to make her escape and she seems to have faded into the woodwork. Until the elder Rubin son, Isaac, aged nine, manages to phone Mark briefly leaving a caller ID of a pay phone at a McDonalds in a small town in Indiana. Then Tess's newfound online circle of female PI's known as SnoopSisters swings into action and Tess's digging begins to pay off. Another great entry in the series, which I like because there's just the right balance of personal and professional details and of action and introspection.
5. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND by Fred Vargas. A #4 Chief Inspector Adamsberg mystery set in France, although this one takes place partially in Quebec as Adamsberg and his close associates go there for a two-week training seminar on forensic advancements. Adamsberg is on the trail of a serial killer who has killed over decades, often spacing his kills by years and then vanishing from the area such that suspicion is not aroused. It's personal for Jean-Baptiste though, as one of the people whom this killer--also a powerful Judge--framed was his brother Raphael, when the boy was barely out of his teens. Now, after a long hiatus, he seems to have struck again--despite having died sixteen years ago! But the Judge knows Adamsberg is on his trail and sets him up for a fall much like his brother's and it will take every bit of the wily detective's cunning--and a little help from his friends--to nab the crafty killer. While this whole scenario seemed to me wholly implausible in many ways, it still sucked me in and kept me interested right through til the end, and I very much look forward to the next book in the series.
6. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest. (AUDIO) A #1 in the Cheshire Red series, featuring vampire Raylene Pendle whose alias is Cheshire Red, a notorious thief who's been stealing valuables for decades and is presumed to be a man. Raylene is a lone vampire, not affiliated with any House, and seldom interacts with other vamps. Paranoid almost to a fault, she has several safe houses, multiple identities and almost no one except a couple of very discreet clients have her cell phone number, much less know where she lives. So when she is contacted at her home by Ian Stott, who wants to hire her to steal papers and medical records from a study he was involved in, she is intrigued--and horrified--because the experiments, which were done against his will, left Ian blind, and physical deformities are just not something that happen to vampires. To top it off, the studies were conducted by the U.S. Government which shocks Raylene, as she had no idea Uncle Sam was even aware of the existence of vampires. Raylene goes against all her usual tendencies--which include running and hiding at the first sign of trouble--and heads right into danger to find out what horrible things the government might be intending for vampires--including herself. If she's caught, that is--something Raylene is not going to allow to happen. Excellent first book in this paranormal series, not a cozy "but I'm a GOOD Vampire!" type series at all with plenty of off-color language, adult situations and...well, Raylene isn't exactly a good vampire. Audio version read perfectly by Natalie Ross. Looking forward to the next in series.
7. DEAD CONNECTIONS by Alafair Burke (AUDIO) C- #1 Ellie Hatcher mystery. Singularly uninspired first in series about a NYC detective, pulled from general duty to the murder squad to help with a serial killer who's using an online dating site to choose victims. Ellie Hatcher has a haunted past herself, trying to convince the world that her father did not commit suicide but was the victim of the serial killer he was after and never could catch. While this book was competently written, and wasn't horrible, it felt sort of like an "instant mystery" where you add boiling water to a cup o'noodles and wait for 3 minutes. It is a story, but there's not much meat, the flavor's less than savory and the overall impression is one of "I'll only eat this stuff (read this series) again if there's nothing better." The characters were more like caricatures without any real substance, and I was never very interested in the case, finding it and the characters just blah--including Ellie herself. I believe I will pass on the rest of the series.
8. THE LONE TRAVELLER by Susan Kelly. A #1 Supt. Gregory Summers mystery set in the Thames Valley. It's the summer solstice and the gypsies and New Age enthusiasts have come into town for the faire and celebration at a nearby stone circle. Tensions heat up between the two groups, and between the townsfolk and the travellers, and when a six-year-old girl goes missing, those tensions mount high, and explode once the inevitable happens and the girl's body is found. Summers has all he can do to try to keep the town under control and precious little time to actually work on investigating young Jordan's death. This book captured me right from the beginning, although at first, one aspect of the main character's personal life was a little off-putting--those of you who have read it will know what I mean. But by the end of the book, I felt I knew Greg Summers much better and although I figured out his mystery for him before he did, I am definitely going to be reading on in this series.
9. THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan. A+ #4 Poke Rafferty mystery set in Bangkok, Thailand. In this fourth Poke Rafferty mystery, the story is all about Rose, Poke's wife. A man from her past recognizes her in a restaurant as Poke, Rose and their daughter Miaow are dining and threatens her. The usually unflappable Rose turns into an instant basket case, claiming she thought he was dead--and that she had killed him! Eventually she tells her story from the beginning to her family--from when she was Kwan, a seventeen-year-old village girl until she became Rose, a dancer, bar girl and prostitute. This is a very typical story for Thai girls from outlying villages who come to Bangkok and become workers in the booming sex trade industry. Poke knew of Rose's former occupation of course, but nothing about Howard Horner, whom Rose took up with years previously, thinking they were going to marry. There is not much to be said about this book that "WOW!" won't cover. This has quickly become one of my very favorite series for a whole lot of reasons and I had been hoarding this book for months before I couldn't take it any more and had to read it. Now I just hope the author has the next one in the wings for publication SOON...so I can hoard that one for awhile. LOL
10. INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Imogen Robertson. (Kindle) B+ First of a series set in 1780's Sussex, UK and featuring Gabriel Crowther, a gentleman who relinquished his title and is now mostly a recluse and a 'man of science' and Harriet Westerman, who runs the manor next door while her sea captain husband is away. Mrs. Westerman finds a murdered body on her land and having read a paper Mr. Crowther wrote about evidence at murder scenes, seeks him out immediately. This leads to an extensive investigation which is tied to the missing heir of Thornleigh Hall (another neighbor of theirs). Eventually a couple of other murders yield more clues as the pair investigate, since the local squire seems to be in Thornleigh Hall's pocket and isn't much interested in the truth. I freely admit that this is not my favorite historical time period, so I started the book with a bit of a jaundiced eye. The characters and the story were interesting enough to get me into it right away though, and the writing style is easy to read and well-constructed. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that it did bog down a bit in the middle and was a bit overlong--I'm not sure all the detail about Captain Thornleigh's past and flashbacks to years previous were really necessary. The mystery itself was fairly easy to figure out but I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely read on.
11.EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES by Marcia Muller. (AUDIO) B+ First of the Sharon McCone series in San Francisco, this was published in 1977, which is the year I graduated from high school, so it's OLD. LOL The book has Sharon, a P.I. working for a law cooperative, looking into first a series of vandalism and property attacks in a small neighborhood to the murder of one of the proprietors, an older woman who ran an antique shop. Because Sharon had inside information about the locals from her investigation, she 'independently assists' the police with their inquiries. A little bit dated, which is only to be expected from a 35 year old book, but I enjoyed it anyway...in a time when detection meant going to the library for research, not turning on a computer, and when you didn't have a cell phone to ring the police when you were in trouble. This is the first time I've read this author and I will definitely be continuing on with the series--I like Sharon already and the tone of the writing is middle of the road--neither dark and gory nor sweetness-and-light cozy. It will be a LONG time until I can catch up, too...there are many many books in this series, so obviously a few other people liked it too. :)
12.DEATH OF THE MANTIS by Michael Stanley (Kindle) B. In this third mystery set in Botswana, Assistant Supt. David "Kubu" Bengu is settling into life as a new father when an old friend of his, a Bushman that he knew in childhood, calls him about a murder case in the Kalahari which has resulted in the arrest of three Bushmen for the crime. Bushmen are by nature non-violent and although Kubu is loathe to get involved, he feels that he owes his friend at least a look-see, so he leaves his struggling wife Joy and baby daughter for a trip to the desert country. He begins to see immediately that his friend is right--the detective in charge of the case has made up his mind that the Bushmen are responsible, and thus remains closed against other possible suspects. Kubu points out several inconsistencies and a lack of hard evidence results in the Bushmen being released--followed, of course, by more deaths. I love the characters in this series--it's more realistic and true-to-life than the super-cozy Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series, set in the same general locale. The immersion into the culture is very interesting, and the perspective changes generally enhance the storyline too. But this book was not quite up to par with the others, I didn't think. The bad guy was very obvious to me early on (those clues seemed almost circled in red!) and there was a lot of extraneous and repetitious prose; I really felt that a hundred pages could have been lopped off without losing the story at all.
13.THE ROUGH COLLIER by Pat McIntosh. B+ #5 Gil Cunningham mystery set in 15th century Glasgow and environs. Gil and his bride Alys are off to visit his mother in the country and while there his expertise is sought when a corpse is found in a peat bog by peat cutters. At first they think it's a local who's been missing for a few weeks, but later it's determined that the body has been there much longer. However, Gil is curious as to why the hue and cry hasn't been officially raised about the man who's been missing some five weeks, and further investigation uncovers a lot of different reasons why he may have disappeared. I really enjoy this series and the immersion into the culture of the place and time, the only drawback continuing to be the repeated use of the vernacular in the dialogue, which at times makes it difficult to understand since there isn't even much resemblance to modern-day Scots slang. I've had to stop and look up words that I'm not able to sort out even with context--which is distracting from the story itself. I don't mind learning new things, but most of the words I'll never have need of again so it seems a bit pointless. I complain about this every time and still I read on though--I do like the the characters and series otherwise and would give it 5 stars if it weren't for this one issue.
14. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by Agatha Christie. (AUDIO) A The very first Hercule Poirot mystery, narrated by the actor who does the TV character of Poirot, David Suchet. Reading Agatha Christie is always a treat for me--I love her characters, and she was a master at plotting, as I never can figure out whodunit. Well, rarely--and usually if I do, it's a guess at best. This one was no exception, even though I did read this book years ago. There are so many of them, the plots get mixed up in my head. Anyway, if you've never indulged in an audio version of one of these books, I would highly recommend them!
15. MOM, WILL THIS CHICKEN GIVE ME MAN BOOBS? by Robyn Harding. C- Autobiographical account of the struggles of a whiny Canadian woman with trying to be "green" and live an eco-friendly life. I guess I was just expecting more hints and tips--or even some real INFORMATION about living a green life rather than just a long-winded justification as to why she didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do certain 'green' things. She tried to be funny, but the humor was forced and most of the time didn't even elicit a smile from me. She mostly sounded like a spoiled brat whose sole purpose was to appear to be a certain way to people around her. It was guilt trip after guilt trip as she showed how she didn't keep up with the Greens in her efforts, followed by a big shrug and "Oh well, I did try, and at least I'm not a crazy nutball like the real tree huggers." Whatever. If this hadn't been my bathroom book, read in small chunks over many weeks, I doubt I would have finished it.
16.SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill. A+ #7 Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery set in 1970's Laos. Dr. Siri really wants to retire from his post as the national coroner of Laos. He's only just recovered from near-death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge and since he's over seventy, he figures he deserves to spend a few years relaxing with his wife. But he gets roped into one last job on a junket to northern Laos looking for the remains of a missing American pilot. Accompanying Siri--at his insistence, via a little blackmail of Judge Haeng, his nemesis--will be his wife Madame Daeng, his nurse Dtui and her policeman husband Phosy, his morgue assistant Mr. Geung, his good friend Civiali, a few Lao officials and a bunch of American officials, including a delightful American girl who was raised in Laos by missionary parents who serves as their interpreter--since the Judge's nephew who is the 'official' interpreter doesn't actually speak English. When one of the American contingent ends up dead--a supposed accidental suicide--the niggling thought Siri's been having that the whole trip is a set-up comes to the fore as the pieces fall into place and he begins to sort things out. Another wonderful adventure filled with wry humor, outstanding characters and a unique perspective on life. Can't wait til the next one!
And here I am...3 hours and 10 minutes from the end of my self-imposed book buying moratorium. Happy New Year and roll on 2012!
Cheryl
Sunday, November 6, 2011
November 2011
The year is fast drawing to a close--I'm still hanging in there and have not purchased any books this year. Still doing the occasional cull from my TBR stacks, and planning to do a bunch more this month in a last-ditch effort to close down a few of my bookshelves before we move in February.
BUT...I've just ordered a Kindle Fire! Never thought I'd do it, as I really love "real" books, but I think it's almost a necessity with the limited space I'll have at the new place. Still not going to order any books for it til 2012, but I'll have to borrow a couple to try it out. :) Addendum: so far, so good! I think the Kindle Fire will be great! I am still fiddling with it and playing around...have read a few chapters in my borrowed book and it reads easy, I have to say.
On to the reading list!
1. DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin (#2 Bruce Kohler mystery) C+ Second (and so far last) book in the Bruce Kohler mystery series. Bruce is a recovering alcohol/drug addict living in New York and the story centers around him and his two best friends, Jimmy (also in recovery) and Barbara (Jimmy's girlfriend, and a counselor.) A friend of Barbara's is suspected of killing her drug-dealer boyfriend and the trio get involved with trying to figure out who else might have killed him so as to clear Luz's name. While I like these characters well enough, for me the book was just a little too heavy on recovery/addict jargon, and the whole recovery process was focused on much more than the mystery itself IMO. The first book was more interesting because it was different--Bruce woke up hungover in a detox unit in the Bowery, so was newly sober. Now he is 10 months out and his whole life centers around AA and staying sober. Perhaps for someone with addiction issues it would be more interesting, but it was just too much for me.
2. A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (#7 Cmdr. Adam Dalgliesh mystery) (AUDIO) C+ I normally enjoy the Adam Dalgliesh series very much, but this one seemed to drag on and on as the mystery into the murder of Sir Paul Barrone, a Minister of Parliament, and a tramp in the vestry of a church went onwards. There just seemed to be too much extraneous detail, too much wandering off into the lives of minor characters which left me often thinking, "Get ON with the story already!" It's also one of the few where I knew the bad guy almost straight away. I guess every author is allowed an 'off' book--it's certainly not enough to put me off reading more. Another consideration is that this book is the first audio production of a P.D. James book I've listened to rather than read in print, so perhaps that impacted my feeling about the book too. Although the reader was perfectly skillful, the excess of posh, snooty voices grew rather tiresome after awhile.
3. TERRA INCOGNITA by Ruth Downie (#2 Ruso the Medicus historical mystery) C+ This second book in the series sees Ruso, a medicus with the Twentieth legion, on the way north from Deva (modern-day Chester) to the border with the 'wild barbarians' of which his housekeeper Tilla is one. A near-fatal cart accident along the way necessitates an amputation and Ruso is conscripted to fill in for the local medic who's gone mad, and also to investigate the death of the trumpeter, who had an interesting sideline. I enjoyed the story, I really like Ruso and the other main characters, the humor, the period detail. BUT. It was just too long and convoluted, with too many characters to keep straight and too many little side plots distracting from the main mystery. I found myself skimming through the midsection of the book.
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon trilogy) A WOW! An excellent first book of a planned trilogy set in a world 300 years after a great war left mankind struggling to stay alive against demons, which come out at sunset and fade with the dawn. The corelings as the demons are called, take various shapes and have different qualities but very few humans survive interaction with them, staying inside their heavily warded homes after dusk. Magic symbols make up the wardings that keep the demons from attacking, and only brave men like the Messengers who carry powerful portable warding circles, would be outdoors after dark. This story tells of three children--Arlen, Leesha and Rojer--who grow up in different isolated villages and have dreams of seeing the world one day. They all have different talents and the story takes place over several years as they grow into adulthood and their talents become more readily apparent. Excellent storytelling, great characters, looks like another wonderful series in the 'dark fantasy' subgenre. Yay!
5. A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#6 Maggy Thorsen mystery) See review on the Paperbackswap Mystery Monday blog here: http://blog.paperbackswap.com/mystery-monday-a-cup-of-jo/2011/11/
6. RIVER MARKED by Patricia Briggs (#6 Mercy Thompson paranormal) (AUDIO) C+ Sixth in this series about 'walker' Mercy Thompson (she shapeshifts to Coyote) and her mate, werewolf pack leader Adam Hauptmann. They are off on their honeymoon and get tangled in a web of Native American myths and legends as they are asked to help kill a vicious river monster. First one of these I've listened to rather than read, and I liked the reader's voice and reading style. However, the story itself was somewhat lacking for me. Okay, but not as good as the others.
7. WICKED GAMES by Ellen Hart (#8 Jane Lawless mystery) B- I like this series, and have liked recent ones more than early ones, but this book took a step backwards with Jane turning into a jellyfish, insecure and wibbling about her new love and seeming almost desperate when she suspects Julia is lying to her and is evasive about her life. This is not the Jane I have come to know and enjoy spending time with. On the mystery end of things, Jane gets involved in the family dynamics of the wealthy Kastner family when their son rents Jane's third-floor apartment and the daughter moves down the street and shows an inordinate amount of interest in Jane. Then a private detective contacts Jane to inform her of some of the family's colored past.
8. THE CROSSING PLACES by Elly Griffiths (#1 Ruth Galloway/Harry Nelson mystery) (AUDIO) B+ This first book in series featuring forensic archaeologist and professor Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson started off with a real bang and sucked me into the story right away. Bones have been found in the salt marsh near King's Lynn and Nelson has been led to Ruth to check them out. He believes they might be the bones of a young girl who went missing 10 years previously. They end up being about 2000 years old, but when another girl goes missing in similar circumstances, and Ruth's cat is brutally killed and left on her doorstep, Harry and Ruth's paths keep crossing. I have some serious plausibility issues with the thread dealing with Lucy, the missing girl from 10 years previously which is the only reason I marked the grade down a notch--can't say much without giving things away, but suffice it to say it just didn't seem very likely as written by the author. Other than that though--it was a great book! I have the second one on my library list already.
9. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs B+ An interesting book about a strange boy who finds out the hard way why he's strange. All his life, he believed his grandfather's fanciful stories were just that--made-up stories about monsters and peculiar children living in a home where they were loved and accepted. Even the old photographs Jake suspected were altered--surely there is no girl who can levitate off the ground or another who can lift boulders with one hand?! When his grandfather dies, Jake finds things in his grandfather's belongings that lead him to ask for a trip to a small island off the Welsh coast, and his father, an avid ornithologist, agrees to accompany him to study birds. What Jake finds there astonishes him. A very interesting story, although I am not sure what I thought about the ending. It does seem to leave an opening for a possible sequel.
10. ANGELS PASSING by Graham Hurley (#3 Joe Faraday mystery) B+ Another interesting entry in this British police procedural series set in and around Portsmouth. DI Joe Faraday, once again being sought for promotion, is too busy investigating the death of a teenage girl who may or may not have thrown herself off the roof to even consider it. Meanwhile some of his team are seconded to Major Crimes to work on a hanging death. Faraday's personal life is also in an uproar and he tries to deal with that as well. As usual, quite a page turner, with a good balance of the police cases and personal details of the various characters.
11. THE POACHER'S SON by Paul Doiron (#1 Mike Bowditch mystery) B- Mike Bowditch, 24-year-old Maine Wildlife Ranger finds himself distracted from his job duties when a state-wide manhunt for the killer of two men takes over the whole north woods of Maine. The distraction comes because the man they are hunting is none other than his father, Jack Bowditch, an alcoholic tracker, woodsman and poacher, who is believed to have shot a deputy and the head of a land-development company in cold blood. Mike has never been close to his father, since he and his mother left when Mike was 9 years old--and in fact hadn't spoken to him at all for two years. But while Mike agrees that his dad is a first-class prick, he can't see a motive for his father behind this killing--'he's a bar-brawler, not a cold-blooded killer.' Intent on clearing his father's name, he risks his job, friendships and his life, often wondering why he's doing so. This was a decent first book in series, but I was rather surprised at the award nomination...although I often am, so that's nothing new. LOL For me it had one major flaw that permeated the whole book and undermined the believability of it and it was primarily this than sunk my opinion of it: unless Mike Bowditch was an alien with a vastly different lifespan, there is no way in hell he was 24 years old. It may have been partly the 'voice' the reader on the audio version gave him, but it was more than that--his attitudes, actions and his world-weary demeanor made him seem to be a man in (at the very least) his late 30's, more like someone in their 40's. To me, if you can't believe the character is who he is supposed to be, how can you believe the rest of the story?
12.INK FLAMINGOS by Karen E. Olson (#4 Tattoo Shop mystery) B- This is apparently the last book in the tattoo shop series featuring tattooist Brett Kavanaugh, and I for one am relieved. It sort of ended with a fizzle in my opinion. I like the author's writing style and really enjoyed her other series (which I wish she would have continued) but this one just never worked for me as well...but then, I am no fan of typical cozy mysteries, of which this is one. The tattoo shop setting is what made it unique and interesting for me. I did like the ending, though.
13. SERPENT IN THE THORNS by Jeri Westerson (#2 Crispin Guest medieval mystery) C+ Second in this medieval mystery series featuring Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of lands, title and wealth but spared his life when caught in a treasonous plot seven years previously against young King Richard. Now he lives in the London slums and works as a Tracker, basically a private detective. In this book, he is hired by a scullion in an inn, whose mentally challenged sister keeps confessing to the killing of a French courier--who was carrying a relic that may be the genuine Crown of Thorns. When Crispin comes across the man who betrayed him--and who now happens to be Richard's Captain of the Archers--and he is tied to the case, he tries to find a way to solve the mystery as well as have his revenge. This book was somewhat disappointing, though I can't quite put my finger on exactly why. I know I was somewhat distracted by several typos I found--well, not typos that would have been found on spell check, but things like "that" instead of "than" or the wrong spelling of a word, for example, "make due with..." instead of "make do." So the proofreading/editing was somewhat less than professional. It's dubbed as "medieval noir" but I didn't find it particularly noir-ish. Certainly not a cozy, but noir? Not really. It also gets somewhat repetitious with frequent descriptions of the stink and dirtiness of medieval London. A good story, and I do like Crispin and Jack, but...a bit off the mark this time.
14. WHISKEY SOUR by J.A. Konrath (#1 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) A This book has the distinction of being the first book I read on my new Kindle Fire. It was easy to read, pages easy to turn, and on top of all that, it was actually a great story! It features Chicago police Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, who is in hot pursuit of a brutal, sadistic serial killer--who tortures women and dismembers them, then dumps them in garbage cans, leaving a shellacked Gingerbread cookie as his calling card. The Gingerbread Man sees Jack as a worthy foe and targets her personally to be one of his victims. Great introduction to this tough Chicago cop and looking forward to reading more in the series!
15. CROWNER ROYAL by Bernard Knight (#13 Crowner John medieval mystery) (AUDIO) B- Crowner John has moved from the Devon west country where he was the Coroner for the county of Devon, but now at the behest of his king has become Coroner of the Verge, dealing with cases within a 12-mile radius of the King's Court, wherever it might be. He's homesick (as is his assistant Gwyn) and bored, as there seems to be very little activity--and when a dead body or two do show up, his jurisdiction is questioned at every turn by the local sheriff.
I wasn't as fond of this book as previous ones in the series...I liked the Devon setting as it's where my husband sister lives, so it was interesting reading about local history there. London and Winchester have been done to death, so to speak. LOL This book was also more fraught with political intrigue on the Royal level (as opposed to local political infighting as in previous books) which has never been a huge interest of mine. So far there's only one more book in this series, so perhaps the author also realizes that the series is growing a little lackluster and is stopping it. I'll certainly finish it off, but if Plague of Heretics is indeed the last, I think it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
16. A LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King. #3 Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell historical mystery. A It seems to me that each book in this series gets better--after the first one, which I thought was too long and convoluted, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the series, but the second and this, the third, were absolutely brilliant! Sherlock Holmes and his new wife, Mary Russell, work again to solve the suspicious death of an old acquaintance, an archaeologist who comes back to England from Palestine with a peculiar gift for Mary. A day later, Dorothy Ruskin is struck down in a London street by an unmarked black motorcar, and only a fool would not make a connection between the two--especially when the Holmes' home is ransacked a day later.Wonderful, multi-faceted mystery with red herrings all over the place and the deeply-layered characters becoming better known to the reader too. Very much looking forward to the next one!
17. I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley #4 Flavia de Luce historical mystery. (AUDIO) A. (Review pending)
Current reads:
Kindle: CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey (#2 Darko Dawson mystery set in Ghana)
Audio: THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (#4 Chet and Bernie mystery)
Print: THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker (#4 in The Company Sci-fi/fantasy series)
Cheryl
Cheryl
BUT...I've just ordered a Kindle Fire! Never thought I'd do it, as I really love "real" books, but I think it's almost a necessity with the limited space I'll have at the new place. Still not going to order any books for it til 2012, but I'll have to borrow a couple to try it out. :) Addendum: so far, so good! I think the Kindle Fire will be great! I am still fiddling with it and playing around...have read a few chapters in my borrowed book and it reads easy, I have to say.
On to the reading list!
1. DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin (#2 Bruce Kohler mystery) C+ Second (and so far last) book in the Bruce Kohler mystery series. Bruce is a recovering alcohol/drug addict living in New York and the story centers around him and his two best friends, Jimmy (also in recovery) and Barbara (Jimmy's girlfriend, and a counselor.) A friend of Barbara's is suspected of killing her drug-dealer boyfriend and the trio get involved with trying to figure out who else might have killed him so as to clear Luz's name. While I like these characters well enough, for me the book was just a little too heavy on recovery/addict jargon, and the whole recovery process was focused on much more than the mystery itself IMO. The first book was more interesting because it was different--Bruce woke up hungover in a detox unit in the Bowery, so was newly sober. Now he is 10 months out and his whole life centers around AA and staying sober. Perhaps for someone with addiction issues it would be more interesting, but it was just too much for me.
2. A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (#7 Cmdr. Adam Dalgliesh mystery) (AUDIO) C+ I normally enjoy the Adam Dalgliesh series very much, but this one seemed to drag on and on as the mystery into the murder of Sir Paul Barrone, a Minister of Parliament, and a tramp in the vestry of a church went onwards. There just seemed to be too much extraneous detail, too much wandering off into the lives of minor characters which left me often thinking, "Get ON with the story already!" It's also one of the few where I knew the bad guy almost straight away. I guess every author is allowed an 'off' book--it's certainly not enough to put me off reading more. Another consideration is that this book is the first audio production of a P.D. James book I've listened to rather than read in print, so perhaps that impacted my feeling about the book too. Although the reader was perfectly skillful, the excess of posh, snooty voices grew rather tiresome after awhile.
3. TERRA INCOGNITA by Ruth Downie (#2 Ruso the Medicus historical mystery) C+ This second book in the series sees Ruso, a medicus with the Twentieth legion, on the way north from Deva (modern-day Chester) to the border with the 'wild barbarians' of which his housekeeper Tilla is one. A near-fatal cart accident along the way necessitates an amputation and Ruso is conscripted to fill in for the local medic who's gone mad, and also to investigate the death of the trumpeter, who had an interesting sideline. I enjoyed the story, I really like Ruso and the other main characters, the humor, the period detail. BUT. It was just too long and convoluted, with too many characters to keep straight and too many little side plots distracting from the main mystery. I found myself skimming through the midsection of the book.
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon trilogy) A WOW! An excellent first book of a planned trilogy set in a world 300 years after a great war left mankind struggling to stay alive against demons, which come out at sunset and fade with the dawn. The corelings as the demons are called, take various shapes and have different qualities but very few humans survive interaction with them, staying inside their heavily warded homes after dusk. Magic symbols make up the wardings that keep the demons from attacking, and only brave men like the Messengers who carry powerful portable warding circles, would be outdoors after dark. This story tells of three children--Arlen, Leesha and Rojer--who grow up in different isolated villages and have dreams of seeing the world one day. They all have different talents and the story takes place over several years as they grow into adulthood and their talents become more readily apparent. Excellent storytelling, great characters, looks like another wonderful series in the 'dark fantasy' subgenre. Yay!
5. A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#6 Maggy Thorsen mystery) See review on the Paperbackswap Mystery Monday blog here: http://blog.paperbackswap.com/mystery-monday-a-cup-of-jo/2011/11/
6. RIVER MARKED by Patricia Briggs (#6 Mercy Thompson paranormal) (AUDIO) C+ Sixth in this series about 'walker' Mercy Thompson (she shapeshifts to Coyote) and her mate, werewolf pack leader Adam Hauptmann. They are off on their honeymoon and get tangled in a web of Native American myths and legends as they are asked to help kill a vicious river monster. First one of these I've listened to rather than read, and I liked the reader's voice and reading style. However, the story itself was somewhat lacking for me. Okay, but not as good as the others.
7. WICKED GAMES by Ellen Hart (#8 Jane Lawless mystery) B- I like this series, and have liked recent ones more than early ones, but this book took a step backwards with Jane turning into a jellyfish, insecure and wibbling about her new love and seeming almost desperate when she suspects Julia is lying to her and is evasive about her life. This is not the Jane I have come to know and enjoy spending time with. On the mystery end of things, Jane gets involved in the family dynamics of the wealthy Kastner family when their son rents Jane's third-floor apartment and the daughter moves down the street and shows an inordinate amount of interest in Jane. Then a private detective contacts Jane to inform her of some of the family's colored past.
8. THE CROSSING PLACES by Elly Griffiths (#1 Ruth Galloway/Harry Nelson mystery) (AUDIO) B+ This first book in series featuring forensic archaeologist and professor Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson started off with a real bang and sucked me into the story right away. Bones have been found in the salt marsh near King's Lynn and Nelson has been led to Ruth to check them out. He believes they might be the bones of a young girl who went missing 10 years previously. They end up being about 2000 years old, but when another girl goes missing in similar circumstances, and Ruth's cat is brutally killed and left on her doorstep, Harry and Ruth's paths keep crossing. I have some serious plausibility issues with the thread dealing with Lucy, the missing girl from 10 years previously which is the only reason I marked the grade down a notch--can't say much without giving things away, but suffice it to say it just didn't seem very likely as written by the author. Other than that though--it was a great book! I have the second one on my library list already.
9. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs B+ An interesting book about a strange boy who finds out the hard way why he's strange. All his life, he believed his grandfather's fanciful stories were just that--made-up stories about monsters and peculiar children living in a home where they were loved and accepted. Even the old photographs Jake suspected were altered--surely there is no girl who can levitate off the ground or another who can lift boulders with one hand?! When his grandfather dies, Jake finds things in his grandfather's belongings that lead him to ask for a trip to a small island off the Welsh coast, and his father, an avid ornithologist, agrees to accompany him to study birds. What Jake finds there astonishes him. A very interesting story, although I am not sure what I thought about the ending. It does seem to leave an opening for a possible sequel.
10. ANGELS PASSING by Graham Hurley (#3 Joe Faraday mystery) B+ Another interesting entry in this British police procedural series set in and around Portsmouth. DI Joe Faraday, once again being sought for promotion, is too busy investigating the death of a teenage girl who may or may not have thrown herself off the roof to even consider it. Meanwhile some of his team are seconded to Major Crimes to work on a hanging death. Faraday's personal life is also in an uproar and he tries to deal with that as well. As usual, quite a page turner, with a good balance of the police cases and personal details of the various characters.
11. THE POACHER'S SON by Paul Doiron (#1 Mike Bowditch mystery) B- Mike Bowditch, 24-year-old Maine Wildlife Ranger finds himself distracted from his job duties when a state-wide manhunt for the killer of two men takes over the whole north woods of Maine. The distraction comes because the man they are hunting is none other than his father, Jack Bowditch, an alcoholic tracker, woodsman and poacher, who is believed to have shot a deputy and the head of a land-development company in cold blood. Mike has never been close to his father, since he and his mother left when Mike was 9 years old--and in fact hadn't spoken to him at all for two years. But while Mike agrees that his dad is a first-class prick, he can't see a motive for his father behind this killing--'he's a bar-brawler, not a cold-blooded killer.' Intent on clearing his father's name, he risks his job, friendships and his life, often wondering why he's doing so. This was a decent first book in series, but I was rather surprised at the award nomination...although I often am, so that's nothing new. LOL For me it had one major flaw that permeated the whole book and undermined the believability of it and it was primarily this than sunk my opinion of it: unless Mike Bowditch was an alien with a vastly different lifespan, there is no way in hell he was 24 years old. It may have been partly the 'voice' the reader on the audio version gave him, but it was more than that--his attitudes, actions and his world-weary demeanor made him seem to be a man in (at the very least) his late 30's, more like someone in their 40's. To me, if you can't believe the character is who he is supposed to be, how can you believe the rest of the story?
12.INK FLAMINGOS by Karen E. Olson (#4 Tattoo Shop mystery) B- This is apparently the last book in the tattoo shop series featuring tattooist Brett Kavanaugh, and I for one am relieved. It sort of ended with a fizzle in my opinion. I like the author's writing style and really enjoyed her other series (which I wish she would have continued) but this one just never worked for me as well...but then, I am no fan of typical cozy mysteries, of which this is one. The tattoo shop setting is what made it unique and interesting for me. I did like the ending, though.
13. SERPENT IN THE THORNS by Jeri Westerson (#2 Crispin Guest medieval mystery) C+ Second in this medieval mystery series featuring Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of lands, title and wealth but spared his life when caught in a treasonous plot seven years previously against young King Richard. Now he lives in the London slums and works as a Tracker, basically a private detective. In this book, he is hired by a scullion in an inn, whose mentally challenged sister keeps confessing to the killing of a French courier--who was carrying a relic that may be the genuine Crown of Thorns. When Crispin comes across the man who betrayed him--and who now happens to be Richard's Captain of the Archers--and he is tied to the case, he tries to find a way to solve the mystery as well as have his revenge. This book was somewhat disappointing, though I can't quite put my finger on exactly why. I know I was somewhat distracted by several typos I found--well, not typos that would have been found on spell check, but things like "that" instead of "than" or the wrong spelling of a word, for example, "make due with..." instead of "make do." So the proofreading/editing was somewhat less than professional. It's dubbed as "medieval noir" but I didn't find it particularly noir-ish. Certainly not a cozy, but noir? Not really. It also gets somewhat repetitious with frequent descriptions of the stink and dirtiness of medieval London. A good story, and I do like Crispin and Jack, but...a bit off the mark this time.
14. WHISKEY SOUR by J.A. Konrath (#1 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) A This book has the distinction of being the first book I read on my new Kindle Fire. It was easy to read, pages easy to turn, and on top of all that, it was actually a great story! It features Chicago police Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, who is in hot pursuit of a brutal, sadistic serial killer--who tortures women and dismembers them, then dumps them in garbage cans, leaving a shellacked Gingerbread cookie as his calling card. The Gingerbread Man sees Jack as a worthy foe and targets her personally to be one of his victims. Great introduction to this tough Chicago cop and looking forward to reading more in the series!
15. CROWNER ROYAL by Bernard Knight (#13 Crowner John medieval mystery) (AUDIO) B- Crowner John has moved from the Devon west country where he was the Coroner for the county of Devon, but now at the behest of his king has become Coroner of the Verge, dealing with cases within a 12-mile radius of the King's Court, wherever it might be. He's homesick (as is his assistant Gwyn) and bored, as there seems to be very little activity--and when a dead body or two do show up, his jurisdiction is questioned at every turn by the local sheriff.
I wasn't as fond of this book as previous ones in the series...I liked the Devon setting as it's where my husband sister lives, so it was interesting reading about local history there. London and Winchester have been done to death, so to speak. LOL This book was also more fraught with political intrigue on the Royal level (as opposed to local political infighting as in previous books) which has never been a huge interest of mine. So far there's only one more book in this series, so perhaps the author also realizes that the series is growing a little lackluster and is stopping it. I'll certainly finish it off, but if Plague of Heretics is indeed the last, I think it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
16. A LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King. #3 Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell historical mystery. A It seems to me that each book in this series gets better--after the first one, which I thought was too long and convoluted, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the series, but the second and this, the third, were absolutely brilliant! Sherlock Holmes and his new wife, Mary Russell, work again to solve the suspicious death of an old acquaintance, an archaeologist who comes back to England from Palestine with a peculiar gift for Mary. A day later, Dorothy Ruskin is struck down in a London street by an unmarked black motorcar, and only a fool would not make a connection between the two--especially when the Holmes' home is ransacked a day later.Wonderful, multi-faceted mystery with red herrings all over the place and the deeply-layered characters becoming better known to the reader too. Very much looking forward to the next one!
17. I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley #4 Flavia de Luce historical mystery. (AUDIO) A. (Review pending)
Current reads:
Kindle: CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey (#2 Darko Dawson mystery set in Ghana)
Audio: THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (#4 Chet and Bernie mystery)
Print: THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker (#4 in The Company Sci-fi/fantasy series)
Cheryl
Cheryl
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
OCTOBER 2011
1. INDEX TO MURDER by Jo Dereske. (#11 Miss Zukas mystery) A
2. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery) A+
3. ALL THE COLOURS OF DARKNESS by Peter Robinson (#17 DCI Alan Banks mystery) (AUDIO) B
4. AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT by Seanan McGuire (#3 October Daye paranormal mystery) B+
5. THE FLEET STREET MURDERS by Charles Finch (#3 Charles Lenox historical mystery) A
6. WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS by Kate Atkinson (#3 Jackson Brodie mystery) (AUDIO) A
7. KILLING KATE by Julie Kramer (#4 Riley Spartz mystery) C+
8. SOUL MUSIC by Terry Pratchett (#16 Discworld fantasy) A
9. THE GREEN MAN by Kate Sedley (#17 Roger the Chapman historical mystery) B
10. THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery) A
11. A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (# 8 Maisie Dobbs historical mystery) (AUDIO) A
12. WHITE TOMBS by Christopher Valen (#1 John Santana mystery) C-
13. IN A GILDED CAGE by Rhys Bowen (#8 Molly Murphy mystery) B
14. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines) A+
15. KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE by Carrie Vaughn (#9 Kitty Norville paranormal) B+
16. IN THE WIND by Barbara Fister (#1 Anni Koskinen mystery) B
17. BEARERS OF THE BLACK STAFF by Terry Brooks ($1 Legends of Shannara) (AUDIO) A
Current reads:
TERRA INCOGNITO by Ruth Downie
DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin
THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett
A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (audio)
Cheryl
2. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery) A+
3. ALL THE COLOURS OF DARKNESS by Peter Robinson (#17 DCI Alan Banks mystery) (AUDIO) B
4. AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT by Seanan McGuire (#3 October Daye paranormal mystery) B+
5. THE FLEET STREET MURDERS by Charles Finch (#3 Charles Lenox historical mystery) A
6. WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS by Kate Atkinson (#3 Jackson Brodie mystery) (AUDIO) A
7. KILLING KATE by Julie Kramer (#4 Riley Spartz mystery) C+
8. SOUL MUSIC by Terry Pratchett (#16 Discworld fantasy) A
9. THE GREEN MAN by Kate Sedley (#17 Roger the Chapman historical mystery) B
10. THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery) A
11. A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (# 8 Maisie Dobbs historical mystery) (AUDIO) A
12. WHITE TOMBS by Christopher Valen (#1 John Santana mystery) C-
13. IN A GILDED CAGE by Rhys Bowen (#8 Molly Murphy mystery) B
14. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines) A+
15. KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE by Carrie Vaughn (#9 Kitty Norville paranormal) B+
16. IN THE WIND by Barbara Fister (#1 Anni Koskinen mystery) B
17. BEARERS OF THE BLACK STAFF by Terry Brooks ($1 Legends of Shannara) (AUDIO) A
Current reads:
TERRA INCOGNITO by Ruth Downie
DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin
THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett
A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (audio)
Cheryl
Saturday, September 10, 2011
SEPTEMBER 2011
Well, I'm maintaining my abstinence from book-buying, and am still getting rid of TBR books at a greater rate than I'm acquiring them, although I haven't made a culling run through my shelves for a month or so.
Current numbers (from Feb. 1) are as follows:
Books acquired: 78 (all from Paperbackswap except for 2 freebies from Amazon Vine)
TBR books released: 347
Net loss: 269 books gone
Now, onto my September reading list:
1. THE ENCHANTER'S FOREST by Alys Clare (Hawkenlye Abbey historical mystery #10) B
2. TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE by Michael Koryta (Lincoln Perry mystery #1) (AUDIO) B
3. HEXES AND HEMLINES by Juliet Blackwell (#3 Lily Ivory 'witchcraft' mystery) B-
4. RESOLUTION by Denise Mina (#3 Garnethill trilogy) A
5. THE DAY WILL COME by Judy Clemens (#4 Stella Crown mystery) A
6. A TRAIL OF INK by Mel Starr (#3 Hugh de Singleton historical mystery) B
7. THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST by Ellis Peters (#14 Brother Cadfael mystery) (AUDIO) A
8. ARTIFACTS by Mary Anna Evans (#1 Faye Longchamp mystery) B
9. THE DEVIL'S COMPANY by David Liss (#3 Benjamin Weaver historical mystery) (AUDIO) A-
10. READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline B
11. WILD INFERNO by Sandi Ault (#2 Jamaica Wild mystery) C+
12. THE PROTECTOR'S WAR by S.M. Stirling (#2 Change series) A
13. THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith (#2 Leo Demidov mystery) (AUDIO) B
14. HIDDEN MOON by James Church (#2 Inspector O mystery) B+
Cheryl
Current numbers (from Feb. 1) are as follows:
Books acquired: 78 (all from Paperbackswap except for 2 freebies from Amazon Vine)
TBR books released: 347
Net loss: 269 books gone
Now, onto my September reading list:
1. THE ENCHANTER'S FOREST by Alys Clare (Hawkenlye Abbey historical mystery #10) B
2. TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE by Michael Koryta (Lincoln Perry mystery #1) (AUDIO) B
3. HEXES AND HEMLINES by Juliet Blackwell (#3 Lily Ivory 'witchcraft' mystery) B-
4. RESOLUTION by Denise Mina (#3 Garnethill trilogy) A
5. THE DAY WILL COME by Judy Clemens (#4 Stella Crown mystery) A
6. A TRAIL OF INK by Mel Starr (#3 Hugh de Singleton historical mystery) B
7. THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST by Ellis Peters (#14 Brother Cadfael mystery) (AUDIO) A
8. ARTIFACTS by Mary Anna Evans (#1 Faye Longchamp mystery) B
9. THE DEVIL'S COMPANY by David Liss (#3 Benjamin Weaver historical mystery) (AUDIO) A-
10. READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline B
11. WILD INFERNO by Sandi Ault (#2 Jamaica Wild mystery) C+
12. THE PROTECTOR'S WAR by S.M. Stirling (#2 Change series) A
13. THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith (#2 Leo Demidov mystery) (AUDIO) B
14. HIDDEN MOON by James Church (#2 Inspector O mystery) B+
Cheryl
Sunday, August 7, 2011
AUGUST 2011
Sorry, I'm just too busy and somewhat disinclined to take the time to write reviews, even brief ones. But here's a list of what I've read with grades. That'll have to do for now.
1. A BITTER FEAST by S.J. Rozan. (#5 Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery) B+
2. MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#3 Haunted Ballad mystery) A
3. ENGLISH LESSONS by J.M. Hayes. (#6 Mad Dog & Englishman mystery) A
4. CROSS by Ken Bruen (#6 Jack Taylor series) A
5. THE BLACK CAT by Martha Grimes (audio) (#22 Richard Jury mystery) B+
6. THE EAGLES' BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy series) A
7. KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT by Colin Cotterill (#1 Jimm Juree mystery) A
8. THE MANOR OF DEATH by Bernard Knight (#12 Crowner John historical mystery) B
9. NEW TRICKS by David Rosenfelt (audio) (#7 Andy Carpenter mystery) A
10. AFTERTIME by Sophie Littlefield (#1 Aftertime fantasy) B
11. THE VICTIM IN VICTORIA STATION by Jeanne M. Dams (#5 Dorothy Martin mystery) C
12. A PIECE OF JUSTICE by Jill Paton Walsh (#2 Imogen Quy mystery) A
13. THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH by Jacqueline Winspear (audio)(#7 Maisie Dobbs) A+
14. MARCH VIOLETS by Philip Kerr (#1 Bernie Guenther historical mystery) B+
15. THE GREAT TYPO HUNT by Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson (non-fiction) B
16. THE KILLING WAY by Tony Hays (#1 Arthurian mystery) A
17. THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#2 Vish Puri mystery) A
18. THE TAKE by Graham Hurley (#2 Joe Faraday mystery) B+
19. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery) A
20. TIL DEATH by Ed McBain (#9 87th Precinct mystery) B
21. THE BIG DIG by Linda Barnes (AUDIO)(#9 Carlotta Carlyle mystery) B+
22. ARABESK by Barbara Nadel (#3 Cetin Ikmen mystery) B
23. AN IRISH COUNTRY DOCTOR by Patrick Taylor (#1 Irish Country Doctor serial) A
24. MOURNING GLORIA by Susan Wittig Albert (#19 China Bayles mystery)
Cheryl
1. A BITTER FEAST by S.J. Rozan. (#5 Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery) B+
2. MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#3 Haunted Ballad mystery) A
3. ENGLISH LESSONS by J.M. Hayes. (#6 Mad Dog & Englishman mystery) A
4. CROSS by Ken Bruen (#6 Jack Taylor series) A
5. THE BLACK CAT by Martha Grimes (audio) (#22 Richard Jury mystery) B+
6. THE EAGLES' BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy series) A
7. KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT by Colin Cotterill (#1 Jimm Juree mystery) A
8. THE MANOR OF DEATH by Bernard Knight (#12 Crowner John historical mystery) B
9. NEW TRICKS by David Rosenfelt (audio) (#7 Andy Carpenter mystery) A
10. AFTERTIME by Sophie Littlefield (#1 Aftertime fantasy) B
11. THE VICTIM IN VICTORIA STATION by Jeanne M. Dams (#5 Dorothy Martin mystery) C
12. A PIECE OF JUSTICE by Jill Paton Walsh (#2 Imogen Quy mystery) A
13. THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH by Jacqueline Winspear (audio)(#7 Maisie Dobbs) A+
14. MARCH VIOLETS by Philip Kerr (#1 Bernie Guenther historical mystery) B+
15. THE GREAT TYPO HUNT by Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson (non-fiction) B
16. THE KILLING WAY by Tony Hays (#1 Arthurian mystery) A
17. THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#2 Vish Puri mystery) A
18. THE TAKE by Graham Hurley (#2 Joe Faraday mystery) B+
19. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery) A
20. TIL DEATH by Ed McBain (#9 87th Precinct mystery) B
21. THE BIG DIG by Linda Barnes (AUDIO)(#9 Carlotta Carlyle mystery) B+
22. ARABESK by Barbara Nadel (#3 Cetin Ikmen mystery) B
23. AN IRISH COUNTRY DOCTOR by Patrick Taylor (#1 Irish Country Doctor serial) A
24. MOURNING GLORIA by Susan Wittig Albert (#19 China Bayles mystery)
Cheryl
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