knit one, kill two

knit one, kill two
a knitting mystery #1
maggie sefton
cozy/mystery
berkley books
published 2005

For Kelly Flynn, coming back to Colorado for her aunt's funeral yields a disturbing suspicion: that her death wasn't the result of a burglary, but something more sinister.  After all, why would the sensible sixty-year-old borrow $20,000 just days before her death?  With the help of the knitting regulars at the House of Lambspun, Kelly's about to get a few lessons in creating a sumptuously colored scarf - and in luring a killer out of hiding.

This was a quick cozy mystery read that I found myself enjoying more than I had expected I would.  The characters aren't delved into too deeply and there is still much of Kelly's life that we don't know about.  The ending of the book kind of left you hanging.  The mystery was solved, but once the dust settles, what happened?  But the descriptions of the yarns and knitting had me itching to grab my needles and start again.  I loved that the book included two quick knitting patterns and a recipe for cinnamon rolls too!

death of a gossip

death of a gossip
hamish macbeth #1
m.c. beaton
mystery
warner bros.
published 1985

Scottish highland village cop Hamish Macbeth must find which target was provoked enough to strangle and drown nasty fat widowed tabloid reported Jane Winters, who revealed many others' guilty secrets.  Much is from the viewpoint of a naive secretary seduced by a blue-blood playboy.  Icy blond aristocratic Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, lends a hand.

This book was incredibly short!  And what is it about book written in the 80's that make it feel like they were written in the Stone Age?

Nonetheless, it was a quick read (I want to say it was around 150-180 pages long) so right when you get into all the characters someone dies and that gets wrapped up pretty quickly.  Most of the characters are horrible, save for a couple.  The most annoying, unfortunately was the naive secretary whose input to the story was completely unnecessary.  Was she supposed to provide the romance aspect of the story?  Or the idiot part?  She definitely covered that.

But it was quick enough and well written enough that I can see myself reading a few more.  I got one of the books for free from Amazon or Book Bub or something, but of course it wasn't the first book so I had to search the library for this one!  We'll see if I make it to my free book.

fear nothing

fear nothing
dd warren #7
lisa gardner
mystery/thriller
dutton adult
published 2014

The last thing Boston Detective D. D. Warren remembers is walking the crime scene after dark.  Then, a creaking floorboard, a low voice crooning in her ear....She is later told her managed to discharge her weapon three times.  All she knows is that she is seriously injured, unable to move her left arm, unable to return to work.

Six weeks later, a second woman is discovered murdered in her own bed, her room containing the same calling cards from the first: a bottle of champagne and a single red rose.  The only person who may have seen the killer: Detective D. D. Warren, who still can't lift her child, load her gun, or recall a single detail from the night that may have cost her everything.

I'm still slightly bummed at the way this book ended!

I really enjoyed the characters, good and bad, and found the backstory of Adeline and her illness incredibly fascinating.  There was quite a bit of injustice all around here so it was a tough pill to swallow at times, but it made for some good reading and finding sympathetic characters where I wasn't expecting them.

There were times when D. D. got to be a bit annoying, but I feel like she is in every book.  She has a harder time getting over herself here and that's got a lot to do with her feelings of helplessness after her injury.  I found the parts with Adeline and Shana to be the most interesting to read.  I probably could have skipped over D. D.'s parts!

food: a love story

food: a love story
jim gaffigan
nonfiction/comedy
crown archetype
published 2014

Bacon. McDonalds. Cinnabon. Hot Pockets. Kale. Stand-up comedian and author Jim Gaffigan has made his career rhapsodizing over the most treasured dishes of the American diet and decrying the worst offenders.  Fans flocked to his New York Times bestselling book Dad is Fat to hear him riff on fatherhood but now, in his second book, he will give them what they really crave - hundreds of pages of this thoughts on all things culinary(ish).  Insights such as: why he believes coconut water was invented to get people to stop drinking coconut water, why pretzel bread is #3 on his most important inventions of humankind (behind the wheel and the computer), and the answer to the age-old question "which animal is more delicious: the pig, the cow, or the bacon cheeseburger.

Though very funny, this is mostly just a rehash of his stand up performances so if you've seen them and are very familiar with them this might be a bit boring for you.  There are some laugh out loud moments nonetheless and stuff I hadn't heard before so I was still, thoroughly entertained.  Beware, this book will make you hungry for everything you should not be eating.

deadline

deadline
virgil flowers #8
john sandford
fiction/mystery/suspense
putnam adult
published 2014

In Southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to an end.  The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues.  "Issues" is correct.  The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter.  The vote is four to one in favor.  Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is helping out a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to be turning into something much bigger and uglier - a team of dognappers supplying medical labs - when he gets a call from Lucas Davenport.  A murdered body has been found - and the victim is a local reporter.

Now I'm not saying that Deadline is going to keep you at the edge of your seat.  Or that you'll be stunned by the ingenious ways of the bad guys.  There is just something about Virgil that keeps me highly entertained.  He's funny for one, but most of all, the stories seem so real.  The characters are not caricatures of people, they are almost real life people.  Flawed, sometimes ditzy, sometimes cunning, simple, complex, nice, greedy, and real.  The conversations Virgil has with people is almost mundane, but somehow it's fascinating.

And really, let's be honest, Jenkins and Shrake should really have their own series by now.

gone girl

gone girl
gillian flynn
mystery
broadway books
published 2012

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary.  Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River,  Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.  Under mounting pressure from the police and the media - as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents - the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior.  Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter - but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love.  With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence.  Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife?  And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Yeah, that book was fucked up.

That was utterly, fantastically fucked up.  It's a weird sort of panic when you get to a point in a book where you realize you have no idea who to root for.  Beware: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!  Everyone had already told me that they hated both characters so I went in this with expectations.  But halfway through I kept thinking, Amazing Amy doesn't seem so terrible.  What's the big deal?  I understand disliking the apathetic, philandering jerk of a husband, but what's wrong with the long suffering wife?  She's basically forced to move from New York City to this terrible suburb to deal with her in-laws and her absentee husband.  What did she do to garner so much dislike from readers everywhere.

And then.

Oh.

But it was also brilliant.  And during the time she was gone I was still kind of rooting for her.  I mean, her dedication and planning was truly genius.  And Nick just kept doing dumb stuff so I still just didn't think he deserved to win.  But when they are reunited she's just too crazy.  And not crazy in the 'wow, that chick is batshit crazy' kind of admiring crazy, but the 'wow, that is one psycho bitch'.  She becomes gross, creepy and I was completely disgusted by her.  I couldn't see how Nick could not win at this point.  Amy can't possibly account for everything, but in the end it wasn't so much about making her pay, but Nick's addiction to her.  He cannot live without her.  He wants to beat her at her game, but not as much as he wants to play her game and in the end that is his undoing.

During the 'real Amy's' narrative things were very predictable.  I knew what was going to happen to her with her two friends at the Ozark motel, knew who she would call when she needed help and what would happen there....it didn't seem to matter that it was predictable, because it was so interesting to see crazy in action.

Of course I didn't like that ending.  But how else could it have ended?  At first I was thinking there wasn't a happy ending, but I think for Amy and Nick that was a happy ending.

bury your dead

bury your dead
armand gamache #6
louise penny
mystery/thriller
minotaur books
published 2010

It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful.  Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong.  But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society - where an obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder.  Could a secret be buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?

There are nearly three different stories moving along here in Bury Your Dead.  First we have the investigation that Armand is haunted by and then the murder of the historian and at the same time, Jean Guy is quietly investigating the murder from the previous novel, The Brutal Telling.

I knew next to nothing about Canadian history, much less about Quebec's so there was an interesting history lesson happening during Armand's reluctant investigation at the Lit & His, but truth be told, after the initial lesson I was bored.  Interspersed between the present going ons, both Armand and Jean Guy recall the events that led them to the places they are.  The horribly botched case that takes place between The Brutal Telling and Bury Your Dead.  Jean Guy's investigation in Three Pines kept me reading because I too thought there was no way that Olivier had committed the crime of that he was convicted.

Had this book been only about what happened in Quebec I would have been quite disappointed, but it wasn't so I hung on.  It was a nice change of pace for Jean Guy to interact with the villagers in Three Pines, especially Ruth and the gripping recounting of the previous case kept me biting my nail until the very end.

batgirl: wanted

batgirl: wanted 
collects issues #19-25 +Ventriloquist #1
gail simone & marguerite bennett, daniel sampere & fernando pasarin, jonathan glapion & marc deering
batgirl: deadline
collects issues #26-32
gail simone, fernando pasarin & jonathan glapion
graphics/superhero
dc comics
published 2013-2014

Batgirl struggles to continue fighting crime after being emotionally drained by the death of her brother, James, Jr.  With her relationships with Batman and her father strained, Batgirl faces one of Batman's most ruthless villains, The Ventriloquist, alone.

I am basically reviewing issues 19-34, plus Batgirl Annual #2 and Batgirl; Future's End #1.  Since I subscribe I read by issue, I don't want until the trade comes out, although that seemed to work out here for Volume 4!

I was really starting to get into this storyline.  All the stuff that was going on in Barbara's family life and dating life were moving along nicely.  I feel like Simone finally hit her stride.  While the Ventriloquist was creepy, like other villains she didn't get her chance in the spotlight and I think that's because of the crossovers that aren't listed here (so not really Simone's fault).  This is why the other day I mentioned the comic book black hole.  You find that the series you're reading crossing into another series so you think you'll just buy that issue in that other series, but then what if that series is really good will you feel like you're missing something if you just jump in?  Of course you will!  So you start buying comics left and right and it's a neverending black hole.

But the Knightfall storyline has been going on almost since the beginning, just before Death of the Family and it gets wrapped up rather nicely here before we switch over to the Veronica Mars edition of Batgirl.  (but more on that at another time)

I feel like there was still a lot more story to be told by Simone, but unfortunately, DC didn't see it that way.  At least we got an ending.

The #2 Annual was also great (I love Poison Ivy) but again, I knew I needed to pick up the New 52 Birds of Prey so that really set me back a bit.

Future's End was ..... interesting.

In the end I really did grow to love Simone's Batgirl and I wish she got to spend some more time delving into that character.  I'm continuing on with Fletcher and Stewart's Batgirl so we'll see how that goes.

batgirl: knightfall descends

batgirl: knightfall descends
gail simone & ed benes
collects issues #7-12
graphics/superhero
dc comics
published 2012

Batgirl Barbara Gordon faces foe after foe now that she's back in the role of Batgirl.  A deadly new gentleman killer, Grotesque, stalks the streets of Gotham City; The Court of Owls sets its sight on her father Commissioner Gordon; and an innocent woman sentenced to Arkham emerges more dangerous than the inmates she was locked up with!

One of the problems with trying to follow a comic book series is that you find yourself missing small details because they happened in another series.  Had you not read the Owl issues in the Batman series I think you would definitely feel like you were missing a bit of the puzzle.  But other things happen here or there and I'm constantly feeling like I need to be reading ALL THE DC.  Guess that means they're doing their jobs then, right?

Grotesque is another villain that got absolutely no page time other than a couple of panels where he waxes poetic on his desire to possess everything that would be considered 'the best'.  But why?  And who was he?  (To be honest, I'm a bit further ahead in the series, I'm just late reviewing these so I do know there could be a bit more on the horizon, but still as I'm reading it I feel like I don't really care what Grotesque is up to.)

It's like Batgirl is cycling through villains at record speed.  No one sticks around to play for any length of time and her story arcs are just little blips.  I've got to say, I don't think Gail Simone is really using Batgirl to the full of her potential here.  She skips around to every part of Barbara's life without ever really digging down deep and giving us anything below the surface.  Her relationship with her roommate....is there one?  Is she ever there at home with her roommate?  Her relationship with her father?  One of the biggest in her life and nothing.  I just feel like there are so many missed opportunities here for some really great storytelling.

batgirl: the darkest reflection

batgirl: the darkest reflection
gail simone, ardian syaf & vincente cifuentes
collects issues #1-6
graphics/superheroes
dc comics
published 2011

Barbara Gordon is finally back as Batgirl!  The nightmare-inducing brute known as Mirror is destroying the lives of Gotham City citizens seemingly at random.  Will Barbara be able to survive her explosive confrontation with this new villain, as well as facing dark secrets of her past?

I'm FINALLY getting around to reviewing these books.  I'm so behind on all this!

I'm taking into consideration that Barbara Gordon's return to the suit after everything that happened is a giant thing that must be addressed, but had I not already had a love for Barbara Gordon as Batgirl I might not have kept reading after this one.

There is very little character development on the villain side.  We're told a quick blurb about how they got from normal to nutso, but that's it!  The one issue of Gretel seemed out of place.  Barbara spends much of the issues mulling over her being out of shape and the psychological pitfalls to having been shot and left for dead.

Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that because of course this is a big deal, I just wish that there was a little more time spent on the villains.

snow white must die

snow white must die
nele neuhaus
fiction/mystery
minotaur books
published 2010

On a rainy November day police detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodensetin are summoned to a mysterious traffic accident: A woman has fallen from a pedestrian bridge onto a car driving underneath.  According to a witness, the woman may have been pushed.  The investigation leads Pia and Oliver to a small village, and the home of the victim, Rita Cramer.  On a September evening eleven years earlier, two seventeen-year-old girls vanished from the village without a trace.  In a trial based only on circumstantial evidence, twenty-year-old Tobias Sartorius, Rita Cramer's son, was sentenced to ten years in prison.  Bodenstein and Kirchhoff discover that Tobias, after serving his sentence, has now returned to his hometown.  Did the attack on his mother have something to do with his return?  In the village, Pia and Oliver encounter a wall of silence.  When another young woman disappears, the events of the past seem to be repeating themselves in a disastrous manner.  The investigation turns into a race against time, because of the villagers it is soon clear who the perpetrator is - and this time they are determined to take matters into their own hands.

There was a LOT going on in this book.  Which is strange because everything basically circles around to one crime, but there were so many players that at times it was confusing to keep everyone straight.  You basically figure out the mystery, but then everything changes and you're left doubting.  There were a couple of things I felt were lost in translation and I found it interesting that they never say 'I went to jail' or 'I was in prison'.  It was always 'the joint' and 'the slammer'.

ONE MINOR SPOILER
I also had a hard time with the fact that it was a bad thing for a 17 year-old to have a relationship with a 27 year-old, but then later on no one bats an eye 10 years later that a 17 year-old ends up with a 30 year-old.  Maybe there isn't really a romantic relationship there, but to me it was clearly implied,

Anyhow, there were some things I didn't think needed to be delved into so deeply, especially Oliver's personal life, but then I discovered this is actually the 4th book in a series, but only this and two others have been translated to English!

I did like the book.  It was a quick read once I sat down and actually started reading.  While it was, at times, confusing with so many players, it was fun to read and kept me on my toes.

fool moon

fool moon
dresden files #2
jim butcher
read by james marsters
audiobook/fiction/horror/supernatural
orbit
published 2008

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I.  Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans.  That's where Harry comes in.  Business has been slow lately for Harry Dresden.  Okay, business has been dead.  Not undead - just dead.  You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book.  But lately, Harry hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work - magical or mundane.  But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.  A brutally mutilated corpse.  Strange-looking paw prints.  A full moon.  Take three guesses.  And the first two don't count.  Magic - it can get a guy killed.

When I found out that James Marsters read for the audiobook versions of the Dresden Files I decided to give fiction audiobooks another try.

Marsters has a great voice, no doubt about it and I can fully believe him as the Harry Dresden character.  I was able to get through the whole book, although it took me weeks listening here and there.  I would drift off a time or two and have to rewind a bit, but it wasn't as bad as my previous attempts at fiction audiobooks.

The story itself was okay.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.  It reminds me a lot of early Anita Blake.  I do like that Dresden isn't a tough guy.  Except for his magical abilities he's a pretty average guy.  His courage comes from his goodness.  But the pace and the subject matter is very similar to Anita Blake.  I think I would have enjoyed this more had a read it instead of listened to it so I will continue on with the series, but do the reading myself!

the good girl

the good girl
mary kubica
mystery/fiction
harlequin mira
published 2014

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher.  One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend.  But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger.  With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand.  But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

A story told by several different point of views, The Good Girl is an intriguing mystery.  We get bits and pieces of the story told in the Before (the kidnapping) and the After (the kidnapping) from Mia's mother Eve, the investigator Gabe and the kidnapper Colin.  We don't hear anything from Mia's point of view until the end and I have some issues with that.

There are key points in the book that give away too much, which I don't think Kubica was trying to do, or at least I don't.  It felt like the ending was supposed to be a surprise, a twist, but I wasn't surprised.  In fact, I was slightly disappointed although it made for some good discussion fodder if you were to read this book with your book group.

Concerning the twist I have several issues, what doesn't make sense to me.  Looking back on those bits of the story being told there are things that don't make sense now having all the answers.  But it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the book.  Not that there is a happily ever after ending.  In fact, the ending left me feeling sad and a little lost.

I'd definitely recommend this to someone.  So that I can discuss it with them afterward!

whiskey beach

whiskey beach
nora roberts
suspense/romance
putnam adult
published 2013

For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore - and its secrets.  But to Eli Landon, it's home.  A Boston, lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of - but never arrested for - the murder of his soon-to-be-ex wife.

He finds sanctuary at Bluff House, even though his beloved grandmother is in Boston recuperating from a nasty fall.  Abra Walsh is always there, though.  Whiskey Beach's resident housekeeper, yoga instructor, jewelry maker, and massage therapist, Abra is a woman of many talents - including helping Eli take control of his life and clear his name.  But as they become entangled in each other, they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries - one that has ensnared a man intent on reaping the rewards of destroying Eli Landon once and for all.

I enjoy Nora Roberts female characters.  They know when to be tough and know when they can't do something on their own.  For Whiskey Beach I liked how this was Eli's story more than Abra's.  He was the main character.

What to say that hasn't been said about Nora Roberts's books?  This had a little less mystery than others, the male was the main character, the setting, while important, wasn't as vast as others.....Usually you get a better sense of the town the story takes place in, but this story mainly takes place inside Bluff House.  I wasn't surprised by the killer and I didn't get too much of a sense of characters other than Abra and Eli.

I was hooked and once I got started a tore through the book, but I wouldn't say this was on par with other Nora Roberts books.

concealed in death

concealed in death
in death #38
j.d. robb
suspense/fiction/mystery
putnam adult
published 2014

Leading the demolition of a long-empty New York building that once housed a makeshift shelter for troubled teenagers, Lieutenant Eve Dallas's husband uncovers two skeletons wrapped in plastic.  And by the time Eve's done with the crime scene, there are twelve murders to be solved.  The victims are all young girls.  A tattooed tough girl who dealt in illegal drugs.  The runaway daughter of a pair of well-to-do doctors.  They all had their stories.  And they all lost their chance for a better life.  Then Eve discovers a connection between the victims and someone she knows.  And she grows even more determined to reveal the secrets of the place that was called The Sanctuary - and the evil concealed in one human heart.

What becomes interesting to me at this point, almost 40 books into the series, is the progression of Eve as a character.  She's mellowed out some and has found herself quite a wide circle of people she can call friends and count on.  There is always a connection and always, there are bits of regular characters that are revealed more and more.

Strangely enough, the one character I don't think we get to know enough about is Peabody.  Except for a couple of books where she was quite the focus (though in reference to the crime, not her personal life) we don't really get to be in her head very much.  And while the books do mainly stay in Eve's head, we have had occasion to be inside Roarke or Peabody's before.  So Peabody remains somewhat of a mystery to me, as well as Summerset.  Boy would I love to get more of his story.

And even more interesting was that other side characters were hardly heard from in this book.  Mira maybe as much as usual, but I'm not sure that McNabb or Feeney even had a line.

The story moved on quickly, especially because you have a sense in the beginning who the murderer is.  Obviously, there must be something else going on, but we're pretty sure we know what happened.  The clues are pretty obvious and the suspect pool rather shallow.  But like all the books before there is very rarely a dull moment and a quick, satisfying read in the end.

uncaged

uncaged
the singular menace #1
john sandford & michelle cook
thriller/ya/mystery
knoff
published 2014

Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife.  She's got to find her brother before Singular does....

There is a definite John Sandford presence and style here, but you can see Michelle Cook's writing more so.  It's like a watered down John Sandford.  Which is actually perfect for this YA novel.

Shay is alternately naive and jaded.  She's not a hardened kid-of-the-system, but she's not sunshine and rainbows either.  What I liked most about this book was the portrayal of the street kids.  It wasn't your usual trouble makers and they weren't innocent,  but they looked out for each other and tried their best.

There were lots of plot holes though.  Things Singular, as this big, bad company did that didn't make sense and times when these street smart kids just kind of dropped the ball.  There were predictable moments.  I knew who was doomed just a few chapters after they were introduced, if even that.  But it was a good quick read that gave us a bit of closure, but still kept us hanging for the next book (Outrage, out Fall 2015).  I like that unlike other YA books there was basically no romance.  There wasn't a love triangle for you to choose sides over (though that eventually might come given Cade's admiration) and the story focused on what was important: Finding Shay's brother.

I'm looking forward to Outrage.  While it's not necessarily something the regular John Sandford fan would love, it's a pretty good YA book.

landline

landline
rainbow rowell
fiction/romance
st. martin's press
published 2014

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble.  That it's been in trouble for a long time.  She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply - but that almost seems beside the point now.  Maybe that was always beside the point.

Georgie is kind of selfish.  Actually, I suppose she is a lot selfish, but aren't we all?  Don't we all take it for granted that the ones we love will always love us?  And it's only when that ideal is threatened do we actually start imagining what life would be like without that love.  Examining the times we left without a goodbye kiss or hung up the phone without saying 'I love you'.

And that's what Georgie is doing now.  Trying to deny that there is anything serious going on while also terrified that everything is terribly wrong.  When she finds herself actually speaking to Neal in the past she believes this, somehow, is how she can fix her marriage in the present.  We move back and forth from the present to the past and Rowell so perfectly captures the thrill of falling in love and the desperation of heartbreak.

I remembered acutely while reading, my first and only real serious break up.  How helpless and heartbroken I felt.  How much it physically hurt, which was the most surprising thing of all.  Reading Landlines reminded me of all of that and more.

The book is soft.  There is no harsh morals or shocking situations.  It is a love story, a real love story full of highs and lows and reality.  HA!  Reality with a magic phone...

the brutal telling

the brutal telling
armand gamache #5
louise penny
mystery
minotaur
published 2009

Chaos is coming, old son.

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered.  As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store.  Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness.

I was thinking that the more times a murder happens in Three Pines the more unrealistic things will get.  The smaller the victim and suspect pool gets and I began to worry that someone I liked would fall into one of those categories.  It's interesting how things turn out.

How suddenly, a character you liked before becomes someone completely different.  I really, really can't say much about this book because it's so easily given away, but I will say if you are reading this series you're already invested and this will just sink you in deeper.  And while the book ends it doesn't feel concluded.  Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I don't think this story is finished.  I'm immediately picking up the next book to see if it does continue in any way.

But I will say this book changed the way I saw Three Pines and the people who were once so lovely.

catalyst

catalyst
laurie halse anderson
ya/realistic fiction
speak
published 2002

Meet Kate Malone - straight A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, and emotional avoidance champion.  Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table.  She can handle it all - or so she thinks.  Then, things change as suddenly as a string of chemical reactions.  Kate feels that her life is spinning out of her control - and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart.

I loved Speak and Wintergirls.  Laurie Halse Anderson's writing is very poetic and descriptive and I feel like her words are floating around in the air like clouds, lightweight yet heavy with meaning.  The one fangirl moment I had while reading Catalyst was when Melinda makes a quick appearance.  Speaking(!), happy and full of life for a brief moment.

I should have known there was something that would break me and unfortunately I got to that part at my break before I was going to sleep so I had to continue reading because I could not go to bed with that being the last thought in my head.

I wonder how impactful this book would be for a young adult and if it would be as meaningful to them as it was to me.  I found Kate to be kind of a pushover and even at the end she wasn't someone who stood up for herself as much as I needed her to.  There was very little resolution, but there was an ending.  Does that make sense?

I didn't find any characters well rounded or sympathetic.  Kate treated her brother like a kid yet I found him to be more mature than that.  Her father just seemed like a mess, her best friend was just there and her boyfriend was flat and uninteresting.

In the end, I thought the whole thing, like Pangborn, kind of fell flat.


Meet Kate Malone-straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, and emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all-or so she thinks. Then, things change as suddenly as a string of chemical reactions; first, the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their own home and move in. Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's little brother. The days are ticking down and she's still waiting to hear from the only college she applied to: MIT. Kate feels that her life is spinning out of her control-and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart. Set in the same community as the remarkable Speak,Catalyst is a novel that will change the way you look at the world.

attachments

attachments
rainbow rowell
fiction/romance
dutton adult
published 2011

It's 1999 and for the staff of one newspaper office, the internet is still a novelty.  By day, two young women, Beth and Jennifer spend their hours emailing each other, discussing in hilarious detail every aspect of their lives, from love troubles to family dramas.  And by night, Lincoln, a shy, lonely IT guy spends his hours reading every exchange.  At first their emails offer a welcome diversion, but as Lincoln unwittingly becomes drawn into their lives, the more he reads, the more he finds himself falling for one of them.  After a series of close encounters, Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart...and find out whether there really is such a thing as love before first sight.

To be honest if I read this book before I ever set eyes on Eleanor & Park I probably wouldn't have read E&P which would have been a travesty!  Don't get me wrong, Attachments is a great book, but it's on par with every other adult contemporary novel out there.  Despite some references to D&D and Kevin Smith (which bumps my review up a whole star for that alone) this could have been any other Jennifer Weiner or Emily Giffin book.

But she's funny.  And the book is sweet.  She does really well writing in the male characters voice without it sounding stilted or strange.  I loved Lincoln and wanted to punch Sam in the boob!  Beth and Jennifer cracked me up all the time and I didn't see how everything was really going to come together in a not fairy-tale sort of way.

But it did.  And I'm glad I read it.