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July 19
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Annabelle
gave
 
to:
The Emperor of Ocean Park. (Paperback)
by Stephen Carter
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Annabelle said:
"I loved this book. It was a dense, complicated suspense tale, written by an articulate man who opens the world of middle and upper class African American society to the reader naturally and effortlessly. Written from the point of view of a law prof...more
I loved this book. It was a dense, complicated suspense tale, written by an articulate man who opens the world of middle and upper class African American society to the reader naturally and effortlessly. Written from the point of view of a law professor, whose family has endured two trauma, the hit and run death of his young sister, and the failure of his father of achieving endorsement of Congress for a Supreme Court nomination because of the odor of scandal from his association with a mobster. What is the best, is the thoughts, emotions an inner dialogue of the law professor. He is a complete human, petty, jealous, brilliant, satirical commentator, angry, loving father and husband, chess aficionado, bored, religious and moral. The plot dealing with a mysterious quest his father left him after his death, and the role of the CIA, FBI, lawyers, mobsters and unknown entities, is interspersed with the politics of the law school and his failing marriage, keeps the reader going. The detail on chess in the background as the principle metaphor for the book is interesting at time, but forced elsewhere, particularly in one of his ruses to fool all the antagonists and in the symbolism of the note from the father that ends in nothing. Also it is a bit like the X Files or Lost, it is so suspenseful, but things are never actually resolved. I loved the take on white liberals and their ignorance in reaching out to black folks. A great, great read.
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Water for Elephants (Paperback)
by Sara Gruen
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"An interesting, well written book with the protagonist being a 90 or 93 year old in an old folks home, struggling to keep some measure of self esteem amidst patronizing care and off spring abandonment. He watches a circus being set up in town, which...more
An interesting, well written book with the protagonist being a 90 or 93 year old in an old folks home, struggling to keep some measure of self esteem amidst patronizing care and off spring abandonment. He watches a circus being set up in town, which prompts alternating chapters of his life in his early twenties. He was finishing veterinarian school when his parents died in a car crash. Penniless and traumatized he rides the rails, ending up in a circus caring for animals. The author creates a vivid picture of life in the depression, as well as the usury of men in power, of poor people working in the circus. It is refreshing to have a rank depiction of prostitution, human “freaks”, and grueling work without the romanticism or moral tinge. The characters are believable and the depiction of great mammals is wonderful, plus the insane husband of the protagonist lover is a believable mixture of charm and violence. It was a little unbelievable that his children would abandon him after they grew up on farms with elephants and wonderful horses, plus the stream of consciousness of a 93 year old seemed more like what a 30 year old imagined it would be. But a wonderful book
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Hush (Paperback)
by Anne Frasier
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"This author had a clean straight forward writing style, without a lot of the trite over-adjective-style and pretention of making protagonists elitists. She also used the convention of having details from a subculture authentic with the punk music kno...more
This author had a clean straight forward writing style, without a lot of the trite over-adjective-style and pretention of making protagonists elitists. She also used the convention of having details from a subculture authentic with the punk music knowledge of the teenage character. The story goes that after 10 years a serial killer, who was never caught is active again, he kiss single women and their new born boy babies. One of his victims actually lived, unknown to him, and took a new identity and became criminologist profiler. She returns from Canada and begins to help the surly, wounded detective on the case. Both of their characters are surprisingly well-drawn, less well developed are the serial killer (the simplistic psychoanalytic motivation of an abusive mother is hard to believe) and the teenager who struggles with parentage issues. A fun, quick read for the weekend.
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June 18
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Explosion in a Cathedral (Paperback)
by Alejo Carpentier
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"Carpentier creates a multi-layered archetypal tale of the 1780’s when the French Revolution spilled over to the Caribbean. It is a historical drama, a love story to the sensual, evocative beauty of the Caribbean, an archetypal drama of man, woman, ...more
Carpentier creates a multi-layered archetypal tale of the 1780’s when the French Revolution spilled over to the Caribbean. It is a historical drama, a love story to the sensual, evocative beauty of the Caribbean, an archetypal drama of man, woman, monster and earth, and a love story between cousins. There are three orphans a sister and brother, SoFia and Carlos,and their cousin, Estaban,who are left alone in Havana with the wealth of a mercantile business. They create an eccentric world of play and leftist politics, when this world is invaded by Victor, the uber man, who inspires them with revolutionary ideas. There are many comings and going with Estaban stuck in Europe and seeing the hypocrisy and power plays in the revolution, and Victor defeating the British in Guadeloupe, a French territory, and freeing slaves and then later pirating other islands and reinstituting slavery .The history and the role of the free masons and the waves of coups within the French revolution, and the extreme violence of using the guillotine to kill former revolutionaries, and the transcendental earth wisdom of the blacks of Cuba are fascinating. In the end it seemed to me it was about heroism, and the Estaban thought he was a hero of the revolution, then became cynical by the hypocrisy, loss of principles, and killing, but becomes a true hero by saving SoFia. Is personal or social revolution necessary/
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Annabelle
gave
to:
The Typhoon Lover (Paperback)
by Sujata Massey
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"This is a later book in the series of Rei, a Japanese American, antique buyer and dealer, who has on and off again affairs with Hugh, a Scotsman, and Takei, a independently wealthy Japanese flower arranger, both highly attractive. The plot is a bit i...more
This is a later book in the series of Rei, a Japanese American, antique buyer and dealer, who has on and off again affairs with Hugh, a Scotsman, and Takei, a independently wealthy Japanese flower arranger, both highly attractive. The plot is a bit improbable; the CIA wants Rei to go to Japan, where she has been kicked out of because of previous sleuthing, to find out if Takei has an ancient Persian vase, stolen from the Iraq museum. Why would the CIA care? Rei gets into a peck of trouble, and seems to rush from place to place even wading through a typhoon. Massey throws in a lot of current rock n roll musical groups which seems a bit forced, but I actually like all the details about Rei’s vintage designer clothes. Also the descriptions of Japanese houses, streets and social conventions are very well done, giving an eye to another culture. She loses both lovers, one becomes a monk and one moves, but maybe a future job with the CIA. Maybe she should retire....less
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Annabelle
gave
to:
A Cold Heart (Alex Delaware)
by Jonathan Kellerman
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"This is a formulaic mystery with the main character, Alex, being a psychologist criminal profiler, on the rebound from his guitar repairing live-in lover, and getting it on with a new girlfriend, a psychologist, who carries a small silver gun because...more
This is a formulaic mystery with the main character, Alex, being a psychologist criminal profiler, on the rebound from his guitar repairing live-in lover, and getting it on with a new girlfriend, a psychologist, who carries a small silver gun because she has been raped. A has-been, on-the-rise-again blues musician is knifed in an alley. Over time the keen psychologist puts this murder together with an on-the-rise painter who is stabbed after her opening, and strangled with a wire, which turns out to be a lower E guitar string, quite a discovery. At first I liked his writing since he used very unique adjectives, but after awhile he just used way too many adjective even if they were unique, and had to describe everything anyone wore in detail. He could list designer names of clothes, but couldn’t call the Indian cracker, papadum, by its correct name. He liked to name drop, but only about pretentious designer clothes and high end gas guzzling card. The point of view shifted between Alex and Petra, who was a lonely childless detective with a hysterectomy whose boyfriend had just gone back to his former wife. But she was really incidental to the plot so it weird, plus his endless descriptions of rooms and clothes always seemed in the same voice, the authors. However, there were a few good red herrings, and the plot had a nice completion. Also it is fun to read sex scenes written by a man. The theme seemed to be we are all wounded in some way, but there is a way out, getting the bad guy....less
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Annabelle
gave
to:
The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback)
by Audrey Niffenegger
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Annabelle said:
"This was quite a book, out of time and out of synch. It opens with Clare a young girl, out in a meadow on the shores of Lake Michigan, being visited by a 30 year old man who appears nude and disheveled, Henry, her future husband. In actuality they a...more
This was quite a book, out of time and out of synch. It opens with Clare a young girl, out in a meadow on the shores of Lake Michigan, being visited by a 30 year old man who appears nude and disheveled, Henry, her future husband. In actuality they are eight years apart, but because Henry time travels, outside of his control, sometimes they are 30 years apart, or two, or the 8 actual years. When he time travels, he doesn’t know where he will end up, and can’t take anything with him, sometimes he visits himself. It switches between Clare or Henry’s voices in a clear and lovely way, in that you get a feel of their personality and world view. It presents a lot of possibilities, but ends up to be a love story with some major grief and unrequitedness. They have a daughter who time travels too which is quite cute. It’s an interesting read, particularly the intense, present tense and vivid feelings she describes. There’s a little too much about all the streets and locales in Chicago and the paper making, Clare, is an artist. Thought provoking.
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Daddy's Girl (Hardcover)
by Lisa Scottoline
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"Another formulaic mystery. Lots of description of clothes, East coast pretention with food choices and table cutlery. The writing is a bit trite. However this plot is really plausible and suspenseful. A woman attorney who teachers in law school and i...more
Another formulaic mystery. Lots of description of clothes, East coast pretention with food choices and table cutlery. The writing is a bit trite. However this plot is really plausible and suspenseful. A woman attorney who teachers in law school and is recruited to teach at a prison by her hippy, long haired colleague who runs legal aid. During her class a riot breaks out, she is almost raped, and she tried to saving a dying guard, who whispers, “tell my wife, under the floor” Or did he really say floor. There are several odd things about the guards death, i.e. no cameras where the guard is killed, and things are swept under the rug. She investigates, and soon she is framed for murders, and has to go on the run and prove who is corrupt. A good twist ending. An enjoyable, buy at the airport, read on the plane....less
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Under the Banner of Heaven (Paperback)
by Jon Krakauer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Annabelle said:
"Krakauer is an amazing researcher and writer, able to weave a story of a woman and baby’s brutal murder, by Mormon fundamentalists in Sandy, Utah, into the historical fabric of the Mormon church showing how it has supported direct revelation from g...more
Krakauer is an amazing researcher and writer, able to weave a story of a woman and baby’s brutal murder, by Mormon fundamentalists in Sandy, Utah, into the historical fabric of the Mormon church showing how it has supported direct revelation from god and blood atonement when people are past saving and all that is possible is killing them to achieve their salvation. The book is brimmed full of historical and factual details, and shifting from the origin, migration, persecution and establishment of Utah, as well as the eruption of fringe fundamentalists groups. It is chilling how young women are bred to want to be married at 13, and then moved around across men depending of the power plays and coups in these fundamentalists groups, and how everyone is related in bizarre ways. Sometimes the names and connections get a little overwhelming, and the documentation that Mormons in southern Utah killed the Powell expedition’s lost three men is a bit circumstantial. All in all Krakauer is a master researcher and storyteller and shows how fundamentalist can be inculcated into killing for god. It doesn’t point to solutions but to causes of the emergence of these fundamentalists groups across the globe. His psychologically discussion of faith versus insanity was less well done.
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May 25
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Annabelle
gave
to:
Seeking Whom He May Devour (Mass Market Paperback)
by Fred Vargas
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my rating:
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Annabelle said:
"Vargas does it again, a great, funny read, with Adamsberg is his rumpled, attractive self, daydreaming, and searching for the content of his intuitive flashes which solve the murder. A little contrived plot of a monster wolf killing sheep and then, ...more
Vargas does it again, a great, funny read, with Adamsberg is his rumpled, attractive self, daydreaming, and searching for the content of his intuitive flashes which solve the murder. A little contrived plot of a monster wolf killing sheep and then, oops, a few men and a woman. But it is nice to get the geographic feel of the villages in SW France in the Alps. Also there is more this time on Camille, Adamsberg on and again lover, a plumber and a musical composer. It is nice how the two plots come together at the end, and also the village characters, of a cumudgeon shepherd and an African prince are great....less
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