3 no 7’s Comments (group member since Jan 27, 2020)

3 no 7’s comments from the Read Outside the Box group.

I read a book on politics, and I should not have. It seemed like the thing to do in this electin year, but it turned out to be just a "look what you have done, shame on you" exposé on past politics. I can get people pointing fingers at each other on the news and turn them off. I do not need to read about it on and on and on disguised as an investigative look at my home state. Here is the link to my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished a book that has been made into a movie or TV series
"Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem. It is crime fiction but from a from a unique perspective with very unusual characters. Here is the link to my review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sounds interesting. I am now number 22 on the library's waiting list. I think a lot of people agree with your evaluation of the book. Thanks.

I read"Holes" a great "young adult" book that adults will enjoy as well. At first the plot seems dark and ominous, after all boys in a detention camp in the middle of the desert who dig holes day after day does not seem to be uplifting, but it actually is. It is a story of friendship, camaraderie, and hope. Here is the link to my full review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I do not live in New Jersey, and I do not think I have ever even visited there, but Patterson, New Jersey is where David Rosenfelt sets his Andy Carpenter books. Now, there is a new dog on the block and on the case; enter "The K Team.” Rosenfelt’s casual, comfortable narrative continues with new characters, familiar characters, and a complicated case. Here is the link to my full review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I also read a book set in a country I have not visited. In "Knife" readers see a whole new side of famous (or infamous) Norwegian detective Harry Hole. He is complicated, determined, gritty and sometimes unlikeable, but anyone who drives a Ford Escort is OK by me. Here is the link to my full review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

. “Motherless Brooklyn” was also made into a 2019 award-winning film directed by Edward Norton. It is the first person narrative by Lionel Essrog residing in St. Vincent’s Home for Boys, struggling with Tourette’s syndrome, and growing up motherless in Brooklyn. His narrative, complete with Tourette’s ticks and exclamations, is witty, entertaining, and poetic. It is crime fiction from a very different perspective -- tragic, interesting, funny, and very unique. Here is the link to my full review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

One would not think that a book about people living in a retirement home, people missing, people searching for them, and eventually people dead would be funny, but it is hilarious on every page. Did you ever wonder where "elderly" witches and vampires lived? Well, they live in "The Back Wing" as retired Harold McCaffrey soon discovers. Add to the mix his visiting grandson, and there are laught one every page.
Here is the link to my full review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished "the red House Mystery" by A. A. Milne, published in 1922. Yes, it is the same A. A. Milne, but no one was murdered in the Hundred Acre Woods. Winnie the Pooh is fine, but the book echoes Milne's lyrical style and subtle humor that shows up in Christopher Robin and his friends.
I was first made aware of “The Red House” by Peter Swanson in his recent book “Eight Perfect Murders.” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) “The Red House” is included on a list of the top eight books with perfect literary murders, and Swanson is certainly correct with this choice. Here is the link to my full review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Happy reading

"Eight Perfect Murders" is a book every mystery reader should immediately pick up. The murders in the title are books with perfect murders that are being replicated. To solve the murders, law enforcement seeks the help of the owner of a bookstore who posted "the list" on his blog. It is full of references to classic books that will increase anyones "to read" list. Here is my full review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will look for this series

I finished an extra credit book, a woman in a red coat on the cover. "Salvation of a Saint" is a book about the "why" of the crime, not the who. (It was an audio book, but that still counts. ) Here is the link to my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I completed one book on the list -- a book not a mystery -- "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng. It is quick to read, and tells the story of a multi-racial family in Ohio and family members struggling to find their way. Here is the link to my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...