Lisa’s Comments (group member since Jul 24, 2008)

Lisa’s comments from the The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List group.

Is it www.bookmooch.com (2 sets of double "o"s?)

This book was engaging and I also found myself up late reading just to see what happened. That being said, while usually I'm all over series of books featuring the same main cast of characters, I don't think I'll be pursuing this one. Like others mentioned, the fact that she ran circles around the other detectives/ investigators didn't fit well for me and the long technical explanations of minutae were distracting. Reading the author's bio I can certainly see where all the exhaustive (!) descriptions came from though.

I did like the way that she doled out portions of the puzzle as to who the killer was. Those came full bloom nicely toward the end during the full reveal.

QUESTION (possible SPOILER:)
What did Claudel see on the floor of her apartment after the final attack? The book metioned that he stopped and looked at something - like a double take. I couldn't figure out what it was. Anyone?

I read this as part of a book club I belonged to in the past. I really liked this book, although I do remember it taking me a little bit to get thru the choppiness and into the flow of the book. Once I recognized how the author was flipping between characters and time it was much better (so hang in there). Odd parts that stick in my head are the part where Henry describes himself as having to have "cloven feet" since he usually found himself running in unusual settings after having traveled and training himself to pick locks. The fact that he had to prepare himself physically and mentally for any situation was interesting since he had no "tools" to help him otherwise. The end was sad, but I did like how it worked in seeing his daughter and Clare.

My interpretation of the ending was that he was born in Paris and his life ended in Paris: he came around full circle. His passion and his quest for the perfect scent consumed his whole life, and ultimately he was literally "consumed" by It.

I too had to push my way through this book. I didn't care for it. I guess like more action and interpersonal dialog. I kept waiting for "something" to happen. I felt that flowery descriptions (again literally in most cases) were overwhelming and I found myself skimming over those parts. The way he switched from 1st person to the father's perspective was very abrupt and didn't flow with the story.

Overall I thought it was ok, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were really into perfume or scent or things of that nature.

Hello!
I'm new to goodreads and I'm thrilled to have a place to keep track of all my books. I'm also looking forward to being part of this group and working my way thru the Ultimate Reading List (in addition to all the others in my to-read shelf!

I agree with Claire (above) ok, and with Claire Frasier too ;) This is a great series and I have them all in hardback. I also rarely buy hardback books, but these are soooo keepers. Outlander gets better and better with every reading. I haven't re-read the others (yet?) but I remember the tingly trill of the others as well as crying big gasping sobs. I can't wait for the next in the series. I wish Diana would pull back from her Lord John Grey series fixation (although the first one of that was pretty good) and focus her attention where it belongs - back on the Outlander series and our beloved Jamie and Claire.