75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2018 GR Completed)
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Alecias 2018 Challenge
Book # 39 The Darkest Time of Night 4/5 starsTwo Grandmas are the stars of this sci-fi book, and one of them is the very good narrator. Sci-fi is not my favorite genre, but this book is a solid debut with good writing, characters, and plotting. Once I saw what I was into (I had originally thought it was a mystery...and it is, sort of), I was going to stop reading it. But I was engaged and kept going.
Lynne is the wife of a US Senator, and their 7 year old grandson goes missing in the woods behind his home. His older brother witnessed what happened, but is too traumatized to speak. But Lynne suspects she knows the truth about William's disappearance. And as the FBI and National Guard launch a massive search, she begins her own desperate search. Her friend Roxy assists her later in the book, and she is a very welcome character. With forces wishing to silence them, these two forge ahead to discover the truth about William and many other missing people throughout the years.
Mod
Two Grandmas are the stars of this sci-fi book, and one of them is the very good narrator. Sci-fi is not my favorite genre, but this b..."
Two grandmas, it sounds adorable. New genre cozy sci-fi? lol
Certainly is different in that respect☺️
Book # 40 The Other Wife 3/5 starsThis is #9 in a series, and I read it as a stand-alone. Although that might be a reason that it did not resonate with me, I think it was more in the plotting. It started off very well. The narrator, Joseph O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist with Parkinson's disease, is an interesting protagonist. When he arrives at the hospital bedside of his father, he finds a strange woman sobbing next to the bed, covered in blood. She claims she is his father's wife. But how can this be, when his upstanding, renowned surgeon father and mother have been married over 60 years? And who attacked his father and pushed him down the stairs causing this terrible injury?
The first half of the book goes by very quickly, as Joseph starts to investigate his father's second relationship and who might have wanted to injure him. But then I found my attention wandering as the plot lines went out into too many threads. I did like descriptions of his family situation (he is a single father of two girls) and his character is interesting.
Book # 41 The Possible World 3.5/5 starsI am rounding up a 3.5 review to 4 stars because of the lovely writing and wonderful characterizations. The problem I had was in the (to me) slightly creaking structure of this book. Told from many points of view, it got a bit confusing to me when it toggled between Ben and Leo, and it took awhile to adjust to time and place differences. The beginning scene is both horrific and told very well. I also thought that the medical scenes with Lucy, the ER Dr., seemed realistic.
The chapters on Lucy, Ben, Leo and Clare link them all together. At first they seem like disparate, isolated stories, but the author makes the connection, and the reader sees it coming about half way through the book. It's a leap of faith, but a sweet one. Most of the main characters are layered and deeply nuanced.
I enjoyed the prose and the book's intention, and would read this author again.
Book # 42 How to Stop Time 4/5 starsI love it when a good writer uses his or her imagination to the utmost and concocts a scenario that is really a leap of faith. And then he draws the reader into this scenario and we are off and running. I had read Matt Haig's The Humans a few years ago and enjoyed it. In The Humans, Haig's sent of humor was very apparent, causing me to laugh out loud more than a few times. This one is clever, touching and poignant, but without the obvious humor in the previous book.
Tom Hazard has been alive for centuries, as he has a condition called anageria, where he ages very slowly. He's over 400 years old but looks about 40. He belongs to a secret society with rigid rules (move every 8 years and change identities). When he moves back to London to become a high school teacher, he tries to resist the attraction he feels for a lovely French teacher. One of the rules is don't fall in love. Well, you know what happens...
The chapters toggle back and forth between now and Tom's history in many different eras of his life. He has dealings with Shakespeare, Scott and Zelda and many more. If you enjoy the writing and can take that leap of faith, this is a very unique story with lovely things to say about time and living in the present.
Book # 43 Clock Dance 3.5/5 starsI would give this book 3.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the first half of the book. The first half is comprised of three chapters taking place in 1967, 1977 and 1997. They lead up to 2017, which is the second half of the book.
I really enjoyed those first three chapters. Tyler captures a young Willa Drake, navigating childhood with her mother's erratic behavior, and adoring her loving father. In 1977, Willa is a college student who finds herself engaged to a "real catch". The visit home to her parents with her boyfriend is done very well, including a very strange interlude on her first plane trip. In 1997, she has to cope with a traumatic experience in her life, also written very well.
Then, in 2017, the rest of the book is about an older Willa who is finding herself at loose ends. She gets a phone call from a woman in Baltimore asking to please come and take care of her granddaughter, as her mother was shot in the leg and is in the hospital. This is a mistake, as the little girl in question is no relation to Willa, but her reaction is to fly out there and help. Already I was mystified by that reaction, but the story takes off from this premise. The character of the little nine year old girl is done well, as are some of the neighbors. Willa starts to fill the empty hole in her life with this new episode in her life.
I felt as if this was two different books. It was almost like three interlocking short stories followed by a novella. But Anne Tyler's writing is always engaging, and her characters come alive. So, although not one of her best, I found it still worthwhile reading.
Book # 44 Something in the Water 3.5/5 starsThis is a solid debut novel (I would give this 3.5 stars), the author is an actress (she had a part on Downton Abbey), and her writing is impressive. The plotting and character motivations, not quite as much.
Erin, a documentary filmmaker, is our narrator, and the book starts off as she is burying her husband. Literally burying him, by herself. The start of this book is a good one..."Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that." And the story continues to be engaging as Erin describes how in love she is with her fiancee, Mark, the planning of their wedding and honeymoon, and the loss of Mark's job.
Even with funds very tight without Mark's income, they proceed with the wedding and honeymoon in Bora Bora, and of course, they find "something in the water" there that changes the course of the story. It is from this point on that the motivations of the characters puzzled me as they begin keeping secrets from each other. Intertwined in this story is the thread of Erin's documentary about three prison inmates who are about to be released. Some of these stories felt extraneous to the main story. And although the ending is a twist, I did see it coming. And the very last chapter seemed tacked on as an afterthought, perhaps trying to wrap up loose ends. The writing is good and it's an entertaining story, although the premise has been done before.
Book # 45 Give Me Your Hand 4/5 starsI am rounding this up from 3.5 to a 4 as I am a huge fan of Megan Abbott's and love her writing. Even though I don't think this one was quite as good as her previous novel, You Will Know Me, it still succeeds as being a disturbing, twisty, psychologically probing novel.
The quote from Sylvia Plath on the front page of the book, "The world is blood-hot and personal" sets the tone for the novel to come. Blood runs through this book in all forms and shades. The study that the post-docs (including the protagonist, Kit) want to be doing in this book is called PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). Just a few examples of blood used as imagery : "the purple marrow of female rage", "today's lipstick I would call placenta red", Dr. Severin's mantra, (repeated several times throughout the book) for her PMDD study, " The blood is the life", a restaurant with "crimson-flocked wallpaper...round, red booths like tight cherries..." and on and on.
All of these variations of blood-related descriptions give the book a heated quality that adds to the urgent, competitive relationship between Kit and the beautiful, brilliant, enigmatic Diane. Both girls are superlative science students, Diane the valedictorian and Kit the salutatorian of their high school class. But Diane confides a terrible secret to Kit, and that secret festers within Kit throughout the book. When Diane surfaces later as competition for a position that both women covet that is led by their idol, the story takes an even darker turn.
The probing into the murky recesses of female relationships, competitiveness, jealousy, and desire is done very well in this book. No one writes quite like Megan Abbott, and this is a very good noir novel to add to her works so far.
Book # 46 Some Die Nameless 4/5 starsThis is a fast-paced thriller that has nuanced, layered characters leading the way. Ray Devlin is a retired mercenary who is trying to lead a simple life on his boat. That is shattered when an old colleague drops in, violence takes hold, and the story takes off. Tracy Quinn is an investigative reporter, working for a Philadelphia newspaper that is not doing well in this online climate. Their paths cross over a case, putting both in the path of danger.
Wallace Stroby has the ability to keep the reader avidly turning pages and to provide nerve-wracking scenarios with very good plots. At the same time, his characters are well-thought-out and fully-fleshed. I always enjoy his books and just wish he would write faster!
Book # 47 The Great Alone 4/5 starsThis is a hard one for me to rate. The writing is beautiful for most of the book, and Hannah's descriptions of the Alaskan landscape are just gorgeous. But as much as I liked the first part of the book, I was also disenchanted with the last third and ending. I felt the melodrama oozing from the pages, and it all felt a bit strained and cliched. But as a whole, it is a book worth reading, hence the four stars.
Much of the book is told from 13 year old Leni's point of view, starting in 1974. Her father, Ernst, has returned from the Vietnam War a damaged man. He was a POW, and without benefit of counseling, his volatility goes unchecked. He loses job after job and finally and impulsively decides to take his wife and daughter to Alaska. There, he hopes to find himself and live off the grid in a house left to him by a war buddy.
They are totally unprepared for life in Alaska, especially in a shack without electricity and running water. My thoughts at that point were that I would have immediately turned around and went back. But not these people. The locals turn out to be very helpful with advice about survival. But Leni's mother and Ernst have a stormy relationship, and his brutality towards her comes out more and more, especially as the winter comes and darkness prevails. In eighteen hours of night, they are housed together in the cabin, and Ernst's fragile mental state becomes more terrifying than the wild outside.
Leni finds solace in the one room schoolhouse, where she finds friendship and escape. The story continues over the next few decades and includes tragedy, love and loss. Alaska is a main character in this novel, and that character is beautifully wrought.
Book # 48 The Banker’s Wife 2.5/5 starsI am rounding this up from a 2.5, which is the review I would give this book. It is fine for a fast, forgettable beach read. And I do see all the superlative reviews (and enticing blurbs on the back of the book cover). But, for me, it was just an OK thriller with superficial characters, cliches, and fairly predictable plotting. I also found the two main female characters to be so close in description that when the chapters alternated, I had to continuously remind myself which character was which.
Annabel is married to Mathew, who has taken a high level banking job in Geneva, Switzerland. He dies in a plane crash at the beginning of the book, leaving Annabel searching for answers.
Marina is a society journalist, engaged to Grant, and his billionaire father is planning to run for president. The family wants her to quit working after the marriage. But there is one big story she wants to work on and this story ties her in with Annabel's story thread.
Book # 49 A Place for Us 4.5/5 starsI would rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars as this is a beautifully-written, slowly-paced family story. It begins with an Indian wedding, which introduces the characters and lets the reader know that the son, Amar, (making an appearance at the wedding) is estranged from the family. We meet the parents, Layla and Rafiq, and Amar's two sisters, Hadia, the bride, and Huda. Then the novel toggles back and forth in time, often within the same chapter. The author manages to pull this off rather seamlessly, and with this device, we are able to get a layered look at most of the members of the family. The last part of the book is a gorgeous part told by the father, Rafiq. It is quite poignant and moving, and makes the book very special.
Book # 50 Rust & Stardust 4/5 starsApparently, the real-life story of the kidnapping of Sally Horner and her captor inspired Vladimir Nabokov to write Lolita. This kidnapping also inspired the author T. Greenwood to write this work of fictionalized history. At the end of the book, the author writes, " While the series of events and the settings in which they occur mirror history, the characters and their inner lives are entirely fabricated". But her novel follows the timeline and uses real names as opposed to Lolita, which is totally fictionalized and a rather different story. But the lurking predatory male is the same pedophile, and this is not an easy novel to read.
Eleven-year-old, friendless Sally Horner, desperately wanting to be included in a girl's club, acts on a dare from these girls to steal a notebook from Woolworth's. The predator, Frank, is watching her and tricks Sally into believing he is with the FBI and convinces her to come with him. The rest of this horrific story, based on fact and reimagined by the author, takes the reader along on the two years she is kept by him, and goes back and forth from Sally to her family and a few other characters. It is by turns appalling, sad, ghastly and engrossing. The author writes very well, and I finished the book very quickly.
Book # 51 A Sharp Solitude 3.5/5 starsI would give it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. This is my 4th novel by Christine Carbo, and she always delivers, with a wondrous setting (Glacier National Park in Montana), very good writing, and fully fleshed characters. I did not give it a full 4 stars as I found the behavior of the two main characters, Reeve and Ali, somewhat incomprehensible at times. I believe that Carbo tries to explain the reasoning for their behavior by going in-depth into their backgrounds...both of them are damaged. But I still was frustrated with their choices of action.
Reclusive researcher Reeve is a main suspect in the murder of a journalist. He seeks help from his ex-girlfriend, Ali, who is also the mother of his child. Ali is an FBI investigator and determined to investigate his case, at peril of her job. Reeve refuses to retain a lawyer, and he goes off into the woods with his dog, continuing his work, and faces his own peril.
Book # 52 Her Pretty Face 1.5/5starsI will round this up from 1.5 starts to 2 as I did finish it. Contrary to all the many good reviews on Goodreads, I found this book to be cliched and predictable, with inconsistent, cardboard characters. It was not for me.
Book # 53 Where the Crawdads Sing 4.5/5 starsThis was quite a lovely book that is hard to categorize, and I would give it 4.5 stars. In the short prologue, we know that the body of Chase Andrews was found in the swamp by two boys. The mystery of who killed him weaves gently through the book until the trial. But the story is much more than a mystery.
Kya, known as the "Marsh Girl", has been left on her own since six years old. Her mother walked out and one by one, her older siblings left the shack they lived in, leaving Kya with her brutal, drunken father. One day, he leaves also, and she, amazingly, fends for herself. This is another book among others I've read recently where the setting is a central character in the novel. The natural world of the marsh is Kya's world and she becomes an expert in all the nature around her. Her one day experience in school, when all the children laughed at her, cause her to hide from the authorities and never go back. She is quite a bit older when she finally learns how to read, thanks to lessons from a young man who lives nearby.
This is by parts, a love story (a love between humans and humans and nature), a survival story and a mystery. There are wonderful parts that dwell on loneliness and the human need for interaction. I thought it was very well done, parts of it are quite poignant, and a very good read.
Book # 54 The Book of Essie 2/5 starsI found myself skimming and growing quite bored with this book. The concept is interesting: a "behind the scenes" look into a fictional realty show about an evangelical family that isn't what it appears. But the characters to me were cardboard, and the drama anticlimactic and too drawn-out. Although this got many positive reviews, it was not for me.
Mod
I found myself skimming and growing quite bored with this book. The concept is interesting: a "behind the scenes" look into a fictional realty..."
Oh that stinks! Moving down my list then!
Book # 55 The Line That Held Us 3.5/5 starsI would give this 3.5 stars for the wonderful writing. This is a work of Southern noir, with the stress on noir. A little reminiscent of the writing of Donald J Pollack (a good thing), it is an unrelentingly grim story. With a very bad decision starting off the book, the characters and behavior spiral downwards from there.
Darl Moody is hunting when he mistakenly shoots a man instead of the game he thinks he has shot. They are both poaching, and neither one is supposed to be on that property. To make matters much worse, he has killed the brother of a man known for violence and vengeance. Darl calls on the help of his best friend, Calvin Hooper and a nightmare begins for both of them.
The writing is very good and the characters are fully fleshed. It was the unending grimness that kept me from giving this 4 stars. But I will read this author again.
Elyse wrote: "Alecia wrote: "Book # 54 The Book of Essie 2/5 starsI found myself skimming and growing quite bored with this book. The concept is interesting: a "behind the scenes" look into a f..."
Maybe it's me...a lot of people seemed to like it. I don't know why;-)
Book # 56 Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein 4/5 starsBecause I have been such a fan of Leonard Bernstein's glorious music for West Side Story, Candide and On The Town, this book was of interest to me. When I was growing up, he was a larger than life figure to me, as I would watch him on The Young People's Concert Series on TV. He was so full of obvious passion for music that his conducting and educating was inspiring and fascinating to view as a young person. When I was older, I remember reading about his personal life (complicated) and his quest to be remembered for more "serious" classical pieces than West Side Story (unfulfilled). What must it have been like to be brought up by such a complex, incredibly talented man as one's father?
Jamie Bernstein, the eldest of his three children, does a very good job of letting the reader know what this experience was like. Jamie describes her childhood and beyond with empathy, honesty and compassion towards her father, mother and her two younger siblings. There is plenty of name-dropping as the Bernstein's lives included very famous people such as the Kennedys. Mike Nichols, John Lennon and more. She does a very good job of explaining how the music Bernstein composed became intertwined into their lives.
This is an unflinching look at what it was like to be the child of such a complex, extraordinarily gifted father, and it also gives insight into her parents marriage. There is humor, poignancy and love in this memoir, and I thought it was very well done.
Book # 57 Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret 4/5 starsI enjoyed this one, so 4 stars for enjoyment! It's not a novel, per se, but musings and anecdotes (not necessarily in a linear fashion) in each chapter. And they are all about the person that was Princess Margaret. After watching two seasons of The Crown, I became interested in her, and this book title intrigued me. Although not always the most likable person, she was certainly interesting. She was torn between an affinity for the bohemian world and those people who populated that world, and also determined to remind everyone of her station in life and she needed to be paid due deference. For those readers who have an interest in her, it is told through the eyes of those around her, and is full of gossip.
Book # 58 The Seasons of Doubt 3.5/5 starsThis gets 3.5 stars from me for straightforward storytelling about a single woman and her 5 year old son, set in the late 1800's. Mary and Ezekiel are left to fend for themselves as Mary's husband abandons them. Mary takes her son in the freezing cold from their abandoned farm and arrives in a small town. She struggles and works extraordinarily hard to survive and her son grows up before his time.
I do think the afterward stating that this is a story based on real people might have been more interesting in the beginning of the book. But it was a very good telling of the grim life of a hardworking and very enterprising woman (and her son) during that time.
Book # 59 Sunrise Highway 4/5 starsMany years ago, I read Slow Motion Riot by Peter Blauner. I thought it was terrific, and read one or two more books after that one...not so terrific. But I thought I'd give his newest book a try, and once again I really enjoyed the book!
This is the second in a series featuring Lourdes Robles, a young Latina detective for the NYPD. I did not read the first book, so this one was fine as a stand-alone. She finds herself on the trail of a serial killer, but also pitted against a tainted, complicit police department. And the bad guy is really quite a complex psychopath. The story toggles back and forth in time from when the various crimes were committed, and the coverup of these crimes, to the present day. The characters are layered, the plotting complex, and the story kept me going. I look forward to reading more by this author once again.
Book # 60 I Know My Name 3/5 starsAlthough I enjoyed the mystery of the first 1/2 or so of of this book, I eventually found it to be a bit overlong and it dragged for me in parts. So what started out as a 4 star rating for me slowly devolved into a 3 star, and in some spots, a 2 star rating. I think some sharper editing might have benefited the book in it's totality. The ending is quite interesting, and I thought it made this quite a different type of book. I have read that it has been picked up for a TV series, and that might be interesting.
The chapters toggle back and forth between Eloise, who we know is the woman washed ashore on a remote Greek island with no memory at all of who she is, and her husband, Lochlan, blindsided by her disappearance, and left with their infant daughter and four year old son. It is rather clever in it's plotting and ending, and many. people seem to have loved it.
Book # 61 The Man Who Came Uptown 4/5 starsThis was a different kind of book...a hybrid of a mystery, noir and a character study. I have read a book or two by George Pelecanos in the past, and have seen some of his TV show creations/writing. He really seems to be very knowledgeable about the down and dirty grit of the streets, and in that way he reminds me of Richard Price. But they are very different writers. Pelecanos is more spare with his words than Price, but both convey a reality and believability in how certain cultures think and behave.
I really liked the beginning, which portrays a young inmate, Michael Hudson, becoming enamored of reading. A young woman named Anna is the prison librarian, and she takes great pleasure recommending books to the prison population, especially Michael. I enjoyed reading about their book groups, the type of books they liked, and why.
When Michael becomes suddenly released, he is determined to stay on the right path. He gets a new job and continues his love of reading. But he owes the man who arranged his release, and decisions need to be made. He also bumps into Anna in the outside world, and her life, filled with ambiguities, is also described nicely.
I enjoyed this book, and will look forward to reading more of this author's stand-alone novels.
Book # 62 Little Sister 3/5 starsI found the pacing to be much too slow for me in this book, and it dragged. Yes, there are some twisty turns in this psychological drama about two sisters, but it seemed to have too many unnecessary details to make it move along well.
Jess and Emily are two sisters, one year apart in age, and they are recently reconciled after a long estrangement. Jess is babysitting for her sister's baby when on New Year's Eve little Daisy disappears while in her care.
What follows is sometimes less about where Daisy is and more about the drama between the sisters, Emily and her husband (well actually not her husband as he would never marry her) and her step-daughter. There is a lot of drinking going on, and back and forth in time exploring the sister's history together. The ending is supposed to be a twist, but it was not very shocking.
Book # 63 The Space Between 3.5/5 starsThis book rates a 3.5 from me. It is a pretty well-done done domestic/mystery, not many surprises. It moves along fairly well with some nice writing.
The story is told in the first person by Sarah, a renowned astronomer. She has come home from a major scientific breakthrough presentation to find her husband, Ben, has disappeared. Her teenage son saw his father, but can not offer much information. As the police become involved, information about their marriage and Ben's dealings come out. The ending is not a surprise, as there is immense foreshadowing beforehand. This is readable, but not especially memorable.
Book # 64 All We Ever Wanted 3.5/5 starsThis gets a 3.5 for enjoyment of reading. It is my first book by Emily Giffin, and her writing reminds me of Elin Hilderbrand. It's a breezy style, confessional, and easy to relate to.
This is a domestic drama, and it focuses on Nina Browning, who has been living a very nice life married to one of Nashville's wealthiest men. Lyla and Nina's son, Finch, go to the same prestigious private school. But Lyla is on a scholarship and is the daughter of Tom, a carpenter and single father. Each chapter is told in first person point of view by Nina, Lyla, and her father, Tom.
The story takes off when a photo taken at a party of a drunken Lyla is spread. Finch is accused, and his acceptance to Princeton is in jeopardy. Nina discovers behavior by both her husband and her son that appalls her, and she starts to have an awakening.
The concept is good, but has been done before. This is an easy to take book, as it does not burrow very deeply into the characters. It is a brisk, easy and enjoyable read, but not particularly gritty or memorable. But sometimes that is not a bad thing.
book # 65 The Way of All Flesh 3.5/5 starsI would give this book 3.5 stars for being a well-done, atmospheric mystery novel. A Scottish husband and wife writing team make up the pseudonym of Ambrose Perry. The husband is a mystery writer and the wife is a medical Dr. Usually writing "teams" make me a bit uneasy...who is writing what? But this seems fairly seamless in it's tone and voice. I found the mystery part of the book a little lagging in the first half and it moves rather slowly, although it is not boring.
Set in Edinburgh, 1847, young women have been found dead, seemingly pregnant or attempting to get abortions. Will Raven, a young medical student, is about to start his apprenticeship with the renowned Dr. Simpson. In Dr. Simpson's household, the excellent female character, Sarah, works as a housemaid. Sarah, an intelligent, inquisitive young woman, also helps with clinical duties as well as housework, and her yearning to be something more than a maid is evoked well. Sarah and Raven meet and team up to try and solve the mysterious deaths.
For lovers of historical fiction, this has some interesting facts about the development of anesthesia during childbirth and surgeries. It is not exactly riveting, but it was a pleasant enough read.
Book # 66 Gateway to the Moon 4/5 starsThis is my first book by Mary Morris, and I was pleased to find what a good writer she is. She has penned an ambitious project with this book, an intertwining of two eras and an examination of a little-known historical phenomena of the crypto-Jews. Morris did her research and came up with this novel. It starts in 1492 when the Jewish and Muslim populations were expelled from Spain. Many Spanish Jews chose not to flee and became Christians in name only, maintaining their traditions in secret to their peril. They practiced what the Inquisition referred to as "the dead Law of Moses" and were known as secret or crypto-Jews.
This book has chapters that are set in the 15th and 16th centuries and then mostly in 1992. The locations include Spain, Mexico and New Mexico. It is a sprawling work with many characters. Interestingly, many of the present day characters lived as Catholics in the remote hills of New Mexico while still maintaining their Jewish traditions...without knowing why. Morris makes these characters come alive, and the theme of the importance of knowing one's identity streams through this book.
Book # 67 The Death of Mrs. Westaway 3/5 starsThe first Ruth Ware book I tried to read was a DNF. So at least this one I finished and it wasn't bad. But Ruth Ware is not the author for me, as I find her writing just mediocre. There are too many examples of a writing style that doesn't sit well with me: an overabundance of italics use for emphasis, the main character always having a lurching stomach (or some variation of this) and I could go on and on.
Briefly, Harriet Westaway ( a twenty-something young woman known by her nickname, Hal) is down on her luck and has a kiosk doing tarot card readings. She is deeply in debt to a threatening loan-shark when a letter comes for her bequeathing an inheritance from her grandmother. The only trouble is, Hal knows this is a mistake as her grandparents are long dead. The mystery ensues as Hal decides to pursue this inheritance out of desperation. And the action takes place in a creepy gothic mansion with all of her putative relatives gathering for the funeral and reading of the will. I found the cast of relatives confusing, and the final mystery was not of any great interest to me as I struggled to finish this book. I see many others enjoyed this and Ware's other books so, as always, reading is up to individual taste.
Book # 68 Fear: Trump in the White House 4/5 starsThis was a well-researched, frightening book by a very credible author. Unlike other books out at this time on this subject, I thought this one was worth my time, having lived through the Watergate era when Woodward and Bernstein did such excellent reporting. It is disheartening to those of us who are very unhappy with what is going on right now in the White House. Woodward has captured a few years of the story so far, but there is more to go
Book # 69 A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts 3.5/5 starsI am giving this interesting, but not terribly engrossing book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. This historical fiction is about Alva Smith, who became Mrs. William Vanderbilt. The story begins after the Civil War, and Alva is a woman of her times. Although Alva and her sisters come from a good family, they are nearly destitute, and it is up to Alva to save the family by marrying well.
Marrying well she certainly did, at least in terms of financial well-being. Alva's smarts help William and his Vanderbilt family (who were known as "nouveau riche" and not accepted in the established New York society) become accepted, and she designs and builds mansions and hosts grand balls. But her marriage is not particularly happy, and the story continues as Alva finds a solution for that. In the mean time, she is very committed to having her daughter, Consuelo, marry into foreign nobility, and that is an interesting thread of storyline.
The writing is good, but not particularly exciting. However, I found the story compelling enough and well-done, and the author did a good job bringing the gilded age to the page.
Book # 70 November Road 4.5/5 starsThis very well-written and well-plotted thriller (with some romance tucked in) gets 4.5 stars from me. I enjoyed the last book I read by Lou Berney (The Long And Far Away Gone) and this one confirms to me what a terrific writer he is.
The action takes place in 1963, within hours of JFK's murder. Frank Guidry is a loyal lieutenant to a New Orleans mob boss, and he discovers that he has inadvertently been involved in the assassination. People involved are turning up dead and Frank suspects he's next. Guidry heads to Las Vegas to seek help from another ruthless man, and on the way he sees a broken down car on the road with a woman and her two young daughters. He devises another scheme that involves the woman, Charlotte. We have learned Charlotte is herself on the run with her kids from her drunken husband, looking for a new start.
The story proceeds with Frank manipulating Charlotte and discovering that she is smart and funny. And Frank, a confirmed ladies man, finds himself more and more attracted to her. This attraction lends a poignancy to this thriller and Frank finds humanity within himself that he did not know was there. This is a very good read.
Book # 72 The Lies We Told 2.5/5 starsThis book gets 3 stars rounded up from 2.5 stars. I see all the wonderful reviews, but, for me, it was just a pedestrian, complicated, red-herring-strewn book in the psychological thriller genre. I was definitely not "kept guessing until the end" as one of the blurbs trumpeted. The plot is quite twisty and somewhat convoluted.
Two stories merge into one (eventually). Beth is the narrator of the first part, set around 1986. She is horrified at the sociopathic tendencies she sees in her little girl from an early age. I found this part more affecting, and Beth makes a good narrator. The second part is set in 2017 and starts when Clara, who is living with Luke, finds him missing. The stories continue, back and forth, until finally the characters come together. Some of the twists I saw coming, and others were just absorbed, not terribly shocking. There was one hanging thread that was never resolved after a lot of foreshadowing, and too many suspicions cast on characters that later turned out to be explained away (red herrings).
Book # 73 Elevation 3.5/5 stars3.5 stars for a kindler, gentler Stephen King. I follow him on Twitter and I know and appreciate his political leanings. I think, in this whisper of a book, he is trying to present a kind character who just tries to unify a tiny little group of people in Castle Rock, Maine. There is no mention of the larger world outside of Maine in this book, but I think I know how he views it.
Sometimes I like his writing more than others (11/22/63 and Misery are two of my favorites) and some of his books I just don't care for. Sometimes his writing is simplistic and full of gimmickry, but overall, if it isn't a strictly horror book, I tend to give his new works a try. After all, I've been reading King off and on since forever, and he feels like an old friend. This book is an anomaly, a novella labeled as horror, but that is the wrong category. It is more in a sci fi, magical realism category, and, although very slight, is inspirational, almost like a Christmas book.
I have read several reviews complaining about the stereotypical characterizations of the lesbian couple, but I did not find their characters troubling. This is a very slight, light book that packs a certain wallop at the end. And I found it touching.
Book # 74 Dark Sacred Night 4/5 starsI do believe I have read all of Michael Connelly's books (starting a long time ago). And I watch Bosch on TV. I also saw him in person, giving a talk when the TV show was in development, and I was happy that he was so involved with the production of the show. So I'm a fan.
I did read The Late Show, which introduced the Renee Ballard character, also a detective. I like this one better, when she is working with Harry Bosch. He is working as a reserve Detective for San Fernando Valley. And a cold case keeps gnawing at him...the brutal murder of 15 year old Daisy Clayton. When Ballard discovers him rifling through old file cabinets one night (she is still working on "the late show"), she becomes intrigued, and joins forces to try and solve this case with him.
Ballard is a strong character on her own, quirky and independent in the mold of Bosch. Her off time is spent surfing on the beach and camping out there with her dog, Lola. There are other cases the two are working on, because as in all Connelly books there is never just one case. His plotting is very good, as always, and I look forward to more with these two paired up.
Mod
I do believe I have read all of Michael Connelly's books (starting a long time ago). And I watch Bosch on TV. I also saw him in person, giving..."
I want to start this series soon, maybe it will be my "series of the year." lol. One more book till 75, Alecia!
Oh boy, you have a lot of reading ahead of you! You don't have to start at the very beginning if you don't want to. I think I started a few books in and then went back and read those I missed. Yes, one more book :)
Mod
Oh but I'm a series purist. I HAVE to start at the beginning. lol. It drives me nuts when I accidentally read a later book in a series!
Mod
Oh yes! I totally agree. I have gotten a little better but I would never do it intentionally.
Book # 75 The Shadows We Hide 3/5 starsI had read The Life We Bury and was looking forward to this next book with some of the same characters. The reviews on Goodreads are very good, and I was somewhat disappointed with my reaction. I found it rather predictable, somewhat unbelievable in parts, and a little plodding.
The narrator, Joe Talbert Jr., is very engaging while taking the reader through this story. He is the guardian of his autistic brother, Jeremy, and lives with his girlfriend, Lila. Joe is a reporter, and has just written a story about a public official based on one anonymous source. While this public official is threatening a lawsuit and he is being pressured to reveal his source, Joe finds out that his natural father whom he has never met, Joe Talbert, has been found murdered in another town. With his reporter's job in jeopardy, he takes off (leaving his autistic brother in the care of his girlfriend) to find out more about him. At the same time, we learn that his mother is an addict who has inflicted harm on his brother, and find out the circumstances of why Joe had to take guardianship of Jeremy.
The story goes on (and on) about Joe's discoveries while on this search, including DNA testing, millions of dollars at stake and another murder. It was a little too convoluted and meandering for me, but since so many people appeared to have loved this, it might be worth a try.
Book # 76 Waiting for Eden 4.5/5 starsThis book gets 4.5/5 stars...a tiny book that packs a big wallop. Back when I was in college, I read Johnny Got His gun by Dalton Trumbo. That packed a huge wallop with me, also. The difference in these two books is that Johnny was a political, anti-war novel, and Eden is not. This one is more of a human novel, if that's a category, as the idea of what it means to be alive is certainly center stage here. Eden lies in a burn ward, without limbs, and yet clings to life.
Human beings are complicated, not pat, cliched characters, and the three main characters are certainly complicated beings. The book is narrated by one of the characters, a friend of Eden's, who was killed in the war that nearly killed Eden. The narrator is a ghost or a spirit, and he tries to explain the motivations of himself, his friend Eden, and his friend's wife Mary, the third main character.
Whether I agree with or understood the motivations of these characters is besides the point. They are wonderful characters who will break your heart.
Mod
This book gets 4.5/5 stars...a tiny book that packs a big wallop. Back when I was in college, I read Johnny Got His gun by Dalton Trumbo. Tha..."
It sounds incredible and I see other friends of mine rating it very highly as well! Hope I can get to it in 2019!
75 Books...More or Less!
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Reading this was a fun experience. Although definitely in the chick lit/beach read genre, the author writes well and puts some depth into her characters. She knows Nantucket (where the story is based) intimately, and paints a vivid picture of the area as background to a very posh wedding happening there. And, boy, does this wedding have problems! She cleverly leads up to and past the day of the wedding after the reader learns in the first chapter that the body of the maid of honor has been found. This is a page-turner, and although I may have had a few quibbles as to the resolution, all in all this was an enjoyable read.