may 2011 - sandi

[Sandi]

Had a pretty good month overall. The worst book of the month was not really that bad and I was thrilled to read the new Matt Scudder. Here are my May reads:

Top Reads

The Exception: A Novel
Christian Jungersen
I found this book to be quite riveting and thought provoking. Set in Denmark, it explores the relationship between four women who work at the Danish Center for Information on Genocide. When two of the women receive death threats the office is thrown into turmoil. The subject matter was quite dark but by shifting the narrative among the various character's points of view the suspense was sustained throughout the entire 500 pages.

A Drop of the Hard Stuff
Lawrence Block
Vintage Matt Scudder. Set during the early eighties when Matt was still trying to make it through his first year of sobriety the plot, setting, and characterizations were all up to the standards of the best books in the series.

Good Reads

Late, Late at Night
Rick Springfield
Interesting look at the Aussie rocker/tv star's life. I did not remember how many hit songs he really had. Not a one-hit wonder at all. The book was perhaps just a bit too long but the audio performance by the author was very good.

Bent Road
Lori Roy
Very atmospheric debut set in Kansas during the sixties. Lots of small town intrigue and interesting characters but I felt overall the book was a bit overwritten and somewhat overwrought. Thought the final portion of the book was very good though so I will probably give this author another try.

The Tuesday Club Murders
Agatha Christie
Collection of 13 short stories featuring Miss Marple. Each story follows the same format but the plots were so interesting and Miss Marple such a smart sleuth that I had no problem listening to each story one after another. The audio was read by Joan Hickson.

The Big Thaw
Donald Harstad
Not quite as good as the previous two books in the series. While I did like the rural Iowa setting and very realistic police procedural aspects in this book the plot was just a bit too out there for me.

Nineteen Seventy-Four
David Peace
Extremely dark, with characters who were particularly unsavory, a plot that at times seemed to go off the rails, and some scenes that were too graphic for me. The one upside though was the intensity and style of the writing. It grabbed me from the beginning and compelled me to keep turning the pages until the end.

Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
Tom Shales
Interesting look at the late night television show that has become a pop culture institution. A bit too long and, while I usually always enjoy the oral history format, I felt some of the editing left a bit to be desired. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I was as big of fan of the show as the guys who put together the book.

Pride's Harvest
Jon Cleary
This is one of my favorite series featuring a police detective. Scobie Malone is smart, tenacious, has no hang-ups, loves his family, and does the best job he can. In this book, Scobie travels to a small Aussie town to try and solve the murder of a Japanese national who was the manager of the local cotton mill.

The Lock Artist
Steve Hamilton
For the most part I thought this was a pretty good audio though I did not think it was as great as seemingly everyone else who has read it (including the Edgar voters). I liked the first person narration and the structure of the story but felt it could have been pared down quite a bit. My audio download skipped ahead a couple of times and when I went back to listen to what I missed I did not think it was all that important. The narration was done by MacLeod Andrews who did a very good job. I will look for further audios narrated by him.

OK Read

The Tenth Case
Joseph Teller
While not terrible this legal thriller just did not do a lot for me. The plot was adequate and the characters serviceable but nothing really stood out and while I finished the book I doubt if I read further in the series.

[Ann]

Sandi: Wow, great month!
I used an audible credit for the Rick Springfield book mainly because he narrates it himself. DD read the book in print from the library and liked it pretty well.
Sandi wrote: "Had a pretty good month overall. ....Late, Late at Night Rick Springfield
Interesting look at the Aussie rocker/tv star's life. I did not remember how many hit songs he really had. Not a one-hit wonder at all. The book was perhaps just a bit too long but the audio performance by the author was very good. "

[Melodie]

Ann wrote: "Sandi: Wow, great month!
I used an audible credit for the Rick Springfield book mainly because he narrates it himself. DD read the book in print from the library and liked it pretty well.
Sandi w..."

Wish I had done the Springfield book on audio since he did the reading, but it would have taken me forever to get thru since my commute is so short! I read the paper & ink version and it was on my top reads list last year.

[Brakedrum]

Wow, I'm impressed!