since I need to return this to the library or they won't let me take any more books out.....
Book 19: Red Mist -- Patricia Cornwell
So I had lost interest in Cornwell's Scarpetta series a few books ago, but have slowly edged my way back into reading them since a visiting relative left Scarpetta behind one year at Tybee. This one I actually requested from the library and was surprised to pick it up and read that it was set in Savannah. This book picks up six months after the events of Port Mortuary and concludes the seamy. unpleasant fallout from Kay's long-time assistant Jack Fielding's meltdown, betrayal, and murder at the hands of his brilliant sociopath daughter, who also tried to kill Kay in her own garage. I was curious how Cornwell would use Savannah (a city I now know well enough to know when someone is faking her way through the geography) which has a rich atmosphere and all sorts of ambiance. I should not have worried as this novel could have been set anywhere. Savannah is merely a location on the map for Kay and Co. to hang out for a short period of time and solve some crimes, get on each other's nerves, and eat. This was sorely disappointing; I expected better.
I mean, it's fine to plop fictional places like the Georgia Prison for Women and the building Jaime Berger is renting an apartment in across the square from the Owens-Thomas house down in a real location, that's to be expected, but to mangle directions so badly from landmarks like the Hyatt (I got lost when Kay wandered downtown) to a bell in City Hall (really? where, in the dome?) to the simple location of a Bojangles ("They got a Bojangles' a couple miles from here near Hunter Army Airfield" p197). I assume it's the Bojangles on DeRenne, far more than a couple miles from the Hyatt.
Then there's this description: "we struggle past movie theaters. cafes. and ice cream and sub and bicycle shops near the College of Art and Design" (187). Now, I know that block of Broughton like the back of my hand. Why not use the specific landmarks? Leopolds and the Trustees and Lucas Theaters (not movie theaters, really although they do show the occasional flick.) Why not say the SCAD library? Is it really that difficult to fact-check?
The piece-de-resistance is when Kay and Marino leave the Hyatt heading for the fictional Georgia Bureau of Investigation building, located off "a narrow two-lane road called Middle Ground Drive, winding through a state-owned tract of land thick with underbrush and pines, not a sign of human habitation" (207). First of all, they head to this location by taking Route 17 South, then the Veteran's Parkway, over "a bridge that spans the Little Ogeechee River [then] over Forest River now, where shrimp boats are moored" (206). Leaving aside the lack of shrimp boats moored in that location, I can see why someone might take the Southwest bypass from downtown...ok, I'll give her this one, but then, they go past the Savannah Mall and Kay fondly remembers a "seafood lunch...the last time I was here" (207) Really? At Ruby Tuesday, perhaps? But the description of Middle Ground Road as a "narrow two-lane road" was what totally cracked me up. When I moved to Savannah in 2008, and visited in 2006 and 2007, Middle Ground was under construction to widen the road from a two lane to a four lane. It was a partial four-lane when I first visited, and has been completed since late 2008. I drive this to work from my house to each of my schools every day....I know of what I speak. Then there's the fictional GBI location, apparently located in the middle of Hunter Army Airfield. Don't think the army would like that....
So ultimately, I was distracted from the novel by the bad descriptions and sloppy fact-checking and rather doubt that Cornwell has ever been to Savannah (because if she had been here, I would think the place would show up in the book). Despite these flaws, which admittedly other people will probably not care a whit about, I did find the book to be an ok read. A little too much of Kay talking and not enough of the other characters, and the "mystery" got pretty short shrift so Kay could spend more time speculating on people's motives etc. Not a lot of forensics, which has always been a strength of the series. Not nearly enough Lucy. but it was nice to see Kay and Marino getting back to a less strained relationship.
I'll probably continue to read the series, but with much less joy and anticipation than I did, say five or six books ago.
26 April 2012
More books......
Now let's see, where did we leave off on the mini-reviews?
Ah yes, Book 7: Love is a Four-Legged Word -- Kandy Shepperd
Sue me. I liked this book a lot. Someone donated a pile of books to the church to go to a Presbytery home, and a couple of us pawed through them like staving people, each taking home a few. This is one of the ones I read. I started out with it as a "car book." Don't laugh. I always carry a book in the car just in case I get stuck somewhere unplanned and haven't put a book in my purse/bag/whatever. So I read it a few minutes here and threre while waiting on this or that, and finally succumbed to the pleasures of a delightful romance about a woman who inherits a mutt from her old landlord (who dies peacefully) and the lawyer whose job it is to monitor the dog's health because he, the dog, will inherit the estate. Romantic misunderstandings and rivals ensue, but all's well that ends well, because, well, that's how a romance novel works. Sometimes, junk food is necessary.
Book 8: American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
This, a re-read (for the third or fourth time) was revisited for my Literature and Humanities class this semester. The dratted paperback version is like 700 pages long, and I got sucked right back in, like each time before, and wallowed in the pleasures of Shadow's trip around America with Mr. Wednesday. I think I liked it more than my students (duh, of course) and it's a rare book that can hold my attention again and again. I can count on two hands the books I've re-read in the past ten years, and it's a testament to Mr. Gaiman's many charms as a writer that this is one of them. The book is ostensibly fantasy, but not your typical swords and sorcery variety -- it's so much smarter than that. Please HBO, make a series of this book, please!
Book 9: The Chalk Girl -- Carol O'Connell
One of the best, I repeat, BEST crime/detective series is Carol O'Connell's Mallory books. O'Connell is a superbly marvelous writer, and she's created one of the most fascinating and complicated (and inscrutable) characters in the genre. It has been far too long since the last Mallory book, so when I saw this was coming out, I hoarded my Christmas Barnes and Noble money to get it in hardcover (because I want her to keep writing these books!) It did not disappoint. Kathy Mallory, brilliant sociopath and NYPD detective is back after her long, unexplained absence (unexplained if you didn't read the last book) and she picks up a case that's tied together with events from many years ago at a posh school. Lots of unpleasant people do tremendously unpleasant things, there's a lost child who comes to love Mallory (although she's never loved in return), and poor Charles Butler continues to love Mallory despite herself. Mallory's perfectly tailored expensive clothing, red nails, blonde hair, green eyes, and big gun will hopefully be back for another outing, and never too soon.
Book 10: Vulture Peak -- John Burdett
I was having some book-induced whiplash here, hopscotching from Mallory in NY to Sonchai in Thailand. In many ways, Burdett's character, a Buddhist detective trying to hold onto his soul in the midst of the whores, drugs, money, and corruption of Bangkok, is the polar opposite of Mallory's cold, unfeeling detective. Yet I enjoy Burdett's series (this is book five) very much (although I usually feel like I need a shower from all the heat and corruption). This case is as twisty and dirty as each previous one, and Sonchai does get a chance to get out of the country a little bit, with trips to Dubai (with organ-harvesting, insane, Chinese twin surgeons) and secretly to places he's not supposed to be in. His corrupt, yet caring boss Colonel Vikorn is back, as is his long-suffering partner Chanya, and his not-quite-yet-completed transgender partner. The real star of these books, however, is Sonchai, his voice, his personality, and his narrative style. I will continue to read these with a great deal of pleasure.
Until next time.....keep reading.
Ah yes, Book 7: Love is a Four-Legged Word -- Kandy Shepperd
Sue me. I liked this book a lot. Someone donated a pile of books to the church to go to a Presbytery home, and a couple of us pawed through them like staving people, each taking home a few. This is one of the ones I read. I started out with it as a "car book." Don't laugh. I always carry a book in the car just in case I get stuck somewhere unplanned and haven't put a book in my purse/bag/whatever. So I read it a few minutes here and threre while waiting on this or that, and finally succumbed to the pleasures of a delightful romance about a woman who inherits a mutt from her old landlord (who dies peacefully) and the lawyer whose job it is to monitor the dog's health because he, the dog, will inherit the estate. Romantic misunderstandings and rivals ensue, but all's well that ends well, because, well, that's how a romance novel works. Sometimes, junk food is necessary.
Book 8: American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
This, a re-read (for the third or fourth time) was revisited for my Literature and Humanities class this semester. The dratted paperback version is like 700 pages long, and I got sucked right back in, like each time before, and wallowed in the pleasures of Shadow's trip around America with Mr. Wednesday. I think I liked it more than my students (duh, of course) and it's a rare book that can hold my attention again and again. I can count on two hands the books I've re-read in the past ten years, and it's a testament to Mr. Gaiman's many charms as a writer that this is one of them. The book is ostensibly fantasy, but not your typical swords and sorcery variety -- it's so much smarter than that. Please HBO, make a series of this book, please!
Book 9: The Chalk Girl -- Carol O'Connell
One of the best, I repeat, BEST crime/detective series is Carol O'Connell's Mallory books. O'Connell is a superbly marvelous writer, and she's created one of the most fascinating and complicated (and inscrutable) characters in the genre. It has been far too long since the last Mallory book, so when I saw this was coming out, I hoarded my Christmas Barnes and Noble money to get it in hardcover (because I want her to keep writing these books!) It did not disappoint. Kathy Mallory, brilliant sociopath and NYPD detective is back after her long, unexplained absence (unexplained if you didn't read the last book) and she picks up a case that's tied together with events from many years ago at a posh school. Lots of unpleasant people do tremendously unpleasant things, there's a lost child who comes to love Mallory (although she's never loved in return), and poor Charles Butler continues to love Mallory despite herself. Mallory's perfectly tailored expensive clothing, red nails, blonde hair, green eyes, and big gun will hopefully be back for another outing, and never too soon.
Book 10: Vulture Peak -- John Burdett
I was having some book-induced whiplash here, hopscotching from Mallory in NY to Sonchai in Thailand. In many ways, Burdett's character, a Buddhist detective trying to hold onto his soul in the midst of the whores, drugs, money, and corruption of Bangkok, is the polar opposite of Mallory's cold, unfeeling detective. Yet I enjoy Burdett's series (this is book five) very much (although I usually feel like I need a shower from all the heat and corruption). This case is as twisty and dirty as each previous one, and Sonchai does get a chance to get out of the country a little bit, with trips to Dubai (with organ-harvesting, insane, Chinese twin surgeons) and secretly to places he's not supposed to be in. His corrupt, yet caring boss Colonel Vikorn is back, as is his long-suffering partner Chanya, and his not-quite-yet-completed transgender partner. The real star of these books, however, is Sonchai, his voice, his personality, and his narrative style. I will continue to read these with a great deal of pleasure.
Until next time.....keep reading.
25 March 2012
A Whole Buncha Books
Wow, have I been super-remiss in posting. No excuses here, just didn't make this a priority. And when I don't make something a priority, it does not happen, but I'm feeling inspired and will try to be more regular. So following are some mini-reviews of books three through six.
Book 3 -- The Dog Who Knew Too Much -- Spencer Quinn
Just after finishing this fourth in the Chet and Bernie series, I discovered that Spencer Quinn is in fact a pseudonym and that he was going to be speaking at the 2012 Savannah Book Festival. Unfortunately, I'd already committed to something else that Saturday and did not make the book fest this year except for the fabulous Stephen Kign presentation on Sunday (more about that in another post). Anyway, back to Chet and Bernie. Simply put, these books are delightful. Imagine Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer as a dog of indeterminate parentage, and you have the loyal doggy narrator Chet aka Chet the Jet, faithful companion and assistant of Bernie Little, private detective. The mysteries are actually rather twisty and meaty for what is a "light" concept -- dog as narrator. The danger to Chet and Bernie is real-world, as are Bernie's PTSD, relationship with an ex-wife and part-time custody of a son, problems with money and problems with understanding women (although Susie is a keeper). At times, the dog perspective is laugh-out-loud hysterical -- I found myself reading bits and pieces to my hubby, a dog lover, and he enjoyed them too. This particular book focused on a missing child and a particularly corrupt bunch of criminals.
Book 4 -- The 13th Juror -- John Lescroart
My mother turned me on to this series, featuring San Francisco lawyer Dismas Hardy and his friend and police officer Abe Glitsky. Each of these novels thus far has followed Dismas through a case that twists and turns on a dime. The books are a good mix of lawyer/police procedural and Dismas's family life, which frankly, I like maybe more than the cases. Dismas is such a decent guy that you root for him to overcome his anxieties and his demons and have a great life -- oh, and win his case too. The legal parts are always really interesting, and this one, which dealt with a battered spouse who may or may not have killed her bastard husband (and her son) keeps twisting until the very end.
Book 5 -- Good Christian Bitches -- Kim Gatlin
So this book was my first Kindle app read -- downloaded while sitting around in Minnesota after my dad had a massive heart attack -- I needed something light and mindless, and since I was interested in the upcoming television show, I thought this would be a good book to try the format with. I like the ebook reader app and will continue to use it occasionally, although I'm still a committed actual book reader. Anyway, the television show has generated a tempest in a teapot of right-wing talking heads accusing it of being anti-Christian. I have some thoughts about that, but let me deal with the book first. So, good concept, bad writing/execution. Really, hack job writing of telling rather than showing, characters who are wooden caricatures and stereotypes, terrible dialogue, no sense of place or setting, and plot developments that go nowhere. It was junk-food reading, but like crappy movie popcorn, you will regret it later. This is one occasion that the television show improves upon the written work -- I'm even liking the major character changes that the show has made. As fro the show/book being anti-Christian, my take is that on the contrary, these characters are good reflections of Christianity today -- not perfect but trying to do good. Amanda (played with charm and decency by Leslie Bibb) is someone who _has_ changed her life and must show others and make amends. The other "bitches" are nasty at time but the show layers some humanity on top of them -- Kristen Chenowith's Carlene is the most out-there caricature of the lot, but she and her husband are a hoot. I'll keep watching the show, but I won't be reading any follow-up novels from Ms.Gatlin.
Book 6 -- V is for Vengeance -- Sue Grafton
What do you mean there's only four more letters in the alphabet? I call foul!!! Can we start borrowing letters from other languages so Sue Grafton has to keep writing about Kinsey Millhone? Please? Grafton shows us all how it's done. Kinsey is a layered, nuanced, very-real-seeming character still living in the 1980s and working as a private detective in California. This book, unlike some others, lets us into the minds of some of the other characters in the case, and that's a nice change of pace. This in no way detracts from the appeal of Kinsey, her neighbor/landlord/friend Henry, the food at Rosie's and all the other Kinsey-isms we've come to love and expect in her world. Kinsey is never sentimental, and her unabashed sense of self as a lone woman in the world is something to be admired. This is a woman who does not need a man to complete her -- in fact, she likes men, has married a couple, but really romance is not on the agenda. It's a refreshing change from many other heroines who are all about love, sex, and partnering....(not that there's anything wrong with that) but if Kinsey started to get all soppy, it would be totally out of character. This case, as all others, is not easy to unravel, and it puts Kinsey into a certain amount of real danger/injury. But the nice thing about these books is to see her grow and change and make her way. In this one, I think she begins to open herself up to others, and that's kinda cool in the end. I wait anxiously for W....
Book 3 -- The Dog Who Knew Too Much -- Spencer Quinn
Just after finishing this fourth in the Chet and Bernie series, I discovered that Spencer Quinn is in fact a pseudonym and that he was going to be speaking at the 2012 Savannah Book Festival. Unfortunately, I'd already committed to something else that Saturday and did not make the book fest this year except for the fabulous Stephen Kign presentation on Sunday (more about that in another post). Anyway, back to Chet and Bernie. Simply put, these books are delightful. Imagine Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer as a dog of indeterminate parentage, and you have the loyal doggy narrator Chet aka Chet the Jet, faithful companion and assistant of Bernie Little, private detective. The mysteries are actually rather twisty and meaty for what is a "light" concept -- dog as narrator. The danger to Chet and Bernie is real-world, as are Bernie's PTSD, relationship with an ex-wife and part-time custody of a son, problems with money and problems with understanding women (although Susie is a keeper). At times, the dog perspective is laugh-out-loud hysterical -- I found myself reading bits and pieces to my hubby, a dog lover, and he enjoyed them too. This particular book focused on a missing child and a particularly corrupt bunch of criminals.
Book 4 -- The 13th Juror -- John Lescroart
My mother turned me on to this series, featuring San Francisco lawyer Dismas Hardy and his friend and police officer Abe Glitsky. Each of these novels thus far has followed Dismas through a case that twists and turns on a dime. The books are a good mix of lawyer/police procedural and Dismas's family life, which frankly, I like maybe more than the cases. Dismas is such a decent guy that you root for him to overcome his anxieties and his demons and have a great life -- oh, and win his case too. The legal parts are always really interesting, and this one, which dealt with a battered spouse who may or may not have killed her bastard husband (and her son) keeps twisting until the very end.
Book 5 -- Good Christian Bitches -- Kim Gatlin
So this book was my first Kindle app read -- downloaded while sitting around in Minnesota after my dad had a massive heart attack -- I needed something light and mindless, and since I was interested in the upcoming television show, I thought this would be a good book to try the format with. I like the ebook reader app and will continue to use it occasionally, although I'm still a committed actual book reader. Anyway, the television show has generated a tempest in a teapot of right-wing talking heads accusing it of being anti-Christian. I have some thoughts about that, but let me deal with the book first. So, good concept, bad writing/execution. Really, hack job writing of telling rather than showing, characters who are wooden caricatures and stereotypes, terrible dialogue, no sense of place or setting, and plot developments that go nowhere. It was junk-food reading, but like crappy movie popcorn, you will regret it later. This is one occasion that the television show improves upon the written work -- I'm even liking the major character changes that the show has made. As fro the show/book being anti-Christian, my take is that on the contrary, these characters are good reflections of Christianity today -- not perfect but trying to do good. Amanda (played with charm and decency by Leslie Bibb) is someone who _has_ changed her life and must show others and make amends. The other "bitches" are nasty at time but the show layers some humanity on top of them -- Kristen Chenowith's Carlene is the most out-there caricature of the lot, but she and her husband are a hoot. I'll keep watching the show, but I won't be reading any follow-up novels from Ms.Gatlin.
Book 6 -- V is for Vengeance -- Sue Grafton
What do you mean there's only four more letters in the alphabet? I call foul!!! Can we start borrowing letters from other languages so Sue Grafton has to keep writing about Kinsey Millhone? Please? Grafton shows us all how it's done. Kinsey is a layered, nuanced, very-real-seeming character still living in the 1980s and working as a private detective in California. This book, unlike some others, lets us into the minds of some of the other characters in the case, and that's a nice change of pace. This in no way detracts from the appeal of Kinsey, her neighbor/landlord/friend Henry, the food at Rosie's and all the other Kinsey-isms we've come to love and expect in her world. Kinsey is never sentimental, and her unabashed sense of self as a lone woman in the world is something to be admired. This is a woman who does not need a man to complete her -- in fact, she likes men, has married a couple, but really romance is not on the agenda. It's a refreshing change from many other heroines who are all about love, sex, and partnering....(not that there's anything wrong with that) but if Kinsey started to get all soppy, it would be totally out of character. This case, as all others, is not easy to unravel, and it puts Kinsey into a certain amount of real danger/injury. But the nice thing about these books is to see her grow and change and make her way. In this one, I think she begins to open herself up to others, and that's kinda cool in the end. I wait anxiously for W....
17 January 2012
Book #2 -- The Passage by Justin Cronin
Wow. Can I just say again? Wow. I'd had this book on my to-read list (it's a long, long list folks) for at least a year (it came out in 2010) and I figured I'd like it (if Uncle Stevie a.k.a. Stephen King likes a book, I usually like it too). I mean, what's not to like about a combination vampire/post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel that's 766 pages long. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
There's a great sprawling canvas of characters who you follow, then leave, then perhaps follow some more. As you become emotionally invested in these people (and you will care about them deeply), the progress of the end of civilization becomes more and more harrowing. When the world as we know it has become toxic rubble inhabited by things that want to eat you, we worry more and more about the safety and continued existence of the people we know. And Cronin leaves you with a humdinger of a cliff-hanger. I just read in this week's Entertainment Weekly that there's a sequel coming this year. I may have to actually purchase it. (I borrowed The Passage from the library.)
Cronin offers a unique and perfectly plausible take on vampire "mythology" that stays within the conventions (sorta) and winks at them as well. The monsters are "smokes" and "dracs" (the 1931 Dracula becomes a primer on vampires). This world is the flip side of Charlaine Harris/Patricia Briggs/Laurell K. Hamilton/Jim Butcher where the supernatural and strange co-exist and accommodate humanity (and magic can save the day) to a world where the monsters are first created by the military (of course there's a potential military application for this "technology") and then the whole thing spirals out of control (hints of 28 Days, Resident Evil, etc).
One of Cronin's strengths is the imagined future when the world we all know today and accept as normal becomes lost. Common terms for items we take for granted are lost. My personal favorite is how pants/jeans become gaps (since that's the name of the building). How would people look on our civilization in 100 years if we all disappeared tomorrow? That's a fascinating question, and Cronin's spectacular imagination gives us just enough detail.
Perhaps the best technique Cronin uses is to under-explain. There's no long passages of explication, and he allows his readers to have the intelligence to read between the lines and fill in the blanks of what is unsaid. I enjoy this a great deal although it does sometimes leave you looking for answers and re-reading passages (and that cliff-hanger I mentioned earlier).
Overall, a fantastic read. If you have liked books such as The Stand, The Road, or any of the movies and authors mentioned above, you'll enjoy this book too.
There's a great sprawling canvas of characters who you follow, then leave, then perhaps follow some more. As you become emotionally invested in these people (and you will care about them deeply), the progress of the end of civilization becomes more and more harrowing. When the world as we know it has become toxic rubble inhabited by things that want to eat you, we worry more and more about the safety and continued existence of the people we know. And Cronin leaves you with a humdinger of a cliff-hanger. I just read in this week's Entertainment Weekly that there's a sequel coming this year. I may have to actually purchase it. (I borrowed The Passage from the library.)
Cronin offers a unique and perfectly plausible take on vampire "mythology" that stays within the conventions (sorta) and winks at them as well. The monsters are "smokes" and "dracs" (the 1931 Dracula becomes a primer on vampires). This world is the flip side of Charlaine Harris/Patricia Briggs/Laurell K. Hamilton/Jim Butcher where the supernatural and strange co-exist and accommodate humanity (and magic can save the day) to a world where the monsters are first created by the military (of course there's a potential military application for this "technology") and then the whole thing spirals out of control (hints of 28 Days, Resident Evil, etc).
One of Cronin's strengths is the imagined future when the world we all know today and accept as normal becomes lost. Common terms for items we take for granted are lost. My personal favorite is how pants/jeans become gaps (since that's the name of the building). How would people look on our civilization in 100 years if we all disappeared tomorrow? That's a fascinating question, and Cronin's spectacular imagination gives us just enough detail.
Perhaps the best technique Cronin uses is to under-explain. There's no long passages of explication, and he allows his readers to have the intelligence to read between the lines and fill in the blanks of what is unsaid. I enjoy this a great deal although it does sometimes leave you looking for answers and re-reading passages (and that cliff-hanger I mentioned earlier).
Overall, a fantastic read. If you have liked books such as The Stand, The Road, or any of the movies and authors mentioned above, you'll enjoy this book too.
06 January 2012
2011 Book Reflections
Now that the calendar has turned, I've turned a new page (ha!) in my book journal and begun the list for 2012. First book finished: Homemade Sin by Kathy Hogan Trocheck, the third book in her Callahan Garrity series. An enjoyable read, overall. I like the series enough to keep reading, but they're not as interesting as the books written under the Mary Kay Andrews nom de plume.
Last year I read 77 books, more than the past two years (64 in 2009 and 62 in 2010) but not as many as some previous years. I've been keeping track of my book reading in an organized fashion since about 1996, with lists. Have a mentioned that I love lists? Of the 77 books, only 5 were non-fiction and 13 were Young Adult novels. I don't track picture books or other reading (far too much to keep track of).
The best books I read in 2011:
Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels: Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News?, and Started Early, Took My Dog. These "detective" novels are damn fine all around, with fabulous prose, quirky (but not too much) characters and an underground river of sadness running through the stories. I love, love, love Jackson Brodie (maybe even more than Lucas Davenport, Virgil Flowers, Lynley and Havers, Dave Robicheaux, and Jack Reacher). He's a flawed man trying to do right in the world, one woman, dog and child at a time. And he loves country music.
Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega series: Thanks to my friend Cassia for turning me on to this series. I enjoy modern takes on vampire/werewolf/faery characters and legends and I've worked my way current with Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris (two of the best) and have slowly read a few Laurell K. Hamilton (not always so good) and slogged through the Twilight crap. Briggs is a far far better writer than Meyer, her world is as multi-layered and interesting as Harris's, and her characters are as well-drawn and human/relatable as Butcher. So reading these books (6 or 7 of them) was a really great reading pleasure.
The worst:
Generally, I stick with things until I've finished them (it's the Puritan in me) so I slogged through all the Twilight books, three of them this year. Ick. I hope to never read anything by that author again. I've written more about the books than they deserve, so I shall say no more now.
Swamplandia. Ugh. Tried it. Made it about 100 pages and took it back to the library. I know it's a critical darling, but I just could not get into the world or the characters. Sorry.
This year, I am making a resolve to post capsule reviews of everything I read, in addition to my running list over there on the side.
Last year I read 77 books, more than the past two years (64 in 2009 and 62 in 2010) but not as many as some previous years. I've been keeping track of my book reading in an organized fashion since about 1996, with lists. Have a mentioned that I love lists? Of the 77 books, only 5 were non-fiction and 13 were Young Adult novels. I don't track picture books or other reading (far too much to keep track of).
The best books I read in 2011:
Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels: Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News?, and Started Early, Took My Dog. These "detective" novels are damn fine all around, with fabulous prose, quirky (but not too much) characters and an underground river of sadness running through the stories. I love, love, love Jackson Brodie (maybe even more than Lucas Davenport, Virgil Flowers, Lynley and Havers, Dave Robicheaux, and Jack Reacher). He's a flawed man trying to do right in the world, one woman, dog and child at a time. And he loves country music.
Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega series: Thanks to my friend Cassia for turning me on to this series. I enjoy modern takes on vampire/werewolf/faery characters and legends and I've worked my way current with Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris (two of the best) and have slowly read a few Laurell K. Hamilton (not always so good) and slogged through the Twilight crap. Briggs is a far far better writer than Meyer, her world is as multi-layered and interesting as Harris's, and her characters are as well-drawn and human/relatable as Butcher. So reading these books (6 or 7 of them) was a really great reading pleasure.
The worst:
Generally, I stick with things until I've finished them (it's the Puritan in me) so I slogged through all the Twilight books, three of them this year. Ick. I hope to never read anything by that author again. I've written more about the books than they deserve, so I shall say no more now.
Swamplandia. Ugh. Tried it. Made it about 100 pages and took it back to the library. I know it's a critical darling, but I just could not get into the world or the characters. Sorry.
This year, I am making a resolve to post capsule reviews of everything I read, in addition to my running list over there on the side.
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