TITLE: MISSING JUSTICE
AUTHOR: ALAFAIR BURKE
Pages: 352
Date: 10/01/2009
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 2 Samantha Kincaid Mystery
Library
Samantha Kincaid is back to work as assistant district attorney, and has been promoted to the Major Crimes Unit. Her very first call out is to the house of a judge who has gone missing. But what starts as a simple hand-holding / making her office look good job soon turns into a murder investigation.
But when the case appears solved, with a man arrested and awaiting trial, Samantha can't help digging deeper. An action that could cost her much more than just her job.
I'm enjoying Burke's mysteries. They are very well plotted and exciting. Kincaid is maybe a bit more independent and persistent than appears realistic, but is fiction and it does make for a good story.
TITLE: THE SUGAR QUEEN
AUTHOR: SARAH ADDISON ALLEN
Pages: 276
Date: 08/01/2009
Grade: 5
Library
This is an absolutely charming book. Maybe not quite as good as her first book, "Garden Spells", but not far off that mark either.
It is the story of Josey, who at 27 years of age has her whole life being dominated by her unloving mother. And while her mother has her convinced that she is fat and ugly, Josey takes her only comfort from sweets, travel brochures and romance novels, which she keeps hidden in her closet.
It is in that same closet that she one day finds Della Lee Baker hiding. Della is everything Josey isn't, flat out refuses to leave the closet and soon starts instigating changes in Josey's life.
Through Della, Josey meets Chloe, who's life is in ruins after her boyfriend admits that he has cheated on her. Josey and Chloe soon become friends, and with Della directing things from the closet, both their lives undergo amazing changes.
This is a story of love and friendship, with some magic thrown in.
I love the way books just appear for Chloe, and always on a topic she needs to know more about.
For me that (unfortunately) doesn't happen in the literal sense, but it is amazing how often I randomly look at a book in a bookshop or library, and it is exactly what I need to read, even if I didn't know that before seeing the book.
On that topic, one quote from the book:
"Books can be possessive, can't they? You're walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention. Sometimes what's inside will change your life, but sometimes you don't even have to read it. Sometimes it's a comfort just to have a book around."
TITLE: THE PRIVATE PATIENT
AUTHOR: P.D. JAMES
Pages: 395
Date: 07/01/2009
Grade: 5+
Details: no. 14 Adam Dalgliesh Mystery
Library
On very rare occasions I read the last page of a book, turn over the cover, look at its back and say: "Thank you". Finishing this book was such an experience.
Mrs. James writes such wonderful prose, while plotting an excellent mystery with characters both likable and realistic that each of her books is a treasure.
In this story, Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in when Rhoda Gradwyn an investigative journalist is murdered while recovering from an operation to remove an almost lifelong scar from her face.
Both the operation and the murder have taken place in a private clinic in a beautiful manor house in Dorset, and the cast of suspects is small. However, the investigation isn't easy or straightforward. And neither is its conclusion entirely satisfactionary for the investigators.
P.D James is now 88 years old, and although I don't want to be morbid, I couldn't help fear that this might well be the last new Adam Dalgliesh mystery. A thought that may have crossed the author's mind as well, considering how she tied up the main characters private lives.
TITLE: THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD
AUTHOR: SUZANNE McLEOD
Pages: 363
Date: 04/01/2009
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 1 Spellcrackers.com
Library
I found myself a new series about vampires and other mythical creatures. And it's not a series for the faint-hearted, considering the sex and violence that feature. Not that either is described in graphic detail, but they are undeniably there.
On the cover of the book are the following two statements by Charlaine Harris:
"A happy little vacation between two covers"; and
"One of my favorite reads of the past month".
Although the book did remind me a bit of both the Anita Blake and the Harry Dresden series, I enjoyed this read a lot; it was very fast paced and thrilling, a real page turner and easy to read.
The main character in this book is Genny Taylor, who is Sidhe Fae and works for Spellcrackers.com as a spell cracker.
In her version of London, vampires have reinvented themselves to the point where they are celebrities, and joining their ranks is thought desirable by a lot of humans.
When a girl is found dead, apparently killed by a vampire and her boyfriend, a vampire known as Mr. October is accused of the killing, Genny is asked to investigate. And even though the witches for whom she works don't allow her to work for or with vampires, she has reasons to do just that. Of course this leads to lots of problem as Genny soon finds herself caught between rivalling vampire groups. And with a few secrets of her own to protect, Genny is in for a thrilling but dangerous adventure.
TITLE: THE BLOOD PIT
AUTHOR: KATE ELLIS
Pages: 346
Date: 04/01/2009
Grade: 5
Details: no. 12 Wesley Peterson Mystery
Library
Kate Ellis does write very good mysteries, and her descriptions of the procedures, wrong turns and false leads are realistic. There are no inspired guesses and no major sudden flashes of insight to take the reader to the solution. Wesley Peterson and his colleagues have to work hard and dig deep to come up with answers, and the reader is there for every step of the way.
This investigation starts when a man is found murdered in his home. He has been poisoned and paralyzed with hemlock before being stabbed and left to bleed to death. The man in question is described as evil by those who know him and the police has no shortage of suspects.
The case gets more complicated though when a popular local vet is killed in the same way, and there are no obvious links between the victims.
At the same time, Neil Watson, Wesley's archaeologist friend, starts receiving anonymous letters about bloodletting practices in medieval monasteries, letters which are filled with gruesome details. Both Wesley and Neil fear that the killer could be the letter writer. Is Neil in danger?
As things get increasingly complicated, the solution to all questions will have to be found in the past.
TITLE: THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
AUTHOR: GARTH STEIN
Pages: 321
Date: 02/01/2009
Grade: 4
Library
I really wanted to love this book and was hoping that I would start the year of with a solid 5. Based on the reviews and enthusiastic reports I had heard about this book, I was in fact fully expecting to adore this book.
But, as my grade indicates, I did not end up loving this book. I didn't dislike it either, but for me the story was a bit too sentimental. And the last chapter of the book just pushed that sentimentality right over the top. In fact, without that last chapter, the book might have scored higher.
The narrator in this book is Enzo, a dog. He tells the story of his life, as he lived it with Danny, an aspiring racing driver, his wife Eve and their daughter Zoe.
When Eve dies, way too young, it sets in motion a chain of events that nearly destroys Danny, and almost separates him from his daughter. And all of that story is realistic enough, except for the fact of Enzo being the narrator.
I adore dogs and firmly believe they are more intelligent than most people give them credit for, but this book took that concept way too far for me.
I did love the analogies between racing and life though.
Now that 2008 is over and we're three days into 2009 it is time to give an overview of my reading last year, before I post the first of my reviews for 2009. So, this is was 2008 looked like for me:
BOOKS READ: 186
BOOKS NOT FINISHED: 3
BOOKS WITH A SCORE OF 5 OR HIGHER: 38
OWNED BOOKS: 62
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR: CROSS COUNTRY by James Patterson
TOP 10 FOR 2008 (in no particular order):
* THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH by Simon Becket
* THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr
* THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini
* NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON by Paul Mercier
* THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
* THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton
* THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer
* THE SECRET SCRIPTURE by Sebastian Berry
* REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates
* DEAD COLD by Louise Penny
And because it was so very hard to limit myself to these 10 books, I'll also list the following nine books, which nearly made the top 10:
* THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon
* THE SAVAGE GARDEN by Mark Mills
* THE LIKENESS by Tana French
* THE BLOOD DETECTIVE by Dan Waddell
* THE SUM OF OUR DAYS by Isabel Allende
* MY LADY JUDGE by Cora Harrison
* A GATHERING LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly
* EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert
* TESTIMONY by Anita Shreve.
