What Are We Reading and Reviewing in April 2017?

This is the place to let everyone know the books you are reading during March, and then to leave reviews of these books. You can put up a list of the books you are reading for the month or put a post about a book as you start it, or even both.

Don't worry we are not back at school a review can be something as simple as a sentence about the book or as comprehensive as you want to make it - whatever is good for you.

This then allows people to discuss the book with you, and after all that is one of the main reasons we are all on here - to discuss books and our love of them. And to add to our TBRs because we never have enough books to read do we! 😂

Lynda and Oliver's April Reading List

Mystery/Suspense

Ashes to Dust - Yrsa Siguardottir
✔ Back Spin - Harlan Coben - 4 Stars - 45/17
Black Country - Alex Grecian
Corsair - Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul
Criminal Enterprise - Owen Laukkanen
✔ Executioner - Chris Carter - 4.5 Stars - 4/13/17
Firestorm - Nevada Barr
German Requiem - Philip Kerr
Ill Wind - Nevada Barr
Imitation in Death - J. D. Robb
✔ Jury Master - Robert Dugoni - 4 Stars - 4/2/17
Last Bus to Woodstock - Colin Dexter
✔ Murder in Time - Julie McElwain - 4 Stars - 4/4/17
Perfect Girl - Gilly MacMillan
✔ Play With Fire - Dana Stabenow - 3 Stars - 4/12/17
Portrait in Death - J. D. Robb
Serpent's Daughter - Suzanne Arruda
✔ Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware - 4 Stars - 4/11/17
Wrongful Death - Robert Dugoni

Other

✔ Girls of Atomic City - Denise Kiernan - 4.5 Stars - 4/1/17
✔ Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman -4 Stars - 4/8/17
✔ Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly - 5 Stars 💕 - 4/9/17
✔ Memory of Love - Aminatta Forna - 4 Stars - 4/10/17
✔ Rose Under Fire - Elizabeth Wein - 4 Stars - 4/6/17
Trail Through Time - Jodi Taylor
Under a Wide and Starry Sky - Nancy Horan
✔ Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead - 4 Stars - 4/7/17
✔ Zinnia - Jayne Castle - 3 Stars - 4/3/17

Carol's Reads for April

Group Read
✔The Executioner by Chris Carter - 4/13/17 - ★★★★★
✔Corsair by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul - ★★★
✔Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter - 4/30/17 - 3.5

Blind Date With A Book
✔Shoot The Moon by Billie Letts - Treasure Trove - 4/16/17 - 4.5
The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe - Mystery & Suspense

Mini Challenges
✔The Man With A Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes - What type are you? M&S Extra - (Scotland Yard) -4/3/17 - 4 Stars
✔The Witch Maker by Sally Spencer - What Type Are You? M&S Extra - (Scotland Yard) - 4/5/17- ★★★★1/2

Other
✔A Perfect obsession by Heather Graham - 4/18/17 - ★★★★1/2
✔The Devil's Triangle by Catherine Coulter & J.T. Ellison - 4/22/17- ★★★★
✔15 Seconds by Andrew Gross - 4/2/17 - ★★★★1/2
✔No Darker Place by Debra Webb - 4/8/17 - ★★★★1/2
✔The Cleaner by Paul Cleave - 4/6/17 - 4.5 ★★★★1/2
✔The Red Herring by Sally Spencer - 4/16/17 - ★★★★
✔Prayers For Rain by Dennis Lehane - 4/10/17 - ★★★1/2
✔Christine Falls by Benjamin Black - 4/10/17 - ★★★1/2
✔Prayers For Rain by Dennis Lehane - 4/10/17 - ★★★1/2
✔The Perfect Stranger by Wendy Corsi Staub - 4/12/17 - ★★★
✔The Trap by Melanie Raabe - 4/21/17 - ★★
✔The Killing Kind by Chris Holm - ★★★1/2
✔ The Kind Worth Killing by peter Swanson - ★★★1/2
✔House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - 4/23/17 - ★★★
✔Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan - ★★★★1/2
✔Fast & Loose by Stuart Woods - 4/26/17 - ★★★1/2
✔Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen - ★★★★

Dusty's TBR for April
David Brin - Infinity's Shore ✔
Jeff Vandermeer - Annihilation ✔
Greg Bear - Dinosaur Summer
Neal Stephenson - The Diamond Age ✔
Robert J Sawyer - The Terminal Experiment ✔
James White - Ambulance Ship ✔
Clifford D Simak - Time is the Simplest Thing ✔
Andre Norton - A Mind for Trade ✔
Karen Chance - Reap the Wind ✔
V E Schwab - A Darker Shade of Magic ✔
Zoe Sharp - Die Easy✔
Margaret Duffy - Ashes to Ashes ✔
Carolyn Hart - Merry Merry Ghost ✔
A A Milne - Complete Winnie the Pooh stories ✔

Provisional April Reads

Group Reads
The Executioner by Chris Carter : Starts Sunday 9th April (library says book due to pick up this week)
Corsair by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul : Starts Tuesday 18th April
Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter : Starts Thursday 27th April

Other Books
Cathar by Christopher Bland
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
The Death Factory by Greg Iles
The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Sleeping Beauty Killer by Mary Higgins Clarke and Alafair Burke
Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman
The Mayan Codex by Mario Reading
The Village Vet by Cathy Woodman
The Martian by Andy Weir
Private Games by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
Memorial Day by Vince Flynn
Scared to Live by Stephen Booth

Finished Margaret Duffy's Ashes to Ashes,another enjoyable read in the Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley crime series.Now there will be a long wait for #20 in the series. I have been following this series since 1988! Two days reading,then another year's wait......sigh......

I am probably the last person to read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins but I am enjoying it.

>7 JulieLill: Nope, I've not read it.

The Secret Keeper / Kate Morton
3.75 stars

In 1961, Laurel is 16-years old and (from a distance) witnesses her mother put a knife into a stranger and kill him. By 2011, Laurel has become an actress and comes home to be with her mother and family (four sisters and a brother), as her mother is dying. She intends to find out who the man was and the circumstances behind her mother’s actions.

I'd love to give it 4 stars for the great build-up and ending, but it started really slow for me and didn't pick up until about 1/3 of the way in. Once it picked up, though, it just kept building and building to reveal the multitude of secrets (and twists!) behind Laurel’s mother’s past. The book went back and forth in time between Laurel trying to find out what happened and the war, to what was happening. I’m pretty sure, on looking back at this one, I will remember it more as a 4 star book, anyway.

>7 JulieLill: I've not read it yet, either, but I chose it for my f2f book club in June, so my book club will all be reading it then! :-)

>9 LibraryCin: I don't think any of her subsequent books have hit the very high standard of The Forgotten Garden.

>10 LibraryCin: You might be right! I rated The House at Riverton close (4.5 to Forgotten Garden's 5 stars), and The Distant Hours just below that. Funny, though, on thinking back, I'd probably rate The Distant Hours 3.5, rather than the 4 I think I gave it, putting it just under The Secret Keeper, but like I said at the end of my SK review, I'm already thinking of SK as a 4 star, with such a strong finish sticking in my mind!

ETA: So, that's interesting. I just looked back at my ratings and see that I rated both HR and FG 4.5 stars, but again, memory has FG sticking out in my mind as having been a 5 star read!

>12 LibraryCin: Not dissimilar opinions, I gave The Forgotten Garden 5 Stars, The House at Riverton 4 stars but closer to 4.5, and The Lake House, which I read last month, 3.5 Stars. The Lake House took too long to get going and I found the ending a bit too convenient and improbable. Not read Distant Hours but do own a copy.

>13 Andrew-theQM: Interesting. I did notice in my Riverton review that it took a bit to get going, as well. This one, Secret Keeper, from what I am remembering of the others, has taken the longest to get going, but of course, I have yet to read Lake House.

Schooled / Gordon Korman
4 stars

Capricorn has been raised on a commune, by his grandmother, Rain. He has no experience in the “real world”, but when Rain is injured and needs time to heal, Cap is taken in by a social worker and has to go to the local middle school. Cap, the new kid, is nothing like anyone’s ever seen before… this weird hippie kid, who doesn’t understand the first thing about middle school or kids his own age. Because of this, he’s an easy target to pick on.

This was really good. Meant for a younger audience, it’s pretty simple and quick to read, but a good story. I have mixed feelings about the end of the book, but overall, I really enjoyed it.

Karen Chance's Reap the Wind was a bit of a letdown.This series has become very repetitious. In this outing Cassie spent huge amounts of time being chased by a variety of enemies,told in great (and unnecessary) detail.At 500 pages,it could have been trimmed by at least 150 pages without losing a single important plot point! lol.I always enjoy the sections with the mages and the vamps,but hundreds of pages spent on the run with Pritkin became extremely tedious.
I'll give the series one more chance and if the story doesnt progress,I'll give up.

The Witch Maker by Sally Spencer
DCI Woodend series Book #11
4.5 Stars

From The Book:
To be Witch Makers in the moorland village of Hallerton is both a great honor and a heavy burden. But this Witch Maker never lives to witness his moment of triumph and is discovered tied to the Witching Post early one morning with a length of twine wrapped tightly around his neck. Will DCI Charlie Woodend solve this mystery?

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book much more than I had thought I would. Sally Spenser did an outstanding job of portraying the small village and the strangeness of the people that inhabited it. The reader felt that they had been dropped into a time capsule and transported back 350 years. It seems that DCI Woodend and his Sergeant Monika Paniatowski also had that feeling...but while they were sorting out how to handle this case...another...seeming unrelated murder is dropped on their plates.

The story features a suspenseful and well-developed story line. A surprise ending and several semi-Gothic elements along with quaint setting and the sense of dark foreboding...all adds up to a first rate mystery.

The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins
4/5 stars
In a drunken state, Rachel observes something from her window on the train that she takes everyday to view the life that once was hers. Shaken from the event, she seeks to find out what happened, not knowing that she is endangering herself. This was told through the eyes of the three women involved in the story. I had a very hard time putting this down!

>18 JulieLill: Okay, made me want too get to this now.

>18 JulieLill: I loved this one. Sometimes I just wanted to shake Rachel, but I really liked this story.

A Night to Remember – Walter Lord
Book on CD read by Walter Jarvis
5*****

On April 15, 1912, the greatest ship to ever sail struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. This is a chronological tale of what the people aboard the Titanic recall of that night’s events.

This is a re-read. I first read it before I joined either Shelfari or Goodreads, so I have no record of when I read it. I believe it was in the 1980s; I know it was long before the hugely successful movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. If memory serves, I re-read it at about the time the movie was released. So this is my third reading.

It’s a gripping story, and Lord does a great job of bringing all these people to life. I get a real sense of the confusion and disbelief when the ship first strikes the iceberg. And later, of the chaos and panic when it is clear she will go down, and there are not enough lifeboats for everyone aboard to safely get away.

Lord used transcripts of testimony given by many people during the inquiry following the disaster, as well as personal interviews with survivors and relatives of those lost at sea, as well as people who were aboard the Carpathia which picked up all the lifeboats and returned with them to New York. The text edition I had included some photographs, as well as a full list of the passengers.

Walter Jarvis does an okay job of reading the audio version, but I really disliked his voice. Still, he did convey a sense of urgency as he related the events of that horrible night.

The Cleaner by Paul Cleave
The Christchurch Noir Mystery Series Book #1
4.5 ★'s

From The Book:
Joe is in control of everything in his simple life—both his day job as a janitor for the police department and his “night work.” He isn’t bothered by the daily news reports of the Christchurch Carver, who, they say, has murdered seven women. Joe knows, though, that the Carver killed only six. He knows that for a fact, and he’s determined to find the copycat. He’ll punish him for the one, then frame him for the other six. It’s the perfect plan because he already knows he can outwit the police.

My Views:
I have read The Theodore Tate series and all of the standalone novels by this author and found all of them to be exceedingly well done with interesting, true to life characters. This series will be no exception.

The book alternates between the first person narrative of Joe, with flashbacks to his past, and several third person chapters that focus on Sally, a young woman who works at the department and feels pity, and possibly affection, for Joe. It's a very graphic, physiological story about a serial killer that believes he is smarter than anyone else and will never be caught. There are some humorous twists. He and Sally constantly misunderstand one another. Then there's Joe's mother. The strange Melissa rounds out the quirky characters. It will remind you how little you know about the people that even briefly share your everyday life.

In spite of the occasional humor it's still a dark insight into the mind of a merciless killer. The physiological thriller fan will be held captive with the first chapter.

Secondhand Souls / Christopher Moore
3 stars

Charlie Asher used to collect souls. There has been a gap, when many souls that should have been collected, weren’t. Somehow this is all related to the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is the sequel to “A Dirty Job”, which was one of my favourites by Moore. Unfortunately, this one fell quite a bit short for me. I’m rating it ok at 3 stars, which might be a bit generous. It was nice to revisit some characters and I was interested as some events were happening, but I often missed connections on why something was happening (hence the sketchy summary in my first paragraph!). I listened to the audio, and I did think the narrator did a good job – he particularly did well with various accents.

In case anyone is interested we are starting the Group Read of The Executioner by Chris Carter on Sunday over on the Mystery and Suspense Group. This is our scehedule :

Sunday 9th April : One - Twenty-Eight
Monday 10th April : Twenty-Nine - Fifty-Five
Tuesday 11th April : Fifty-Six - Eight-Two
Wednesday 12th April : Eight-Three - Hundred and Nine
Thursday 13th April : Hundred and Ten - Hundred and Forty-Three

This is book 2 in the Robert Hunter series. In these reads we split the book into sections and post questions about each section in the evening of the dates mentioned but you can read the book at your own speed. People will still discuss the books with you.

Everyone is very welcome, even if you have never done a Group Read before.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussiontheexe

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet / David Mitchell
2.25 stars

Jacob de Zoet is a Dutch man working in Japan. He meets and falls in love with a doctor’s daughter (??? I think that’s how they are connected). When the doctor dies, the daughter is sent to live in a nunnery, but there is something very wrong at that nunnery.

Ok, so my summary is only a small part of the book. Too small for my liking because it was the only interesting part of the book for me and the reason the book got an extra .25 stars. If it had been even a bit more of the book, I would have raised the rating slightly higher; if it had been the focus of the book, my rating would have been considerably higher. The rest of the book – no idea what happened. It was boring boring boring. I wasn’t even a little bit interested, so I have no idea what it was really about, except I think Jacob was working for the Dutch East India Company. Which reminds me, it was set, mostly in 1799.

Dragged through Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age,so not my cup of tea,but at least it fills in one more in my long term effort to locate and read the SF Hugo winners.That makes 53/65 completed! Much more engaging was the Nebula winning The Terminal Experiment by Robert J Sawyer, a fast paced mix of futuristic science,a murder mystery,and the heartache in a broken marriage. Unusual,and for once we have characters with real issues and motivations.That makes 38/52 Nebulas read. Another couple of years and I should finish this marathon challenge! :0)
I am a bit unsettled in my reading at the moment,starting a book for this or that challenge,not being enthralled and starting yet another! lol. I am reading at least 6 books,all of them far from finished. Oh well,they will all finish close together,so that my TBR will suddenly shorten dramatically so that I look as if I've read half a dozen books in a couple of days lol

44 Scotland Street – Alexander McCall Smith
Audiobook read by Robert Ian Makenzie
Illustrations by Iain McKintosh
3.5***

From the book jacket: 44 Scotland Street is home to some of Edinburgh’s most colorful characters. There’s Pat, a twenty-year-old who has recently moved into a flat with Bruce, an athletic young man with a keen awareness of his own appearance. Their neighbor, Domenica, is an eccentric and insightful widow. In the flat below are Irene and her appealing son Bertie, who is the victim of his mother’s desire for him to learn the saxophone and Italian – all at the tender age of five.

My reactions
In the preface, Smith recalls a conversation he had at a party in California with author Amistead Maupin (who wrote the Tales of the City series). That ultimately led to an invitation from The Scotsman to write a serialized novel for that paper, and 44 Scotland Street was born.

I love this kind of ensemble piece. The chapters are short and change focus among the residents of the building at 44 Scotland Street. Not much happens, and everything happens: love found, lost and found again, awkward encounters, a hidden masterpiece, a secret tunnel, dinner with the boss (and boss’s wife and daughter), rebellion, great neighbors (and bad ones), a precocious child, a new job and therapy sessions. Through it all the reader is treated to the author’s witty observations on this microcosm of Edinburgh society.

Robert Ian Mackenzie does an excellent job of narrating the audio version. He has a great facility with voices, and even gives us a plausible twenty-year-old Pat. He really brings these characters to life, and evokes a sense of fun throughout.

I also must comment on the illustrations by Iain McIntosh, which add to the printed version. I enjoyed looking at the fine detail he includes. Whether depicting Big Lou’s coffee bar, the Something Special Gallery, or Bertie yelling at his mother in her flotation tank, they were great fun.

An Obvious Fact: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson
★ ★ ★ ★ - 328 pages

This is "Sons of Anarchy meet Walt Longmire!" Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire is supposed to b on vacation, but he's been asked to help with the investigation of an injured biker. Walt and Henry Standing Bear head to Hulett, Wyoming (near Devil's Tower) during the nearby Sturgis Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. As Walt starts to trace Bodeway Torres' last movements, he starts to uncover gun-running, neo-Nazis, and new firearms technology that both the CIA and ATF want. Throw in a few undercover agents and a bumbling biker, as well as the original Lola (for whom Henry named his convertible - and Walt's granddaughter was named for the car) and you have a delightful romp.

The mystery here was pretty obvious - hence the name of the novel. I only had two small problems with it: There were some loose ends that weren't wrapped up. Knowing how Johnson writes, though, these will probably be brought up again in a later book, so I can live with that. My other problem is that he is introducing a very large cast of secondary characters, and it is difficult to keep them all straight. That is probably my problem more than a problem with the books or the writing, though.

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children / Romeo Dallaire
3.5 stars

Romeo Dallaire was head of UNAMIR, the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, just before the genocide in 1994. Since then, he has become involved in trying to stop the use of children as soldiers. This book looks at how and why children become soldiers, some as young as 7 or 8 years old, and offers ways to get this stopped. He also talks a lot about the group he has formed to try to stop it; his group is trying to get the military and humanitarian NGOs to work together. He has done a lot of research and has published papers on the topic.

This is terrible. I have read both Dallaire’s Shake Hands With the Devil (which I highly recommend) and Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone (also recommended). There were a few chapters where Dallaire created a fictional boy who became a soldier, then later a fictional peacekeeper who shot a girl soldier; I thought these chapters, in particular, were very powerful. I hadn’t realized how many girl soldiers were also involved, and they have (many sad) issues of their own. Although some of the nonfiction parts of the book weren’t as interesting (in the second half of the book, as Dallaire talks about trying to get agencies to help stop this), I did find myself reading the bibliography at the end for a couple more books to read on the topic. He does repeat himself a bit, but I forgave him that. He is obviously very passionate about what he is trying to do.

>9 LibraryCin: I read this one a few years back and really enjoyed it.

>18 JulieLill: and >19 Andrew-theQM: Ditto. I think this was one of the selections for a local library's F2F book club, but then it disappeared from the list. Probably there were no copies available!

Threadnsong's April Reading List:

Reading Challenges
Memoirs of a Geisha (Longtime TBR pile)
First Feminists (where was I again??)
Throne of Jade (new books)

Reading just cuz
Voyager
Bleak House (for Dickens F2F book group)
Dreams of Distant Shores - just finished and loved
Star Trek: The New Voyages 1

>31 threadnsong: >18 JulieLill: I have downloaded this from the library but do not know when I will get to it.

On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
A'Lelia Perry Bundles
4/5 stars
This is fascinating in depth look at the life of the ambitious Madam C.J. Walker, who rose from slave to entrepreneur and philanthropist amid the historical events of the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Bundles who was related to Madam Walker and is a writer and news producer writes of the struggles and triumphs of Madam Walker as she hawks her hair products and employs poor women across the country to demonstrate her products and to help themselves out of poverty.

Prayers For Rain by Dennis Lehane
Kenzie & Gennaro Series Book #5
3.5 Stars

From The Book:
When a former client jumps naked from a Boston landmark, Private Investigator Patrick Kenzie wants to know why. Once a perky young woman in love with life, her suicide is the final fall in a spiral of self-destruction.

What Kenzie discovers is a sadistic stalker who targeted the woman and methodically drove her to her death – a monster that the law can’t touch. But Kenzie can. He and his former partner, Angela Gennaro, will fight a mind-twisting battle against the psychopath, even as he turns tricks on them…

My Views:
I like Dennis Lehane's writing style. He even manages to insert some humor into stories about psychopaths and various other types of misfits. The main problem with this book was that his lead characters constantly did such unpredictable, unprofessional, unbelievable, and entirely unnecessary things to achieve their goal. It made the book about 120 pages too long. This small clitch won't deter me from reading more of this series, but hope he sticks more to his main story line in the future.

The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
#1 in the Scot Horvath Series
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

This is a big book in so many ways and does a good job of introducing the main character to the series, Scot Horvath. By the end of the book we know him very well, what makes him tick and his key strengths, but whatever you do don't point a gun, a knife or even a finger at him - you will regret it! An interesting theme is set up in this book with the kidnapping of the American President and Scot sets about finding the President to bring him home. Thoroughly recommended.

Gutenberg’s Apprentice – Alix Christie
3.5***

In her debut novel, Christie explores one of the most momentous events in history: the invention of the printing press. The author used the real people involved, researching historical documents to support way she imagined the scenario unfolding.

I generally like novels such as this one, but for some reason I had a very hard time getting engaged in this work. It took me nearly two weeks to read it, about double the amount of time I usually need for a 400-page book. I did find the information about the conflicts between the guilds, the ruling class, and the Church interesting, but it went on for so long that I grew tired of the political and personal intrigue, and by the time the climax came I didn’t much care what would happen to the relationships between the three central figures: Gutenberg, Fust, and Peter.

I have always read the notation at the end of print books, telling me what type face was used for that edition. That information holds new meaning for me now, as I imagine the original artist carefully carving the alphabet in a new design. In this age of digital print, it is all the more wonderful to imagine the creativity, skill and hard work that went into this marvelous invention.

The Penelopiad –Margaret Atwood
Book on CD read by Laura Merlington
3***

From the book jacket In Homer’s account in The Odyssey, Penelope—wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy—is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. … In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: “What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?”

My Reactions
I studied Homer’s epic in high school but had really forgotten much except for the basics. Atwood delves into the background of both Penelope and Odysseus, as well as the political (and personal) reasons for the Trojan War and her moves to protect her husband’s estate for their son. She gives us a woman who is intelligent, caring, and tenacious. This Penelope is not simply a woman who is content to stay at home waiting for her man. She is actively working to achieve her goals, carefully (if not always successfully) developing allies in help with her scheme.

Atwood uses the twelve maids (who are hanged as complicit in the plot) as a chorus to fill in some of the gaps. This is an effective technique in this novella … in print format at least.

The audio is read by Laura Merlington. Her performance was fine when voicing the chapters narrated by Penelope. But the audio used an incredibly irritating digitally enhanced “multiple voice” for the chorus. You know those “disguised” voices used to protect people when interviewed on a news show? That’s what this chorus sounded like! Skip the audio; read the text.

The Snow Child / Eowyn Ivey
4 stars

This is the retelling of a Russian fairy tale. An older couple, Mabel and Jack, have recently moved to Alaska. They never had children, but one evening when they build a snowman (child/girl), she comes to life…

I really liked this. It’s funny that I’m not a big fan of fantasy nor of magical realism, but I like fairy tales. I didn’t know this Russian tale, but I really liked this retelling! I loved some of the snowy/wintery descriptions (though I’m not always a fan of elaborate descriptions, either) – they really were magical – and it was a great story!

The Executioner by Chris Carter
The Hunter series Book#2
5 Stars

From the Book:
Inside a Los Angeles church, on the altar steps, lies the blood-soaked, decapitated body of a priest. Carefully positioned, legs stretched out, arms crossed over the chest, the most horrifying thing of all is that the priest's head has been replaced by that of a dog. Later, the forensic team discover that, on the victim's chest, the figure 3 has been scrawled in blood. At first, Detective Robert Hunter believes that this is a ritualistic killing. But as more bodies surface, he is forced to reassess. All the victims died in the way they feared the most. Their worst nightmares have literally come true. But how could the killer have known? And what links these apparently random victims? Hunter finds himself on the trail of an elusive and sadistic killer, someone who apparently has the power to read his victims' minds. Someone who can sense what scares his victims the most. Someone who will stop at nothing to achieve his twisted aim.

My Views:
This series is not for the faint of heart or those with a weak stomach. I have neither so needless to say I have enjoyed both this book and the first in the series The Crucifix Killer. The plot is well woven with clues and misdirections...which I have to admit I fell for hook, line and sinker. All the chapters are short, so don't let the 143 chapters be a turn off. Each and every one has a cliffhanger ending that will drive you on to the next and the next and the next..... I recommend the Hunter Series to anyone that loves a physiological thriller and is not bothered by graphic murder scenes.

>38 BookConcierge: I have this book; thank you for recommending the print and not audio format. Some books just don't translate well. Thought it was a long overdue re-telling of this tale.

Dreams of Distant Shores / Patricia A. McKillip
5 stars and love

A fantastic stretch for this author, as she brings her characters in her short stories out of the realm of sword-and-sorcery fantasy and into modern times. One is set in a pre-Raphaelite artists' colony; others are set in a modern bathroom during a picnic (no, really!) and another is set from the point of view of a goddess who becomes a mermaid. And then an awkward waitress.

The sea permeates this set of short stories and I seem to remember reading somewhere that Ms. McKillips lives in Oregon. The pull and ebb and flow of the tide fit with her language and descriptions very, very well. Each story stands on its own; the final one is an out-of-print novella from Brian Froud's work World of Faerie. It receives the most critical challenges; personally, I liked the mind-blowing images of sea creatures who have lived when the cliffs were made. It's fairly easy to see where it ends, but the pull of the siren's song is seldom dealt with in such detail. Small wonder Odysseus instructed his sailors to fill their ears with wax.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke
Book on CD performed by Simon Prebble
3.5****

From the book jacket: In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England--until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight. Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.

My Reactions
Fantasy is really not my thing, but I did enjoy this book. I liked the play / counter play between the two magicians, and particularly enjoyed the scenes where they are influencing the Napoleonic Wars ... an armada of ghost ships made of rain! Or moving an entire city to the United States! I also really liked the subplot involving Stephen.

I thought Clarke did a fine job of creating this magical world, peopled with a host of interesting characters. Her writing is very atmospheric and I could almost hear the eerie strains of music at a ball, or the caw of ravens.

That being said, however, this was just way too long. I found my mind wandering as much as the plot did. And by hour 29 (out of 36 hours of audio) I was ready for it to culminate.

I certainly understand the popularity of the novel, but as I said at the beginning, it's really not my thing, and I wouldn't go out of my way to read another novel by Clarke.

I listened to the audio ... I think I would listen to Simon Prebble read his grocery list! He does a marvelous job. 5***** for his performance.

Wolf by Wolf – Ryan Graudin
2.5**

From the book jacket: The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. They host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across three continents. The prize? An audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo. The resistance has given Yael, a former death camp prisoner, one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler.

My reactions
This is interesting speculative fiction dealing with “what might have been” had Germany & Japan won WW2. It was that aspect of the book which initially caught my attention. But Graudin takes this a step further by introducing an unusual twist: As a result of experiments she was subjected to in the death camp, Yael can now “skin shift,” altering her appearance at will, which provides an incredibly valuable disguise in virtually any situation. In this case, she is impersonating Adele Wolfe, last year’s winner of the race.

The plot moves as quickly as the racers bound from Germania to Tokyo. Yael is a strong heroine – resourceful, intelligent, physically and mentally fit for the challenge. There’s a complication to Yael’s plan, when two boys close to Adele make it all the more difficult for Yael to pull off the masquerade.

I thought there were several holes in this plot, and I didn’t much care about the interpersonal drama between Adele/Yael and the two boys. I also think I would have enjoyed this kind of speculative plot without the “skin shifting” aspect. The ending is abrupt and leaves more questions than answers – could Graudin be planning a sequel?

While I recognize the appeal for the target audience, it really wasn’t the book for me, and I’m in no hurry to read anything else by this author.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
#2 in the Divergent Trilogy
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Why did I wait so long to read the second book in this trilogy, think I may have enjoyed it even more than the first one. Certainly one big adventure with a few surprises and twists in there and very interesting to see the relationship develop, and sometimes stumble, between Tris and Tobias. Not seen the film but can see why this got turned into a film. Now keen to start book 3 in the trilogy to find out what happens next. Definitely recommend this. I am happy to read books out of order, but you do need to read this trilogy in order to get the best out of it.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
#3 in the Divergent Trilogy
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

This trilogy took quite a surprising development within this third book of the series, the twist may not be to everyone's liking and I can certainly see why some people didn't like it! The ending of the book (and the trilogy) definitely drew an emotive response from this reader. Overall I would have to say this was an excellent trilogy, which had quite a strong moral message within it. It certainly explored the depths of friendship, courage, grief, loss and love amongst many things.

I love the final sentences of the book, which sums up the challenge of life. I don't think there is a spoiler in this but don't read on if you are worried it will.

'Since I was young, I have always known this: Life damages us, every one. We can’t escape that damage.
But now, I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other.'

Do read the books in order.

>43 BookConcierge: I listened to an audio recording of this book, perhaps with Simon Prebble as the narrator, and found it fascinating. After hearing some friends say they didn't like the print copy of this book I decided audio was the way to go.

But yes! It was long! I don't think I ever made it to the ghost ships; I think I got to the spooky ball where Jonathan Strange realizes he's in a different set of realities before I had to return it (after several renewals and a late fee :) )

Has anyone here read Defending Jacob by William Landay? It's on my local library's reading agenda and I started it last night. I have made it into Part 2 so far, and all I really want to do is pull Andy's (the father's) head out of his, um, sand castle. But I also can't put it down because of all the hints of what is to come.

Anyone else have some insight into this book?

Ed. to get the father's name right.

>48 threadnsong: Not Read Defending Jacob yet but it is one I want to read, and have seen some positive reviews of it - including if my memory serves me correctly by Olivermagnus.

>48 threadnsong: Keep going because the ending is the best and very shocking! Great book!

>48 threadnsong: I totally agree with >50 EadieB:. The ending will floor you.

>48 threadnsong: I agree with friends posting above me! Keep reading!

>50 EadieB: >51 Carol420: >52 Hope_H: Thank you so much! I'll sign off now and read a bit more. Can't wait to get to that ending now!!

Does the father ever have his revelation? Or is that part of the ending??

Schedule for Group Read of Corsair by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul, #6 in the Oregon Files Series.

Tuesday 18th April : Prologue and 1 - 5
Wednesday 19th April : 6 - 13
Thursday 20th April : 14 - 22
Friday 21st April : 23 - 29
Saturday 22nd April : 30 - 37 and Epilogue

Discussion to take place in the Mystery and Suspense Group, all welcome.

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake– Amy E Reichert
Book on CD performed by C S E Cooney
4*****

Lou is struggling to get her French bistro Louella’s off the ground. Native Brit Al has landed in Milwaukee as a free-lance journalist, writing restaurant reviews under an assumed name. Al goes to Louella’s after receiving an anonymous tip, but it happens to be the same day that Lou found her fiancé with another woman and she is, frankly, a mess. The food suffers, and Al writes a scathing review. A few days later they meet in a bar – Lou is drowning her sorrows and Al is complaining about the “backwater” of Milwaukee. Lou challenges Al to see the real charms of the city, with her as guide. Her only requirement – NO talking about work.

What a deliciously delightful foodie romance! I liked the characters, and felt they acted reasonably (if somewhat improbably at time). I was invested in their story from the beginning and just flew through it. The food descriptions made me hungry, and I loved the way Reichert described the joys of this city (my current hometown).

C S E Cooney does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She has great pacing, and is a gifted voice artist who can easily differentiate the various characters.

West With the Night – Beryl Markham
Audio book narrated by Julie Harris
5*****

Beryl Markham was the first woman to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic, from England to North America. This is her memoir.

Much of the book chronicles her childhood and young adulthood in Kenya. Although she was married three times, not a single husband is mentioned, but she does speak of several of the men who were important to her: Tom Black (who taught her to fly), Denys Finch Hatton (with whom she had an affair), and Baron Bror Blixen (whom she helped by scouting elephant by air). What really stands out here is her love of Africa in the early part of the 20th century.

The book is full of vivid imagery, such as:
An encounter with a lionHe lay sprawled in the morning sun, huge, black-maned, and gleaming with life. His tail moved slowly, stroking the rough grass like a knotted rope end... The sound of his roar in my ears will only be duplicated, I think, when the doors of hell slip their wobblly hinges, on day, and give voice and authenticity to the whole panorama of Dante’s poetic nightmares.

Her new home: The trees that guard the thatched hut where I live stand in disorganized ranks, a regiment at ease, and lay their shadows on the ground like lances carried too long.

A peddler and his caravan: There were things made of leather, things of paper, things of celluloid and rubber, all bulging, dangling and bursting from the great pendulous packs. Here was Commerce, four-footed and halting, slow and patient, unhurried, but sure as tomorrow, beating the way to a counter in the African hinterland.

Stalking elephant: One bull raised his head, elevated his trunk, and moved to face us. His gargantuan ears began to spread as if to capture even the sound of our heartbeats. By chance, he had grazed over a spot we had lately left, and he had got our scent. It was all he needed. I have rarely seen anything so calm as that bull elephant – or so casually determined upon destruction. It might be said that he shuffled to the kill. Being, like all elephant, almost blind, this one could not see us, but he was used to that. He would follow scent and sound until he could see us, which, I computed would take about thirty seconds.

On learning to fly: We began at the first hour of the morning. We began when the sky was clean and ready for the sun and you could see your breath and smell traces of the night. We began every morning at that same hour, using what we were pleased to call the Nairobi Aerodrome, climbing away from it with derisive clamour, while the burghers of the town twitched in their beds and dreamed perhaps of all unpleasant things that drone – of wings and stings, and corridors in Bedlam.

The book was originally published in 1942 and quickly disappeared. But Ernest Hemingway found a copy, praised her writing and it was re-issued. It became a bestseller in the 1980s, and has been in print ever since.

Markham was an independent woman who lived life to the fullest, and on her own terms. While there has been significant controversy over whether she actually wrote this memoir (vs her third husband ghost-writing it for her), I still highly recommend it!

Julie Harris performs the audio; she is a fine actress and has good pacing. But the production of this audio left a bit to be desired. Her breaths, swallows, and the occasional noise of turning a page on the manuscript detracted from the audio experience.

Fatal Vision / Joe McGinniss
4 stars

In February of 1970 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Green Beret and physician, Jeffrey MacDonald, survived what he said was a break-in that resulted in the murders of his wife and two little girls, aged 2 and 5 years. It was only after 9 years that Jeffrey himself was finally charged and put on trial (though there was a hearing via the army back in 1970). Unfortunately, there were many errors during the army’s investigation into the murders. Jeffrey’s father-in-law, and early supporter, was later convinced of his guilt (after reading the transcripts of the army hearing) and pushed for years to get MacDonald on trial for the murder of his stepdaughter and grandkids.

I’ve had this book since high school and I don’t believe I ever did read it back then. I’m glad I’ve now finally read it. There were some chapters interspersed, mostly at the start of the book, but also occasionally later on, called “The Voice of Jeffrey MacDonald”. At the start, much of this was recounting his and his wife Colette’s history. I didn’t find these parts nearly as interesting, though I suppose it gives the reader a bit of insight into Jeffrey, himself. Overall, though, it was a fascinating read.

Personal opinion on the case: I have no doubt that he did it. He story just doesn’t hold up for me, not even a little bit. And this is before the physical evidence.

Max Perkins: Editor of Genius
A. Scott Berg
5/5 stars
This is the biography of Max Perkins, editor for Scribner's who worked with Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and many more authors in editing their classics. Berg does a wonderful job in writing this amazing tale of Perkin's life and his close relationships with some of the most influential writers of that time period. I had seen the movie based on this book and wanted to learn more and I was not disappointed. Highly recommended - I did not want this book to end!

>57 LibraryCin: I remember this case and the book from it. I'm glad to hear it was a gripping read and I will have to pick it up when I next see it.

>49 Andrew-theQM: >50 EadieB: >51 Carol420: >52 Hope_H: OMG Chapter 19! OK, I guess the author finally gets the limited amount of sympathy his readers were getting with Aaron. Finally some insight into the wallowing. And it's really, really making the book that much more realistic.

>59 threadnsong: Hope you like it!

>59 threadnsong: Keep going :)

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra / Helen Rappaport
4 stars

This book focuses on the lives of the four Romanov sisters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia – the daughters of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife, Alexandra.

Though the author did try to focus on the four girls, I found that there was a lot of other information, as well, that (at times) overshadowed the girls. I suspect there isn’t as much info out there about the girls, specifically, but the author did find letters and diary entries. Much of the start of the book focused on Nicholas and Alexandra; of course, there was also a good amount of information on their son, Alexei. It did focus a lot on the family, as a whole. And, historical events were also prominent (but there’s no way around that!). I think most of the information about the girls was as they got older, especially the older two, who acted as nurses during WWI before the family was imprisoned. It was very interesting – I did enjoy the book. I listened to the audio – the narrator was good, though I did, on occasion, lose focus.

Maid of the King's Court / Lucy Worsley
4 stars

This is a YA book, with a fictional main character, Eliza, who was meant to be a cousin to Henry VIII’s 5th wife, Katherine Howard. Eliza is sent away at 12-years old, after a marriage proposal doesn’t work out, basically to learn to be a courtier. She and her cousin, Katherine, are later sent to Henry VIII’s court to be ladies to Anne of Cleves, Henry’s 4th wife.

I quite enjoyed this story! It was quick to read, and somewhat simple and easy to read, but then it’s YA, so that’s to be expected. I thought it was an interesting take on why Katherine did what she did (though I still didn’t particularly like her!).

>50 EadieB: >52 Hope_H: >61 LibraryCin: >62 Carol420: Thank you for the encouragement to keep going. You're right - I never, ever, in a million years could have predicted this ending! What a very well-written book, especially because the characters were so multi-faceted and the dad (narrator, Andy) drove me around the bend a couple of times. I went back and re-scanned parts of the book just to help tie it all together. Because OMG! What a phenomenal ending.

>49 Andrew-theQM: Andrew, I do hope you find a copy of this book. It's well worth the read, and is a standalone book so you won't have to worry about finishing another series!

>65 threadnsong: I knew you would like! It is a little strange as you go along but the ending is certainly not expected.

>65 threadnsong: Just noticed my library has a copy so will hope to get to it soon on these recommendations.

>57 LibraryCin:
I've never read the book, but I definitely remember the case. Headline news all over the US at the time.

Baking Cakes in Kigali – Gaile Parkin
4****

Angel Tungaraza is living with her husband and grandchildren in a compound in Kigali, Rwanda, where she had a cake-making business she operates out of the family’s apartment kitchen. Angel is frequently privy to her customer’s secrets, and as a “professional somebody,” she know that she must keep these confidences. But there’s nothing to say that she cannot act to try to help her customers as they negotiate the pitfalls of life, and celebrate the joys of living.

This is a delightful debut novel. I love Angel – she’s wise, discreet, confident, compassionate, decisive and a great friend and mentor. There are several humorous episodes (Capt Calixta’s belief that a white woman will marry him if he presents her with a cake!), and several touchingly sad ones (the unhappiness of a young bride married to a serial philanderer, or the women who feel they have no other choice but to become prostitutes to earn money to feed their families), but Angel deals with any situation with aplomb and compassion. In the process, she learns something about herself and strengthens her own marriage by opening a conversation about a very difficult subject.

Parkin peoples the novel with a wide array of characters from many walks of life: native Rwandans, Americans, Canadians, Indians, Germans, etc. Some are wealthy, some are impoverished. They all form a community and celebrate together with one of Angel’s excellent cakes, of course!

I’ll definitely read more from this author.

The World’s Strongest Librarian – Josh Hanagarne
Book on CD performed by Stephan R Thorne.
4*****

The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family (hardcover subtitle) or : A Book Lover's Adventures with Tourette's, Faith, Family, and Barbells (paperback subtitle)

I really enjoyed this memoir of one man’s struggles to come to grips with his Tourette’s, and to find balance in his life, his work, his family and his faith. Hanagarne has a wonderful sense of humor, but is still quite honest about the difficulties and challenges of living with his condition. And, of course, I loved all the literary references!

Stephan R Thorne does a fine job performing the audio version. He has good pacing and I thought the way he portrayed the various people in the book was very believable.

>68 BookConcierge: I imagine it would have made headlines! I wasn't born quite yet. :-)

ETA: I should say I wasn't born when Colette and the kids were murdered. I was alive when it finally came to trial!

>70 BookConcierge: Glad you enjoyed it! I really did, too, when I listened to it... I think in January.

>65 threadnsong: My reaction was similar to yours! I had to reread a few parts looking for clues. I'm glad you kept reading!

>57 LibraryCin: I remember this case from when it first happened, and then the publicity after that. I haven't kept up with it lately, although I think People magazine did a cover story about it several months ago.

Defending Jacob / William Landay
5 stars

This book was on our local library's book club list for its upcoming meeting. I reserved a copy thinking it would take me a while to read it. Boy was I wrong! I started it on the 11th and finished it on the 19th. Halfway through everything else was pushed to the side it was so gripping.

The story is that of a First District Attorney (works for the prosecution) in a small town in the Northeast. (The fact that it is named Newtown, CT, has nothing to do with the infamous shooting later that year; all the action takes place in 2007 to 2008, and the book was published in 2012. I had to review all this information as I read it, just to keep my mind clear.)

One morning a case comes across the desk for the murder of a 14 year old boy in his son's class; Andy, the narrator, takes the case. That is, until his own son's fingerprint is found on the dead boy's sweatshirt tag and his own son becomes the primary suspect in the case.

The crime thriller/courtroom drama keeps going and building, and concurrent with it is the impact that this accusation has on the family. They could not believe their son could do such a thing, until a revelation that Andy makes to Laurie, about his family's past, begins to fracture their marriage and her feelings for him. And as some can see from the threads on this group, the ending!!

What made this story and writing strong for me was the realism of the story itself. It's a what-if: what if my child were convicted of murder? To what lengths would I go to keep him/her out of the prison system? And moreover, what happens when I have kept a secret from my life partner for our entire marriage? What then? There were points where I wanted to shake Andy to wake him out of his fog, but was it really a fog? Or was it an understanding of what kind of person would commit a murder, and his son was not part of that profile?

And a writer who can invoke such a wide range of emotions about characters for the reader is well worth reading.

Finished Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation.It was OK,so-so,whatever. It did pick up a little in the later stages,but I never felt spooked at all,I found it curiously flat. Probably because the protagonist,the Biologist,was also, while obsessive about describing her inner self, curiously flat,and was probably the most alien thing in the book - maybe deliberately? Didnt care.I prefer a more elusive shadowy sense of fear,this seemed far too detailed in one way,whilst not giving us much resolution in other ways,presumably since this should have been one 600 page book,not a trilogy.
I happened to get all three from the library at the same time,so I'll continue with book 2 Authority next month :0)
A much happier experience was A A Milne's Complete Winnie the Pooh. Timeless,its always a delight to return to the 100 Aker Wood(Christopher Robin's spelling there) to visit our honey loving poet Pooh,shy anxious little Piglet(of the excitable ears)the very bouncy Tigger and all the gang. Got to wonder if Douglas Adams got some pointers for the depressed Marvin in Hitchhiker's Guide from Eeyore.There is a distinct resemblance!Any sensitive and intelligent child will see common faults and anxieties of his own there ,and receive comfort.Delightful.
I have about 100 pages left of David Brin's Infinity's Shore,and about the same number of pages in V E Schwab's excellent YA A Darker Shade of Magic,then I start searching out gems for May!

>76 dustydigger: Got to love ❤️Winnie the Pooh and Tigger!

>74 Hope_H: Oh, that's interesting that there was something recent on it!

>78 LibraryCin: Here's the link to the People article from January: http://people.com/crime/could-jeffrey-macdonald-be-exonerated-after-conviction-f...

and one on what the prosecutors think: http://people.com/crime/dr-jeffrey-macdonalds-murder-convictions-should-stand-pr...

>78 LibraryCin: >79 Hope_H: I read this book in 1984 and there also was a movie about the book. Very interesting case!

>79 Hope_H: Thanks for the links! I'll take a look!

>75 threadnsong: Were you ever expecting how this ended? I had to go back and read it again to be sure this is what had happened.

>82 Carol420: I never, ever, in a million years and lots of thriller books, would have expected this ending.

Like you, I had to go back and re-read the testimony sections of it. Because then those totally made sense. And I've almost never done that to a thriller/mystery before. It's kind of an unending circle, almost a Moebius strip.

>78 LibraryCin: >79 Hope_H: >80 EadieB: Thanks for sharing these links. I remember this case, too, and I'm not sure after so many years if I saw the resulting movie. There were a lot of made-for-TV movies and clips about the case, all through the 1970's and 80's.

>78 LibraryCin: >79 Hope_H: >84 threadnsong: You can watch some clips here:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEV7nPj_tY1lwA3SAPxQt.;_ylu=X3o...

>85 EadieB: Thank you!

>86 LibraryCin: You're welcome! Google is my friend!

Shoot The Moon by Billie Letts
4.5 stars

From the Book:
It's a tale of a small Oklahoma town and the mystery that has haunted its residents for years.

In 1972, windswept DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the murder of a young mother, Gaylene Harjo, and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were discovered on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared that he, too, had been killed, although his body was never found.

Nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack mysteriously returns to DeClare, shocking the town and stirring up long-buried memories. But what he discovers about the night he vanished is more astonishing than he or anyone could have imagine. Piece by piece, what emerges is a story of dashed hopes, desperate love, and a secret that still cries out for justice...and redemption.

My Views:
Those who've read other books by Billy Letts will recognize the familiar Oklahoma territory as well as the well-polished dialogue and heart-warming humor in this part murder mystery, part romance, part humorous study of human nature. It was an enjoyable story of a small town.... a murder.... and a missing child The author created a cast of interesting characters that you wanted to get to know more about. The only thing that I could have done without was the "love story" that came across as not only unbelievable but unnecessary. Otherwise it was an excellent read.

>87 EadieB: Took a look after I posted. That's a lot of videos to watch!!! LOL!

>89 LibraryCin: Well, you can pick and choose!

A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories
Lucia Berlin
5/5 stars
This is a compilation of short stories written by Lucia Berlin over the years. Berlin uses her experiences to frame her stories about living in hard times and hard places, working through addiction and the prejudices of others. If you are looking for some feel good stories, pick another book but if you are looking for great writing by an amazing author you are in the right place.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
★★★

From The Book:
The story focuses on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story - of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

My Views:
I once read a Young Adult book that featured rooms that appeared and disappeared and this reminded me a great deal of the house in that series. It's an entertaining read if you can just suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride.

Corsair by Clive Cussler - 4 stars
Corsairs are pirates, and pirates come in many different varieties. There are the pirates who fought off the Barbary Coast in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the contemporary pirates who infest the waters of Africa and Asia, and the pirates...who look like something else.

I liked learning about the history of the pirates in the 18th and 19th century and about Lafayette and the early explorers, Captain William Baimbrige, Captain Stephen Decatur and Admiral Charles Stewart. I thought all the characters were pretty interesting and I liked the role Linda Ross had in fighting Assad's men. The action and adventure scenes were very entertaining but the technical information was a bit much for me. I wish there were more dialogue between the characters during the adventure scenes as I believe that would make it much more enjoyable. I found the plot a little weaker from the past books but I still found the book a fascinating read. I would highly recommend Clive Cussler's book to those who like adventure reads.

Murder at the Vicarage / Agatha Christie
4 stars

This is the first Miss Marple book. Mr. Protheroe is found murdered at his desk. Very soon after, two different people confess to the murder. Miss Marple lives not far away, so she must have seen or heard something! What could have really happened?

I am always mixed on Agatha Christie’s books. I decided, this time, to try the BBC dramatization instead of the book itself, and I’m certain that made a difference for the higher rating. I think it made it a bit more interesting to me, and I am glad that’s the version I listened to. I do like Miss Marple.

In tribute to Colin Dexter who died last month we are doing a Group Read of the first book in the Inspector Morse Series. All welcome to join in. I will post the reference when I set it up

Schedule for Group Read of Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter
#1 in the Inspector Morse Series

Thursday 27th April : Prelude and Chapter 1 - 8
Friday 28th April : Chapter 9 - 14
Saturday 29th April : Chapter 15 - 23
Sunday 30th April : Chapter 24 - 31 and Epilogue

Star Trek: The New Voyages I edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath
5 stars, personal favorite

This is one of the first non-James Blish-written books drawing on the Star Trek characters from the original series. It was published in March, 1976; a few months later, Star Wars first appeared on the big screen and geeks everywhere flocked to a new galaxy, far, far away.

But until that phenomenon happened, there were fanzines and the Star Trek series of books adapted from the scripts but far little else for fans of Star Trek until this book arrived. It provides a series of short stories that offer an extraordinary, fan's look at the characters, how they interacted, and it each short story includes an introduction by a cast member.

Stories include "The Enchanted Pool" about Spock marooned on a primitive planet with a winsome nymph who claims to be his true love (I had a huge crush on Spock and this one was one of my favorites); "The Face on the Barroom Floor" that includes some intrigue and mystery on a shore leave planet and Kirk's loss of his communicator; and "The Winged Dreamers" about another primitive planet and the creatures that allow anyone to experience a fantasy that is their deepest heart's desire. It probably contains the first mention of the adult love between Kirk and Spock, a theme that features prominently now in the genre of science fiction called slash fiction or fan fic.

Probably my favorite story has always been "Mind Sifter" due to its complex nature and time spent on this adventure. It involves Kirk who disappears during shore leave for an entire year, and almost another year before he is found and brought back to his Captain self. It involves a state-run mental institution, the Klingon Mind Sifter, and what it does to the human brain. Star Trek fans will remember Spock's dealings with it on the Planet Organa when the Organian Peace Treaty is laid out. It was also the first time I saw Kirk as human and not a far-off captain who chased women and commanded the Enterprise.

Reading this book as an adult has been a marvelous journey, and is part of my extended celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. The voyages will live on with all their imagination, compassion, and humanity forever.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Part of my Longtime TBR challenge for the month of April, whose theme is historical fiction.
5 stars

I had heard that this was a good book from past discussions and chose it with a little trepidation. How true would this world be? Was the main character flat and one-dimensional, or someone I could relate to? How good was the story going to be, really? The answer to all of these was amazing. Just amazing.

We meet Chiyo when she is a little girl growing up in a fishing village with an elderly father and a dying mother. She is content and beautiful, and a chance encounter with the fish broker, Mr. Tanaka, results in her sale to an okiya, a house where geisha are trained.

Arthur Golden does a magnificent story explaining a world I knew nothing about with dimensions, strict characters living within their structured lives, and a main character who is only a girl trying to make sense of her new world. Nothing prepares her for it, and her ingenuity is that of a child; her mistakes bring down an adult's punishment in so many, many ways.

The process of becoming a geisha is described in meticulous detail without becoming supercilious or boring. I found myself immersed in this book and its world and hoping that Chiya would maybe, just maybe, make it out with her beauty and sanity intact. That she learns harsh realities along the way adds to its realism, and I recommend it to those who like strong writing, new worlds, and have an open mind to flawed young women.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, part of my Longtime TBR Challenge for the month of April, whose theme is historical fiction. Currently reading (and will finish shortly).

The detail and descriptions are amazing, as is the emotion (or lack thereof, in times of war) that are given words I could never have seen coming. I'm so very, very glad I took it off my nighttime reading table and am instead reading it in large chunks. The lyricism that nevertheless is able to describe the horrors of the waves of men crossing No Man's Land during the Battle of the Somme are some of the most extraordinary passages I've ever read on this subject.

I've just reached the point where Stephen return to England for a brief leave. His feeling of disconnection and his struggle to find his way to his old life should be recommended reading for all veterans or those who love them.

The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
Currently reading, no particular challenge

A very strange and interesting piece of early 20th century fantasy fiction. It begins in an action-adventure sort of way, where the narrator is trying to transport himself to the planet Venus with his magickal arts; when he finds himself in the realm of the Demons, who look like large humans with horns on their heads, he realizes he has accomplished his objectives. The small bird perched on his shoulder explains what he sees; and fortunately, this narrator bit falls away until the main action of the novel starts to occur.

The language is very dense, and is the perfect book to keep on my nighttime reading table. I expect this book is going to take a very, very long time to read. I started it once and . . . now I'm re-reading it. No particular challenge, just something to read at night before bed time.

>97 threadnsong: One of my favorite books!

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam
Pope Brock
5/5 stars
In this fascinating and outrageous story set in the early 20th century, Pope Brock covers the true life story of Dr. John R. Brinkley, famous doctor, would be politician, businessman and radio innovator who is not all that he seems to be when in fact he is a fake and charlatan taking advantage of his patients and convincing them he could renew their sexual vigor. But instead of healing patients he causes pain and death while being pursued by Morris Fishbein, physician and editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, who is determined to see Brinkley be punished and removed from harming further patients. One of the best non-fiction books I have ever read.

>100 JulieLill: Yes! I can see why. I could not have imagined this book to be *this* good.

>96 threadnsong: I love the world of ST. It introduced me a few favorite authors including Harlan Elliison and David Gerrold.

>96 threadnsong: >103 Hope_H: It's a while since i read some, but in the past I've enjoyed these books and some books about Star Trek : The Next Generation.

The group has now been set up for the Group Read of Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter, #1 in the Morse Series.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionlastbu

Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France / Leonie Frieda
3.75 stars

In the 16th century, Catherine de Medici came to France from Italy to marry the future king of France, Henri II. She loved him, but had to share him with a mistress, the woman he loved, Diane de Poitiers. Over the years, Catherine and Henri had ten children and Catherine outlived all except two of them. Three of her sons became kings of France, and Catherine was always there to help them rule. There were a number of religious wars in France over the years she ruled.

I’ve only read a little bit of fiction about Catherine (this is nonfiction). It was good. Being nonfiction, though, there were dry parts to it, but there were plenty of interesting things going on, as well. It’s funny, from the fiction I read, I remember the rivalry between Catherine and Diane more than anything else, yet she is apparently best remembered for her part in a massacre pitting Protestants against Catholics (which I don’t recall from the fiction at all, though it must have been there!). I did feel particularly bad for her when Henri was alive and she had Diane de Poitiers to contend with, but she did have a ruthless side, particularly when it came to protecting the crown for her sons.

>72 LibraryCin:
I think it was your review that pushed The World's Strongest Librarian higher on my tbr "priority" list.

My Name is Lucy Barton – Elizabeth Strout
Book on CD performed by Kimberly Farr
5*****

Excerpt from the book jacket: Lucy Barton is recovering from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect ofr Lucy’s life.

My Reaction:
I love character-driven novels such as this one. Strout writes beautifully, with prose that reveals her characters to the reader with nuance and grace. Lucy’s recollections and probing questions lead her mother to reveal some of the “why” behind how Lucy came to be the woman she is; by exploring her family life as a child she comes to understand her desire to become a writer and her own relationship with her two daughters and her husband. But mostly Lucy reflects on mothers and daughters, the ways they communicate – both with and without words – and the love they feel even when they cannot openly express it.

When I finished listening to the audio, I picked up the text and read it again from the beginning.

Kimberly Farr does a fine job performing the audio book. Her tone and timber were perfect for this contemplative novel. I felt as if Lucy, herself, was confiding in me.

The Route – Gale Sears
2.5**

From the book jacket: Carol, a middle-aged wife and mother, is pondering the meaning of life. On a trip to the grocery store she sees a sign asking for volunteers to deliver meals to the elderly. When Carol decides to take a chance and help out, she’s in for a life-changing – and route-altering – experience.

My Reactions:
This was okay, but I found little substance here and I felt it was predictable. Some of the patrons on Carol’s route were charming, some were irascible. A few needed more help than Carol could provide, and a couple of them helped her more than she helped them. Along the way, the reader learns a little about Carol’s background. I grew tired of her constant reminders to herself that “I can do this.”

Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen
4 Stars

From The Book:
Hannah Monroe's boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house. Every call she ever made to him, every text she ever sent, every photo of him and any sign of him on social media have vanished. It's as though their last four years together never happened.

As Hannah struggles to get through the next few days, with humiliation and recriminations whirring through her head, she knows that she'll do whatever it takes to find him again and get answers. But as soon as her search starts, she realizes she is being led into a maze of madness and obsession. Step by suspenseful step, Hannah discovers her only way out is to come face to face with the shocking truth.

My Views:
Anyone who likes to follow the clues and try to solve the mystery before the last sentence on the last page, will absolutely love this book. The thing that presented a little problem with that was that everyone quickly became a suspect. Everyone had motive and opportunity. I'm usually pretty successful at hunting out the villains and finding the "why" of the story...but in this case the truth was something that I had never in a million years thought of. Gone Without A Trace is a twisted psychological thriller that will keep you spellbound right up until the very end...even if you never guess it.

Into Thin Air / Jon Krakauer
5 stars

In 1996, Jon Krakauer climbed Mount Everest as an assignment for the magazine he worked for, but also as a personal goal, as he had done a lot of mountain climbing when he was younger. He signed on with Rob Hall’s group (Rob was the head guide of their group). Little did they know that in 1996, Everest would claim a number of lives, guides and clients both.

Probably very few people need a summary of this one. In fact, it was a reread for me, as well, first read at least 10 years ago. It was my first mountaineering book and I’ve read many since, including (but not limited to) other versions of the same year on Everest, so the same disaster, but from other points of view. Krakauer is such a great writer, though. I just didn’t want to put the book down! I feel like the start was “slower” (though that’s not to say “slow”!) with some of the history of Everest and explanations of mountaineering terms, etc, but the last bit of the book is just riveting... and heartbreaking.

Last Bus To Woodstock by Colin Dexter
Inspector Morse series Book #1
3.5 ★'s

From The Book:
Beautiful Sylvia Kaye and another young woman had been seen hitching a ride not long before Sylvia's bludgeoned body is found outside a pub in Woodstock, near Oxford. Morse is sure the other hitchhiker can tell him much of what he needs to know. But his confidence is shaken by the cool inscrutability of the girl he's certain was Sylvia's companion on that ill-fated September evening. Shrewd as Morse is, he's also distracted by the complex scenarios that the murder set in motion among Sylvia's girlfriends and their Oxford playmates. To grasp the painful truth, and act upon it, requires from Morse the last atom of his professional discipline.

My Views:
Well I have to say that Inspector Morse is a better detective than "Yours Truly". As a police procedural it was okay. If I had not already been a fan of the TV series and if this book had not been the selection for a group read...and said group was one that I am very fond of...I more than likely would not have even rated it more than 2.5 stars. However...to its credit, the plot was sufficiently complex to keep me guessing...incorrectly I might add...until the very end.

I know that this was Colin Dexter's first novel in the Inspector Morse series and that the book was written in 1975, but the callous way that the author had the characters of Morse and Lewis deal with some gender issues just rubbed me the wrong way. Hopefully the Morse and Lewis characters will be better developed in the future books....but I don't think the next in this series will be a priority choice for reading materials for me.

>112 Carol420: It's easy to forget how very far gender issues have come in the last 42 years, and we are talking about the bastion of Oxfird where old fashioned ideas are likely to be more entrenched. Still further to go of course, one of the Scottish Golf courses has only just this year allowed female members or I think (?) women to play on the courses.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Part of my Longtime TBR Challenge for the month of April, historical fiction
5 golden stars

A novel about the time before the Great War in Amiens, France; the War itself, and the life of the main character's granddaughter in 1978 London. All three time periods are described in great detail, and each character involved in the action comes to an understanding of his/her own life and their story within the greater story.

I keep going back to the word "lyrical" to describe its written style. This description fits when looking at 1910-era Amiens with its languid life, factories, and the inevitable love affair between Stephen and Isabelle. But how do you describe the Battle of the Somme? How can such descriptions be thought "lyrical"? Yet they are. The part of the battle where Stephen finds himself is not told in the rapid-fire rat-a-tat-tat of the machine gun. Instead, the horror is described in much more intimate detail. What Stephen sees, the smells, the knowledge that another friend has died, are all brought to a modern reader's eyes. And even before this battle are the battles on the front of 1915, the billeting of the officers, and the hospitals with their mustard gas wounded.

Interspersed with these events is the mundane life of Stephen's granddaughter who discovers his coded notebooks in an attic (which perhaps accounts for the episodic parts of Stephen's life) and finds that she needs to know him in order to know herself. Her journey takes her on a physical journey as well, to find the graveyard at Albert but also seeing a monument to the "missing" of only a small section of the battle. It is a pivotal part of her life and fuels her desire to know this mysterious man who returned home.

>114 threadnsong: I have a copy of this, obviously need to get to it.

The Sacred World of the Celts by Nigel Pennick
Found it on a Longtime TBR stack
3 stars

So I had just finished Birdsong on Beltane Eve and I spied with my little eye this volume and decided to add a book to my reading for the month. It took an afternoon/evening to read through it.

As an introduction to the Pan-Celtic world it is good. It brings in not just the Gauls and the British Isles and the Pictish peoples, but also the Isle of Man and the Bretons. Linguistic discussions of the peoples are highlighted as are their relation to the world about them. Neither does Pennick stint in describing the acceptance of Christianity into the Celtic world and how the two religions crossed to become the unique Celtic Christianity. He also goes into detail about the different areas worshipping slightly different dieties, both gods and goddesses, and the shifting boundaries between kingdoms especially in Britain.

The stunning pictures of bits of archeology are why I wish to keep this book handy: included are tapestry depictions of Aethelwine and Arthur from the medieval period (I had never seen any of them!) along with paintings that are more classical and Woodhouse-inspired in nature. Then there are the horse bronzes with their intricate detail, and Pennick's discussion about the artistry that went into their creation as well as their colors being important to the Celtic belief system.

What brought this book down to 3 stars for me was the total lack of reference material in this slim volume. No index, no bibliography, nothing scholarly to back up Pennick's assertions about what he writes. I realize his intended audience may have only wanted a brief outline of the subject, but asking the reader to take on faith that everything he says is correct is just a bit . . . lacking. Some of the detail I was familiar with, but much was a bit obscure and in my mind needed backing to prove its point.

Still, a good book to have for a Celtic enjoyer or scholar.

>Yeah, definitely carve out some time for it. I'd be interested to hear/read your comments as you go through it.

>117 threadnsong: I keep meaning to try some Sebastian Faulks and own two of his books.

>114 threadnsong: >115 Andrew-theQM: I loved Birdsong - 5 stars. I've also read On Green Dolphin Street, Engleby, The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Charlotte Gray - 4 stars for the others.

>114 threadnsong: >119 EadieB: I also own a copy of A Week in December.

>120 Andrew-theQM: That one got mixed reviews on Goodreads. I own that one too.

>121 EadieB: It did but I treat some ratings on Goodreads with caution, some lower rated books between 3.25 and 3.75 I have really enjoyed.

>122 Andrew-theQM: I know if I want to read a book, I just read it especially when the ratings go from 5 stars to 2 stars.

>123 EadieB: As we saw with Last Bus to Woodstock we can all have very different reactions to books and that has a 3.93 rating on Goodreads. Covers, stories, the blurb, other people's recommendations all can be reasons for wanting to read a book far more than it's rating.

>124 Andrew-theQM: I agree! We did have a varied reception to that book.

>123 EadieB: What a great decision system! I kind of felt that way with both Birdsong and Memoirs of a Geisha - they can't really be *that* good, can they? But I tend to be drawn to the lower starred things.

>124 Andrew-theQM: There was definitely a lot of differing opinions on Last Bus to Woodstock. It did take me a few posts to realize Colin Dexter was not referring to the music festival in the US. I was forgetting my UK geography!

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls – Anton DiSclafani
Book on CD read by Adina Verson
3***

In 1930, fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell is sent from her Florida home by her parents to a boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains, to remove her from a scandal that has rocked her family’s foundations. It’s the early part of the Great Depression, but the residents at Yonahlassee Riding Camp for Girls are from the kinds of wealthy families that will generally survive and even prosper during this time. Isolated from home, they form their own societal norms, and Thea struggles to find her place.

The story is told in alternating time frames: the events leading up to the scandal, and the events at the school during Thea’s year at Yonahlossee. The reader watches Thea grow from a tomboy to a curious pre-teen, to a sexually charged young woman. As she related what is happening and how she feels about everything, I found myself worried for this emotionally distant girl, who seemed unable to control her impulses or to recognize the potential consequences of her actions.

One thing that bothers me: Does no one recognize the predatory nature of the men/boys involved? Both Georgie and Henry take advantage of Thea. Even though she is an apparently willing partner, she is vulnerable due to her age, isolation and lack of experience.

Adina Verson does a fine job of voicing the audio book. Her detached, almost monotone, delivery really gives me a sense of Thea’s loneliness and struggle.

Epitaph – Mary Doria Russell
Audiobook performed by Hillary Huber
4****

From the book jacket: A deeply divided nation. Vicious politics. A shamelessly partisan media. A president scorned by half the populace. Smuggling and gang warfare along the Mexican border. Armed citizens willing to stand their ground and take law into their own hands … That was America in 1881.

My reactions

In a sequel to her earlier novel, Doc, Russell explores what REALLY happened at the OK Corral. The events and circumstances leading up to that fateful battle are disturbingly familiar. The gunfight itself lasted a mere 30 seconds, but the ramifications affected the survivors’ lives for the remainder of their days.

I love Russell’s writing. She does extensive research and is not content to give us only one side of the issues, or one facet of the characters involved: the three Earp brothers, Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil, and their steadfast friend Doc Holliday. I particularly liked how she focused on the women who loved these men: Josephine, Alvira (Allie), Mattie, Bessie, Louisa, and Kate.

The chief characters in this novel are Josie Marcus and Wyatt Earp, and the last sixty pages, or so, relate Wyatt’s last years and Josie’s efforts to immortalize his role in the history of the American West. I found their story compelling, and it is made richer by Russell’s attention to all the other characters. From the blustering Johnny Behan to the drunken Ike Clanton, every character fairly leaps off the page. Yet, I must confess that what I really wanted was more of Doc.

Hillary Huber does a fine job performing the audio version. Her skill as a voice artist is put to the test with the many characters, but she is up to the task.

One Two Buckle My Shoe – Agatha Christie
Book on CD read by Hugh Fraser.
3***

Even Hercule Poirot hates to go to the dentist, but a toothache requires attention, so he visits Dr Morley’s offices. A few hours after leaving, he is called back to the dentist’s surgery – to examine the body of the dentist, an apparent suicide. But as Poirot begins to interview the other patients who also visited the dentist that same morning, he finds more questions than answers.

Christie always delivers a well-constructed plot, with plenty of red herrings to keep the reader guessing. While I did catch on to a few of the tricks, I didn’t figure out the real culprit until Poirot revealed the answer. Bravo!

Hugh Fraser does a fine job performing the audio. He plays Hastings in the BBC series, but he’s definitely up to the task of voicing Hercule Poirot and the many other characters.

Expecting Adam – Martha N Beck
3.5***

The subtitle of this memoir is: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.

John and Martha Beck were both working on their Ph.Ds at Harvard when they conceived their second child. Martha suffered severe nausea throughout the pregnancy, as she had with the couple’s first child, and the pressure to succeed at Harvard caused her to do everything she could to hide her condition from everyone but immediate family way past the time when most pregnant women would happily show their “baby bump.” Still, even that additional stress didn’t fully explain how “different” she felt, or the things she experienced. When she learned the baby she carried had Down syndrome, she fought against her doctors and virtually everyone she knew to continue the pregnancy. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew Adam would be fine.

Beck writes well, and she is very honest about what she went through. She has a wonderful way of expressing herself. Her self-deprecating humor is refreshing, and a few scenes had me laughing out loud. Many of the experiences she relates are simply “unbelievable” and yet I fully believe in the sincerity of her memoir.

And there are three more I red in April, but haven't gotten around to writing the reviews. I'm SOOooo far behind!

When I get to them I'll just post them in May's thread.

>128 BookConcierge: I want to read this and Doc but not easy to get hold of in the Uk.