Susan Lippert's Book Reviews and Other Stuff

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

2012-01-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

In 1938 a born and bred New York woman works in a law firm typing pool and lives with a roommate from the Midwest. They meet a man one night from high society and for the next couple of years Katey Kontent and her roommate Eve's lives are forever changed.

Katey falls in love with the New York banker and her roommate Eve wants him too. The banker feels obligated to Eve and Eve as a result of her high society connections ends up dating several of the men she meets.

As Katey reflects on those years, she illustrates how life is not always as it appears in high society.

The author does a great job of describing every single solitary item she comes across in her story. I almost died from boredom at the description of a desk, Katey's friend Ann was sitting at in one scene. It's really a lovely story though about nothing else than a year in the life of Katey, with no more point to it then to say, the people we meet in our lives mean something to us and should not be forgotten. That is a good point to a story but from the books tone, I think the author wanted there to more to it about the rules of civility and high society, yadah yadah yadah.

I admit it, I'm not a scholar and this book is probably considered literature. It's lost on me. Guess you really can't take the ghetto out of me.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

2012-01-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, this book is pretty interesting. It is a wonderful book about teenagers having Cancer and trying to live the best life possible.

There are three teenagers, all with different forms of Cancer and all with wonderful families. One of the teens, Issac, has a rare cancer that affects the eyes. Augustus had a cancer that caused him to lose a leg. Hazel's cancer affects her lungs and she has to carry oxygen with her at all times.

Augustus says he is so awesome that he takes Hazel's breath away and that Issac is blinded by his awesomeness. It makes his family uncomfortable but you can certainly see how kids suffering from Cancer would enjoy the banter. The levity makes things bearable for the teens and frankly for myself as the reader. I don't know if real teenagers would be capable of so much great wit but for this story it was wonderful.

There are a lot of interesting things going on in this story but what stands out for me most besides a love story is Hazel's realization that she is much more than just a grenade. You see, she thinks that those who love her will have their life exploded like a grenade when she dies. She feels this a lot about her mom who is always there for her and it's her job to take care of Hazel.

Another thing that I gleaned from reading this story is that Hazel and maybe other Cancer patients are really affected by parents and other family members and friends that feel so much sorrow and sadness when they look at her. Hazel really felt that and it brought her down a great deal and sometimes she just could not take it and didn't want to be with those loved ones. She sought the comfort of her friends who knew about cancer and more importantly didn't look at her with pity.

I found out several years ago that my son had a tumor in his head. It brought my world to a screeching halt and I spent every day for a long time crying every quiet moment I could find. I find that the shower is the best place to have a good cry. The noise covers up sobbing and most of the time we are alone in there and the shower washes off your face and doesn't leave puffy eyes.

As a result of the news of a tumor I never wanted to be away from my son and I am sure I looked at him with much pity and sorrow. How hard it must have been for him to carry that burden. We found out the tumor is benign and after a scary surgery to attempt removal unsuccessfully my son lives with his tumor daily and for now that is all we can do. He is healthy and active and we have so much to be thankful for and our story is not to be compared to the story in John Green's book, but I did know for a time how desperate and powerless a parent can be and to that end I felt a bond with the parents in the book.

John Green's teenagers didn't save the world or create an international cause to fight for. They lived, they loved and they laughed and they mattered.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502745981

Acupuncture Update

2011-12-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

I said in the beginning that I would blog about my treatment but then life kept happening and I wasn't able to update.

I barely remember having arthritis in my right hand. It took awhile to get rid of it but now it is just fantastic. I was not able to grab a load of wash from the machine to put it in the dryer without tremendous pain. Now I have no paid whatsoever.

My left knee used to hurt going up and down stairs. Every now and then I feel a slight tinge in my knee but nothing like pain. I can do exercises on my knees now and I do stairs without any problems. It is really great and I have a hard time believing it since my next step was to have an MRI done and most likely surgery.

I am still going every other week to acupuncture because I have some PMS symptoms that Cindy thinks she can help me with. I go from being teary to angry and from having headaches to my jaws tightening up on me.

I am trying some herbs to help me with my feeling bloated. It had been better in the beginning of acupuncture but then went back to the original problem. The herbs at first helped me out a great deal and now I have gone back to being bloated again. It's like my body keeps adjusting back to being bloated no matter what I do. The times when the bloated feelings subside are great. I have gone down in weight to 139 lbs (not seen in several years) but I am back up to 144. My goal is to get to 135 and maintain it.

Overall, I feel fantastic and not for being 50, for any age.

Lies that Chelsea Handler told me

2011-12-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

I listed to this book on tape for about 15 minutes and it was so nauseating that I took out the CD and returned the book to the library.

I am too old to read Chelsea Handler. I watch her tv show occasionally and laugh because she is so shocking and usually makes fun of people who ask for it. Her earlier book "Are you there Vodka" was amusing. It was very light and often funny and Chelsea was making fun of herself most of the time.

This book wasn't funny at all, it was non-stop putting other people down and not in a funny way or for any reason.

Putting people down like that is hurtful and mean. I know Chelsea does that and it is funny when she does it to people who throw themselves out into the public eye and they do stupid things. Making fun of people simply for the way they look or talk is just wrong and it isn't funny. It's not even witty or clever, it's just STUPID.

Imperium by Robert Harris He

2011-12-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

In Rome at the time of Caesar's youth, Rome was ruled as a republic. So many years ago there was a court, courts actually, and men who would rule the courts with their oratory skill and jury's made up of men who issue the justice of the time.

This is a book about Cicero, and how he beat the odds to become the leading councilor of his time. The story is told by his slave and secretary, Tiro. The time of history, 1st century BC is well documented but I believe that Tiro is a fictional character. In the story he gives himself credit for developing the current shorthand.

Cicero did not come from wealth or have a famous family to give him an advantage in society like the other famous people from that time. He was always an orator and found a way to make his speeches even the playing field between himself and his competitors. He was also very clever and chose cases that appealed to the masses instead of ONLY the aristocrats.

I was shocked to see so much of the current legal system alive and well back in that early time. I had previously thought it to be so much more primitive. What was not surprising was the gross cruelty by rulers of the surrounding districts. Men of that time were not supposed to be thieves and murderers but since so many feared them they were able to rule by terror without justice for the most part.

Cicero's first major case was bringing one such ruler to justice. It was not an easy rode and he had to fight the aristocrats who were heavily bribed. It is a wonderfully told story of a man who stands up to the system time after time in a very primitive and political time. The story is made more endearing with Tiro, the always faithful loyal servant who cares for and respects his master.

I was worried that this early time period would bore me to tears with details but it was easy to listen to on CD's and only in a few cases did this very long story go on too long. I would recommend this to anyone how loves historical fiction.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2011-12-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

My daughter told me about this book and I was very skeptical about it. I am glad I read the book anyway. It was so much fun. I have said it before, I will read anything! This book proves that again. This is a story about a man and his grandson.
The grandson grows up loving his grandfather deeply and loving the stories that his grandfather has told him his whole life. The stories were about monsters and about peculiar children that could do amazing and extraordinary things.
At some point the grandson's father told the boy that the stories were untrue. It was heart wrenching for the boy to hear that. He had looked up to his grandfather for so many years.
When the boy is a teenager he checks on his grandfather and finds some strange things going on. When he tells his father what he sees, the father doesn't believe him and forces the teen to see a therapist.
At some point the teen wants to see where his grandfather grew up to do some research of his own. It is hard but he and his therapist convince the father that going to the island where his grandfather grew up would be a healing process for the teen.
The teen and his father embark on an adventure and the teen soon finds out that his grandfather knew about things that were seemingly out of this world and possibly very dangerous. He makes a lot new friends along the way in his adventure and instead of a conclusion to the book the end is a beginning to a new adventure.
The story flowed so well and was so entertaining along the way. My only complaint is that I don't like books to end at a beginning. I think it is a rip off by the author to end a book that way. I think if you want to write a series do it like the Harry Potter and other novels where each book is a complete story of it's own. This could have been done very easily in this case but the author chose to begin the next story to tease the reader into buying his next book. Shame. Shame. That being said I did enjoy the story of the Jacob and the Peculiar children and I will most likely read the next book.

Scarlet Contessa by Jeanne Kalogridis

2011-11-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

I love this author. My neighbor, Denise Tiller, turned me on to this author and she is so fun to read. Her books are historical fiction novels and the ones I have read so far are during the early 1400's with European royalty. Those early royals were so devious but delicious to read.
This story involves Italian royalty. It all starts with a woman from Florence, who is a seer. She has a son and a newborn daughter before she is killed.

Dea, the daughter, is raised in the house of the Duke of Milan by the Duke's wife Bona. Several of the Dukes children are raised in the house and they are from various mothers.
When Dea is old enough the Duke offers her hand in marriage to an old man and a young admirer named Matteo steps up an asks for Dea's hand in marriage. Dea doesn't know what to think but she accepts it and try's her best to make the marriage work. Matteo is very sweet and loving but he refuses to have relations with his wife. Dea doesn't understand this at all but she learns to love Matteo anyway.

The Duke is known to rape women and everyone looks the other way. This behavior catches up to the Duke finally, when one of the raped girl's brother, kills the Duke while in church. After this, the duke's favorite daughter Caterina is married off and insists that Dea go with her.

Dea's life becomes very eventful as a lady in waiting to Caterina. Dea has to support Caterina in her sexual and military adventures even though Dea does not approve. She learns to be a seer like her mother and she becomes a widow and later a new wife again and knows love in the all ways including the physical way. Along the way in the adventure she learns about her past, her mother and the mysteries of her beloved husband Matteo.

I enjoy this author so much. She really spins a tale with fictional characters blended into the lives of non-fictional European royalty. I will definitely be reading more of her.

Queen of the Night by J.A. Jance

2011-11-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have read a few books from this author and they are usually okay but they always leave me wanting a more complete ending or a less contrived storyline.
This story is actually the only one so far that seems completely thought out and not contrived.
It's a story that starts with an Indian legend about a woman who dies and becomes a beautiful flower, called "Queen of the Night".
In todays times, the story starts with a man, a very sick man, who kills his wife and family and goes off hunting his mother who he blames for all the problems in his life.
In another part of the country, an Indian tribe is getting ready to celebrate the blooming of the flower, Queen of the Night.
There is a border patrol officer with a scary bloody past who finds a child and shares a history with and a compassion for. There is a doctor who was an orphan who was adopted by loving and caring parents.
There is a man and woman who married after previous unhappy marriages. They love deeply for one another and for the child in their lives.
They all come together to be a family by way of a brutal murder and through personal sacrifices made.
It's an interesting story and a look into life on a reservation. I enjoyed it and the characters had a lot of depth without being the too over the top.

This Body of Death by Elizabeth George

2011-11-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

There are two cases going here. Not sure how they relate yet.
One is the story of three young boys who take a toddler from a McDonalds when his Dad is busy ordering. So far, the story is investigating the reports, I believe the reports from police or the news, I can't tell. It's like a flashback story. It starts with how each young boy started his day and some of the background on the boys lives. It also explores the day of the toddlers Dad and he came to be in the McDonalds. There are witness accounts of seeing the three young boys that day, before and after the toddler was taken from McDonalds. This part of the book had such an eerie and familiar tune that I did some research and discovered that the story told by Elizabeth George is almost exactly the same story about James Bulger a boy kidnapped and killed by two ten year old boys in London. She changed a few things around to be different but I suspect that a great deal is directly from that event.
The next story is about a woman who is murdered and found in a Graveyard Monument. The story explores the detectives on the case, their lives and how they go about investigating the case. The story also goes into the lives of the young woman's friend and brother and how they meet to discuss the young woman's disappearance.
There are so many people and stories in the first half of the book that is hard to keep up but it is interesting overall. It seems that each character has a warped story or personality so it's been somewhat excruciating waiting for George to get around to telling the actual story and not just identifying the characters. Yawn............. Almost gave up. I have to say there are back stories told here that are simply unnecessary and would have saved about 500 pages that didn't need to be written.

The story is simple. There is a murder. A lot of people for a variety of reasons believe the murderer is the old boyfriend. The old boyfriend may have evidence of his innocence but he can not share it with anyone because it would mean exposing an even bigger secret about who he really is.

It is a VERY interesting read overall because there are two completely different stories being told, one based on an actual, horrifying event in history and another story about a girl being murdered and in the end the two stories come together. That part of the book is brilliant. I listened to this story on DVD's and I have to say that I skipped chapter after chapter to get past all the unnecessary background and I feel like I didn't miss a thing.

Would I recommend it I ask myself? No, I have to say my interest is peaked regarding the story of James Bulger and I intend to read a book or two on that true story. I won't be searching out other Elizabeth George books unless someone convinces me a book is worthy of my time.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

2011-11-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

My daughter read this in her class this summer so I thought I would give it a read myself. I have always wanted to go back and read the classics I missed during my less than stellar education.

In this case I have to thank my teachers for not making me read this book before now. I am trying to get through it but I am not sure I will be able to. It has been so excruciating to get into it. I can't decide what it is about the book that I don't like.

So far I can't really get into the characters. Is there anything about them I want to learn more about or should I care about them? Do we have to like a character to want to read a book? I think we either have to like the main character or at the very least find them interesting.

The style of writing. It probably isn't my cup of tea. Bronte takes a whole chapter to describe what I think could be described in a paragraph. I have been skipping pages to try and get through the book.

It's either the style of writing or the lack of interest in the characters that I don't care about. Actually it's both, I just can't decide what I like least.

I gave up.

Smokin Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

2011-11-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Let's see, it's been awhile since I've listened to this audiobook. This of course, is a story about Stephanie, a bail bonds agent and her sidekick Lula.
In this story Stephanie and Morelli are not exactly together, however, they do get together during the story, I think. They sleep together but I'm not sure if that means they are back together. Stephanie also sleeps with Ranger in this story, which she had only done on one occasion before.
This is about the 7 sins, gluttony, etc. and some stones that stand for the sins. If you possess the stone then most likely you sin the way the stone represents.
Stephanie runs into Morelli's grandma who put a curse on Stephanie, it was a slut curse, and Stephanie was in the mood all the time and did some incredible things with Ranger and Morelli and even thought about it with a new character who had been accused of fraud in Atlanta.
Stephanie's mom has given up on Stephanie and Morelli so she tried setting up Stephanie with the son of someone she knows from the "Burg". He has a less than stellar reputation but he is an amazing cook.
Someone in the meantime has been burying bodies around the bail bonds office, since their office is under construction. After the second or third body they start leaving messages for Stephanie.
I liked this book better than the 16th. It had some good Lula and Stephanie humor, like a guy who runs around naked with a huge erection who missed his court date and needs to reschedule.
A few good laughs and an easy read.
Guilty pleasure.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

2011-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I learned things about WWII that I did not know and the stories were interesting but it was more like a relay of information with no ending. In this sense it was more like a news story.

Ms. Blake told the story of a doctor in a small New England town who lost a patient and went to both run and discover himself by helping out in London during the Blitz. He left behind a very young wife who was pregnant at the time but did not know it.

In the small town the postmistress is given a letter to deliver but she decides to hold on to it.

In London, where the blitz is occurring, a female news reporter is the voice of America, reporting what she sees. I had no idea that London was bombed repeatedly over about 8 months time. People would leave their homes in the morning and come home to nothing in the evening. Life was very strange for those poor people. People who had to get up everyday and put one foot in front of the other and try and get things done while trying to take precautions to save their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The author does a beautiful job of describing how odd and surreal this life must have been like.

The reporter also takes a train through Germany and France to report on the lives there. It is very sad and so hard to imagine how rough it must have been to see lives lost so tragically and families changed or even lost forever.

Blake did not finish any of the stories she told, she simply told the story of their lives during a difficult time and how these lives intersected. It was like a news story. I suspect she wanted to leave us wondering.

I had heard of the blitz but I had no idea how long it lasted or how devastating it was. It is amazing to me that London had no defense. I sure hope that most places have more defense now to know when planes are coming and can have air defense of their own.

I also learned from this book that the killing of jews was kept secret for a long time. It was a rumor that did not get reported on at first. I can't imagine that either.

What a terrible time and it happened during our parents lifetimes. That is really scary.

The Sandlewood Tree by Elle Newmark

2011-09-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

My favorite book of all is by this author and she did not disappoint with this story. She combines storytelling with history in such a way that I don't even realize I'm learning about actual historical events and people.

This book is the beautifully told story, two stories in fact, one about two women living in India in the mid 1800's and the second is about a small family living in India in the mid 1900's.

The first story is one of an American family that comes to India in the 1900's for work. This is in the time of Ghandi and much unrest in India. In the country where they live it is relatively peaceful and often dull and lonely for the young housewife with her young son, Billy. The husband and wife were very much in love when they married but after the husband went to war in WWII he came back a shell of his former self. He was angry and suffered great nightmares but refused to share his sorrows with his wife. In an attempt to clean away the pain, the young wife comes across letters from two young women to each other in the 1800's. They had once lived in the same house that the young couple occupy today.
The young wife is intrigued by the young women's lives and begins a search to uncover their complete stories.

During the search for information in the 1800's household, the young 1900's wife deals with a scare that will change her life when the countries unrest comes too close to her own family. She also discovers the truth about what haunts her husband from the war. I thought I knew a lot about the injustice of WWII but I was shocked to learn that the cruelty and ignorance stretched beyond the German cruelties. Americans committed much sin also. Germans were shot just for wearing the uniform after American and other soldiers had witnessed much death. Their grief and anger caused some of them to commit further injustices and that is very sad indeed. I feel we should discuss all of history in our schools, the good, the bad and the ugly. I feel misled by not getting more information of our own soldiers atrocities.

The two women from the 1800's live a life unknown by most women of their time. They are inspired by strong female authors to live a life of joy instead of the life chosen by their mothers, one of arranged marriages and fulfilling duties to all but oneself. One of the women is gay which of course is not accepted in that time and the other woman falls in love with an Indian, also not accepted at the time. To make matters worse the Indian is married, a loveless arranged marriage, and Felicity becomes pregnant complicating things even more.

India in the mid 1800's was a very restless place with the Seapoy rebellion, India's first war of independence happening. So much information was packed into this book about life, traditions and events in India's history, but it was so beautifully done I hardly realized that I was learning. Did you know that in some cultures the ashes of the dead are put into food? I had heard stories about it but I never the actual context of the event.

Loved, loved this story. Ms. Newmark in my opinion has a natural gift of storytelling and an obvious background in history. Please write more for me to read. You are worth all the wait.

The City and The City by China Mieville

2011-09-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am still struggling to figure out what is going on.

There has been a murder. It has occurred in the City of Beszel. Or has it? A woman has been killed and as a result of the investigation it has come to light that the woman may have gone to U1 Qoma illegally or possibly a third city, thought by some to be the result of someone's imagination.

There is another city in the same place but citizens of Beszel have been trained to not notice the city, it's people and it's landmarks. Can you really do that? To make matters worse if you don't ignore those things and places you have trained to ignore, you may be causing a breach, an offense that could lead to life altering changes or even death.

The Beszel investigator in charge of the murder case has been given permission to investigate in U1 Qoma but it is very strange for him to notice things now that he has been taught to ignore. He is partnered with a detective "Dhatt" in U1 Qoma and still confers with his partner in Beszel
"Corwi". Separately and together the three of them investigate the murder. In addition to the one student being killed, there is another student missing. They discover that it has something to do with "Orciny" , possibly a third City within in the City.

There are two huge problems with this book that the author never deals with, firstly, the fact that it would be impossible for a city of human beings to memorize and remember with such detail the elaborate border system that the author has described in order not to be in "breach". The second issue is the author never explains why a person would want to live in such a city, where they could be causing a "breach" incident at any time when they clearly and easily live anywhere in the world they want to. There doesn't seem to be anything redeeming in either city, Beszel or U1 Qoma to keep all these people there that are in constant stress of seeing and unseeing and possibly being killed or disappearing from breach.

If you can get past the fact that the book doesn't really make sense but is a work of total fantasy then the book is quite amusing about half way through when you can get a handle of what the "hell" is going on.
In some ways the book is a crime novel in that there is a mystery and it gets solved but really in the best novels the discoveries made along the way are part of the fun. In this book, the discoveries come to our detective by pure imagination on the part of the author. He never makes a leap or discovery by way of investigation but by the fact that the author said he did. Things just sort of come to him without a lot of rhyme or reason. It's still a fun ride though because the book isn't really about solving the crime, it's about wondering what would it be like to live in a city where you had to unsee things that exist in order to exist without causing "breach".

It was very confusing to read but it was never boring and it flowed pretty well. I enjoyed considering some of the issues and predicaments the characters got themselves into and out of.

The Emporer's Tomb by Steve Barry

2011-08-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

The story starts with our hero, Cotton Malone, getting a note about his friend and lover, Cassiopeia Vitt being detained and tortured. He must find her.

In the search for answers we learn a lot about Chinese history. They are responsible for some very incredible inventions. There is also a brotherhood of Unik's that was started very early on to be advisors to Emperors. It was thought that as a person of no sex they would be more likely to give fair advise and not advise to further the careers of sons that they can not have. Boy were the ancients wrong about that one.

Cassiopeia had been working to find the kidnapped son of a friend. Kidnapping of sons is very common in China due to their one child policy. Another VERY bad chinese idea.

Cassiopeia ends up saving herself and finding Malone. Together they must fight a brotherhood of Unik's and other men of power in China to try and find a lost boy, a kidnapped and tortured friend and try and ensure that the old "legalistic" form of government doesn't prevail in China after the current leadership dies.

Underneath it all is an age old mystery that and possible proof that oil is not in short supply but is constantly being replenished. Proof is vital to a country like China that is at the mercy of oil supplying countries. It would also bring down the oil dynasties that want the world to believe we are in short supply and keeping oil prices ridiculously high. To some, like the Russians, this theory in reality is thought to be true but has not been proven. Interesting.....

I enjoy Steve Barry's style of writing and I especially love that I always learn about places and events that I had little or no knowledge of.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson

2011-08-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Oh boy was this story at least two CD's to long. We listened to this story on a road trip to California and I thought it would never end.

I am not sure I ever figured out what was going on in the story and I know that I never really cared. It wasn't a bad story it was just too convoluted and long, long, long....

The character we met in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is back but she is in trouble. Her friend and lover from that book is also back and is trying to help her.

People are dead and the police believe that Lisbeth is the killer. Blomkvist believes her to be innocent so he manages to sneak her in a computer so that Lisbeth can do what she does best, hack into peoples computers to find the truth. Blomkvist in the meantime talks his sister into representing Lisbeth in court.

The problems stem from Lisbeth's father and his evil background. There are some very strong forces trying to protect her father and to do so requires them to keep Lisbeth quiet and if possible incarcerated.

Blomkvist in the meantime is dealing with his partner leaving their publication "Millenium" to work for another publication and finds it to be more than her fair share of challenges.

There are so many plots and subplots going on in this book that is impossible to follow. Parts of it is very interesting but I can not help but think there should have been a publisher somewhere saying " cut the crap out of the book". It could have been half the size and been more entertaining.

I still like the story, i think the main story anyway, and would like to read the remaining story.

Power Play by Joseph Finder

2011-08-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

A group of corporate big wigs are meeting in a remote location when they are suddenly being held hostage. Could it be an inside job? Some of the executives get upset and end up dead.

This book was okay but not especially memorable. I will probably give the author another chance.

Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods

2011-08-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

This book is very typical Woods and I liked it. It's a guilty pleasure and nothing is learned but it's relaxing and moves smoothly through the story.

Stone Barrington is made a partner of the law firm he represents and is given a big bonus. He was also left a plane in a will of a client and he becomes a board member of that clients firm. Things are going along swell until he sees Lance from the CIA.

Lance wants Stone to go on a mission to extract someone from IRAQ using his some of his new resources. Stone ends up with a new client and negotiates with the US for his clients freedom and information on Bin Laden.

Lance dates a widow and aunt of a clients but the widow ends up dead and the client might be involved in a ponzi scheme.

It would be lovely to have a background as a cop, lawyer and investigator and become a corporate partner with at least a million at your disposal and of course a jet that you know how to fly.

The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis

2011-08-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

I really loved this book. It was a very interesting, yet sad story, based on true events in 1400's Italy.

It involved the famous european families, the Borgias and the Aragons. Princess Sancha is the illegitimate daughter of the King of Naples, a cruel, cowardly, and later insane ruler. He marries Sancha off to the illegitimate son of the Pope to better the King of Naples position and sends the couple away so that Sancha can not have what she wants most, to be near her beloved brother.

The Pope later requests his son to come live in Rome with his bride. Sancha only thought she knew cruelty. The Borgias are so crude and cruel it is simply amazing that no one tries to kill them on a daily basis. The stories involving the Pope's cruelty and that of his son's is even more fantastic than the stories of Henry VIII.

Sancha is very brave and stubborn for a girl of her time. This is most difficult when she is married off to a young boy and when she must live with a jealous sister in law and a lecherous father in law and brothers in law. She manages to make it all work for he until the Borgias take from her what she values most.

I was not as impressed by this author in an earlier book because it the earlier book there was more fantasy based on little facts of the time. Kalogridis spent more time in the first book I read describing sex scenes but in this story she weaves an amazing story around known events describing sex scenes but not developing the book around the sex scenes. It felt more like how the events could have actually played out rather than a pornographic novel.

It never ceases to amaze me how ridiculosly cruel and greedy royalty and those surrounding royalty were in the early days. It sounds like what it must be like in Washington.....

5th week of Acupuncture

2011-07-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's now July 13, 2011 and I feel pretty great.

I haven't had any knee pain for awhile now. I was getting little tingles but I haven't had even that for a week or so. I did go to the lake house and with all the stairs there I still didn't have any pain.

I never feel any outright pain in my hand from the arthritis but occasionally if I use it just the right way there will be some pain in my joints.

Last week I did have some sternum soreness but that is all gone again.

My bladder issues are still improving. I can go shopping without having to panic that I will have to stop in the middle of it and use the bathroom. I can go to several stores without having to worry. It's pretty exciting. I did have a few accidents around the time of my cycle and I would like to take care of that issue but I have to say I am pretty pleased so far.

My weight and bowels have been a problem this last week but Cindy changed my herbs and things have been moving along better. LOL. Seriously though, no weight loss and that is sad for me but I guess it takes a little while for that.

My mood and energy is still great.

My jaw sometimes gets stiff from my TMJ and causes headaches. I have not had to deal with that lately.

Overall I am doing better that before I started acupuncture and I am very pleased.

Under the Lake by Stuart Woodsc

2011-07-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

The main character, John Howell, is offered a cabin by his brother in law and told to use it to write a book as a ghost writer for a public figure.

While at the lake, he starts an affair with a fellow writer who is working undercover for the local police chief. During this time he gets a letter from his wife saying she started dating someone else. That's a little too convenient isn't it? If you want to add an affair to add depth to the character then I understand but John doesn't really give a rat's ass about his wife so it just feels too contrived to make him the one who gets left. Then he starts a new affair with another person and right at that time, Woods, writes separately about how the first girl in the affair is thinking about sleeping with someone else. So, it's all good right? No one gets hurt right? Excuse my language but BS, it doesn't happen in reality and it does nothing for the book but make it seem less professional. Just my humble opinion. Let him be just a schmuck. We are used to it and usually like the hero in spite of their bad behaviour.

There is something strange about the lake. John is able to see things that others don't see. The lake or some thing is trying to tell him something about the lake and it's history and John tries to figure out what it is. In his quest for the truth John discovers a family with an incestrous past and that may have given he family a strange ability to heal. There is a wealthy land owner who is suspicious and a sheriff that may or may not be on the take, a priest with a story and a lawyer that changes position suddenly but won't say why.

The best part of the entire story is told within the last 15 pages and the preceeding pages don't really even hint to most of it. I would have enjoyed the book more if it had lead up to the conclusion instead of just been a book with a lot of information in it and then a conclusion at the end. The story told in the last fifteen pages is a VERY interesting and surprising one but it doesn't really have too much to do with the rest of the book. Again, that is is my humble opinion and what the hell do I know, nothing of any value.

This was very different for Stuart Woods and it wasn't boring but we don't really expect much from Woods, other than a guilty pleasure read and it was entertaining and easy to read.

61 Hours by Lee Child

2011-06-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed this book. The story is original and all the events are believable and well researched.

In a little town in South Dakota, there is a prison and a meth problem.

Reacher, a recurring character for Child, was aboard a bus that crashed and all the passengers were taken in by residents of the town. The problem is the town is running low on resources because they are trying to protect a very important witness in a trial while promising to answer the call whenever a problem arises at the prison. Now they have a bus full of accident victims to contend with and the passengers may not be all that innocent, there could be cold blooded killer in town. If that wasn't bad enough there may be a dirty cop on the payroll.

This was a refreshing story since it is so original and it doesn't EVER take the easy way out and everything isn't wrapped up with a pretty bow at the end. Just like reality, things go wrong and good people die. The one exception is we don't usually have a person with military and special government training accidently traveling through town when all hell breaks loose. But, this story was written for Childs character, Reacher, so he has to be traveling somewhere, might as well be through South Dakota, right?

3rd week of acupuncture

2011-06-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well it's June 29, 2011 and I feel really great.

My swollen sternum pain is just plain gone. I can press on it all day and there is no pain. I have been taking advil three times a day per my doctor for two years if not three now trying to reduce the swelling and therefore the pain but it simply has not worked. The next step was for the doctor to give me a steriod shot. I actually had forgotten all about until Cindy asked me how it felt.

My right had feels great right now. No pain whatsoever. I have had pain free days with my arthritis since I started acupuncture but after a few days the pain returns so we see how long it lasts this time.

I haven't had any pain in my left knee for a couple of days but I haven't had to go up and down a lot of stairs. I go to the lake this weekend so I will see how the knee holds up after lots of abuse.

My mood is pretty terrific and I feel just great.

Last night I slept better than I have in a week but I still woke up once in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and went right back to sleep. I woke up okay today but I didn't exactly feel like jumping out of bed but compared to most days I felt pretty darn good. I watched the news and read the paper in bed and I was still up coloring my hair when the sprinkler repair man showed up around 9. I call that success.

I went to a concert last night and drank two glasses of wine and two bottles of water and I didn't have to go to the restroom until I returned home at about 10:30 pm. That is pretty remarkable for me. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to use the port a potties at intermission. So much for the pill I take everyday. Maybe I will be able to get off the medication.

Thursday June 23 2nd Week of Acupuncture

2011-06-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the second week of acupuncture and things are definately working differently.

My right hand feels much better and I have only had a slight tinge in my knee.

I'm not sure exactly if my metabolism is better but I can tell you I am having stomach action that I have not had in a couple of years at least. I get the gurgling feelings often and I am much more regular. That has to be good right?

I did sleep pretty good last night. I think I slept until 6am this morning. I could have gotten up in the middle of the night and just can't remember so I won't swear on it yet. I still don't feel refreshed when I wake up. I still want to just lay there for awhile but once I am up my energy is awesome. I am using my ADD to it's full advantage and I have many projects going on at a time. I am planting outside the house and around the house in pots and painting patio furniture among many other inside projects that I am doing at the same time.

1st full week of acupuncture

2011-06-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is my first full week of acupuncture. I have another appointment tomorrow. So far I have had two official appointments.

My right hand feels better than it has in ages. I am still a sceptic but I love how my hand feels right now. I am not sure if it's my imagination or not but I have not had any bladder accidents for a bit now. I was not really concentrating on it but it's true and that is just Wow! I don't want to get ahead of myself so I won't celebrate yet but that would be great if I could go off my medicine and not have to wear protection all the time. It would be like I was in my 30's again.

I have lost about 1.4 pounds. That could be a coincidence because my weight typically goes up and down a few pounds until it just goes up and sticks. I feel like my bowels are becoming more regular. Sorry, I don't like saying it or thinking about it either.

My sleep is not improving though. I know that is why i am taking the herbs. I did some research on the herb to find out exactly what it was. It is supposed to calm my Qi so I can stop worrying and sleep. Maybe having my two girls away from me at the moment is too much for my mind to relax. I pretty much wake up around 2am every night.

I checked out a couple books from the library and so far everything I have read is "spot on" what Cindy has told me about my process for healing. I am very encouraged about what I have read about all the good things acupuncture can do for women's cycles. I usually try and chart my own cycle to make sure I get plenty of vitamin B and E 2 weeks before the actual cycle so I'm not so emotional and cranky. I even postpone phone calls for service, etc. because I know how angry I am going to get. If I can get that process improved It will be honestly a different life for me.

I am going to look into getting my younger daughter started with a program because of her "scoliosis" and severe pain during her cycle. I think her life could be greatly enhanced with a maintenance program for good health. I mean really, there is no manmade drugs involved to mess up your body and it doesn't do any harm to the body. I can't see why I wouldn't have her start a program. I will start trying to find someone with the right certifications in Savannah.

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

2011-06-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is the 16th Stephanie Plum novel unless you count the first novel of Diesel and Tucker which is really Diesel and Stephanie but under a different name.

Anyway, Vinne, Stephanie's boss is kidnapped and Stephanie, Lula and Connie need to find him to keep their jobs.

The ususal slapstick humor comes from Stephanie trying to get past an alligator with "Cluck n a bucket" chicken. Mooner, a recurring character showing up with a "love mobile" and a bunch of short people going to a "hobbit convention". Stephanie letting Vinnie stay in her apartment and they show up to him wearing nothing but a pair of Stephanie's undies because he is doing all his laundry and there was nothing else to wear.

Lot's of different things happen involving chicken, Lulu shooting people in interesting places, people always getting away until the end and eventually being captured with the help of Ranger, a sexy dark love interest of Stephanie's that she resists having sex with.

It's very light with lots of giggles. A guilty pleasure I know but I know I can sort of plug in and forget my troubles for a little while.

The Courtesan by Susan Carroll

2011-06-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is a love story about Gabrielle and Remy. They knew each other once on an Island but a war took Remy away from Gabrielle. Gabrielle, thinking she was not worthy, left the safety of her family and island to go to Paris and become a Courtesean.

Gabrielle, becoming very successful, interacted carefully with Catherine De Medici and King Navarre. Her friend and witch sister, Cass foretold of Gabrielle's future with the King Narvarre, but her heart still belonged to Remy.

Remy, thought to be dead, reappears in Paris to free his King Navarre from Catherine De Medici's captivity. He is reunited with Gabrielle and they finally realize their mutual feelings for each other.

This is a light and airy story of love conquering all in the time of Kings and Evil Queens. There are several side stories that may be of import later in the triology but add little to the story here. There is some soft porn thrown in for good measure in the love story. This is probably called historical fiction but there is very very little here of actual history. It was still a fun story and I look forward to reading the other books in the trilogy.

A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley

2011-06-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Flavia De Luce, I love you so. I don't think I would want you to be my daughter but I certainly wish I could have been more like you when I was a girl. You love chemistry and mysteries and you are sweet and mischievous. I find your character to be most amusing.

This book finds you at a carnival getting your fortune told. As usual unfortunate events occur and you feel obligated to find a place for the fortune teller to stay. This paticular fortune teller is known to the area around your home and she is not welcome by everyone, including your own father.

People start dying so you and your trusty sidekick "Lucille" set out to find out why. In the process you solve an old murder and gain information about your dead mother.

This was not as good a book as the first "Flavia" book but it was still so lovely.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Larsson Stieg

2011-06-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Henrik Vanger hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has just lost a libel case under murky circumstances, to investigate the disappearance of his great-niece, Harriet. Harriet vanished 40 years ago and Henrik has never gotten over it.

Blomkvist takes on the case, despite serious misgivings, after Henrik promises him 2.4 million kronor for a year’s work.

Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old computer hacker with a photo graphic memory, a violent temper and some serious intimacy issues joins forces with Blomkvist to investigate the disappearance.

Henrik Vanger believes that someone in his family is responsible for Harriets murder.
When Blomkvist discovers something in a family photo the cold case begins anew and Harriet’s case turns out to be connected to a series of murders in the 1950s and ’60s.

My husband thought the book was so so but I really enjoyed it although it is a little too contrived at times. It is just fiction and reality could never be so family oriented, so brutal and so undetected for so many years. Interesting and disturbing and definately takes you out of your comfort zone. At least for me and I hope for the majority. I would recommend this book.

3rd Day of Acupuncture

2011-06-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

My knee is pain free so far but I have not tested much. This weekend I will be using lots of stairs so there will plenty of testing then. My right hand feels much better. It certainly isn't pain free but it's better. I woke up today with my head feeling like it was in a vice. I think it's the rain possibility looming overhead that interacts with my TMJ. I told Cindy about it and after the treatment it felt better but still is stiff. It sometimes takes the rest of the day for the pain to disappear.

Tuesday night I woke up at 4am with my husband who was getting ready for a early flight. I felt really awake and could not go back to sleep so I watched shows until it was time for my son to get up for weights at school. I still wasn't sleepy so I basically got up for the day. Last night I slept until 2am. I was awake for about 30 minutes and then I was able to go back to sleep until 6am.

Cindy started me on Suan Zap Ren Tang. It's a nasty tasting herb that I have to take 3 x daily. I have read a little about it and it to help me with my sleep.

My weight is at 148.8. I would love to be at 130 so that is my goal. I'm not sure if my metabolism has changed much yet but I do seem to hear the gurgling sounds more than I have in a while and my bowels seem to be getting more regular. Isn't that lovely.

Acupuncture - 32 weeks

2011-06-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to embark on a 32 week adventure that will lead me to better health and fewer symptoms related to my age.

My symptoms: Arthritis in my right hand, not sleeping through the night, not waking refreshed, left knee feels like it is tearing and it's painful to walk up stairs, bladder issues, bad mood or temper from hormones related to cycle and my metabolism has slowed causing me to gain 20 lbs.

My acupuncturist tells me I will feel pretty good about half way through but to keep it up to complete the process of healing my Qi. My Qi in simplistic terms is my blood flow and it isn't working the way it should and the way it did when I was younger.

I have read up on acupuncture and it is very positive for healing the symptoms that I listed. I am still a little skeptical but I want to be a believer. I am going to try and blog often to chart and mark my progress as I continue on in my journey.

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

2011-06-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why J.E. has decided to start another series with characters Elizabeth Turner and Diesel because she has already done this before with Stephanie Plum. She hasn't changed a thing. It's Stephanie and Diesel just like the other book she has written in the past. There isn't a single thing in the characters behaviour that is different. My thoughts are that when J.E. introduced Diesel, the fans or the publisher said, hold it now, you can't have Stephanie sleeping with three different men or since she never really sleeps with them much she just fights off the urges to sleep with them.

Diesel has supernatural talents and apparently so does Elizabeth but she didn't know it until Diesel told her. The book is set in Salem, MA where there is a history of unnatural abilities of course.

Diesel needs to find some stones and he needs Elizabeths (Stephanies) help. Lizzy is attracted to Diesel but she can't act on it because that would ruin the sexual tension that the whole series will be built on. I'm really not complaining, I'm just adding on because I have been involved with the Stephanie Plum character for what 16 novels now so I know how the formula goes.

I enjoy the Stephanie Plum books because of the adorable Plum character and all her colorful friends and family. They always get into interesting situations that I can see in my mind because it's very slapstick. So far Lizzy knows a couple of colorful characters but this book was not as funny as the Plum books that I have read so far.

I did enjoy the parts about Lizzy being in tune with the "gluttonous" stones and adopting the same issues as the original stone owners had like wanting to reproduce like rabbits or buy and eat all the food in sight.

This is a writer that I enjoy like a guilty pleasure. I know how it starts and I know how it will end. I know there will be funny hi-jinx in the middle. Nothing more and nothing less.

Blood Memory by Greg Iles

2011-05-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

Boy, I love Greg Iles but I did not love this book. I did like it and it flowed fairly smoothly but so much of it did not make any sense for me. The heroine is not a very likable character and it turns out the excuse becomes repressed sexual abuse. It may be just me but I really don't want to read about excuses for being a less than honorable person. An excuse for being cranky I get but I would rather read how someone overcomes their issues to be an honorable person than to excuse them for any reason even sexual abuse. To make it worse she never feels remorse for her behaviour and gets angry at her partner. She blames him but not herself? That is more realistic I know but I don't have to like the character for it.

This story is about a female "forensic odontologist", dental expert who is a raging alcoholic who often has affairs with married men and is currently having an affair with a married man she works with and who has two kids.

The story that unravels about her father and grandfather is very interesting but I have too many issues with the repressed sexual abuse part when the mom, aunt and nanny all knew what was going on and yet no one said anything at all over the years. The only reason it came out is that a very rare and bizarre accident happens, (Cat happens to have alluminal with her in her room, not her car and it gets spilled by a visiting granddaughter that shouldn't be in that room and it indicates blood on the carpet 30 years ago). Much of a reach, Noooooooooooo. Oh and if that isn't even reaching, it all ties back to Cat's current horrible homicide that she is working on. A homicide that has to do with a terrible gruesome bite causing her expertise to be needed?

Oh and the best part, Cat meets a man that is understanding and is loving and supportive of her due to her sexual abuse and doesn't care that she feels no remorse for having an affair with a married man and that is she is now carrying the partners baby but he is going to love her and the baby anyway. Awwww, really?

If that's all it takes to write a book I am going to let my mind wander all over the place and say that all my crazy thoughts are related. I don't know, maybe I am being too critical. I usually like Greg Iles but this one was just all over the place. He still tells a good tale but really, would it have been that hard to polish the edges? It wasn't necessary to connect Cat to the murder investigation. There could have been a different case with bite marks that she investigates while she is working through issues with her family. There could have been better ways for her to have all this abuse in her family, an aunt that lived in another country and was never seen, a mom who is mentally ill a nanny that is being threatened somehow but for all these people to live in her house and to know what happened but didn't ever in 30 years tell her, that is just unbelievable. And that is all I am going to say on the subject.

The Footprints of God by Greg Iles

2011-05-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

I would bet money that Greg Iles did not write this book. It just seemed so clumsy and unusual for Iles.

There is a lab with lots of scientists, all but two with selfish motives to build a supercomputer that becomes man and somehow controls everything in the world. Really??? And somehow God is communicating through our hero, one of the scientist types who is not selfish but honorable and selfless and through his dreams is letting him know that we can not let the supercomputer happen because it would not be godly. Did we really need God to communicate through our hero to let the world know that this was not a good idea. The other honorable scientist gets killed for not wanting to advance the supercomputer and the lab boss using his government influence tries to kill our hero and his doctor because they are trying to get to the truth.

While on the run from the government they escape to Jerusalem and have more Godly dreams and then come back and save the day.

I am making it all too simplistic but I just did not get this book and I am so disappointed in it and the entire experience of reading it. It didn't make sense and it was ridiculous. I don't mind far reaching or even Science Fiction but this book just didn't work for me. I love Greg Iles style of writing and I will continue to read his books but I can not recommend this book.

The Edge by Jeffery Deaver

2011-04-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

I do not like reading military strategy books. I really enjoy math but reading about it is boring and that is how I feel about military strategy. The Edge is about a government employee, Corte, who works for an agency similar to the FBI but this branch only protects people, like federal witnesses. Corte employs strategy that he has learned over time from playing games, mostly board games. It's kind of interesting but it ends up looking like military strategy to me.

In Deavers usual fashion he likes to spin a twist about every 50 to 100 pages or so. I used to think it was novel but now while I reading I wonder if he actually counts the number of pages before he throws in a twist. Instead of lets make this an interesting read he says to himself, let's throw in a twist. Just a word of advice for JD, when you do it all the time, the reader knows and starts looking for the twists in advance.

I still liked this book and grew to love Corte by the end. In this case the twist at the end was really nice. It is really interesting how much you can persuade a reader of something without saying the words and I was amazed at how much I fell for it, being the skeptic that I am.

There is a report about a know kidnapper and torturer coming after a hero cop. Corte is called in to protect the cop but the cop doesn't want to be protected and doesn't understand why he needs protection. Cortes team not only protects their clients but they try to find out who the principal is so they can stop the threat on their primaries. Also being protected is the cops wife, who isn't who we think she is, and the wife's sister, a photographer who may have taken a picture that she shouldn't have. The cops daughter is also being protected but separately from her Dad.

Lots of mysteries are unraveled along the way while Corte uses his game strategy to battle his mentors killer.

The Vanished Man by Jeffery Deaver

2011-04-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is another Lincoln Rhyme book. I enjoy reading Jeffery Deaver books but I have to say the Lincoln Rhyme books bore me to no end. I can't say why exactly, I just don't care for them.

In this book a student is killed and when the police interrupt the killer he vanishes into what seems like thin air. Lincoln is called in and they chase begins. The killer is versed in magic tricks and gets himself out of Lincoln's traps time after time.

There is more but it bores me even to write about it. Yawn.

The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates

2011-04-26T14:19:00.001-07:00

A woman on her honeymoon wakes up to find her new husband missing. A man was seen jumping into the Niagra Falls. The new bride doesn't speak, she didn't love her new, she knew her husband didn't love her but she is obsessed with what everyone will think of her. She broods and keep a vigil on the boat looking for her husband knowing that he isn't coming back because she found a note but she won't tell everyone. A young rich playboy finds her interesting but she thinks she is cursed so she does everything she can to be as strange as humanly possible to be needy and moody and she is basically a brute.

I tried to read finish this book. I stopped reading several times and agreed to give it another try but honestly I don't like this woman and spending anymore time with her feels like the oxygen is being sucked out of my air.

It made me think about other books and whether or not I need to like the main character or not. I have certainly read a lot about Henry the VIII and I find him to be one of the dispicable characters that ever lived. I love reading about Henry the VIII. I think it's because of all the other characters in his life and how they all used him like a puppet. He thought he was so fierce and the truth is he was so pitiful. That is interesting to me, so why did I hate "The Falls". It might be because the Falls didn't have ANY characters in it that were interesting. All the characters in "The Falls" were pitiful and hateful and just plain not interesting.

The Devils Punchbowl by Greg Iles

2011-04-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Penn Cage is now mayor of Natchez, a small town in Mississippi. To become mayor he sacrificed his long term relationship with the a newspaper reporter but he still has feelings for her and wonders if becoming mayor of his hometown was worth it. He wanted to make a difference but he's not sure if anything he does as mayor has benefitted his town in the long run.

He is pondering leaving the job as mayor when an old friend asks for help to stop some very horrific crimes from happening. The corruption seems to be spread so wide in Penn's town that he doesn't know if he can trust his chief of police or any other officer in town. There is a lot of money involved and the man at the head of the corruption has learned of Penn and has made Penn aware of how very dangerous he is. Penn has battled even the FBI before but this time he may be out matched.

I really enjoy Iles style of writing and this book did not disappoint. He writes a good tale and there are always a few surprises along the way.

The Virals by Kathy Reichs

2011-04-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Temperance Brennan has a niece. She is fourteen and very intelligent and as interested in science as her aunt. This may be a guilty pleasure for me but since I spent many years studying science and hoping to go into medicine these type of science mystery stories are my kind of thing. I love it that Temperance may have a mini me.

Tory loses her mother and finds out that she has a father who is a scientist in South Carolina who works on an island much of the time. The children of the scientists all get to come and go as they please on the island while others are not allowed. Tory meets three young male teenagers that all have a penchant for science and mischief much like our Tory. Together they explore and generally poke their noses into other peoples business.

One day they discover some dog tags on the island and they will not stop until they find out who the tag belongs to so they can return it. They use all their resources at the library and internet among a few to dig into the past of the dog tag owners and what they discover leads them to an even bigger mystery.

In addition to science and mischief, Tory is trying to fit into a new school with very wealthy kids, becoming a Deb and getting to know a Dad she never knew she had.

It's a science, old money, and political mystery and a feel good story. The reason I love Reich's books is that she weaves a story around actual science, including biology, chemistry, forensics and others. I love learning while being engrossed in a story. I enjoyed the plights and everyday events of Tory and her new pack of friends.

The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

2011-02-13T20:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have all the details of this book yet because I haven't actually started it but I am chomping at the bit. My neighbor loaned me this book knowing I liked Henry VIII books. I don't just like them, they are an obsession of mine. I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait to get started on this one. Yeah for me. I guess it's my reward for sticking with three of the worst books I have ever read. As a reminder, that would be Frankenstein books by Dean Koontz.

I have started the book. Darn you John Tiller. Now I am going to have to carry this HUGE book on a cruise with me. So are I really like it. In the beginning it talks about Catherine, daughter of Mary being Henry's son. Not many books do so I am very curious to hear more about that. It also describes Henry's life as a young boy and that is something I know little about and it is very interesting so far. I will keep you posted.

Greg Iles, Turning Angel

2011-02-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness, a good writer again. It is so relaxing and comforting to have an author weave an entertaining yarn.

This is another story about Iles character, Penn Cage. The story is about a quaint southern town called Natchez. I actually had a client located there and had to visit once. It was lovely and someday I hope to return.

Cage and a friend both serve on the board of their prep school they attended as boys. One of the girls who currently attends the school is found dead. Rumors start spreading like a wildfire and the small town folks emotions are all out of whack. Penn's friend is rumored to have been having an affair with the high school girl. Penn is disgusted but is loyal to his friend and willing to listen.

I have just started this book but so far there is sex, rape, drugs, politics, scandal, life long friendships, relationship trouble, marriage secrets and more. I love being enveloped by the town of Natchez and all it's juicy secrets. I can't wait to find out what will happen next. I will add more later.

Dean Koontz and books two and three of the Frankenstein Triology

2011-02-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

I believe I have said it before but I am done with Koontz. I don't mind a bit of the unnatural but he writes strange bits just to see how bizarre he can get. His unnatural is just to be off the wall and adds nothing at all to the story except to make the story excruiating and longer than it has to be.

This triology is about Frankenstein and his creations over time. His first monster, still alive and the only one who can bring Frankenstein down is Decaulion. He was once an angry monster but now he is a thoughtful and good person who lives in a monastery. Frankenstein now lives in New Orleans and has created many monsters. He has made them with a program to prevent them from killing him.

Koontz has taken this opportunity to make a monster of every variation on strange and unnatural so he could fill up pages with CRAP instead of doing any actual writing. They are so incredibly stupid and worthless and they add nothing but frustration to the book, for me at least.

Anyway, all the monsters go awry at the same time, oh my! Good thing Decaulion has come around to save the day. He can't kill his maker but he has recruited a couple of homicide cops who ain't afraid of no ghosts, I mean, monsters. The cops are actually kind of cute and worth reading about if only they weren't tangled up with the rest of this mess.

I pretty much skimmed the books to get the end and I thought of burning them a few times. Hey Koontz, maybe you should try to read some good triologies to get an idea about what it's really about. I don't have the books in front of me but the publishers on these books should be tarred and feathered for allowing these books to be sold to the innocent public. The tree books should have one book if all the CRAP were left out. And just for the record, books that are part of a series are still books in their own right. Not so to Koontz. I am pretty sure his thought process for the end of book went like this, "Hmmm, gee I am tired of writing about this CRAP right now. Oh well, I'll just end it and when I feel like it again, I will call it a series and that way I don't have to end this first book."

My husband just informed me he bought me a Dean Koontz novel for Valentine's Day. He is such a funny man.

Harlen Coben's "The Woods"

2011-01-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

I will be reading more of this author. Not my favorite author but the journey he took me on was worth the ride.

A lawyer loses his sister in the woods may years ago. The tragedy resulted in his mothers leaving him and his father being forever saddened and changed. The lawyer has since married, had a daughter and lost his wife to cancer. A hard knock life for sure but one with much sadness behind him. Or is it?

The death of a stranger occurs and now the past is forced suddenly back into the present. Nothing is like it seems. Can the dead come back to life?

The twists are not nearly as masterful as Jeffrey Deaver's but they are present and numerous.

Too Late to Say Goodbye by Ann Rule

2011-01-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

Wow, I really liked this book. It is non-fiction but it reads easily more like a fiction novel.

It was most interesting to me because the story is based in Atlanta and I lived there for seven years. I know the areas that are mentioned in the book.

A wife is murdered and the husband is acting very weird. Could he have done it? It doesn't seem possible and he has an alibi but ,eventually a connection is made to an earlier death where once again our suspect has acted strangely and his beloved has been murdered. Hmmmm..... Juicy, crazy, stupid and REAL!

I will be reading more of Ann Rule.

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, the prodigal son

2011-01-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

I have read most of Dean Koontz's novels. I have really enjoyed some and others have wondered so far off the reality chart that I don't really enjoy them. I did not read about his Frankenstein character for many years because I just didn't think I wanted to see what he had done to the original "Shelly" story that we all know. I was at a Borders store closing sale and the book was on sale so I thought why not.

I enjoyed the characters in the book, Deucalion, O'Conner and Maddison, Victor and his new wife and some of the new creations. I could not help visualizing "The Beast" in the show "Beauty and the Beast" when Koontz describes Deucalion. It is of course, interesting, dark and honorable to hear about his journey through life as a monster and and trying to change for himself and stop his evil creator. He comes to New Orleans to stop his creator when he discovers that "Victor" has resurfaced. I really don't understand why Koontz doesn't make Deucalion more of a main character in the story though. The main characters are O'Conner and Maddison and Deucalion comes in and saves the day now and then. It seems that the story should have revolved around Deucalion with O'Conner and Maddison helping him out. Just my opinion of course but It seemed to me if Deucalion was so moved to come half way around the world he would have taken a front row to the destruction of his creator.

The story is about a "being" that is able to create other beings that have bodies and minds that are superior to us lowly humans. They have all this mental strength and physical superiority but they are, surprise, not happy. They lack something and some are on a journey to discover the link to their true happiness. This was not in the design plan for their creator. The creatures lack emotion and compassion and their journey to find happiness will not be stopped by humans getting in the way. The cops must get involved to try and stop the chaos.

I will continue reading the remaining books in the triology to find out how the relationships between O'Conner and Maddison progress and how they stop the evil scientist from taking over the world (insert sinister laugh here) but this is not even close to one of my favorite books or even one of my favorite Koontz books.

The Virgins Lover by Phillipa Gregory

2011-01-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, I did not know what happened to Robert Dudley's wife. I have read and seen other stories related to Elizabeth, Queen of England and Henry the VIII's daughter and I knew that Elizabeth had a relationship with Robert Dudley but I did not know about the ending. Actually I still do not about the ending. I was disappointed in that the story did not end with the final days of Elizabeth and Robert. There is an indication that their relationship went on for many years but the book stops at the end of the story of Roberts wife. I am very much curious how and if and for how long Elizabeth and Robert continued their relationship.

My only complaint with Phillipa Gregory is that she drones on and on with the day to day life of her characters. I enjoy learning about the life and times of the period but I do not need to know the details to infinitum like Phillipa sometimes describes them. I have to say that this book does less of that than other books of Gregory that I have read.

Phillipa uses the recorded facts of the times and develops dialogues that she imagines might have happened. The stories she weaves are very believable and interesting and it is easy to imagine that things happened the way she describes them. I have to stop myself often and remind myself that the dialogue is fiction as far as we know and it could have gone down completely differently. It is fun and she weaves a good story. It must be fun for her since the times had so much greed and corruption and death. They were certainly dangerous times but that of course is what makes it so interesting all these centuries later.

The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory

2010-10-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

I just can not get enough of the history of Europe especially when it is relayed in a story. I think it is a guilty pleasure that I enjoy so much.

I especially enjoy this story because before this book I knew absolutely nothing about Mary, Queen of Scots. I find the story interesting and I can't believe I didn't know anything about her since she was so relevant to Queen Elizabeth of England at the time.

The story is told by three characters. An Earl, the Earl's wife Bess and Mary. The story starts out charming enough with the Earl and his wife being loyal subjects to Queen Elizabeth and simply doing her a favor by keeping the Queen Mary as their quest and a prisoner of England. As the years go by their relationships change and their attitudes change about each other and the Queen Elizabeth. You feel as if you are living along side them with the way of life and constant threats of danger. I am surprised and amazed at my own change of heart as the story progresses.

I very much enjoy the story but I must say it is a bit wordy at times. I have found myself skipping ahead at times when the character seems to drone on with the day to day activities. I have found that to be true for several of the "Gregory" books though. I don't know if it is just her writing style or the fact that it took so long, years for example, for progress or any changes to be made in early England.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

2010-10-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

This has been my least favorite book of the trilogy.

The scenes from the Capitol with the fighters trying to get to the president is a little much. The obstacles they face would be impossible to get through without more hardware or intelligence than they have. I found the types of warfare and loss of life a little too convenient.

I think I enjoyed the first two books because I found the storyline and characters to be believable if there were such a world as in the books. The last part of Mockingjay was just too hard for me to believe. It seemed to me like people were dying in unbelievable ways that would have taken out a universe but here it took out one person at a time. Really???? I think it could have been done much better so that it was believable but as often happens in multiple books the author seems to have been tired and simply wanted to get finished. My opinion of course.

I did like the ending. I found it to be realistic and not necessarily the easy way out. The whole triology is still a good read and I would recommend it.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2010-10-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is the second of three books about a dystopia and a girl named Katniss Evergreen. So far both books have really surprised me. There are things that happen that I do not see coming. I love that when a good story takes a new turn as long as it works.

These books were written for teenagers and they have plenty of teenage love and confusion in them. Katniss doesn't always do the right thing but she is always honest with herself and she tries to be honest with the other characters in her life. She cares deeply for her family and friends and that is very nice to see in a book with teenagers. I realize not all teenagers are this way and some are truly selfish and lustfull and foolish about the, wrong, all life comsuming, lover, but that is not who I want as my hero and role model and I sure as heck don't want it to be for my own children either. These characters are sixteen, they are suposed to be confused. It's why you don't want them rushing into things.

In the previous book there was a game to the death and in this book there is a new game with even more death and bloodshed. What happens next will surprise you. It surprised me, anyway.

I did not like this as much as I did the Hunger Games but I still enjoyed it.

Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

2010-10-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

I read "The Historian" by this author and I loved it. As much as I loved that book I hated this book. It was so boring that I though I would explode. I read quite a bit before I just gave up. It's about a painter who is in a physiciatric hospital and the doctor is trying to find out what is going on even though the painter will not talk. He investigates the life of the painter by talking to the women in the painters life.

The painter is a rude and insensitive jerk. On his best days he is handsome and does nice things but his nice days are so rare that I could not help disliking him and not understanding for a minute why his wife and mistress would give him the time of day.

I kept going on to give it a chance to heat up and get to the point where I cared but that point never came and liked these characters less each time I read. I am disappointed but I'm not going to waste anymore time thinking about this book. I had read bad reviews, i guess I should have listened.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2010-10-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is my all time favorite book. Water for Elephants falls to number 2. Wow! I could not put this book down. I felt like I was out of breath reading this book.

My daughter Alyson turned me on to this book and all i can say is Thank you, Alyson. She tells me this is a dystopia book. Dystopia is a new word for me.

This book is set in a time perhaps in the future when wars have put a "Capitol" in control of all the districts. Each district is assigned a purpose such as making bread or mining. Each year there is a game where two people (children) from each district are chosen to fight to the death in the games. This game is done to keep the districts in line.

It is a story of a young girl and boy thrown into a game and how they try to survive without losing their character.

This is not a rosy, all happy endings, kind of book. There is death, cruelty and brutal honesty. I felt as if there was a great deal of soul searching going on in this book but I'm not sure if it was the characters or myself wondering what would I do in these circumstances.

I enjoyed every second and I can not wait to read the next installment.

The Queens Fool by Phillipa Gregorgy

2010-08-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

I love this book. At times it has been so slowwwwww but the story is so interesting and it's happening in the time of Queen Mary's rule in England. I learned more about that time. I already knew a lot about Henry the VIII's reign and of course Elizabeth's reign but I was unaware of the religious persecution and related killings due to Mary's reign. Bad girl your highness.

The story of the "holy" fool and her arranged marriage is sad and sweet and complicated. I will never understand why anyone would have wanted to be at court during those dangerous times of the 1500's.

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

2010-01-29T19:01:00.000-08:00

This is a newer Reichs book. I have read them all out of order trying to catch up. I am also listening to this one on audio and the narrator has changed. That is a little disappointing to me. I am not sure I like the voice. It is a voice in her 40's probably like Tempe is but she sounds even older than Tempe too me and definately not one to be attractive to "hot" detectives like Ryan. Just my opinion of course.

Ryan and Tempe are working cases but they are not involved any longer. They are working a case where someone has accused Tempe of wrong doing in an autopsy. It brings them to Chicago. I love the descriptions of some of Chicago because it takes me right back there. They both end up eating dinner at Tempe's ex-mother in law's who lives in Chicago. The descriptions of the family are lovely and colorful.

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

2010-01-29T18:56:00.000-08:00

Tempe is working onsite at a convent in Quebec to discern whether or not bones buried are those of a sister that may be a saint. In the middle of this process she is called out to work on bodies that have been burnt in a fire. There are adults and two small children. It looks like murder. Her whimsical sister Harry decides to visit while taking a course on relationships. While she is investigating the murders she travels to an island in Texas and finds more bodies.

I enjoy many small stories going on within a main story. I suppose it's because I enjoy multi-tasking so much. It's not so much having many irons in the fire for me, it's the completion of so many things at once that I really enjoy. Tempe certainly has many irons in the fire.

I simply enjoy the story telling of Kathy Reichs. I enjoy a good spin while all the while learning about many fasinating details of the body and the world. My husband tried to listen to one of my books on tape and he thought Reichs put too much time into the autopsy. That is what I love about these books. It's not just the science, it's the way Reichs writes about the science that I love. I'm learning but to me it's not like reading a book.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the way some of the cases here were linked together. I know it's a small world but all things linked is not realistic. It doesn't have to all tie together for me. We all have many things going on at once and they aren't related. That's reality. It doesn't bother me to have many story lines going while not being linked.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoy Tempe and Ryan in this book also. In the future books sometimes Tempe is too bitter and angry for no reason. She sometimes puts too much thought into her relationship with Ryan. He likes her, she likes him, go with it already. Anyway, I loved this book.

The Face by Dean Koontz

2010-01-18T19:22:00.000-08:00

I have read this before but it's been a long time so I can't remember much of it.

The main character is a security person for a major movie star called "The Face". Packages have been sent with apples and clues to a puzzle that must be figured out.

"The Face" has a young son that spends most of his time alone. It is very sad.

Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel

2009-12-16T19:26:00.003-08:00

I love historical fiction. It is one of my passions and expecially history about Henry VIII. This book starts out with a fierce battle between a son and father. The innocent fighter turns out to be someone of great significance in history but he was a pitiful creature in his youth that people pitied.

So far, I love the viewpoint of this book. It is not a viewpoint I have read or even considered before but I am enjoying it.

Okay, so that was early on. I really do NOT like this book. It's just too hard to read. It's a non-fiction book. I'm not learning anything so I'm not going to struggle to figure out what is going on. This book jumps around all over the place. I don't have to have linear I just would like to have a story to follow. The reader is supposed to have a real knowledge of all things Henry V III to read this book. Very little is explained and the conversations are one sided. We are supposed to assume the other side of the conversation and we are supposed to know who Anne is and all the other characters of that time.

I do know most of the characters but the way this book was written I am not sure who is talking all of the time and at what point of time we are in. I was so excited about this book at first because it is written about Thomas Cromwell and I was interested in his viewpoint of that time in history. It has become a chore to read this book and originally I thought I would just skip ahead several chapters at a time to get to the ending but now I have started a new book and it is unlikely I will go back to finish this book.

What a waste of good subject matter. This is why I keep this blog so that I don't read authors like this a second time.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2009-12-16T19:26:00.001-08:00

A man in Wisconsin advertises for a reliable wife. A woman answers the ad and when she gets in town she is not the plain woman in the picture but a more beautiful woman. The man feels lied too and is upset. He intends to send the woman away but on the way a terrible accident occurs and the woman nurses the man back to health. The man wants company and the woman wants money but what they find is much than they bargain for.

The premise for this book is very interesting and the way the author explores the inner thoughts of the characters is very interesting but too wordy. Each character was filled with angst over their past lives but the authors choice to explore it into the ground bored me. Several times I skipped three chapters at a time to be able to get past the characters exploration of their thoughts. Their past lives were very interesting but the constant analysis of their current thoughts bored me to distraction.

I did enjoy the book overall but I don't know if I would look for another book by this author. At least I won't look for one anytime soon.

The Rain Gods by James Lee Burke

2009-12-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

Skip this book. I tried and tried and tried to get through this book but it was a chore until I finally realized that I didn't like a single character in this book and Burke spends chapters and chapters developing character histories for characters that no one is going to care about.

Don't bother. I've paid the price for many!

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles

2009-12-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

An attorney and author that has recently lost his wife comes back to his home town in the deep south to give his small daughter some extra tender loving care from her grandparents that she desperately needs.

He immediately gets quoted in the paper for his disappointment in a old, thought to be, racial murder and the whole town is either congratulating him or trying to kill him. There are links in the case to the FBI and the local police and a local judge. There is even a link to Herbert Hoover. Everyone is afraid to talk but they are not above giving clues.

I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of twists in the book but it was not hard to keep up and follow the story. I am not sure how believable a one day trial and the stunts played out down a river with a man in his 70's is but I still enjoyed the story. Thanks Mr. Iles for the entertainment.

Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver

2009-12-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

I am not enjoying this book as much as I did other "Deaver" books I have read in the past but I still like it and I'm not finished yet. In "Bodies Left Behind" the suspense was so intense I could barely leave function without finishing the book, "Roadside Crosses" is not as suspenseful but I am hoping it has a big finish. The places in this book where he could of had more suspense he cut to the end of a tribulation so to surprise us with the answer instead of making us crazy with the journey and suspense along the way. Just FYI, I prefer the journey and the suspense to being told the answer without knowing the steps taken along the way.

A female Detective, Dance, is working on solving a case about a teenage boy. A blog is set up and things are being said that are flat out untrue about the boy. People doing the blogging soon start a war between themselves about the boy based on things being said on the blog.

Bad things start happening to the bloggers that say unkind things about the teenager. Is the teenager getting revenge?

You can not read a "Deaver" book and let your guard down because things are never what they seem and he tends to make the reader believe things without ever actually saying what he wants you to believe and you realize you jumped to conclusions right after you learn the truth. Deaver makes you constantly check yourself to make sure you are not making unfair assumptions and to be sure you are reading between the lines. He's a master of surprise so I expect anything and I am thrilled for the ride.

I think he is trying to illustrate in this book how people are gullible to what we see on a blog and believe to be true just because we saw it in print. We are all guilty of believing what we read from time to time. I enjoy being corrected for my own gullible behaviour from such a master storyteller.

Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs

2009-11-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

Temperance Brennan is back in the Carolinas. A plane crashes killing the passengers and crew. Tempe assists in identifying the bodies until she finds a foot that can not be identified as a passenger. Suddenly Tempe is asked to leave the team and may even face charges.

Tempe's curiosity is not satisfied about the foot and even though she is not allowed on the plane crash site she manages with help from the local sheriff to continue digging into the mysterious unidentified foot.

Andrew Ryan, Tempe's frequent partner from Montreal, shows up to work the plane crash site because one of the victims is presumed to be his partner. It is believed the partner was accompanying a prisoner on the doomed flight.

Tempe continues to dig with help thorough records and local sites around the crash area uncovering a cannibalism, religous rites, wealthy investors and missing persons dating back many many years. How does it all relate to the crash and why are so many people trying to keep her away from the crash site?

I enjoy this book as I have many of Reichs books. The size of the consipiracy and duration of the canniablism seemed a little over the top for me but who knows, stranger things have happened. The journey from the beginning of a mystery through it's solution is always well laid out by Reich but always takes many turns giving the reader a bumpy but enjoyable ride.

Blinded by Stephen White

2009-11-09T16:13:00.001-08:00

I have not read anything by White before and I enjoyed this book.

The main character, Alan Gregory, is a psychologist who has a small child and a wife struggling with MS. His best friend is a detective who has had a heart attack. His life is really busy when some of his clients problems become public and the clients are wondering if Alan is telling secrects.

One of Alan's clients, a previous client, he has seen for marriage counseling reveals a secrect that not only gets aired but is extremely troubling. Her husband is killing women.

I enjoyed the storyline and all of the relationships in this book. It's not perfect and clean, it's closer to real life than a lot of books. I don't really care for the title because I don't feel that it was all that hard to figure out and I certainly think the main characters would have figured it out sooner in real life, but it was still interesting and I enjoyed myself.

The Lost Symbol By Dan Brown

2009-10-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

I am listening to the new book by Dan Brown. So far, YAWN, there is a secret society and a really crazy zealot dude running around wanting to kill people and Dr. Langdon has to figure out the long lost secret to unlock some code. Wait, wasn't that The DaVinci Code? Oh yeah, my bad, that book was set in Paris at first. This one is set in Washington DC.

I am learning tidbits about Mason's and architectural secrets in DC. The best part is learning about Noetic Science. That's worth something.

A big difference between The Lost Symbol and The Da Vinci Code is Dan Brown's attitude. It is obvious that Brown is anti-catholic and probably to some extent anti-formal religion of any kind, especially if it holds secrects and conducts religious rites. I may be speaking out of turn and Brown may not be totally against them but his previous books make him appear that way. He portrays the Catholic religion as full of secrets and greed and betrayal. Anyone who has read "The Da Vinci Code" or "Angels and Demons" knows this negative portrayal is true. I am not saying that I disagree with Browns interpretation of formal religions but why then is Brown so romantic about the Masons in "The Lost Symbol" and romantic about the Masons for the same reasons that he is negative about the Catholic Religion? I felt completely preached to about the Masons and how their religious rites and secrets should be excused because they they are misunderstood. Why does Brown think we should excuse the Masons for their secrecy and rites but persecute the Catholics for theirs? I believe that all religions and the Masons are guilty of their secrects to protect the common man from, well, from themselves. Formal religions and The Masons, it could be said, keep secrets because they think that the common man would make bad decisions if he only knew the truth and he is not capable of doing the right thing with that knowledge.

I am not a supporter of formal religion or a dissenter of The Masons. I simply don't understand why protecting man from using his brain is any more or less important that the religions wanting to protect man from disbelieving in Christ.

"The Lost Symbol" was entertaining because it moved quickly and didn't drag on but it was disappointing being too formulaic compared to "The Da Vinci Code". I did not like being preached to about how good and misunderstood the Masons are.

PS Can you believe that I got this from the library, ALREADY? I'm puzzled but loving it.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

2009-10-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Alan Bradley co-wrote with one of my favorite authors, Jeffrey Deaver, so I wanted to read one of his books to see if I liked him solo. Boy, do I. This book was so much fun. This one I listened to on tape while driving to and fro from high school to pick up my boy each day. The actress who read the audio is "Jayne Enswistle" and I am almost deeply disappointed that she is from LA and not from an old English family because her accent was brilliant. I honestly don't know what was more fun, listening to her or hearing the story.

The time is 1950 summer and the location is a family mansion called "Buckshaw" in the English countryside. The book's heroine is an eleven year old girl named Flavia. She found her greatest love one day when she stumbled across her uncle's chemistry books. Flavia is an extremely smart and precocious girl who manages to get herself into all sorts of mischief. Picture Pipi Longstocking with a two sisters a father and lives in a country mansion.

Flavia is normally content with adding poison ivy to her sister’s lipstick (I did tell you loves chemistry) but a stranger visits “Buckshaw” and she overhears her father arguing with the man and then she finds the stranger dying in their cucumber field. Flavia thinks her father must have killed the stranger and sets about trying to solve the mystery herself and her trusty bicycle “Gladys”.

I just love Flavia! I find myself now thinking in Enswistle’s brilliant English accent and wishing I had my own chemistry lab as a child.

Poe, A life Cut Short by Peter Akroyd

2009-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

I recently read a fiction book by one of my favorite storytellers, Louis Bayard, where Edgar A. Poe was his muse. The main story in the book was fiction of course but I wondered when the author referred to Poe, was it real or fiction. So, I went online with the library and ordered a non-fiction book about the life of Poe.

Very interesting indeed to learn that most of what the L. Bayard wrote about his charactar's past was actually true of E.A. Poe. He was a drinker and often a drunk. He was an orphan. He was know to exaggerate about his accomplishments in life.

This is a very nice book for what I wanted. It is a short book and doesn't go on and on about Poe's daily life. It covers the interesting aspects of Poe's life and gives us a little insight into the life of a very accomplished writer who specialized in horror. A writer who thinks often about horrific events is a very unique person indeed. One would certainly think that a person like Poe would not be boring and his life story does not disappoint.

Well, I wrote the paragraph above before I had finished the book. Poe's life was interesting in that he was an orphan who was brought in and raised by a couple. He published his first book in his early 20's and he went on to write many more wonderful poems and stories. His life was boring and maddening in that he lived the same life over and over again. He could be smart but he was idiotic in that he every time he achieved a modicum of success he drank himself right out of a job and right back into poverty. I know, it happens in real life but BORING......... I thought there would be some deeper darkness lurking there than just getting drunk over and over and over again. Poe, what a smuck you were!

Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs

2009-10-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

Temperance Brennan is in Guatamala to help identify bodies in a mass grave that were killed by an earlier government. While she is there one of the people on her team is murdered and another is shot and in a coma. There is also a suspected serial killer who is killing young high school girls. The authorities ask for Brennan's help.

One of the girls missing, presumed dead, ends up in a jail in Canada. This is good news until pet hairs from the live girl are found on the remains of one of the bodies. The live girl claims she didn't know any of the missing girls. Hmmmmm.....

I enjoy reading Reich's books because I always learn new things. I was not aware of all the corruption that went on and in some cases is still going on in Guatamala. Thank you for educating me. I also learned more about DNA, did you know there is more than one DNA? Did you know that one type is derived from the mother and only the mother. It surely doesn't interest everyone but it sure does interest me.

Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb

2009-10-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

I think I have read too many of J.D. Robb's books now. I find myself very cynical of her writing. She did provide actual detecting in this book to solve the murder of young people who are being killed and photographed. It's just the premise that I don't believe. I won't ruin it by providing the ending but I just don't buy it. Maybe there wasn't enough pyschology to support the mind set of the killer but...... enough said.

Young, vibrant people are being killed and photos of their dead poised bodies are being sent to Eve Dallas' freind at the news station. The photographer is really talented and they embark on a journey through the world of photography.

This book was better than some of her J.D. Robb books but certainly not the best. I think it is time I move on from J.D. Robb. Some of the rides were fun but I tire of the usual read. I need to be fully entertained by the characters and their verbal exchange or I enjoy learning something neat or fasinating about places or crime solving or anything really. I haven't enjoyed the character exchange or learned anything from J.D. Robb in awhile. I wish Eve everlasting happiness with Roake.

The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver

2009-10-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

This book is frightening about how easy it would be to destroy someone's life with identity theft or identity destruction.

Detective Sach's and Rhyme are working on a case when Rhyme gets a call about his cousin who is sitting in jail for a murder he swears he didn't commit. The evidence is overwhelming though, blood and other evidence are found at his house. Rhyme starts looking into it and finds out that after the murder someone called the police and reported it. Ryhmes team find a very disturbing pattern where other murders have occurred with a call to police to reporting the murders and incredible evidence is then found at the suspects house. When the murderer finds out who is after him, he turns turns his efforts to Rhymes team and creates a data nightmare for all of them.

Why would someone frame Rhyme's cousin for a murder and possibly do it on other murders? More importantly if that is happening, how on earth could it be?

It is clear that Deaver takes pleasure in surprising the reader. I enjoy it. I thought I had it at one point, I knew who the murderer was just to be foiled once again. The suspense at the end was killing me. At least I had a chance in the book and I wasn't hanging by a thread from the first chapter like before.

Did you know that there is a "Broken Window Theory" that if you fix or concentrate on the small details the big things will basically take care of themselves. In the context of this book it also means focusing on the small details will lead to solving the big crime.

There are companies in the world that collect and distribute data for a variety of reasons. They are called data-mining companies. It is scary how much data they have on people and it's scary how the data makes people act without having any actual facts to support the data. I know that I have suffered because of credit companies showing data on me that isn't right but because of it banks think I'm a risk when all the other evidence shows that I am not a risk. People are putting all their faith in what a data company reports instead of using their heads to make an informed decision. We, the people, are often powerless to defend ourselves. If you would like to do more research go to: EPIC.org, http://www.gilc.org/, http://www.indefenseoffreedom.org/, http://ifea.net/, http://www.privacy.org/ or http://www.eff.org/. There is also another book on the subject: No Place to Hide by Robert O'Harrow, Jr.

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

2009-10-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

This was almost getting into Dan Brown territory but instead of having any big reveals Reichs takes the easy road and just loses evidence. Very safe but interesting anyway.

A body is found and through the investigation of the death bones are found that may or may not date back to the time of Jesus. There are indications that this is the reason for the murder. Tempe sends a picture of some bones to a friend who is very mysterious but wants her to come to Jerusalem right away. Curious Tempe goes and Ryan who's murder investigation is taking him to Jerusalem gets to go as well.

In Jerusalem Tempe's friend takes her to visit a burial ground to help explain some of the mystery behind the bones. The bones were stolen but an even greater find is discovered. More bones. There seems to be evidence of a family related to Jesus. Scary things are happening and another murder occurs. There are lots of people with religious interests who do not want information about Jesus being discovered, especially if it doesn't fit in nicely with what is already beleived about Jesus and how and when he died.

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

2009-10-04T18:33:00.001-07:00

I really liked this book. It was very interesting. It's fiction but the author's muse is Edgar Allen Poe. I am now ordering a book about Poe's life. I thought it was very interesting so I wanted to learn more about Poe to find out hat Bayard used his life.
A retired law man, Landor, living in the mountains for his health is asked to help solve a murder at West Point. He enlists the help of a cadet E.A. Poe. In the meantime another murder occurs and everyone is getting pretty jumpy. The murders resemble satanic rituals.
This book is written for a time in 1831. You have no idea there is a time difference. There is absolutely no reference to anything that dates this book. Of course, there are no cell phones and I suppose that in itself dates the book but I personally find not having cell phones refreshing.
Poe falls in love during the story and Landor is trying to get over his daughter running off with a man. They enjoy each other's company during their working relationship and try to help each other out. There is a big surprise in the story that completely took me by surprise.
I enjoy Bayard's story telling. It gets a little drawn out sometimes because his stories are set in the 1800's or so and they don't have the CSI type technology of today. It took time and leg work to solve crimes or mysteries back then. I enjoy the journey and side stories that develop along the way.

Mortal Fear by Greg Iles

2009-09-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

If you have read an Iles book I guarantee you will not have read anything quite like it before. He must spend a great deal of time trying to come up with the most off the wall original idea possible. I don't want to suggest that he's syfy either, because he's not.

Mortal Fear starts with a savy investor, Harper Cole, living in an isolated town working on a computer system that is a "sexual release" online system for the elite called EROS. Cole notices that women clients of EROS are disappearing and calls in the FBI to notify them.

Cole's best friend is also associated with EROS. The FBI want to know if Cole or his friend are involved in the killings. The killings are the strangest part. Each death is different and doesn't fit a profile. Each death is gruesome.

While the FBI is investigating Cole, his wife is discovering other secrets that Cole has been keeping from her.

This book really gets intense at times and I couldn't wait to find out what happens next just to find out that something else is going to happen. It a very interesting and orignal book.

Monday Morning by Kathy Reichs

2009-09-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Reading or listening to a Kathy Reichs book for me is like coming home. It's comfortable. I now know the characters and their rythmns and I like them. I like J.D. Robb's books for the same reason. I know what to expect so I just enjoy relaxing and settling in. That is the only similiarities between Reich and Robb (Roberts). Where Robb is total fantasy, from the future time period to the love life, Reich is realistic, from her love life to her daily grind on the job. She really is an anthropologist and she really does divide her time between Charlotte and Montreal. I don't know if her love life is as she depicts but it's certainly realistic. Women do get divorsed from men after 24 years of marriage because they catch the guy in bed with another, ususally younger woman. Anyway, enough about comparisons and background, on to the book.

Tempe, as I said above, a forensic anthropologist is working in Quebec when she is called in to investigate bones found in a basement of a pizza parlor. It turns out to be three sets of bones all of young girls. She digs into the history of the building and finds a connection to the mob and gets a phone call from a mysterious woman who claims to know what has gone on in the building where the bodies were found. All these things start Tempe, with the help of "hottie" detective Ryan, on the road to discovering how the girls became the "Pizza Parlor girls".

I do enjoy Reich's books because she entertains me with a mystery and the path to discovery and at the same time she teaches me things. For example, we learn about carbon dating and that tooth enamel can determine where in the world a person was born. Once again, we are what we eat. Fasinating, at least to me. To be entertained and educated at the same time is one of my greatest passions. There is a lot of technical jargon in Reich's books and if shows like CSI gross you out you most likely will not like these books. If that intrigues you then read and enjoy!

The Chopin Manuscript by Jeffrey Deaver and others

2009-09-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Whoa, this book is unusal. A few posts ago you might have noticed that I read a Jeffrey Deaver book for the first time and I loved it. So, i've been looking for more. This book was started by Deaver and then a different author wrote each chapter after that until the end when Deaver wraps it up.

I enjoyed the first chapter but the second and third I was not very excited about at first. The authors went off into their own characters instead of adding on to Deaver's first character. I was too distracted and I wanted to know more about what happened to the characters in the beginning. Boy, was I off base. I love the way the second and third chapters developed in the book as a whole. The best thing is I had never heard of any of the authors that wrote with Deaver so now I have a whole slew of new authors to research and read. Yeah for me.

A music expert is coming home from Europe after meeting with a Piano tuner and finds someone trying to kill him and soon finds also that the Piano tuner has been killed. It becomes clear soon that the music expert is no ordinary music expert. He has hunted war criminals in the past.

Here are the other authors: L. Scottoline, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, David Hewson, John Ramsey Miller, James Grady, PJ Parrish, Jim Fusilli, David Corbett, Gilstrap, Pezzullo

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb

2009-08-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back to J.D. Robb. It feels like I've been reading her forever but I still have not finished her series. This one was pretty good. I think I like the later ones. I know I like it better when she figures out who done it but by actually "working the case" instead of just coming to the conclusion without any evidence to support it, like some of the earlier books I've blogged about before.

A police woman has been killed. She was the girlfriend of the coroner, Morris, a friend of Eve's. Eve and Peabody are working the case. They interview the other cops in the victim's squad but can't figure out how someone got into her apartment complex and why she was leaving with her guns on when she was killed.

Eve and Peabody uncover a connection between the victim and the son of a killer Eve convicted awhile ago. He has a connection to both Eve and Roarke and wants the worst for them, however, he's in jail. His son dated the murdered cop but would he kill his lover for his father?

In the midst of the case, there is a bridal shower for Louise at Eve's house. The shower is every woman's dream. Count me in if I am ever lucky enough to be invited to a gig like that. Ahhhh, the fantasy........

The Black Tower by Louis Bayard

2009-08-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how long it's been since I've said I love historical fiction so I will say it now. I simply adore historical fiction. I have read so many books on Englands history, especially regarding Henry VIII but I have read very little about France and their royalty. After reading this book I want to know more and more.

There is a diary from an earlier time before a 10 year old boy, Louis XVII was put to death. The boy was very ill and a doctor who was hired to take care of the boy became very fond of the boy and tried as hard as he could to take care of the boy. The boy was eventually hung, or was he? There is speculation that the boy was removed and another boy hung in his place.

Fast forward to the current time of the book, not the current times but a time after Napolean's rule and a time when the prior families rule has been restored. A death has occurred and the famous detective Vidocq is investigating the death and working with a Doctor Carpentier who's name was found on the victims body.

Is there proof that Louis XVII is still alive? Why are people dying who knew Dr. Carpentier's father? If the father knew something, why didn't he tell his son or his wife? If they find him, what will the current ruler do? Will he give up his throne for his nephew?

Vidocq and Carpentier work diligently on discovering answers to all these questions and they finally think they have all the answers but do they really? Or has someone duped them again?

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was suspenseful but not so much so that I couldn't function otherwise. There was a lot of material here that would have leant itself to that kind of breathless suspense but the author did not take advantage of it. I still loved it and I can't wait to do some research to find out the real story of the family and times after Napolean's rule.

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

2009-08-16T16:46:00.003-07:00

Temperence Brennan starts out telling a story about a childhood friend she spends time with in summers. Once summer the friend disappeared and the family would not tell Tempe where the girl went and Tempe's young attempt at trying to locate her friend came up with nothing.

Flash forward to current time and Tempe is flying to Montreal to work in her office there. She ends up working with several young girls and begins a long voyage into trying to find out what brought these young girls to her table. The voyage causes her to stumble over clues to her long missing friend.

Tempe's colorful sister Harrie comes to visit. Her ex gets engaged and Ryan goes back to his ex. Lots of stress in Tempe's life.

Tempe and Ryan end up finding out there is a very bad person out there who is getting young girls into pornography and possibly killing them. They just don't know who it is and suspect the husband of Tempe's long lost friend's sister. No one will tell Tempe where here lost friend is and what happened to her years ago. Is she the body of a girl who winds up on her autopsy table and did her brother in law kill her back when? The long lost friends mother worked at a hospital that helped people with leprosy years ago and leprosy is very contagious. There is a mystery surrounding the old friends mother's death. Could it have been leprosy?

I enjoy Kathy Reich's books. I learn a lot about different illnesses and medical terms. It's probably not for everyone and I don't rush to read more but I do like them. I will read more.

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

2009-08-16T16:46:00.001-07:00

Temperence Brennan is in South Carolina staying in a friends house at the beach and helping out the local coroner's office. A mysterious body shows up and Tempe is thrust into a full fledge investigation. The deaths are very different and the victims are very different kinds of people. So why are they are turning up dead? There is a retired police officer, a girl who is connected to the mob, and a homeless person all dead by different causes.

Tempe's husband, who she has been separated from for years, shows up to work on a case and tries to woe Tempe. Shortly afterward, Ryan shows up for a visit. Can they all stay together under the same roof? Does Tempe still have feelings for her husband?

I have said it before, I like Reich's books. I don't rush to read more of her books, like the Deaver book I recently read but I do enjoy the stories. They are interesting and I must say I enjoy the science I learn from reading her books.

Third Degree by Greg Iles

2009-08-09T19:57:00.001-07:00

I have never read this author before but I certainly will in the future.
There is a special needs teacher who is married with two kids. She has been having an affair with her true love who just broke it off with her. Her lover's wife won't let him have a divorce without taking away custody of his kids. He can't live with that so he decides to stay with his wife even though she treats their autistic son badly.
The husband of the special needs teacher is going through some very bad things at work. He is a doctor who is being audited by Medicaid and his partner has done some creative accounting that could result in jail time and huge fines. The husband started out as an innocent party at first but a year ago asked to make more money and knowingly became more involved with Medicaid fraud.
A nurse sends the husband an email to search his house to look for a something hidden that could hurt him. The nurse wanted him to find the evidence planted against him by his partner but what he found was a letter from his wife's lover. The strain of the audit and the betrayal of his wife and the stress from a secret he's been keeping for a year sends the doctor over the edge. The day and night is soon filled with terror that will change the lives of everyone involved forever.
It didn't take long for this author to reel me in. The terror started early on and I had to read on and on to find out what happens next.

Puerto Vallarta

2009-08-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Vacationing in Mexico in August with three teenagers. I probably don't need to say anymore. It's always interesting to balance things with teens. They want to sleep while we want to do sightseeing. The entertainment can be really great though when all is going well. I wouldn't trade a minute with my family.
We arrived Saturday around 11:30 am. It was a beautiful but steamy day. Lunch at the country club. Beach. Jet ski's. Malecon. Dinner and sunset.
Sunday. Brunch at the Country Club. The best brunch I have ever had. Breakfast items and local mexican food and free drinks. It doesn't get much better. We spent the afternoon at the beach and went to La Pesche for dinner. The food was wonderful and everyone had a lovely time. Until I tried to go to bed. I was sick as a dog. Apparently the local wine had more in it than I bargained for. I later talked with a woman who had the same problem when she drank the local red wine.
Monday. I spent the day sick as a dog. Bob went Parasailing. The kids went to the beach and spent lots of time in the lobby using the internet.
Tuesday. We went on the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. It was so much better than I even imagined. Our guides were amazing and made it so much fun for everyone. The view from our ziplines was amazing. We all zipped along the usual way and all of us tried it upside down. We could not was the smiles off our face if we wanted to.
Wednesday. We spend the day at the Beach. In the evening we went to Tulum for shrimp. It was really very good but way too expensive and it was buffet and limited menu only. Not what we expected.
Thursday. We decided to rent a car because taxi's are so expensive for a family of 5. We drove to Sauyalita. It was very nice and very "mexican". Just what we were looking for. It's a very quaint town. Lot's of places to eat and drink on the beach. Great waves for surfing. Not so great for boogie boards. Aaron got hit in the head by a surf board. We went back to the condo and looked for Parasailing for Aaron and Jacquelyn. They LOVED it! For the evening we decided to go to Le Kliff for dinner and we stopped by Senior Frogs on the way. A cruise ship was in town so the place was hopping. The girls really enjoyed the entertainment. We headed to Le Kliff for dinner and sunset. The view here for the sunset is the most amazing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. On the way home it started to rain hard. Driving through downtown was a challenge becauce the water was coming down hill rapidly and forcefully. We were driving, actually floating, towards home. It was so scary!
Friday. We took a tour to Yelapa. The boat ride over to an island on the way to Yelapa to snorkel was fun. The boat crew was very funny and entertaining. The snorkeling was pretty lame but okay. Yelapa is interesting. I'm not sure it is the "MUST see" that I read about but it's pretty cool. We walked back to the water fall and that was lovely. When we walked back to the beach it started to rain and kept on raining. It was so cool in the rain and there was no place to get out of the wet. If I could have had a place to secure my camera I would have been fine and I would have just swam but as it was I stayed put to try and keep the camera dry. We were all glad to get back on the boat to go home. That evening we went to the Malecon with the girls. Aaron did not want to go. We went to Senior Frogs. We had balloons made for us. Jackie got a temporary tat of a cross on her ankle. It looks really cool and really lasts. We had dinner and drinks and a lovely time. The girls had planned on dancing but they happened to have a band that night that was playing 80's rock and roll and it wasn't very danceable.
Saturday. We chilled on Saturday for the most part. Bob and I had coffee on the deck and watched the waves and read. We let the kids sleep in while we went over to Vallarta Adventures to get the pictures taken by their photographer in Yelapa. We went to the airport to eat and bought more stuff we didn't need and some liquor in the shops. Vacation over and back to the States.
We all liked Puerto Vallarta and most of us would love to go back. There is so much to do there and the people are REALLY nice! The taxi's and drivers who tried to cheat us and the people walking the beaches trying to sell "cheap" no name tours are the only negative things we came across.

The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark

2009-08-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm on a run lately because I have read or listened to several really good ones lately. I actually had "FUN" reading this book. It might be because most of the book is during the time the main character is a teenager and he is an obsessed and overly curious teenager. It was just like being there without all the hormones.
There is an orphan in Venice in the 1400's. He is noticed by a chef and asked to join the chef in the kitchen. It is a dream come true for the boy who has been stealing his food to survive. There is no pay but he gets room and board. The Chef is an honest and good man with amazing skills with food.
The orphan is a teen and obsessed by a girl. He just knows that if he has a love potion that he can get his dream girl to fall in love with him and all will be right. The orphan asks the chef to help him. The chef knows it's foolish but he remembers what it's like and wants to help the boy. He uses his culinary knowledge to help the orphan out. It turns out the chef has a lot of culinary secrets. The orphan isn't the only one who wants to know the chef's secrets.
The council of Venice is looking for a book that contains secrets. The orphan boy thinks his Chef knows about the book. In his quest to find the book and what the chef knows about the book the orphan becomes a man and finds out that some secrets are best kept secret and some obsessions are nothing more than that.
This is a lovely story of becoming a man and of friendship, family and sacrifice. The time in Venice is a very dark time in history where laws were made by men in power who were allowed to make laws for their personal gain and to even kill for little reason.
Here is the website for the author: http://www.ellenewmark.com/book.php I was hoping to find out about other books but alas there are none. I will check back every now and then hoping to find out about a new book.

Glory in Death by J.D. Robb

2009-07-26T19:51:00.001-07:00

This book is one of the better J.D. Robb books. I have been reading all her bad books lately so I am glad to get back to a good one.
A powerful DA is killed in a bad part of town. She is an attorney respected by Eve Dallas and one of the DA's closest friends is the Eve's boss the Chief.
Eve has to investigate every angle and one angle involves the DA's children. This upsets the Chief.
Another murder occurs close to Eve, it's a reporter.

Ran of time. Sorry! Can't remember much now.

Hilton Head

2009-07-26T19:50:00.003-07:00

Recently my son and I went to Hilton Head to spend a few days before picking up my daughter at SCAD after a summer class program. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Oceanside. Whoa, expensive for what you get. The hotel is on the ocean but the beach in front of the hotel is a public beach and if there is one person on that beach there is 200,000 people on that beach in front of the hotel. My husband calls it "Waikiki Beach on steroids".

My son and I got to the hotel the night before our check in and called the 1-800 number to see if they had a room for us and they said they did. When we arrived at 2:30 am they said they were booked and offered no compensation at all for their mistake. A huge mistake at 2:30 am when we could have stopped before we got into the southern most point of the island.

We also took a "Kayaking tour" at shelter cove with "Outside Hilton". My son and I wanted to actually kayak AND talk about the nature we saw. Our guide wanted to kayak out a few minutes and sit and rest of the two hours. My son and I were so bored I thought we would fall asleep in the kayak. Our bad, how could we have thought that we would actually kayak on a kayaking tour. We paid $60 for that pleasure.

Hilton Head, I say forget the whole island. It's a rip off and there are plenty of good beaches in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida where you can get EVERYTHING you can get in HH but better and not get ripped off so badly.

The biggest problem I have with HH is the length of time it takes to your destination. The problem is the low speed limit and the traffic. They keep the speed limit low I am sure so they can get even more tourist dollars from you by giving you a ticket. On one stretch of road the speed limit drops 10 mph and the road is identical. There is no reason for the speed to drop other than as a speed trap. This gives me a bad taste in my mouth but not as bad as the $1.25 you have to pay just to get in. You also have to pay that to get out. It's a nominal fee but if you are going on and off frequently like I had to it adds up. We are already paying outlandish fees to do anything on that island why do they need to rape us as we enter and leave. The worst fee of all on the island is the $5.00 entry fee just to enter the Sea Pines side of the island. If you have to go somewhere else and re-enter that part of the island, you guessed it, you pay another $5.00.

My advise is to go up north past Myrtle Beach and stay in any number of great beach communities up there. Or go to Destin, Florida. Any number of beaches around those will cost you half the money and get you the exact same beautiful beach with fewer people and less traffic. Of course if you prefer being surrounded by millions of people and paying twice what you need to then Hilton Head is for you.

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver

2009-07-26T19:50:00.001-07:00

Jeffery Deaver is now one of my favorite authors. I really enjoyed the book. There were so many twists in this book that I couldn't even count them and I didn't see any of them coming. It was pretty amazing.
A female officer gets called to check out a home on a lake that is in it's off season so there really isn't anyone at the lake. There is a 911 call that was placed and then disconnected so it has to be responded to. After driving 45 min. the officer gets a call that the home owner called back and said the 911 call was an accident. She decides to go in the home to use the restroom before driving back. Opps, it wasn't the home owner who called back in and now no one knows the police officer is running for her life. Luckily the police officer is very well trained but unfortunately a killer is just as well trained and together with some friends they all have the night of their life.
I was sitting on the edge of my chair for most of the book and constantly taken aback by the twists. Thanks Mr. Deaver for a good read!

Remember When by Nora Roberts

2009-07-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

A man is hit by a car outside a woman's store. Another man who has been following the man hit by a car, because of his connection to a diamond heist, interviews the store owner and they end up falling in love. The store owner's father is involved with the diamonds and father and daughter reunite after years apart. A third man involved in the diamond heist is extremely dangerous and wants all the diamonds for himself. There is danger, humor and love but in the end the store owner and investigator get to be together but many diamonds remain missing.

Fast forward fifty years and the couple's granddaughter write a book about the love story. As a result the author's friend and housekeeper get killed and Lt. Eve Dallas gets called in. She is worried about the authors safety and thinks that someone is killing to find the missing diamonds. The problem is no one knows where the diamonds are and why would a killer wait until now to look for the diamonds.

Lt. Dallas uses her investigative skills to work on the mystery and find her killer. She and her trusty sidekick "Peabody" have the ususal witty banter between them and Roarke and Eve have the usual steamy love scenes. It's and easy and enjoyable read.

KC here I come

2009-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is not a book review but a travel review. My daughter thought I should blog about it and I figured it would help me to remember the trip more.
I recently dropped off my daughter at SCAD in Savannah and on my home to Kansas City, I decided to scope out some vacation options for my family. I started out by driving up the coast from Savannah on Hwy 17.
I thought this would be like driving down the coast from Oregon to California but on that drive you actually see the coast. This drive up the coast was very different. I was barely ever able to see the coast at all. If a coastal view is what you want I would skip Hwy 17 and head up I-95 for pure speed instead and enjoy the ocean view at your desination.
I did see the Boone Plantation on my journey up Hwy 17 though and decided to take the time to enjoy the place. I believe it was $30 to get in and that included a trolley tour, homes tour and demonstration. The Plantation home was beautiful. The home is still used by it's owners so the tour was rather lame. They only let you in about 4 rooms, the entry way, a living area, an office and a breezeway. The items in the rooms are not from the home, they were put there by the current owners, not related to the original Boone family so there really is no historical significance to the pieces in the home at all.
Next, I took the trolley tour of the Plantation grounds. There really isn't anything of historical significance on the tour. It's just the grounds with a fairly impressive garden that you can pick fruits and vegtables from. I did enjoy the relaxing ride on a hot day.
There are also slave homes on the plantation with each slave home having an audio or video tour inside. This is the most impressive part of the Plantation but still not worth the steep entry fee. This was just outside Charleston so I am guessing there are more impressive Plantations to tour. It was a nice break from driving though.
I continued driving up Hwy 17 and every now and then I would veer off east to see if I could catch a glimpse of the ocean. Most of the time all I saw was homes with pathways to the ocean through high dunes keeping the ocean view a mystery.
I stumbled upon a town called Murrells, SC a small inlet fishing village that has at least 10 seafood restaurants on the water. I found one with the best view and stopped to eat crab legs on the deck while watching the wildlife on the water. It was absolutely a beautiful and restful stop. It was just what I needed. At the time it was the highlight of my trip.
After my relaxing meal I began driving once again up Hwy 17. I reached Myrtle Beach and stopped to get information on the hotels in the area. Myrtle Beach is like Las Vegas without the gambling. You can find everything and anything on this long stretch of road. From what I could see between the small area between the thousands of hotels I passed the beaches in front of the hotels looked pretty nice. Each hotel advertised a lazy river so that is apparantly the must have request for a hotel these days. All along the drive people were busy running here, there and everywhere or simply driving in front or behind me for a very long time. I had intended to stay the night at Myrtle Beach but frankly with no children in tow I was looking for something a little less commercial and a little more quiet so I kept driving north. I ventured past North Myrtle Beach, still bustling with activity but not as dense, and finally decided to head east and see what happened.
I ran quite by accident into Ocean Isle Beach, a very sleepy little beach community with almost no hotels or inns but many vacation condos or something like condos. There were a couple of Inns on the ocean, and I stopped at one to inquire about pricing. I was hoping that being off the beaten path of Myrtle Beach would garner a cheaper rate. It was about $99 for a room or $130 for an Ocean View. I was able to see that it was not just a distant view but that we were right there on the Ocean so I splurged for the Ocean View. The room was large with a table and chairs, a small area with a small frig and microwave, roomy bathroom and nice sized deck with a table and chairs. I thought the price with the ocean was very reasonable. I opened the door enough to hear the ocean waves and went fast to sleep to dream about how much I had enjoyed my trip so far.
The next morning I ate my continental breakfast while looking longingly at the beach. I quickly shed my shoes and headed out to feel the beautiful white sand between my toes. I walked down the beach letting the water run up on my feet as I walked and looked for interesting shells in the sand. I really wanted to get a chair and sit on the beach for a few days but I still have over a thousand miles to go to get home and I was getting home sick without my family so I got my map out and headed towards home, away from the ocean and away from Highway 17.
It didn't take me long to get to Asheville, NC, home to the famous Biltmore home. This is a place I have wanted to see as far back as I can remember. I just had to see it. Unfortunately the place closes at 4pm. It wasn't quite 4pm yet but suddenly the sky opened up and poured and without weather.com I was unsure how long it would last. I decided to wander around the city and decide what to do.
The City of Asheville is quite lovely. I think I could spend several days in Asheville and be very happy and busy. Ashville is located snug in the mountains so it was cool and green. The roads, typical of a mountain town, wind around and around. There is a trolley tour through town and downtown appeared very nice and contained one sidewalk bar/restaurant after the other. My kind of town. The rain and clouds lifted and left behind a beautiful evening. I wanted to explore and enjoy it but I decided to get a hotel and try and sleep early so I could get go to Biltmore in the morning and drive all day after that.
I arrived at The Biltmore just about 8:30am the time the gates open. I had purchased my ticket the night before at the Ingles Grocery Store for $40 to save time and pulled in and parked to get ready for the first tour of the day. When I walked through the trees after parking and saw The Biltmore House, I almost cried. I had wanted to see if for so long and there it was. It was even more magnificent than I could ever imagine. I really am hard to impress but i wanted to pinch myself.
The house opened at 9am so I was right there waiting to get inside. They have several tours available but I opted for the audio tour. The tours are an optional fee, the audio tour was about $8. SO worth the money! The audio tour allowed me to move at my own pace while learning everything I could in a short amount of time. The home is still owned by the Vanderbuilt family. It is 175,000 SF of living space. Wow! It is the most beautiful and organized home I feel confident that i will ever see. It's NOT beautiful gaudy like I think you might see in many homes of that era and size, it's just simply nice. The tour went on and on and on. I don't know what percentage I was allowed to see but I can tell you functionally I think I saw about everything. It took me over an hour and a half just to finish the home audio tour. We were allowed to see every floor, there are five in all. I saw maids quarters, the master and mistress bedrooms, quest bedrooms, the gym and indoor pool, dining rooms and sitting rooms a plenty, several kitchens and the library. I wandered up and out on a balcony and up and down at least 4 separate stair cases.
With a long drive still ahead I had to prioritize what to see next so I opted to see the winery before heading home. I drive around the beautiful and massive gardens, I'm gonna see that next visit for sure, and past the farm to get to the winery. I was barely past 11 and the winery doesn't open until noon so I drove out and to the main entry shop that also has wine tasting and sells wine. They let me taste at least 10 different wines. I liked several and bought several to take home to share with my husband and friends.
It was finally time to hit the road for real, no more stopping and sight seeing. So sad to leave Asheville with so much more to see but that's okay, it's just a good reason to come back and I will come back!

Savannah up Hwy 17

Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb

2009-06-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

There is a funeral of a respected fellow police officer who died suddenly of a heart attack with no warning. At the funeral Eve mets the officer's grandaughter who requests a private meeting. Eve Dallas then enters the secret society of Satanism and also of Wicca, a religious order of Witches.
Several deaths occur and Eve meets a member of Wicca who's father was a serial killer and she relentlessly pursues him as her killer after another member says he's the killer. Peabody thinks Eve is being too hard on the suspect and Eve lashes out at Peabody pretty hard.
While waiting at the Wiccan leader's place of business Eve is abducted and becomes part of a "Ceremony".
I don't think Wiccan members would appreciate the portrayal of Wicca in this book, even though it is found to be a white witchcraft and the religious order members are found to be innocent, I don't believe it is portrayed accurately. I've read other books about Wicca and the ceremonies and practice in other sources had more to do with the planet and less to do with witchcraft and sex.
Every reader knows immediately who is evil and who is good in this book. It's a shame that more time wasn't invested in trying to link the evil characters to the murders by methods of investigating. That's what I like about the future books by J.D. Robb, our heroine uses a lot of technology and whatever else she can to solve crimes. It's almost like Nora Roberts couldn't figure out how to solve this one investigatively so she just had the killers wrap it all up in the end. I know she's capable of doing better, i've read the evidence.
The banter between Dallas and Peabody is enjoyable in this book and of course there is lots of Roarke being loving and sexy! Romance is "Roberts" strong suit and she does not disappoint there.

Immortality in Death J.D. Robb

2009-06-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is another Lt. Eve Dallas book with sidekick Peabody and billionaire Roarke. In this story Eve has to solve a mystery surrounding the use of products or drugs that make a person seem younger. People are being murdered and in at least one case, Eve's best friend Mavis is arrested for the Murder. Eve is fiercely loyal to her friends so clearing her freind is very important.

I liked the ending of the mystery. It was a surprise. At least it was to me. I usually always figure these things out but this one caught me by surprise. I like that.

This is an earlier book in the "Dallas" series so some of the best things that develop later are missing. The relationship between Dallas and Peabody hasn't quite developed yet. Peabody is too timid around Dallas yet and I missed her witty comebacks in this book. Dallas is having nightmares but they are only about her killing her father as a child and they are not used to help her solve the crimes like they do in the future books.

There are plenty of things in this book though that are usually in the book. Roarke and Dallas are madly in love with each other and have sex often wherever they are, usually preceded by Dallas putting up a little fight. Roarke is always protective of Eve and he's always hungry for her. Do you really wonder why women would like this series? Dallas works relentlessly to solve the murders and brings in Roarke to help her with his security and computer skills.

This is just an easy book to read about a women who had some very bad luck as a child but is a kick ass police officer with a gorgeous and loving billionare husband and caring loyal friends. There is a brutal murder to solve and Eve works endlessly until she solves it.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

2009-06-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

I felt left out because I was not forced to read this book in high school. Everyone else had to read it and now my kids have had to read it so i wanted to know what all the fuss was about.
What the heck is all the fuss about? Someone, please explain to me why this book is a classic. I do think that the character sounds just like most teenagers sound when they go through their negative period. Whoa, what a downer, huh? Could a person be more negative? I know nothing about the author but if this book was written after the author grew up then it is "most" impressive that an adult could channel their teenage side again. Wow is all I can say. For some, I would say it's spot on how strange and dark it is inside a teenager's head.
Since I missed getting this assignment in school I also missed the discussions of the book as well. In the end he goes in the hospital. Is that because he's mentally ill or is it because he has a tumor perhaps. I don't know enough about all the medical possibilities to know what is going on here. Is there a reason why the author chooses not to tell the reader why Holden goes in the hospital? If he goes in for mental reasons then I am assuming it has something to do with his brothers death. Please someone out there help me. I spent hours on this book that I can never get back and I don't know why............

Next by Michael Crichton

2009-06-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

If you have read Crichton before then you know that each book is completely different than the last. That's good news and it's bad news. It's good news because each book is a unique experience. There is no formula. It must take him so long to develop each book this way. The bad news is that just because you loved the last book you might not really like the new book.
For example, I absolutely loved "Timeline". I really loved it because of the one thing Crichton does do with each book is he does his research. Just as in "Timeline" the reasearch for "Next" was extensive. There is so much to learn and yet to be discovered about genes. The story in "Next" while non-fiction is based on a lot of facts abouts genes, the medical and legal side of genes.

Gene technology is very complicated. I liked the way the book would educate using "news bulletins" to educate us on some of the complicated parts of gene technology or just to bring us up to date with a part of the story. What I didn't like was that I think Crichton was trying to educate and even preach to us on every facet of gene technology in one book. There were so many stories going on in the book it was hard to follow.

Okay, loosely there was an issue of lab employees selling body tissue and bones, there was an issue of a man wanting to do DNA testing on his wife to show that she has a future desease to prevent her from getting the kids, there is an issue with a hospital taking tissues from a man who had cancer and survived and the hospital patented the genes and now the genes belong to the hospital, a lab tech gave experimental gene therapy to a person without approval, a scientist inserted his own genes into a chimp and a talking and thinking chimp was born. That's just the issues on the top of my head, there were more. So, understand why it was hard to follow?

I think this book would have been a lot better if just a couple of connected issues were discussed and developed into a story. Also, using interesting characters that people care about. There were several sub-stories with characters that we don't care about but they all get stopped in one way or another.
I understand that gene technology is dangerous and if we don't make changes it will be even more dangerous, but I almost gave up on this book early because it was just too much and I didn't even like most of the characters so I didn't care what happened to them. I did like the two main stories, the chimp/boy "Dave" and the story about the man's genes who had cancer. Those two were good stories with interesting characters AND it made me think about the current technology and laws surrounding gene patenting and gene experiments. If those were the main stories in the book and the other story lines weren't discussed in this book I think the book would have been better.

I love science so I hung on to the brutal end and I'm glad I did. If you are not in to science and learning more about science through fiction. You probably won't like this book.

Shoot Him if He Runs by Stuart Woods

2009-06-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

This is a Stone Barrington and Holly Barker novel. They go to St. Barts to try and find Teddy Fay a "rouge" retired CIA agent who escaped in the last Holly Barker novel. I know when I read a Woods novel about Stone B. that it's going to be a very light and easy read. There's something wrong that needs to be fixed and along the way to fixing the problem Stone gets himself in a real jam that he manages to get out of and he gets the girl in the end, having lots of sex along the way and that there is going to be lots of funny conversations between Stone Barrington and his sidekick Dino.
In this book they don't really do anything at all, everything is done for them or drops in their laps. The closest thing to a tight fix Stone finds himself in is getting arrested but a contact on the inside gets him out pronto. There is no sexual tension between Holly and Stone, yes, they have sex but it's about as exciting as saying "they had sex". Dino is in the book but I don't remember a single interesting conversation that they had. The worst part is, the problem does not get resolved.
This book was still an easy and breezy read. I was able to start and finish it which is more than I can say about other books but if you haven't read it and you read Stuart Woods, don't waste your time on this book. Read a different "Woods" book. This one was started for a reson and nothing at all came of the book. There is no resolution to the book, the ending is very very disappointing. All there is in the middle of this book is people eating breakfast, lunch and dinner close to a beach on a tropical island. I am thinking "Woods" wanted a tropical vacation and needed to be able to write off the expenses. Not much effort in this book, even by Stuart Woods standards. I have not given up on him yet. Some authors like James Patterson have written more than one lazy novel and I don't waste my time on them anymore. I'll try Woods again.
Currently reading "Catcher in the Rye", "Teenage Boys" and "Next".

My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman

2009-05-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is a very different book for me to read. I will actually read anything and I mean anything as long as it's interesting and flows nicely. What's most unusual about this book for me is that it is the life of a 16 year old girl, albeit a very mature 16 year old.

The story covers about a year in Fredricka's life when living with her parents in a girls dorm she finds out that her father was married before he married her mother and now the ex-wife is coming to live on campus near them and take a position as dorm mother similar to the role of her parents except that her parents are also Professors.

The Ex is somewhat simple minded and doesn't seem to have a conscience or realize what effect her actions has on others around her. The 16 year old is either sympathetic to or frustrated by the antics of her father's ex wife.

The subject is rather serious at times from affairs, unplanned pregnancy and suicide. The way outsiders react to Laura Lee's lifestyle is very realistic and understandable. The way Fredricka and the Professor's react is realistic also, she is family, and you can't always pick family or understand them but we have to deal with them. The book is somehow realistic but light and airy. The serious subjects never weighed me down or depressed me. I enjoyed the story and felt like a learned from it. I want to take life and people a lot less seriously.

Night Probe by Clive Cussler

2009-05-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, like always there is a major national or international conspiracy. In this case the conspiracy exists between the U.S., Canada and England. It involves a trade agreement that if found could make Canada part of the U.S. There are some major low down bad guys willing to do anything for financial and political gain. What I love about Cussler is that there is always a sliver of truth to all his novels making me learn or seek to learn more about World History and Geography. I plan on doing some research to see if there really is a theory about a missing trade agreement. Hey Clive, if you are reading this, I would really appreciate it if you could be more like my buddy Steve Berry, you know, "The Last Templar" for one, who summarizes in a chapter at the end of the book, all the real stuff and all the stuff he totally makes up. That saves me tons of time on the research so that I only have to look into the real stuff to further my thirst for historical non-fiction.

Similar to books in the past the worst of the bad guys, usually a psychopath, gets his just desserts. Hey, if it's non-fiction, might as well get some satisfaction out of it, right? This time the method is unusual and interesting. I had never heard of it before. I believe it's real.

This must have been one of his earlier works because the formula usually includes a beautiful damsel in distress and an awesome antique car. There is a damsel but she has a couple of beaus including Dirk Pitt and she isn't so much in distress and there is an antique car but it doesn't play a very significant role. A twist at the end is interesting for the damsel and Dirk.

There is a lot of crazy blood shed that doesn't always make sense to me in this book. I found it hard to follow who was who during the battles and the amount of casualties doesn't make sense in this case. It's not war! Europe could possible lose the rights to Canada but they aren't fighting for their lives and even if they had lost the land, no one's life would have been affected. So why would England go to war with the U.S. a current super power over a non existent change in lifestyle?? Beats the heck out of me. I certainly understand the power struggle but it would not have been worth the lives lost they incurred and certainly not the threat of an even bigger war and bloodshed. That's just me, always asking the questions and wanting the books to be believable. I still enjoyed the book but not nearly as much of other Cussler books.

Visions of Death by J.D. Robb

2009-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

This book is of course similar to all J.D. Robb's "of Death" series. It's very formulaic. There is Lt. Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke. They always have some very steamy and graphic love making sessions, Roarke is always understanding of her demanding and dangerous career and he is passionately in love with "his cop". Roarke always helps out his wife on the case by going with her on some visits and helping her out with his amazing computer skills and usually helps out by providing something like transport because of his large bank account.

Lt. Dallas always gets called out on the biggest case in town and feels passionately about the victim and wants to catch the killer at any cost, even if she doesn't eat, sleep or have any other aspect of a life. She always loses her temper with someone close to her due to the stress of the current case. I lose my temper all the time but no one wants to talk to me afterwards. What's wrong with you people, you should be more understanding.

Why do I like these books? I'm not a romantic book reader but I have to say Lt. Dallas and her life is like a fantasy world for me. What intelligent and passionate woman wouldn't want to live Lt. Dallas' life? She is great at her job and she gets to obsess at it until she solves the current crime at the expense of everything and everyone in her life. And the people in her life understand and still love her completely and unselfishly. Wow, true fantasy!

Her husband always worries about her and cares and takes care of her and always wants to make mad passionate love to her.

She has the most amazing, interesting and sometimes famous friends who love her unconditionally and are always at work to make her life easier. Who on earth would not want that in their life? And her friends all get along together. Awesome, right? Well, I must say I do have some pretty amazing friends in my life but so far they aren't famous. What's wrong with you people, hurry up and get famous so I can live out my fantasy life.

In this book"Visions of Death" the current case is about a killer who cuts out the eyes and is bigger and stronger than average. This is not my favorite book by J.D. Robb but it still flows along nicely and there is lots of friendship drama and drama related to Lt. Dallas' past as a foster child. I just love the relationship between Lt. Dallas and Detective Peabody.

If you like Crime dramas this book has a few surprises for you but is not as deep as some of her other novels. If you like romance this is the least sexy of all her books that I have read so far. There is some sex but not as steamy and physical as the others.

It's not my favorite but it doesn't suck! How's that for a recommendation.

Next up another long time and often formulaic author, Clive Cussler and after that a new and totally different book and author. Yes, I have two books going at a time.

Wednesday April 29, 2009 "No Time For Goodbye" by Linwood Barclay

2009-04-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this book. I wouldn't say this book is a work of literary genius but I'm not sure I would know that when I read it anyway.

The best thing about this book is the premise of the book. A teenage girl wakes up on a school day to a completely empty house, after a night of drinking and getting caught by her father. Everyone has vanished. Creepy right? The parents surely would not have left her just because she was a little out of control would they? This is definitely not a subject that has been covered before. Twenty or more years go by and evidence surfaces about the disappearances.

The next best thing about this story is that the ending doesn't wrap up everything with a bow and make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It does have an ending but it's not the ending you might imagine and the author doesn't try to make us like and understand the reasons why the original disappearances occurred.

The thing I didn't like about the book is the relationship between the abandoned girl as a woman and her husband. The husband says he loves his wife but has some doubts about her stability. I really understand that and I don't have a problem with it BUT the normal dialogue between the two do not make me believe they are really in love and devoted to one another. Perhaps the author could have developed more of a history between the two that show a strong and loving relationship to make me believe their current devotion to each other more.

Favorite item in the book is when the daughter asks the father, "Did I commit a fox pass?" instead of "faux pas". Too cute!

The Gold Coast by Nelson Demille

2009-04-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you loved this book, you will not like my review. Let me first say that I love to read and I love many books but this one, I could not even finish. It bored me. The critics love this book and my husband loved this book. I tried very hard to love this book also.

The biggest reason I dislike the book is that I feel like the author is challenging us to find him a fraud. I think he came up with some of the most ludicrous situations possible and he's laughing at us the reader for buying in to any of it.

The most ludicrous situations are when John Sutter, an intelligent and competent lawyer we are told, constantly finds himself involved with a Mafia Don and he is moody and angry about it. I understand being nervous about anyone in the Mafia living next door but what I don't understand is why John Sutter would constantly get involved with the Don. It would make more sense to me if he gets involved by means not in his control. Going to the Mafia Don's house for drinks is NOT beyond John's control. Allowing the Don's construction team to move a barn for you at a severely discounted price is NOT beyond someone's control. Swapping spouses for sex is not beyond someone's control. If Demille wants these things to happen, fine, but why make John Sutter crazy about it. He just walks into the situations. It would be plenty entertaining if these things happened without the premise that John Sutter does not want to be around the Don for moral reasons.

The second ludicrous situation John gets into is when an IRS auditor threatens him with fines and jail time for failing to report a sale of a home correctly. This situation throws John into a situation of asking the Don for help. You don't think this is ridiculous? It would not be if John were not a Tax Attorney who would have known full well how to stay out of this situation and would have also known how to get himself out of it. He would not have felt like he needed to get involved with a Mafia lawyer to get himself out of it.

There are some other crazy things, like the Sutters receive vegetables to plant from the Don and they plant the vegetables. The Sutters DON'T cook.

It is just too frustrating to me to read about how upset John Sutter is about the Don when he continues to get himself involved. I found myself saying "why would John do that" until I finally said to myself "Why would I keep reading this book? I know what's going to happen, I know how it is going to end and in between there will be lot's more fantasy sex and witty conversation. " I put the book back on the shelf.

Stay tuned.

2009-04-10T15:29:00.001-07:00

This is Susan. I read and review books.
Stay tuned.