Category: Book Thoughts

This was an unusual book, but only in the pace of the book. A fun historical mystery based around the premise that Michelangelo had sketched autopsy diagrams in a notebook that is much conjectured, but never confirmed  historically. The mystery starts when a graduate student (Fiona or Finn Ryan) finds a loose page of what to her is obviously a page from this notebook, seemingly lost under a drawer that she is cataloging as an intern at a museum. The mystery is on!

I was particularly interested in the back story which centered on the theft and subsequent loss of many beautiful works of art during post-war Germany. There was also a third story within the story, about Pope Pius XII and his relationship with his niece and the thought that her son was also the son of the Pope (before he became Pope anyway).  How they tie this all together is a bit of a stretch.

The book was good, the mystery was fun and being able to look up and learn about a topic I don’t know much about was interesting. But then all of a sudden, the mystery was done and the book wrapped up and it was like “what happened?” It just wrapped up too easily and too fast. But, I am definitely planning on reading the next installment to find out what case the main characters work on next.

It is sad to realize that the majority of the artwork stolen during Hitler’s Third Reich has never been found. I wonder if it is sitting in someone’s private museum, attic or maybe just buried and rotting somewhere. Or maybe some combination thereof.

This is the third book in a trilogy, but the sixth set in this “world”, and a very satisfying conclusion. The main character was young and immature and the trials experienced through the book saw her grow up and accept that love is not always what is expected or even what you think you need. Thank you Maria Snyder for a great series.  Go to www.mariavsnyder.com for more information on this author and her series.  This is not my typical type of story, it is set in a world of magic but I love books where the main character is a strong female lead.  Although she is often naive the travails Opal passes through are painful and yet interesting.  What can I say, just a fun read.  Sometimes we all need to step outside of the real world and find something different.

Since I wrapped up my mystery book club selection in short order, I was able to dive into Fever Dream on Sunday and just finished it late last night.  I really enjoyed this book.  Seeing Pendergast in they eyes of Captain D’Agosta was especially interesting, he always has a male counterpoint and seeing him from the eyes of a woman was interesting.  I hope all is well with Vincent on the next book though!  I like his character.  The ending is a bit creepy, but very satisfying too, in an evil way.  You can see justice looming on the horizon, but you don’t get to experience it in the book, you have to use your imagination.

This is another book where you end up feeling like you are there, like you are visiting the south.  The way they weave the book into the flow and feel of Louisiana is really interesting to me, I definitely learned more even with it being a fiction novel. The description of the swamps though, don’t leave me wanting to come and visit that however!  I may be a wetland scientist to some degree, but alligators and cottonmouth snakes just don’t appeal to me.

At the end of the book Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston say they are starting a new series together and I really look forward to seeing these.  But they are still going to continue Mr. Pendergast’s story too!  I really want to see how they bring Constance back into the story, that was my only gripe with this novel was how they weaved in her backstory.  I really want to learn more about her and her history.

I just finished the newest Sookie Stackhouse book last week and must say I was pleasantly surprised. I was disappointed in #8 and the loss of her “fairy godmother”. However, in this book we find that not all the elves have left and they are still in the background, which is good. I really liked the flow of the book and was very satisfied.

I will say up front, I typically enjoy reading Daniel Silva and have read most of his Gabriel Allon series.  But this one was just plain DUMB!!  I rented the cd-rom from the library to read in the car and was glad I didn’t spend the money on it.  The plot was transparent and the ending conflict scene just boggled my mind over how stupid they were.  They are up against “the best assassin in the world” and they go to the wife’s father’s house to hide?  Like he wouldn’t know that?  I skipped over a lot of this part, I just couldn’t get it.  So, skip this one, but definitely try his other books instead.

This is the third book in a fun cozy mystery series by Wendy Roberts.  This one though dealt with a topic close to my heart.  The main character in the book, Sadie, has a unique gift, she can see and talk to ghosts and helps them to cross over (a bit like Ghost Whisperer) when they have unresolved issues.  However she also owns a clean-up service, the type who come in after deaths or crimes to clean up the mess (yuck) and some of the descriptions really leave you with a taste of how messy it can get!  Please, let my body be found right away!  Anyway, since she works on crime scenes often she of course gets entangled in a few mysteries that need solving.  The reason this one was close to my heart?  The opening scene is at the funeral for her dad.  Of course she sees his spirit, and the reason he hasn’t crossed over is for her with a surprising twist.  It really brought to mind all the things I wish I could have shared with my dad before he passed over.  The apologies, the moments missed, just letting him know how much I loved him, how much I didn’t want him to go.  So, it was a fun read but sad as well.  But, thinking about my dad is always a good thing so that is okay too.  I do talk to him often, maybe he even hears me once in a while.  I hope so.

I don’t remember how I was turned into this series, but I am certainly glad I was.  A Rather Charming Invitation is the third book in this series by C.A. Belmond.  The central character is a historical researcher who works for the film industry, helping to set up films to be historically accurate.  Being the film industry, there are of course a couple of quirky characters who carry through the books.  Penny has a mother and father who “escaped” their stuffy families and met and married in America.  The first story surrounds a mystery set up by a relative for her and her “cousin” Jeremy to solve,  the result of which is a nice fortune.  This book surrounds a family mystery centering on a beautiful tapestry that was loaned to Penny and Jeremy for their wedding and the clues it holds to a cache of gold coins.  It is an enjoyable read.  I especially like how she sets the base story (the wedding and Penny’s fears about whether it could change their relationship) against the setting (Monte Carlo, Grasse and London) with a mystery thrown in for good measure.  All of her books are set between France, Italy and England and they always leave me with a desire to go visit.   A dash of fun, a dash of history, a dash unusual relatives, a dash of quirky friends, and a big dash of mystery.  Highly recommended.  I do hope she continues the series.

The first book is A Rather Lovely Inheritance and I do recommend starting at the beginning.  www.cabelmond.com is the link to her site.  I love this quote from her web site. 

My weekend read!  Well, my second one anyway.  I needed a nice easy, breezy book and this was it.  I believe it is actually more for juniors, but I really like this series.  The book moves fast and I can finish it in a day.  Since I was sore and worn out from packing the last couple days, I just needed a day off to read and this was perfect for that.  This series is definitely off-beat and you kind of wonder if genetic engineering could someday go in this direction (scary) but it is fun to read.  I do like a good “what-if” read when it comes to science, genetic engineering, or medicine.  Makes me worried some days, but interesting none the less.  Probably comes from that degree in biology/chemistry.

I just finished reading “Quieter Than Sleep” by Joanne Dobson.  The book is called a modern mystery of Emily Dickinson.  Unfortunately, you don’t learn much about Emily Dickinson other than a few off-hand remarks.  However, a central character is Henry Ward Beecher (brother to Harriet Beecher Stowe) and you were able to get a fairly good impression of what type of person he was.  This was very interesting to learn more about, a dimension of historical research with the literary fiction of the mystery.  I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5 probably.  A good first book, good enough for me to look into the second one which is a good sign.

The book came to my attention from The Bookcase Mystery Book Club.  It was the original selection for July, but due to the age (1997) the publisher stated he would not be able to send enough copies so we chose a different book.  Thankfully for us the books then came in!  It was ladies night last Thursday, so at $6.99 and 20% off it was a pretty good price!  I am glad they came in, it was a good find.

The mystery revolves around the English department in a small, exclusive college in Massachusetts (fictional of course).  The main character is a non-tenured, new professor in English literature (Karen Pelletier) and a find made by a fellow department member who she happens to intensely dislike.  Throw in an interesting cop with a killer smile, which he rarely shows, and a dash of department politics and you have a nice little, cozy mystery.  Nothing big or deep, just a fun read.  Plus, I didn’t figure out who until maybe 3/4’s of the way through, although I had a small group of suspects.  A good weekend read.

Opening line from the book – “I might as well admit it: I was sick of desire.  Of love, sex, and desire, and all their cumbersome baggage.”  Another book starting off with a woman newly on her own!  Seems to be a theme lately, need to find something more light-hearted next time.

So much for a “weekend” book!  I devoured it in one day, a Friday, finishing up at close to midnight last night.  I love books that give you a sense of place, where while you read you find yourself wanting to go and visit.  The setting and the people of this small town in Ireland were fun and interesting to read about.  The story itself was a bit predictable, you know by the end of the first chapter pretty much where everything is going to end up, but that is okay.  It is like wearing your most comfortable shoes and starting your walk towards a familiar place, you just love going.  I loved the journey. 

The book also had a lot of similarities to the journey I have been making over the past few years.  There were a lot of quotes that I highlighted as they were so true to me.  “Mistakes aren’t necessarily a problem, sometimes they lead you in a different direction.  Who says you always need to follow the rules?  Breaking the pattern can be the very best thing, even though it can be scary at first”.  Going out on own after my husband left (which is also what happens here, which doesn’t give anything away as it occurs in the first page) was so scary and new.  I had never been on my own before, there was always someone there.  First at home growing up, then with Tanya, then with Ron and no gaps in between.  To be on my own was definitely a very scary and dramatic change for me.  It has taken me a long time to adjust, to figure out that at many times it is okay to be alone, although I definitely still miss having someone here to share my day with or just to talk to at times about anything that feels important or maybe not important at all!  “Life itself is a thread that is never broken, never lost” (Jacques Rourmain).

“Real life was empty rooms, Real life was eating and cooking for one, Real life was less laundry and a cleaner apartment, Real life was waking up alone, which was all right because she was furious about the betrayal.”  Yep  “The road lay before her, plain and simple, offering two ways to go, forward or back, no forks or splits or detours…..the road made no excuses or apologies, it didn’t have to it was what it was..”  I choose to go forward, just as Kate did.  And I think that is why I liked the book, we both chose to go forward.  We all need to find our Glenmara.