June 2019

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Another solid British mystery by one of the most "English" writers out there today. Once again, as in the first book of this series The Word is Murder,  author Anthony Horowitz teams up with the curmudgeonly retired London detective, Daniel Hawthorne, to solve another twisty mystery. Yes, the author puts himself in the book, as well as much of his life, as he and Hawthorne partner again to figure out who murdered the famous divorce attorney. Many suspects abound (think Agatha Christie) and Horowitz continues to be the bumbling idiot as Hawthorne steal every scene as well as every good line. I often found myself chuckling out loud as I quickly turned pages to find out 'whodunnit.' Horowitz has yet to disappoint me so if you are looking for a solid, witty, intelligent mystery, this is it.

How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
In a community council office the job is to go into dead peoples' homes and figure out if they have any family or loved ones who would bury them. They have died alone, but have they lived a solitary life? This is the question that haunts Andrew as he and his new partner, Peggy, search through bed mattresses, kitchen cupboards, and boxes of old cards to find someone who cared about the deceased. Yet Andrew has his own dark secrets, one that has led to him creating a family of his own that does not truly exist, covering up his solitary life in a lonely bedsit in London amidst his model train set. What does one do when a simple white lie turns into a huge white whale that just won't go away? This lovely little book combines elements of The Rosie Project with A Man Called Ove and is utterly delightful.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
This is the new hot fantasy book that is supposed to take the place of Game of Thrones for us junkies. Quite frankly, I was underwhelmed. It has a great premise...a fantasy world that is divided between dragon haters and dragon worshippers, and now the big kahuna dragon who almost destroyed the world a thousand years ago is on his way back. Can the separates countries bond together and defeat them as one? The story follows some potentially intriguing characters like a dragon rider, a mage sent to protect the queen, a lord who becomes a spy, the young queen who must produce an heir. It is an incredibly long book at well over 800 pages, and I just did not find the characers or story that compelling. It was fine. But for that long of a book, I need gripping, on-the-edge-of-my-seat story lines and characters that I root for. My biggest problem was the lack of a serious antagonist - it would have made this book more compelling for me.

Waisted by Randy Susan Myers
I am a huge fan of two former books by Myers, The Widow of Wall Street and Accidents of Marriage. Those two books were able to engage me deeply in the characters, which is my favorite kind of story. However, this book was a miss for me. I felt like it struggled to find what it wanted to be? Was it a tale of a "fat farm" gone wrong, where dieters were abused in order to compel them to lose weight? Or was it a story of race or of women's friendships or of marriage issues or parenting problems? I just could not tell. I just never cared enough about any of the women to either cheer for them or against them. Perhaps it is written for a different audience than me. I am thankful to Net Galley for a free book in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Stone by Mark Bowden
The author of Black Hawk Down, a rave review in the New York Times, and I figured this was a great true-crime novel to download and listen to...I was mistaken. It IS a compelling story: decades ago two young sisters go to a mall and are never seen again. It was the biggest crime story in the Baltimore area back in the 1980's as a cub reporter followed up every detail. As the main suspect continuously lies to police and reporter when they interview him in prison, he constantly changes his story. This creates a LOT of repetition. While we see the clues revealed and the ending is intriguing, I was anxiously awaiting the end of the book. Not the best listen, to say the least, but excellent detective work.

Verity by Colleen Hoover
What am I missing on this book? So many people are raving about it, but wow, it was a huuuuge miss for me. In other words, I will never get those three hours back. Ostensibly a thriller about a young woman hired by the husband to finish a book series while his wife is in a coma. But really, it seemed to be just a book about the different ways the ghost-writer and husband could have sex, with an extremely predictable ending. Blech is all I have to say. It just does not deserve a picture.

May 2.0

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
I knew going into this book that I admired Melinda and Bill Gates and what they have given back to our world. However, this book taught me so much more...about their commitment to gender equality, of how their thirst for knowledge and insatiable curiosity allows them to grow their foundation into something truly world-changing, and how unbelievably heroic and dedicated Melinda Gates is to this foundation and to raising women up to their rightful and equal status. So many great chapters to explore: how Melinda's own youth led her to where she is today, how the culture of a male-centric company can be conquered without losing ones self, how NGOs need to be thoughtful about working within the known parameters of a culture, and yes, how one woman's dedication to others has changed all of our lives for the better. This is one of the most inspirational books I have read in years, and honestly, it is a great companion to books like A Woman is No Man and A Storyteller's Secret, where gender equity issues are quite disheartening. The Moment of Lift shows us a path through those obstacles.

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin
I have read most of Benjamin's historically based novels and enjoyed them all; this is another winner. This time around she focuses on the manager of the Ritz, Claude Auzello, and his wife Blanche. As famous people come in and out of the hotel, as the Nazis make this iconic residence a meeting spot for SS powers, and as danger lurks around every corner as the secret workings of the French Resistance occupy the workers, we see the inner workings of the Paris Ritz. What I found most fascinating about this book was the relationship between Claude and Blanche; I realized that my initial opinions of their character slowly changed as the life of occupied France morphed the two of them into different people. If you like WWII historical fiction, this is the book for you.

Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Yep, I am still trying to find answers to the political upheaval of the 2016 American elections. This look by sociologist Arlie Hochschild was utterly fascinating, as she spends a wealth of time in small communities in Louisiana. A liberal professor from Berkeley, Hochschild dug into the whys (as in why does one vote against their own self interest?), the hows (how will America find its way back to unity after division), the what (what are the consequences of deregulation on the delicate eco-systems of Louisiana swamp land, ), and the whos (who votes conservative and what is their main motivations). The beauty of this book is she ultimately does not give us any answers, but it definitely adds knowledge and transparency to the partisan split in our country today. It was a great listen.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
This is a solid legal thriller with a couple of 'issues' for me. First the positives: unique plot line (pressurized oxygen chamber used for 'healing,' fire causes death), compelling characters (Korean immigrant family, parents of autistic children), intriguing thematic issues (ideas of what is 'normal,' how and should immigrants 'assimilate'), and it is all wrapped up in a legal thriller in a courtroom. My issues? An abusive situation involving an adult and a minor was never truly addressed, and considering the unequal division of power, it bothered me. Ditto for the one-off line about mercury in the blood possibly causing autism and how vaccines have mercury. This theory has been debunked for years, and the iteration of it is causing horrendous measles outbreaks in this country, so yeah, not necessary. Good story tho and well-written.

The Ragged Edge of Night by Oliva Hawker
This was a compelling listen, with a real-life story turned into a fictional book that encompasses WWII, Germany, and the Catholic church. Anton is a young German monk, who has lost his monastery in the chaos of WWII. As the looks for redemption, he finds a young widow with three children who needs a husband to support them. Anton is pulled into so much more than just a new family when he comes to live in their village. It is a compelling story with an even more compelling back story of how it played out in real life. Highly recommend if you have a long car ride:)

Kingsbane (Empirium #2) by Claire Legrand
I loved the first book in this series, Furyborn, and the second one did not disappoint. Her fantasy world includes creepy villains who get inside one's brains, a little romance, some various rebellions, some time travel, and badass women characters, ones that are so complex it is hard to define if they are the heroes or the antagonists. My one problem with this book is that it gave zero summary as to what happened in the last book and I was completely lost until I painstakingly looked up and read the looooong summaries online of Furyborn. Normally, that would be okay but this is one is tougher as the chapters flip back and forth between the two main females, and different time periods, so quickly that it is hard at times to keep track of things. So yes, the series is really good but honestly I would wait until all three are out and read them all at once.

The Next Girl (Detective Gina Harte, #2) by Carla Kovach

If you like a solid British police procedural mystery, then you will like the first in Kovach's new series. A young village wife disappears one night, leaving her husband to cope with two young children. As he tries to put his life back together years later, a baby is found with her wife's DNA. 'Nuff said without spoilers. Suffice it to say, it is a roller coaster of a ride to see whodunnit and how does this all end?? Wonderful British narrator - I've already downloaded the second in the series to listen to on for the summer dog walks I have planned:)