Finished audio 9-14-12, rating 3.5/5, thriller, pub. 2012

Unabridged audio narrated by Richard Ferrone

Lucas Davenport series #22.  (book 17) (book 18) (book 19) (book 20) (book 21)

Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Wayzata, an entire family has been killed—husband, wife, two daughters, dogs.

There’s something about the scene that pokes at Lucas’s cop instincts—it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Until it does. And where it leads Lucas will take him into the darkest nightmare of his life. (Goodreads)

I’ve read all 22 books of this police thriller series and, for me, this is one of the weakest.  It started off strong, with one of the more violent and bloody scenes I’ve read from Sandford and had potential with three assassins running around town killing people, but there was disconnect with the convoluted banking storyline.   I missed Weather but loved the story with his daughter, especially the end.

I still recommend the series and I will still continue to visit with Lucas every year.  He’s still a great wounded hero doing good even if sometimes he must be bad.

This is a great series for those who love police procedurals, but please start at the beginning since I think they are the strongest books.

I checked this audio out of the library.

Finished 8-8-12, rating 3.5/5, romance, 418 pages, pub. 2012

I’m counting this as stop 5 1/2 on my Ohio tour since Susan spent time living in Ohio when she was first married (I think her husband might even be an Ohio State grad) 🙂

Lucy Jorik’s story has been told by Phillips in First Lady and last year’s Call Me Irresistable.  This time around she gets her own book.  What happened when she walked out of her wedding to the perfect man and jumped on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle?  It’s not easy for the daughter of the first woman President of the United States to disappear, but with Panda’s help she manages to do just that.

Lucy was a runaway child forced to take care of her sister in First Lady and a runaway bride in Call Me Irresistable but in this one she was more like a lost child instead of a 31 year-old woman of the world.  There was also a secondary story about redemption that was sweet and even a third story involving being happy with who you are.  All enjoyable, but maybe not all were needed.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of a handful of authors that I buy in hardcover.  I look forward to her wit and sass and characters with hot chemistry.   I liked Lucy, Panda and the surrounding characters on Charity Island, but none of them really had me wanting to read faster.  I did love the ending so that was a saving grace for me.  The story was fine, but I was expecting more because I usually love her books so much.

A nice escape to Michigan’s ‘Charity Island’.  My favorite part was the island iteself.  It reminds me of the island we go to every summer, but ours in in Ohio.

Bought this one for my personal library. And I’ll be buying the next one in hardcover too!  She’s still a go-to author.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Finished 7-25-12, rating 3.5/5, Young Adult, pub. 1999

Unabridged audio 5 hours.  Read by Mandy Siegfried.

Melinda is starting her freshman year as an outcast after calling the cops at an end-of-summer party.  Lots of kids got in trouble and blamed Melinda.  Melinda didn’t mean to spoil everyone’s fun, she meant to report a crime, one that she has kept secret and has continued to haunt her.  Her friends no longer talk to her and the only one who goes out of her way is the new student Heather, who doesn’t know any better.  Melinda spends her year in a janitor’s closet, skipping school, and rarely talking.

The book addresses the aftermath of rape and it is a poignant story of how a young girl can lose herself when there is no one to lean on.  It is an important topic and one handled thoughtfully.  I can see why so many people like it.  High school is tough enough and having to start it with such a black cloud hanging over you is unimaginable.

There were a few things that kept me from loving this one, but it’s the way high school was depicted that bothered me the most.  Or maybe Melanie’s silence, which at first was easy to understand, but became less so as the story continued.  I had a hard time believing that not one person would talk to her in her high school.  An outcast she may have been, but schools are full of them and it seems like she may have found some solace with at least one of them. I totally sympathized with her depression, she was so, so young, my heart broke for her.  I hope that when this happens in real life there is at least one person who is willing to get to the bottom of what the problem is.  She didn’t have one person who cared enough.

Melanie’s voice, told in first person, was perfectly captured by narrator Mandy Siegried.  She captured the haunting and the hurt and depression just right.

I think I’m in the minority on not loving this one.  I don’t read a lot of YA, so maybe I’m being too harsh.  I did like it and think it is a perfect book to start a discussion with teens.

I checked this audio out of the library.

Never Tell a Lie  Finished 7-4-12, rating 3.5/5, 271 pages, pub. 2009

After several miscarriages Ivy and David Rose are finally nine months pregnant.  They hold a yard sale to clean out the house before baby Sprout arrives and a surprising customer shows up, an oft maligned girl from their high school who looks like a new woman and who is nine months pregnant as well.  When the woman disappears and no remembers seeing her leave the yard sale, David and Ivy come under police scrutiny.

Having just been pregnant two years ago I could really feel for Ivy. I completely understood the need for a yard sale and house clean/purge.  I was worried that she had to deal with so much stress and something would happen to the baby or even that the experience she’d waited so long for would be tainted by media attention and David’s lies.  This is the driving storyline that kept me reading.  I wanted to know that Ivy and baby were going to be okay.

The mystery itself, what happened to Melinda White, was solid, but could have used a few more twisty turns.  I suspected what happened from the beginning and I was right, although I had no idea the motive behind it or the extreme, crazy plot that played out in the end.  It was super fast-paced and hard to put down.

This is Hallie’s first novel.  I reviewed Hallie’s 1001 Books for Every Mood a few years ago (here) and I also interviewed her (here).  She is a lovely author and I thought of her after her sister Nora died last week.  So I picked up her book from my shelf and dug in.

The Actor and the Housewife, Finished 5-9-12, rating 3.75/5, 339 pages, pub. 2009

Becky is a happily married mother of four who flies from her home in Utah to Los Angles to sell her screenplay.  That fact alone is very fortuitous, so imagine her feeling of good luck that she should meet her celebrity crush while there.  Felix Callahan, he of the romantic comedy that Becky watches over and over.  Sparkly conversation ensues and the two find themselves drawn to each other, even though both are happily married.  They each recognize an understanding in the other and suddenly it doesn’t seem all that strange that a stay-at-home mom and an A-list actor are the best of friends.

Their story encompassed almost a dozen years as their relationship goes through highs and lows, working together for months at a time to long absences where they are not speaking.  The book aims to cover the oft asked question of whether men and women can just be friends.  Becky’s initial waffling on the issue went on too long for me.  As much as I loved the dialogue between Becky and Felix, the actual story and the going back and forth started to bore me.  I loved the friendship itself and when Becky was on the page with Felix it was fun.  The rest of the time seemed to be almost filler.  As much as I liked her family, not one person was as interesting as Felix so they sort of blended into the landscape of the story.

This is ultimately Becky’s story and I had mixed reactions to her.  I liked her quick wit and committment to family.  She did not take her friendship with Felix lightly and with a heavy heart walked away from it when her saintly husband had a problem.  I guess my problem with Becky is that I just didn’t believe her.

The story was pure fantasy, except for the chapter that made me cry-that was just wrong.  If you look at it like a fantasy you might not be bothered by the improbability of it all.  Oh, I did like the Mormon aspects to the story.  I thought it was well done and wish more stories could incorporate religion this well without becoming a religious story.  It was refreshing.

I feel like I’m vacillating as much as Becky!  I liked it, but was put off by the back and forth and the complete ridiculousness of some of the plot.  This book from from my own shelves.

So, fess up.  Who is YOUR celebrity crush? Over the years mine have ranged from Joe Montana to Johnny Depp.

Finished 4-18-12, rating 3.5/5, mystery, 223 pages, pub. 1976

“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this-probably because I’ll burst if I don’t tell someone, and you look so-so human-but Africa’s having the most tremendous impact on me.  Ever since we arrived I’ve been having the strangest dreams at night, and seeing life and myself in the most astonishing perspective.  This country’s returning me to something I lost, it’s disinhibiting me.”

Chapter 7

Mrs. Pollifax is a widower in her 60’s and instead of settling down to garden club meetings she has become an improbable asset to the CIA.  The missions never seem to be dangerous, at least until Emily arrives on the scene, and this assignment is no different.  She is excited to be assigned the job of taking pictures on an African safari.  Not bad, right?  Well, it ss a great experience until she goes and gets herself kidnapped.

I read a few of the Mrs. Pollifax series way before I became obsessed with reading series’ in order, so I was happy to find her future husband on the safari.  Cyrus is a big man instantly smitten with the seemingly retiring Mrs. Pollifax.  It was nice to see Emily appreciated.

There was a safari tour full of suspects and an old CIA friend in the area somewhere, causing Emily to come under suspicion from many quarters.  The mystery was good, as was the description of Africa’s political plight (circa 1976).  I love the feisty Emily Pollifax.  She is smart, resourceful, and full of sass.  She is constantly underestimated and always rises to the challenge.  I enjoyed visiting with her after all these years.  A quick and satisfying read.

I recommend this series to cozy mystery fans and fans of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple.

I checked this book out of the library.

Finished 3-27-12, rating 3.5/5, graphic reference?, 170 pages, pub. 2009

Have you ever wanted to know what people were talking about when they discussed a classic novel like Moby Dick?  Well, now there’s no need to waste your time reading the behemoth novel,  just pick up this book to find out what happens. In 3 frames!!  Yes, every one of these classics is covered in 3 frames.  Some are funny, some are serious, and all left me feeling smarter than when I started.

I warn you that it is addicting which is okay since it won’t take long at all to flip through 90 pages.  I should also warn you that endings will be given away, so if you want a surprise later you may want to skip that page!

This is more entertaining than detailed (obviously) so as addicting as it is (kind of like donuts) it doesn’t give enough substance to be truly outstanding (kind of like donuts).  There are actually a few books in here I’d never heard of and more than a few that aren’t really classics.  Unless you think Pet Sematary by Stephen King and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown are modern classics.

The descriptions of the classics I hadn’t read were funny and some of images convinced me to read the book and some convinced me that reading it would be a waste of time (Steppewolf and The Stranger come to mind).  As a matter of fact there were several classics that I enjoyed more in this book than when I actually read them (I’m thinking of Heart of Darkness here).  Are you curious how he could possible cover The Bible in 3 frames?  Let’s just say he had to do a lot of condensing.

I liked this book a lot and think it would be PERFECT for a fun graduation gift, especially if they are headed off to college.  Kind of like a gag gift, but one they’ll actually use.

I borrowed this from the library.

Finished audio 2-24-12, rating 3.25/5, fiction, pub. 2004

Unabridged audio read by Joyce Bean.  6 hours.

Laura and her family of four make the annual trip back to her hometown in Minnesota and to the fair that draws her brother and sister too.  This year, Laura’s sister Caroline, asks that Laura and their brother Steve meet with her away from their parent’s home, and they do without enthusiasm since Caroline has always been full of drama.  What she tells them is shocking, she claims that she was mistreated by their mother all throughout her childhood.

I am an only child, so I like to live vicariously through novels about complicated sibling relationships and this one did not disappoint.  Laura and Caroline had never been close, but they were sisters and when Caroline’s confession coincides with a family tragedy Laura wasn’t all that receptive to Caroline.  For most of the book I found Laura too cool and dismissive of her sister to really like her, but as she worked to come to terms with this new vision of her mother I started to warm to her.

I love reading (or listening to) Elizabeth Berg novels, most of them are slice of life stories that are insightful and have the familiarity of talking to a friend.  This was a good story about how three kids living in a house can have such different feelings and memories about their childhood.  I liked it even if it fell a bit short of expectations for me. I think it could have delved a little deeper and adding a few more chapters wouldn’t have hurt.  It was still a solid story.

This audio was checked out of the library.

Finished 2-1-12, rating 3.5/5, 126 pages, pub. 2006

I don’t remember where I picked this up, but I remember why.  I loved the cover and the beautiful pages as I flipped through and I decided to use it as a daily boost.  I am not a morning person and I really need a jolt of positive energy to start the day or the fifth time (okay, the second time) that sippy cup gets thrown to the floor or the cereal laden spoon goes flying I tend to get annoyed.  This book was perfect for that daily reminder to look on the bright side.

Each page has a quote, a few paragraphs to read and a one line thought to see you through the day.  There are 42 photographs throughout the book that aren’t always recognizable but the colors are amazing.  It is a really pretty book.  The paragraphs aren’t always deep, but it was a nice, positive few minutes every morning.

One of later pages stuck with me and it uses Albert Einstein’s words as a starting point (The first line of the reading is “I am a know-it-all.” and that spoke to me a bit too much :))

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. 

This is a nice book of meditations that is full of positive energy and a nice change of pace if you usually read more spiritual thoughts.

This was from my personal library.