Finished 1-11-12, rating 3.5/5, mystery, 242 pages, pub. 2009

Lydia wondered how long it took before all traces of a person disappeared.  Perhaps it was when there were no longer events where people expected someone’s presence, and that person began to cease to exist even in memory.

Chapter 10

What happens in a nutshell- Lydia is a photographer and on the opening night of her first show a murderer targets one of her models.  The models all portray dead girls of unsolved crimes and Lydia worries that one murder is just the beginning. (B&N review here)

What I liked– The gritty struggle of trying to survive in New York as an artist provided a great back drop to this mystery.  I also love the premise of a killer recreating photos of murdered women that were already recreations.  Confused?   Don’t be, it worked.

What was just okay– I didn’t think the killer was all that surprising.  Lydia herself felt distant to me so I was never turning pages as fast as I could to see what would happen next.  Maybe it would have been better in first person?  Maybe not, but I usually like mysteries and thrillers best when told in first person, so that could just be my bias.

The verdict– I liked it but didn’t love it.  But what do I know?  It did win the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition.

This was from my personal library.

Finished 12-24-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 180 pages. pub. 2011

Don’t  you feel it?  Christmas is the force field of heightened possibility.  It’s not about religion, those myths we were brought up with are only tools to direct us toward the mystery of the under self.  It’s about the ecstatic visualization of psychic world is calling us toward balanced consciousness.  Don’t you feel that?  There is a lightness and spontaneity that is struggling to get through all the commercial static and leads us out of our linear consciousness into a global wholeness, don’t you?”

Chapter 17

James Sparrow is a very rich man with a pump handle obsession who hates Christmas.  His wife, Joyce (James & Joyce, cute right?) is a graceful woman who loves all things Christmas and would celebrate all year long if she could.  James is preparing to fly to Hawaii for the holiday when he receives a call from his cousin in North Dakota that his Uncle Earl is dying.  Seeing that Uncle Earl was the only good thing about his childhood, James charters his private jet to Looseleaf for a quick visit before continuing on to the warm beaches of Hawaii.  Only the spiritual powers in North Dakota have conspired to ground this modern day Scrooge until he learns to make peace with Christmas.

Once I looked at this book as a modern take on A Christmas Carol I enjoyed it much more.  At first the talking wolf and dream sequences put me off a bit when I was expecting a nice, sweet holiday read.  I’ve never read Keillor so I didn’t know what to expect and while I enjoyed this holiday story I won’t be rushing out to read more.

Checked this book out of the library.

Finished 12-4-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 353 pages, pub. 2009

Peggy has been waiting for Brock to propose for 7 years, so is it any surprise that after a drunken night in Vegas with girlfriends that she wakes up next to a stranger?  Oh, and that he’s her husband?  After heading back to New York City and the store she owns with her best friend, she receives a call from Luke, her Connecticut WASP husband.  This White Anglo-Saxon Protestant husband comes from one of the oldest families in New England, a fact that his aunt and friends don’t let him forget.  When his aunt finds out about his marriage she changes her will so that the pair must stay married for a year to inherit.

I liked the New England setting and aunt Abigail.  She was a hoot.  As a ninety-year old woman who was at turns fruity as a loop and sharp as a tack, she was the real heart of the novel, even with her Waspish ideas.  Luke was smart and quiet and sometimes nice.  He wasn’t the most enigmatic hero I’ve encountered, but there was nothing terrible either.  He was a solid guy.

It’s not the high brows I had a problem with it was Peggy.  I found her a distasteful character.  On weekends she’s in Connecticut playing married for money and during the week she’s in New York with a clueless Brock.  She never really won me over, no matter how much I liked her friends.

I liked the story and the humor and the way that Lipton played on the stereotypes of the old, moneyed New England families.  It’s only my dislike for Peggy that kept me from loving this one.

This is from my personal library.

Finished audio 11-19-11, rating 3.5/5 , mystery, pub. 1996

Unabridged audio. 6.75 hours. Read by Julia Gibson.

Book 1 in the Lily Bard mystery series

Lily has cleaned houses for four years in Shakespeare, Arkansas.  She knows things no one else does, but is careful to guard her own scarred past.  She has no friends, but is somewhat obsessed with her self-defense classes.  When she sees someone dumping a body in the middle of the night she investigates, only to find her ex-landlord dead in a plastic bag.  Not wanting to get involved she makes an anonymous tip to the police chief.

Lily was distant at first, not wanting the reader to know her own past secrets, but as she opened herself up to a few people in Shakespeare we saw a Lily that could have friends and could have a normal life.  She remained feisty and no-nonsense and easy to like.  A few months after Gage was born, after I realized that I might never have time to really clean the house again, we hired someone to come twice a month and give the floors, bathrooms and kitchen a good cleaning.  I’ve always wondered what she thinks of us based on our dirt.  Reading about Lily gave me some idea!

There were a lot of characters and that means many potential suspects.  The mystery was good and it was told nicely with Lily’s personal life and back story.  I thought Harris did an excellent job of creating a unique character and a plausible murder mystery.

That being said I am not sure it was memorable enough for me to continue on with the series.  I’m already so behind in so many series that I love that one book with Lily will probably be enough.

I checked this audio book out of the library.

Finished 10-23-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 244 pages, pub. 1997

I know I drink too much, but I’m trying to cut back.When I first got diagnosed, I stayed drunk for about three months until I realized it was going to be a lot harder to drink myself to death then it might be to wait it out and see what happens.  Some people live a long time with HIV.  Maybe I’ll be one of those, grinning like a maniac on the front of Parade magazine, talking about how I did it.

Chapter 1

Ava had been living life to the fullest in Atlanta and the good times came back to haunt her.  She discovers that she has contracted HIV.  Left with no business or love interest she heads home to Idlewild, Michigan, to visit her sister for a while before moving on to San Francisco.  Her sister, Joyce, leads a very full-life and Ava is brought into the her charitable work.  She is also reintroduced to an old acquaintance, Eddie, who has some scars of his own.

Ava is spunky and speaks her mind and that’s appealing in a main character.  As she tells her story she is not afraid to admit her shortcomings (she drinks too much, she slept with too many men) and I liked that about her.  I also really liked her sister who brought a real warmth to the book.  Her work with teen moms moved the story along nicely and provided a real nasty antagonist.  Eddie was an okay character, but he was a little too good.  He didn’t seem real.

I really liked that the main character was living with HIV, but the story touched very little on the details of the reality.  That was a double-edged sword for me.  It was nice that the story was about more than that, but it also seemed like Ava had her head buried in the sand.

There is a lot of frank sex talk, which is sometimes okay, but it was more vulgar than I like.  I’m sure that it wouldn’t bother everyone, but I found it so unnecessary to the story.

Overall, a good, quick read.

This was from my personal library. 

Finished 10-22-11, rating 3.5/5, mystery, 222 pages, pub. 2010

Book 1 Cupcake Bakery Mystery series

Melanie Cooper, Angie DeLaura and Tate Harper have been best friends forever and now they are in business together with Fairy Tale Cupcakes.  When Tate’s fiance is murdered by a killer cupcake the police are very interested in Mel’s relationship with Tate and the ingredients of her cupcakes.

I liked that the characters were fun and the relationships interesting.  Mel was a strong woman who followed her dreams and was comfortable in her own skin.  She still had her insecurities with men, which only made her more appealing.

I liked that it was a fast and easy read and a great set-up for the series.  This was a perfect first book for the read-a-thon.  Not my normal type of mystery, this was more of a cozy, but it was solid.  I chose it because I can now say I’ve been to Arizona in the States challenge.

I didn’t like Mel’s ridiculous cavalier attitude at the end.  She seemed to think that she could be a detective and put herself in dangerous situations.  I know lots of mysteries are this way, but nothing that Mel did made me think she was smart enough to stay alive.

I didn’t like that all I wanted to do after reading this was go buy a gourmet cupcake!

I checked this book out of the library.

Take a minute to vote for the scariest characters in literature.

Finished 10-20-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 385 pages, pub. 2009

Tessa grew up a gypsy of sorts, moving from festival to festival with her father and her adult life followed the same path, as a guide for exotic tours all over the world.  When Tessa has a near death experience that brings with it confusing memories from her childhood, she decides to go back to where she spent those early years on New Mexico commune.  What she finds is an upscale desert town that asks as many questions as it does provide answers.

I loved Tessa’s close relationship with her father.  It was just the two of them and Sam, as a quasi-recovering hippy, was easy to like.  Some people grow up with two parents and still don’t have that much love and support.

I loved that the town of Las Ladronas was a town with a dog or cat for every resident and visitor.  They were expected at shops and hotels and there was no shortage of four-legged companionship.  It made me want to visit and hang out with all of the tail waggers.

I liked the beautiful town and laid back residents.  They each had something to reveal Tessa about her past.

I liked Vince, the sexy rescue worker with the muscular thighs (sorry, but that point was made more than once).  He was raising three young daughters and the volatile relationship between the two older girls made me thankful I was an only child.

There were two things that made the book fall a little flat for me. The story was told from way too many viewpoints.  Instead of just following Tessa and maybe one other character we followed quite a few minor characters who were interesting, but didn’t really add any momentum to Tessa’s journey.  Also, the end just seemed very pat to me.  I’m all for conclusive endings, but I don’t think every detail needs to be addressed.

I enjoyed this book and will definitely read more of O’Neal’s work.

This was from my personal library.  I picked it up (and way too many other books from my wish list) from Border’s for practically nothing.

Finished 10-14-11, rating 3.5/5, romance short stories/novellas, 376 pages, pub. 1994

I don’t read many short stories, but I had this one and they all took place in Colorado, so I picked it up.  And the stories were actually perfect for my busy schedule the last few weeks.  I’ve always enjoyed Deveraux’s romances and this was no exception.  I think she tells the story from the man’s point of view extremely well.  Overall, a nice selection of stories.

In The Invitation Jackie is one of only a few women pilots in 1934 and when her husband dies she returns home to fly for the superrich Montgomery’s.  Waiting for her  there is  little Billy Montgomery all grown up and eager to please.  Jackie, a successful woman, cared way too much about what other people thought about the age difference.

Edward didn’t fully understand what he had said to Jackie to offend her.  When his wife had reached forty- an age Jackie was fast approaching she had cried for two days.  She’d said it was the end of youth and that she didn’t want to be middle-aged.  Maybe that was Jackie’s problem. She was refusing to face the fact that she wasn’t a kid anymore. No longer would newspapers write stories about her being the youngest person to do so and so.  Maybe her eyesight was failing, or her reflexes.  Maybe she was seeing the younger pilots doing so well, then seeing her own body aging, and it was making her angry. Aging often made a person angry at first.

Maybe, he thought, she was worried about whether or not she was still attractive to men.

Chapter 8 (As a woman who just hit forty I had a good laugh at this one.  What a great first date this guy was!)

In Matchmakers widower Kane Taggert isn’t looking for a replacement for his late wife and mother of his twin boys, and when he takes four city women on the trails of Colorado he finds hate/hate relationship with mystery writer Cale.  Loved the snarky Cale, but the ending was too ridiculous, even for a romance.

A Perfect Arrangement is set in 1882 where a woman is an old maid at 30.  Wealthy Dorrie proposes a sham marriage to gun-for-hire Cole and even though he’s never had a problem with he ladies, he’s found one in Dorrie.  The chemistry was good and this was my favorite of the three.

This is from my personal library.

Finished 10-22-11, rating 3.5/5, mystery, 222 pages, pub. 2010

Book 1 Cupcake Bakery Mystery series

Melanie Cooper, Angie DeLaura and Tate Harper have been best friends forever and now they are in business together with Fairy Tale Cupcakes.  When Tate’s fiance is murdered by a killer cupcake the police are very interested in Mel’s relationship with Tate and the ingredients of her cupcakes.

I liked that the characters were fun and the relationships interesting.  Mel was a strong woman who followed her dreams and was comfortable in her own skin.  She still had her insecurities with men, which only made her more appealing.

I liked that it was a fast and easy read and a great set-up for the series.  This was a perfect first book for the read-a-thon.  Not my normal type of mystery, this was more of a cozy, but it was solid.  I chose it because I can now say I’ve been to Arizona in the States challenge.

I didn’t like Mel’s ridiculous cavalier attitude at the end.  She seemed to think that she could be a detective and put herself in dangerous situations.  I know lots of mysteries are this way, but nothing that Mel did made me think she was smart enough to stay alive.

I didn’t like that all I wanted to do after reading this was go buy a gourmet cupcake!

I checked this book out of the library.

Take a minute to vote for the scariest characters in literature.

Finished 9-19-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 422 pages, pub. 1990

It was a bright, defrosted, pussy-willow day at the onset of spring, and the newlyweds were driving cross-country in a large roast turkey.

The turkey lay upon its back, as roast turkeys will; submissive, agreeable, volunteering its breast to the carving blade, its roly-poly legs cocked in a stiff but jaunty position, as if it might summon the gumption to spring forward onto its feet, but of course, it had no feet, which made the suggestion seem both empty and ridiculous, and only added to the turkey’s aura of goofy vulnerability.

Opening paragraphs

Boomer loves Ellen Cherry and he makes her a turkey RV to prove it.  She falls for it and marries him.  They escape small town Virginia and head west for a time before settling in New York City so Ellen Cherry can pursue her career as an artist.  Only it’s not Ellen Cherry that becomes the star, it’s Boomer and his turkey RV.

This sounds like a simple storyline, but it is full of crazy people, and, well, utensils, canned goods, clothing, and objects of nature.  Yes, there is secondary storyline where a stick and shell are trying to make their way back to Jerusalem after hundreds of years in American exile.  And they receive help from a spoon, sock, and can of beans.  And there’s also Uncle Buddy, who is trying to start World War III in Israel so that Jesus will return.

It is quirky and the writing is fun and smile-worthy.  As far as the story, well, I wasn’t all that interested.  It took me way too long to get through this one to recommend it.  And I really did not like the last part of the book, lots of personal views just thrown out there with zero to do with the story.  I don’t care about Robbins’ enlightened views of money, government, or religion.

I expected to enjoy it more and wonder if it’s where I am in life right now.  I don’t have huge chunks of time to read and maybe the 20-30 minutes a few times a week weren’t enough to make this one work.  Or maybe I have mommy brain 🙂  I know I need to keep reading or it will go to mush!  I might give Robbins another try in a few years.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Carol and Mille.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Don’t expect profundity; it’s more of a play date for the mind, or a hot chocolate and blanket on a grumpy day kind of book.”  Mille

“Because I love Tom Robbins.”  Carol