Keeper of the Keys. Finished unabridged audio 11-29-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction. pub. 2006

Read by Dick Hill & Laural Merlington.  Total time 9 hours.

Leigh has gone missing, but no one but her father seems concerned at first, at least not her husband, Ray.  He is more concerned with the last fight they’d had about her affair.  When her father sends in his police buddies and an old best friend start sniffing around Ray must find his wife or suffer the consequences.

After the first few cds I thought it was a fairly predictable mystery with an okay premise.  I was proved wrong about it being predictable, unreasonable at times but not a cookie cutter mystery.  Ray was an interesting character who left the reader wondering was going on with his model home and key obsession.  Leigh’s story was mainly told by her relationship with other people, Ray, her ex-best friend, her lover…so I felt sympathy for her even if I hardly knew her.  Was she alive or dead and was Ray as crazy as he seemed?

What made this story good for me were the performances by the two readers.  Both Hill and Merlington really brought the characters to life and probably made the book better than if I’d read it.  It was a good pick for our Thanksgiving road trip, Jason and I both enjoyed it.  Gage is undecided, at least we think so since he hasn’t given us his opinion yet.

I borrowed this audio from the library.

Finished 11-18-10, rating 3.5/5, mystery, pub. 2003

She was a businesswoman, a solid member of the community, and a fraud.  In the back room of her store, she poured two cups of coffee and knew she was about to lie to a man she considered a friend.  And deny all knowledge of one she’d loved.

Chapter 1

 This two part novel, written by romance writer Roberts and her alter ego mystery writer Robb, focuses on a New York City diamond heist.  In the first half of the book Laine has attempted to overcome her parentage by changing her name and not letting anyone in her new town of Angel’s Gap know that her father is an incarcerated thief, but her past finds her.  Laine is confronted by the murder of an old friend, her father, a killer who is stalking her, and a sexy man who may or may not be using her for his own gain.  Aside from the ridiculously fast way in which Laine fell in ‘love’ I enjoyed this first half of the story.  It was fun, suspenseful, and the characters were enjoyable.

The second half of the novel is part of the In Death Eve Dallas series and takes place over 50 years later in 2059.  I have never read this futuristic series so I was not familiar with Eve or her friends.  I thought this part of the book was okay.  I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by not having read the series, but I wasn’t that interested in it either.  We knew who the bad guy was fairly quickly and then it was just sort of biding time til the end.  If I was a fan of the series I may have enjoyed time with the characters, but as it was I didn’t care much.

The diamond heist that tied the two halves together was enough to make it interesting.  It is a fun, light read.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Donna and Debby.

Finished 9-17-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1991

Was she crazy? Had she just escaped from an asylum? From jail? Was she on the run? She laughed at her own histrionics.  If she hadn’t been crazy before all this started she certainly would be by the time it was over.  Would it ever be over?

Chapter 1

Jane is aimlessly walking around Boston, not knowing who she is or why she’s there.  She has blood on her dress and $10,000 in her coat pocket, so she checks into a hotel to get her bearings.  After a few days she realizes her memory is not coming back so she turns herself over to police, who in turn send her to the hospital.  She is told that she had temporary amnesia and in a stroke of luck is recognized by one of the nurses.  Jane’s husband, Michael is a pediatric surgeon at another hospital.  The two are reunited, but Jane is still lost and confused.

The premise is a terrifying one.  All of the sudden to be in a big city, not know who you are and to realize no one is looking for you would be quite a shock to the system.  Jane was an interesting character.  Since she didn’t know who she was I wasn’t sure who she was either.  I grew frustrated at her docile ambivalence to her situation at home, especially when she was repeatedly told how feisty she really was.  Who was the real Jane?

It’s a page turner, but my frustration with Jane and the too long chapters on her contemplating her unknown life kept it from being excellent.  I kept wanting it to read faster.  But once things started happening halfway through the pace and story picked up.  The end was great and I did enjoy it.

This is from my personal library and chosen by Kristie, GMR, and Debby.  Here’s what they had to say…

“One of my all time favorite books.”  Debby

“This was one of the first fiction novels I read as I was growing up (aside from kids fiction and such)…didn’t actually realize the author until a few weeks ago when I read a review on the title. Definitely a fast paced thriller…”  GMR

“I just finished reading this one Saturday and enjoyed it. You can see a review on my blog!”  Kristie

Finished 9-10-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1997

Bode rapped his knuckles on the dinette.  “Here’s my prediction: The shitweasel holding the other Lotto ticket, he’s either a Negro, Jew or Cuban type.”

“Go on!”

“That’s how they do it, Chub.  To fuck over decent Americans such as you and me.  You think they’re gonna let two white boys take the whole jackpot?  Not these days, no way!”  Bode’s nose angled back toward the newspaper.  “Where’s Grange?  Over near Tampa?”

Chub was stunned at his friend’s theory.  He didn’t understand how the lottery could be rigged.  If it was, how had he and Bode managed to win even half?

Chapter 2

 Bode and Chub have just won the Florida lottery and hope to get their racist militia, White Clarion Aryans, started.  When they find out there was another winning ticket and they would have to split the $28 million they decide to find the ticket and steal it so they could have all of the winnings to themselves.  JoLayne Lucks is a single woman who plans to use her $14 million to rescue swampland from commercial development.  When she is attacked by Bode and Chub all hell breaks loose.

The premise is fun as is the wackiness of Hiaasen’s writing.  No one gets a pass in this one.  The horrible and awful Bode & Chub would have been more funny only if you didn’t realize that there were plenty of idiots like them out there.  And the religious zealots and the people who take advantage of them provide plenty of zaniness.  The two heroes of the novel are JoLayne and reporter Tom Krome provide the common sense and the common good of the novel. 

I liked this one, but my distaste for Bode and Chub probably stopped me from liking it more.  I thought the end was maybe a bit too easy for me, but not really bad.  With such a crazy cast of characters I was expecting more of a crazy ending.  But, Hiaasen always pushes the envelope and is always funny, so you really can’t go wrong with his books.

This is from my personal library and chosen by Kristie, Jessica, Sharon, Sue, and Jason.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I’ve read all of Hiaasan’s books and love the humor in them.”  Sharon

“Love his books!”  Kristie

Finished 8-19-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1930

He had a word, too.  Love he called it.  But I had been used to words for a long time.  I knew that the word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn’t need a word for that anymore than for pride or fear. 

Addie, page 172

The Bundren family lives in Mississippi in the 1930’s and they are preparing for the death of their matriarch, Addie.  Anse, Addie’s husband, has promised her that he will take her body to Jefferson and bury her with her kin.  This promise was easily made but not easily kept.  There were many obstacles in the way of the family’s journey and Anse and their five children had to band together to make the promise happen.

This is my first Faulkner novel and it was a unique reading experience.  Jason tried listening to the audio last year, but gave up and now I see why.  This book makes you work for it and I think listening to the audio in the car would be a difficult proposition.  There are 15 different narrators in this 261 page novel.  I started by writing each of them down for a reference as I was reading and even with that I totally missed who one of the important narrators was and cheated by checking online after I was done.  So, you really have to be one your toes!  And because of that I really think this books begs to be read in one sitting. Faulkner’s writing is spare, but beautiful, and it takes a few chapters to really get into the rhythm.  Once I got it I did not put the book down until I was done.

I liked it because of the innovative writing style, but wasn’t that crazy about the story itself.  The Bundren family is full of characters, but not necessarily any that I truly cared about.  Since I appreciated the writing I will definitely read Faulkner again, but only when I’m ready to devote some time and brain power to the reading.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by…Candice, Hannah, and Molly.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Faulkner is my favorite. This book is a great example of what I love about him. Makes you think, makes you laugh, makes you crazy.”  Molly

“Because this one is often read in high school English classes, but somehow you and I both missed out.”  Hannah

Finished 8-16-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction. pub. 1998

There was nothing left to say.  He covered her body with his, and as she put her arms around him she could picture him in all his incarnations: age five, and still blond: age eleven, sprouting: age thirteen, with the hands of a man.  The moon rolled, sloe-eyed in the night sky; and she breathed in the scent of his skin. “I love you,” she said. 

He kissed her so gently she wondered if she had imagined  it.  She pulled back slightly, to look into his eyes.

And then there was a shot.

Opening of book

Right from the beginning we know that Emily is dead and her boyfriend Chris is not.  At the hospital Chris tells the police that they had made a suicide pact and he had chickened out in the end.  Only the police don’t believe him.  Chris and Emily’s parents are next door neighbors and long-time best friends, so this tragedy is compounded by the close relationship the two families share.  What really happened that night and can they all get past it?

Chris is the popular high school jock who is unprepared for the storm of accusations coming his way.  He is not used to being doubted.  His parents, Gus and James, don’t know how to deal with Chris, their daughter, or each other.  While Gus hovers around Chris protecting him, James expects things to get back to normal ASAP and refuses to really acknowledge what’s happened.

Emily was an only child, so her death at 17 hit her parents especially hard.  Melanie entered the grieving stage with anger and she never really got past it.  Michael wanted to do the right thing by his daughter and Chris, but he didn’t know what that was.

I’ve only read a few Picoult novels, but I’ve enjoyed them.  There is always a twist in the end, but this one wasn’t really much of a shock. Compelling, yes, shocking, no.  This was a story about teen suicide, love, and friendship.  I thought the impact of the death on the friendships was the most successful and honest part of the book.  It was the teen suicide and love storylines that didn’t work as well for me.  It did suck me in and I was very much involved, but some of it fell flat because it just didn’t make sense.  I know that suicide rarely makes sense to the living, so maybe that is unfair, but it’s how I felt nonetheless.

I usually love the shades of gray in Picoult’s novels, but this one was more black and white.  And the very end disappointed me.  Still it made me think and is a great book for discussion.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Sharyn, Em, Colleen, Sheral, and Margie.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Love her books.”  Sheral

“Jodi Picoult’s stories are always very compelling and this is no exception.”  Colleen

“It got me hooked on her, couldn’t put it down.”  Em

Finished 7-21-10, rating 3.5/5, Mystery, pub. 2010

Book 9 in the Lincoln Rhyme series (1st-The Bone Collector, 2nd- The Coffin Dancer, 3rd- The Empty Chair, 4th- The Stone Monkey, 5th- The Vanished Man, 6th- The Twelfth Card, 7th- The Cold Moon, 8th- The Broken Window)

Since Kopeski worked for a disability rights organization Rhyme’s condition was nothing to him.  An attitude that Rhyme approved of.  He believed that we were all disabled in one way or another, ranging from emotional scar tissue to arthritis to Lou Gehrig’s disease.  Life was  one big disability; the question was simple: What did we do about it? Rhyme rarely dwelt on the subject.  He’d never been  an advocate for disabled rights; that struck him as a diversion from his job.  He was a criminalist who happened to be able to move with less facility than most.  He compensated as best he could and got on with his work.

Chapter 21

Forensic Criminologist and quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme and his team are working on two cases at once.  There is a potential terrorist attack using New York City’s electricity as a weapon and there is the ever elusive Watchmaker who has been taunting Lincoln for more than a year.  And Lincoln has a visit from a group who specializes in helping people die with dignity, something he has considered in the past.

I love this series, but this may be my least favorite.  There was way too much information about electricity and how it is harnessed and used in the beginning of the book.  I actually started the book and put it down for a week, something I don’t remember ever doing with this series.  Once the overabundance of information tapered off the story became much more fun and fast paced. 

I did enjoy the extra storyline with FBI agent Fred Dellray.  He hasn’t had a big story lately and it was great to see him back on the prowl and making tough choices.  And Ron Pulaski had a great storyline too.  So these combined with Lincoln’s consideration of assisted death made great storylines and I loved them.  It was only all the electricity stuff that slowed down the story for me.

Love the series – start at the beginning!

This is from my personal library.

Finished 7-19-10, rating 3.5/5, historical romance, pub. 1999

The spring Charlotte turned 20, her family gave up hope of her marrying.  In the three seasons since she made her debut she had done surprisingly well, considering that she rarely attended balls and had to be coaxed into attending garden parties and tea parties and rides in the park, the normal activities for gently bred young ladies.

Chapter 3

Lady Charlotte is fresh from boarding school and caught in situation with her friend where she makes a very bad decision.  She decides this indiscretion left her unsuitable for marriage and she rebuffed any suitors.  A few years go by and she decides, with the help of her very liberal mother, to put herself out there in the London ‘dating’ scene.  Charlotte is beautiful and rich and has no trouble attracting potential husbands, but the one she has always wanted just walked back into her life without remembering her from their liason years before.  He pursues her anyway and she tries to resist him because she is heartbroken he doesn’t remember her.

This is a very good first novel and I would gladly pick up another book by James because I enjoyed the writing.  That being said this is a story set in late 1700’s through the early 1800’s and Charlotte and her mother were very modern in their behavior at times and this did take me out of the story.  Also, things left unsaid is a hallmark of many romance, historical or otherwise, but this one was just too much.  One or two sentences could have cleared up any misunderstanding and it did make the book feel a little too long.  But even with those disappointments I will be giving Eloisa James another try because the story was entertaining and kept me interested.

This was from my personal library.

Finished audio 7-9-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2001

Read by Blair Brown

Rebecca, a 53-year-old widower, has spent years living in someone else’s life.  She married and older man with 3 young daughters and took on the family business of hosting parties in their townhome.  They had a daughter of their own and he died after only eight years together.  Now, Rebecca is questioning her choices and even her identity.  She goes back home and contacts her only other boyfriend, hoping to get in touch with the old Rebecca, the one she recognizes. 

There were many things to like.  Who hasn’t thought about the turning points that have led them to where they are today?  And what if we had made a different choice here or there, would we be the same person?  I loved her apprehension at contracting her old boyfriend.  Caller ID has totally ruined hang ups!  And I loved the 100-year-old uncle that she inherited.  He was a riot and a real bright spot in the book for me.

There were some aspects that left this book a little flat for me.  As much as I enjoyed Rebecca’s journey I found myself waiting for something to happen.  I don’t mind quiet books, but this one seemed to lead to nowhere, which might be realistic, but not necessarily what I want to spend 9 hours listening to.  And I really disliked all four of her daughters.  I couldn’t believe how self-centered they all were and really wanted Rebecca to stand up to them or take some responsibility. Oh, and don’t get me started on the ridiculous nicknames they all went by, which only added to their superficial personas.

I loved the writing and premise and the book was good but, for me, not great.

I borrowed the audio from the library.