Still Life by Louise Penny

September 5, 201316 Comments

Still Life. Finished 9-1-13, rating 4.5/5, mystery, 312 pages, pub. 2005

Book 1 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.

I made a small 2013 reading list based on other blogger’s best-of lists and whether I had the book or not (here). Still Life was on Staci’s 2012 list and I can see why. I am really anxious to get my hands on the next one on the series. Thanks for the recommendation, Staci! I’m guessing this will end up one of my favorites of the year too.

Is this is a cozy mystery? Yes, but it’s one with that thing that makes it extra special. To me, that means it never turns into classic caricatures following the same whodunit script. The characters were real, even if some still have their secrets. That can only be a good thing as the series continues.

Chief Inspector Gamache is a well-respected detected up in the Montreal area. He is caring, thoughtful, patient, insightful, a bit of a rebel, a teacher and he gets the job done. This was not his first case, he’s been around the block a few times and I loved that it felt like I was meeting a fully developed character, not just the bare bones version that sometimes happens in the first book of a new series.

The people of Three Pines are a varied collection of characters and I was fully invested in Jane even though she died on the first page because of the way her friends saw her. They loved her and that made me love her. I’m actually sad that she won’t be around for the next book!

It did take me a little while to get used to the writing style. My eyes often had to drift back or forward to figure out who was talking, but once I got it I was hooked and I couldn’t put it down until I knew who had killed Jane. And there were no shortage of suspects, even to the very end.

Highly recommend to every mystery lover.

This was from my own library.

The Spark:a mother’s story of nurturing genius by Kristine Barnett

August 28, 20136 Comments

The Spark. Finished 8-16-13, 3.5 stars, education/inspiration?, 250 pages, pub. 2013

Jake was never expected to talk or to read, but his mother never believed that. After his autism diagnosis and standard therapies, she took things into her own hands to reach Jake and bring him out of his autism. This is her story, and his.

There is a lot to like in this story of a mother’s love and a child’s gift. Barnett was running a day care out of her home and was pregnant with her second child when Jake was diagnosed at 2. He started some home therapy through the state and then early intervention preschool, When a teacher told Barnett that her son would never need his alphabet flashcards that he loved so much, Barnett understood her meaning to be that he would never learn to read, and she pulled him out of school and kept him home with her. The lengths she went to for her son are staggering as was her creativity and commitment to other kids like Jake. She had a vision for Jake and for other autistic kids too. And Jake himself is an inspiration. This boy who was never expected to read now has an IQ higher than Einstein’s! The Barnett’s pulled him out of elementary school to go to college at 9 and he’s on track to make great discoveries as an astrophysicist, thanks in large part to his mother who encouraged his love of space at a very age. Here is the website for Jacob’s Place and more about Jake.

I must say that Barnett seemed to find more hours in her day than most people. She ran a daycare during the day, a preschool prep class for autistic kids in the evening, raised three young kids and also started weekend sports league for autistic kids. Oh, and somewhere in there she managed to have another child and a stroke. I am happy if I actually get dinner on the table for my two guys!

There were things that put me off a bit and I hesitate to go into them because it seems like I’d be making a judgment on this hero of a mother and I don’t want to do that because I think she’s amazing. I’ll just note the one thing that Barnett herself talked about. I was shocked at how cavalier she was with money. Or maybe she was just blasé? It was something that came up often in the book and it drove me a little nuts.

If you are looking to find a roadmap on how to raise a genius, forget it. But if you want to be inspired to be better mother then this book will do the trick 🙂

This book was from my personal library.

Weekends with Gage and the Big Red Barn

August 25, 2013August 25, 201310 Comments

I knew that we’d be visiting the farm again so I decided to have Gage do a few activities to get him excited. You can see the blue cow he painted in front. The pig he did next was much more refined but not nearly as much fun 🙂 And then I checked Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown out of the library. Gage loved it! He knew all of the animals and liked seeing the farm turn from daylight to nighttime, but his favorite page was the seeing the field mouse born in a field of corn. I liked this book because it had lots of comparisons to introduce or practice (big/little) and counting, and friendship. The illustrations and colors are perfect for a toddler who can handle more of a story in his picture book. I don’t think this would be as appealing to kids under 2.

Here’s Gage reading the book on the way to the farm. I know Wise’s book, Goodnight Moon is a classic, but Gage likes this one more than he ever did Goodnight Moon. I was hoping to get in more farmish activities but the week got away from me. Do you have any suggestions for next time?

I’ve already posted pics of Gage at the farm so instead I’m adding my favorite photo of the week. This is Gage when we took him to ride a big new train. Think he was excited?

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

August 19, 20138 Comments

Sweetheart (Sheridan and Lowell Series #2) Sweetheart. Finished August 11,2013, rating 2.5/5, thriller,

Book 2 of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell series (Book 1)

Oh, Archie. what a waste you’ve become. You have good friends, a great family and a detective job that you are great at and you can only obsess about the one mistake you made. Obsess and throw love back in the face of those who love you. Your wife accepted that it would take time to heal, but she was there because she loved you. Your kids are at that young age when having their dad around is so important. Your best friend Henry who looks out for you and your family because you can’t or won’t do it yourself. Susan, who has a crush on you but is also a fan and friend, sees you at your worst and still accepts you. These are all things that count.

Gretchen, serial killer/your abductor and tormentor, is difficult to accept. You respect her and are hot for her, but it’s hard to see why. She seems to get men to do exactly what she wants even locked up in a maximum security prison, especially you. When you revealed your secret I understood your thing for Gretchen better, but after that your behavior ruined your story for me. Might you redeem yourself in the next book? I don’t know but I’m probably not going to find out and that’s a shame because I really liked your first story, the one where you were a real person.

You should thank your skilled storyteller, Chelsea, it’s her skilled writing that made your story readable.

This was from my personal library.

Drift by Jon McGoran, a GMO thriller

August 5, 2013August 5, 201314 Comments

Drift. Finished 8-4-13, rating 4.5/5, thriller, 384 pages, pub. 2013

When Philadelphia narcotics detective Doyle Carrick loses his mother and step-father within weeks of each other, he gains a twenty-day suspension for unprofessional behavior and instructions to lay low at the unfamiliar house he’s inherited in rural Pennsylvania.
Feeling restless and out of place, Doyle is surprised to find himself falling for his new neighbor, Nola Watkins, who’s under pressure to sell her organic farm to a large and mysterious development company. He’s more surprised to see high-powered drug dealers driving the small-town roads—dealers his bosses don’t want to hear about.
But when the drug bust Doyle’s been pushing for goes bad and the threats against Nola turn violent, Doyle begins to discover that what’s growing in the farmland around Philadelphia is much deadlier than anything he could have imagined . . .

from Goodreads

I was excited to read this one since having a son with allergies and food sensitivities has led me to be more vigilant about the food he eats. I am no expert, but I know enough to be worried about the food we buy and put into our bodies without a thought. An example, I was about to buy a jar of pickles, hoping Gage would like them. I checked the back and high fructose corn syrup was the second ingredient and Yellow dye was the last. Sigh. I did not buy them. Anyway, the point is that I think this is an important subject. This book was about that a bit, but it really was about the evils far beyond a dye here or a preservative there, way more than I like to even consider even though I know it’s happening. GMOs may seem harmless, but most don’t understand enough to be worried. At least until after they read this book.

Doyle is a cop with more than nine lives since he used at least that many while on this suspension from his job. His spidey senses knew something was going on in the farming community where his mother and stepmother left him their house. They also left him a junkie boarder, but that was only one of Doyle’s many problems. The local sheriff had it out for him as did the local thugs and he did have a funeral to get through, so why not take the time to develop a crush on the organic farmer across the road? He was a busy man.

This is a first-rate thriller. Yes, you may have to suspend your disbelief here and there and I wish that Doyle had have had a little more retrospect as the dead bodies piled up at his hands, BUT I was never bored and was always engaged. I can actually see a series started here although I don’t know if that’s what McGoran has in mind. I’ve seen a few compare Doyle to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and while I get the comparison Doyle is still a cop, not a renegade. But the dead bodies do seem to follow both characters.

Highly recommend.

I am a happy participant in this TLC Book Tour 🙂 Check out what other bloggers have to say about this eco-thriller. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook

August 2, 20136 Comments

Finished audio 7-28-13, 3 stars, fiction, pub. 2012

Unabridged audio 7 hours 50 minutes. Read by Cassandra Campbell

Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound. Then Deirdre’s sometime boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have just begun.

from Barnes & Noble

I’ve been wanting to read Claire Cook for a while and when I saw that this one had a Dancing with the Stars element I was in. I used to love that show. I admit that when they started putting on political ‘stars’ I dropped the show and haven’t missed it. Politicians aren’t entertainers (on purpose anyway). And don’t tell me they couldn’t give one author a shot before going to kids of famous people? I bet Nicholas Sparks would do it, he’s a romantic 🙂 Anyway, I was still interested in the behind the scenes DWTS storyline. In that respect the book fell a little flat. It took too long to get to DWTS and once there it was short-lived.

I thought the story was good and was entertained enough, but I was also equally annoyed with Deirdre. She was trying to break free from her co-dependent, domineering family and I was rooting for her. When she hit her ex-boyfriend with a golf cart I was cheering. I wanted her to step away from her family and succeed and have a life of her own. But Deirdre let me down a bit. And I really got tired of the sibling banter that sounded like elementary school insults.

I know it sounds like I didn’t like it and that’s not true. I liked it but was hoping for more. It’s a fun light read, probably a great vacation book. I was listening to this when I was lost and alone 3 hours from home, in the middle of nowhere and almost out of gas. Maybe some of this stress transferred to Deirdre. It’s a fun light read, probably a great vacation book. I checked the audio out of the library.

So what author would you like to see compete on Dancing with the Stars? I think JK Rowling would be a great choice!

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, spreading the love

July 24, 201321 Comments

The Winter Sea. Finished 7-24-13, rating 5/5, historical fiction, 544 pages, pub.2010

History has all but forgotten the spring of 1708, when an invasion fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors, and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory…making her the only living person who can know the truth of what did happen all those years ago – a tale of love and loyalty…and ultimate betrayal.

from Susanna Kearsley website

Satisfied. I finished this book tonight and I am completely satisfied. I was drawn into the story right away. Scotland, both now and in 1908, is an appealing setting and the idea of a successful woman being able to pick up and move anywhere in the world to world is exciting. I admit to being a little confused in the earlier chapters by all of the people and politics of 1708, but I got a handle on most of them and dismissed the others until they became useful in the story 😉

I was rooting for Carrie and Sophia to find love and happiness. I was sure of Carrie’s fate and hopeful for Sophia, but I did get nervous. I also kind of love that Sophia’s happy ending did not include everything she wanted. I shed tears and that’s not something I do often when reading a novel.

My love of genealogy was celebrated and Carrie’s discovery of ancestral memory was a fun one to consider. We all know we share DNA with our ancestors, why not the memories of them too? It’s safe to say that we won’t come close to this romantic notion in our own experience, but it is fun to dream.

A book full of love, political intrigue, strong women, strong men, mystery, and both storylines were good. I wish there’d been more of Carrie’s story but that’s because I’m greedy. I didn’t want it to end!

I will definitely be reading Kearsley again. I bought this for my Nook.

This isn’t Slains Castle or even Scotland, but it is a French castlethat’s close enough, right? .(courtesy of Bookbath)

Weekends with Gage – Caterpillar to Butterfly

July 21, 201314 Comments

This week Gage came home from summer camp with a little caterpillar he’d made out of a milk carton and he was so proud of it. When I say made I’m pretty sure he just put the green paint on, but he was excited about it. We do read The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle The Very Hungry Caterpillar so I thought it would be fun to make a butterfly to go with this caterpillar. My mom cut out some beautiful wings and I collected some things to glue and stick on. He was having a hyper day so I wasn’t sure how receptive he would be, but he saw the set up on the table and started saying butterfly and getting excited so I thought we had a chance. He lasted about 5 minutes, but that’s okay. He glued, stuck, and markered it up. My mom and I put the antennae and cotton bodies on after. Ta-da. Crafts are not his favorite thing so I’m going to have to think of something more active for this week.

the set up Those cardboard rolls in the middle were going to be our bodies until we went with something simpler)

Carefully placing a blue pom pom that he will try to move a few times.

Having grandma make one too was part of the fun!

And the finished product. Can you tell which one is Gage’s? I put his caterpillar above it as a hint.

There’s no butterfly here now but it would be the perfect place for one 😉 This was taken in a village in the French countryside. Sorry I don’t know which one.(courtesy of Bookbath)

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

July 19, 201317 Comments

French Milk. Finished 7-17-13, rating 3.25, graphic memoir, 193 pages, pub. 2007

Celebrating her mom’s 50th birthday and her own 22nd, Lucy and her mom decided to visit Paris together for a month. They rented an apartment in the fifth arrondissement and started touring the city in January of 2007 and this book is her travel journal. Lucy, attending the Center for Cartoon Studies, showed her skills in this graphic novel.

I was drawn in right away by her humor and the way she told her story. The photographs that were interspersed with the drawings made it feel more personal. I felt like I was on the streets of Paris stopping in cafes and drinking lots of wine and eating lots of cheese and bread. Her quirkiness was refreshing and I love the idea of doing something so fantastic with your mother.

She lost me a little bit about halfway through. She became whiny and it was hard t o feel sympathy for her when she complained of missing home. One month in Paris is such a wonderful gift! I know I am saying that as a 40 something and Lucy had not yet turned 22, so maybe that was the problem. I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much at 22 as I would now. After she recovered from that mood the book became more about what they ate and where when I wanted more story.

Overall, this is a short, easy to read travel journal. I think it would be a perfect read for anyone planning to travel there. It’s perfect to get restaurant and shopping ideas., but for me it didn’t deliver enough about her relationship with her mother, and that’s what I was expecting.

This was from my personal library.

Traveling down the Seine. (courtesy of Bookbath)

The Doll Giveaway!

July 15, 2013July 15, 201312 Comments

So, I was able to spend some time with Taylor Stevens, the author of the Vanessa Michael Monroe series, last month and brought home a new, signed hardcover copy of the latest in the series, #3. I decided to give it away this month since Taylor assured me that France is in the book 🙂 Although I haven’t read this one yet I can recommend this series for thriller lovers and those who love kick ass women.

The Doll (Vanessa Michael Munroe Series #3) The Doll, 2013

Haunted by a life of violence and as proficient with languages as she is with knives, Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and hunter, has built her life on a reputation for getting things done—dangerous and often not-quite-legal things. Born to missionary parents in lawless Africa, taken under the tutelage of gunrunners, and tortured by one of the jungle’s most brutal men, Munroe was forced to do whatever it took to stay alive.
   The ability to survive, fight, adapt, and blend has since taken her across the globe on behalf of corporations, heads of state, and the few private clients who can afford her unique brand of expertise, and these abilities have made her enemies.
   On a busy Dallas street, Munroe is kidnapped by an unseen opponent and thrust into an underground world where women and girls are merchandise and a shadowy figure known as The Doll Maker controls her every move. While trusted friends race to unravel where she is and why she was taken, everything pivots on one simple choice: Munroe must use her unique set of skills to deliver a high-profile young woman into the same nightmare that she once endured, or condemn to torture and certain death the one person she loves above all else.
   Driven by the violence that has made her what she is, cut off from help, and with attempts to escape predicted and prevented, Munroe will hunt for openings, for solutions, and a way to strike back at a man who holds all the cards. Because only one thing is certain: she cannot save everyone.
   In this high-octane thriller for fans of Lee Child, Stieg Larsson, and Robert Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy, Vanessa Michael Munroe will have to fight fast, smart and furiously to overcome a dangerous nemesis and deliver her trademark brand of justice.

from Goodreads

Want to win a signed copy? All you need to do is leave a comment with your email address. I will count EVERY comment you leave on any of my posts this month as an entry. Just make sure you leave your email on this post so I know you want it. I’ll tally previous and future July post comments for the drawing. Open worldwide 🙂

Gage will draw a winner on July 31, so get to commenting 🙂

I bet the super heroine, Vanessa Michael Monroe, uses these sidewalk gas pumps! (courtesy of Bookbath)

Stacy's Books

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