Finished audio on 1-10-11, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2008

Unabridged audio.  9 hours.  Read by Jennifer Van Dyck.

Book 8 of the Eve Duncan series.

Years ago Eve Duncan lost her daughter to a killer and the body and killer were never found.  As a nationally respected forensic sculptor Eve is in the unique position of being called on to help identify unidentified skulls so that other families do not have to suffer as she has.  Now she has a lead on who may have killed her daughter and her Atlanta policeman boyfriend Joe tracks him to Indiana with Eve on his tail.  Henry Kistle is for sure a pedophile, but is he also Bonnie’s killer, like he claims?  Eve brings in help from old friends and a new one, in the form of a spiritual listener from another Johansen novel.

I read the first few of this series many years ago and enjoyed them, but I wasn’t all that interested in this one.  Maybe I would have liked it more if I was caught up with the series, I don’t know.  Her boyfriend, who I liked earlier, was a jerk in this one.  And I found the bad guy pretty one-dimensional, nothing interesting about him.  The book was okay, but not one I’d recommend.

Jennifer Van Dyck had many voices for the multitude of characters, but some were more funny than they should have been.  The man from South America sounded Indian to me and maybe my dislike of the bad guy came from his annoying voice.  So, I don’t know if I would have like reading it better.  I think I might have since a few of the voices really turned me against the character.

I checked this audio book out of the library.

Finished 1-1-11, rating 4/5, fiction, 166 pages, pub. 2010

“So she sent it off with a hope and a prayer that the snow globe will work a holiday  miracle for someone new.”  He cocked an eyebrow.  Would you say you qualify?”

No boyfriend, no job?  “I’d say I’m overqualified.”  Kiley looked at the little globe sitting on its ornate base.  Costly as it was, she was sure it was underpriced.  Even if it had gone for a small fortune at some fancy auction house it probably would have been underpriced.  It symbolized hope, and how did you put a price tag on hope?

Chapter 1

Kiley walks into an antique shop when on vacation with her girlfriends and walks out the proud owner of a magical snow globe.  This snow globe has been passed down from one generation to the next by its maker so that they would see their future.  Kiley shakes it and sees a toy store with a man standing at the door.  When she tracks down the toy store there is, in fact, a man there, and a good-looking one at that.   Kiley gave it to Suzanne next who did not believe in the miracle snow globe until the wife and mother not only got a miracle but she learned a little about herself on the process.  Last of the friends to receive the globe was Allison and she was a believer until months went by with nothing to show for it.

I thought Kiley and Suzanne’s stories were great.  All three of the friends was expertly drawn for the reader, surprising in such a short book.  I was entertained and drawn in for the few hours I sat down with this one.  Only Allison’s story left me unimpressed.  For some reason I just couldn’t make myself care about it.

I accepted this from the publicist because I loved the cover.  It is actually more pretty when it’s in your hands and if you combine that with its sweet story you have a perfect gift.  It doesn’t have to be Christmas.  As long as there is snow outside I think this would be a great gift.  I”m not a big reader of Christmas fiction, but this one convinced me that I will definitely be reading Sheila Roberts again.

Finished 12-12-10, rating 4/5, mystery, pub. 2004

They both pulled out their notepads.  Regan wrote across the top of the paper, “Murder List” and underlined the words twice.  Underneath she wrote, “People I Want Dead.”  Now what?  Stalling for time, she tapped her pen against the folder until the man in front of her turned and frowned.

Chapter 10

Regan is a successful hotel heiress with three older brothers and two very best friends, all hot, of course.  She is leading a charmed life until one silly exercise while helping a friend turns into a nightmare.  She makes her Murder List and then the people on it start showing up dead and she is put under police protection.  Enter the very sexy detective assigned to her, Alec, who can’t believe his good luck in guarding someone like Regan.

I liked this book a lot because it was fun and entertaining.  I finished the last page satisfied.  The chracters were likeable and each had their own story.  I wouldn’t mind reading more about each of the brothers.  The two best friends too could use their own stories.

It is only now that I’m typing this that I realize there were quite a few aspects that could have been better.  I wish we’d spent a little more time in the mind of the killer and the execution of the list was not exactly edge of your seat entertainment.  So, if you are looking for a light read with some mystery and romance this is a good one.  Anything more and you may want to skip it.

This is from my personal library.

Finished 12-5-10, rating 5/5, fiction, pub. 2001

This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary.  Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul.  The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it.  Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens….When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here.  In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands.  In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner.  Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend.  Now they have only us, Daniel.  Do you think you’ll be able to keep such a secret?”

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books

This is a book for book lovers just in case you couldn’t tell from the passage above.  And the above is pretty much why I haven’t bought an e-reader, but on to the story.  In 1945, Daniel is just a boy when his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books hidden in the back streets of Barcelona and when his obsession with the mysterious author, Julian Carax begins.  Daniel chose The Shadow of Wind to take home and he soon began to search out other Carax titles.  Only there weren’t any.  Someone had been destroying them all one by one.  Daniel was sixteen when he began to search out the books in earnest and he was aided in his quest by the cagey and charming Fermin.

I couldn’t help but fall in love with Daniel and Fermin and I was drawn into the mess they got themselves into when they started asking questions about Carax.  Why were so many people trying to keep the truth hidden?  And who were the good guys?  The characters they meet along the way heightened the suspense and I loved them all (well, I loved their addition to the story!).

It takes a lot to keep my attention these days.  Trying to find a balance between me for 39 years and mother of an infant me is trickier than I thought.  I have the attention span of a gnat these days, but this book kept me reading every spare moment I had, even if it was only a few minutes at a time.  I loved the drama, the mystery, the love, the Spanish setting, the wide cast of characters, and the love and respect of books shown in the story.  This book has a little bit of everything and I loved it.  Since I’m rating this a 5 it is obviously one of my favorites this year!

This was from my personal library and chosen by Vasilly and Alessandra.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Set in Barcelona in the 1950s, a masterpiece about the love for books.”  Alessandra

“You want to dig deeper into the book as you read.”  Vasilly