This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish found here.  This week’s theme is top ten hyped books we’ve never read.

1.    I am on the waiting list at the library for this but someone I know broke down and bought a copy so I am waiting my turn for it.

2.  I’ve been on the waiting list for this for some time, but they just emailed to let me know I’m next 🙂

3.  This is an older book and was very controversial in its time and I still haven’t read it.

4.  Because I read a lot of mysteries, this book is always popping up on my recommendation lists.  I actually tried it once and just …couldn’t.  I teach middle school all day reading a book with a smart ass middle school age child as the protagonist…no.  This one will stay forever on my never read list.

5.  This one is super popular and plastered all over my local Barnes and Noble.  It is actually sitting on my bookshelf right now so I will get to it.

6.   This book appeared on a lot of lists but I am usually not a big historical reader.  I do think I will get to it…someday.

7.  This is another book I have seen referenced and on book blogs and lists.  I’ve read other Julian Barnes and enjoyed it so I am sure that I will get to this.

8. This one is sitting on my bookshelf right now just waiting to be read.

9.  I tried…I really tried but  

10.  Super hyped and zero interest from me.

Off now to see what others have listed 🙂

I have recently read out of order a later book in this series and enjoyed it so I decided to read some of the earlier books.  Payment in Blood is the second in the series.  I enjoyed seeing the development in Lynley and his sidekick/partner Havers.  This was a classic isolated country manor mystery, with Lynley being called in due to political reasons that are explored and exposed in the book. The references to Christine Keeler and John Profumo were interesting and added to setting by connecting to real life events.

Having read a later book in the series first, I can see a big evolution in style for the better from this one.  Payment in Blood reads like a outsider’s version of class strife in Britain. The presentation of a very divided society with an entitled and pampered class of titled families was unrealistic from my experience.  In fact, I kept having to remind myself that this was not a historical book because the attitudes and depictions of the homelife struck me as pre WWI.  Overall, the character development saved the book for me, the rest was just okay.

 This was another find at the library book sale.  When I picked it up, I didn’t realize it was the second book in a series, the first being Suspect which coincidentally enough was already on my TBR list.  This picks up with DI Vincent Ruiz being fished out of the river with a couple bullet wounds and no idea of what happened.  It becomes evident that something terrible happened when the police find a boat with bits of blood and tissue and bullet holes floating in the vicinity, but Vincent really cannot remember anything.  Unfortunately, most people are not inclined to believe him.  He has to follow the clues to find out what happened to him and why he was carrying the pictue of a child victim from a cold case.  He gets wrapped up with crooked cops, Russian mobsters, and even aristocracy before he can find out what happens.

Be aware that there are several graphic sewer scenes…not to be read while eating.  This was very well done and I am anxous to see where DI Ruiz (if this is where the series goes) ends up now that he is off the force, but first I have to go back and read the first book.

 This is the current month’s read at the Kindle English Mystery Book Club on Goodreads.  In a word, Normal:  A Novel  was fantastic.  Told from the perspective of a “normal” man who happens to be your neighborhood serial killer.  I am sure that comparisons to Dexter will be made, however Normal is essentially British in humor and voice.  The reason this book excels though is  the women’s voices.  They are unique, well developed, and multi-faceted, each woman brings something different to the novel. His relationship with each of them is complex, they are not just prey or tools.

The reader sees growth and change in the protagonist and like him (at least I did).  He is unapologetic for who and what he is, just laying it out in a blunt straight forward manner.  He at one point even says that he was “…born,not made…”  absolving anyone or any circumstance of fault for his actions.  He is self critical, reflecting on his mistakes, whether they be regarding a choice of victim or locking his keys inside his van.

Engaging, fast paced read for fans of crime fiction!

Last night’s read was this chick lit form Melissa Nathan.  Persuading Annie centers around Annie Markham and her “family”, two sisters, a best friend, a godmother, a father and maybe wanna be stepmother.  The family is wealthy but in financial trouble and they hire a consultant to get them out of it by saving the family business.  The consultant turns out to be a man that Annie had been involved with a young college student.

THis didn’t work for me…at all.  The characters were either carboard cutouts or too stupid to live.  The issues were thrown at you in a something for everyone type fashion,  infertility issues, being a “bad mother”, bulemia, older men with younger women, losing a mother in childhood, manipulation,  and jealousy.  All placed in a setting of extraordinary entitlement and wealth.  I just couldn’t relate.

This is the current month’s read over a the Cozy Mystery Corner on Goodreads.  The protagonist is Poppy Markham, who comes from a long time restaurant family, but has defected to the dark side, the health inspector’s office.  In this, the first book, Poppy is called back to the family restaurant which is in a state of chaos due to her father’s health, some unscrupulous villains and a murder.  Poppy’s stepsister and the head chef is cooling her heels in jail and so Poppy investigates to try to clear her name and figure out all that is going on.

I would have liked more explanation of Poppy’s animosity with Ursula, other than the brief couple lines discussing how her dad put Ursula above her in the restaurant.  I would have also liked to see more of Poppy in her new chosen career.  Most of this book was her investigating the murder.  I did find the flipping back and forth between calling her dad, being referred to as Dad and then Mitch distracting.  Also, the neighbors being referred to as “John With” and  “John Without”. Overall, an okay cozy mystery.

The Dinner is a book that I have seen on many lists and read good things about, so when I saw it at the library book sale for $1 I grabbed it.  This book has been compared to Gone Girl, as have many others, however that does this book a disservice.  It is so much better than Gone Girl as a psychological story.  The action mainly centers around two couples having dinner in a restaurant but it is supplemented by flash backs to give background and insight into the ongoing scenes. This is a fantastic example of an unreliable narrator in the form of Paul, but the other characters are fascinating as well.

As the story unfolds it is like watching a horrific accident in front of you, in slow motion, so you don’t miss anything.  There are pieces where you need to just suspend your disbelief and move along with the story.  I don’t really want to give spoilers but let’s just say no one is as they seem when you initially meet them.  The story pokes fun at the pretentiousness of the wealty  and powerful, explores the depths of mother love, and exposes the bonds of famly and all that it means.

This was a great read that I would highly recommend to psychological thriller fans.

Fables, Vol. 8 Wolves was a great outing in this series that I have been reading off and on for the past month.  I loved the emphasis on Mowgli and Bigby.  I am impressed with Prince Charming as the Mayor, even though he is portrayed as a cad, he seems to have accomplished much more as mayor than King Cole and Snow did.  I will continue reading this series and I am really curious to see the fall out from Bigby’s mission back to the homeland.