by

Top Ten Tuesday

This meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish to be found here. The theme for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday is:

top ten words/topics that make me not pick up a book

 

 

  1. World War II - Spending a childhood attending Department of Defense Schools in Heidelberg Germany complete with field trips to former concentration camps did this in for me.
  2. Christian - I don’t read to be preached at by someone I don’t know.
  3. YA - Just has no appeal to me (often tends to be bad romance in disguise)
  4. Infertility - depressing
  5. Suicidal - depressing
  6. Cancer - depressing (see a theme yet)
  7. Cassandra Clare - see Books of Amber for explanation
  8. Historical - usually just does not appeal although I will read non-fiction and memoirs.
  9. forgiveness of infidelity - the books where the ex wife ends up best friends forever with her ex and his new wife that he cheated on her with and everything is soooo much better this way and rainbows and flowers and sunshine just shine down on all of us because we forgive each other….

ok…I’ve recovered from puking quietly in the corner

10. Urban fantasy - while I love epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, urban fantasy does nothing for me. (often just tends to be romance in disguise)

by

Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde

 

I was introduced to Katie Fforde’s books by chance. My local library happens to have quite a large selection and they caught my eye one day and I began reading through them one after the other. I’ve really enjoyed them all, well written books with realistic characters in the romance/women’s fiction genre with satisfyingly happy endings. Somehow in my binge, I missed this one, it must have been checked out at the time. Practically Perfect does not disappoint. I particularly connected to this book because I had two points of commonality with the protagonist, Anna, extensive DIY home renovation and dog rescue. In her case, it was Greyhound and in mine, Siberian Husky.

Anna has purchased a small cottage as an investment property. It was gutted by a previous owner and not put back together and she is renovating it herself. Anna has an ulterior motive for purchasing a cottage in this particular area involving an unresolved love interest from her past.

Anna is a great character, funny, independent, and a great friend to Chloe, her next door neighbor. She is someone I could see myself being friends with easily. Through the course of the story, Anna meets an irritating, or maybe not so irritating, building official, Chloe and her family, a lovely greyhound, and her long lost crush. The story lines and characters weave together in a seamless fashion making it easy to get lost in the Anna’s world. I love it when a book can pull me into the character’s life and out of the real world.

Although, I usually see Katie Fforde’s books classified as romance, I don’t feel that classification does them justice. In Practically Perfect, just as much attention is paid to the other threads of the plot, such as friendship, family, and work as to the romance story line. This makes reading the book a richer experience than just a romance novel.

Highly recommended read!

 

 

by

Death’s Autograph by Marianne MacDonald

 

I just found this series by Marianne MacDonald and my library system had the first book, Death’s Autograph. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series. The protagonist, Dido Hoare, is a book shop owner/book antiquarian, in her 30s and divorced. She is smart and independent, a really likable character still reeling somewhat over her divorce from Davey. Barnabas is Dido’s father, a retired professor, and her main support system. The love interest is a police officer who is working the case.

The main characters are interesting and fully developed, no ridiculously off beat people wandering around the story. There is a slightly more menacing tone to this than most cozies, which often displace the danger or fear in a situation with humor. That is probably a marked difference from this and many newer cozies is the darker mood that it evokes. The theme and the setting are both well done and ones that I enjoy.

The mystery has many threads that are all tied together with a common motive at the end. In the last few chapters, everything comes together neatly. This was a well constructed mystery with evidence of thought and care taken by the author. I am wondering if the series is finished, the last book was published in 2006 and the website has not been updated. Does anyone know if Marianne MacDonald is still writing?

by

Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indriason

 

 

This is the second book I have read in the series. I read Jar City,which is book 3 in the series. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Book 1 & 2 have been translated into English. Starting with book 3, does not seem to have impacted my enjoyment of this series.

Here in book 4, Silence of the Grave, we again meet Erlendur as he investigates a body found at the site of a now demolished chalet. The book is told in current time as Erlendur attempts to solve the crime and also in the past with the tragic story of the family that inhabited the house. The sense of dread builds as the book progresses. We all know that a human body has been found, but not who is it and meanwhile we are reading about the horrific circumstances of the family.

As a story on the side, we again meet Eva Lind, Erlendur’s drug addict daughter and she has a story line within the book. Her story line serves to reveal aspects of Erlendur’s past and more of his relationship with Eva and his ex-wife. The mystery is surprising, especially the twists surrounding the identity of the body.

Very good mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series.

 

 

 

 

by

Awakening by S.J. Bolton

I just finished Awakening by S.J. Bolton. I will start off by saying that I love all the books I have read by this author. Sacrifice, her debut novel, in particular sticks out in mind as excellent. Awakening is a good mystery novel. The snakes alone make it particularly scary, especially as someone who lives in an older house and knows how they could get in if they wanted to and hide in nooks and crannies. {{{insert shudder here}}}

The protagonist is Clara Benning, a physically and emotionally scarred veterinary surgeion, who does a great deal of wildlife rescue work. She prefers her animal charges to people. The other characters like Matt, Sean and Sally are well developed and fit seamlessly together. The misdirection worked very well and I was surprised at the ending. The novel seemed well researched in terms of the snakes, not that I am an expert by any means.

S.J. Bolton writes in an extraordinarily well paced style. There are no dull moments or “filler, everything is purposeful. The book is a mystery and yet it also explores a “monumental change” for Clara through the events in the book and the people she meets, in her perspective and outlook on life. She is certainly a character that shows growth and change.

I would definitely recommend this book, although I did prefer Sacrifice over it.

by

Thursday 13

This is a new-to-me meme, I have read about it in other blogs but this is my first time participating. It is currently hosted here. Basically just pick a theme and 13 things to go with it.

Mine is books to read next:

IMG_20130718_193752.726

In no particular order, I have:
Steamed to Death - Peg Cochran
Killer in Crinolines - Duffy Brown
Laced with Poison - Meg London
Arsenic and Old Cake - Jacklyn Brady
Death of a Greedy Woman - MC Beaton
South of the Border, West of the Sun - Murakami
Practically Perfect - Katie Fforde
In the Woods - Tana French
Death of a Perfect Wife - MC Beaton
Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason
Birdman - Mo Hayder
The Chessmen - Peter May
Awakening - SJ Bolton

Some of these I own and some are from the library. I’ll probably hit library books first. I’ve read most of MC Beaton but I read them out of order and I think I missed these couple. What is your Thursday 13?

by

Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries by Dean James

 

 

I just finished reading the wonderful Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery series by Dean James. Mr. James is also writes under the pen names of Miranda James, Honor Hartman, and Jimmie Ruth Evans.

I first read Posted to Death which I found at my local library. I loved the humorous, almost campy take on the cozy mystery series. Unfortunately, my library didn’t carry the others in the series so I ordered the other three and just recently received them.

Books 2,3 and 4 do not disappoint. The character of Simon Kirby-Jones continues to be a wonderful mix of off beat humor, genuinely nice person, and sly sleuth. The other characters develop nicely along the way, Sir Giles as his sidekick-assistant-love interest, Robin as the police officer who respects Simon’s intelligence and help, and Lady Prunella, village Grand Dame who becomes much more human and likable as the series progressed through the reader seeing her vulnerability behind her persona.

In these three books, Simon faces a variety of villains, a Renaissance/Medieval Faire and a classic locked room murder. Each mystery was well crafted with twists and turns that Simon navigates with his usual cool self assurance, although we do see Simon’s feathers ruffled a little on the personal level. Simon as a sleuth is logical and smart. He is not one to run around throwing out accusations at random. There are many nods to Agatha Christie and John Dickinson-Carr. I don’t know if the author intends to end the series at Book 4, but it does offer a satisfying conclusion to an ongoing story line.

An excellent, humorous cozy mystery series written by a talented writer. Definitely worth the read for cozy fans. I have now read two series by Mr. James and will seek out the others.