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Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert

 

This is book 1 of the very well established, 21 books, China Bayles series.  It has often been recommended to me based on other books that I enjoy.

Very quick read, pacing of the mystery is not a problem.  I loved the theme, the idea of an Herbal Remedies shop owner as the sleuth.  I just kept getting pulled out of the story by the “feminist manifesto” type comments and asides.  I didn’t like many of the characters and the attitude towards mothers/motherhood was so negative; it was big turn off for me.  The male characters were stereotypes and you feel the animosity towards them and men in general.  China’s boyfriend, a college professor, is considered good for a “booty call” and not much else, because “horror of horrors”, he has a child he is taking responsibility for.  Despite the pro-feminist slant of the book, the irony is that the “feminist model” characters don’t seem particularly happy or content, with the possible exception of Ruby who just seems ….out in left field, following her “Path” (with a capitol P, no less).

I really didn’t like the fact that China colluded with her friends to destroy evidence, just to suit their own purposes.

This book didn’t work for me and I won’t be reading more in the series.

 

 

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The Hanging by Lotte and Soren Hammer

 

I will admit that I basically gave up and skimmed to the end of this book.  I really do enjoy Nordic crime fiction but this just did not work for me on a number of levels.

The characters were not fully developed and seemed rather flat to me.  This, however, was not the main problem.  The writers are a Danish brother and sister and I’m assuming they are not native English speakers.  I do not know if they wrote the book in English or simply had a sub-par translator.  The dialogue was often stilted and not natural at all.  There was odd phrasing and strange idioms, all things a competent translator would have ironed out.  These oddities kept pulling me out of the story and  ultimately made it not work for me.

I will also say that this book was less a crime thriller and more of a political statement on the  child abuse laws, regulation of pedophiles and vigilantism, but it didn’t really do that either, at least not to the extent that I came away with a good grasp of what was happening with their laws or public policies.

To give a shortened version, the book opens with a harrowing scene of children finding men’s mutilated bodies hanging in the gym of their school.  Very early on we meet the “lead” culprit and then discover that the victims were all pedophiles and this was an organized effort by a group to punish them and draw attention to the issue of child abuse.  The book then meanders on from that point with the reader already knowing basically “who did it” and why and the rest of it was some issues with the press, concerns of a lack of public support for punishing the killers, and police procedural drills.

Disappointing read.

 

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Sundays in Bed with…Paradise Fields by Katie Fforde

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This is a meme hosted by Midnightbookgirl.com found here.  I hope this is running this week, I just have gotten used to looking forward to doing it.

Feeling very decadent this morning as I actually did not get up and go run or the gym as scheduled, this compounded by the bad diet choices yesterday is not a good thing:(  But I did get much reading done 🙂

Yesterday I read two amazing thrillers by S.J. Bolton see posts here and here, that led me to change up the pace this morning by reading the very lovely Katie Fforde’s very lovely book Paradise Fields.

I have read several of Katie Fforde’s books and have enjoyed them all.  This one was no exception, the main character Nel is a widow kept busy by the needs of 3 children, 2 in university and one about to go and her dogs and her “good works” on behalf of a children’s hospice and organizing a farmer’s market, all in addition to keeping up with a nice group of friends and a rather unexciting boyfriend.  When the hospice’s future becomes uncertain, Nel rises to the challenge.

I love how the author draws her characters, they are so real, so ordinary, you can picture sitting at the kitchen table with them and having a chat.  Nel isn’t perfect, she doesn’t leave the house perfectly turned out to run errands, she doesn’t keep her pets off the furniture, she doesn’t turn out a 3 course meal for 10 and then immediately hop up and do all the dishes by hand, in short she lives an “every woman” life.  As a reader, I felt immersed in Nel’s life and her concerns.

Very good romance with enough tension about how things will turn out to keep me turning the pages.  I highly recommend this book to romance readers.

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Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton

 

Could not put this book down!!  Fresh off of Dead Scared also by S.J. Bolton I started this and read it straight through.  Not part of the Lacey Flint series, this was the author’s debut stand alone novel.

Chilling thriller in which the sense of dread builds exponentially.  The twists and turns leave you scared to death for Tora Hamilton.  Red herrings are plentiful and DS Dana Tulloch even makes mention of the term, which was quite clever.  Tora, the protagonist a surgeon and Dana, a police officer are well crafted, likable characters, as are the others in the book.

The setting of the Shetland Islands adds so much to the story, that it is almost another character, in the style of Ann Cleeves or Elly Griffiths.  The sense of isolation on the islands is made  even more eerie by the hints and warnings of the danger that faces Tora.  The story is based on some particularly gruesome historic legends from the Shetland Islands and that historic piece is incorporated believably with the modern story.

Having read two other books by this author, I continue to be impressed.  I am especially impressed by the range exhibited by her.  All her books I have read so far have been thriller/mystery types, however the characters are very distinct, the settings are varied and the plots are very dissimilar.   A great read!  I have one more book out from the library by this author and I am tempted to start it right away.

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Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton

I read this as a follow up to to S.J. Bolton’s Now You See Me.    I really, really liked this book.  Exciting and suspenseful, unputdownable (and yes I know that is not a word).  The character of Lacey Flint is engaging and a real underdog  hero that you root for all the way.  Her complicated non-relationship with DI Mark Joesbury is fresh and fraught with its own tension and suspense.  Although you can read this as a standalone, to really have an understanding of Lacey and Joesbury I would recommend reading the first book.

The mystery is creepy and down right scary at times.  The combination of old fashioned scares combined with stalking and modern technology works really well.  The twists and turns have you doubting the characters and their perceptions even as they doubt themselves.  Evi is a perfect rendition of a therapist dealing with her own physical and emotional issues torn by her concern for the victims and her professional code of ethics.   The Cambridge setting is fascinating and the fact that it should be such a “safe” place adds weight to the horrifying events.

Great thriller mystery.  I have already checked a couple more of S.J. Bolton’s books out from the library.  Highly recommended read.

 

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The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

Finished this cozy mystery out in the yard this afternoon.  I found this book cleaning out my bedroom and I swore that I had read this but the plot was not familiar.  I think I must have read a later one in the series.  Anyway, this one was a well written cozy with a great mystery and oodles of red herrings.  There were lots of clues pointing all over the place.

Loved the character of Sophie and I’m sure that as the series progresses her character will develop more depth.  The cast of characters had the prerequisite amount of quirkiness, but nothing too over the top as to be ridiculous. I liked that there was more than one love interest, but it didn’t turn into a triangle.

There could have been a little less emphasis on all the cooking and feeding the guests, but it was not so much that it distracted me from the mystery.  I also loved Judy’s love story with The Colonel.  I think it is great when an author shows an older person as a whole person interested in dating and still going out rather than just a stereotypical “grandma” type figure.

Very cute cozy and a fun read.  I look forward to reading more in this series.

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A Killer Read by Erika Chase

 

Just finished this for the Cozy Mystery Corner book group on Goodreads.  I really have mixed feelings about this. This book was on the short list for the Agatha Awards from Malice Domestic but it didn’t completely work for me.  It was as though the author had a checklist:  book theme, check, cats, check, small southern town, check, sheriff love interest, check, but she wasn’t really invested in these items.

I didn’t solve the mystery prior to the reveal but looking back I suppose I could have guessed at it.  The main character Lizzie was likable enough, but a little two dimensional.  I really didn’t need the description of all her outfits and yes, we understood that she was into fitness.  We didn’t really need to keep hearing how she needed to go run or run more or missed a day running and drinking her protein shakes.

My biggest issue with the book was the pacing.  Every time it seemed like something was going to happen, it didn’t.  The action stopped and she went to work or off on some mundane errand.  Slow pacing.  Even the little mystery book club started to get interested in solving the mystery and then they seemed to lose interest.  I also found the name dropping of other cozy mystery authors distracting, for some reason it seemed to pull me out of the story.

Often I find series improve after the initial book, but I don’t know if  I  will read another in this series.  On the other hand, the  fact that it was up for an Agatha makes me think I should give it another chance.

 

 

 

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The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Finished reading this today.  I’ve been reading bits and pieces of it for the last 3 or 4 days.  Fascinating study of habits, controlling them and changing them.  The author presents a multitude of examples, everything from alcoholism to gambling and from the military to Starbucks.  For my purposes,  tackling some bad habits of my own, it was almost too much information.

For practical application, the Appendix contains a section called aptly enough:  A Reader’s Guide to Using These Ideas.  This is a very brief section that explains how to apply the research based methods to your own habits.  Great synopsis of the Cue, Routine, Reward model and guide to using it.

 

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The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank

Finished this tonight.  I loved this book.  The character of Les was so believable and I could relate to her so well.  The other people in her world, Wes, Harlan, her children, all seemed like real people. They have flaws, hopes and dreams.  They exhibited change over time as they came to terms with their situations. Excellent characterizations.

The plot is that Les has been married for 30 years and has finally decided that she has had enough and needs to do something  for herself.  The story is told from her perspective and her husband’s.  There are current time visits to the marriage therapists and then reminiscences from Les and Wes’s life.

Wonderful story with themes of family, change, friendship, and love.  I will definitely read more by this author.

 

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Question for Audio Book People

I have never been an audio book fan, basically I am a fast reader and so I prefer to read my books, but now I am planning for my annual 22 hour (one way) pilgrimage to drop my daughter off at college and I am thinking maybe audio books would be the way to go.   So questions for experienced audio book people:

  • I drive 22 hours straight down, only stopping for coffee, gas and calls of nature.  Would it be better to listen to one long book or several shorter books?
  •  Have you ever tried this and does the narration put you to sleep (can’t have that)?
  •  Are there narrators that you would recommend? IOW, are some too monotone to listen to like that?
  • I have 22 hours down, then we are doing several shorter jaunts 4 to 5 hours to see other colleges for my younger daughter and probably about 22 hours home.  So, how does the work…would you download all the books at once?  If I try this with my phone (android) and then listen to them that way would it be eating through my data plan or once it is on the phone does that not matter?  (I know I sound like an idiot…I just really don’t know)  Alternatively I have a Kindle, I don’t know if that would be better???
  • Is Audible.com the best service to use?  My library also has some books on cd. I just would have to call the car rental company to be sure the van has a cd player.  Is that the better option?
  • Any suggestions/helpful advice/recommendations?  I will say that if I go for one longer listen, I was thinking Gormenghast.  I’m just worried that it could get monotonous listening to the same story.  If I go shorter, I am thinking some cozy mystery series.

Thanks for any input or advice!