I read a review of this book and it sounded good. It is categorized as YA (or TEEN in my library.)
Laureth Peak (named after the THE SUNDAY FAMILY READ
I read a review of this book and it sounded good. It is categorized as YA (or TEEN in my library.)
Laureth Peak (named after the stuff in shampoo) is a 16 year old London girl whose father seems to have gone missing and whose mother seems not to care even if she is clearly mad at the dude. Laureth decides to abscond with her 7 year old brother Benjamin and travel to New York City where Jack Peak was last supposed to be.
A few more facts (not spoilers): Dad is a novelist, author of a series of successful humorous novels and a few not so successful serious ones. He has been stuck writing his current novel for several years. Laureth is blind and therefore needs Benjamin to help her get around in an unfamiliar city, though she has a special cell phone adapted for the blind. Benjamin is a great character but the mom is a cipher.
It is all just this side of plausible. Written as a thriller, the pace is fast except for when the author uses excerpts from the father's journal to explain deep concepts about coincidence, synchronicity, and the theories of Freud and Jung concerning such concepts.
I thought the best aspect of the story was the hurtful bullying stuff about her blindness that Laureth had to get over.
Speaking of synchronicity, I read this book shortly after finishing All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (review coming next), which features a brave blind teenager with a missing father....more
Oh, those reading group members! They get me to read books I would otherwise never pick up. Sometimes I even learn new things.
The Sting of the Drone i Oh, those reading group members! They get me to read books I would otherwise never pick up. Sometimes I even learn new things.
The Sting of the Drone is one of those right up to the moment thrillers written by an author with years of experience in the United States federal government, giving him loads of credibility. Certainly I have been aware of drones as bits of the news trickle into my consciousness. I am notoriously bad at keeping up with the news, mostly because much of it is bad and also because I find news reporting as a writing genre boring.
But put a current event or two into a novel, as long as the writing is passable, and now I'm happy to learn. Drones, what they can and cannot do, what the military are allowed and not allowed to do with them, what it is like to be a drone pilot: it is all fascinating. I am glad I read this book.
Now when I read in the news that the US could possibly take out the current ISIS leader with a drone instead of raining shock and awe on more Iraqi peoples, I get it. As to whether it is a "better" way to wage war, I am still thinking it over....more
The world scarcely needs another review of Divergent. There are over 71,000 on Goodreads alone. I read it because I sent a copy to my granddaughter, a The world scarcely needs another review of Divergent. There are over 71,000 on Goodreads alone. I read it because I sent a copy to my granddaughter, at her request, and I was curious. Now I see why it is such a hit with teens.
All the elements of great storytelling are there and handled well. The characters, the world building, and especially the pace. I was never bored and always wanted to be reading it.
Veronica Roth stole fearlessly and proudly from Ender's Game, The Giver, and probably other classics I have yet to read. I loved that the main character was a strong, daring, and principled female. Beatrice Prior kicks ass while never losing touch with her heart.
I kept thinking about the tendency of humans to divide societies into castes. In this brave new world where we do our best to raise and educate the upcoming generation, Divergent is possibly an important book for all the generations to read. Fortunately it is also great fun....more
My review of this exciting new author's book is available for viewing at BookBrowse until September 13 even if you are not a subscriber.
My review be My review of this exciting new author's book is available for viewing at BookBrowse until September 13 even if you are not a subscriber.
My review begins: "I have done my share of deep and heavy reading this summer, so it was a great pleasure to read a crime fiction novel by an author new to me. Not that A Dark Redemption wasn't deep and sometimes heavy, but it is an ideal read for the end of summer: entertaining, compelling, yet addressing issues that stay with us as we return from the beach or vacation."
J K Rowling can sure write a good story. She proved that ten times over with the Harry Potter series. Some say she didn't do as well with her first noJ K Rowling can sure write a good story. She proved that ten times over with the Harry Potter series. Some say she didn't do as well with her first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy. I haven't read that yet so I can't say. Writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she demonstrates her chops in The Cuckoo's Calling.
Call it a mystery, a thriller, or a work of crime fiction (it is all of those), she entertained me on every page. Private detective Cormoran Strike and his "temporary" office girl Robin are complex characters whom I grew quite fond of. It is a feat that supermodel Lula Landry comes across as a fully realized character even though she is dead throughout the entire book.
Then there is Rowling's knowing take on pop culture, fame, paparazzi, social networking fans, and too much money. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff but she weaves it in seamlessly.
Finally, I really don't like it when I can figure out who done it before a mystery ends. I had no idea until it was revealed.
That is all I am going to say because any more would spoil the reading experience one way or another. I hope she does a series. I want more of Strike and Robin....more
A good read, fast and smooth. If any Swedish crime writer can match up to Steig Larsson, Mankel is at least in the running. I like him much better tha
A good read, fast and smooth. If any Swedish crime writer can match up to Steig Larsson, Mankel is at least in the running. I like him much better than Nesbo. I haven't read his Kurt Wallander mysteries and The Man From Beijing is a standalone. When I ever get through the Sara Paretsky books, I might try reading more Mankel.
I liked the character Birgitta Roslin, a middle-aged judge whose persistence solved the gruesome murder of 19 people in a tiny Swedish hamlet. She stood as a symbol of justice versus the mere efforts of the police to find a culprit.
The Chinese connection, the analysis of 21st century Chinese politics and that country's development as a world power, were all fascinating aspects of the story. I am no expert on China. What I know mostly comes from novels and I have wondered if, as Mankel notes, I should be encouraging my grandchildren to learn Chinese.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like a citizen of the world, bewildered, anxious, but at the same time curious....more
Sometimes you just want to read at a fast pace and not have to think too deeply. Especially if like me, you don't watch TV. Don't get me wrong. Michae Sometimes you just want to read at a fast pace and not have to think too deeply. Especially if like me, you don't watch TV. Don't get me wrong. Michael Gruber can actually write. He falls into a category of thriller author who is a step or more above the David Baldaaci crowd, plus his subject matter tends toward the cultural: Shakespeare and rare books in The Book of Air and Shadows; painting in The Forgery of Venus.
Painter Chaz Wilmot is the tortured genius type. I always enjoy reading about a genius, either from real life or imagined. I was surprised to find an incident where the artist runs amok, slashing paintings in a museum. Elizabeth Kostova included such a scene in The Swan Thieves, though her book was published two years later. Apparently crimes against art are more prevalent than I realized.
In fact, the thriller aspect here involves several varieties of art crime and features a villain you almost like. In another twist concerning male genius, the artist is the victim instead of the wife. And I loved the fact that Chaz participates in program testing a new drug to enhance creativity, leading him to either channel a famous Spanish painter or go into past life regression. Delicious!
Great read. Michael Gruber is on my list any time he writes a new book. He might have a touch of genius himself....more
**spoiler alert** Lisa Brackmann's first novel, Rock Paper Tiger, captivated me with its exotic location in modern China and its damaged but resourcef**spoiler alert** Lisa Brackmann's first novel, Rock Paper Tiger, captivated me with its exotic location in modern China and its damaged but resourceful heroine, Ellie Cooper. Getaway, though a perfectly acceptable beach read (literally) just doesn't have the same amount of kick. It felt to me like the author was under the pressure inherent in writing a second book; as though she had an editor and a marketing director hovering behind each shoulder.
Michelle Mason, the heroine in Getaway, is her own problem as well as the weakest link in the story. She is using a vacation paid for by her recently deceased husband as a respite from her troubles. That's about all he left her except for a mountain of debt after his financial house of cards collapsed in the economic meltdown of recent years.
Though Michelle numbers among females who live off a man's money without asking questions, she is unconvincingly clueless for a mid-thirties 21st century Los Angeles native. After she lands in a highly treacherous situation between sexy but mysterious Daniel and slimy Gary, she dithers for so long and makes so many bad decisions, I found myself hoping right along with her for the one who is good in bed to rescue her. How could she not know that a guy with deep pockets who brags about having secret government connections might be able to track her through her cell phone?
Now I've waited way too long to tell you that the story takes place in a Mexican resort town and involves that country's brutal drug cartels and their investment capital bedfellows. It's a tense thriller and Michelle's future appears to be doomed. To her credit, she is pretty good at gut-level instincts and she gets tougher and smarter. She went to Mexico to work out how to live a more authentic life but I'm afraid she just might be one of those women who has to rely on luck.
And why am I getting all moralistic and snarky with Lisa Brackmann? Because she proved she has got a lot more to offer in Rock Paper Tiger. I understand she is writing a sequel, so perhaps she just tossed off Getaway in order to stay in touch. That cool. It was fun to read. But I want Ellie Cooper back....more
I reread Pattern Recognition to refresh my memory before I go on with the Blue Ant trilogy. I stand by my earlier review (see below) except to say thaI reread Pattern Recognition to refresh my memory before I go on with the Blue Ant trilogy. I stand by my earlier review (see below) except to say that I understood several aspects of it better. Though Gibson was entirely of the moment in 2003, writing about the parallel universes of marketing, globalization, and terror, we are even further into those aspects of life on earth. Meaning that Gibson should continue to be relevant as I read through the rest of his work.
Eric Ambler's 10th novel is the first one of his I have read. He is known for a recurring theme concerning an amateur who finds himself unwittingly miEric Ambler's 10th novel is the first one of his I have read. He is known for a recurring theme concerning an amateur who finds himself unwittingly mixed up with criminals or spies; that theme is in evidence here. Greg Nilsen and his wife Dorothy are taking their first vacation in years. He runs a small manufacturing company in Baltimore, MD.
Wanting to visit out-of-the-way places so they can have adventures, they book a cruise in the South China Sea. Before long, Greg is bored and gets mixed up in a small arms deal, landing himself and his wife in an adventure with features such as communist agitators, anti-communist rebels, prison and probable torture on an out-of-the-way Indonesian island.
This is post Korean War, Southeast Asian Cold War intrigue. The characters and their individual stories are brilliantly fleshed out and the excitement is nonstop. Plenty of references to novels of the time, including The Quiet American by Graham Greene, make for dry humor. Ambler paints a picture of Cold War goings on that reveal much bungling as various ambassadors coordinate face-saving scenarios for their respective countries, which reminded me of the bestselling 1959 novel The Ugly American.
Graham Greene is such a good writer. Even in this book, clearly one of his "entertainments," where he starts out so much in the tone of a spoof, he juGraham Greene is such a good writer. Even in this book, clearly one of his "entertainments," where he starts out so much in the tone of a spoof, he just does not waste words. Within a few pages while Mr Wormold is being recruited for an English spy, in Havana, (profession: unsuccessful vacuum cleaner salesman); in those few pages the reader has the physical description and make-up of three or four major characters, the setting in Havana and the unsettled feeling that Mr Wormold is heading for trouble.
Then, once he has us convinced that we are reading a silly, possibly improbable story, Greene opens up those very characters as living, breathing persons with concerns of the heart and unrealized professional goals.
And so it goes. Will Mr Wormold get caught out for his outrageous schemes? Is Dr Hasselbacher a friend or a foe? Is Wormold's daughter Milly as much of an airhead as she seems? Most of all, are the secret services of any given country truly as inept and gullible as they are portrayed?
Entertainment indeed, but so much more. When I finished, I could not think of any writer as good as Graham Greene....more
As much as I enjoyed Un Lun Dun, I liked this one even more. Somewhere in an interview Mieville stated his goal to write a novel in every genre. The CAs much as I enjoyed Un Lun Dun, I liked this one even more. Somewhere in an interview Mieville stated his goal to write a novel in every genre. The City & The City is in the style of a police procedural/crime thriller. The writing is terse, the dialogue is snappy and an unsettling underlying sense of menace pervades the tale. This is only the second Mieville novel I've read, so I am no expert, but I've heard that he started out writing fantasy. Combined with the above elements there is a distinct fantasy flavor in The City & The City.
Because the city of Beszal, somewhere at the edge of Europe, happens to exist in the same space as the city of Ul Qoma. Because these two cities are rivals but at the same time do not acknowledge each other. In fact the citizens of each metropolis are trained from childhood to "unsee" any physical objects or people from the other. Which I found wonderful and cool in a fantasy sort of way.
So there is a murder victim found in Beszal. Inspector Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad, after a bit of inspecting, concludes that the murder must have take place in Ul Qoma, which is "impossible." Next thing you know he is embroiled with The Breach, a highly secretive entity whose task is to prevent and deal with any interaction between the two cities.
If you haven't read the book, you can thank me for spelling out for you what took me almost half the book to figure out. If you don't like feeling dazed and confused as you read, you might as well just skip Mieville altogether.
I loved The City & The City by the end, though I was still guessing on a few points. Really, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and read it again. But my professional reviewer deadline demanded that I move on to Embassytown. That was great also and you will see my review here in a day or so.
Rereading update: I reread The City & the City for a reading group. I had first read it in 2011. Back then, we were moving into a new house we had just bought, my older son and his family had moved to town, and meanwhile I was also working as a semi-professional book reviewer (sometimes paid, sometimes not), and keeping a blog. How did she do it?
I had a policy, if I got a review assignment for an author I had not yet read, to read all that author’s previous books in preparation. That meant I read four Mieville novels in a row. Of course, that meant that I became a fan of this author!
Rereading was good because while I remembered most of it quite well, there were a few points on which I was hazy, especially the ending, so this time I really understood the whole premise and structure much better.
Thus, my earlier review stood the test of time. When I reread books, I always notice how my continued reading and my life experience between readings informs my understanding and appreciation. But time gets shorter for me each year, so it is a conundrum. ...more
I finished Kraken over two weeks ago and had to return it to the library before I had a chance to write about it. Now I have to dig my thoughts out frI finished Kraken over two weeks ago and had to return it to the library before I had a chance to write about it. Now I have to dig my thoughts out from beneath the several books I have read since then.
Although I have become a raving fan of China Mieville and will read the rest of his earlier books as well as anything he writes in the future, Kraken did not move me as much as either The City & the City or Embassytown. It was too something: too long, too drawn out and disjointed. It was also an insane story about the capture of a preserved giant squid that was the god of a religion.
As usual in Mieville, there is a reluctant hero and plenty of good ideas. My favorite character was the female cop, whose name I now do not remember. I also liked the little god who could only exist in statues, including gargoyles and Star Wars plastic dolls.
I think you'd have to be a dedicated Mieville reader to get through Kraken. At least that is how I got to the end. The end is quite good and I was worried about that.
Go ahead. Hit me with your comments, disagreements or whatever....more
I read Tana French's first novel, In the Woods, last year and loved it. In fact, one of my reading groups voted it Best Book Read in 2010. The Likene I read Tana French's first novel, In the Woods, last year and loved it. In fact, one of my reading groups voted it Best Book Read in 2010. The Likeness is her follow up with Irish policewoman Cassie as the central character. When the story opens, she is pretty much in ruins over the break up with her partner from In the Woods and due to the outcome of the murder case they solved.
She is posted in Domestic Violence; not as boring as being a traffic cop but not stimulating in the least. Her new boyfriend, Sam, is still working in the Murder Squad. Cassie feels safe and comfortable with him but is suffering from some emotional damage that won't go away.
The story opens with a slow but highly tense chapter culminating in the scene where she looks at herself dead on the floor of an abandoned cottage. Of course, it is not her but a complete doppelganger bearing the name Lexie Madison. The shock is due to a case Cassie worked on back before she was in the Murder Squad. She had gone undercover with the name Lexie Madison.
The Likeness has a large number of despicable, possibly evil characters, all of whom serve to keep the reader and the cops off balance. Cassie goes back into Undercover, working for her old boss Frank, who is one of the despicable characters: cold, calculating, ambitious and a bit mad. In an uneasy alliance between Frank and Sam, Cassie becomes a pawn in the game as she once more assumes the identity of Lexie Madison.
For the remaining 400 pages, Cassie is sucked into an identity crisis that touches on every personality weakness she has and almost loses herself in the process. You might wonder how Cassie can go undercover as a dead person. You will have to read the book. I am not telling.
It is a captivating story, somehow modern and ancient at the same time. The pace is a tad slow and the descriptive writing a bit overdone, but the tension, the mystery and the psychological imbalance of almost all the characters kept me in gripping suspense. If you liked The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield or Atonement, by Ian McEwan or even Great Expectations by Dickens, this is the book for you....more
A young mother in Tokyo, working the night shift in a boxed lunch factory, murders her abusive husband. Her three best friends at work band together A young mother in Tokyo, working the night shift in a boxed lunch factory, murders her abusive husband. Her three best friends at work band together to help her dispose of the body. These women are desperate housewives beyond anything we see in American entertainment, though there are undoubtedly women in our great society who live equally on the edge of disaster, hopelessness and criminality. So while Out is brutally bloody and violent, more hard-boiled than almost anything I have ever read, I think it is realistic.
Natsuo Kirino shows deep insight regarding feminism, male and female psychology, and Japanese society in the late 20th century. She is one hell of a criminal writer and keeps up a relentless pace. Sometimes I could hardly take the sheer amount of gore but I was fascinated and reading as fast as I could. As the friendships between the four women deteriorate following the crime and as one of the women finds herself involved in the Tokyo criminal underworld, it was the psychological aspects of the story that I found the most intriguing. What does getting out actually involve for these women?
This is dark stuff. I was put in mind of Patricia Highsmith, Mary Gaitskill, Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson; female authors who can look the dark underside of female existence straight in the face. The novel is as far as you can get from a feel-good family story. It is probably not the thing for most women readers I know, but it sure is powerful and is as close to horror as I want to get....more
The latest novel by John le Carre is getting positive reviews all over the place with sentiments exclaiming that the old le Carre is back and that he The latest novel by John le Carre is getting positive reviews all over the place with sentiments exclaiming that the old le Carre is back and that he has dropped the preaching tone of his last few efforts. Personally, I like it when he preaches to us about the ills of our modern world.
In Our Kind of Traitor, I felt the master of spy literature was holding back just a tad and I purely hated the way this novel ended. I just felt lost through much of the story, but that could be because I do not understand global finance. Not one bit.
My take is that this is a gangster-trying-to-go-straight story. Percolating beneath that is the picture of British government being so in the grip of vested interests and greedy politicians that the true traitor lies there. Is that the meaning of the title?
A Russian gangster, an idealistic young teacher from Oxford, his much more realistic girlfriend, the usual failed spy and the usual rogue spy; all the elements are there but it didn't come together well for me. John le Carre has stumped me before. I remember feeling like I was really missing something in The Little Drummer Girl. My husband liked Our Kind of Traitor just fine and explained some of it to me.
If you have read it, liked it and are now laughing up your sleeve about me, please...comment!...more
What a great read! First novel from Lisa Brackmann, set in modern China with all kinds of contemporary issues embedded in a fast paced thriller style.What a great read! First novel from Lisa Brackmann, set in modern China with all kinds of contemporary issues embedded in a fast paced thriller style. It is actually a cross between a thriller and a story of a young woman finding herself.