So, I am clearly reading my way through the Stephanie Plum series. Though, after this book, I decided to take a little break. I have read too many too soon to really appreciate the books as they should be read. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
Seven Up by Janet Evanovich
This wasn’t my favorite Evanovich book. I find that each plot isn’t necessarily what makes me like a book or not. I enjoy the side characters and how well I feel that they fit or how well I feel that they interact. I find that Stephanie’s old high school “friends” Mooner and Dougie don’t really do it for me. Read More »
Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
Another Stephanie Plum book and things are as crazy as ever in Trenton, New Jersey. Read More »
The Secret Place by Tana French
It is no secret among my friends and relatives, as far as genre fiction goes, Tana French is one of my favorites. I deliberately saved this one for my hospital stay with the birth of my third child. Tana French and I have a little tradition. She produces new books at the same rate that I produce new children. I hope she stops pretty soon because I can’t keep this up forever! Read More »
High Five by Janet Evanovich
This is the fifth installment in the Stephanie Plum series. And I am not going to lie, it was hard to suspend my disbelief at times. Generally, the plots are implausible, but this one was just too much. Read More »
Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
Disclaimer: I’m beginning to feel like the titles have very little to do with what is actually happening in the book. I picture Evanovich in her office thinking, “Okay, we’re on four… hmmm… I got it, Four to Score!” though what it means she hasn’t the vaguest idea. That being said, I genuinely liked Four to Score. I think it is my actual favorite in the series thus far. Read More »
Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
So, spoiler alert (not really), I read six of these books in quick succession as I prepared for the birth of my third child. I needed some light bubble gum reading to feel like I was getting something accomplished and I can crack two of these books out in a day. So be prepared for lots of Evanovich reviews in the future. Also be prepared for me to start enjoying them marginally less. I find this series should not be devoured whole, as it were, but nibbled in bites here and there. I find I appreciate the individual books more that way.
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The Sojourner by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Of all the depressing books I’ve read where not much goes on… well, what to say? It was depressing and not much happens. I could stop there, but I know you want to know more. Read More »
Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs
I was excited about this book. I liked the first couple of seasons of the tv series Bones, and a big part of what I enjoyed was the character Temperance Brennan. I should have known the books would be different, and not in a way that I enjoyed. This is why I typically stay away from movie or tv versions of books, and I’ve got to say, I think this is the first time I enjoyed the tv version better. Read More »
Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell
I’ve never read a Corwell novel, but I see them everywhere in the supermarket, airport, bookstores. I understand that she is extremely popular and though I enjoy mysteries, I’ve never felt compelled to read her stuff. Cruel and Unusual came from bin of free books that my little brother dropped off for me. Read More »
Stalker by Faye Kellerman
I’ve never read a Faye Kellerman book before. It isn’t what I would consider ‘my type of book,’ but I can’t say no to free and it looked like an easy and unchallenging read. That is probably the highest praise I can give this book, because it wasn’t compelling or exciting. This one turned out to be Meh. Read More »
The Clinic by Jonathan Kellerman
This was another free book from my brother’s bargain book hunting. I’d just read one of Kellerman’s wife’s books and decided I should decide who was the better writer. I hadn’t been terribly impressed with Faye Kellerman’s book, but Jonathan Kellerman had an interesting spin on the suspense novel. Read More »
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
I have been a vocal fan of the Flavia de Luce novels since I read the first. I’ve been deeply invested in the mystery and watching the characters unfold, but I must say this last book was challenging to me. Not because it wasn’t well written. Not because Flavia didn’t get up to her usual mischief. Not because some questions weren’t finally answered. What I found disconcerting was that I am not sure I like where the series is going. Read More »
The Fault of the Apple by Frederic Wakeman
I am not sure where or how this book came into my possession. I seem to remember a yard sale somewhere. My copy is a hardback without a dust jacket, and the beautiful binding makes it look very intriguing. Yet another case of not judging a book by its cover, because this book hit the trifecta of awful. Read More »
Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
Hmmm… I am still on the fence about this book, and the grade that I gave it. Truly, it hovered between the B-/C+ range. This is another of my little brother’s gift books from his bargain book hunting. Read More »
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
I’ve never been a reader of Stephen King books. I have read various articles that King wrote about both reading and writing, and I’ve found those interesting, but my attempts at reading his books while I was in high school didn’t make me a lifelong fan. Read More »
Critical Conditions by Stephen White
I’ve never read anything that Stephen White had written before. This little gem came into my hands via my brother who got a bin full of books for me from some sort of heavily discounted sale. This isn’t a book I would have selected to read on my own, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. White’s series follows Alan Gregory a clinical psychologist who gets involved in all sorts of bizarre criminal cases/situations. Read More »
The Battle for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
The third and final book in the WondLa trilogy was a sweet little read. Though much was predictable, clearly Eva Nine is going to triumph, but it was an interesting journey. Read More »
The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
I was unaware that this book was the highly anticipated sequel to Sacred Hunger. It only took 12 years to follow-up so I am sure fans of the original book might differ from me in their opinions of the book. Sacred Hunger follows a slave ship and talks a lot about greed, apparently. Well, at least if wikipedia is to be believed. Read More »
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
I seem to be burning through these fiction selections that my younger brother got for me. Pigs in Heaven is not a book that would have appealed to me, or that I would have chosen on my own. But as a free book, what a nice addition. A note, this is actually not the first book in a series of books about a lot of the same people so… proceed with caution. Read More »
The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith
This book was… just disappointing in many ways. It was worse than meh, but not quite the most horrible thing I’ve ever read. Ringing endorsement, I know. Read More »
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
I am surprised that I’d never heard of this book before I read it. It won some awards and sold well, but the first time I saw it was when my little brother dropped of a bin full of books he’d purchased for me at one of those bookstores going out of business sales. Read More »
A Hero For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
I almost feel like I should have re-read The Search for WondLa before reading this sequel as it takes up the action where the other book left off. Read More »
V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
Another Kinsey Millhone mystery and the series is winding down. It seems that Grafton has decided to stick with telling the narrative from various points of view. I enjoy this, as sometime Kinsey is a bit too cute a narrator for my taste. Read More »
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
In this installment in the Alphabet Series, Kinsey Millhone gets roped into investigating a possible body dump that happened twenty years ago. Michael Sutton shows up at Kinsey’s office and begs her to investigate a cold case kidnapping/murder. He claims that he has had triggered memories and Kinsey believes him until she realizes Michael Sutton is a highly impressionable young man who once accused his father of sexual abuse, then recanted, but not before destroying his entire family. So Sutton isn’t the most reliable source. Read More »
A Body to Die For by Kate White
Apparently this is the second book in a series, but it came to me free so I dove right in. I guess I have been spoiled by great mystery writers (Tana French, Alan Bradley) or really fun mystery writers (Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich), because White’s effort fell flat. Read More »
The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith
This is the sixth installment in Smith’s 44 Scotland Street Series. I recommend reading these books as a series, and not as stand alone novels. I enjoyed this book immensely and particularly enjoyed Smith’s note to the reader at the beginning of the book. He speaks about the title, The Importance of Being Seven. Bertie, one of our main characters is almost seven. Smith tries to capture that feeling of wanting something very much (to be seven, in Bertie’s case) and not quite being there. Read More »
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
I have taken a significant amount of time off of the the 44 Scotland Street Series, not because I don’t love them, but because they are that particular brand of warm comfort that one remembers when one needs a nice little read that leave the reader feeling uplifted. If you are unfamiliar with the series, please ignore this review straight away and start at the beginning. You will thank me. Read More »
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
This is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series. One has to kind of feel for Stephanie as a heroine because she tries to be tough, but she just isn’t tough enough. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood
It is no secret that I have been a fan of this series of books. Sadly, this is the fourth book meaning there are only two more to go. When I think about where these books could be taking me, I get excited, and that is exactly what books should do.