Sorry the reviews for the week ending on August 4 are
late. I was out of work for a week to
attend a family funeral and I am only now getting caught up. This week was our busiest week. Fifteen reviewers read 38 books! And again, they were all across the board in fiction
genres and in non-fiction topics. The
reading choices of this community are as diverse as its population!
This week, there were two books that were read by more than
one reader; both were murder mysteries: The first was Say Nothing by Brad Parks. Reader
1 gave it 5 stars but did not write a review – Reader 2 just said “very
good.” The other repeat was Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel
McMillan. Reader 1 gave it only 3 stars
but the second reader gave it 5 stars and said, “A mystery novel set in 1930’s
Boston. The author manages to describe
both the trials and struggles of the Depression as well as the glitz and glamour
left over from the 1920’s flapper-era nightclubs. The first half of the novel is a delightful
character study and sets the scene for the mystery in the second half.”
Several other well received murder mysteries were reviewed
this week: Murder Must Advertise – Dorothy Sayers
(5+¯) “Traditional
who-done-it. An aristocrat goes
undercover at a British Advertising firm after the suspicious death of an
employee. Was it a disgruntled
co-worker? A jilted lover? An angry relative? A violent drug dealer? The author keeps the reader in suspense
throughout with plenty of clues and red herrings. Highly recommended.”
Tombstone Courage
– J. A. Jance (5¯)
“The newly elected sheriff must hit the ground running. When called out to a murder site on her first
day, a skeleton is discovered beneath the body.
Now she must investigate two murders at the same location – decades
apart. The sheriff must delve into
well—guarded family secrets to uncover the truth. Highly recommended.”
The Escape – David
Baldacci (5¯)
“Love his work. Always a good read.”
The Couple Next Door -
Shari Lopez (NR) “Excellent cliffhanger.
Keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
After Anna – Lisa Scottoline (5¯) “Really good, fast paced book. It was hard to put it down!”
There were a few more mystery thrillers that did not get as high a
rating, but there is no way to know if their ratings are comparable. :
The President is
Missing – James Patterson and Bill Clinton (4¯)
“The ending seemed like a political speech.
I was disappointed in the beginning – Paterson usually grabs me right
away. I can read in a few days.”
The Ruin – Dervla McTiernan
(4¯) – No review
Shadow Prey – John
Sanford (3¯)
“A series of murders are committed using a Native American ceremonial
knife. As the killer(s) strike
throughout the country, the detectives must determine a pattern and discover
whether these are random serial killers or a well-organized ‘Holy War’ for
political reasons or revenge.”
Hummus and Homicide –
Tina Kashian (3¯)
“This was a light, fun cozy mystery. I
liked the family dynamics. (The protagonist is part of a close-knit
Armenian-American family). The action
centers around the family-owned restaurant where someone died after sampling
from the ‘hummus bar.’ The reveal of the
murderer was hidden pretty well and kept me guessing. The protagonist has two
suitors and that fun too.”
Also reviewed were general fiction, science fiction and
fantasy books and a collection of short stories:
Saving Grace – Jane
Green (NR) “Very good.”
Love the One You’re
With – Emily Griffin (5¯)
“Light reading. Good story line and not
too predictable. It’s about how a family survives after the loos of a
brother/friend but it is not sad.”
The Gift – Deb Stoner
(NR) – “Very thrilling sci-fi mystery novel.
Main character is very relatable.”
Shadow Bound – Erin
Kellison (NR) “Excellent science fiction novel.
Very compelling.”
The Oxford Inheritance
– A.A. McDonald (4¯)
“It starts off as a mystery set in Oxford, England, then careens full-tilt into
contemporary fantasy. It’s only okay,
largely indistinguishable from a lot of other novels.”
The Serpent’s Shadow
– Mercedes Lackey (3¯)
“A fun fantasy read, though the casual racism and exotifying of Hinduism was a
bit jarring and disrupted my immersement in the narrative. Set in early 20th century London,
the highlight was definitely the banter between the ‘twins.’
Things Fall Apart
– Chinua Achebe (4¯) “A
peek into African tribal life.”
Hotel on the Corner of
Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford (4¯)
“It’s a very touching book.”
Only one series of books was submitted this week – an unfinished
trilogy titled “Southern Kingdom” by Drew Jones. The reader said the first two installments, A Legend is Born and Queen’s Revenge, were “Excellent” and
she is anxiously waiting for number three.
Mr. Splitfoot – Samantha Hunt (5¯)
“This book is the essence of American Gothic literature encapsulated. It had excellent writing, and while the plot
had some unexpected twists, it was more rooted in evocative prose than lurid
gimmicks. The narrative is set largely
in upstate New York and weaves between past and present well.”
Awayland – Ramona Ausubel
(NR) “A collection of short stories set about the theme of ‘travel.’ My favorites were the ‘Animal Mummies,’ ‘Freshwater
for the Sea’ and ‘Departure Lounge.’ ‘Template
for a Proclamation to Save the Species’ was also quite funny, if overall
tragic. All the stories have a lingering
melancholy to them.”
The next four books were either submitted without reviews or
were only given a star-rating, but are by very familiar authors who are known
to write great books. . The
Beatle and Onyx and Crake, both
by Margaret Attwood, The Suspect by
James Patterson (5¯) and
Saints for All Occasions by J.
Courtney Sullivan (3¯),
the author who will be featured at this year’s author dinner on September 8 at
6:00 p.m. in the library. Tickets are on
sale now at https://www.sbpl.info/about/foundation/tickets/
The following five books are by Arundhati Roy, an Indian
writer whose first fiction novel, God of
Small Things, won the Booker Prize in 1997.
Roy has written a number of books, including the four non-fiction titles
reviewed here, about politics and the human condition. Roy is the recipient of the 2002 Lannan
Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize, the 2011 Norman Mailer Prize for
Distinguished Writing, and the 2015 Ambedkar Sudar award.
God of Small Things
- Arundhati Roy (5¯) “I
have read this book many times before but I keep seeming to come back to
it. The lush descriptions of Kerala’s
environment and the way the author plays with language set this book
apart. It empathetically details how
trauma can affect people and their near and dear ones.”
Capitalism: A Ghost
Story - Arundhati Roy (5¯)
“This is a short, but very dense text.
It shows how Capitalism in its current iteration marginalizes large
swathes of the population.”
Broken Republic - Arundhati
Roy (5¯) “A
collection of three essays exploring the failure of contemporary politics in
providing for and protecting people displaced by infrastructure development.”
Field Notes on
Democracy - Arundhati Roy (5¯)
“This is another collection of essays that intersperses pieces about the rebel
movements in Northern India with others that chronicle the efforts of the
government to tamp down on free speech and land rights in the name of
development.”
The Ordinary Person’s
Guide to Empire – Arundhati Roy (NR) “This text cross-examines the idea of ‘empire’
as demonstrated by the Bush administration and contemporary politicians in other
countries. She draws parallels with the
rhetoric used by said politicians (which is seeing a current resurgence) and
those used by empires read about in history books.”
Lastly, is the following small assortment of non-fiction titles
that were reviewed this week:
Lucifer Effect – Philip
Zimbardo (5¯) “This
book was very disturbing in its exploration of the human capacity for
evil. Zimbardo details the Stanford
Prison experiment he conducted, while providing the background for what
inspired his research into the dark heart of human nature. It has a hopeful chapter, though, where he
puts froth his ideas about what heroism means in the face of evil.”
How to Break Up with
Your Phone – Catherine Price (NR) “I liked the title of the book and that’s
how I borrowed this one. I liked the ‘you
can personalize the plan’ the author had mentioned in pages 76 – 78. I feel that everyone should read this book
and try the plan.” J
Eat Fat, Get Thin
– Mark Hyman (NR) – No review
What Would Dolly Do?
– Lauren Marino (NR) about Dolly Parton.
Quite an interesting variety of books this week; surely
there is something for everyone!
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