Review: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller

In October last year, I read many reviews of The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller. Carey, at The Tome Traveller, Traci, at Traci's Book Bag, Amy at The Friendly Book Nook, and Jennifer at The Literate Housewife Review all raved about the book. They convinced me to add it to my tbr list. However the library in Indiana didn't have it at the time so I was excited to see the library here in Ohio had it. It's a good one!

Summary: Criminal defense attorney Harrison J. Walker, better known as Jaywalker, has just been suspended for using "creative" tactics and receiving "gratitude" in the courtroom stairwell from a client charged with prostitution. Convincing the judge that his other clients are counting on him, Jaywalker is allowed to complete ten cases. But it's the last case that truly tests his abilities — and his acquittal record.

Samara Moss — young, petite and sexy as hell — stabbed her husband in the heart. Or so everyone believes. Having married the elderly billionaire when she was an eighteen-year-old former prostitute, Samara appears to be the cliched gold digger. But Jaywalker knows all too well that appearances can be deceiving. Who else could have killed the billionaire? Has Samara been framed? Or is Jaywalker just driven by his need to win his clients' cases — and this particular client's undying gratitude?

This is Joseph Teller's first book. You can tell he is a lawyer and yet is able to weave a great story. It's a very simple whodunit - did she or didn't she. All the evidence is found early and it's just a matter of figuring out what could have happened. What makes it so interesting are the main characters Jaywalker and Sam. They have a unique relationship as well as being very strong, defined characters. Why is Jaywalker drawn to her? Is this a winnable case? Did she or didn't she? Why would someone frame her? These questions and many more are what drive the page turning.

As a veteran reader of crime dramas and mysteries, there were some parts of the book that slowed and, in my opinion, were unnecessary. He puts in some transcript-like parts of the trial - but sometimes the flow doesn't work well, or I would have rather had a different part as a transcript and summarize some of the parts he used great detail on.

But I enjoyed the book overall and am looking forward to the next Jaywalker book, Bronx Justice, that just came out in April. I recommend reading the other reviews and checking out The Tenth Case for yourself!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: Life Sentences by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman is one of my favorite authors! She has a fun writing style and brings such life to her characters. Her latest book, Life Sentences, is no exception.

Summary: Author Cassandra Fallows has achieved remarkable success by baring her life on the page. Her two widely popular memoirs continue to sell briskly, acclaimed for their brutal, unexpurgated candor about friends, family, lovers—and herself. But now, after a singularly unsuccessful stab at fiction, Cassandra believes she may have found the story that will enable her triumphant return to nonfiction.

When Cassandra was a girl, growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, her best friends were all black: elegant, privileged Donna; sharp, shrewd Tisha; wild and worldly Fatima. A fifth girl orbited their world—a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins—who, years later, would be accused of killing her infant son. Yet the boy's body was never found and Calliope's unrelenting silence on the subject forced a judge to jail her for contempt. For seven years, Calliope refused to speak and the court was finally forced to let her go. Cassandra believes this still unsolved real-life mystery, largely unknown outside Baltimore, could be her next bestseller.

But her homecoming and latest journey into the past will not be welcomed by everyone, especially by her former friends, who are unimpressed with Cassandra's success—and are insistent on their own version of their shared history. And by delving too deeply into Calliope's dark secrets, Cassandra may inadvertently unearth a few of her own—forcing her to reexamine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates a mother's pain, a father's betrayal . . . and what really transpired on a terrible day that changed not only a family but an entire country.

When I said Ms. Lippman brings life to her characters, I didn't mean that I liked all the characters. This is true for Cassandra. I never really connected with her and she would not be a friend of mine. But the fact that I know this to me means she is very real, vibrant, and annoying. :-) The supporting cast of characters including Cassandra's childhood friends were quite interesting.

This book has alot to do with childhood memories or really, memories in general. How real are they? How close to the truth are our memories? Cassandra confronts a variety of memories that she thinks are true but turn out to maybe not be exactly as she remembers. But does that make them less true to her? Or to the other folks with memories of the same event? It made me think about my memories of childhood - how many things do I remember just because of a picture or because someone else told me about it later?

My favorite Laura Lippman books would be the series she has written about private detective Tess Monaghen. Life Sentences is a stand-alone and is not even my favorite of hers among those. The story dragged a little in parts. And, honestly, probably my dislike of Cassandra doesn't help my rating. However this is an interesting book - a look at people with a little whodunit type of mystery thrown in. I do recommend reading it. You might even learn a few new words. If you don't read this one, definitely go find another Laura Lippman book - you won't be disappointed.

Review: Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

After waiting longer than I planned, I finally was able to get my hands on a copy of Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani. I have read all of her books and was excited to read this new one.

Summary: Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani's millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected.

Ms. Trigiani has a unique way of creating real characters that I can just feel when I read them. They are so identifiable and faulted and fun. I love LOVE the grandma and was tickled to get to know her and her choices. I wanted to hug and/or smack around Valentine throughout the book, depending on what was going on. Even the smaller character profiles are so fun - I laughed multiple times at Valentine's mom and her comments.

The book walks us through the process of hand-making shoes and all that entails. It also includes detailed descriptions of the places the story takes place. As you all know, I am not a fan of detailed descriptions. LOL So I did skip paragraphs here and there. But those of you who feel compelled to learn while you read - you will love these descriptions. What I did read was quite interesting and if I was a different person, would have enjoyed learning about how to make shoes. :-)

Overall, Big Stone Gap is still my favorite Adriana Trigiani book. But Very Valentine was quite enjoyable. It's the first of a new trilogy and I am looking forward to reading the next one!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke is the latest in a fun, light mystery series. I have enjoyed all of this series - makes me smile and enjoy figuring out the 'whodunit' along with sleuth and cookie maven Hannah.

Summary: Between baking up a storm for The Cookie Jar and unravelling the mystery of her cat Moishe's recent strange behaviour, Hannah Swensen has a lot on her plate. But she'll always make time for her business partner, Lisa, who's in the midst of preparing for a big family reunion. Everyone is delighted when Lisa's long-lost uncle makes a surprise appearance. No one has heard from Gus in twenty-five years. Uncle Gus is immediately the hit of the reunion. He's almost as popular as Hannah's scrumptious carrot cake, which is also Gus' favourite dessert. But the next morning, as the whole family gathers for the group photo, one person is missing. Hannah offers to track down Uncle Gus, but her search leads to a shocking find. Over by the bar at the pavilion, she spots two slices of her infamous carrot cake, frosting-side down on the floor - and Gus' corpse with an ice pick jutting out of his chest!Now Hannah's got to sift through a long list of suspects to find a killer - even if it could mean a recipe for her own demise...

This book, like the others in the series, is not hard-core mystery. It's not real deep but it does have a number of facets. The characters are fun, developed over the course of the series and not so much in each book. I look forward to reading this series just as much as some of the other 'bigger name' mystery series. And the bonus is that she includes cookie and other baking recipes that are mentioned in the book. My family has enjoyed quite a few of these recipes over the years.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Chop Shop by Tim Downs

One of the exciting things about moving is that the new library has different books than the old one. My old library did not have a copy of Chop Shop by Tim Downs, but the new one does. And that made me happy! Chop Shop is the second book in the 'Bug Man' series which started with Shoo Fly Pie [my review].

Summary: An autopsy room is where secrets are revealed...or buried.

Young Dr. Riley McKay has worked hard toward her career in pathology-and now she has secured a fellowship at the renowned Allegheny County Coroner's Office in Pittsburgh. But her promising future is threatened when suspicious activities incriminate her supervising pathologist, Dr. Nathan Lassiter. Bungled autopsies, concealed evidence, and unexplained wounds accumulate at an alarming rate. When Riley is ignored by her seniors and threatened by Dr. Lassiter, she turns in desperation to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her uncover the truth.

From a handful of tiny maggots, Nick and Riley begin to unearth the facts, and together they discover that these blunders are not accidents but part of a larger evil that threatens their very lives.

My mental picture of Dr. Nick Polchak is quite fun - large, teddy bear type man with the thickest glasses and oddest looking eyes ever. And yet people are drawn to him. I definitely would like to meet him. Okay, maybe I wouldn't want to see all his bug friends, but he would be very interesting to talk with.

The concept of this book is quite easily believable. I won't give it away, but on top of being very intriguing, the book also made me think.

This mystery series is quite 'clean' for the genre. No swearing, sex, etc. Obviously, there is killing. :-) I definitely recommend that folks who enjoy mysteries read these books. I am looking forward to picking up the next in the series - First the Dead.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Professors' Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell

Last year, I added Professors' Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell to my list of book club ideas. This addition was based on a recommendation from Julie at Booking Mama. My LOLAs book club added it to this year's schedule. And even though I am no longer local to the LOLAs (boohoo), I am trying to read what they read.

I am glad I did!

Summary: A debut novel about the intertwining lives of college faculty wives.

Nestled among Manhattan University’s faculty housing, there is a garden where four women will meet—each with a scandalous secret that could upset their lives, destroy their families, and rock the prestigious university to its very core.

With its maple trees, iron gate, and fence laced with honeysuckle, Manhattan U’s garden offers faculty wives Mary, Sofia, Ashleigh, and Hannah much needed refuge from their problems. But as Mary’s husband, the power-hungry dean, plans to demolish their beloved garden, these four women will discover a surprising secret about a lost Edgar Allan Poe manuscript—and realize they must find the courage to stand up for their passions, dreams, and desires.

I enjoyed these ladies! They were quite interesting, had real issues within their marriages and their lives, and I could easily see them as being people that I know. I especially could relate to the beginning when they meet - they've all used this small garden for quite some time but always keeping to themselves until one day... How many things do I do that I never actually talk to anyone while I am doing them? (Not so much now in the new place as I am desparate to meet new folks! LOL) But really. How many times have I gone to the grocery or the park with my kids, taken a book and just read, not talking to those around me. Or even soccer practice, for that matter. Anyway, I digress from the review...

This book is one where you want to know more of what happens 'after'. I could see them all growing throughout the book and wonder how that will affect their future selves. I definitely recommend reading The Professors Wives Club. I need to find out what the LOLAs thought of it!

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Sweet Waters: An Otter Bay Novel by Julie Carobini

My latest book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program, Sweet Waters by Julie Carobini was okay.

Summary: There’s nothing left for Tara Sweet in landlocked Dexton, Missouri. Her fiancé called off their wedding, her sister is moving to Manhattan, and now her mother is marrying a much younger man with plans for a yearlong honeymoon in Europe. Tara believes a move back to her childhood home of Otter Bay, California, will help restore the fun and fearlessness she’s already missing in her twenties. Playing back memories of idyllic times spent there with her father along the majestic coast, a fairytale seems just around the corner.

Better make that a soap opera. After Tara finds a job in Otter Bay, makes friends at The Red Abalone Grill, and perhaps even a new flame in firefighter Josh, she begins to uncover shocking secrets about why her family left this heaven on earth all those years ago. And though she will have to question everything she has ever known, the faith that Tara must depend upon will be sweeter than ever before.

I am not much of a romance reader, but I do love a good story about women overcoming and women friendships. (And plenty of my mystery and other favorite books have romance in them.) This book had elements of both but didn't really make me 'feel' the connections. I enjoyed the characters and felt they were quite interesting and real. But the story just didn't compel me, if that makes sense.

The story has some Christian elements in it which do fit well with the story. The book is labeled in different spots as romance, christian fiction, and women's fiction. I think all those fit. The book will be available in August of this year.

If there are other opinions out there about this book, especially folks that enjoyed it more than I did, I'd love to link to them to give other perspectives. Let me know.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: 14 by J.T. Ellison

Last summer I read lots of books recommended by J.Kaye and was not disappointed in any of them. One of my favorites was a book from first-time novelist J.T. Ellison - All the Pretty Girls (my review). The second in the series, 14, came out earlier this year and I loved it!

Summary: Ten victims, each with pale skin and long dark hair. All have been slashed across the throat, the same red lipstick smeared across their lips.

In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from the killer to the police stated that his work was done.

Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature. The residents of Nashville fear a madman has returned, decades later, to finish his sick fairy tale. Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson believes the killings are the work of a copycat killer who's even more terrifying. For this monster is meticulously honing his craft as he mimics famous serial murders…proving that the past is not to be forgotten.

This was a very detailed, interesting plot that had me guessing throughout. Even when the killer is revealed to the reader but not yet to the lieutenant, there's so much drama and intrigue it kept me glued to the book. Quite fascinating, really.

My one, small, beef with the book was the predictability of the kidnapping near the end and the resolution of that - kind of unrealistic. Not enough of an issue to affect my enjoyment.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: The Associate by John Grisham

I have been a John Grisham fan from the beginning. I have read all of his books and thoroughly enjoyed each one. I do have my favorites as you can imagine. His latest book, The Associate, will not make my list of favorites as it wasn't quite up to his normal standards, but it was still an enjoyable book.

Summary: Kyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential.

But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn’t want—even though it’s a job most law students can only dream about.

Three months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is expected to lie, steal, and take part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.

With an unforgettable cast of characters and villains—from Baxter Tate, a drug-addled trust fund kid and possible rapist, to Dale, a pretty but seemingly quiet former math teacher who shares Kyle’s “cubicle” at the law firm, to two of the most powerful and fiercely competitive defense contractors in the country—and featuring all the twists and turns that have made John Grisham the most popular storyteller in the world, The Associate is vintage Grisham.

It was a page turner. It had great potential with interesting characters. However it felt more like a new writer who didn't quite know how to flesh it all out wrote the book. The ending was a bit anti-climatic. But, I still enjoyed the book. It was good but not great as expected.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein

The latest in the Alexandra Cooper series, Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein, is a good one. I definitely enjoyed the characters as much as the mystery story. Last fall I read the previous novel in the series, Killer Heat (my review), and I enjoyed this latest book more.

Summary: When Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is summoned to Tina Barr’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she finds a neighbor convinced that the young woman was assaulted. But the terrified victim, a conservator of rare books and maps, refuses to cooperate with investigators. Then another woman is found murdered in that same apartment with an extremely valuable book, believed to have been stolen. As Alex pursues the murderer, she is drawn into the strange and privileged world of the Hunt family, major benefactors of the New York Public Library and passionate rare book collectors.

Eventually Alex connects their internal family rivalries to a priceless edition of Alice in Wonderland, which also contains the world’s oldest map. Would one of the well-bred Hunts be willing to kill for the treasures? The search for the answer takes Alex and her team on a breathtaking chase from Manhattan’s grandest apartments to the secret tunnels and chambers of the New York Public Library, and finally to a nineteenth-century underground vault. There, in the pitch-black darkness, Alex comes face-to-face with the killer who values money more than life.

I still recommend starting at the beginning of this series because it's such a good series. The characters are rich, the stories intense and interesting, and Ms. Fairstein keeps you guessing throughout. Start with Final Jeopardy. You want to know why you didn't read her books before.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: Blown Coverage by Jason Elam

Blown Coverage by Jason Elam came to me via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. The book contains some of my favorite things: NFL football, mystery, intrigue and ties them together with Christian fiction elements.

Summary: Linebacker Riley Covington returns to another season of mini-camp for the Colorado Mustangs just as a wave of terrorist attacks begin to occur across the country. Sleeper cells are being awakened--likely by the leader of the Cause, who has recently escaped from captivity and is coordinating attacks not only on America but also on Riley and his loved ones. As Jim Hicks, Scott Ross, and the rest of the Counterterrorism Division follow leads in Europe, Riley goes on the offensive to draw out his attackers. But can the Cause be stopped before they're able to reach their ultimate goal?

I enjoyed this story. It was a good plot, interesting characters and some intensity. Not the best in any of those categories, however it's a good, solid book. This is the second in the series but I didn't feel like I was missing information. I am interested in going back and reading the first one. Sounds like it was a good story.

One thing I did not like about this book was it's treatment of Muslims. All but one Muslim in this book was a terrorist, mostly as a sleeper in the US. I realize these folks are needed for the story-line, but it leaves the reader (or at least me) with the impression the author thinks all Muslims in the US are sleepers. Which I know not to be the case and hope the author didn't mean to imply.

I recommend this book to folks who like a good mystery, intrigue story. It's not a preachy Christian book, but does talk about Christians and Muslims.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Review: Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

When I saw that the sequel to Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs was coming out last fall, I was excited to read it. I remember enjoying reading FNKC and bonding with the characters. Now that I am getting back into reading after the move, I was able to read Knit Two.

The story starts off about five years after the ending of FNKC. Here's the summary: KNIT TWO returns to Walker and Daughter, the Manhattan knitting store founded by Georgia Walker and her young daughter, Dakota. Dakota is now an eighteen-year-old freshman at NYU, running the little yarn shop part-time with help from the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club.

Drawn together by the sense of family the club has created, the knitters rely on one another as they struggle with new challenges: for Catherine, finding love after divorce; for Darwin, the hope for a family; for Lucie, being both a single mom and a caregiver for her elderly mother; and for seventysomething Anita, a proposal of marriage from her sweetheart, Marty, that provokes the objections of her grown children.

As the club’s projects—an afghan, baby booties, a wedding coat—are pieced together, so is their understanding of the patterns underlying the stresses and joys of being mother, wife, daughter, and friend. Because it isn’t the difficulty of the garment that makes you a great knitter: it’s the care and attention you bring to the craft—as well as how you adapt to surprises.

Sounds yummy, right?

For me, it didn't quite do all that was promised in the description. Yes, the story was interesting. Yes, the characters all are fairly real, well-defined, doing normal things. Yes, there is some knitting (not that I am a knitter) and some bonding. Yes, I wanted to know how it all turned out. But it all was kind of meh.

I wasn't drawn into the story emotionally. I didn't feel what the characters were feeling. It was more just facts to me. When I read books like these - what I call women's group fiction - I want to BE a part of the group. I want to end the story all happy or sad. I want to be wishing those were my friends. Or that I have a tight group of 4, 6, 8 or whatever friends that do life together. (Yes, I have friends, good ones, but you know what I mean.)

With Knit Two, none of that happened for me. I don't have any great need to find out what happens next. I ended the book thinking 'So what?'. I was disappointed that I didn't feel it.

When I added this book to my LibraryThing library, I looked up Friday Night Knitting Club. I read it in 2007, pre-blog, so I don't have any thoughts written down. I gave it 4/5 stars, which surprised me. In my memory (which is definitely suspect, as we all know), I thoroughly enjoyed FNKC. I do distinctly remember crying and wanting to learn to knit. But apparently even the first book wasn't a top read for me.

I think I am in the minority of not absolutely loving this book. Here are other reviews: Dar at Peeking Between the Pages, Bookreporter, Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelf, A Circle of Books.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I went to a book club at my new library on Tuesday night. They've been meeting for over ten years! I hadn't quite finished the book but was able to participate in the discussion anyway. I finished the book Wednesday night, understanding even more of the conversation at the book club. I think it even helped me enjoy it more.

The book we read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I had picked this up a few months ago to read but coudn't get into it. Attending the new book club (and meeting people!) was my motivation to try again. I'm glad I did!

The story is narrated by Death. Death is neither good nor evil, it just is. Death normally doesn't pay attention to the living - trying to focus on the souls gathered and the colors they provide. The setting is Germany leading up to and including World War II. Thus, Death is quite busy. But Death has three encounters with Liesel Meminger, the Book Thief, during that time frame.

Liesel lives with her foster family. Her brother dies on the train during the trip to the foster family. At his funeral she picks up a book that falls from the grave digger's pocket. Death witnesses this theft. The thing is, Liesel can't read. Death continues her story of how Liesel learns to read, to love words, to love people, living a very hard life in Nazi Germany. Throw in a Jewish man hiding in the basement, the war, an accordian-playing foster father and it's quite a story.

Author Markus Zusak has written other books that are all categorized as young adult fiction. The Book Thief is also categorized young adult in the United States. While I think teens would definitely enjoy and learn from this story, I think the young adult designation may do the book a bit of a disservice. Some people just discount all young adult books in general - not a good choice, imo, but true nonetheless. And those folks are definitely going to miss out on a very good book by it being classified as young adult.

One warning I have for the book - the beginning is confusing. At least it was for me. I think that's why the first time I picked it up I didn't get very far. It's difficult at first to understand how Death talks, to know what it all means. I'm telling you to push through it. It will get better and you will get to read a unique book that will keep you thinking. And you will definitly enjoy it!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs has been one of my favorite authors for many years. I don't remember when I started reading her books, but her first book, Deja Dead, was published in 1997. I am sure it wasn't long after that when I started reading her books. They are great mysteries with a flawed but wonderful main character in Temperance Brennan.

Tempe is a forensic anthropologist who works with two medical examiner's offices - one in Charlotte, North Carolina and one in Montreal, Quebec.

Devil Bones is the 11th in this series of mysteries. In this book, Tempe has to deal with bones found in a cauldron of an abandoned home; a headless boy found next to a river; an extremist councilman creating hate and fear of the unknown; her daughter playing matchmaker; a disgusting yet effective detective; and missing her non-boyfriend. And that's not all! Kathy Reichs does an excellent job of weaving all these together in a believable story that sucks you in and hold tight until the end.

If some of my description sounds familiar but you haven't read any of Kathy Reichs books, it's because the FOX tv show BONES is based on this series of books. I have not ever watched the series (which my mother finds amazing). I've resisted watching for multiple reasons. One is that I already have enough shows that I watch!

But more because I was afraid that it wouldn't be as good as the books are for me. You know when you have created this whole set of people in your head, there's just no way someone else can imagine it as well. (Thus also why I tend to not see books-to-movies.) However, at the end of Devil Bones, there's a Q&A with author Kathy Reichs, including questions about BONES. She described the show as occuring before the book series starts. That this younger Tempe is not yet working with the dual offices and has not yet met the future non-boyfriend. Her comments have got me re-thinking my avoidance of the show and I may start watching it. I'd love to know if there are folks out there that enjoy both the books and the tv show.

I highly recommend this series and this latest book, Devil Bones. If you are a mystery series lover and haven't read any Kathy Reichs, I suggest you start with Deja Dead and go forward. All are great and work wonderful together. If you just want to read a good mystery, pick up any of the books in the series. They are all written, in my opinion, with minimal need for the previous books. Obviously there will be some character references that are missing if you haven't read the earlier books, but the mystery will not be diminished by them.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: The Gate House by Nelson DeMille

I received The Gate House by Nelson DeMille from Miriam at Hachette Books near the end of 2008. In all the moving and such, I didn't get a chance to read it until now.

This was my first Nelson DeMille book. Here's the description from the author's website: When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant. Taking up temporary residence in the gatehouse of Stanhope Hall, John finds himself living only a quarter of a mile from Susan who has also returned to Long Island. But Susan isn't the only person from John's past who has reemerged: Though Frank Bellarosa, infamous Mafia don and Susan's ex-lover, is long dead, his son, Anthony, is alive and well, and intent on two missions: Drawing John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa family, and exacting revenge on his father's murderer--Susan Sutter. At the same time, John and Susan's mutual attraction resurfaces and old passions begin to reignite, and John finds himself pulled deeper into a familiar web of seduction and betrayal. In THE GATE HOUSE, acclaimed author Nelson Demille brings us back to that fabled spot on the North Shore -- a place where past, present, and future collides with often unexpected results.

This book is a sequel to The Gold Coast but I didn't know that until I was far into the book. There were plenty of flashbacks and information included about the back story that I did not need to have read the first book. In fact, I wonder if I had read it, would it have been too much 'remembering'.

I thought the story was very slow starting. Probably the entire first half of the book could have been edited into about a third of what was written. It wasn't bad enough that I wanted to put it down, but definitely dragged. However, once the action started, it moved well, was interesting and kept me completely hooked.

It's not your typical 'who-dun-it' mystery - there's never any question about what happened. But it's more of a question on what will be the consequences.

One other thing about the book - I didn't quite like the main character, John Sutter. He was quite arrogant, snobby and just plain rude. More so than would be necessary for the book, in my opinion. Course, I'm sure there are guys out there just like him.

I am giving the book a 3.5/5 stars rating. If you've read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book.

Review: Breathing Out the Ghost by Kirk Curnutt

I have a book that an author signed for me! Kirk Curnutt signed his book to me, Michele and even wrote me a little note! Isn't that cool? I feel like I've won some award! LOL (Yes, I am a dork!) I read Mr. Curnutt's book, Breathing Out the Ghost, as part of his TLC Book Tour. I enjoyed it!

Summary from his website: Colin St. Claire is on a dangerous mission. His young son is missing, and he is on a self-appointed quest to find the boy, or at least find the man he believes is responsible. Fueled by uppers and a profound lack of sleep, Colin’s road soon becomes an uncontrollable spiral of blurry white lines, of fleeting forms in the night, ghosts of memory as intangible as vapor . . . Assisting him is Robert Heim, a former private investigator who lost his license in the line of duty—and it is a sense of warped duty that still ties him to Colin, though his own family, a loving wife and children, beckons him back home . . . The answers for both men may lie not with the man they believe is the perpetrator, but with a long-suffering farmer’s wife, Beverly “Sis” Pruitt, whose own daughter was claimed by violence, years prior.

In the shape of a noir thriller, Curnutt fashions a gripping tale of the consequences of unchecked grief, of painful truths hidden as though they were dark secrets, and what salvation remains possible for good men who enter the darkness and become the ghosts they are chasing.

I had to read it in spurts - partly because of my crazy life at the moment, but also because it felt like a book that I could only take a little bit at a time. I've thought about that since and not really sure what it was about the writing that made me read it that way, but I am not really sure. There were parts that were hard to read - one of the fellows that we hear his POV was a little crazy, so he tended to rant and ramble.

I thought the book was going to be a mystery - what happened to the little boy and why - but it really wasn't. It was more a look at how different people handle life's stresses, specifically child tragedies. The book was not really about 'figuring it out' but more about the people dealing with things never being figured out. To me, the ending left some things unresolved and as a mystery fan, I didn't like that.

It was set just about 30 minutes from me, in Shelbyville, Indiana. That was really cool. I recognized road names and such - another fun part of the book for me.

Overall, I liked the book, but obviously not the content. I clearly did not want to think about a missing child, especially as it would get me thinking about what I would do if one of my kids went missing or something worse.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday: The Associate

Waiting on Wednesday is a way to showcase books that are not yet released but I am excited to see they are coming out. It's hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Later this month, John Grisham is coming out with a new book! It's called The Associate. I have thoroughly LOVED all of John Grisham's books and I am sure this one will be just a good. I need to get moved so I can get the library card at the new place - need to put this on hold!

Summary (from Amazon): Kyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential.

But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn’t want—even though it’s a job most law students can only dream about.

Three months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is expected to lie, steal, and take part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.

With an unforgettable cast of characters and villains—from Baxter Tate, a drug-addled trust fund kid and possible rapist, to Dale, a pretty but seemingly quiet former math teacher who shares Kyle’s “cubicle” at the law firm, to two of the most powerful and fiercely competitive defense contractors in the country—and featuring all the twists and turns that have made John Grisham the most popular storyteller in the world, THE ASSOCIATE is vintage Grisham.

Top Reads of 2008

I read 101 books in 2008. That's only a few more than the 95 I read in 2007. I had issues in the fall both years - maybe I should stop blaming my different life stressors and just realize that the fall is a hard time for me! LOL

Listed below are all my 5 star ratings in my library for the year 2008. I broke them up into a few categories. Since the biggest genre of books I read is mystery/thrillers I made that it's own category. But just because you don't generally like mysteries, it doesn't mean you won't find something you like there. They are listed in the order that I read them, so the early ones don't have blog reviews (blog started in May).

If you've read any of these, let me know your thoughts. If you have a top reads list of 2008, I'd love to add it or link to it at the bottom. Let me know!





Non-fiction
+ Mission Possible: Wonderful story of God and a Wyclife Translater in the Jungles of Papua, New Guinea - Marilyn Laszlo
+ Mistaken Identity - Don and Susie Van Ryn [my review]
+ The Oxford Project [my review]

Mysteries/Thrillers
+ Strangers in Death - J.D. Robb
+ The Appeal - John Grisham
+ T is for Trespass - Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone series - LOVE it!)
+ Takeover - Lisa Black [my review]
+ Beyond Reach - Karin Slaughter (Sara Linton/Jeffrey Tolliver series) [my review]
+ No Time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay [my review]
+ The Accident Man - Tom Cain [my review]
+ Say Goodbye - Lisa Gardner [my review]
+ Fractured - Karin Slaughter [my review]
+ The Darker Side - Cody McFadyen [my review]
+ The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly [my review]
+ Triptych - Karin Slaughter [my review]

General Fiction
+ Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner (Book 2 of These is My Words - top read in 2007)
+ The Star Garden - Nancy E. Turner (Book 3 of These is My Words series)
+ Dominion - Randy Alcorn [my review]
+ Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart [my review]
+ Love Walked In - Marisa de los Santos [my review]
+ The Lace Reader - Brunonia Barry [my review]
+ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows [my review]

Review: Fault Line by Barry Eisler

I don't think I've mentioned lately how much I enjoy participating in LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I have received quite a few very good books from that program and am always excited to get another one. I got Fault Line by Barry Eisler from the November batch of books. I received it quickly and definitely enjoyed reading it.

Summary: In Silicon Valley, the eccentric inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in an apparent carjacking. In Istanbul, a cynical undercover operative receives a frantic call from his estranged younger brother. When Alex Treven, a patent lawyer who has been working for the inventor, is attacked in his apartment, he is convinced he is the target of a conspiracy, and his brother, Ben, is his only hope. Setting aside their differences, Alex and Ben come together to find out who is behind the attacks. They soon learn that forces in America and abroad are involved in a high-stakes struggle to take hold of the technology, and now both of their lives are in danger.

This book had me hooked from the first line. It reads: "The last thing Richard Hilzoy thought before the bullet entered his brain was, Things are really looking up." I think that's a great opening line.

The scenario of software being the cause of 'murder and mayhem' is new to me. But the thing is, now that I've read this book and thought about it, I can easily see it happening. So much of our world today revolves around computers, data, internet, communication - if part of that gets shut down, it would be hard to get lots of things done.

The back story for Alex and Ben was a bit weak but I am envisioning this becoming a series where more of that will be fleshed out. However, I totally believed their characters, reactions, emotions. Good characters that I would enjoy seeing more of in future stories.

The only drawback was the ending. While it was okay, it was a bit underwhelming, happening quickly and not quite in line with the mystery and drama of the rest of the story.

Overall, good story, glad I read it. Fault Lines comes out in March. Check out other Barry Eisler books at his website. I've not read any of his before but looks like there is a great series out there that folks love. Time to start a new series for me!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: The Beach House by Jane Green

Way back in June, I won The Beach House by Jane Green from S. Krishna's Books. It's been sitting in my book basket for months, calling my name. I have been so full of books that I have to read, that I haven't had time to read this one. Now that I have, I am bummed that I didn't read it earlier! It was definitely worth the wait!

Summary: Known in Nantucket as the crazy woman who lives in the rambling house atop the bluff, Nan doesn’t care what people think. At sixty-five-years old, her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, and her family has flown. If her neighbors are away, why shouldn’t she skinny dip in their swimming pools and help herself to their flowers? But when she discovers the money she thought would last forever is dwindling and she could lose her beloved house, Nan knows she has to make drastic changes.

So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach. Slowly, people start moving into the house, filling it with noise, with laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside-down.

The story line - people come together in the beach house of the crazy lady and all ends up good - was a bit predictable. But that did not keep me from thoroughly enjoying the characters and their stories.

The people in the book all were quite believable, well-developed and enjoyable. I did want to whack them upside the head a few times but I think that added to the realism.

I enjoyed how it all wrapped up. I highly recommend this book as a light, fun read for anyone who loves a good story.

Be sure to check out S. Krishna's review of the book too!
Rating: 4.5/5 stars