Silver Phoenix

I was drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover -- Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon.  It was a good fantasy adventure book that was easy to read.  I think many young adults will like it.  For me, though, I found it very predictable.  When the heroine has magical powers, no situation seems as dire because she just uses her powers to get out of each predicament.  The magic just seemed to make it easy to tell a story where the main characters consistently get into trouble because there's always a way to get them out.  The clothes, food, and magical cities and beings were very well described and Pon has created an intriguing fantasy world.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

What a great book.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson has been written about many times.  It has been very popular.  It's a long book, and doesn't draw you immediately in.  Since it was translated from Swedish, the references to Swedish culture, people, and places confused me at first.  But I decided that those details must not matter, otherwise this book wouldn't be so popular. 

The plot unfolds very slowly but the character development is fascinating (I know, it's not usual for me to like that sort of writing.)  I couldn't put the book down; I found myself thinking about what was going on and what could possibly be the outcome at times when I wasn't reading the book.  I grew to like the main characters, Blomkvist and Salander.  They are very unlikely characters to be in the same book, but the way their lives end up twined together is masterful.

My only complaint is that I thought there were some loose ends that I wish had been addressed by the end of the book.  I don't want to talk about specifics, because I don't want to spoil the book for anyone else. Give this one a try.  Give it 50 to 100 pages before you decide . . .

Lament

A good (not great) Twilight-type book is Lament by Maggie Stiefvater.  This is a book about fairies, not vampires, but still has some tension and romance.  I thought it was entertaining and fairly well-written.  It is the first in a series called The Faerie Queen's  Deception.  The second in the series is called Ballad.

Death of an Expert Witness

I finished P.D. James Death of an Expert Witness.  It took me a while.  It was a good book-- kind of a classic.  James gets rave reviews as a mystery writer.  I must admit, I never knew who did it until about the last 10 pages, which is a good thing.  The book is very "literary."  Every character and scene is meticulously described.  I decided you just have to enjoy the process of reading and the rhythm of her descriptions.  Remember, I'm a plot person, so sometimes I become impatient.  I've heard of this book for a long time (it was written in 1977) and not long ago read a positive review of it, so I decided it would be on my reading list.  I'm glad I read it but I don't think I'll read any of her other books.

Moment of Truth

Moment of Truth, by Lisa Scottoline is a murder mystery about a father who admits to murdering his wife because he believes his daughter actually committed the crime.  The outcome is somewhat predictable, although there are some interesting twists and turns.  I liked the interplay of the lawyer, Mary, and the accused, who is also a lawyer.  The detectives and district attorney are also interesting characters.  I thought it was an entertaining read, not the best mystery I've ever read, but I enjoyed it.

Orchids and Rye?

Two very different books to comment on.  First I read Wild Orchids, by Jude Deveraux.  I wasn't really impressed.  The book started out OK, but moved very slowly for my taste.  I really like a plot-driven novel, and there was lots of character in this book.  Also, the last 75 pages got really quirky -- no longer realistic.  I won't give any details because I don't want to give anything away, but the ending was unsatisfying to me.  I also really don't like a "romance" that is inevitable the entire book, but never comes to fruition because the two people will not communicate!!  They misread signs and words and it's just very frustrating the whole time and not very realistic.

The second book for this post is Catcher in the Rye. I read this book in high school (which was more than a few years ago, I must admit) but I really didn't remember much about it.  With Salinger's death, I thought I should read it again.  It was OK.  Easy to read, but disturbing, but I guess that's the point.  A lot has been published about this classic, so I don't think I need to say anything more.

Alex Cross, one of my favorites

I finished Cross Country, by James Patterson.  As I've said before, I really like these books -- I find them exciting and interesting.  I'm not sure Patterson was trying to make a political statement, but I learned a lot (of bad stuff) about Nigeria, Darfur, Somalia, and other places in Africa.  Once again I am so thankful I live in the USA!  But, nevertheless, it is heartbreaking what some people on this planet go through on a daily basis.  Some of his books don't have a very satisfying ending (that's why he can keep writing them) but I liked this ending.  It's a quick read, and even though he's written a lot of Alex Cross novels, you don't have to read them in order, so you can read this one any time!

Two Books

The first book today is Hail to the Chef, by Julie Hyzy.  This is the second book in the White House Chef Mystery Series, and I really enjoyed it.  I love to cook, and I thought it was very interesting to read about the behind-the-scenes operations at the White House.  Not just the cooking, but the butlers, florists, electricians, and of course the Secret Service.  The situations were hokey and far-fetched, but a very entertaining read.

The second book I read was Firehouse, by David Halberstam.  This is a true story of Firehouse 40/35 in New York City, that lost 12 of the 13 firemen who responded to the 9/11 disaster.  The book describes each fireman, their families, their path to becoming a fireman, and their strengths and weaknesses. It describes what they know about the fate of these men and talks about their memorial services, the recovery of their bodies and how their families handled their loss.

One of the best things about the book is the description of the life of a fireman.  They really are an extended family, and many of them are 2nd or 3rd generation firemen.  It was a quick read, very informative and not too morbid.

Monsters

Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey was on of the most sickeningly gory novels I've ever read.  A very good story, but I really had to put it down a couple of times because I was sick to my stomach.

The monsters are Anthropophagi -- monsters with no heads, and have eyes and mouths in their chest.  They are extremely aggressive and feed only on humans.  Sound interesting?  Exciting? You bet.  These monsters attack, and then a team of monstrumologists and others take them on.  The narrator is a 12-year-old boy who is the assistant to the monstrumologist.  You won't be able to stop reading until you finish this book.  But it's not for the faint of heart.

Mudbound

OK, I've been stuck in a historical fiction rut.  However, all the recent books I've read have sort of meshed together nicely.  Mudbound as well as Shanghai Girls and Flygirl all are about minorities and all have something to do with WWII and the period after.

Mudbound  is an excellent novel about racial segregation in the south, particularly after WWII.  It deals with share cropping, which is very unfair, and the difficulties of farming for not only the sharecroppers but also the property owners.  It was such a struggle, and it's easy to feel the frustration of the characters in the book.  There is also the post traumatic stress disorder issue, and of course, there was no therapy at that time other than a whiskey bottle. The book is narrated by several different characters, so the reader gets the story from several perspectives.  This book is highly recommended.

I'm going to read something completely different now!