I think I will look for these books as I love nordic noir. I'm currently reading The Crow Girl by Erik axl sund (pseudonym of 2 swedish writers) and loving it even though it definitely is dark.
For California, I think the Kinsey Milhone mysteries really capture what it's like to live in SoCal and they often go to other parts of the state. (Sue Grafton's alphabet series)
Interlibrary requested "Found" by Harlan Coben, the third Mickey Bolitar book. It finally came and it was "Found" by Margaret Haddix. It came from Idaho. But, the interlibrary paper on the front had the correct information on it. Huh????? Somebody in Idaho just went out to the shelves and picked up any book titled "Found" and sent it to Dayton, Ohio? You have to put the ISBN on the reserve form!
I didn't find this out till I got it home because the paper with the reserve information covered up the whole front of the paperback book. It's got a bar code on it that has to be run under the scanner, instead of the new chips. So, I took it back today and was going to have them re-reserve the right one. When he got in their computer, it said they had one on the shelf. They didn't when I was reserving it originally or I wouldn't have had to do the interlibrary thing. I wonder if they got it and just shelved it. This happened with a Michael Connelly book. I kept getting messages that my reserved book was in, and it wasn't, then the computer said it was on the shelves, and there it was. Technology, huh?
A book recommendation for suspense/small town murder fans - If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin. The only thing I didn't like was that it wrapped up too fast. She has other stand alone books and series, but this was featured in the library magazine, so I reserved it. I was 7 out of 7 on the reserve list at the time. And it can't be renewed after the three weeks, so she must be a popular author I didn't know about.
I started reading "Not That I Could Tell", the book set in Yellow Springs, Ohio yesterday. I could just picture where they all lived, back in the neighborhoods where every house style is different. She mentioned Dayton and Xenia and Springfield. And meeting college friends halfway between Cincinnati. so maybe that would be around the Dayton Mall. ha ha It would be neat if she mentions someone coming from Miamisburg, and everybody who reads the book would wonder where that was and if it was a real city. (We're the only one, just like Tigger! hee hee)
The book is good. I'm intrigued. I probably would have finished it yesterday if the tornado siren wouldn't have gone off. (Two inches of snow on the ground Monday morning, 2-3 inches of rain, tornado warnings and 70 yesterday, 30's and flurries this morning. Spring in Ohio. )
I started reading "Not That I Could Tell", the book set in Yellow Springs, Ohio yesterday. I could just picture where they all lived, back in the neighborhoods where every house style is different. She mentioned Dayton and Xenia and Springfield. And meeting college friends halfway between Cincinnati. so maybe that would be around the Dayton Mall. ha ha It would be neat if she mentions someone coming from Miamisburg, and everybody who reads the book would wonder where that was and if it was a real city. (We're the only one, just like Tigger! hee hee)
The book is good. I'm intrigued. I probably would have finished it yesterday if the tornado siren wouldn't have gone off. (Two inches of snow on the ground Monday morning, 2-3 inches of rain, tornado warnings and 70 yesterday, 30's and flurries this morning. Spring in Ohio. )
I just finished Helene's World by Susan McNelley. It's centered around the life of Helene Desportes, who lived in Quebec 1620-1675. Helene was the first French child to be born & survive in Quebec. The book traces her story, but is more about the early history of Quebec than Helene herself. It describes the lifestyle of the early settlers, their relationship with Native Americans in the area, the growth of the colony, religious life in Quebec, Champlain's role in founding the colony, etc. A fairly interesting picture of early Quebec. My only complaint--the author uses a lot of passive voice (which should have been edited out).
Side note--Helene's daughter Louise Morin married Charles Cloutier, a son of my original Quebecois ancestor. (I didn't know this before getting the book.)
I recently read "The Wife Between Us" by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Another book co-written but they apparently wrote it "together" as opposed to dividing up the chapters. They stated in an interview they needed to do it this way as the theme is complicated. I usually don't like books that jump back and forth but they did a good job of holding my interest. Kind of a "Gone Girl" style of book but I liked it.
I just finished reading The Wife Between Us. About midway through there was a description of an apartment and I thought, this feels very familiar.
Then I realized the apartment was similar to one in another recent book, The SecondMrs. Parrish, which I had read in December.
The further along I got in The Wife Between Us, the more alike the plots became.
I don't think there was any plagarism involved, since the books were published within months of each other. I think there are certain plot tropes that are currently very much in vogue, and both these books took the same basic concepts and twisted and turned them almost identically.
I preferred The Last Mrs. Parrish, which I thought was more clever. But that could simply be because I read it first.
I read The Wife Between Us. I'd give it about a B or B- for the genre. Ok, not spectacular, but not bad. I respect the attempt to make the protagonist flawed and the flaws allows there to be an unreliable narrator aspect, but it also makes her less likeable. I'd also say perhaps a few twists too many seemed shoehorned in but others may differ and have enjoyed them. I feel like this had more in common with Girl on the Train than Gone Girl.
I have The Last Mrs. Parrish on hold at the library so I'll be kind of curious to see how that one compares. Knowing the plot lines are similar doesn't really bother me.
The other book I read was Prairie Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the best biography, by far, that I have yet read of Wilder or her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It is wonderful in providing a lot of historical context to her life. The author doesn't just report the events of the Ingalls' lives but looks at how they fit into the larger economic picture of life in the West. The underlying conclusion is that much of the myth that has grown up around the American West, including some perpetuated by Wilder herself, is just that--myth. I've seen some criticism that the book contains TOO much historical background--but not for me. I found it fascinating.
I have this and should start it in a couple of days.
In the meantime.....
Girl in a Band: I never liked Sonic Youth, but find female rockers, especially those in mostly male bands, interesting and Kim Gordon is more interesting than most. She is more of an artist than a musician and has always been more of a visual artist than anything else. She is a thinker and her thoughts are well developed and interesting for the most part.
Change of Seasons: I was not a big Daryl Hall & John Oates fan, but the book was there, so I read it. It was better than I expected from a guy best known for standing behind Daryl Hall and sporting a major porn star mustache all those years. His writing style kind of irks me; I blamed the ghostwriter at first, but learned that a) he has a degree in journalism and b) the writing style matches pretty closely with the writing in the journals he kept over the years. He doesn't dish a lot of dirt, so if you want something juicy, this is not your book. It's also not your book if you are interested in Daryl Hall, who is a peripheral character in the book. This is intentional; both of them insist that they are two people who work together and not half of some whole, and believe that the secret to their longterm success is that they see each other as distinct individuals--always Daryl Hall & John Oates, never Hall & Oates. They have been friends since college, but they don't hang out together much outside of work and they have separate interests.
Homeward Bound--an unauthorized biography of Paul Simon. I was listening to 80s on 8 on Sirius XM and Nina Blackwood raved about the book, so why not? Raise your hand if you are surprised to learn that Paul Simon is brillantly talented but neurotic as hell and kind of a dick. Anyone? Anyone? So yeah. But lots of interesting stuff for Simon and Garfunkel fans, although, alas, you will not learn exactly what it was that finally tipped them over the edge, only that it had been building for years. And that Paul is kind of a dick, although Art is certainly, um, quirky himself. And then Paul's life goes on without Art, and Paul continues to be very talented and neurotic as hell and kind of a dick.
Best Day Ever--this would probably be a pretty good thriller if there weren't several others on the market now with the same themes. The twist here is that the story is told from the viewpoint of the psychopathic husband. He is, of course, an unreliable narrator (yawn) and there are twists (yawn), but if you can't see everything coming well in advance, you haven't been reading all the other Gone Girl spawns.
I was at the library yesterday and saw a GIANT book called (I think) mystery.doc . It looks really interesting (but could also be super frustrating), and I might get it after my class is done. Has anyone read it?
And finally - Lisa Jewell - "And Then She Was Gone"
Lisa Jewell overtook Marian Keyes as my favourite author some years ago. I have read all her books ("Vince and Joy" will always be a favourite) and have noticed her "chick lit with an edge" style take a darker turn of late. So far I have been fine with that, but this book (her darkest yet) left me in tears and I am still thinking of the characters over a week later! Brilliantly written but I think I will check out some spoilers before I read her next one. Completely recommended 100 per cent though, it's the first of her books to make the Sunday Times number one best seller and I can see why. To me it's her finest and her worst (in the way it upset me) work.
I think this book must have just been released in the US. I read it this weekend and didn't realize it was the same book from this thread until I came back here afterward. I had mixed feelings about it, I think because it was so dark and it was maybe not what I was in the right mood for. It was a quick read though. I thought it was better than two of the other Lisa Jewell books I've read (Ralph's Party, which I just didn't like at all, and Girls in the Garden, which was a bit more like this one where it was well done but a bit dark, although not as dark or sad as this one. None of them have been as good as the first book of hers I read, The Third Wife. One thing I would note is it is described as a bit of a psychological thriller, but I don't think there is that much mystery or thriller aspect, nor is there really intended to be. It's all pretty obviously laid out pretty early.
The first was Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. This was Lee's first novel, which she wrote before Pachinko. A couple people here had recommended Pachinko, so I looked for that book at the library but they didn't have it, and I picked up this one instead. The novel is about Casey Han, a first-generation Korean-American whose parents manage a dry cleaning business. Casey is smart and graduates from Princeton. The book is about her trying to figure out what to do after Princeton. Casey is in the weird position of being constantly surrounded by people with money, but having no money herself. She can't decide whether to get her MBA and become an investment banker and go for the money and "success," or whether she should do something else and avoid a consumerist lifestyle. There's various romances along the way, and a lot about her Korean background. It was pretty good, and pretty involving, not what I would call high art, but some interesting themes. My only complaint is I found the ending a bit flat/inconclusive (but I think that was the intent).
The second book I finished was All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire, by Jonathan Abrams. I picked this up because I'm a big fan of The Wire (just discovered it last year). The book is an oral history of the show. The author interviewed the showrunners, the writers, HBO execs, and of course the actors. Among those he interviewed--Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, Michael K. Williams, Lance Reddick, and more. The book goes through the show season by season. If you're a fan of the show and want to read more about it, you'll probably like the book. There's lots of interesting stuff, including bits about individual scenes (like the famous scene where McNulty and Bunk break down a crime scene for several minutes without ever saying anything but "F--k. F--k."). Things I learned that I didn't know before: 1. Several famous novelists worked as writers on the show (Richard Price, George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane) 2. The actors in many cases felt really close to their characters and were quite upset when something bad happened to their characters or when their character had to do something bad 3. The cast was predominantly black, and that was a big deal to the actors involved. They had many thoughts/observations about this. It's an interesting book for fans of The Wire.
I'm going back to this idea because I just realized every book I've read in the last couple of years was originally written in English, except for Babar, and I really would like to read more fiction originally written in other languages. Since we're an international group here, any thoughts and suggestions are very welcome! All the books that interested me on the ambassadors' list were on the pricey side
For Israel, I'm going to recommend Meir Shalev. The first book of his that I read (also his fiction debut) was published in English as The Blue Mountain. I read a lot more Israeli authors as a kid than I have in recent years.
I finished Rachel's Holiday a few weeks ago and thought she did an excellent job representing addiction, denial, therapy etc. while also providing many moments of light relief.
I finished Rachel's Holiday a few weeks ago and thought she did an excellent job representing addiction, denial, therapy etc. while also providing many moments of light relief.
She's one of my favourites, too. The Brightest Star in the Sky stood out for me. Many of my favourite women writers are Irish, including Emma Donoghue, Cecilia Ahern, and Maeve Binchy (I'm sure there are others that I am not remembering). The TV ad for Brightest Star is pretty funny.
I really need somebody to read Tiffany Reisz Original Sinners series. I'm dying to discuss them with someone. Warning they are graphic, but absolutely addictive.
I really need somebody to read Tiffany Reisz Original Sinners series. I'm dying to discuss them with someone. Warning they are graphic, but absolutely addictive.
I'm not quite sure who that would be. They are listed as erotica (and they are), but they are much more. Reisz has won multiple RITA awards for the series. Let's just say a Catholic priest is one of the 3 principal characters. Reisz was in a theological seminary in KY before dropping out to write. There are some really interesting points regarding theology that are a running theme throughout the series. There are 8 principle books with several short novellas scattered through the books. I've read the first 5 books in the last week. I alternately hate and love the characters. And I can never hear the word vanilla again without laughing. Reisz grabs you by the throat (sometimes literally in the books) and doesn't let go. She also writes romantic suspense and southern gothic, but I haven't read any of her other genre. I'll be pondering the Original Sinners books for a while.
I've been waiting for newsarticles to pop up so that I can share one of the great book scandals of our times: Cockygate.
In short, indy romance author Faleena Hopkins has been writing a series of novels focusing on the Cocker Brothers, and decided not only to brand it as the Cocky Series, but to trademark the word "cocky" (seriously) and go after any romance author whose book titles contain the word "cocky". She is doing it to defend her readers from buying the wrong books! And for the integrity of her characters (as seen in stock photos).
Mayhem ensued, romance writers pushed back (see #cockygate and #byefaleena), the inevitable parodies ensued, Hopkins doubled down (she's being attacked) and now it's a news story.
I read romance, and even if her books weren't so poorly written, I wouldn't touch one at this point.
The other book I read was Prairie Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the best biography, by far, that I have yet read of Wilder or her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It is wonderful in providing a lot of historical context to her life. The author doesn't just report the events of the Ingalls' lives but looks at how they fit into the larger economic picture of life in the West. The underlying conclusion is that much of the myth that has grown up around the American West, including some perpetuated by Wilder herself, is just that--myth. I've seen some criticism that the book contains TOO much historical background--but not for me. I found it fascinating.
I finished this one and it was excellent! I read some of the Little House books as a kid, as I was learning English, but not all. It provided some great historical context and a lot of background. Rose Wilder Lane sounds like quite the difficult person.
I finally got this one out of the library after waiting forever. I may end up buying it and rereading it, as I agree it was excellent. I can't say definitively whether it was better than Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder, which is what I would have previously considered the best biography I've read of Wilder, because it's been so long since I've read the latter, but definitely the two are both great. I also appreciated all of the historical background, especially as I've been to some of the locations, such as New Ulm that opens the book. And yes, Rose Wilder Lane sounds super difficult and I have always felt that way. I couldn't even get through her biography, Ghost in the Little House, because she was too obnoxious to read about. (And judging by what Prairie Fires suggests Ghost in the Little House presents as evidence that Rose wrote the Little House books herself when there seems to be plenty of evidence that Laura did the writing and Rose simply edited, I'm glad I didn't get to that part.)
One thing I did find a touch distracting in Prairie Fires, as a Canadian, was the frequent use of the word "Indians", which has basically become an non-PC word in Canada for quite a long time unless you mean people actually from India (we use First Nations for people native to the continent) and it was pretty shocking for me to see it thrown around all the time, but after a bit of research, apparently in the US it is still an acceptable term, so I guess I learned something. I don't think I will be able to bring myself to use it though as it is too ingrained in me not to say it.
Anyway...reading the in-depth biography is making me itch to do something on my to do list for a long time, which is travel to some of the LIW home sites - I've been to Pepin, which is only about an hour and a half from the Twin Cities, but none of the others. I'm thinking of hitting up Independence, Kansas, site of Little House on the Prairie, and Rocky Ridge House in Missouri in a few weeks. It will have the bonus of getting me two states closer towards my goal of getting to all 50 states, as I've never been to either.
I just finished reading The Wife Between Us. About midway through there was a description of an apartment and I thought, this feels very familiar.
Then I realized the apartment was similar to one in another recent book, The SecondMrs. Parrish, which I had read in December.
The further along I got in The Wife Between Us, the more alike the plots became.
I don't think there was any plagarism involved, since the books were published within months of each other. I think there are certain plot tropes that are currently very much in vogue, and both these books took the same basic concepts and twisted and turned them almost identically.
I preferred The Last Mrs. Parrish, which I thought was more clever. But that could simply be because I read it first.
I mentioned reading The Wife Between Us a while ago and I just finished The Last Mrs. Parrish this morning. I agree about the similarities and also that I found The Last Mrs. Parrish more clever/better written. It had a bit less of that "one too many twist" feeling.
But I have to see, between these two books and a couple that I read last year, I'm ready to take a break from reading about
husbands that appear to be perfect that then turn out to be super manipulative assholes after the woman gets married to him.
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)
I'm not quite sure who that would be. They are listed as erotica (and they are), but they are much more. Reisz has won multiple RITA awards for the series. Let's just say a Catholic priest is one of the 3 principal characters. Reisz was in a theological seminary in KY before dropping out to write. There are some really interesting points regarding theology that are a running theme throughout the series. There are 8 principle books with several short novellas scattered through the books. I've read the first 5 books in the last week. I alternately hate and love the characters. And I can never hear the word vanilla again without laughing. Reisz grabs you by the throat (sometimes literally in the books) and doesn't let go. She also writes romantic suspense and southern gothic, but I haven't read any of her other genre. I'll be pondering the Original Sinners books for a while.
