17 posts tagged “mys”
A fairly unsympathetic protagonist turns out to be a pretty cool chick by the end. BernadETTE is on the debate team and because of her test score ends up on the school team for a trivia contest, think It's Academic for Michigan, but somebody cheated to get her school into the contest. Was it the principal? Her sexy, British, porsche driving English teacher? Or perhaps the school librarian? Or is it just all in her head? Along the way, she actually makes some friends, nearly loses one and has to determine what really is the right thing to do in a very grey area.
It's a pretty funny (ha-ha) book, too. There's one line that really
cracked me up, but now I can't remember it. A little flirty romance,
too, that's cute. I'd recommend it to anyone. Teen People called it a
"light breezy read", but while it's not heavy lifting, there's a little
more substance to it than say Meg Cabot...
Originally posted July 10, 2007
Little murder, little football, abusive stepfather, throw in a whack a
mole stand, a pretty girl and you've got Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn.
I've been trying to find the fiction that will appeal to the teen boys.
The head librarian who recommended Zusak also recommended Flinn. It was
a decent mystery, though most adults will peg what really happened way
before the end of the book, but the journey is one well worth taking.
Good characters, interesting plot lines, hopefully, I'll find some
takers tomorrow!
Originally posted July 8, 2007
A mom of one of my students brought me the first few books in this
series. I read the Vicious Vet first and then went back and read the
first, third and fourth. I thought the first three were the best, with
a definite bite to them, in particular regards to class/social strata.
The fourth book started to lose it a little and when I read an excerpt
from the fifth, I knew I wouldn't read it. It would be so out of
character for Agatha!
But definitely fun books, light and fluffy with a sharpness and some
laugh out loud moments! Perfect for rainy days or beach reading, though
they are short and go quickly.
Originally posted July 7, 2007
2 for the price of 1! I read White Lioness and followed it up immediately with the Man who Smiled. I do really like Mankell's writing. I loaned the White Lioness to a mom at school. I'll be interested in her opinion.
White Lioness takes place partly in South Africa during apartheid. I know some South Africans and it seems like it's just an inappropriate subject. How do you ask people my age and a little older how they felt 13 years ago when apartheid ended? I don't ask. But I am curious. Who would I have been if I were South African? A friend of mine from boarding school was sent to boarding school away from the integrated secondary school (this was in 90-92) in Johannesburg (I'm pretty sure it was J'burg) because she was starting to get in trouble.
Mankell delivered an excellent mystery with both of these, though
they're not always so much of a mystery in the whodunit sense as a how
on earth are they going to catch him/her??
Originally posted May 16, 2007
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A while ago, like maybe a couple of years ago, I posted about the
Flanders Panel and the Club Dumas and how I had been let down by
Reverte and the hype. Haha! Nautical Chart was so good! I didn't even see one of the twists coming! Excellent, excellent story and characters and twists and turns. I think I have another Reverte on the shelf somewhere and I'm now officially looking forward to picking it up! | |
| Originally posted April 8, 2007 | |
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I've traveled a lot. I've been a lot of places. BUT I have never made
it to South or Central America. In fact, when I visit Barcelona, it
will be the first time I have ever visited a Spanish-speaking country.
And, yes, I know, in Barcelona they speak Catalan and don't feel
particularly attached to Spain as a nation. But, that is splitting
hairs. All my travel to Spanish speaking cultures has been through books and while I was home I picked up another one. I had this habit, back when I pretended that I had money, of buying books and putting them aside to read. Going to my parents' house is a literary adventure because I always have something new to read. At Christmas, I finally picked up Who Killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa. I had read Aunt Julia and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see that I had another book by him that I hadn't read. It was a pretty quick read and structurally very different from Autn Julia. Vargas Llosa has the ability to make you pay attention and wonder if you missed something. Molero's guitar showed up, but you weren't told that it was his or how the captain (lieutenant? book is at my parents and it's been a month) got hold of it until midway through the chapter that begins with the captain (lieutenant?) playing it. Great story, especially the way the public thinks that there is so much more to the story than there actually is. Twas ever thus. | |
| Originally posted February 2, 2007 | |
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Umm, so I can't remember the name of the new Merrily Watkins/Phil
Rickman book. But it was good. Excellent, even! All right, I feel
enough of a dork to go look it up. It is Remains of an Altar. I was
introduced to Elgar in this book. In the U.S., we would really only be
familiar with the march Pomp and Circumstance which comes from the
piece Land of Hope and Glory. Elgar is also on the 20 pound note in the
England. Catholic, composer, slightly off-balanced. Not that I should
talk. I started looking stuff up about him on-line and before I knew
it, it was 3o'clock in the morning on a school night and I knew more
than I ever wanted about him. Though, I may still look for a good
biography. SO, Elgar is central to the plot and it's an excellent mystery to boot. If you haven't read Rickman before, I do recommend starting at the beginning of the series. You do get quite attached to the characters and have a much better understanding of them if you're not jumping into the middle. | |
| Originally posted December 8, 2006 | |
After CrossBones, I wasn't sure about Kathy Reichs. Was it an
aberration or had she worn out? I picked up Break No Bones because I
really do like this series. I like the writing, the mysteries are good,
so I didn't want to think that Cross Bones was a sign of things to
come.
Break No Bones was excellent. Though I did peg the crimes before the
reveal. Bonus point for me. Excellent plot. Thank you, Reichs!
Originally posted November 4, 2006
Karin Slaughter is an airport novelist. She's the type of author whose
work I'll see in the newsagents at the airport, usually bypass and not
spend another thought on. She has a series that takes place in Georgia
(the state, not the country) and I don't like to pick books up in the
middle of the series (Mankell being an exception). Slaughter wrote
Triptych as a stand alone and the reviews were quite good. I was buying
the new releases of Rankin, Rickman, Tracy and Reichs (yes, there truly
something about that part of the alphabet) and Triptych came up
somehow, probably what other people are buying or as a recommendation.
I ordered it. And a couple of times, as I placed the order in August to
arrive in October, I nearly took it off the order. It didn't make much
difference in shipping charges to buy it or not, so I kept it, plus it
did sound good.
It was good. I was a little worried at first that she had created the
singularly most unsympathetic protagonist, but wow, Slaughter is good.
I don't think I'll deliberately skip over her books in the airport now,
but I'm not going to rush to Off the Shelf to start the series, either.
I'll just pick one up in the departures lounge.
Originally posted November 4, 2006
Peter Robinson is not an author I was familiar with, but one of the
women in one of my book clubs handed me In a Dry Season about a year
ago. I finally got around to reading it this past month. It's part of a
British detective series along the lines of Rankin and others. Truly an
exceptional book. Engrossing story line and even though I was coming in
in the middle of the series, I didn't feel like I was missing out on
anything unlike in other mystery series.
If I see Robinson in the airport with a DI Banks mystery, chances are I will pick it up.
Originally posted October 3, 2006
