Book Reviews

This morning started out with quite the commotion when a black dog was running amok in the access road and all three of my dogs had to chase it.  They are currently now all passed out:  Randi and Clark in here with me and Earl posed at the edge of the doorway because his foray into the room did not end well.  The trash can and bag of batting proved too threatening and he had to make a hasty retreat, knocking Randi over in the process.

I realized that I hadn't posted any book reviews in a loooong time.  I've been reading, I swear!

Books the LA County Library took back before I could finish them:

Echo Burning Lee Child  Some lady picks Jack Reacher up and wants him to kill her husband.  I only got to the part where Jack Reacher was trying to decide if he wanted to be a man whore with her.  Eeh, I was not interested enough to finish it.  (ASIDE:  Lee Child was on Charlie Rose and described Jack Reacher's man whoreness and "romance."  Click here to watch.

Doc Mary Doria Russel  I only read about 30 pages.  Something about Doc Holliday.

Books I finished:

A Is for Alibi Sue Grafton  In the first book of the series,  Kinsey Milhone is trying to solve a murder without a cell phone and without the internet.  And she does a pretty good and interesting job.  I bought this book and B Is for Burglar as well.

The English Assassin  Daniel Silva  Israeli Assassin, Gabriel Allon is framed for a murder and in the process of finding out who actually did it he shoots some people in the head and crisscrosses the European continent.  Fast paced and interesting as always.

State of Wonder  Ann Patchett  My main response to this book was huh, hum.  Dr. Marina Singh travels to the Amazon jungle to find out why her research partner has been killed.  She encounters her med school mentor who is researching a tribe in which the women have children until they die.  This book was interesting.  I read it pretty quickly, but I never really got the whole point.


The Leftovers Tom Perrotta  In a Rapturesque, yet religious-less event, people all over the world have just disappeared.  The Leftovers is the story of the people who are left and how they deal with being left behind.  Creepy cults abound as the characters find their way without their loved ones.  Definitely interesting.


The Tiger's Wife  Téa Obrecht  The synopisis via Goodreads.com :

 In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself.

I'm not sure what to say about this book.  It was ok.  A friend of mine raged and raged, but I just kept getting confused as the author went back and forth between stories.

Food Rules  Michael Pollan  Some rules for eating in case you weren't sure what to do.  Interesting and a very quick read.

The Night Strangers Chris Bohijilian  I love Chris Bohijilian, so I was very excited to read his newest novel.  Chip Lipton is a pilot whose plane crashed and 39 people died and he is racked with guilt and plagued with PTSD.  In an effort to "get away" he moves his family to New Hampshire.  What follows is a ghost story, weaved with the occult.  There's a boarded up door in the basement, a group of herbalist and a gripping story.  I sat in the doctor's waiting room riveted, my hand to my mouth barely breathing for at least twenty pages.  I'm  not sure  I bought the ending the way the author intended, but I was not disappointed.