Title: this dark road to mercy
Author: wiley cash
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Summary: Twelve-year-old Easter Quillby and her 6-year-old sister Ruby are living in a foster home after the death of their mom. Their dad Wade relinquished his rights to them a few years back so the girls don't have much of a relationship with him. He appears out of nowhere and kidnaps them in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, somebody is hunting down Wade for some money he stole and a caseworker is trying to find the girls before Wade gets too far with them.
Review: You know a book is good when it's hard to put down and you can't wait to pick it back up again. I waffled between four and five stars. This book rotates the point of views between Easter, the guy hunting the dad down and the case worker trying to catch up with them. Even while writing this review I couldn't decide, thus I landed on the 4.5. I initially didn't think the viewpoint of the killer added any value but the more I think about it, the more it does. If anything, I wished it were longer--that's ultimately the reason I didn't give it 5. Selfish? Maybe.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Book review: The Wives of Los Alamos
Title: The Wives of Los Alamos
Author: TaraShea Nesbit
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: During World War II, scientists were moved to New Mexico for a top secret project to build what was ultimately the atomic bomb. The scientists' families were moved along with them. They couldn't tell anybody where they were going or when they were coming back. The wives knew nothing about what their husbands were working on for years (there were some women scientists there too, but they were the minority). These families were thrown together with other families and forced to live in fake town of sorts. Houses were assigned based on family size, things were rationed, and any communication was reviewed and censored.
Rating: I've never quite read a book like this before. There were no real characters and everything was written in the plural first person. It was really frustrating to read a book with no characters. I originally gave this three stars but I downgraded to two because while I finished it, nothing really happened. The lack of characters didn't provide any depth as to how the families dealt with the realization of what the men had been working on for the past several years and how their wives and children (those who were old enough to understand) felt about it. It was alluded to, but as with everything else in this book, nothing was really explored.
Author: TaraShea Nesbit
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: During World War II, scientists were moved to New Mexico for a top secret project to build what was ultimately the atomic bomb. The scientists' families were moved along with them. They couldn't tell anybody where they were going or when they were coming back. The wives knew nothing about what their husbands were working on for years (there were some women scientists there too, but they were the minority). These families were thrown together with other families and forced to live in fake town of sorts. Houses were assigned based on family size, things were rationed, and any communication was reviewed and censored.
Rating: I've never quite read a book like this before. There were no real characters and everything was written in the plural first person. It was really frustrating to read a book with no characters. I originally gave this three stars but I downgraded to two because while I finished it, nothing really happened. The lack of characters didn't provide any depth as to how the families dealt with the realization of what the men had been working on for the past several years and how their wives and children (those who were old enough to understand) felt about it. It was alluded to, but as with everything else in this book, nothing was really explored.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Book review: Chance
Title: Chance
Author: Kem Nunn
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: Dr. Eldon Chance is a neuropsychiatrist who is on a path of self-destruction. Recently divorced, he becomes entangled with Jaclyn Blackstone, a woman who appears to have multiple personalities and also happens to be married to an abusive and dirty Oakland detective. Chance has also recently befriended Carl and D, who refinish furniture, among other talents.
Review: This book seemed so promising to me but I just couldn't get into it. Chance is described as an antihero in the book jacket and I would agree wholeheartedly with that description. He's pathetic. His affair with Jaclyn is pathetic. He puts his career at stake. And you know he's smarter than that, and he knows he's smarter than that, but Jaclyn is his kryptonite. The climax, a showdown between Carl, the abusive husband, Carl and D is interesting, yet also felt like a cop out. I kept thinking there was going to be a twist to make it more interesting, like Chance was crazy and imagined the whole thing, but that never happened.
Author: Kem Nunn
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: Dr. Eldon Chance is a neuropsychiatrist who is on a path of self-destruction. Recently divorced, he becomes entangled with Jaclyn Blackstone, a woman who appears to have multiple personalities and also happens to be married to an abusive and dirty Oakland detective. Chance has also recently befriended Carl and D, who refinish furniture, among other talents.
Review: This book seemed so promising to me but I just couldn't get into it. Chance is described as an antihero in the book jacket and I would agree wholeheartedly with that description. He's pathetic. His affair with Jaclyn is pathetic. He puts his career at stake. And you know he's smarter than that, and he knows he's smarter than that, but Jaclyn is his kryptonite. The climax, a showdown between Carl, the abusive husband, Carl and D is interesting, yet also felt like a cop out. I kept thinking there was going to be a twist to make it more interesting, like Chance was crazy and imagined the whole thing, but that never happened.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Book review: The Silkworm
Title: The Silkworm
Author: Robert Galbraith
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: This book is the second in a series about a detective named Cormoran Strike. Owen Quine is an author of questionable skill who goes missing. His wife approaches Cormoran because while he has disappeared in the past, he usually comes back. This time he hasn't. The wife asks Cormoran to find Quine. Quine is found, but he's been murdered. It turns out that Quine has just written a book that exposes secrets of players in the literary world. To find a list of suspects, one just has to look to the book to see who was exposed the most. It's a pretty long list but Cormoran, along with his assistant Robin, is on the hunt for Quine's killer.
Review: For those that don't know, Robert Galbraith is a pen name for JK Rowling. Cuckoo's Calling was the first book in the Strike series and I had resisted it for a long time because of this. I have never read the Harry Potter series and I have a tendency to avoid things that are so overexposed, like Harry Potter was in its heyday. Yet every time I read about Cuckoo's Calling, I was drawn to it.
I finally gave in and I loved Cuckoo's Calling. So I couldn't wait for this to come out and I wasn't disappointed. I have a tendency to shy away from ongoing detective series because after awhile they become very formulaic. This series is either still too young to be formulaic or Rowling is a good enough writer that they won't. Plus, these books are fun. I have immensely enjoyed these books for a few reasons:
Author: Robert Galbraith
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: This book is the second in a series about a detective named Cormoran Strike. Owen Quine is an author of questionable skill who goes missing. His wife approaches Cormoran because while he has disappeared in the past, he usually comes back. This time he hasn't. The wife asks Cormoran to find Quine. Quine is found, but he's been murdered. It turns out that Quine has just written a book that exposes secrets of players in the literary world. To find a list of suspects, one just has to look to the book to see who was exposed the most. It's a pretty long list but Cormoran, along with his assistant Robin, is on the hunt for Quine's killer.
Review: For those that don't know, Robert Galbraith is a pen name for JK Rowling. Cuckoo's Calling was the first book in the Strike series and I had resisted it for a long time because of this. I have never read the Harry Potter series and I have a tendency to avoid things that are so overexposed, like Harry Potter was in its heyday. Yet every time I read about Cuckoo's Calling, I was drawn to it.
I finally gave in and I loved Cuckoo's Calling. So I couldn't wait for this to come out and I wasn't disappointed. I have a tendency to shy away from ongoing detective series because after awhile they become very formulaic. This series is either still too young to be formulaic or Rowling is a good enough writer that they won't. Plus, these books are fun. I have immensely enjoyed these books for a few reasons:
- Rowling does a great job with the development of Strike and Robin's relationship. Robin's engaged and her fiance isn't thrilled with her job. This is causing a fair amount of tension in their relationship. They end up having to postpone their wedding and you start to wonder if it will be postponed indefinitely. I liked how Rowling resolved this (for now).
- Maybe it's obvious to you, but I have yet to figure out who the killer is ahead of time. This book kept me interested to read on and find out.
- I couldn't help but wonder if Rowling modeled some of the characters about people she knows in the literary world, so that piqued my interest.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Book review: Andrew's Brain
Title: Andrew's Brain
Author: E.L. Doctorow
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: This book is about...I don't have the faintest idea. This book is a conversation between Andrew and an unknown person about Andrew. He rambles about his life and wives. There's a sad story about a little girl that has no resolution.
Review: This book is like ordering a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and getting a tumbler of scotch. The scotch is probably good, it's just not what you ordered and what you were in the mood for. I've never read a book by E.L. Doctorow and I'm not terribly familiar with his work. And by not terribly familiar, I mean not familiar at all. I've gotten quite a few comments from you dear readers on the volume of books I read. Most of them don't require the level of concentration that this book required to read. And it might be a good book, it's just not the book for me. That's the main reason I gave it two stars versus one--didn't think my preference for a light summer white wine was Doctorow's total fault. Still, this book is one that needs concentration and focus. If you have more of that than me, then you might like this book better than I did.
Author: E.L. Doctorow
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: This book is about...I don't have the faintest idea. This book is a conversation between Andrew and an unknown person about Andrew. He rambles about his life and wives. There's a sad story about a little girl that has no resolution.
Review: This book is like ordering a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and getting a tumbler of scotch. The scotch is probably good, it's just not what you ordered and what you were in the mood for. I've never read a book by E.L. Doctorow and I'm not terribly familiar with his work. And by not terribly familiar, I mean not familiar at all. I've gotten quite a few comments from you dear readers on the volume of books I read. Most of them don't require the level of concentration that this book required to read. And it might be a good book, it's just not the book for me. That's the main reason I gave it two stars versus one--didn't think my preference for a light summer white wine was Doctorow's total fault. Still, this book is one that needs concentration and focus. If you have more of that than me, then you might like this book better than I did.
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