Short Takes 04/18/2019

A good friend sent me a copy of Susan Orlean's The Library Book recently. I'm not ready to read it yet but there was a short interview with the author in the January 2019 issue of the Oprah magazine.

In 1986 a fire at the Los Angeles Central Library destroyed 400,000 volumes and damaged an additional 700,000. While trying to uncover the perpetrator of this crime, Orlean delivers a love letter to libraries everywhere.

DEATH IN THE STARS (2018)

Death in the Stars , A Kate Shackleton Mystery by Frances Brody

This is the ninth book in the series that features private inquiry agent, Kate Shackleton, a WWI widow and former VAD nurse. The setting of this novel begins with the craze surrounding the eclipse of 1927. Music Hall star, Selina Fellini, has been invited to the Giggleswick School as part of the festivities. She asks Kate to arrange for an airplane to take her, her friend and fellow performer, Billie Moffatt to Yorkshire for the viewing. Selina also requests that Kate go with them on the flight and later attend the eclipse. During the eclipse, Billy disappears and is found by the schoolboys in a coma. What Selina hasn’t told Kate is that there have been two other deaths of members of the company. When Billy dies, Selina asks Kate to investigate the deaths.

Reviewer: Joy Rosynek

In this well researched English cozy, Brody gives plenty of background on the excitement surrounding the eclipse, in which the school actually was a site for the Royal Astronomer’s effort to capture all of the scientific data. Brody also lets the reader in on the changes that are occurring in the theater as movies and radios start to replace the experience of going to the music halls. It also highlights the plight of the performers, who no longer have a place in this new world of technology. Featured in the book are Kate’s two longtime associates, retired policeman, Jim Sykes and her housekeeper, Mrs. Sudgen. Their insight into the working class is helpful in bringing a solution to the mystery of what has happened to Billy and others in the acting company.

 

Hardcover:  390 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (February 13, 2018)  
ISBN: 978-1-250-15479-8

2019 NOTABLE BOOKS OF MICHIGAN

 A wide variety of subjects are covered including this middle school book about joining the band and spending a summer at band camp. Something many Michigan students will enjoy reading.

Read about the twenty notable books either about the Great Lakes area or written by Michigan authors. Here's an article from the Detroit Free Press.

WARLIGHT (2018)

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Warlight refers to the dimmed lights that guided emergency traffic during wartime blackouts and we see the story in the same way. What remains of a mysterious childhood?

In 1945 Nathaniel (14) and his older sister Rachel are left in London by their parents with an odd and mysterious man they call The Moth. The first part of the book are his memories of people and places. The second part becomes his quest to learn about his mother's past as an important part of the intelligence work during and after the war.

Beautifully written and haunting, a reminder that the effects of war are far reaching.

LIES by T.M. Logan (2018)

A roller coaster of a ride riddled with lies. Once you start reading you are hooked. Twists and turns and surprises are around every corner. Guaranteed to keep you up late at night.

FIRST SENTENCE: "My son's first word wasn't Daddy or Mummy. His first word was Audi."

THE STORY: Joe Lynch is happy with his life. He has a beautiful, loving wife and an adorable four year old son. As a teacher he can spend quality time with his child. It only takes one impulsive seemingly innocent decision to bring down his whole life.

WHAT I THOUGHT:Good writing, careful plotting, full of unexpected twists makes this a fun read.

BOTTOM LINE: If you like psychological thrillers, you will totally enjoy LIES. Just be sure to suspend disbelief since some details may seem a bit unrealistic.

Hardcover:  432 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (September 11, 2018)
ISBN-10: 9781250182265
ISBN-13: 978-1250182265

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of  LIES by T.M. Logan from NetGalley/St. Martin's Press  for my honest review.

Bestselling author T.M. Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His debut thriller LIES (2017) was one of Amazon UK's biggest ebooks of 2017, selling 330,000 copies and gathering more than 1,300 5-star reviews so far. It is now being published in ten other countries worldwide. His next thriller, 29 SECONDS, will be published in the USA in summer 2019. Tim lives in Nottinghamshire, UK, with his wife and two children.

RUST & STARDUST by T. Greenwood (2018)

I was a little concerned about the subject matter and kept setting the book aside but I need not have worried. T. Greenwood tells the tragic story of Sally Horner an 11 year old girl in Camden, New Jersey in 1948. It's the true crime that inspired Vladamir Nabokov to write the classic Lolita. (In the meantime Sarah Weinman has written a non-fiction literary exploration of the kidnapping. It goes on sale September 11, 2018.)

FIRST SENTENCE: "The girls at school had a club, a secret club with secret rules."

THE STORY: Sally Horner's story was immortalized by Vladamir Nabokov in his classic Lolita. T. Greenwood researched the true incident and chose to tell the story from Sally's point of view, a sweet, naive child of another generation.

Chapters are titled after the person who picks up the thread of the story. The reader gets insights into Sally's family, her mother Ella, sister Susan, and her sister's husband Al.

Along the way as Sally is taken from her home first to Atlantic City, then Baltimore, then Texas, and finally San Jose, California. Although people try to befriend and help, her captor moves on taking Sally with him.

WHAT I THOUGHT: As a teenager living in Philadelphia, I was invited to vacation at the shore (Atlantic City) with a friend one summer in the 50s. We ran into some boys we knew and managed to get in to see "Lolita". I think you had to be 17. We weren't. I didn't know about Sally Horner then. It's an amazing book and I am contemplating all the connections.

The writing is beautiful and haunting. A light touch makes it possible to read this heart-wrenching story. 

When I finally finished reading, I stopped and looked at the perfect cover. It makes me sad every time I see it.

BOTTOM LINE: T. Greenwood's book is a classic of its own. Read it. Talk about it. Highly recommended.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (August 7, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1250164192 
ISBN-13: 978-1250164193

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of Rust and Stardust by T. Greenwood from NetGalley/Minotaur Books for my honest review.

T. Greenwood is the author of twelve novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won three San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been BookSense76/IndieBound picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award. Her twelfth novel, RUST & STARDUST, was published in August 2018.

Thoughts on a Rainy Day

Both Good Reads and NetGalley ask readers to score the books they are reviewing on a one to five star scale. I've decided to do away with using that information on my blog. Here's why.

When I was younger I was reluctant to sing because I thought I wasn't as good as the other people in the room, in the world. Then I met a teacher who suggested that everyone had something to offer. It reminded me of the library rule that says "Every reader their book. Every book its reader."

I started wondering why I had to number rank the books I read. I had one author friend be taken aback because I only gave his new book 3 stars rather than the usual 4. It was more violent than I can handle these day and yet it is the book that will garner him many new readers.

Of course, there will be books I like more than others; and if I feel a book is poorly written and plotted, I don't need to read or review it at all.

I'd prefer to write about the delights and what the author has achieved.

What do you think?

Short Takes 7/31/2018

July 26, 2018 was the eleven year anniversary of Book Keeping. I decided to start blogging shortly before I retired so I would not loose touch with new books. Finding Net Galley allowed me access to wonderful books before the general public. As a matter of fact, I have to be careful not to drown in promises!

 

Today's mail brought me Donna Andrews newest entry in the Meg Langslow series. The twenty-third adventure is Toucan Keep a Secret. Cozy mysteries are not my first choice but I am looking forward to reading this. Thank you Minotaur Books/MacMillan!

Motherhood Noir, 10 Books That Explore the Fears and Ambivalences of Motherhood by Carol Goodman. The site is called Crime Reads and it is packed with information about "the best mystery, thriller, & crime on the Internet."

First glimpse at the plot of Louise Penny's new Inspector Gamache novel, Kingdom of the Blind, coming from @MinotaurBooks Nov 27: http://www.gamacheseries.com/kingdom-of-the-blind/

 

A Critic Sells Books Down by the Seashore

A bookstore in the village of Wigtown, Scotland, allows people to run the shop while renting an apartment upstairs. A book critic for The Times recently took his turn at the till.

AFTER ANNA by Lisa Scottoline (2018)

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started reading Lisa Scottoline with a paperback ARC copy of ANYWHERE THAT MARY WENT, Rosato & Associates #1 back in 1993. When I was offered a copy of her newest stand alone title AFTER ANNA, I was thrilled.

FIRST SENTENCE: "Noah Alderman watched the jurors as they filed into the courtroom with their verdict, which would either set him free or convict him of first-degree murder."

THE STORY: Maggie's teenaged daughter Anna wants to be reunited with her mother. The joy of this event is complicated by Anna's access to vast sums of money left to her by her father.

Maggie is now happily married to Noah, a pediatric doctor. Noah tries to enforce some family rules. Then the lies begin. But who is the liar?

Maggie and Noah's stories are told in alternating chapters. Both a domestic and legal thriller, the pacing picks up speed towards the end with twists and turns the reader won't see coming.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I get tired of stories that go back and forth but Lisa Scottoline makes it an important component of this story. Just when I thought it wasn't going anywhere, the roller coaster changed direction and raced to the end of the book.

BOTTOM LINE: You can trust Lisa Scottoline to deliver a good story. Recommended for a great summer read and beyond.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: St Martin's Press (April 10, 2018)
ISBN-10: 125009965X
ISBN-13: 978-1250099655

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of After Anna by Lisa Scottoline from NetGalley/St. Martin's Press for my honest review.

LISA SCOTTOLINE is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of the Rosato & DiNunzio series, as well as One Perfect Lie, Most Wanted, and many others. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, she has been published in thirty-five countries, and her thrillers have been optioned for television and film. Lisa also writes a weekly column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and those critically acclaimed stories have been adapted into a series of memoirs, the first of which is entitled Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. She lives in the Philadelphia area.  

Short Takes 4/2/2018

Mystery writer Louise Penny has been publishing a new title in her Inspector Gamache series every August. This year will be a little different. With the death of her husband, she initially decided to take a break, but she quietly began writing again with the result that KINGDOM OF THE BLIND will lay down November 27, 2018. Her many fans are relieved!

I just beginning to explore the idea of bullet journaling when I found this information at Beth Fish Reads blog. There's an introductory video by Ryder Carroll, the brains behind the system and owner of Bullet Journal and BuJo trademarks. Check it out if you are curious.

Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor is closing after 26 years.

April 2, 2018
Dear Beloved Customers and Readers,

We are regretful but ready to announce that we will be closing Aunt Agatha’s in August of this year. We have enjoyed getting to know many of you, discussing books with you, sharing author events with you and sharing the love of mysteries with you for 26 years. Many of you we are happy to think of as friends. It’s been a wonderful journey.
As in the great Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express there are many culprits for our demise – we are getting older; constant street construction; Amazon; and fierce local competition. We hope you will keep local bookstores vital and alive by patronizing the many exciting stores that remain open.

And please come by to say hello, fill out your collection, or plan to attend one of the wonderful events we have remaining on our schedule this spring and summer. However, we can no longer take your books for store credit. We suggest the library, the PTO thrift store, and the recycle center.
After we close we plan to continue selling our remaining inventory on ABE books online, and under construction is a review blog focusing on first mystery novels by women. We also have some future events planned at the library. But for now, everything is for sale!
April - 15%
May – 20%
June – 30%
July – 40%
August – 50%

We will also be selling shelving, tables, our front counter, and posters. If there’s something you are interested in please make us an offer. We also have quite a few 6’ banquet tables & folding chairs.
We have a closing event scheduled on August 26 with William Kent Krueger, and we hope you’ll join us for a final gather round the communal mysterious hearth.

With much gratitude for your patronage,

Robin & Jamie

BABY TEETH (2018) by Zoje Stage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zoje Stage hits a home run with her debut novel, "Baby Teeth", on sale July 17, 2018. A psychological thriller told from alternating perspectives of seven year old Hanna and her mother Suzette.

 FIRST SENTENCE: "Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke."

THE STORY: Hanna does not talk but she is not stupid. She loves her Daddy, but not her Mommy. Daddy thinks she is perfect. Mommy knows there is something wrong.

WHAT I THOUGHT: When I was a teenager in the 50s, I remember reading and being shocked by The Bad Seed. It was the story of a perfect little girl named Rhoda, who got whatever she wanted one way or another. Her Daddy thought she was perfect but her mother started to suspect things. It became a popular play and then a movie. The other scary book I remember from that time is Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby. It came out in in the 60s and I read it in the middle of the night while I was breast feeding my first child. Some memories haunt you. I've added Baby Teeth to my unforgettable list.

I enjoyed the fact that the book was set in Pittsburgh and recognized locations and allusions. Suzette has Crohn's disease, which complicates her ability to deal with Hanna. She doesn't have the energy and feels guilty for not being perfect.

BOTTOM LINE: Not everyone will appreciate this story. It is disturbing but so well done that the reader keeps turning pages to see what will happen. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 17, 2018)
ISBN-10: 12501707
ISBN-13: 978-1250170750

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage from NetGalley/St. Martin's for my honest review.

ZOJE STAGE is a writer and former filmmaker. She was a 2008 Fellow in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation of the Arts and a 2012 Emerging Storytellers Fellow from the Independent Filmmaker Project. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Baby Teeth is her first novel.(from AMAZON)

 

MY NAME IS VENUS BLACK (2018) by Heather Lloyd

My Name Is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A surprisingly engrossing first novel told from several points of view with characters you come to care about and root for throughout the book. Highly recommended.

FIRST SENTENCE: "My name is Venus Black because my dad was Joseph Black, and because on March 4, 1966, my very pregnant mother, Inez, just so happened to be watching a TV special about the Space Race when her water broke."

THE STORY  The problem with reviews is that too many details spoil the magical discovery of a wonderful story so I am going to keep this brief.

Before, Venus was a A+ student who loved the stars. After, her life would never be the same.

Separated from her autistic beloved brother Leo and furious with her mother, Venus embarks on a new life. She is resourceful but scared and angry. 

WHAT I THOUGHT: After reading some other reviews I was surprised to learn that My Name is Venus Black is considered for young adults. One person even suggested it was more appropriate for middle school students. I disagree. I'm 72 and adored this book. Judging the level of a book based on the age of the characters seems wrong to me. Certainly this is a coming of age story. The characters, although sometimes difficult, are (mostly) lovable and redeemable.The various threads cross and weave together to make a satisfying ending. I often say that I am looking for something different and special in a book. My Name is Venus drew me right in. And in the end, healing happens, family happens, love happens.

The writing is crisp and clean and the reader can easily follow the various points of view.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Reminded me a bit of The Language of Flowers and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley/The Dial Press/Random House for a fair review.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: The Dial Press (February 27, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399592180
ISBN-13: 978-0399592188

HEATHER LLOYD, who has spent many years working as an editor and writing coach, lives with her husband in New York City. My Name Is Venus Black is her first novel. (From her website.)

Short Takes 1/15/2018

The Library of Michigan has now announced the Michigan Notable Books for 2018. This article appeared in yesterday's Detroit Free Press. This year’s 20 books were chosen from a list of nearly 300 published in 2017.

I was in a bookstore the other day and although I don't need another book to read, I picked up Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.

There's a new title coming from Kate Atkinson in September 2018. "Transcription, a bravura novel of extraordinary power and substance, will be published in Doubleday hardcover in September 2018. It tells the story of Juliet Armstrong, who is recruited as a young woman by an obscure wartime department of the secret service. In the aftermath of war she joins the BBC, where her life begins to unravel, and she finally has to come to terms with the consequences of idealism."

23 of the Biggest Mystery Books of 2017 posted at the Book Bub Blog if you need suggestions for mysteries that will keep you up late.

HEAD WOUNDS (2018) by Dennis Palumbo

Head Wounds by Dennis Palumbo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Talk about a roller coaster ride! This is a stressful thriller full of terrible acts. If you're a fan of shows like Criminal Minds, you'll devour this 5th entry in the Dr. Daniel Rinaldi series. As a psychologist, he often consults with the Pittsburgh police working with victims of violent crimes. This time around the stakes have been ratcheted up to unbearable.

FIRST SENTENCE: "Miles Davis saved my life."

THE STORY: A dying man directs Dr. Daniel Rinaldi to a dossier with information on his wife's death. Twelve years earlier Rinaldi and his wife Barbara were mugged down at the Point. Both were shot but Barbara died. "All my forty-plus years condensed into a stack of documents, copied records, data printed off the Internet. The gains and losses, both professionally and personally, that made up my life."

With an explosive start, the reader is caught in the same web that ensnares Rinaldi and his friends. The scary part is that they are "Engaged in a duel to the death of which everyone around us was unaware. With an enemy about whom no one knew."

The reader is warned that things are going to turn to horror and they do. The dread builds and results in horrific situations. There doesn't seem to be a way out alive.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Suspension of disbelieve is required. There is language, some sex, and painful violence. The stakes are the highest yet in the series. The story can be read without knowledge of earlier books, but if you are familiar with the series, the situations are even more disturbing. Interesting off-beat characters add to the story which is well-plotted and well-written. I'll have to admit that this was a disturbing read for me, but then I have been known to turn off crime shows or at least walk out of the room.

You don't have to know Pittsburgh, but the descriptions of wonderful places like the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh and the view from Mount Washington will make you want to visit.

BOTTOM LINE: Dennis Palumbo's mysteries are page turners and highly readable. It's not necessary, but I would still recommend reading the series in order. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you're not squeamish.
 
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (February 6, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1464208166
ISBN-13: 978-1464208164

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley/Poisoned Pen Press for a fair review.

Dennis Palumbo, formerly a Hollywood screenwriter, is now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice. He's the author of a mystery collection, From Crime to Crime, and his short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Strand, and elsewhere. Head Wounds is the fifth in the Daniel Rinaldi series. His first Daniel Rinaldi mystery, Mirror Image was published in 2010, followed by Fever Dream in 2011, Night Terrors in 2013, and Phantom Limb (2014) He was formerly a Hollywood screenwriter and his credits include the feature film My Favorite Year. He also wrote for Welcome Back, Kotter.

LIE WITH ME (2018) by Sabine Durrant

Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me two days to devour LIE WITH ME and I stayed up late to finish it. The narrator, Paul Morris, immediately brought to mind Patricia Highsmith's invention "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

Originally published in Great Britain in 2016, LIE WITH ME has garnered rave reviews around the world being compared to GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, both of which I read and loved.

FIRST SENTENCE: "It struck me in the night that it might have started earlier."

THE STORY: The opening, on a wet day in London, sets the dismal tone. Some twenty years earlier, Paul Morris wrote a much acclaimed book, but has never been able to build on that success. Instead he manipulates the world around him through his charm and small lies. Now at the age of 42 he finds himself broke and having to contemplate moving in with his mother. Then an unexpected opportunity to spend a fortnight in Greece presents itself.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Although Paul lies casually to those around him, he seems to let the reader in on the truth of his life. He rationalizes his behavior, "Plenty of friendships, I am sure, are based on lies."

I was fascinated with the structure the author used to tell this story celebrating all the small triumphs of a rather selfish person. Beautifully written, the language describing Greece is painterly. Although this is a character driven psychological thriller, it is also a page turner.

Don't read any more reviews so you can discover LIE WITH ME with no preconceptions.

BOTTOM LINE: I'm guessing this will be a widely read psychological thriller in 2018. You don't want to miss the experience. Highly Recommended.

Genre: Psychological thriller
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Mulholland (January 11, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1473608333
ISBN-13: 978-1473608337

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley/Mullholand for a fair review.

Sabine Durrant's first psychological suspense novel, UNDER YOUR SKIN, was published by Hodder in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US in 2014. Her second, REMEMBER ME THIS WAY, was also published by Hodder in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US in 2015. Both novels have been translated into more than 15 languages. Her third novel, LIE WITH ME, will be pucblished in the US on January 11, 2018. Sabine has written for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph. She lives in south London with her partner, the writer Giles Smith, and their three children.