Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Glynn
Reviewed by Gerti

I picked up this text because I swaw it in the library book room and the movie based on the book was being advertised. I haven't seen the movie yet, but there are not enough words in the dictionary to tell you how good a book this is. My immediate kudos to Gillian Flynn for being the best writer I've read this year, and to "Gone Girl" for being the best book!

How can I tell that is true? Normally, while reading through a book, I'll fold over the pages that are exceptional, either because they have gorgeouly turned phrases, or amazing facts. The average book written by the average author gets between 2 and 8 fold-overs. With this book, I stopped folding early (about page 3!) and started reading with a highlighter, becasue there were so many amazing phrases and such fabulous writing that I would have dog-eared just about every page in the book. For example, three things struck me as great on page 17 alone. The phrase "Deep Hasbro thought for the day" - for being the first-time those words were ever combined in that way in the history of the English language. And we "took the Internet bubble bath in 2000" because it takes a mundane phrase that means losing money - taking a bath - and turns it into something more original and amusing. The third phrase? "We were Dunnes, and we were done," which I liked on so many levels. It refers to the narrator at that point, Nick Dunne, and how he had left New York because the journalism market there dried up. His sister is also included in that phrase, but she wasn't in the same career, but was also done with NYC.

I think I liked and trusted the narrator of this part, Nick, instantly, because I went to J school and knew people in New York who were "in the business," and knew he began his narrative about why he had left New York and returned to his home town with his wife, Amy. And I trusted his narrative when he talked about her being missing, and how he had nothing to do with it. Like the author intended, I felt his fear about his mistress being discovered, knowing that that would lead police to think he had a motive for killing his wife.

While Flynn does a great job creating separate narrative identities for Nick and Amy, I found that I did not like Amy, as a character. I did however, love the intricacy of the plot, and the perverseness of her mind, which enabled her to manipulate everyone in an attempt to get back at Nick for his infedelity. I won't detail the plot here, because you should read it for yourself, but I will say, that the end of the book is a fitting punishment to them both. The book is a tour de force, a force of nature that must be rushed through once, and then once again, slowly, because it is a terrible and complicated world that Flynn creates here, and I can't wait to read the other books she has written. Bravo to "Gone Girl" - my best book of 2014!

The Weight of Water

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
Reviewed by Gerti

Anita Shreve's "The Weight of Water" takes place in New England, but what makes this book special is that the narrative is split between two time periods, present day and the 18th century. The modern storyline involves a Boston Glove photographer named Jean, who is married to a famous poets, Thomas Janes. They have a young daughter named Billie, and are taking a trip to the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on a sailboat owned by Thomas' brother, Rich. Also along for the ride is Rich's Irish girlfriend Adaline.

Jean is on an assigment to photograph Smuttynose Island, scene of two terrible murders back in March of 1873, and that event and the principals in that case make up the second story line. Norwegian immigrants Anethe and Karen Chistensen were brutally killed, but a third woman, Karen's married sister, Maren Hontvedt, survived the attack by hiding out in a sea cave with her little dog, Ringe. A man named Lew Wagner was convicted of the crime by a Maine court and hanged, but the story in Shreve's novel names another killer with far different motives than the simple theft supposedly behind Wagner's dastardly deed.

Jean goes to the Portsmouth Athenaeum, a historical library in the center of town, and finds a translated letter there, a hidden confession from Maren that no one seems to have discovered among the disorganized records of the crime. She spontaneously steals it after uncovering an affair between her husband and Adaline. The scenes between all four adults are rich with sexual tension. Thomas is obviously attracted to Adaline, who revels in his attention, but Jean is also attracted to her husband's manlier brother, Rich, and he to her.

When a storm comes up, it mirrors the building tempest of the group dynamic. Adaline is swept overboard, and Thomas goes to her rescue. It is only later that the group discovers Billie (who Adaline was supposed to be watching) has been swept out to sea, and lost. Her death breaks up Jean and Thomas' already fragile marriage, and of course, Rich and Adaline don't stay together either. Jean later meets with Adaline to confront her about leaving Billie alone. But where does the truth lie?

Living outside of Portsmouth for a decade, I had often heard of the Smuttynose murders, and while there is still a controversy over whether Wagner was the real killer, I never heard a theory as outrageous as the one Shreve presents here. Her books also seem steeped in sexuality, but it bothers me less here that it does in her novel "Fortune's Rocks." In this book, Jean is a very likeable protagonist, and her belief that her husband has strayed seems likely, given the evidence that she, as the narrator, shows the reader. I'm sure that Shreve sees a deeper connection between the tow stories - one of negligent death, the other of murder, but I can't see it. Still, "The Weight of Water" is a great read, and makes me likely to pick up another Shreve novel.

The Second Time Around

"The Second Time Around" by Mary Higgins Clark

Reviewed by Gerti

Describing "The Second Time Around" by Mary Higgins Clark as a thriller is entirely accurate. Not until the last few pages, an epilogue, was I sure exactly how all the pieces and players fit into the story. All I knew for sure was that I had to keep reading!

The protagonist is a financial reporter named Marcia "Carley" DeCarlo who as the story opens is attending a stockholder's meeting for a company called Genstone. The pharmaceutical firm was on the verge of releasing a cancer vaccine, and that kind of product of course drew lots of money and investors from all walks of life. But on the heels of the news that the latest tests on the vaccine can't replicate the early successful trials comes the bombshell that CEO Nicholas Spencer has been stealing from the company, and has now allegedly died in a plane crash. The stock is virtually worthless, and The Wall Street Weekly wants to figure out how it all happened. Carley is one of their reporters on the story.

But as Carley digs for answers in Spencer's hometown, she finds that he was a championship swimmer, and an experienced pilot, so she (and others) suspect that he may have faked his death at sea. Only his love for his son Jack put the lie to that theory. Making the story more personal for Carley, her step-sister Lynn was Spencer's second wife, as his first wife died from cancer. Now people suspect Lynn of being involved in the theft, and an angry stockholder has burned down her Bedford home, not knowing that Lynn was asleep in it. Lynn is burned and turns to Carley to help her garner sympathy with the media. Carley complies, even though she doesn't really like, or trust, the cold but beautiful Lynn.

As the story progresses, Carley must interview Spencer's administrative assistant, another beauty named Vivian Powers, and soon realizes that Spencer and Vivian were romantically involved. While Vivian is initially reluctant to talk to a reporter, Carley gains her confidence just before Vivian disappears. It begins to look more and more like Spencer faked his death and had Vivian join him in some villa in Europe. But when Vivian is located in a car five days later, she is totally disoriented and thinks she is 16 years old again. Carley now suspects a pharmaceutical rival has used a memory erasing drug on her. Add to the mix an unhinged investor with a rifle who is slowly picking off people with whom he is angry and you've got quite an exciting story.

I loved watching Carley interview one person after another, leading her closer and closter to the truth. There was real suspense for me as i kept expecting Spencer to show up, even though those who knew him best always suspected he hadn't done the terrible things of which he was accused. There is a throw-away romance here between Carley and a doctor friend, but other than that, the story is riveting, and the ending a real surprise. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good "tale of deception and tantalizing twists."

A Darkness More Than Night

Review of Michael Connelly’s 

“A Darkness More Than Night”

Review by Gerti

I have read more Michael Connelly books than I can count, but this one is special, because he brings both of my favorite characters into it. The first book I ever read of his had as its protagonist former FBI detective Terrell “Terry” McCaleb, who got a heart transplant from a woman killed in a convenience store robbery. Her sister, Graciela Rivers, eventually marries McCaleb after he solves that murder for her, and the pair now have a child of their own, a little girl, and live on Catalina Island. McCaleb is now supposedly retired, but a former colleague asks him to help with a murder investigation, and against his wife’s wishes, he does.

McCaleb of course finds clues other investigators have missed, and hits upon the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch as the motif for the New Year’s Eve killing of a low-life named Eddie Gunn. Ironically, there is a famous homicide detective who also has the name Bosch, who is very familiar to Connelly fans, and is a friend of McCaleb, Instead of thinking that his buddy is being set up, as I did reading the book, McCaleb begins to suspect Bosch of the horrific crime. Bosch is in the middle of testifying for the prosecution in the trial of a powerful Hollywood producer, but once again, McCaleb fails to see that makes Bosch a prime target for a set-up.

The book twists and turns around these two powerful male characters, McCaleb and Bosch, both brilliant but not infallible investigators. It is a delight to see them work, and delightful to see how Connelly differentiates between two of his more popular protagonists. Eventually, McCaleb sees the connection between the two cases, and puts himself in danger, as the real killer of Eddie Gunn comes a-calling. Bosch saves his life, and in turn is able to guarantee that the puppet master behind the murder of Gunn also goes to prison for life.

Kirkus Reviews says of this book, “Bosch fan or McCaleb fan, you can’t lose with the chilling tour-de-force,” and I wholeheartedly agree. It was wonderful to see those two heroes working together, even though they are sometimes at odds. If only Mickey Haller had been the defense attorney for the producer, all three of Connelly’s greatest characters could have appeared together, but I guess Connelly didn’t want him to lose the case. This book is very good, but probably a lot more fun to read for those who have read enough Connelly to know both of these leading men.

The Drop

Michael Connelly’s “The Drop”

Review by Gerti

In this novel, Michael Connelly again puts the spotlight on his LA homicide detective and favorite protagonist, Harry Bosch. Bosch retired from the police force, but then returned under a program that only gives him a limited time to catch cold-case killers. That program is called “DROP”, and at the beginning of the story, Bosch was given 3 years to continue with the LAPD. But the two cases he is called upon to solve in this book test him to the point where he wants to retire immediately.

His partner in this book is David Chu, and the two do not work as well together as some of Bosch’s previous partners, including Kiz Rider, who is now working for the Chief of Police’s office. As a result, she is able to keep Bosch informed when another former cop and current city councilman’s son dies. Despite the fact that Councilman Irving and Bosch hate each other, Irving has asked for him to find out whether his son killed himself or was murdered at the Chateau Marmont. He knows that Bosch will try his best to solve the case, no matter his feelings about the boy’s father. And Bosch does pursue it, even though it’s a case filled with political implications. Irving has been squeezing police funding as a member of the city council, and there is pressure on Bosch from all sides to solve the case quickly and in a way that pleases Irving, so that the money rolls back in.

Bosch’s heart, however, is in another case he’s working on - the cold case of a 19-year-old girl, killed in the late ‘80s. The new Regional Crime Lab has matched DNA from her to a convicted rapist who is seeking treatment in a local program. Seems like the perfect suspect, but he was only 8 years old when the crime happened, so Bosch needs to see if the lab (or other homicide cops) have made a mistake, and that could have legal implications on a ton of other cases. He’s supposed to be putting all his energy into the Irving case, but he sneaks in a pretty thorough investigation of this one, and realizes that the rapist’s blood was on the victim because HE had been assaulted by the girl’s true killer.

By the end, Bosch has solved both cases, and justice is served, despite a last ditch effort from another victim to kill the killer before he goes to trial. Bosch does not put the wrong person in jail, despite evidence that a former cop was the last person to see Irving’s son alive. And he finds a serial killer who’s been actively killing for decades. On top of that, he finds a new girlfriend - the only part of the story I feel uncomfortable with, as Bosch frequently leave his teenaged daughter alone while those two drink and chat. It’s bad enough for him to abandon his kid while investigating murders, but to date? It almost tarnishes his hero status.

I love Connelly as a writer, and I love reading about Harry Bosch, his best protagonist. But “The Drop” is not my favorite Bosch novel, as Harry let’s a lot of people down in this book, including Irving, the new girlfriend, and his daughter. Unlike other books in which Bosch dominates, here he’s all action and little heart.

The Black Box

Michael Connelly’s “The Black Box”

Reviewed by Gerti

This is a crime novel that will make you cry. Author Michael Connelly is a former LA crime reporter who is a compelling storyteller with a consistently good, clear style of writing, but in this novel, he seems to rise above even his unusually high skill level. This story involves his frequent protagonist Harry Bosch, an LA homicide detective who, like Connelly himself, rises above his colleagues because of the level of emotion and sacrifice he invests in each case he solves.

In this book, Bosch is trying to solve a murder that took place during the LA riots following the Rodney King verdict in 1992. The victim was an international reporter named Anneke Jespersen, who freelanced for a Danish newspaper, and who had covered other conflicts around the world, including Operation Desert Storm. There were so many crimes committed during those days of violence in 1992, the case remained unsolved by the Riot Crimes Task Force, and has now gone to the Open-Unsolved Unit. But with the anniversary approaching, Bosch’s boss wants him to shelve this case, because the reporter was white.

But Bosch can’t let it go because he was one of the cops at the original crime scene, and something about it always bothered him. Under his blotter at his desk, he has a collection of pictures from cases which have gotten under his skin, and Anneke’s is one of those. Using his own memories from the night her body was discovered, as well as the evidence collected from the original crime scene, he methodically works the case, coming up with clue after clue that had been missed at the time, including the gun that killed her.

He ends up uncovering a conspiracy that involving several California National Guardsmen who helped keep order during the riots, but who were also involved in Desert Storm. Turns out they had drugged and raped Anneke on an R & R ship back in the day. Now one is a wealthy business owner, another is a county sheriff running for Congress, so they will do anything to hide the truth, including kidnapping Bosch and executing several former war buddies. Lucky for Bosch, he is being investigated, and the detective tailing him ends up saving his life.

That’s the story. But what makes this book special among Connelly novels for me is that he does more than simply tell a good tale. He goes under Bosch’s skin and reveals his emotions, which are what makes Bosch a better cop than his partner or his boss, who are primarily worried about solving cases to make quotas. Bosch cares when he’s talking to Anneke’s family, and the scene in which he tells her brother that he’s finally caught her murderer is heartbreaking in its emotional intensity. The brother’s anger over what happened to his sister all those years ago is mirrored by Bosch’s own, and that makes Harry Bosch my hero, and a champion for all those who’ve been waiting years for justice to be served. This book elevates Connelly from a good crime writer to a great one.

The Brass Verdict

Review of Michael Connelly’s “The Brass Verdict”

Review by Gerti

Now I’m Michael Connelly’s biggest fan. And I love his protagonists Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch. But five-hundred and forty-seven pages is just too much for me to tell one story. And that’s the only problem I have with “The Brass Verdict.”

Connelly is a master storyteller, and this story combines his two favorite storylines – Haller defending a guilty man who claims to be innocent, and Bosch tracking down the truth behind a high profile LA crime. Perhaps Connelly and his editors felt that one-two punch justified the book’s length, as there were two stories that needed telling. But maybe it was just overly ambitious to try to combine two strong but flawed heroes in one colossal novel.

But here are some positives - I loved seeing Haller out of rehab and trying to get back into the law game. I also loved his interaction with Bosch, who is his half-brother, although Haller doesn’t realize it until the end of the book. But I did not like the tricks Bosch played on Haller in order to solve the headline-grabbing crime in this novel, the murder of a movie producer’s wife and her lover.

One attorney has already been killed trying to defend the Archway Studios exec who discovered the pair, and that’s before jury selection has ever started. Haller lucks into that attorney’s case load, but he’s playing catchup. His wealthy client, Walter Elliot, doesn’t want the trial delayed, even though his first defense attorney’s calendar and files on the case were stolen when he was murdered. Turns out, Elliot has bribed a juror, so he’s not worried about a guilty verdict. Haller just can’t work with a stacked deck like that, and he tells the judge about the ringer, but that sets a whole house of cards tumbling. Haller is almost killed himself until Bosch and the FBI come to his rescue.

I am however bothered by the last few chapters, which seem largely extraneous, and as the book is already running over 500 pages, I get a little restless about literary excesses. I’m glad to see Haller and Bosch becoming friends in the midst of this turmoil, but it does make me regret all the ink Connelly used to set up the relationship between Haller and his new driver. Don’t get me wrong. I love spending time with Haller and Bosch. I just don’t want to spend ALL my free time with them.

In short, while I love the characters, and am impressed by the intricate plot which involves several of Connelly’s characteristic twists and misdirection, I felt the book could have been tighter. A good editor could have cut at least 50 pages out of here and made it a more manageable 400ish pages. The title, “The Brass Verdict,” refers to street justice, where a gun is used to dispatch the guilty party. I almost wish this book had been as quick to reach its conclusion.

Mammoth Cave National Park

"Mammoth Cave National Park" by Ruth Radlauer
Reviewed by Gerti

I have never been in a cave, but was recently contemplating a trip south to visit either Boone Caverns in Indiana or Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. Therefore, I read this book as a form of research before deciding which cave system to make the focus of my planned vacation.

"Mammoth Cave National Park" by Ruth Radlauer is a quick introduction to the hundreds of miles of caves found south of Louisville. While I didn't care much for the chapters on caves were initially formed, or why watering the soil above is important to cave dwellers, I was pleased by the many pictures in the book and her use of large print. There is also a pretty cool map that shows the national park to be just off of I-65, which is pretty handy for those of us who live in Northwest Indiana! It also mentions the hiking and camping opportunities available for outdoorsy families and their young ones.

The history of the cave was more interesting to me, and I especially enjoyed hearing about Stephen Bishop, who began life as a slave of the owner of the cave, but would eventually make the first fairly accurate map of many underground miles there, and discovered many of the cave's unique features. Also fascinating is the fact that there were building down below, and even a hospital had been built there, despite the dark and damp that exist so far below the surface. hard to believe a doctor actually thought the place might cure tuberculosis and had people live there...

For children, this book would be perfect introduction to this nearby national treasure. For me, I was hoping for more specifics on the various underground rooms the author mentions, and possibly a map of the cave system. While I did enjoy learning the quick tricks the author used so kids could distinguish between stalactites (spelled with a "c" as in ceiling) and stalagmites (spelled with a "g" as in ground), I still don't think I could recall what a troglobite is. I did like her pictures of the white crayfish and blindfish who live in the very lowest level of the caves, but was pretty grossed out because many of the creatures who live their entire lives in these caves are millipedes, beetles and flatworms.

In summary, the book made me decide that visiting Mammoth Caves was not for me, mainly because of Raudlauer's realistic descriptions of many of those slimy cave dwellers! But hopefully younger readers would not be as grossed out by those things, and this slim volume would spark their interest in the topic of spelunking.

Mary, Queen of Scots... And All That

Gerti's Review of “Mary, Queen of Scots… And All That”by Allan Burnett

Author Allan Burnett is a citizen of the United Kingdom. I gathered that from his language choice (no one in the US would call someone a “nutter”) and his ability to put an irreverent spin on the iconic tale of Mary, Queen of Scots. I’ve heard her story since I was a small child, and my son recently did a school report on her, which is why I requested the book. But since it came all the way from Missouri, his report was already done by the time the book arrived, and hence, I’m the one to read it!

For those who are unfamiliar, Mary was the only child of the King of Scotland, James V, but was sent to France as a child to be the bride of a Prince there, who later became King Francis II. Sadly, he was no more hardy than her father, and died about a year after the couple were married, sending her back to Scotland to reclaim her crown there. If you think that’s unlucky, Mary’s life really hits the skids after returning home. While there, she married a couple of jerks, including the royally related Lord Darnley, with whom she had a son named James. Then (does this begin to sound familiar?) Darnley died in a suspicious castle explosion, and Mary quickly got married to the Earl of Bothwell, who unfortunately for her was one of the fellows suspected of planting explosives under Darnley’s castle. Whoops!

Her countrymen turned against her after all this questionable behavior, and rather than remain imprisoned in Scotland, Mary fled across the border to England, which was ruled by her cousin Elizabeth I. Sadly, Elizabeth had her own problems – her country had been torn apart by religious quarrels, and about half the citizens (and nobles!) wanted to be Catholic, and the other half preferred their queen Protestant. Elizabeth was a Protestant, but Mary was a Catholic, and that was the rub. To let Mary run free meant risking her own throne, and Elizabeth was far too clever a girl to let that happen. She kept Mary imprisoned in various castles, but eventually Mary was implicated in a plot to take the English throne, and Elizabeth was forced to cut off her head.

Now that you’ve seen some of the highlights, this book is a much better introduction than I had to Mary, which was the classic work by Antonio Fraser (not child friendly!) Burnett covers all the factual bases, and makes this an accessible intro to Scottish and British history. It is even peppered with cartoons children would find amusing, which makes this text seem contemporary, like a graphic novel. For adults like me, it’s pretty amusing to see John Knox and other historical heavy’s in cartoon form, although I imagine there are those who might be offended. Still, I think children and young teens would find this a quick but comically interesting look at a cultish Queen from way back when.

Just As Long As We're Together

Gerti's Review of Judy Blume’s “Just As Long As We’re Together”

Judy Blume is an author that I found irresistible when I was a teenager, many, many years ago! I recently picked up one of her books at a library book sale, and realized that she kept writing even after I went to college! Her books are still designed to appeal to her traditional target audience – tweens and teens.

In this book, “Just As Long As We’re Together,” a young girl named Stephanie is getting ready to go back to school. Her best friend since second grade, Rachel, is scared about the new school year, but excited, too. Then a new girl named Alison shows up in their neighborhood, and the longtime best friends begin to drift apart. Add to that social complication the fact that Stephanie’s parents are separating, which they of course hide from her, and you’ve got a story of typically modern teenaged angst. Stephanie hates her dad’s new girlfriend, and works hard to break them up and re-introduce her mom into the love equation. Rachel has a hard time accepting Alison as Stephanie’s new friend, and the two girls have a huge fight that their parents try to mitigate. And of course, all three girls are starting to notice boys, which leads to its own problems! Oh, the drama!

More “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” than “Forever”, “Just As Long As We’re Together” is a book for young teens who may be going through the same sort of social upheavals. The lessons are softballs - it’s hard to insert new friends into old alliances, and it’s even harder to figure out the opposite sex! While I like the book’s well-defined main character, Stephanie, her friends seem like caricatures. Rachel is the prototypical “smart girl,” and Alison, the foreign, worldly one. Her mom is a famous actress, and as a result Alison has travelled the world and was even born abroad, which is pretty sophisticated for her group of friends.

Each girl has to solve her own crisis, but in Judy Blume world, it all turns out all right. JALAWT has little content that could be objectionable to parents. And while it still amazes me that middle-aged Judy Blume still knows about the silly things that worry teenagers, I guess that’s the nature of her creativity. It was amusing, as a parent, to spy on the pubescent conversations she presents here, and perhaps more than when I was young, this text shows me exactly how talented a writer Blume is. This book won’t change anybody’s life, but it is an entertaining and well-written effort by one of America’s favorite writers of teen fiction.

My Horizontal Life

Gerti’s Review of "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler

“My Horitzontal Life” is a book you can read and feel guilty about in the morning. Was it funny? Yes, occasionally Chelsea Handler’s collection of stories about her one-night stands was funny. But I’d have to say my enjoyment at her occasionally humorous turns of phrase was mitigated at my being appalled at her lack of a moral center. I am a middle-aged woman, and perhaps that is why I should not have been reading a book called “My Horizontal Life” at all. I just wanted to know who Chelsea Handler was since I’d never watched her comedy show, and the title was just ambiguous enough to lure me into buying the book.

Well, now I feel I know all too well who she is. But the problem with the book is that I don’t care. I really don’t want to know whether someone Chelsea went to bed with had large or small pudenda. I don’t really want to know whether she is turned on by midgets or black men. It’s the reason I don’t go into bars and get into conversations with boozy whores, because I don’t care what they’re doing with their nights, either. This book falls into the category of “too much information”, and like comic Ron White’s written account of how often he takes drugs and has oral sex, sometimes the amount I’m disgusted by a person’s behavior outweighs my enjoyment of how cleverly they can express themselves.

I would recommend this book only for people whose comical leanings are highly voyeuristic. Not suitable for young teens, or for anyone, really. I think I’ve finally found a book that legally qualifies to be called obscene, as this is smut lit with no redeeming social value.

Monster

Gerti’s Review of Jonathon Kellerman’s “Monster”

The Detroit Free Press review says on the jacket, that John Kellerman owns the genre of psychological thrillers. While that may be true, it was certainly not based on his writing in “Monster”, the only book of his I have ever read. While I like protagonist Dr. Alex Delaware, who is apparently featured in a number of Kellerman books, I found this book long (396 pages) and unnecessarily confusing. Delaware is partnered here with Detective Milo Sturgis, and together the two are trying to a series of odd murders in the LA area.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by reading the police thrillers written by Michael Connelly, but that man can spin a yarn that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the last few pages. On the other hand, Kellerman proved predictable, and it was obvious by about the halfway point that the character called “The Monster” was physically and psychologically incapable of killing anyone, let alone a family, and that he had been set up by someone else to take the fall for the murders.

Like so many murder mysteries, it was just a question of finding out who had the most to gain from the deaths of a young family, and the Detective and Doctor seemed to spend a lot of time finding clues, but not much time putting them together. While the book enabled me to see step by step how a police investigation into murder might actually work, I much prefer Connelly’s detectives, who figure things out with a little more speed and brain power.

Yes, I was charmed by Dr. Delaware and his relationship with his wife, but I have the feeling that has more to do with Jonathon Kellerman’s relationship with his own wife than with any fictional character he has created. “The Monster,” Ardis Peake, may have been abused and mistreated as a youngster, but I as the reader feel more sympathy for him than for either of the two victims that Kellerman cooks up early in the book. Peake allegedly “predicted” their deaths, and it’s pretty obvious that the mostly mute Peake is being set up as some kind of oracle by someone involved in the crimes. It’s just a question of by whom.

Yes, it is nice when some of the bad guys are finally brought to justice and the magnitude of their crimes revealed. It’s also satisfying when the boss of the mental hospital gets fired. But ultimately there is no justice for Peake, as he never committed the crimes of which he was accused, yet with no one else out in the real world to care for him, the powers that be decide he is best left in the mental institution for the criminally insane where he has spent most of his adult life. And that to me is another kind of crime. I as the reader wanted a distant relative to come and take this blameless “Monster” to a happier life, too. I feel stuck in solitary with him, and am too empathetic to think that that kind of “what else can you do?” resolution is satisfactory. It’s like reading “Beauty and the Beast”, but with Kellerman, the Beast never turns into a prince. “Monster” is a sad fairytale which leaves me less likely to read Kellerman again.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Children's Fiction
Reviewed by Alicia

When my mom suggested reading the Harry Potter books, I didn't want to. I thought they'd be boring. My mom wanted to read just a few chapters together to see what I'd think, though. I decided that I could put up with it.

Mom read the first chapter and asked if she should return the book to the library the next day. "NO!" I shouted. I was hooked. We couldn't read through the book fast enough. Even my little sister was interested. We're about 100 pages into the 2nd book and I can't wait to find out what happens!

I Hunt Killers

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Teen Fiction

Meet Jasper "Jazz" Dent. His claim to fame in his hometown of Lobo's Nod is being the son of serial killer Billy Dent. Billy is safely in prison, but a string of recent murders is casting doubt on Jazz. Could the son be following in the father's footsteps? Join Jazz as he starts his own investigation, hoping to clear his name and answer some of the questions in his own mind.

And then read Game and Blood of my Blood to see the series through to its surprising conclusion!

Sister

Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Fiction

The book discussion group read Sister in September. Overall, the group enjoyed the book. Beatrice gets a call from her mother that her younger sister Tess has gone missing. When Tess's body is found, the London police declare it a suicide, but Beatrice is not convinced. The story is told as a letter that Beatrice is writing to Tess, telling the story of Beatrice's investigation into what she is sure is a murder. The book takes an unexpected turn at the end, which lead to a great deal of discussion as to how the book really ended.

If you have read Sister, let us know what you thought!

The Giant Rat of Sumatra

The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Sid Fleischman
Children's Fiction

Reviewed by Max

My book report is on Sid Fleischman's historical adventure, "The Giant Rat of Sumatra, or Pirates Galore." Well, it's actually the story of my adventure with Mexican Pirates.

My names is Edmund Amos Peters, and I am a 12-year-old boy from New England. The pirates nickname my "Shipwreck" because they find me after my stepfather's ship sinks. I am the only survivor.

The other main character, Captain Gallows, decides to save my life and puts me to work on his ship. As cabin boy, I polish boots and get pirates things they need.

Captain Gallows' ship is called "The Giant Rat of Sumatra" because it has a rat as its figurehead. Usually, ships have ladies or mermaids as their figureheads, but ours has a rat with emerald eyes and huge fangs.

When I meet him, Captain Gallows wants to give up being a pirate, so he sails his ship to San Diego, California, to find his long-lost love, a lady bandit called "Senorita Wildcat." The year is 1846, so San Diego is still part of Mexico.

I learned some Spanish words from this book. "Senorita" is the Spanish word for Miss and "Don" is not just a name, it is also a Spanish title, which means "Mr." The Captain is now calling himself Don Alejandro, and has new clothes and a new business - buying leather.

I am still with him and he has given me his treasure to hold - the emerald eyes of the Giant Rat, which are worth a fortune. They are sewed into my coat.

Then an American warship comes into San Diego harbor because the United States is at war with Mexico. The Captain tries to use his old pirate ship to stop the Americans, but he can't, and the Americans claim the city.

Although Senorita Wildcat robs the Captain, she doesn't get the emeralds from me until he marries her.

I go back to New England to live with my mother when other American ships come into the harbor. Then I resume my life as a typical American boy.

I like this story of my adventures because it is about ships and pirates. It also taught me some American history I didn't know.

My favorite part is when the American warship battles the Giant Rat of Sumatra. The only thing I didn't like is the romance between Captain Gallows and Senorita Wildcat. I wish he'd stayed a pirate.

The Hidden Lives of Wolves

The Hidden Lives of Wolves
By Jim and Jamie Dutcher

Reviewed by Karen

The Story of the Sawtooth Pack

This is a book about a husband and wife who took on the life of living within a compound of their own making for 6 years and raising wolf pups from the time they opened their eyes. They bottlefed the pups and gained the confidence of the wolves by living with them. For 6 years they watched and filmed these magnificent animals, learning how the pack lives and takes care of the young, old, and injured of the pack. This book is a rare look into the family structure of the pack. How the Alpha Male and Female look out for the pack and the Omega is the lowers of the hierarchy and is the one that gets picked on all the time. The Omega is also the clown who instigates a game of "Catch Me if You Can." the pack is also good for the ecosystem.

Movie Review: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
Review by Gerti

In sharp contrast to the movie "A Month by the Lake" which I recently reviewed is "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain." It is everything the former movie wanted to be but wasn't. Both movies have breathtaking scenery, a nostalgic setting, and big name actors in the lead role. But "Mountain" (shall we call it) has a wit and charm that "Lake" is sadly lacking.

Heartthrob actor Hugh Grant starts as the eponymous Englishman, sent on a geological survey of Wales' largest (and allegedly first) mountain. He is only the assistant to the master measurer, played perfectly by British character actor Ian McNeice, but as that gentleman is often drunk and invariably surly, it is Grant with whom the locals interact. The cartographers arrive on Sunday when the town residents are at prayer, save for randy local innkeeper, nicknamed "Morgan the Goat" more for his sexual habits than for his looks. He is played by Colm Meaney, known to sci-fi fans as Chief O'Brien in several "Star Trek" series. Meaney is currently starring in the cable series "Hell on Wheels," but I have found him unwatchable in that how. Yet her, his ribald charm oozes off the screen. He obviously enjoyed himself playing a Welsh lothario!

His inn is the social center of the small town, Ffynnon Garw, and the men come by to place bets on the height of their mountain. Welsh geography is inextricably linked with its national mythology, and the locals are very proud of this mountain, (actually Garth's Hill!) But trouble starts when the initial survey determines it to be about 20 feet below 1000, too short to accurately be called a "mountain" by the map makers. This information galvanizes the town, including "the Goat" and Reverend Jones, the local pastor, who determines that enough has already been taken from the during WWI, and their hill must be a mountain, no matter what. A local lad sent back home shell-shocked, reveals how they used to dig trenches, and her reasons that building up the mountain is also possible - just that process in reverse. It is heart-warming to see the whole town, from elderly villagers to young children taken out of school, pitch in with buckets and wheelbarrows of dirt, all in an attempt to save their mountain and their pride.

To incent the Brits to stay a few days longer, "the Goat" has one of his lovely girlfriends from the big city of Cardiff visit the inn to charm the surveyors. While the older Brit is her intended target, Miss Elizabeth, or "Betty" as she's called, can't help by be charmed by the much younger and better-looking Hugh Grant. "The Goat" must resort to the dirty trick of disabling their car to keep the Brits in town long enough for the locals to build a mound atop their hill. There is more trouble, a monsoon quality rainstorm, and tragedy, the pastor dies on the hill, but ingenuity and heart win out. The hill becomes a mountain again, and Hugh Grant gets the girl. What a charming romantic romp! Great writing and great to look at.

Conquistadora

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
Adult Fiction

Review by Mary Ellen


A novel about the Spanish Conquistadors conquering Puerto Rico. A Spanish author, Esmeralda read Ana Larrago's diaries from 1844. Diaries from a Spanish lady who traveled with two conquistadors.

They traveled across the ocean with the explorer Ponce de Leon. Ana married one of the conquistadors at eighteen years old. She and her husband lived on a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico during Spanish Rule. There was a revolt. Ana did not want to give up her plantation. Life was not peaceful for Ana when she fell in love with another man.

Weasels by Elys Dolan

Picture Book
Age Range: 5-8
Grade Level: K-3

Submitted by Tina

The little animals did not eat frogs, rabbits, and mice, but used computers to dominate the earth.  It is silly and funny, for children aged 5 and up.  The author is a very creative storyteller.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Submitted by Gerti

When you choose a novel that’s a Pulitzer Prize winner, you know you’ve got a good one, and even though this is a very old work (1927) by a very old author (1897-1975), I was hooked from the opening line. “On Friday noon, July the 20^th, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated 5 travelers into the gulf below.” The book lives up to its hype, and is a truly great effort from the author.

Thornton Wilder’s novel takes that simple “fact” (it is actually fiction), and weaves it into a fascinating look at the lives of the people who died in that event, as researched and pulled together by a local monk who was trying to use their deaths to illustrate that God punishes the wicked. But what the story actually shows (and why the original copy of Brother Juniper’s work is destroyed by the church) is that their lives are not evil at all, but that the lives are ended for no fathomable reason. Young, old, good, evil, loving and innocent, the 5 people who died are not the worst in all Peru, and that is a mind-blowing concept to Brother Juniper, who so desperately looked for a divine plan to human life and death.

The 5 people are thoroughly fleshed-out characters, brilliantly drawn by Wilder. The first biography is of the Marquesa de Montemayor, who is not only a gifted writer, but a woman who loves her only child (a daughter) with an open, generous heart, even though that child never returns her affection, and in fact seems to go out of her way to plague and annoy her. Luckily, the daughter is married to a man (in faraway Spain) who appreciates the old lady, and saves the beautiful letters the Marquesa writes to his wife, letters which turn into classics of Spanish literature. The Marquesa dies accompanied by her servant and companion, Pepita, who was raised in a convent and has been given to the Marquesa so that the Mother Superior can prepare her to take over the many good works affiliated with their order. Pepita’s death shows the aged Mother Superior that despite her vain belief that the church hospital and school are important, God does not care if those good works continue after her death.

Also killed in that accident is Esteban, brother to another orphan dropped off at the Convent of Santa Maria Rosa de las Rosas. The twin boys grow up with their own secret language, and are very close to one another, until the one named Manuel falls in love with a local actress. This love pulls the brothers apart, as Manuel won’t confess his love to the woman, as he can’t imagine his brother living without him. Manuel then becomes very ill and dies, and Esteban is forced to live without him anyway. But his life has lost its meaning, and he tries suicide. A famous ship captain tries to interest him in life and the world again and he is on the journey to join that ship when God takes his life by having him fall off the bridge. Ironically, the man who trained the actress his brother was in love with also dies in the bridge accident, along with the young actress’s sickly son.

Wicked Bugs – The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

Reading Level: Teen Non-Fiction
Submitted by Gerti

This is the 2^nd book of Amy Stewart’s that I have finished reading, starting with “Wicked Plants” and here reading her “Wicked Bugs.” I don’t know which she wrote first, but they are very similar in design and execution, although I must admit I like “Wicked Bugs” better. I am still working on a third book of hers, “The Drunken Botanist”, but I haven’t managed to finish it yet. It isn’t nearly as interesting as these other two if you don’t plan to brew your own moonshine!

Like “Wicked Plants”, “Wicked Bugs” is full of strange and unusual facts about insects, arachnids and other creepy crawlies (like scorpions). Like her other book, the creatures descriptions are arranged alphabetically for ease of use, and there is a tab on the upper right corner of the page that indicates whether it fits various categories, like “deadly” or “painful.” While for the plants, I was upset that there were no actual full-color pictures of the plants to help humans avoid them, here I don’t mind the sepia-toned drawings of the insects, etc., mainly because so few of them reside in the US!

Unlike “Wicked Plants,” the drawings in this book don’t bother me, mainly because they are of the creepie crawlie in question, and not of some bizarre nightmare or a psychedelic state the bug bite might cause. It was actually fun showing my kids the pictures of the various bugs, some of which appear to show the creatures actual size, which is pretty creepy when they are 5 inches or larger! I don’t know whether the pictures accurately represent their actual size, only that the size of the drawing of a particular bug seems to mimic the size range the author mentions. Actual entomologists might quibble about it, but I don’t care that much! I’m really just counting eyes and legs when I look at bugs!

Is it worth reading? Yes, like “Wicked Plants”, “Wicked Bugs” is probably even worth purchasing for the home library, since it talks about how dangerous various critters can be. I would especially buy it if I were planning to head to South America or Africa or some other site where the bigger, deadlier things lurk. Fortunately, here in the United States, it seems all I have to watch out for are eating raw pork (she does include a section on parasites) and getting bitten by a brown recluse. Still, this book makes me glad that I spend most of my time indoors!

The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Reading Level: Juvenile Fiction
Submitted by Gerti

This book was recommended to me by the mother of another teenaged boy, and I read it, thinking it might be something my son could read with interest, since he’s not a big fan of mathematics. I’m not a big fan either, but I must say, this book taught me a thing or two, and one of those is not to trust everything you read!

I won’t call this a good book, but “The Number Devil” is a book full of strange and unusual facts about numbers and math. I enjoyed the drawings and the various exercises and games the author included. But some of the book just seems to be a weird translation of a European text. Since Hans Enzensberger lives in Germany, I assume it was originally written by him in German, and there are some times I wish I could have read it in the original, because the translation just seems so awkward! I wonder if the person who translated it from German to English was a native English speaker, or just someone who studied English in school! It seems like the latter was the case.

That criticism aside, I fully related to the story of Robert, the elementary school student who doesn’t like math (or his math teacher – the humorously portrayed Mr. Bockel). I like the book’s format, where each new topic in math is taught in the guise of a dream, and each chapter is called by the night Robert dreams about that mathematical concept. What I like least about the book is that until the end, I as the reader didn’t realize that the terms I was learning (like Bonacci numbers, for example) were made up. Bonacci numbers are actually Fibonacci numbers, and the difference in terms to me is slight, so I don’t understand why the author couldn’t just have used the real terms if his intention was really to teach people about math. It bums me out that a math hater like myself actually went to the trouble of trying to learn some of these mathematical terms, only to find out that the words the author used for them was wrong. It’s a bit of a cruel trick.

So, is this book worth reading? Yes, probably more for a math teacher (who knows what the real terms are and would find their approximations amusing). As for me, I would prefer another person to translate this story from the original text, and for that translator to use the actual terms and names for famous mathematicians instead of using the clever (but inaccurate) substitutions the author makes. It’s not an easy read for an English major, and finding out at the end (where the glossary of “real” terms and names resides) that I have been deceived is the literary equivalent of sitting in the corner with a dunce hat on. It makes me appreciate that math is practical and its many tricks were discovered by clever people throughout history, but it makes me dislike this author who was more clever than practical if he was really trying to give his readers a math lesson. I think it’s the author who’s the devil in this work.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Reading Level: Adult
Submitted by Gerti

“Stardust” is the third book by Neil Gaiman that I have recently read, and it bears a strong resemblance to the last book “Neverwhere” – as it also involves a world that is different from that in which we humans normally live. The book begins in the small British village of Wall, which necessarily has an enormous wall on one side of it, through which there is a passage with guards from the town stationed on either side of it. On the other side of this opening, one can see a meadow, and some trees in the distance, but the guards are ordered to keep residents and visitors to Wall from passing through it, due to the magical nature of what exists over there. However, once every 9 years, there a market in the meadow, and residents of town and beyond get together to meet and trade goods.

Teeing up the fairy tale, for that is what the story becomes, is Dunstan Thorn, a Wall resident who like every young man of a certain age is in love with a local girl. It is time for the market, however, and he goes through the gap in order to find a lovely little trinket for his sweetheart. Instead, he finds an old witch who owns a stand offering beautiful glass flowers which make an unearthly music. The old woman’s servant is a lovely young girl who is chained to the stand, but Dunstan still manages to buy a flower from her. However, when the girl kisses him he becomes enchanted, and returns to the fair late at night to make love to the slave girl. After the market, life goes back to normal in Wall, until a small baby appears on the village side of the gap one night. A name tag attached to him calls the baby Tristan Thorn, and Dunstan and his beloved village girl (who have gotten married by this point and had a baby of their own) take the child in.

Years pass, and Tristan falls in love with another gorgeous village girl, and promises to do anything if she’ll only kiss him. When the pair see a falling star, she asks him to get it for her, and he has to pass from the village into the meadow to do so. Then his adventures really begin, for he discovers that the fallen star is actually a living creature in fairy land, and that although he also has a chain to bind her, he let’s her go of his own free will. She runs away, but a tree tells him he must save her, for a pack of witches needs the star’s heart in order to bring back their youth. Fortunately, Tristan is such a good-natured creature, that everything in the forest is willing to help him, whether unicorn or dwarf, and he is able to save the star (whose name is Yvain) from imminent death. Of course, they fall in love, and the story has a few more twists and mysteries before Tristan can become the king he is destined to be with Yvain by his side. There is a secondary plot involving seven murderous uncles of his who also want to rule, but things turned out in the best possible way, as they do in any good fairy tale.

I love Gaiman’s imagination, and his sense of morality, which comes through loud and clear in this book, as the good guys always win, and even the bad guys often undergo a change of heart. A lovely story for a snowy afternoon.

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Reading Level: Adult
Submitted by Gerti

There are so many fans of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and so many authors who have taken that classic 18^th century novel and written satellite books which hover around its story and characters. The temptation would be to see Jo Baker’s book as just one of that pack. But hers is a different take on the classic romance, and even though Baker occasionally drops in lines and scenes from the original (which are like seeing an old friend in a crowd for me), Baker tells her story from the Longbourn servant’s vantage point. For those who are not familiar with the Austen original, Longbourn is the name of the house in which Elizabeth Bennet, heroine of “Pride and Prejudice”, and her memorable family live.

As far as I recall, only the servant Mrs. Hill is mentioned in the original, as Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs. Bennet, is constantly requesting her presence to do work for her. But of course there would also be a man servant in a gentleman’s house at that time, and in Baker’s book, that is Mr. Hill, a gay man who uses Mrs. Hill as his beard. Mrs. Hill doesn’t mind, because she has a few secrets of her own, including that she had a love child with Mr. Bennet (Elizabeth’s bookish father) before he got married. That union produced a son, whom Mr. Bennet has never acknowledged, but who has found work at Longbourn. There are also two kitchen maids on the Bennet payroll, and of course, one of them eventually falls in love with this son of Mrs. Hill and Mr. Bennet.

I’ll admit I am a traditionalist, so like many readers, I have notions of the characters even beyond what Jane Austen wrote (and probably meant) them to be. So to my mind, these changes and alterations are disturbing. As readers and fans of the films no doubt remember, the Bennets do not have a son (only 5 daughters), which means that when Mr. Bennet dies, the girls can’t keep living in the house – as it is what is called “entailed” to the humorously officious clergyman, Mr. Collins. That causes much grief for the Bennets, and leads to a battle between Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth after Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal, even though it would keep the house in the family. I don’t like that Mr. Bennet has a child out of wedlock, just as I don’t like that he didn’t marry Mrs. Hill when he got his servant pregnant, whatever the morals of the time

Baker must take great joy in these relationships which push the envelope on 18^th century mores. She has one of the kitchen maids fall for a black servant of the Bingley’s, and has the same girl sleep with Mrs. Hill’s son before marriage. She clearly shows the scoundrel Wickham’s affinity for young girls, as he trifles with another, younger kitchen maid at Longbourn. And of course there is the matter of Mr. Hill’s hidden homosexuality. Baker seems to glory in lifting the moral rock of the time, showing us the slime underneath. And while I love stories about the Regency, the intent to sully its innocence seems a bit deliberate to me. The book’s prime saving grace is that Baker looks in-depth at a Regency servant’s endless work hours and often back-breaking chores, a view rarely seen today.

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

Reading Level: Adult
Submitted by Gerti

I have read many books by Philippa Gregory, and she is one of my favorite authors. She has written several books about the Tudor kings and queens of England, including some on Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary (“The Other Boleyn Girl”), as well as one about Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn’s daughter. Since I love Henry VIII and his many wives and children, those are easy reading for me. “The White Princess” is a bit earlier in history, involving Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England and H8’s father, and I am far less familiar with that part of the family’s history. It makes this book harder to read for me, and a bit less interesting.

The main characters in this book are Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mother and therefore, Henry VII’s wife. But this book takes place at the end of the Cousins War – the War of the Roses – during which the royal houses of York and Lancaster fought for the throne of England. Elizabeth of York was the mistress of Richard III, who was killed by his enemies, in order to crown Welshman Henry Tudor (later Henry VII). But in order to make his rule seem legitimate to the other important families in Britain, Henry Tudor has to marry Elizabeth, as she is the oldest princess of the house of York, the daughter of the king before Richard did his usurping. A York-Tudor marriage will unify the troubled country, but will the couple involved be able to stand each other?

One of Gregory’s great gifts when writing about history is her ability to take dry facts and breathe human emotion into them. Likewise in this tale, she takes Elizabeth, who should by rights hate the man who killed her lover, and makes her eventually love Henry Tudor. But she can’t leave it at that. Gregory than takes Henry Tudor, who was strong enough on Bosworth field to take the crown from a fallen King Richard, and shows him as a man plagued again and again by the ghosts of the Princes in the Tower, Elizabeth’s two brothers (and York heirs) who have disappeared from their prison. As each pretender to the throne appears, Henry trembles, and can’t decide whether his new wife is his ally or his enemy.

It is thrilling when historical fact jumps into the book, as when the King and Queen of Spain agree to send their daughter (Catherine of Aragon) to marry Arthur, the oldest son of Elizabeth and Henry Tudor. But any fan of Henry VIII (Arthur’s younger brother) knows how that will turn out! Still, as Gregory herself admits in the Author’s Note, there is enough mystery in our knowledge of the real history of this time to make some of this book conjecture. Like any good history book, it makes me want to do more research (this time, into the Pretenders) and that’s good enough reason to like it. Is it her best novel? No, but it is good enough to fill a snowy winter afternoon. I wish I’d read “Red Queen” and “White Queen” right before this one (and not years ago), so I had more historical background on the important ladies whose rivalry stands behind this book’s story.

Abbey Road by Alistair Lawrence

Reading Level: Adult Non-Fiction

I came across this book when one of my pages gave it to me and said, "This book doesn't fit on the shelf."  It really doesn't because it belongs on a coffee table, to be looked at leisurely.  It is a big beautiful awkward book to be shoved on a shelf!  So someone check it out to read!  If you love music it is very entertaining.

Abbey Road studios have been on the cutting edge of recording for eighty years, hosting some of the biggest names in music over the decades: the Beatles, of course, who immortalized it with the title of their 1969 album; Pink Floyd; Kate Bush; Duran Duran; Radiohead; Florence and the Machine. Any number of albums made here have gone gold or platinum, picking up Grammys and other awards along the way. Famed producers and sound engineers at the studios have developed groundbreaking new techniques, including automatic double tracking at the instigation of John Lennon. And it's also been a landmark in moviemaking: here were recorded John Williams's original scores for five Star Wars films, as well the scores for the Lord of the Rings trilogy--two of them awarded Oscars. This gorgeous book includes a full history and time line, facts and figures, a discography with famous album covers from the 1930s to now, and a wealth of never-before-seen photos and treasures from the studio's own archive. It's an incredible document of cultural history, for anyone who values music and how it's made.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I finally jumped on the Divergent band wagon, or should I say train since they are highly referenced in the book, and read it.  Also here is a new cover that I really like with Shailene Woodley on it.  I think that she is a great choice to play Tris.  Anyway  I really liked that the setting is Chicago and I knew a lot of the places Ms. Roth talked about.  I like to think I have a great imagination and can create what authors describe but I didn't have to think to hard about the landscape in this book.

With that said Veronica Roth tackles a subject that many have done before her, a dystopian world.  Much like in the Hunger Games you don't know why the world is the way it is, it just is that way.  In Roth's world people are separated into five factions or virtues: Abnegation (The Selfless), Erudite (The Intelligent), Dauntless (The Brave), Amity (The Peaceful), and Candor (The Honest).  You are born into one of the factions and on your sixteenth birthday you are tested to see which faction you should spend the rest of your life in.  But you don't have to go with what the test says, you can choose differently.  For those that are Divergent the test can't determine which faction you should be in.

Beatrice Prior is Abnegation but her test results come back Divergent.  She has never felt selfless enough to stay with her faction so she chooses Dauntless.  Dauntless is a brutal faction that isn't quite what it seems.  There she meets Four and several other people that will become friends and enemies.  Some people in their society are no longer happy with the way things are ran...so of course trouble is coming!

I really enjoyed this book and the twists and turns the author took me on.  I just couldn't help think while reading, especially during the initiation training, how violent some of the scenes were.  Eric, their leader, was one cruel puppy.  I know that I would not have made it in the Dauntless society.  I really don't think I would fit very well into any of the factions but I think that is really the point.  We can have a little of all the virtues.  I am eagerly awaiting the movie which comes out on March 21 and until then I have started reading Insurgent.

Happy Reading!

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

Reading Level: Adult Fiction

Submitted by Gerti

This is the third novel I’ve now read by Michael Connelly, and his writing never fails to impress me. In this iteration, I’m reading again about LAPD homicide detective hero, Harry “Hieronymous” Bosch, who is on trial for having used excessive force 4 years before in killing “The Dollmaker,” a local serial killer. His city defense attorney is no match for powerful prosecutor Honey Chandler, representing the victim’s family, which contends that Bosch should not have shot and killed unarmed and naked Mr. Norman Church. The method of his death forces the prosecution to begin attacking the evidence found in Church’s secret apartment, and when another body that follows the Dollmaker’s MO shows up, even Church’s guilt is called into question.

Now I usually don’t read courtroom dramas, and this book spends a lot of it’s time inside the courtroom for this trial. But the fact that Connelly can make even testimony and the give and take of a daily trial sound riveting is a testament to how talented a writer he is. Fortunately, the other half of the book, and of Bosch’s life, is taken up solving the mystery of who killed the concrete blonde. To help him with that, he relies on his former partner, Jerry Edgar, and a vice cop named Ray Mora. Since he was the lead homicide detective on that case, Bosch immediately sees that the note recently left with the cops matches the style used by the Dollmaker, which shouldn’t be possible if Church was that killer. The body called the concrete blonde also matches the Dollmaker’s MO, except for one thing - a Marlboro pack left in the concrete next to her.

This change gets Bosch thinking that perhaps there were 2 killers working simultaneously, and the one still around was imitating the Dollmaker in order not to get caught. He gets some help from a renowned psychologist named John Locke who not only wrote books about serial killers, but also about the ladies of the porn industry. Locke also testifies at Bosch’s trial, which is how the reader is first introduced to his no-holds-barred manner of speaking.

The plots takes twists and turns, as does the trial. It is all so riveting that I tried to read it all (597 pages in LP edition) in one day, but it proved impossible. Several of the early suspects are discounted over time, and when the final killer is revealed, it is quite a surprise. The final murder is also a twist, as Bosch thought he was protecting one blonde target, while a second, more public figure was being executed. The trial’s verdict is also a surprise for those of us used to the happy endings often found in popular media.

I strongly recommend “The Concrete Blonde” to anyone who likes a crime or court story where even the good guys know they are not so good. This story contains plausible plot twists and odd moments of humor, but should not be read by those who find details about those working in the porn industry offensive.

9 Dragons by Michale Connelly

Reading Level: Adult Fiction

Submitted by Gerti

This is the second novel I’ve now read by Michael Connelly, and his writing once again impresses me. In this iteration, I met for the first time homicide detective Harry “Hieronymous” Bosch, who apparently is the hero of many of Connelly’s LAPD crime novels. In this story, Bosch is trying to solve the murder of a liquor store owner, a man who showed him a kindness many years before during the riots in LA in which Bosch’s partner was killed. The victim’s name here is John Li, and he and his wife ran Fortune Liquors in a tough south LA neighborhood. His son Robert runs another, more successful store in suburban Sherman Oaks.

At first, the police think the killing is merely a liquor store robbery gone wrong, but Bosch thinks there is more to it - that perhaps Li was killed when he couldn’t make his weekly payment to the Triads. But Bosch’s attempts to investigate are stymied as he experiences difficulties working with the men in the Asian Gang Unit who think he is prejudiced against them, even though Bosch knows China pretty well as he has family living in Hong Kong. But he rapidly gets an in-depth course in Chinese culture when his teenaged daughter Maddie is kidnapped, and Bosch must fly half way across the world to free her.

He gets some help from his ex and her new boyfriend Sun Yee, who used to be a Triad member after growing up in a poor area of Kowloon, which is where the title “9 Dragons” comes from. Bosch goes through many trials and tribulations with Sun Yee by his side as he comes to the terrible realization that the kidnappers plan to sell his daughter for her organs, and the clock on her rescue is winding down. Much like Liam Niessen in the movie “Taken”, Bosch leaves many bad guy bodies in his wake while trying to solve the mystery of where his daughter is being kept.

Eventually, Madeline is saved and bundled onto a plane back to the States, while Bosch puzzles out the details of the case and how her kidnapping is tied to the Li murder. Initially, he thought she was kidnapped after he put a Triad member in jail, but Bosch finally gets it right, after typical Connelly twists, turns and misdirection. Detective Bosch gets his man when he realizes that filial piety is not all it’s cracked up to be - his daughter and some of her friends (now dead) planned the fake kidnapping (until it went wrong), and the children of the store owner are behind his death.

I strongly recommend “9 Dragons” to anyone who likes a good crime story. This book is different than another story about Harry Bosch (“The Concrete Blonde”) that I’ve just read, because it has that fascinating international crime element which I don’t think many Americans know about. But bottomline, it’s a great read because Connelly has a brilliant way with words, and I’ll include one example here from page 1 – “She watched the clock like the owner of a candy store watches the fat kids.” Yes, Virginia, Michael Connelly really knows how to write.