Welcome to Temptation

This is another Jennifer Crusie romance, my very favorite of hers. It has such great, funny dialogue, and seems so real even though the plot is completely impossible, and I'm still not sure exactly what makes me love it so much but I do.

But WARNING. Because the plot includes quite a lot of risky business, for example, whether or not it's legal to make movies with explicit scenes in them in the Temptation city limits. Not for those who want a book with unquestionable morals, ha ha.

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

I finished this book, by Sharyn McCrumb, almost two weeks ago, so my original thoughts and impressions have faded somewhat, but here goes the review...

I had read this once before, I think in high school, and was not impressed. But then one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, recommended this author, so I thought I'd give it another try. This time, I did find interesting the history of the Appalachian peoples, the Celtic roots of a lot of the mythology and belief systems of these people. And I was drawn in to the mystery, and I enjoyed the flow of writing just fine. The plot was decent enough as well, and I was a lot more interested in the environmental issues this time around.

BUT. I still felt dissatisfied with the ending. Perhaps because I'd read it before, I sort of knew where it was going, but then when it got there, it seemed anti-climactic, one of those endings that takes just a couple of casual paragraphs thrown together to tie up ALL the loose ends, where you feel there should've been much more.

So. I liked it better than last time, but was sad about the ending. And the part about the young mom and her baby was too hard for me to read this time around, for obvious reasons. Gave me nightmares. Do NOT recommend to sensitive moms of young children. That part was too too sad. But generally, a pretty decent book, especially if you're at all interested in Appalachia.

A Flaw in the Blood

This is a book by Stephanie Barron, the author of a series of mysteries in which Jane Austen is the heroine. I really enjoyed that series, and so when I saw she'd put out a new book, I was ecstatic. Then I saw that it wasn't about Jane Austen--it was about Queen Victoria. And I wasn't sure what to think, but I requested it anyway because of how great her other books were.

I was not disappointed. WOW, this was great! I still feel a little thrum of satisfaction when I think about how I felt when I finished it and set it down.

It's a mystery set right around the time that Prince Albert dies--and the mystery deeply involves the royal family. It's VERY suspenseful and VERY good. I highly recommend it.

My only criticism, and this point is here because I always consider whether or not I would recommend a book to my mother, is that I think too many people died. There was one person in particular who died that shocked me and I felt like that person did not need to die and also that the impact of that death wasn't sufficiently felt by the main character through the rest of the book.

Just so you know. But it was SO GOOD! =)

Fearless Fourteen

This is the latest in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I read it today during James' nap, and it was helpful, after reading The Book Thief, to have something very light and fluffy to read.

It was typical Plum fare, but I have to say, I sort of feel that this series is dead in the water...or something. Nothing happens anymore! And what happened to Valerie and her little circus?

Overall, I think I'm a little bit over it. Or at least I am until the movie comes out. =)

American Gods

I LOVED this book. But it is very strange. Even more so than The Thirteenth Tale. I think you have to be in a certain mood to read this. The words that come to mind when I try to describe it are Strange and Mighty.

The book, by Neil Gaiman, centers on a recent prison parolee named Shadow, who becomes the focus of a war in America. The war is between the Old Gods of America and the New. The Old include all the creatures and spirits that people brought over to America with them when they immigrated here: their versions of Odin, Anansi, the Queen of Sheba, The Zorya, etc. The New include things like Technology, Media, Credit, etc.

It is brilliant, but also disturbing. NOT a PG read. The strangest little piece of this book as far as I'm concerned is the part about a goddess (Bilquis) whose girl parts actually eat men. Just so you know.

So now that you know that, if you want a very intelligent, thought-provoking, uniquely fun and entertaining and intriguing read, go for it! It was one of the best books I've read recently, and I'm planning to get my hands on another Neil Gaiman book in the near future.

The Third Circle

Oops. I promised American Gods but forgot I read this book in the middle! Ha ha.

This is just the latest Arcane Society romance mystery by Amanda Quick, aka Jayne Ann Krentz, read in the very short time between yesterday evening and this morning. (Edit: that was last Friday.) I saw it in the "new arrivals" section at the library and figured I deserved another quick and mindless fun Victorian era read. I just can't pass up a book whose first line is Late in the reign of Queen Victoria...

It was good but not great, and completely unsurprising. I enjoyed it. The End.

Lead a Horse to Murder

This is the next in the series by Cynthia Baxter that includes Putting on the Dog...She's a good storyteller, I care about her characters, but she stinks at endings....just drops the ball with everyone else and all the other carefully weaved pieces of the tapestry except for the *dramatic ending.*

So not that great, but then again, there's much worse out there. Eh.

Putting On the Dog

I read this book, by Cynthia Baxter, simply because I finished the only book I had with me on my recent Oklahoma trip and I was ravenously searching for a new read. It turned out to be part of a mystery series about a mobile vet who likes to play detective. It was...decent. My major criticism is that the author explained all the reasons the different suspects are suspicious, but then just sort of said....So this one did it, the end. She never tied up the other characters' stories in a satisfactory way. But it's not like I expected it to be Shakespeare, so I didn't really mind too much.

And I do feel compelled to tell you that I went ahead and picked up another of her books at the library today. It's not that the first was particularly sensational, it's just that it was a very easy fluffy read and that's sort of what I'm in the mood for. Still, if it was perfectly awful, I would've steered clear of her in the future, so at least I can honestly say I'd recommend this series, as long as you're not looking for something exceptional.

A fast ultimately forgettable read but decent nonetheless.

Plum Lucky

This is the latest book Janet Evanovich has written about her heroine Stephanie Plum. No one *hearts* Stephanie Plum more than I do, but this was a "Between-the-Numbers" Plum book, which means it was short, sweet, and didn't have much about my favorite characters (aka Morelli and Ranger).

See, the first Plum book is called One for the Money. Then there's Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, and so on. It's a great series. They're all about Ms. Plum, who stumbles into a career as a bounty hunter in Jersey. She goes through a series of spectacular events in each book, generally including several missed attempts at collecting her FTAs (Failure to Appear--people who don't show up for their court dates), her car getting destroyed, and some sort of love-life brouhaha. Her crazy Grandma Mazur probably pulls a stunt or two, and she always has dinner (with dessert!) at her parents' house in the Burg.

It's good stuff. But this one, like I said, doesn't have as much of the good meaty content that I love. It's just fluff. It's classic Evanovich, with old people in Atlantic City on St. Patrick's Day, a geezer who thinks he's a leprechaun, a bag of money that gets stolen or misplaced too many times to count, and a horse that comes to live in Stephanie's apartment. And it only took me about an hour to read. But it's just not as good as the "regular" Plums. Which is why I can't wait for Book #14!

Keep on keepin' on, Janet Evanovich. I love your work.