What's New in Books at CVL

More March Titles

2012-03-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Shelley Shepard Gray has written several of those very popular 'Amish novels'. This time, however, murder comes to Crittenden County, in Missing: The Secrets of Crittenden County, Book One released on March 20th. Everyone thought that Perry Borntrager had left for the 'world' but then his body is discovered at the bottom of a well. A detective from the 'world' comes to help the local sheriff investigate. What will it mean to the close knit Amish community?

For those who like historical mysteries, Jacqueline Winspear's latest entry in the Maisie Dobbs series comes out on March 27th, Elegy for Eddie. What had looked like a settled life for Maisie in the last novel is disrupted by an investigation into the death of a sweet, simple man called Eddie. Part of the charm of this series is the authentic atmosphere of London after World War I and the relentless movement towards World War II. There is a level of moral complexity here that is unusaul in a mystery and fascinating in a story.

M.J. Rose's The Book of Lost Fragrances comes out on March 13th. Jac L'Etoile, an heir to a French perfume company, is haunted by the past and psychotic episodes. She prefers reality but when her brother goes missing after telling her he has found a secret in the company archive, Jac returns to Paris to investigate the history of her family's company to try to find him. Separate characters try to find the path to a magical perfume that supposedly opens the door to reincarnation. Suspense with mysticism. I love the covers on M.J. Rose's books, they really evoke the feeling of the stories.

The rest of the ones that have caught my eye for March before we move on to April's entries:

Alex Dryden's The Blind Spy - ex-KGB colonel joins a private intelligence company to circumvent Putin's plan to return the Ukraine to Russia's sphere of influence.

Jodi Picoult's Lone Wolf - an estranged son returns to his comatose father and tries to convince his younger sister to pull the plug.

Joe R. Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water - three teenage friends plan to take the ashes of another friend to Hollywood. Raves about this one for it's character development and strong sense of place. A little mystery thrown in to the mix.

Things I'm Excited About

2012-02-24T09:35:00.001-08:00

The first thing I am excited about is that Catch Me by Lisa Gardner (see Jan 26th blog) has made the New York Times bestseller list. I really like that book. It caught my interest, kept me reading, and I cared about the characters. There comes a point where you are unsure of the main character. You care about her and don't want her to be the murderer but......that possibility seems to become clearer. I'm glad to see that others agree with this title's appeal.

The next thing I am excited about is that Harlan Coben comes out with a new title, Stay Close, this month. Coben is one of my favorite authors. I particularly like his Myron Bolitar series but all of his stand alones are good reads. This one is no different. It has received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Raves about it call it a "masterful stand- alone"; and that " Coben writes with wit and irony, and his flair for exposing the frail balance point between order and chaos in our lives has never been stronger than in this suspenseful outing.” and that he " excels in descriptions of his characters’ tortured, ruminative inner lives." How can anyone not be drooling for the arrival of this title on March 20th. There are already reserves on this title but I have ordered multiple titles so get your name on the list. Coben has his fans in Columbus even though he is a Jersey boy and most of his novels take place in New Jersey. I love the fact that in all of his titles, you get to know the characters, the suspense is tremendous but he writes with humor so you'll experience some laughs too. Stay Close follows 3 individuals whose lives were affected by the disappearance of a local man 17 years before. When someone else disappears on the exact same day, things start happening. In many ways, this is an investigation of the eternal question "what if..." - what if I had done this instead of that; what if we had gone here instead of there. I'm really looking forward to this one and if you haven't become a Coben fan yet, try this one and see what you have been missing.

On to the March Titles

2012-02-16T11:55:00.001-08:00

Another month with lots of titles being published. Today, I'll talk about 2 of the titles that I have reviewed in other places and give you a list of the popular authors who are producing work this month.

The first title is The Dog Who Danced by Susan Wilson.

Wilson‘s newest title after One Good Dog again pulls your heart strings. This dog is a Shetland sheepdog whose owner, Justine Meade, has taught the dog to dance. Justine, a divorced single mother, finds herself in Seattle, WA with only the dog (Mack) as her only constant. When her stepmother calls to tell her that her father is dying, she doesn’t have the money for airfare. Justine pays a truck driver $300 to take Mack and her to Boston but he abandons her at a truck stop and leaves with her dog in the back seat. When he realizes he has the dog, he leaves it at the side of a road. The story is told from multiple points of view – Justine’s, Mack’s, and a couple who find Mack. Really this is a story about dealing with loss, accepting things you cannot change and moving on. If you love dogs and don't mind crying, try this title.

Then comes Poison Flower by Thomas Perry. Perry has not received the acclaim that he deserves for his mysteries. This one is in the Jane Whitefield series. Perry wrote the first five entries in the series in the years between 1995 and 1999. Then , in 2009, he returned to Jane. He says that it was interesting with the first 5 titles to see how Jane matured and grew. He said he would return to her when she had something new to say and he did. Now he returns again. Jane is a Native American 'guide'. She says that "I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is." In other words she is a one woman witness protection unit and she does it well. In Poison Flower, she helps James Shelby escape from a guarded courtroom. He had been wrongly convicted of killing his wife. With his escape, the real killers kidnap Jane and are prepared to torture her for information on his location. Instead of helping someone escape, she is now confronted with her own escape. Extremely suspenseful. When they put it in the thriller category, they weren't kidding.

OK - now some quick March entries:

Richard North Patterson - Fall from Grace on March 20, 2012

C.J. Box - Force of Nature on March 20, 2012

Randy Wayne White - Chasing Midnight on March 6, 2012

Jonathan Kellerman & Michael Gaydos - Silent Partner : The Graphic Novel on Feb 28, 2012

Jonathan Kellerman - Victims : An Alex Delaware Novel also on Feb 28, 2012

February Titles Part 2

2012-02-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

There are so many books coming out this month that I couldn't cover them all in one post. To continue my list:

Alex Berenson issues The Shadow Patrol on February 21. A spy thriller featuring John Wells, Berenson's returning undercover operative. This time, he is trying to find the American in Kabul, Afghanistan, who is responsible for the deaths in the CIA's Kabul Station.

Jennifer Chiaverini returns with Sonoma Rose: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel. The latest entry into this every popular quilting series is also out on the 21st. This title takes place during Prohibition and an abused wife, Rosa, flees her husband with her 4 children. They are trapped in a flooding canyon and rescued by Rosa's first love.

For those who read Southern fiction, Amy Franklin-Willis has The Lost Saints of Tennessee which is already on the shelf. Middle-aged Ezekiel leaves his mother and two daughters behind after his brother's death and a divorce, and takes to the road with his brother's aging dog and a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Also on the shelves now is Defending Jacob by William Landay. A thriller featuring Andy Barber, an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts. His own son, Jacob, is accused of murder. What would a father do? Heavily talked about in publishing circles.

For those who enjoy historical romantic suspense, Lauren Willig offers the 9th in the Pink Carnation series, The Garden Intrigue. Augustus Whittlesby hides behind horrible poetry to do his spying. His poetry is so bad that the surveillance officers in Napoleonic France can't bear to read it. Seems there might be some humor in this also. This is out on February 16th.

Another literary work that is being talked about in a positive manner is The Healing by Jonathan Odell, out on the 21st. Grieving the death of her child, a plantation mistress, Amanda Satterfield, takes on a newborn slave child and raises her as her own. The story is really the child's to tell. Granada as Amanda Satterfield called her, or GranGran as she is called 75 years later has a story.The telling of her story, the history of the plantation and the town, to a young girl, bring both of them great strength and hope.

David Rosenfelt, the author of the Andy Carpenter novels that I love, has penned his first standalone, Heart of a Killer, due out on February 14th.. This title features Jamie Wagner, another lawyer who really doesn't like to practice the law, who is faced with a ethical dilemma. His client who is in jail, wants to donate her heart to her critically ill daughter. The prison system doesn't believe in suicide, so Jamie is left with trying to find a way to get her out of prison, so she can go through with her plan. A really good legal mystery that pulls your heartstrings at the same time. Rosenfelt deserves more attention.

Last in this list, before I turn towards March, is Michael Robotham's new book, Bleed for Me which will be available on the 27th of February. Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin finds 14 year old Sienna Hegarty on his porch covered with blood. Her father, a retired policeman, is discovered murdered back at their home. Did she or didn't she? Leave it to Joe to find out.

February Titles

2012-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few authors who are coming out with new books this month. I'll let you know about several this week and cover more next time.

Dana Stabenow's new title coming February 14th is Restless in the Grave which brings together two characters from different series - Aleut private eye Kate Shugak and Alaska State Trouper Liam.

Helen Tursten's title Night Rounds has one nurse dead and another missing after a hospital blackout. This is part of Tursten's Dectective Inspector Irene Huss series which takes place in Sweden. It also comes out on the 14th.

Betty Webb's title, Desert Wind,comes out on the 7th of February. This seventh book in the Lena Jones series exposes real life crimes, and the reason why high-ranking government officials want those crimes to remain under wraps.

Christina Alger, a former Goldman Sachs analyst whose father was a CEO of Goldman Sachs, produces the novel The Darlings. Alot of people are watching this title. She certainly should know the environment that she writes about. A pink-slipped attorney accepts a job offer from his father-in-law as the head of the legal department for a hedge fund that ends up in trouble. This title arrives on Feb 16th.

Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown is the February entry for historical fiction lovers. Brown was working on her dissertation when she developed the idea for this book taking place in Cromwell run England. A glove maker has an affair and a dead baby is found buried.

So Damn Lucky by Deborah Coonts follows Lucky O'Toole, the head of Customer Relations at a Vegas Strip resort, on another adventure. This time, a magician disappears. Lucky follows the clues. This one comes out at the end of the month.

Lisa Gardner's Catch Me, which I have already raved about, comes out on the 7th.

J. A. Jance's entry this month is Left for Dead and for Vince Flynn's fan club, his entry is Kill Shot. Both come out on the 7th also.

But the one I have put my name on is Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. I like my mysteries with some humor and Lutz has me rolling in the aisles. This is 5th in the series about a family private investigation firm in San Francisco. If you like Janet Evanovich, try Lisa Lutz. It is west coast instead of New Jersey but truely funny. The first in the series is The Spellman Files. Get ready to laugh.

Try to Catch "Catch Me"

2012-01-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

I have been out of town for about a week. While at a conference, I read the advance reader's copy of Catch Me by Lisa Gardner. I have to be in a certain mood to read Gardner because she tends to be fairly gritty. The summary of this book made me think it might be grittier than usual and it was but I picked it up and could not put it down again. The main character, Charlie Grant, a 28 year old police dispatcher, believes she will be killed on Jan 21st. She convinces D.D. Warren, one of Gardner's returning characters, that she just might be right. This book deals with child abuse in a major way and that is one of the reasons I was unsure about reading it but once I read the first few pages, I was hooked for good. The characters remain in your head days after you put it down. It is the type of book where you continue wanting to read it after you are done, you want to know what happens next. I highly recommend this book that will be out on Feb 7, 2012. The library has lots of copies so reserve it now. I'm hoping that we will see Charlie Grant in a future book by Gardner.

Southern Literary Suspense - is that a genre?

2012-01-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

Bret Lott is known as an author of literary novels, short stories and as the editor of The Southern Review. He was born in California but has made himself into a South Carolinian. You wouldn't consider him as an author who writes thrillers, but back in 1997, he wrote The Hunt Club. In this title he follows Huger Dillard, a 15 year old young man who comes of age in the story. Huger helps his blind uncle run the Hunt Club where the wealthy come to drink and pretend to hunt. There is a murder and there is suspense but generally this is a tale of growing up. In many ways, The Hunt Club is more about family, characters and people in general..

Coming next week, Lott revisits the Charleston lowcountry area with Huger and ‘Unc” in Dead Low Tide. Huger, now a young man, and 'Unc" find a dead body while out on a golf course. Unc likes to practice his golf swing at night when others can't see him. Huger who has become pretty much a slacker since his traumatic adventure in the previous novel, is spurred to action as the 27 year old is forced to care. Lott’s work in-between these two books were literary in bent but he obviously missed the plotting elements of suspense. Lott is still a character driven author but these two titles are good southern literary suspense novels.

British Mysteries - An Aquired Taste?

2012-01-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

British Mysteries – an acquired taste?

You have a choice this month between reading a British mystery by an English author (Robert Barnard) or a British mystery by an American mother and son team (Charles Todd). Other than the fact that they both take place in Britain, they can be considered completely different in almost every other way.

Robert Barnard has written 40 mysteries under his own name. One of his series features Charlie Peace of the West Yorkshire CID. His title this month, A Charitable Body, features this detective. Barnard’s stories are almost cozies with intricate plots and witty repartee. This particular title, the ninth in the series, while not his best work, provides red herrings, upstairs-downstairs upsets, and an old-fashioned mystery that will appeal to those who enjoyed reading Agatha Christie. A manor house is turned over to the National Trust and a body is found in the pond. Who could it be? Charlie Peace is determined to find out and luckily his wife is on the board.

Charles Todd’s series feature an upper-class Scotland Yard detective, Ian Rutledge, who came back shell-shocked from World War I. The entry in this series this month is the 14^th, The Confession. This series is historical and suspenseful, they rely more on characters than plots although the plots are compelling and often moving. This time a walk-in man, Wyatt Russell, informs them that he is dying of cancer but killed his cousin 5 years earlier in 1915. Rutledge investigates his claim in his home village but two week later, someone kills Russell. Rutledge must now puzzle out who would kill and dying man while wrestling with his own demons. A really great read for those who enjoy historical mysteries. They (mother and son) manage to get just the right historical atmosphere.

Looking for a ‘good guy’ detective?

2011-12-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

Your search is over. Jack Fredrickson has penned the third in a series featuring Vlodek Elstrom. Dek started his career in A Safe Place for Dying. Dek is an ingratiating character who has wit and courage. At one time, he was married to a multimillionaire. Then his reputation was trashed, his business ruined and his marriage ended. In his first title, he investigates a threatening letter that was sent to the gated community where he lived when he was married. Then, a mansion is blown up and Dek becomes his own best subject. Very entertaining reading.

His second adventure is reported in Honestly Dearest, You’re Dead. In this offering, Dek is named the executor of a woman’s estate. He has never met her to his knowledge and her estate is worth only a couple of hundred dollars but he takes the job when he is offered $700. What he finds is a killer and a mystery. Dek is just as engaging or even more so. The characters are interesting and well formed and the plot is interest grabbing. A enjoyable read.

Now in February, Fredrickson is coming out with his third entry in the series, Hunting Sweetie Rose. A clown falls (?) off a rooftop and a fat man in a long limousine hires Dek to investigate. Dek connects the death to Chicago socialite and philanthropist Sweetie Fairbairn. Suddenly, Sweetie is nowhere to be found. Dek is nothing if not determined. Dek is still the good guy that he was in the first 2 titles. This is bound to be a good read.

Slight twist for P.D. James

2011-12-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

P.D. James is better known for her Adam Dalgleish series about a Scotland Yard detective who writes poetry on the side. She also is in her 90's. You would not think it would be time for her to make a change. James, however, decided not to write another Dalgleish novel as she says she could not bear leaving it unfinished if she should die. Instead, she decided to indulge herself in another love, Jane Austen novels. Death Comes to Pemberley visits Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy after they have been married for 6 years. They are living on Darcy's estate with two sons when Elizabeth's sister arrives in extreme distress talking about her husbands murder. With James, place often becomes another character in the story and Pemberley is no exception. She is able to retain Austen's feeling of the characters while introducing mystery and intrigue. A very interesting read for those who like British mysteries or those who are Jane Austen fans. It feels like coming home to a familiar place.

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2012

2011-12-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

The New York Times recently released their annual 10 best books of the year. Five of the titles are fiction and five are nonfiction. I am excited because 3 of the five fiction titles would have made my top list also. The three I really enjoyed are:
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach - a first novel and one that I have talked about on the blog.
Swamplandia by Karen Russell - another first novel. I have not included this title on the blog because I had a feeling I liked it so much because I have lived in Southwest Florida not too far from the hypothetical island where this novel takes place. It is the story of a young girl trying to hold together her family after their mother's death. Now her family is nothing if not unique and most would say quirky. They have been running an alligator theme park on one of the many islands off the west coast of the Everglades. I'm excited that other people thought it was as good as I did.
11/22/63 by Stephen King - another title I have included in the blog. I have to admit, I like Stephen King's work. I'm not a big horror reader but I really look on his work as magnificent tales of good against evil. I just finished listening to one of King's earlier works which HBO has made into a miniseries, Bag of Bones. It was just as fascinating to me and I hope the miniseries does it justice.

The remaining two that I have to admit I have not read are:
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson - This is a coming of age story for several characters that moves from small town Vermont to New York City. The reviews on Good Reads are either really strong or not that great. Apparently, the characters are very well drawn and for those that like character driven novels is hard to put down.
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht - I'm not sure I am going to attempt this one. It is some say magic realism and others say well written but boring. A young woman returns to the Balkans to investigate her grandfather's death. This story is interwoven with legends with long descriptions of places, objects and events.

All five titles are available in the catalog. Enjoy!

Best Mysteries of 2011 - Part 2 AND Sister by Rosamund Lupton

2011-12-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

I've got 5 more titles to complete the best mystery list and an endorsement for a title I am listening to in my car.

6) British author S. J. Bolton has written, 'Now You See Me', a comtemporary gothic about a female police officer who is taunted by a serial murderer who is intent on copying Jack the Ripper. It is fast paced and suspenseful with graphic historical details.

7) Colin Cotterill, who has written a series featuring a Laotian coroner, has begun a new series featuring a young, female journalist. 'Killed at the Whim of a Hat' takes place in southern Thailand. It is slow starting but picks up speed with humor. Jimm Juree, the journalist, and her family will have you looking for more.

8)Craig Johnson has added another title to the Walt Longmire series, 'Hell is Empty'. Walt is chasing an escaped killer through snow covered mountains in Wyoming. Johnson adds allusions to Dantes' Inferno and Indian mysticism to a hard driving, suspenseful plot. This seventh in the series could be his best.

9)G.M. Malliet, of CID St. Just fame (i.e. Death of a Cozy Writer), is starting a new series with 'Wicked Autumn'. This series is featuring an ex-M15 agent who has become a small village vicar. How is that for a change of pace? While Max Tudor is looking for peace, what he finds is murder. Malliet uses her sense of humor, good pacing and interesting characters to make this a good cozy read.

10) Craig Morton's first novel, 'Stealing Mona Lisa', is a fictionalized account of the actual 1911 theft of the famous painting. The story is intricately plotted and the historical details accurate. A fun read for history buffs.

I spend quite a bit of time in my car. The radio gets old after a while, particularly when I go on trips. I have always turned to books on cd when I am getting ready to spend more than an hour driving. Over the holiday, I took a trip to Florida and New Orleans. While driving, I started to listen to Sister by Rosamund Lupton. I don't know how I missed it when it first came out this summer. Lupton writes this novel in the form of a letter from an older sister to her dead younger sibling. She explains all her thoughts and reactions to finding out Tess, the younger, was missing and then found with her wrists slashed. While the police and the rest of the family believe this a suicide. Bea, the letter writer, is sure it was murder. Very suspenseful, very well written, an enjoyable experience. I highly recommend it if you missed it.

Best Mysteries of 2011

2011-12-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Some people who review mysteries came up with the list of what they thought were the best ones published in 2011. The list covers alot of terriorty - London to New Orleans to Thailand. The first 5 titles are:

1) Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead introduces a private detective that oneeviewer describes as a mixture of Nancy Drew and Sid Vicious. She lives, eats and breathes detection. Someone had given her a book entitled Detection and it has become her bible. She is called to post-Katrina New Orleans to look for a missing person. Very noire, very gritty - a detective that is hard to like but for which you will have compassion.

2) Chris Nickson has written Cold Cruel Winter, a historical mystery that focuses on capturing a serial killer in a 1700's Leeds. This is the second in a series (follows The Broken Token) which follows Richard Nottingham, Constable of the City of Leeds. He searches for a serial killer who is seeking revenge.

3) Michael Stanley in Death of the Mantis has penned a police procedural that takes place in Botswana. This is the 3rd of a series that follows David “Kubu” Bengu, an assistant superintendent. Africa plays a large part in the story which investigates crimes that have been blamed on bushmen. Don't think you will be getting another Alexander McCall Smith. this is not a cozy.

4) Donna Leon penned Drawing Conclusions, another entry into the long running Commissario Guido Brunetti series. It takes place in Venice, Italy where an old woman dies of a heart attack or was it something more? Brunetti investigates. This series has long been considered one of the better written.

5) Elly Griffiths has written The Janus Stone, the second in a series featuring Ruth Galloway, a forensic anthropologist. Griffith is called to investigate when a child's partial skeleton is unearthed beneath an old mansion that once served as a children's home.

What Would It Have Been Like

2011-11-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines a Life by Anne Beattie tries to go behind the facade on Pat Nixon and discover the real woman. Beattie research this topic thoroughly but there is not that much about Pat Nixon that is separate from her husband. She always presented this stoic, cold and unemotional face to the world but what was she like really. Beattie examines the life of Pat Nixon, the most private of people, through imagined scenes and reflections on the art of writing. This is a work of both fact and fiction. In fact, it is more a story of the journey than anything else. Mrs. Nixon remains unknown. I don't think we can say we know her well at the end of the book but we know who she might have been and we care about this hypothetical person.

Oedipus Revisted

2011-11-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

David Guterson, the author of the tremendously successful Snow Falling on Cedars, has come up with an entirely different premise in this up to date retelling of Oedipus Rex. A young au pair leaves her baby on a doorstep and the son grows up to be 'the king of search'. Ed King is a successful entrepreneur in the technology arena with a liking for older women. It has been described as dark, humorous, imaginative and amazing. People seem to be either loving it or hating it. Those who liked 'Snow...' would not necessarily like this one. Not all the characters are lovable or even likable but it's hard to put down once you are caught up in the story. You want to find out if, in fact, their fate will actually be their fate. He uses twitter like exchanges as a kind of Greek chorus, a very inventive method. I often wonder how author's come up with their ideas, in this case, I really wonder. A very interesting and sometimes controversial read.

Taylor Steven's New Book

2011-10-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Taylor Stevens is not your usual author. She was born into a religious cult, moved all over the world, was separated from her family at the age of 12 and begged on the streets. Education was not important for the children of the cult. They spent their time doing the chores for the adults, cooking, laundry, childcare, etc. Crown published her first book in March of 2011, The Informationist. It was described by reviewers as a remarkable thriller, gorgeously written, and impossible to put down. Her main character, Vanessa Michael Munroe, was described as the newest tough girl action hero. Well, she is back. Just as tough, just as mysterious. Stevens new book is The Innocent. This time Munroe has been brought into the search for a girl who has been kidnapped by 'The Chosen', a religious cult. She has been missing for 8 years when Munroe is asked to investigate. With Stevens own experience, this title ought to be just as exciting as the first one if not more so. This is to be published on December 27, 2011. Look for it on our shelves

Stephen Cannell's Last Book

2011-10-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Stephen Cannell was really just developing a following. His books were suspenseful and fast moving. Unfortunately, he passed away due to complications from melanoma last September. His final book is being published in December. "Vigilante" brings the return of Detective Shane Scully. When a vocal police critic and gang activist ends up dead, the TV host for the reality tv series Vigilante TV shows up at the scene of the crime with the detectives. The TV host uses misdirection and threats to try to force his way into the investigation. Will he find the killer before Scully? For those who like Robert Parker, Cannell's books are the next best thing.

Enter Virtual Reality

2011-10-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is the book you need to give to a young male to read. The main character is Wade Watts, a more or less homeless high school student, whose life revolves around OASIS - a virtual reality world. It takes place in the not too distant future and the 'real' world is not a very attractive or nice place. The deceased creator of OASIS, James Halliday, has left clues to three keys which will lead to his fortune. The best thing about this story for me is that in order to look for the keys, Wade and friends, go back to the atmosphere of James Halliday's past. So in many ways, you are virutally living in the 1980's. The songs, the games and the atmosphere is all there. There is also the ultimate evil corporation which tries to prevent an individual from getting to the prize. Great read. Suspenseful, interesting characters, and alot of fun.

Stephen King - It's Not About Horror

2011-10-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Stephen King's new title, 11/22/63, is part suspense and part science fiction. A high school English teacher discovers he can time travel back to try to change history. If you could stop Kennedy from being shot, would you? What would be the consequences? A fascinating concept that has already had the film rights optioned by Jonathan Demme, the director of Silence of the Lambs.

The Art of Fielding is Not About Baseball

2011-10-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, that's not quite true. It IS about baseball in a very general sense. It is also about friendship and coming of age and about the need to form close relationships. Henry Skrimshander is a baseball star for Westish College until a throw goes astray. This title has received rave reviews from sources as different as James Patterson, who referred to it as something that "appear out of nowhere and then dazzles and bewitches and inspires until you nearly lose your breath from the enjoyment and satisfaction"; Sports Illustrated that said "The book will knock out baseball and literature fans alike." and The New York Times that said "not only a wonderful baseball novel--it zooms immediately into the pantheon of classics, alongside The Natural by Bernard Malamud and The Southpaw by Mark Harris--but it's also a magical, melancholy story about friendship and the coming of age that marks the debut of an immensely talented writer." Obviously a must read for those who enjoy character studies.

Enter the Big Top.

2011-06-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

A title by another first time author that is causing a lot of discussion is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Imagine Ms. Morgenstern’s reaction when as a rookie novelists whose book is not due out until September, Summit Entertainment, the group that brought us the Twilight films, bought the rights to her novel. Summit Entertainment wants to describe this as a young adult novel but that is wrong. This is a tale of greed, fate and love. This is a story of two dueling magicians who fight their battle within the confines of a black and white circus that is only open at night. This is beautifully written and spellbinding to read. One review calls it a self-assured and entertaining, another compelling, well-drawn. I call it inspired. It is not fantasy although there are elements of fantasy; it is not a romance although the love between the two protagonists is strong and eternal; it is an enchanted fable that is hard to put down.

Reginald Hill minus Dalziel and Pascoe

2011-06-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Reginald Hill is a British crime author who is known mostly for the Dalziel and Pascoe series that has become a BBC tv series. Hill is considered by the London Times to be one of the 50 greatest crime writers in the world. When I discovered he was publishing a stand alone title in the US, I thought I would give it a quick perusal. I have been a member of some email discussion groups where Hill was a member and he was very quick witted and positive. I have had a hard time following his most recent entries in the Dalziel series but I thought - well - I'd see if the stand alone interested me.

The Woodcutter will publish in the states on July 26, 2011. It was published in Great Britain in 2010. I opened the book and was immediately grabbed by the story and the characters. This is a stunning psychological thriller. The main character, 'Wolf' Hadda, starts out as a very wealthy, attractive, powerful entrepeneur and quickly ends up in prison, found guilty of child pornography and financial crimes. You would think he would not be an attractive character, but somehow, Hill makes the reader care about what happens to him. All of his characterizations are well rounded and interesting, the plotting is intricate but riveting and for a book of over 500 pages, I could not put it down. Get ready for late nights finishing this one.

Don't Go To Sleep!!!!

2011-06-09T09:24:00.001-07:00

As the person who purchases books for the library, I frequently find out about new titles or authors who will be publishing in the near future. Perhaps there are others out there that might be interested in finding out about books that have created ‘buzz’ in the publishing world. That will be the focus of this blog with perhaps some additions of older titles that might have been missed.

As my first entry, a work that will be coming out on June 14^th is Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson. Watson is a first time author and the title is definitely in the thriller category. People can just not stop talking about this book. I read an advanced reading copy in 2 days hating every time I had to put it down. Some of the comments are:

“Quite simply the best debut novel I have ever read.” (Tess Gerritsen)

The summer’s single most suspenseful plot belongs to BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP. . . . pure page-turner.” (New York Times)

Amazon has named it a “Best Book of the Month” even before it is being sold!

The story focuses on a woman who wakes up every morning not knowing where she is, how old she is, her husband, her house, and basically nothing that has apparently happened in the last several decades. Her memory disappears every time she goes to sleep. She discovers that she has been seeing a doctor behind her husband’s back and keeping a journal of things that have happened or that she remembers. When she find written on the front of the journal “Don’t trust Ben” (her husband), her world becomes even more confusing. A definite page turner that I know is worth the wait.