Summary:
Sookie Stackhouse, resident telepath and friend to vampires, werewolves, and all sorts of other creatures, finds herself once again wrapped up in a supernatural mystery. There's someone out to get shifters. Several shootings in Bon Temps sets Sookie on a search to find the shooter, who has killed one person, and wounded several others. Adding to that, Sookie gets roped into werewolf pack politics as her friend Alcide's pack tries to choose a new leader. Worse yet, Eric, who has no memory of the time he spent in Sookie's care after a witch's spell was cast on him, is trying to get Sookie to tell him what happened, which Sookie doesn't want to do, thanks to the little mishap Sookie had near the end of Eric's stay. Tara, a friend of Sook's from childhood, is also having some vampire issues of her own that Sookie obviously needs to help out with, because who is Sookie if she's not a good friend. And to top it all off, it looks like someone has it in for Sookie too! Just another average day in good ol' Bon Temps, Louisiana.
Thoughts:
Very good. I'm becoming more and more enamored with this series as it rolls on. I liked the early books, but the last two have been great. I'm looking forward to the next six books, to see exactly where things go with Sookie. This book sees Sookie getting into all kinds of mischief with all kinds of men. She's got Bill and Eric, the vamps that are vying for her attentions, but she's also got Alcide, the Were who's finally free of his crazy ex-girlfriend, Calvin, the werepanther that's looking to expand his breed and add in some new blood to the mix, Sam, her boss and a shape-shifter, who there's always been some tension between, but nothing ever really came from it, and then there's the new guy. I'll leave him for you to find, but all those men make for an interesting set of curiosities on Sookie's part. The book has a lot of different things going on, but not so many that it's hard to keep up. I've read some stories that have tons of different plot points that aren't all connected, and that the author does a crap-ass job of pulling together. In this particular installment, there are a bunch of different plots going on, seven or eight, if I'm counting right, but Harris brings things together very well. You as the reader won't feel tossed from story to story wantonly, instead you're led with great care, so nothing gets dropped, and all the points get resolved (or resolved for now, at least. A writer can't resolve everything and keep a series going, now can she?) Sookie's universe is ever-expanding, and the series is only getting better as it goes. Well done, Ms. Harris, keep up the good work.
Book 11 of 50
Pages:295
Genre:mystery, vampires
Grade:A
Would I Recommend?:Yes, but start at the beginning of the series. There are, of course, brief callbacks to prior books, but you wouldn't really get the references unless you read the books they come from.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Crime Brulee (Nancy Fairbanks)
Summary:
Carolyn Blue is a stay at home mom turned food critic. She travels with her husband to the American Chemical Society convention in New Orleans, where he is giving a paper, and where they plan to meet up with some old friends from college. At their first dinner get-together at the beginning of the trip, one of the old friends, Julienne, gets into a fight with her husband, in front of the rest of the diners, and storms off, never to be seen again. Literally. Carolyn spends the rest of her trip in New Orleans trying to hunt Julienne down while she samples all the local cuisine.
Thoughts:
Not bad, but not great either. I liked the looks of the recipes, which are included for some of the meals Carolyn dives into throughout the book, and I'll probably copy out a couple of them for future use. But the story itself was fairly predictable. I knew who dun it as soon as the character was introduced, and could see most of the twists coming, even while Carolyn wouldn't or couldn't admit it to herself. Carolyn is very much the busybody type, maternal to a fault, and imagines some sadly ridiculous scenarios. She also put far too much stock in the dream she had about Julienne, because what detective puts any kind of weight to a dream. I figured out far too much of the plot too far ahead for it to be really enjoyable, and the last hundred pages or so, I couldn't wait to be finished, and it's not even a long book anyway. I'm not planning on reading the rest of the series, but as I said, it's good for the recipes.
Book 10 of 50
Pages: 274
Genre: mystery, with a culinary twist
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Maybe just for the recipes?
Carolyn Blue is a stay at home mom turned food critic. She travels with her husband to the American Chemical Society convention in New Orleans, where he is giving a paper, and where they plan to meet up with some old friends from college. At their first dinner get-together at the beginning of the trip, one of the old friends, Julienne, gets into a fight with her husband, in front of the rest of the diners, and storms off, never to be seen again. Literally. Carolyn spends the rest of her trip in New Orleans trying to hunt Julienne down while she samples all the local cuisine.
Thoughts:
Not bad, but not great either. I liked the looks of the recipes, which are included for some of the meals Carolyn dives into throughout the book, and I'll probably copy out a couple of them for future use. But the story itself was fairly predictable. I knew who dun it as soon as the character was introduced, and could see most of the twists coming, even while Carolyn wouldn't or couldn't admit it to herself. Carolyn is very much the busybody type, maternal to a fault, and imagines some sadly ridiculous scenarios. She also put far too much stock in the dream she had about Julienne, because what detective puts any kind of weight to a dream. I figured out far too much of the plot too far ahead for it to be really enjoyable, and the last hundred pages or so, I couldn't wait to be finished, and it's not even a long book anyway. I'm not planning on reading the rest of the series, but as I said, it's good for the recipes.
Book 10 of 50
Pages: 274
Genre: mystery, with a culinary twist
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Maybe just for the recipes?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Dead to the World (Charlaine Harris)
Summary:
Sookie Stackhouse the reluctant mind reader is at it again. This book finds her starting a new year by taking care of the most powerful vampire in Area 5, Eric Northman, who has lost his memory thanks to a new witch in the area. The new Eric is thoughtful and insecure, and wants to be wherever Sookie is, so long as it's night time. His second in command, Pam, negotiates with Sookie and Sookie's brother, Jason, for Sookie to take care of Eric and hide him at her house until his underlings can deal with the witch and her coven. The same night that Jason and Pam strike a deal for Eric's hiding safely at Sookie's, Jason goes missing from his house. The book follows as Sookie deals with Jason's disappearance by day, and Eric's safe keeping by night.
Thoughts:
To be quite honest, I enjoyed this one far better than previous installments in the series. I'm not as big a fan of Bill anymore (who is Sookie's ex, and Eric's subordinate), and I was okay with him being in Peru for the majority of the story. I do like Eric better, but there wasn't much of the old, usual Eric to be seen in this. It was more the memory-less Eric that Sookie spent time with, and while he was a fun character to watch, I wished we could have seen more of the old Eric as well. I want to get to know him better. There was also a couple of appearances of Sookie's friend Alcide, a werewolf from the area that helped her in her adventure to Jackson, Mississippi in the previous book. It seems I tend to like the heroes that the heroine ISN'T dating at the start of a series better than the one she is dating. Ah, but I digress. Back to Sookie and friends. I like her strong personality, and that she's beginning to hold her own a little better around the two-natured (vamps, werewolves, shape-shifters, etc.) and can stand up for herself in a fight. Good for her.
Book 9 of 50
Pages: 291
Genre: mystery and romance, with the vampire twist
Grade: A-
Would I Recommend?: Yup. It's far better than previous ones. I'm glad I started up with this series again.
Sookie Stackhouse the reluctant mind reader is at it again. This book finds her starting a new year by taking care of the most powerful vampire in Area 5, Eric Northman, who has lost his memory thanks to a new witch in the area. The new Eric is thoughtful and insecure, and wants to be wherever Sookie is, so long as it's night time. His second in command, Pam, negotiates with Sookie and Sookie's brother, Jason, for Sookie to take care of Eric and hide him at her house until his underlings can deal with the witch and her coven. The same night that Jason and Pam strike a deal for Eric's hiding safely at Sookie's, Jason goes missing from his house. The book follows as Sookie deals with Jason's disappearance by day, and Eric's safe keeping by night.
Thoughts:
To be quite honest, I enjoyed this one far better than previous installments in the series. I'm not as big a fan of Bill anymore (who is Sookie's ex, and Eric's subordinate), and I was okay with him being in Peru for the majority of the story. I do like Eric better, but there wasn't much of the old, usual Eric to be seen in this. It was more the memory-less Eric that Sookie spent time with, and while he was a fun character to watch, I wished we could have seen more of the old Eric as well. I want to get to know him better. There was also a couple of appearances of Sookie's friend Alcide, a werewolf from the area that helped her in her adventure to Jackson, Mississippi in the previous book. It seems I tend to like the heroes that the heroine ISN'T dating at the start of a series better than the one she is dating. Ah, but I digress. Back to Sookie and friends. I like her strong personality, and that she's beginning to hold her own a little better around the two-natured (vamps, werewolves, shape-shifters, etc.) and can stand up for herself in a fight. Good for her.
Book 9 of 50
Pages: 291
Genre: mystery and romance, with the vampire twist
Grade: A-
Would I Recommend?: Yup. It's far better than previous ones. I'm glad I started up with this series again.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A Nose for Justice (Rita Mae Brown)
Summary:
In the first book in a new series, we meet Mags, a Wall Street hot shot who just lost everything when her boss is found to be corrupt. She moves to Nevada with her Aunt Jeep, a former WWII flying ace, to give herself time to get back on her feet. They find an old skeleton buried in Jeep's barn that they discover while Jeep and her adopted son are upgrading the drainage system in the stalls. They call in Pete, one of the local cops, to check it out. At the same time, someone is blowing up water distribution pumps across town. Jeep spots something wrong at the pump and alerts Pete, who goes to investigate there. The story follows Pete in his investigation of the blown pump, as well as a couple of murders that wind up being connected to the case, and Mags as she does her own search for who the mystery man in the barn could have been. Oh, and the dogs in the family talk to each other and think that people are not nearly as smart as they are.
Thoughts:
Holy God, reading this book took me a month and a half. Literally. And I'm no slow reader. I just could NOT get into this one. The characters I named in the summary above are only a fifth or a sixth of the actual cast of characters. Brown actually lists all the characters by name at the beginning of the book, before the opening chapter, along with their reasons for being involved in the book. I guess that was a quick reference guide for us readers who might get lost in the swamp of people. What's more, the book sounds like it should be a nice, light mystery, one that you should be able to bang out in a couple days and be no worse for reading it. But Brown gets so down and dirty into the politics of water rights in Nevada and California, I couldn't keep myself engrossed like I usually am. I haven't read any of Brown's other series, with Sneaky Pie (I think that's the cat's name.) who helps his owner solve mysteries, but I have heard that they are much lighter and more fun. Fighting through to finish this book felt like pure drudgery. I stopped partway through because I knew I was going to get behind in posting reviews if I didn't, and read the Thief, just so I would keep on my schedule for you lovely readers. I wanted so badly for this book to be fun, so I would have a new series to dive into, and near the beginning of the series, too. (There's a second book out, but that's all so far.) But I don't think I'll be reading the second book. If the political side of murder is where Brown is going to go with Mags and Jeep, I don't want any part of it. But if you're into a book debating who should control water rights and why, jump right into this one. As for me, I'll stick with the cheesier murder mysteries, thanks.
Book 8 of 50
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery
Grade: D-
Would I Recommend?: Holy crap no, unless you're very into political debating with a side murder mystery.
In the first book in a new series, we meet Mags, a Wall Street hot shot who just lost everything when her boss is found to be corrupt. She moves to Nevada with her Aunt Jeep, a former WWII flying ace, to give herself time to get back on her feet. They find an old skeleton buried in Jeep's barn that they discover while Jeep and her adopted son are upgrading the drainage system in the stalls. They call in Pete, one of the local cops, to check it out. At the same time, someone is blowing up water distribution pumps across town. Jeep spots something wrong at the pump and alerts Pete, who goes to investigate there. The story follows Pete in his investigation of the blown pump, as well as a couple of murders that wind up being connected to the case, and Mags as she does her own search for who the mystery man in the barn could have been. Oh, and the dogs in the family talk to each other and think that people are not nearly as smart as they are.
Thoughts:
Holy God, reading this book took me a month and a half. Literally. And I'm no slow reader. I just could NOT get into this one. The characters I named in the summary above are only a fifth or a sixth of the actual cast of characters. Brown actually lists all the characters by name at the beginning of the book, before the opening chapter, along with their reasons for being involved in the book. I guess that was a quick reference guide for us readers who might get lost in the swamp of people. What's more, the book sounds like it should be a nice, light mystery, one that you should be able to bang out in a couple days and be no worse for reading it. But Brown gets so down and dirty into the politics of water rights in Nevada and California, I couldn't keep myself engrossed like I usually am. I haven't read any of Brown's other series, with Sneaky Pie (I think that's the cat's name.) who helps his owner solve mysteries, but I have heard that they are much lighter and more fun. Fighting through to finish this book felt like pure drudgery. I stopped partway through because I knew I was going to get behind in posting reviews if I didn't, and read the Thief, just so I would keep on my schedule for you lovely readers. I wanted so badly for this book to be fun, so I would have a new series to dive into, and near the beginning of the series, too. (There's a second book out, but that's all so far.) But I don't think I'll be reading the second book. If the political side of murder is where Brown is going to go with Mags and Jeep, I don't want any part of it. But if you're into a book debating who should control water rights and why, jump right into this one. As for me, I'll stick with the cheesier murder mysteries, thanks.
Book 8 of 50
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery
Grade: D-
Would I Recommend?: Holy crap no, unless you're very into political debating with a side murder mystery.
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