Tina the Tutu leaps into Spring.

Discussions75 Books Challenge for 2012

Rejoignez LibraryThing pour poster.

Tina the Tutu leaps into Spring.

Ce sujet est actuellement indiqué comme "en sommeil"—le dernier message date de plus de 90 jours. Vous pouvez le réveiller en postant une réponse.

1tututhefirst
Modifié : Mar 31, 2012, 3:59 pm

Peepers are peeping and the fiddleheads will be appearing soon, the sun is shining and they (the infamous "THEY") promise us not too much more snow here in Maine. My sister's crocii are actually blooming, and we have some green patches of grass. So Tutu is off to enjoy another wonderful quarter of reading, swimming, and losing weight. I haven't said a lot but I challenged all my sisters to a Weight Watchers runoff and I do believe I'm leading the pack. I've lost 33 pounds since last July, and am now climbing steps w/o a cane and with two feet. A major accomplishment for me.

So.....


Welcome to Spring

2tututhefirst
Modifié : Juin 8, 2012, 6:06 pm




36. Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke.
37. Calico Joe by John Grisham.
38. The Good Father by Noah Hawley
39. Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch by Nancy Atherton
40. Wilful Behaviour by Donna Leon
41. A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon
42. The Death of Faith by Donna Leon
43. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.
44. The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan.
45. Ernie's Ark by Monica Wood.
46. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
47. To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild
48. The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny
49. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
50. The Big Cat Nap by Rita Mae Brown
51. Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
52. Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill
53. Dead Level: A Home Repair Mystery by Sarah Graves
54. What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie
55. The Naked Foods Cookbook by Margaret Floyd
56. Lake Eden Cookbook by Joanne Fluke
57. Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill
58. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
59. Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
60. Nail Biter by Sarah Graves
61. Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light by Neil Lochery
62. Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney
63. Matinicus, An Island Mystery by Darcy Scott
64. Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin
65. Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill
66. Foul Play by Janet Evanovich
67. House of Serenades by Lina Simoni
68. Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster
69. Love Songs from a shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill
70. The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri
71. Wings of the Sphinx by andrea Camilleri
72. The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
73. The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill
74. The Smell of the Night by Andrea Camilleri
75. Death of an Artist by Kate Wilhelm

Abandoned - at least for now numbering continues from 1st qtr
5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman
6. The Cove by Ron Rash

3tututhefirst
Modifié : Mar 31, 2012, 4:07 pm

OK....now I'm officially pissed.............. old lady's are allowed to use such vulgarities when they spend maximum time posting an elegant wrap-up of their first quarter, and then do not realize they must push Save message, BEFOREcontinuing on to the next new thread.

So the quarterly recap will just have to wait because I have to get a lasagna in the oven before we take off to church at 5:30.

mutters loud, obscene, obnoxious words to the LT gods as she goes off to the kitchen....

4karenmarie
Mar 31, 2012, 5:01 pm

Hello Tina! Peepers are out here, in North Carolina, too, but no fiddleheads.

Congrats on the weight loss, I am impressed.

It may be sacreligious of me, but I do like the idea of muttering loud obscene and obnoxious words to the LT gods just before heading off to church.....

5cyderry
Mar 31, 2012, 5:25 pm

She's ahead of me ... I'm only at -13 this year.

6lalbro
Mar 31, 2012, 8:10 pm

Way to go ladies! Having just returned from shopping for pants with my size 3 13 year old with only one pair of pants that actually fit me correctly I need to get on a body reshaping regime myself...

7richardderus
Mar 31, 2012, 8:27 pm

Either 33 or 13, both are fantabulous!!!

Many conga rats!

8tututhefirst
Mar 31, 2012, 9:44 pm

A review from the 1st quarter's reading....

#35 The Beauty and the Sorrow


An Intimate History of the First World War
Author: Peter Englund
Translator: Peter Graves
Publisher-Format: Knopf, Epub, 560 pages
Year of publication: 2011
Subject: World War I
Setting: Eastern Front, Alps, Balkans, east Africa, Mesopotamia, Paris
Genre: History, letters and diaries
Source: owned - purchased for Nook
Recommended?  ABSOLUTELY ★★★★★

As a participant in the War Through the Generations 2012 Reading Challenge, I've been immersing myself in books set before, during and immediately after The Great War.  In the non-fiction realm, I began with  Barbara Tuchman's epic The Guns of August where we could see the major players - politicians and generals who drew up and "executed" the war plans.

This is not a book to be enjoyed in the sense of bringing pleasure or smiles to the reader, but it is a book to be savored and remembered and celebrated.  In this work, the author gives us the Great War, not as a series of battles, blunders, and victories, not as the bloviations of politicians, kings, tsars, potentates and generals, not as compilations of maps, charts, statistics, and bureaucratic mumblings; rather he gives us the people who fought, lived and died this war. These are the people who had to carry out the ill-fated plans and decisions of the higher-ups.   He gives us their hopes and dreams, their frustrations, their fears, their boredom and hunger, their cold and wet, or hot and arid (but always hungry) lives that resulted from the bureaucratic and autocratic decisions made miles and worlds away.  We are given poverty - not of spirit or money, but of supplies, medicines, machines, ammunition, food, basic shelter, and even the simple tools needed to bury their dead.  At the same time, we are given soaring and enriching insights into the resilience of the human spirit and the hopefulness that can exist in spite of such dire situations.

We mutter at the vast spread in treatment of POWs - from nightly card games and decent food served in the "officer's mess", to brutal marches and confinements with little or no food, water or sanitation.  We gasp, we wipe away tears, we sit back to draw deep breaths because to read this is to feel, and to realize how little comprehension we have of what the real experience of the war was.  We begin to see how little the individuals involved knew about "the big picture."

In trying to explain the breath-taking and stunning impact of this book, I found myself again and again returning to the list of Dramatis Personnae (and their delightful pictures)- there are twenty of them, male and female.  The youngest and oldest were females--a 12 year old German school girl) and a 49 year old Scottish aid worker); in between, there are other women and men who represent almost every country participating in the war - Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Australia, the US, New Zealand, Italy (including an Italian American who returned to Europe to fight for the fatherland), Russia, an American woman married to a Polish aristocrat living in Poland, a Dane serving in the German army, and a Venezuelan soldier of fortune in the Ottoman army. They were infantrymen, cavalrymen, ambulance drivers, civil servants, civilians trapped in a world of diminishing food and shelter, alpine climbers, fighter pilots, well-diggers, telecommunications linemen, artillerymen, field surgeons, nurses, officers, enlisted, POWs--all of them at the mercy of their superiors--all of them ignorant of what was happening anyplace but where they stood.  Englund draws on diaries, letters, and other original source materials in many languages to bring us their first person observations.
A note about the author: (p 503)
Peter Englund is a Swedish historian, who has received numerous prizes in his own country and whose words have been translated into fifteen languages.  He has been working as a war correspondent in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.  Englund is a member of the Swedish Academy (which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature) and in 2008 was appointed its new permanent secretary, an office he still holds.

In his introduction, Englund tells us better than I would even attempt to what this book is and isn't:

To the Reader: (pg. 9-11)
As a historian, I have often longed to be present where and when events happen, but...I discovered ...to be right in the middle of events is no guarantee of being able to understand them.  You are stuck in a confusing, chaotic and noisy reality and the chances are that the editorial office on the other side of the planet often has a  better idea of what is going on than you do--just as a historian, paradoxically enough, often has a better understanding of an event than those who were actually involved in it.

...This is a book about the First World War.  It is not, however, a book about what it was--that is, about its causes, course, conclusion and consequences--but a book about what it was like. In this volume the reader will meet not so much factors, as people, not so much events and processes as feelings, impressions, experiences and moods.

.....I wanted to depict the war as an individual experience, to go beyond the usual historical and sociological categories, and also beyond the usual narrative forms in which, at best, people such as these appear as no more than tiny specks of light, flickering by in the grand historical sweep....an attempt to deconstruct this utterly epoch-making event into its smallest, most basic component--the individual, and his or her experiences.

As a historian, and as a writer, he has succeeded beyond anything we have a right to expect.

9Crazymamie
Mar 31, 2012, 9:56 pm

Wow! What a wonderful review. Adding it to my list.

10tututhefirst
Mar 31, 2012, 10:21 pm

Here’s the previously cursed 1st qtr wrap-up:
35 books read
- 25 fiction
- 10 non-fiction
-Print 12
-Ebooks-10
-Audios- 22
Numbers don't add up because I have an annoying habit of reading and listening to the same book (e.g., I'll listen to the audio while I'm swimming then come home and pick it up on my Nook or in print.)

Working toward my Goals:
Presidents' bios: 1
ARCs: 11 (way behind my goal of 2/week)
Bios/Memoirs: 7
Mysteries: 22
Adult fiction: 4
Maine (subjects or authors): 2
Book Clubs: 3
Non-fiction (not bios): 3
WWI - 8

Best Fiction:
The Good Father by Noah Hawley
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Best Non-Fiction:
The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Not bad....actually much further along than I thought I'd be.

Of course my goal of visiting everyone's threads on a regular basis has gone right down the old flusher....just wish LT had some mechanism where I could check "mark all as read" and get on with it. I need a reset button bad.

11cyderry
Mar 31, 2012, 10:23 pm

Is this a LendMe? If so, please reserve for me when I get to the Great War Time period.

12tututhefirst
Mar 31, 2012, 10:32 pm

Sorry, it's not a Lend Me...and it's one that will take longer than 2 weeks. It's one of the few I'd recommend owning a copy (that's why I bought rather than just check out from library) to annotate and continue to come back to. It's wonderful!

13ChelleBearss
Avr 1, 2012, 8:50 am

33 lbs is great! Congrats!
My fiance is getting all worked up about working out and trying to lose weight, he is actually starting to suck me into his frenzy.

14ffortsa
Avr 1, 2012, 12:42 pm

Not only am I impressed by your reading (and thanks for reminding me of how many decent mystery series there are, waiting for me), but I'm bowled over by your success in shaping up. 33 lbs! That's a fabulous loss of flab. Maybe it will inspire me to do the same - it's about the right number.

On the subject of swimming and listening, I checked out the iPod waterproof sleeves, but found that they don't (usually) come with the requisite headphones. What kind to you use? Do you find the structured ones that wrap around your head more stable than the ones on wires only? I'm concerned that they will pop out with every stroke. As they are not cheap, I'm not willing to just try one out and see, without some advice from someone experienced with the equipment.

It might get me back in the pool if I could listen at the same time.

15brenzi
Avr 1, 2012, 1:22 pm

Congrats Tina on the weight loss and especially doing it over the course of a year. Slow loss is more likely to stick so good for you. Of course, as is usually the case when I come over here, I'll be adding a book, namely An Intimate History of the First World War which sounds absolutely wonderful. Being told through diaries, letters and such reminds me of the wonderful WWII history I read earlier this year, Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings.

16tututhefirst
Avr 1, 2012, 5:29 pm

#36 Cinnamon Roll Murder


Author: Joanne Fluke
Publisher-Format: Recorded Books, 2011, 9 hr 30 min
Narrator: Suzanne Toren
Subject: who killed the band member?
Setting: Lake Eden, Minnesota
Series: Hannah Swenson Mystery
Genre: murder mystery - amateur sleuths
Source: public library

This is the latest in what I've often called the "sweet tooth" mystery series.  I 'd given up on them for awhile because I got tired of our heroine, Hannah Swenson's complete inability to make up her mind about whether or not to marry, and then to choose between two equally eligible (and willing) gentlemen.

Cinnamon Roll Murder is a great improvement over earlier books in the series. The mystery is much more tightly plotted with lots of red herrings to throw the reader off the track of the real killer; the main characters are all involved and engaging, including the cats.  Hannah is actually showing some leanings toward one of her beaus (no spoilers), and while we are treated to descriptions of some yummy treats, we are not (at least in the audio version) overwhelmed with a seemingly endless recitation of recipes.  Of course, there are a few that sounded so good, I'll be digging out a copy of the print edition to get my hands on the recipes.

Hannah and her sister Michelle are on their way to deliver cookies to an event when they witness a chain-reaction accident involving a bus belonging to the Cinnamon Roll Band.  The driver and one of the bank members end up dead and Hannah immediately concludes that murder is involved. Essentially, Hannah, along with her sisters Michelle and Andrea, and her mother Delores, band together to form a quasi-official private detective agency to prove their theories and bring the murderer to justice. Using their relationships to the town sheriff, the town coroner, and a deputy, they are able to ferret out information about the current decendent, discover his true identify, and ultimately flush out the murderer.  In the meantime, they also uncover some unsavory information about Norman's current fiancèe and help him decide whether to marry her or return to his courtship of Hannah. 

If you're a fan of the series, you'll love this one.  If you've not read any before, this one could easily stand alone.  And one of these days, I'm going to have to get me a copy of Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook. 

17lkernagh
Avr 5, 2012, 11:08 am

Stopping by your new thread Tina to say hi and congrats on the weight loss!

18markon
Avr 5, 2012, 11:50 am

Hello, and congratulations on the weight loss and being able to walk upstairs without a cane! And thanks also for the review of The beauty and the sorrow. Into the black hole it goes.

19tututhefirst
Avr 5, 2012, 12:56 pm

Well....see it's like a no-hitter...my husband says you're not supposed to talk about it. And it looks like I fell off the wagon gloriously last week....all this choir practice has totally destroyed my ability to eat decent meals, so I'm giving myself a dispensation (how catholic of me!!!) to ignore the scales this week and next.

At least I don't have kids or grandkids in the area so Hubster and I have agreed - no Easter candy. We will have Cleo Coyle's Easter Palmiers for brunch and some lucious slo cooked rosemary lamb shanks over polenta for din=din. After choiring for 5 straight days @ over 5 hrs/day I will be more than ready to kick back my feet and let someone else handle all that Easter bunny stuff.

Haven't been posting much since I am absolutely immersed in 5 terrific books (notes and reviews coming early next week)--I've learned how to hide my NOOK inside my choir binder so I can keep reading while all the "parts" are practicing. We altos have been together as a group for a such a long time (and we're so dang good) that we don't need much practice and tend to spend most of our time twiddling our thumbs waiting for the tenors and bassos to "get it." My thumbs twiddle over the NOOK, several others are playing games on their smartphones. Ah..........the joys of technology.

Later peeps....off to pick up a couple ILLS before heading to "before Mass" practice...(there's after Mass practice also today, but I've been reading alot about the anarchist movement of the 1890's so I pitched a fit and demanded time to eat between all the evolutions, so the choir director is springing for pizza!) YUCK.

20sjmccreary
Avr 5, 2012, 1:49 pm

Congrats on the weight loss, Tina! I love your "brag" in the first post. I'm sure things will calm down after Easter and you'll soon be back on track.

21Dejah_Thoris
Avr 5, 2012, 11:44 pm

Weight loss being like a no hitter - I love it!

Your review of The Beauty and the Sorrow is marvelous. I wish you would add it to the work page so I could give you a well deserved thumbs up!

22tututhefirst
Avr 5, 2012, 11:46 pm

Dejah- thanks for reminding me about attaching the review to the book.

23tututhefirst
Avr 5, 2012, 11:56 pm

#37 Calico Joe


Author:  John Grisham
Publisher-Format: Doubleday (2012), ARC galley, 208 pages
Subject: Baseball, fathers and sons
Genre: fiction
Source: ARC from publisher

I've always enjoyed Grisham's legal thrillers, and I found myself learning to love football when I read his Playing for Pizza, so I was not surprised to find another rip roaring tale of manly pursuits.  The surprise however was the story. Yes it's about baseball, but it's so much more.

The story is based on a pitcher/hitter duel - hard charging rookie super-star hitter against aging, has-been, over-the-hill pitcher, and the pitch that made history.  That's the baseball story.  But the father-son story is woven into and around the baseball story, giving us a moving portrayal of a cantakerous, some might say abusive, old man and his hard-headed, determined-not-to-forgive son.  It's high drama, but it's also a quiet, soothing and introspective look at how the relationship between a father and son can be redeemed even after years of neglect--especially if baseball is the glue that can seal the break.

It's a great book for the baseball lovers in your life, and a wonderful book for fathers and sons. I won't spoil a really good story by telling you anymore about it.  I loved it, I know my husband (who played baseball up to age of 65!) will love it, and my children will also love it.   I'd sure take a look at this one for the Father's Day gift list.

24tututhefirst
Avr 5, 2012, 11:58 pm

Stand by sports fans....I actually have six books finished that are waiting reviews. I'm reading/listening to 6 other fantastic books right now, so heaven only knows when I'll get around to telling y'all about them, but I will I will. In the meantime, enjoy your chocolate bunnies.

25tututhefirst
Avr 7, 2012, 1:17 pm

Ah............20 hours of choir in one week definitely cuts down on time for anything else....

26Berly
Avr 7, 2012, 1:41 pm

My High School earrings still fit too!! LOL. Congrats on scaling back. : ) And, wow, that is a lot of singing! Happy Easter!

27tututhefirst
Avr 8, 2012, 12:28 pm

ALL I NEED TO LEARN ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY!


Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep you paws off other people's jellybeans.

Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.

The grass is greener in someone else's basket.

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

28Berly
Avr 8, 2012, 12:29 pm

Happy Easter!! I am so stealing this!! xoxo

29cyderry
Avr 8, 2012, 9:43 pm

Cute, my sister, cute!

30drneutron
Avr 9, 2012, 8:54 am

I like it!

31tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 9, 2012, 3:17 pm

#38The Good Father: A Novel


Author: Noah Hawley
Publisher-Format: ARC  Doubleday, 320 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: father son relationships
Setting: New York, California
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Recommended? Absolutely - will be on my best of the year list.

In this intense psychological examination of parental angst, Noah Hawley helps us crawl immediately inside the mind and skin of Dr. Paul Allen, a noted diagnostician whose 20 year old son from a former marriage, and with whom he has not been in close contact for many years, is accused of killing a popular US Senator, considered a shoo-in to become the next president.

The father immediately goes into denial - NOT MY SON -- and sets out to prove his innocence.  But Hawley also gives the reader an eye-opening look into the mind and motivation of the son. The story alternates between the two points of view, portraying how the life-long separation has impacted both of them. The exquisite, aching prose shows us all the emotions each man is confronted with as they work through their ambivalence toward each other.  At the same time, we feel the strong inner struggle of the father as he tries to come to grips with the overwhelming evidence that his son did in fact kill another human being, and his disillusionment with his own inability to use his superb diagnostic skills to get to the WHY.

As the story marches forward, we are drawn in and cannot put it down.  Riding the roller-coaster of emotions leads to an inevitable ending that the reader can see coming, but which we are as reluctant to accept as the main character.  It's tightly plotted,  with intensely drawn characters.  The setting is almost incidental, but there is nothing extra in this one.  Every word is accurately and intentionally chosen to present us with a story any parent hopes will only ever be fiction.

32sjmccreary
Avr 9, 2012, 2:05 pm

Excellent review, Tina. You made me want to read the book. Thumbs up.

33ffortsa
Avr 9, 2012, 3:03 pm

Very interesting review. I may have to look for this one.

34tututhefirst
Avr 9, 2012, 3:17 pm

#39 Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch


Author: Nancy Atherton
Publisher-Format:  e-galley (ARC) Viking Adult, 240 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject:  Sorting out village fables
Setting: The village of Finch, in the Cotswolds, UK
Series: Aunt Dimity
Genre: Cozy mystery
Source: Net Galley

Although I really don't care for most paranormal adventures and stories, there's just something about Aunt Dimity that always manages to tickle me.  In this latest entry in the series, Nancy Atherton continues her tale of a transplanted American, Lori Shepherd, who lives with her American husband and twin sons in a cottage inherited from her "aunt Dimity" -a friend of her mother's.  Lori and Aunt Dimity are able to communicate "across the divide" by means of an old blank diary....Aunt Dimity's "conversation" magically appears whenever Lori opens the book and settles down and begins talking to it.

That premise sounds really weird, and it is, but it works in this delightful series of cozy mysteries in a stereotypical town of nosy busybodies, the always competent and compassionate Vicar (and his ubiquitous wife), a gay couple running the local pub, a variety of shop keepers, a horse loving farmer, and Lori's father-in-law-- a rather well-to-do widower who lives down the road, and for whom several of the town "maidens" have set their caps.

The story opens when the village gathers in the pub early one morning to cran their nosy noses at the window to watch the newest resident's goods unloaded from the removal van directly across the street.  When two of the watchers indicate that this new resident isn't who she claims to be, and that her arrival in the village spells doom, gloom and the end to civilization as they know it, Lori's curiosity gets the better of her, and we're off to find out the who is she, why is she here, and what about all these weird occurrences that begin with her arrival.  And is she really after Will Sr?

It's lots of fun, a light read, but somehow it works.

35Dejah_Thoris
Avr 9, 2012, 3:24 pm

I love the Easter Bunny bit - I only wish I'd seen it sooner!

You got a thumbs up from me for your review of The Good Father. I'm skipping your Aunt Dimity review for the moment, because I'm hoping to read it soon.

Thanks!

36tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 9, 2012, 5:24 pm

Last week I posted a review of the latest book in the wonderful Commissario Brunetti series, Beastly Things, by Donna Leon. I indicated that I didn't think it was one of Ms. Leon's better offerings. My disappointment in that book did not deter me from a marathon of finishing several of the previous episodes I'd missed along the way. These are exceptionally well-written mysteries with a cast of characters who have grown as the series progressed. Any one who has read several can feel confident in picking up one of these and experience that warmth that comes from visiting with old friends. I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain all three of the ones I hadn't read in audio to get me through a very stressful two week period of choir practice, lenten baking, etc etc etc. Those daily swims where I could settle back, exercise and listen to a good story, kept me sane. Please don't let my lack of enthusiasm for #21 keep you from enjoying 1-20. I've now finished the whole series and will gladly read them all again. Here's a re-cap of the three that completed the set.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#40Wilful Behaviour


Publisher-Format: audio- AudioGo,Kingston RI 2011, 9 hrs
Narrator: Stephen Crossley
Subject:  Nazi crimes, art theft, murder
Setting: Venice
Series: Commissario Brunetti
Genre: police procedural mysteries
Source: public library

When one of Paola Brunetti's students approaches her to enlist her assistance in getting Brunetti to obtain a pardon for her long dead grandfather's crime, Guido finds himself digging into Nazi art thefts during World War II, and ultimately into the young student's murder.  As usual, the trail of inquiry into the mystery leads to more mysteries, more murder, and the constant dilemma of dealing with corrupt authorities both in the past and in this case.  Classic Leon...it's well plotted, with lots of involvement by all the principles.

#41A Sea of Troubles


 Publisher/Format:AudioGo,Kingston RI 2011,8 hrs,8 mns
Narrator: David Colacci
Subject: murder - selling contaminated fish/clams
Setting: Venice, Pellestrina
Series: Commissario Brunetti
Genre: police procedural mysteries
Source: public library

Here, once again, Leon has Brunetti confronting corruption not only of officials, but of his beloved city, its many canals, and calles, and the seafood that comes from those waters.  Brunetti and Vianello are called to Pellestrina, a tiny fishing village on the edge of the Adriatic Sea across the Laguna from Venice, to investigate the murders of two fisherman whose boat exploded and sank in the harbor, taking them down with the boat.  Once again, Brunetti uses his family ties, and childhood friends to gain information.
But it is from Signorina Eletra that he gains most of his clues, and Brunetti is growing ever more uncomfortable with the secretary's underworld and underground web of acquaintances she uses to gather these for Brunetti.

When Sra Electra "goes on vacation" to visit her aunt in Pellestrina, another whole dimension of intrigue and violence  is added to these stories, and Brunetti must face his latent feelings about the Signorina.
A real cliff-hangar, probably one of the most action packed of Leon's stories.  If you can only read one or two, I'd put this one on the list.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#42Quietly in their Sleep Alternate Title: The Death of Faith


Publisher/Format: Blackstone Audio Books, 2000, 
Narrator:  Anna Fields
Subject: murder, kidnapping, Catholic Church, pedophilia, Opus Dei
Setting: Venice
Series: Commissario Brunetti
Genre: police procedural mysteries
Source: public library

This one was fascinating, particularly since I was finishing listening to it on Good Friday as I drove to Church!  Brunetti's kids, Raffi and Chiara are extremely vocal in this story about their lack of enthusiasm for religion classes and in particular for the priest who is teaching them.  When Raffi finally confides to his father that the good padre has been at least verbally indiscrete with many of his female penitents, Brunetti's fatherly instincts almost overrule his legal ones.  At the same time, he is trying to determine if there is any merit to a claim by one of the nuns (now an ex-nun) who worked at the nursing home where his demented mother is being cared for, that several of the patients may have been assisted to their heavenly reward earlier than nature intended.  Leon does an excellent job of weaving innuendo with fact, of having Brunetti and Vianello tracking down the truth of her allegations.  
 Paola's mother, the Contessa Donatella Falier, provides us with some of the most amusing dialogue this series has produced, but it is ultimately good police work by Brunetti, Vianello and Sra Electra that gives  Paola the ammunition she needs to "take care of things."   The ending is worth every minute you spend with the book.

~~~~
One last note about audios - as you can see, each of these is narrated by a different reader.  In the previous editions I've listened to, David Colacci has been the narrator, and I vastly prefer his renditions.  He has a deep and rich voice that allows the dialect of the Italian and Venetian phrases that are so prevalent in Leon's works to ring true.  Anna Fields does an admirable job also, but somehow, I really prefer the masculine narrator for these.  Stephen Crossley is an outstanding narrator, but his distinctly upper crust British accent just doesn't cut it for these stories.  I had a hard time listening to that one, and at one point decided if the print version was readily available, I'd grab that instead.  By the time I got around to looking for print, I'd just about finished the audio.  I noticed that Leon has returned to David Colacci for the newest one.

37cyderry
Avr 9, 2012, 8:24 pm

I've got A Sea of Troubles, Wilful Behavior, and Uniform Justice slated for this year. I have Stephen Crossley for the middle one but David Colacci for the other two.

38richardderus
Avr 9, 2012, 10:02 pm

Tina my dear, chiming in belatedly to say I've up-gethumbed all the current crop of reviews, and to post a slight verschmeckelment at your taste for Aunt Dimity, who, like the fudge she's named after, gives me acute diabetic symptoms and a raging thirst for anything sour, bitter, or just copious to flush her out of my system.

Normally, this type of thing gives you the same response. What alchemy hath Atherton wrought to slip past your guard?!

39tututhefirst
Avr 9, 2012, 11:56 pm

Richard, I'm danged if I know why Auntie Dimity has such an effect on me.....perhaps it is the absolutely whimsical tone of the stories. I tend to take them as a short, sweet piece of dreamy fluff, I don't invest any mental energy in them, and I just love all the characters. Perhaps it's because Auntie is a dignified, refined, educated woman who writes in a fine spidery copperplate?

40richardderus
Avr 10, 2012, 12:38 am

*shudders in appalled horror*

Well, we each of us need our brain-candy. Aunt Dimity is yours!

xo

41tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 11, 2012, 11:21 pm

#43 The Sisters Brothers


Author: Patrick deWitt
Publisher-Format: audio-Dreamscape Media, 7 hrs, 41 min
Narrator: John Pruden
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: hired hands in the Wild West
Setting: Northern California, San Francisco gold fields
Genre: Western
Source: public library download
Awards: Man-Booker Shortlist, Governor General's Literary Award (Canada)

I'm not normally a fan of westerns.  That said, if there were ever a book that would convert me to the genre, The Sisters Brothers is it!  From the very clever cover, to the head-turning title, I was drawn in.  The narrator of the tale, Eli Sisters and his brother Charlie are hired guns.  They have been sent by "The Commodore" to find someone, get back what was stolen from him, and of course, make sure this thief is not left in a position to steal again.  (Or so we believe).  The actual tasking is only slowly revealed as the brothers go from place to place looking for their prey, and defending their honor and lives in the meantime.  Their adventures bring us a panoply of characters at once dastardly, colorful, and utterly lovable. They are just so much fun!

Yes, there is violence, and much of it is probably gratuitous, but it is told from the viewpoint of the times.  The dashing, daring-do of their antics and the wild-west scenarios are splendid.  There's definitely a movie buried in here.  Yet, while the action scenes are well written, with just enough detail to paint clear pictures, but not too graphic to sicken, it is the dialogue between the brothers, their victims, and their cons, that is either "roll on the floor laughing " funny, or so philosophically sophisticated that you almost have to stop and say "Wait.....did they really talk like that?"  I reflected that many educated men of that era had the "classics" as their text books, so the rather archaic and complex grammar and vocabulary did in fact come naturally to them.  It just sounds a bit over the top at first.

It's definitely a book about violence, about vengeance, and about revenge, but it is also a book about self-knowledge, reflection, and forgiveness.  I'm not sure I'd call the ending redemptive, but it certainly was more than appropriate to the story.  Even if you've never been a western fan, give this one a try.  Think Hawaii 5-0 in the gold mining territory of Northern California.

42tututhefirst
Avr 11, 2012, 11:20 pm

#44 The Cold Light of Mourning


Author: Elizabeth J. Duncan
Publisher-Format: Minotaur Books, 304 pages,  ebook
Year of publication: 2010
Subject: Disappearing bride, murder
Setting: Wales
Series: Penny Branigan Mysteries
Genre: Cozy, amateur sleuth
Source:mine, Google E-books (bought from Longfellow Books, Portland ME)
Recommended? yes - definitely for cozy readers

Another new cozy series for me!  Hooray! Elizabeth Duncan has chosen a quiet, picturesque setting in Wales, given us a transplanted Canadian as the protagonist, and has helped the genre immensely by getting us out of the bake shops, catering, cooking business and planting her amateur sleuth in a small one-woman manicure shop.

The town's most eligible bachelor is scheduled to wed a young woman "from away" and who is certainly not too well received by the local ladies.  Penny Branigan, the manicurist, is mourning the death of her dearest friend whose funeral is scheduled the day after the wedding, so she is struggling to be pleasant when the bride to be arrives the morning of the wedding to have her nails painted.

When the bride later fails to appear for the wedding, it is Penny's observations from this "last sighting" that help the local Police Detective Chief Inspector Davies  to accept that this may not be a case of  a runaway bride. In the meantime, Penny meets and forms a friendship with a new visitor to town, a fellow Canadian Victoria.  Together they embark upon looking for the missing woman, and of course (it's a cozy after all!) they ultimately crack the case.

The ending is almost saccharin, but fits the story perfectly, and leaves us knowing that this is only the first of many adventures of Penny, Victoria and DCI  Davies.  I'll definitely be looking for the second in the series.

43tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 11, 2012, 11:26 pm

#45 Ernie's Ark


Author: Monica Wood
Publisher-Format: Chronicle Books, kindle edition ebook
Year of publication: 2002
Subject: effects of unemployment and mill shut down
Setting: small town in Maine
Genre: short stories
Source: Amazon kindle

One of my reading goals for 2012 is to read more Maine authors.  Monica Wood is one of our best.  In this poignant collection of stories, reminiscent of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, Wood explores the devastating impact of a long-term union strike against a paper mill in fictional Abbot Falls Maine.  Residents of this town, who have depended on the mill and its earnings for generations are suddenly faced with making decisions they have never considered before.  By using several different characters, we are able to see the consequences of this year long drag on the local economy, on individual lives, and on the extended community.  So much more insightful than any reality TV you'll ever see.

Central to the book is Ernie Whitten, a pipefitter at the mill who is only 3 months short of retirement when the strike begins.  He now faces not only the loss of income, and the loss of his pension, but the loss of his wife who is in the terminal stages of cancer.  Their only son lives in California, and is rarely in touch.  To satisfy a seemingly random suggestion from his wife, Ernie begins to build an ark in the side yard.  Throughout the book, the image of the ark pulls other characters into the saga.  If God could work a miracle once, why not again?  Perhaps if he could just get it finished and get his wife on the ark, she wouldn't leave him.

Various members of another family, the Little's, are woven in as ex-spouses, town officials and strikebreakers.  The CEO and owner of the mill makes an appearance early on as he tries to deal with his own problems---not just striking mill workers, but a distant and headstrong adult daughter whose own life is falling apart.

The shining stars are middle-schooler Francine and her step-mother Cindy Love (ex wife of a Little) and owner of Showers of Flowers.  Francine is determined that her father and Cindy will hold their marriage together and will go so far as to hide her father's infidelities to avoid losing another mother (her birth mother dumped the kids and went off to London).  Her brother Kevin, surly, hurting high-schooler hates everyone, everything, and only wants to become another Thoreau living in the woods.  Cindy wisely plays referee between father and son, and gives Francine the attention and mothering she's never enjoyed before.

These nine stories are gems.  The writing is as snappy as the breeze on a crystal clear Maine lake in the spring.  I'm not sure how I ever missed this one.  It's a sparkling diamond, and I'm really glad that Amazon has brought it back digitally.  Grab it anyway you can and rejoice that there are still writers who can bring this much joy out of this kind of sadness.

44lkernagh
Avr 12, 2012, 11:25 am

Think Hawaii 5-0 in the gold mining territory of Northern California.

LOL, love it! Good way to describe The Sisters Brothers Tina.

45Dejah_Thoris
Avr 12, 2012, 12:42 pm

Yet another positive review of The Sisters Brothers - I don't think I can dodge this book bullet much longer....

46richardderus
Avr 12, 2012, 12:51 pm

>43 tututhefirst: These nine stories are gems. The writing is as snappy as the breeze on a crystal clear Maine lake in the spring.

I love that line as much as I love this book! I hope your blog and your position as liberryian extraordinary will cause it a resurgence.

47lauranav
Avr 12, 2012, 6:08 pm

Got me with that one, I've put a hold on The Sisters Brothers with the library, it just sounds too fun to pass up!

48thornton37814
Avr 12, 2012, 6:18 pm

Wow - You've been reading a lot while I've been down with this cold. I'm behind on the Leon books too, but I do enjoy them. Maybe I'll eventually get through them all.

49maggie1944
Avr 16, 2012, 9:09 am

All caught up with you! As you know, I loved The Sisters Brothers, too.

The description of Ernie's Ark is tempting me, too, but I think I'll duck and dodge, continuing to work on my TBRs. Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon is a bit slow going as the writer is definitely into well documented history, as well he should be. He is uncovering a scandalous slaughter which the people in the area kept "secret" for over 100 years. But it is a great follow-up to The Sisters Brothers.

50tymfos
Avr 19, 2012, 3:19 am

Wow, just catching up to this thread. Love the first post! Also love how you've hidden your e-reader in your choir binder!

Congrats on the 33 lb. loss -- I need to do something like that.

Lots of great reading and reviews here, Tina. I keep reading about The Sisters Brothers and thinking it doesn't sound like something I'd like, but so many people like it that I wouldn't expect to like it . . . you've come close to convincing me . . . so many books . . . :)

51alcottacre
Avr 19, 2012, 5:53 am

*waving* at Tina

52tututhefirst
Avr 19, 2012, 9:24 pm

#48 The Book of Madness and Cures


Author:Regina O'Melveny
Publisher-Format: Little Brown, e-galley 307 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: women as doctors, 16th century medicine
Setting: Venice, Switzerland, France,Holland, Scotland, No.Africa
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: publisher via NetGalley

Although it took me a while to get into this book, the well-crafted words and images made me continue.  Suddenly, the story clicked, and I found myself eager to continue reading.  I'm not a reader who enjoys a lot of fantasy, and there is that element in the telling of this story but it does all seem to come together in the end.

Essentially O'Melveny spins us a colorful, emotional tale of a young woman doctor, Gabriella Mondini,  who sets off on an extraordinary quest beginning in the year 1590.  Having been born and raised in Venice, she was taught the art and science of medicine by her father, and was considered by the authorities in that city to be a Dottoressa in her own right.  When her father suddenly leaves on an unexplained journey, she is left with no sponsorship, and is not able to work as openly.  Ten years go by, confusing letters from Dr Mondini arrive about once a year, and Gabriella can no longer wait.  She begins to fear her father is going mad, and will never return.

Taking her two faithful servants with her, she embarks on a lushly described mission to find her father and bring him home. Following the trail of his letters, she jouneys from Venice to Switzerland (Germany?)  to France, to Holland, to Scotland (where she meets the handsome Hamish) and then on to North Africa.   Woven into the travails of the travelers are poetic excerpts from her encyclopedic journal of diseases and cures-- a work she and her father had begun before his abrupt departure so long ago.  The handsome Hamish provides a veiled hint of romance to add to the mystery of what happened to her father.

Throughout her ramblings, (there is a good desciption of the trip and a map of her travels on the author's homepage) O'Melveny manages to weave in tid-bits of history about the attitudes of various countries and governments toward women doctors. I found much of the story disjointed, although I enjoyed the descriptions of the dress, food, housing, and medical treatments of the era.

I finished the book with a sense of satisfaction, but cannot say that I understood everything that was going on with father and daughter. If you are a fantasy reader, this book will rate very high on your enjoyment meter. If you are a more literal reader like me, you might have more of a struggle.

Do check out the webpage....there are some beautiful illustrations, and short descriptions of the places visited.

53tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 19, 2012, 9:29 pm

#49 Nothing to Envy, Ordinary Lives in North Korea


Author: Barbara Demick
Publisher-Format:Tantor Media, audio, 12.5 hr
Narrator: Karen White
Year of publication: 2010
Subject: Lives of North Koreans who defected to South Korea
Setting: various venues in North and South Korea
Genre: investigative reporting
Source: Public library

Ever since North Korean Communist dictator Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011, I realized I knew little about that country.  I had visited South Korea twice in the late 1980's and enjoyed the energy and unbridled enthusiasm for capitalism that I saw, but North Korea remained a mystery.

Barbara Demick, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was assigned to Korea for several years, and found the North Korean enigma difficult to crack.  Unable to get any North Koreans to talk to her, she changed tactics and located defectors from North Korea who had managed to escape to safety in South Korea.  Her stories of the famine, the lack of work, electricity, transportation, clothing, basic health and opportunity, the lack of color and culture, the terror felt by ordinary citizens about anything and everything, the flourishing black market, the absolute lack of trust in anyone and the total control of "the party" over every phase of  everyday life painted a very clear but bleak picture of the lives of North Koreans from the end of the Korean War to the present.

She has chosen six different people to follow from their younger days in North Korea to their now settled lives in the south.  Their stories of escape, capture, imprisonment, and final flight to safety through China was every bit as engrossing as the first part of the stories when we see how utterly awful life was for people with no hope.  By detailing the process of repatriation to the south, through de-briefing, and a forced enculturation experience we are able to see how totally deprived the people of the north were. In the north, where most had never seen a telephone, they had no mail service, books, very little transportation, no writing paper, and basic hygiene articles were not easy to acquire.  Even a top engineering school graduate had never used the Internet before he was able to escape to the south.  Radio and TV (when electricity was available) was limited to a few pre-set and government approved channels.

This is not a pretty or easy book to read.  It is gut-wrenching, appalling, and frightening.  It is also totally engrossing, and for me at least, very enlightening.  I was so anxious to read it that I grabbed the audio book that was available at the library.  I do intend though to get the print version, because there are illustrations that should enhance my mental picture of this 5 star report.

Demick was awarded the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction in 2010.

54alcottacre
Avr 19, 2012, 9:37 pm

#52: Adding that one to the BlackHole.

#53: The Demick book has been in the BlackHole for a while now. I am off to check to see if by chance my local library has a copy in yet. . .

55lkernagh
Avr 20, 2012, 2:40 am

Second Stasia comment above about The Book of Madness and Cures. In my case, hold placed with my local library!

56tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 20, 2012, 11:31 pm

Some really heavy reading is now over ( see list in msg 3) - reviews coming this week. I'm now spending the weekend trying to figure out my new phone (why oh why do we have to get new ones ---why can't the old ones last forever?????) and reading some really light fluffy brain candy - I have the next two Dr. Siris on my MP3, a Sarah Graves Home repair mystery (new one!!) on my Nook - from Net Galley, and the 20th anniversary Rita Mae Brown in print - that's an ER book that is over due for review. We're supposed to get a deluge of rain - finally-- sometime this weekend, so I'm just going to veg and let my reading brain rot. All of these are fun, fun, fun, and I'm looking forward to them.

57tututhefirst
Avr 22, 2012, 12:07 pm

There's a wonderful blog I like to read Maine Crime Writers and today's post truly delighted me. I think Barbara Ross was channeling me when she wrote

"As an over-achiever trapped in a procrastinator’s body, I can piddle away time pretty much at will."

58richardderus
Avr 22, 2012, 1:38 pm

LOL

I love their blog!

59sjmccreary
Avr 22, 2012, 9:59 pm

#57 Love that quote! That's me all over!

60tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 23, 2012, 6:43 pm

61msf59
Avr 23, 2012, 6:58 pm

Tina- You are a reading machine, my friend! Of course, I'm a big fan of The Sisters Brothers too. Have you read Doc yet? Another excellent western.
I LOVED, Olive so Ernie's Ark sounds terrific. Another one for the WL.
Nice thoughts on Nothing to Envy. It's such a great book.

62tututhefirst
Avr 23, 2012, 7:46 pm

Yes Mark....I read Doc last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess I just need to keep my mind very open and not judge books by genre, but by premise, author, LT opinions

63tututhefirst
Avr 25, 2012, 11:06 pm

#50 The Big Cat Nap


Author: Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Publisher-Format: Random House, 2012, ppbck ARC, 220 pages
Subject: Insurance/auto repair fraud, murder
Setting: Crozet Virginia
Series: Mrs. Murphy Mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: Early Reviewer program from LibraryThing - publisher provided

Although this is #20 in this long-running series, readers who are unfamiliar with early episodes can meander into the Blue Ridge mountain town of Crozet and not feel they're missing anything.  I hadn't read one of these in several years, and I could notice big changes in character's lives but only because I'd read the earlier stories.  Rita Mae Brown still gives us Mrs. Murphy, the striped tabby cat, Tucker the Corgi, and luscious chunky Pewter, the "fat cat" who are devoted to the protagonist Happy Hairsteen, former postmistress now full-time farmer, now remarried to Fair, the local veterinarian.  We catch up with Harry's friend Susan, her pastor Rev Herb, her friend Coop the deputy sheriff, and we are treated to lively animal discussions among the critters who try to keep their human's overly active sense of curiosity from getting her into too much trouble as she discovers bodies, ponders anomalies in car accidents, and fixes tractors and trucks belonging to various members of the community.

There are indeed murders, there are indeed bodies and violence, but the southern ambiance of the small town, the glorious celebration of Flag Day, the description of small family owned farms and their attendant problems, the friendly cooperation of amateur sleuth and police professionals makes this a cozy with lots of meat.  It's an easy, comfy read, there are plenty of suspects, and solving the mystery of who killed all these young men who work at the auto repair shop is always just a few pages further than this reader could quite pin down, but it continues the series in its usual sharp, fun-loving tradition.  For fans of animals, farms, fast cars, and gentle southern manners.

I know these are out of order and I still need to do a review of To end all wars and The Coroner's Lunch but I'm having to take a big break from WAR after all the WWI non-fiction, and I'm having so much fun with the Cotterill's that I'm not taking time to review yet. I'm on #4 now.

64tymfos
Avr 27, 2012, 11:15 pm

an over-achiever trapped in a procrastinator’s body

LOL! Oh, that sounds rather like me . . .

65tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 28, 2012, 10:19 pm

Well, I'm not quite ready to dive into any WWI chunksters, but did FINALLY pick up an ARC The Cove by Ron Rash that is set in the US during WWI and is really getting all kinds of press. In the meantime, I got the jump on May's Murder and Mayhem by immersing myself in Colin Cotterill's luscious Dr. Siri series. I'll start #5 tonite. Still not in a review writing mood (my blog is suffering too) but here are some quickie wrap-ups for the latest

51. Thirty three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
52. Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill


I'm enchanted with this series. The characters are human, well-drawn, intensely spiritual, hilarious, and bumblingly (I made that word up) lovable. They've been especially cathartic to read after having endured the bleakness of Nothing to Envy because they show how people who must endure in the sterility of Communism can still enjoy life and thumb their nose at authority. Great mysteries, concise and helpful nuggets of Laotian and other Southeast Asia history, and more laughs than the proverbial barrel of monkeys.

53. Dead Level: A Home Repair Mystery by Sarah Graves

An ARC I got through Net Galley....I'll get a full review published since it's due in bookstores this week. This is #15 in the series but I've only read 3 or 4. She has come a long way from the early ones for sure. I read the earlier ones because they are set in Eastport Maine (one of my favorite spots in the state) and they had pleasant characters with the usual "amateur sleuth inserts herself into police business and saves the day" cozy plot....I really tended to view them as brain candy.

This one changed my mind. It's a fully developed, well-plotted, exceptionally well-written page turner. Let's hope she continues to turn out more.

Edited to say that full review is now posted in the book page.

54. What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie.

Pure bodice ripping chick-lit teeth-rot, but every once in awhile such brain candy is great to cleanse the pallet. I often enjoy Ms. Crusie's books (got this one on big sale from Audible), but this is not one I'd recommend, and I'm sorry I wasted the meager $$$. What on earth was I thinking? Standard girl meets boy, girl wants boy, boy wants girl but neither wants to admit it, boy and girl end up in bed, on the floor, in the shower, etc etc etc. You get the picture. Some comic relief from a trio of mafiosi Italian uncles and a couple of other bimbos.

66sjmccreary
Avr 28, 2012, 11:56 am

Too bad about the Crusie book - she's one of my favorite BC writers, but sometimes too much is just too much. I won't go looking for this one.

67tututhefirst
Modifié : Avr 28, 2012, 10:18 pm

#55 The Naked Foods Cookbook and #56 The Lake Eden Cookbook

I'm doing a Weekend Cooking post in two parts over on the blog, so if you're interested in the topic the reviews are over here and here.

68richardderus
Avr 28, 2012, 11:28 pm

#53 got the thumbs up from me! xo

69ffortsa
Avr 29, 2012, 8:28 am

I've read quite a few of the home repair mysteries, and enjoyed them all, but they began to get a but involved in magic, and I took a break. Maybe I'll startvthem up again.

70ffortsa
Avr 29, 2012, 8:36 am

Just checked. I've read 12 of them!

71cyderry
Avr 29, 2012, 9:01 am

Yeah, Judy, you sent them all to me. They're in a file staring me in the face just waiting to be read!

72ffortsa
Avr 29, 2012, 11:03 am

LOL

73tututhefirst
Avr 29, 2012, 12:48 pm

Well CHeli....I may have to grab a couple when I come down in August - what's the format?

74tututhefirst
Avr 29, 2012, 1:28 pm

OOOOO OOOOOO OOOOOO.....I'm snoopy dancing and can't even bother to find a graphic. Just opened an email from Louise Penny's pub asst to say that I'd won a contest for an ARC of The Beautiful Mystery -- I just have to wait for Louise to return from trip to the UK to SIGN IT. Oh be still mah beatin heart

75sjmccreary
Avr 29, 2012, 1:33 pm

#74 Lucky you! What great news!

76cameling
Avr 29, 2012, 1:41 pm

Tina - I have Nothing to Envy in my TBR Tower and based on your review, I think I'll move it up a rung or 2 so I get to it this year.

I loved your review of The Book of Madness and Cures and have added to my obese wish list.

77msf59
Avr 29, 2012, 1:42 pm

Tina- I'm hoping to get to the 3rd Dr. Siri book during M & M. I hope you are enjoying The Cove. It sounds very good.

78cyderry
Avr 29, 2012, 2:35 pm

I have 9 Home Repair Mysteries (thanks to Judy) in ARD format.

79richardderus
Avr 29, 2012, 3:03 pm

80lindapanzo
Avr 29, 2012, 3:18 pm

Very exciting!! Congrats!! I'm still holding out hope for myself, too.

81maggie1944
Avr 29, 2012, 3:28 pm

That is great good news!!

82brenzi
Avr 29, 2012, 5:16 pm

Oh lucky, lucky you Tina. I'd love to think I'll snag one too but hopes are dimming.

83tututhefirst
Avr 29, 2012, 5:25 pm

Now I just have to sit on my hands and wait. I'm also waiting for the newest Maisie Dobbs, and the Bess Crawford .... those are all ones I'll gladly, eagerly do for reviews. Just finished my fourth Dr. Siri and I'm still laughing so hard, my sides ache. What a delightful way to absorb some often ugly history. Off to do a review of the four of them while I'm in the mood.

84ChelleBearss
Avr 29, 2012, 10:54 pm

Oh you are so lucky! I joined her newsletter in hopes that I would win one! Lucky you!

85tututhefirst
Avr 29, 2012, 11:56 pm

A Slew of Dr. Siri Paiboun Mysteries

Thanks to all of you who recommended this incredible series. I'm Hooked.

As you probably know by now, these are set in Laos in the 1970's, and the stories feature an eclectic, engaging set of characters led by Dr. Siri, the 73 year old coroner.  He is coroner by virtue of the fact that he's the only doctor available at the time the appointment needed to be filled.  He works in a woefully understaffed, under-equipped morgue, assisted only by nurse Dtui, and Mr. Deung-- a 30 something Downs syndrome lab tech.  Their "guests" are stored in "room no. 1" - an asthmatic old freezer that will freeze bodies if they are not monitored constantly. His best friend from his revolutionary youth days, now Comrade Civilai of the Politburo, lunches with him sitting on a log by the Mekong River watching "Crazy Rajib" - who rarely wears clothes but who smiles a lot while performing a variety of unmentionable acts.



In addition to a delightful and eclectic assortment of politicians, communists, Hmong natives, aging revolutionaries, Vietnamese "advisers", incompetent bureaucrats, and  a transvestite "auntie" fortune teller, Cotterill adds an element of the supernatural by having Siri channel a 1000 year old Shaman, who is beloved of the locals, and often called upon to help the spirits as they grapple with the Communist regime.  Siri is called upon not only to do autopsies but to solve mysteries; he rescues damsels in distress, performs exocisms, thwarts a coup, helps a group of Hmong natives escape Communist rebels, delivers babies, and eventually even finds love after decades of widowhood.

All of these adventures frame insightful and enlightening pieces of Laotian history.  Siri's background as a revolutionary, his eventual disenchantment with "the regime" and his now late in life skepticism all combine to give us a robust, irreverant, humane, and  down-right lovable old man who is a protagonist without peer.

The series is reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's 1st Ladies Detective Agency for its powerful sense of place, but also reminds me of Andrea Camillieri's  Inspector Montalbano in his characterization and cast of characters.  They are absolutely laugh-out-loud funny, endearing, horrifying, quirky, bizarre, and totally captivating.  I can't wait to read the four remaining titles.

A final note:  I listened to these in audio format and found Clive Chafer's narration to be top drawer.  I would never had known that "Siri" is pronounced "silly" for instance.  His ability to give us such an incredible variety of voices and personalities, accents and dialects added so much to my sense of place that is such a large part of the stories.  Whatever your format, you will not be disappointed.  They are definitely going to be on my top of the year list.

The Coroner's Lunch (2005)
Thirty-three Teeth (2006)
Anarchy and Old Dogs(2008)
Curse of the Pogo Stick (2008)-- all published by Soho Crime.  Audios by Blackstone Audio.

86tututhefirst
Avr 30, 2012, 12:02 am

I meant to add a note in my discussion of Sarah Graves book Dead level that I think this is the first time I have seen a Kindle playing a rather prominent part in a story. The fact that the device was a 3g and could send email when a cell phone had gone dead was quite an interesting and thought-provoking twist -- I don't think I'm giving anything away. But think about it....a "book" participating in a rescue. COOL.....

87thornton37814
Avr 30, 2012, 8:43 am

It's nice to see a Kindle being featured in a book. I've got the 3G model of the Kindle too, but I haven't used the 3G benefits (except to be able to download e-books where there isn't wireless) as much as I had thought I would.

88tututhefirst
Avr 30, 2012, 11:47 am

My original Nook had 3G and I rarely got a chance to use it because the 3G ONLY kicked in when no WIFI was available, and then it had to be ATT 3G which at the time was not available where I live. My newer Nook Touch doesn't have 3G and I don't miss it, but in this story, it sure worked!

89tututhefirst
Mai 1, 2012, 12:13 am

End of Month wrap up

I really got a jump on May's Murder and Mayhem, but after the heavy World War I and biographies I'd been reading earlier this year, I needed a definite break from deep thinking. And I got hooked on a couple of series thanks to all of you (you know who you are). I managed to complete 20 books (I didn't count a couple of YA/kids books I reviewed for Downeast). Here's the breakdown:

Fiction: 17 (12 were mysteries)
Non-Fiction: 3

By Format:
Print: 4
E-book: 6
Audio: 12

Best Fiction: I could not decide. None of them was Pulitzer material, but I did enjoy the Dr. Siri books the best

Best Non-Fiction: I am unable to choose between two of the best books I've read this year:
Nothing to envy
To End All Wars and I still need to do a review on this one.

Just downloaded another batch of mysteries for May Murder and Mayhem. Off to relax listening to one.

90tututhefirst
Mai 1, 2012, 6:45 pm

No other words needed......


91ffortsa
Mai 1, 2012, 10:35 pm

That is hilarious.

92vancouverdeb
Mai 2, 2012, 12:47 am

Thank goodness I've never watched Jersey Shore, so my conscience can rest easy!. Thank goodness for that! I'm going to have to try a Dr. Siri book -everyone on LT seems to be into that series! :)

93Copperskye
Mai 2, 2012, 12:52 am

Hi Tina - Congrats on the Penny ARC win! I just saw your name on her newsletter.

I've given up trying to resist the Siri series and have ordered a used copy of The Coroner's Lunch from Amazon Marketplace (none of my libraries carry it...).

#90 LOL!

94Dejah_Thoris
Mai 4, 2012, 10:37 pm

95ronincats
Mai 4, 2012, 11:00 pm

Love it! I've never watched Jersey Shore either, so I am INNOCENT!

I need to order the second Dr. Siri book from the library--loved the first!

96richardderus
Mai 5, 2012, 12:47 am

>90 tututhefirst: BRILLIANT!!!

97tymfos
Mai 6, 2012, 7:39 pm

74 Some people have all the luck, Tina! ;)

98tututhefirst
Mai 6, 2012, 9:57 pm

#58 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The word "Peculiar" is the key to this one!

Miss Peregrine was named Best Fiction for Young Adults by the
Young Adult Library Services Association and although fantasy and time travel are not what I normally enjoy reading, I had to see what all the fuss was about.

It's a fascinating read, and I can readily understand how young adults (I'd say in 12-15 age range) will just eat this one up.  As an adult, who had to really suspend belief, I found myself almost putting it down several times waiting for something big to happen, but once I got about half-way through I knew I had to finish it to see if there was a realistic ending.  And I won't tell...

The narrator Jacob sets out on a journey to see if some of the wild tales his grandfather told before he died could possibly be true and if they have anything to do with the monsters he keeps "seeing."  He also wants to track down the stories behind a box of old pictures he found in his grandfather's things.  Accompanied by his father, he returns to the scene of his grandfather's mysterious childhood spent in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  He had been told that this was an asylum for children who were sent there during World War II to escape the Nazis.

In his attempts to locate and understand the past, he enters a time "loop" of fantastic dimensions, in which the same day keeps repeating itself, and realizes he must be one of the "peculiars" who are able to travel between the two worlds.  Nuff said.  His adventures are suspenseful and well-written.  The story is made all the better by the inclusion of the over 20 black and white photos helping to illustrate the monsters, and supernatural happenings described.  The enchanced version of the audio book comes with a disc of pdfs showing the picture, so the reader can follow along while listening.  A great way to enjoy the story.  On top of everything, the characters are endearing and once the reader is introduced to them, he or she will have to stay on the ride until it ends.

Jesse Bernstein's narration is outstanding.  He manages to portray a wide panaply of accents, voices, ages, and intent.  I actually did a double work out at the pool one day because I did not want to stop listening, but then I wanted to hurry home so I could go back and view the photos I'd missed!  No matter the format you choose, if fantasy, time travel and well developed characters are for you, so is this book.

Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher-Format: Quirk Books (2011),  Hardcover, 352 pages
 Enhanced audio book with disc of photographs: Books on Tape 9 hr 42 min  
Narrator: Jesse Bernstein
Subject: time travel
Setting: Wales
Genre: time travel, fantasy, young adult fiction
Source: Public Library download

99tututhefirst
Modifié : Déc 30, 2012, 8:05 pm

A bit out of order, but I finally got my thoughts together on this one....
47 To End all Wars



This is one of the most intense books I've ever read.  I recently participated in a book discussion of this one with a group of about 20 adults, all over the age of 40.  Every single person in the room said "This book made me SO angry."

I joined in the group discussion because it was a book that fit into my reading for War Through the Generations.  Adam Hochschild gives us an unusual perpective of looking not only at the war but at the political and social conflicts that were occuring simultaneously.  He interweaves these themes so that we are able to see the arrogance of those conducting the war, the anguish of those fighting the war, and the frustration of those who want it to stop, or want to abolish the class structure that is seen as one of the major factors in the horrendous and unnecessary loss of life and limb.

Told almost entirely from the perspective of the British, Hochschild explains the history and concepts of Empire, class structure and struggles, and the entirely idiotic insistence of the British military of clinging to the use of calvary in spite of the invention and use of more up to date tactics and weapons being used by the Germans.

Overlaid on this discussion is the story of Britain's conscientious objectors and pacifists, along with a look at the socialist and communist movements in Russia.  The role of women in the anti-war movement is also well-documented.  I was especially appalled at the treatment the "stiff-upper-lip" aristocratic officers and military hierarchy displayed to men who refused to serve because their conscience told them that killing was wrong.  In several instances, these men were conscripted, sent to prison when they refused to serve, and even executed as traitors.  It was at this point I become so angry, I had to put the book down and return to it several days later.

The author highlights several well -known Englishmen, including Bertrand Russell, Sir John French, Winston Churchill, Charlotte Despard, and Rudyard Kipling.  Each had a specific view of the war, its rightness or its total stupidity.  Each of their stories was heart-breaking, infuriating, and so well written that whether or not we agreed with the viewpoint,  we understood it.  What was so anger inducing however, was the recognition of all who were participating in the discussion of how little the world seems to have learned.  We all could see clear and unequivocal correlations to wars that followed.  The parallels between anti-war movements during Vietnam and today's conflicts were all clearly visible, and led us to the conclusion that this is a book that should be required reading for all Americans.

We'll never again watch Downton Abbey with the same starry eyes after seeing how the British class system contributed to so many poor decisions.

Author: Adam Hochschild
Publisher-Format: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; (May 3, 2011), 495 pages
Subject: World War I, political revolutions in Europe, UK, Russia
Setting: Theatres of World War I
Genre: history
Source: Maine Humanities Council through local public library
I also bought a copy for my own NOOK.

100tututhefirst
Mai 7, 2012, 12:40 am

Abandoned book: The Cove

I wanted to like this one....it's gotten rave reviews...but I've been trying for two weeks to get into it. I gave it 50 pages (which is about 17 past where Nancy Pearl says I need to go). It was OK, but it was not lighting my fire.

I think it was the setting. It's world war I--OK. It's mysterious - eh... but the descriptions of some kind of cove someplace in Appalachia just was not making that place appear in my brain. I just couldn't get my arms (or my brain) around that picture. It really made me realize how important a sense of place is to me when I read.

Maybe later....

101sjmccreary
Mai 7, 2012, 4:06 pm

Tina, we're getting ready for vacation in a couple of weeks. My daughter asked for something good to read to take along but couldn't provide me any guidance except "maybe something kind of fantasy, but not so out-there like Dad likes". So I requested The Night Circus, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Twilight (a repeat for her, but she loved it) from the library for the Nook. I might have to snatch the Nook from her when she's not looking and give Miss Peregrine a try. It was the only one I knew nothing about, so I'm glad to hear you liked it.

To End all Wars is going on the wishlist, but I'll probably have to wait until I forget about your comments before I'll pick it up.

102thornton37814
Mai 7, 2012, 7:37 pm

We get all of Ron Rash's books because he's a local author. I tried reading one of his earlier books, but I just couldn't get into it. I haven't even tried The Cove because I'm afraid I'll abandon it too. Based on your abandonment, I think it's a pretty safe bet that I'll skip it.

103tututhefirst
Mai 7, 2012, 9:20 pm

#60 Nail Biter
May Murder and Mayhem



An apt title for me.  I am extremely claustrophobic, so reading or listening to stories where there are lots of caves, dark cramped basements, power outages resulting in total darkness, etc., often find ME biting my nails - or at least breaking out into a cold sweat.

Last month, I reviewed Graves' latest book in this series Dead Level.  I mentioned that it had been quite awhile since I'd read one of this series and I thought it had improved quite a bit.  That said, I decided to grab this one which is # 9 of 15 to see if it rose to the same level as #15.

I love the setting, I enjoy the characters, but this one is very uneven.  Jacobia Tiptree (our heroine) is asked by the local sheriff to search for a missing teenager because he doesn't think the State Police are putting enough emphasis on the search and because he has been told by the Staties to butt out.  YEAH RIGHT. The Sheriff assigns the town busy-body to search for a missing/possibly kidnapped child????  For some reason,  "Jake" keeps flashing back to some unspecified but awful situation in her past that has her convinced that the missing girl is in grave danger.  I found this whole part of the plot very contrived, and Jake's anxiety so repetitive that I wanted to abandon the book, or at least skip over her on-going angst, on several different occasions. However, Graves is skillful enough to arouse my curiosity to the point that I had to keep reading to find out the resolution to several different pieces of the story.

It's always difficult to review mysteries without giving away the plot.  I won't reveal the story, but I will tell you there are storms, ghosts, several suspects, natural and man-made disasters galore.  In fact, this one might not qualify as a cozy in many peoples' minds.  There are several sub-plots and enough amateur detecting to keep it interesting.  I just wish it had been tightened up a bit.  The extra helpings of words did insure that anyone who hadn't read one of the earlier books wasn't going to miss anything.  A bit wordy, but still a satisfying read.  As usual, Lindsay Ellison's narration is first class.

Author: Sarah Graves
Publisher-Format: Audio: BBC Audiobooks America, 8 hrs 53 min 
Narrator: Lindsay Ellison
Subject: Murder, home repair, dark secrets from the past
Setting: Eastport Maine
Series: Homicide is Murder Mysteries
Genre: Cozy mystery, amateur sleuth
Source: Public library audio download

104brenzi
Mai 7, 2012, 10:16 pm

Why do I come here? You never fail to have a knock-out great review for a book I can't resist Tina. I had To End All Wars in my hand at B&N last week and then left it there. Grrrr. I'll go back for it now.

105tututhefirst
Mai 7, 2012, 10:24 pm

Bonnie....if you were in B&N and have a Nook, you may want to consider getting To End all Wars in e-format. I found so many passages I wanted to highlight and make notes in the margins, that I had to go buy it to store my note taking. I still cannot bring myself to write in a physical book.

106tututhefirst
Mai 7, 2012, 10:35 pm

#61 Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light by Neill Lochery.

I don't remember who recommended this one to me, but I do thank you whoever you are. My husband is of Azorean Portuguese descent, although he speaks Brazilian portuguese (don't ask!!!) and Lisbon is one of our favorite European cities. We can't wait to go back---I can smell the pastries, hear the Fado singers, taste all that gorgeous seafood and wine, and still see the beautiful old architecture, still remember the donkey carts on the main highways. I especially remember the stares (and dare I say glares?) I got when I was driving a car by myself (I don't think I ever saw another woman driving there but that was almost 25 years ago).

As much as we know about the geography, the culture and the attractions, neither of us knows very much about the modern history, particularly of the Salazar era. Neill Lochery presents a well-researched, if somewhat dry exposè of Portugal's well-guarded neutrality during WW II. It was fascinating to watch how Salazar played Britain and Germany against each other and to his advantage, and how the Portuguese were able to shepherd 1000's of Jews out of Europe to escape the Holocaust. There is a good bit of tale-telling about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who spent a bit of time in Lisbon (and at the nearby casinos in Caiscais and Estorille) before finally departing for the Bahamas.

I actually listened to this because the audio was available but the print version was not. Robin Sachs did an exemplary job narrating a story full of foreign names, phrases and venues, and making it all interesting. This is not a book for everyone, but if you are interested in the area, the country, or another piece of World War II history, this one will fill the bill.

107tututhefirst
Mai 7, 2012, 10:43 pm

#62 Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney


A Gray Whale Inn Mystery set on the Cranberry Islands off the coast of Maine.   I REALLY liked the setting in this one, and found the characters and the plot engaging.  This is the first in the series and was a weekly freebie a while back for NOOK.   There were several items where I had to suspend belief when reading this one however.

 I have a little problem with anyone who would live on an island in Maine without a backup generator.  With the winds as strong as they are in the Gulf of Maine, power losses are a way of life.   I could tell the author was "from away" because anyone who lives here knows that when you lose power, you do NOT run a hot bubble bath (HELLO HELLO --the well pump requires electricity!!).   And handing candles to your B&B guests and then saying a prayer that they won't burn the old place down!!! There were several other anomalies that just kept the picture from ringing true.

Great mystery story though, with a share of greedy developers, unhappy locals, a summer college student trying to find herself, threatened terns nests, rocky cliffs, secret smuggling caves, a hint of future romance promised, an intelligent but again way too nosy amateur sleuth, and as has become de rigeur for cozies these days, there is plenty of talk about food, and several good recipes. There are several suspects, lots of gore (so some might not call it a cozy), and I was kept guessing right up to the end.  There are three more in the series, and this one leaves several open items that will be fun to follow in future episodes.  In spite of the nit-picky details I mentioned, it does give a beautiful picture of rustic, small-town life on a Maine island.  A particularly pleasant  book for summer reading.


Author: Karen MacInerney
Publisher-Format:  Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD, e-book 208 pages
Year of publication: Pub. Date: 9/1/2010
 Subject: Life on Maine Island, murder, conservation
Setting: Cranberry Island Maine
Series: Gray Whale Inn Mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery - amateur sleuth
Source:  Barnes and Noble - my NOOK

108tututhefirst
Modifié : Mai 7, 2012, 11:26 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

109richardderus
Mai 7, 2012, 11:31 pm

>106 tututhefirst: Sweetiedarling, one has neglected to post this review on the book's page...others so inclined are unable to up-gethumb same as a result...this is, to coin a phrase, double-plus ungood.

110lindapanzo
Mai 7, 2012, 11:45 pm

I've enjoyed the MacInerney books, too, Tina.

111cyderry
Mai 8, 2012, 12:03 am

I have Murder on the Rocks, moving it up!

112tututhefirst
Mai 8, 2012, 12:04 am

>109 richardderus: RD.....I didn't really consider that a real review....was just posting some random thoughts, but at your bidding, I'd done the cut/paste routine. Oh lordie, lordie, I want to go back to Lisbon...one of Europe's best kept secrets.

113Dejah_Thoris
Mai 8, 2012, 11:20 am

Great books! I'll hold Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light in reserve for when I'm reading more nonfiction, but I just placed a hold on Murder on the Rocks. Thanks!

114richardderus
Mai 8, 2012, 12:28 pm

>112 tututhefirst: Thank you kindly...thumbed...and so agree about Lisbon! Portugal in general, in fact.

115tututhefirst
Mai 9, 2012, 11:35 pm

Just realized, here's a sweet little one I forgot to post....

#59 Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim



Mattie was never truly mine. That knowledge must have filled me as
quickly and surely as the milk from her breasts. Although my family
‘owned' her, although she occupied the center of my universe, her
deepest affections lay elsewhere. So along with the comfort of her
came the fear that I would lose her some day. This is our story...

From the Publisher:
So begins Lisbeth Wainwright's compelling tale of coming-of-age in
antebellum Virginia. Born to white plantation owners but raised by her
enslaved black wet nurse, Mattie, Lisbeth's childhood unfolds on the
line between two very different worlds. Growing up under the watchful
eye of Mattie, the child adopts her surrogate mother's deep-seated faith in God, her love of music and black-eyed peas, and the tradition of hunting for yellow crocuses in the early days of spring. Yet
Lisbeth has freedoms and opportunities that Mattie does not have, though the color of the girl's skin cannot protect her from the societal expectations placed on women born to privilege. As Lisbeth grows up, she struggles to reconcile her love for her caregiver with her parent's expectations, a task made all the more difficult as she becomes increasingly aware of the ugly realities of the American slavery system. When the inequality of her two worlds comes to a head during an act of shocking brutality, Lisbeth realizes she must make a choice, one that will require every ounce of the courage she learned from her beloved Mattie. This compelling historical novel is a richly evocative tale of love and redemption set during one of the darkest
chapters of American history.

My thoughts: 
I was enthralled with this book...The prose is lyrical, the characters could have been stereotypical, but Ibrahim's deft handling of often painful subjects is skillful enough to avoid that pitfall.  The history is solid with an excellent portrayal of the heart-wrenching pain caused by family breakups when slaves were sold.  The scenes of the journey along the Underground Railroad are well drawn to remind us of the bravery of all those involved. The story draws us in, keeps us turning pages, until an ending that we could see coming, but nonetheless waited for. There is some adult material of a sexual nature, but today's mid-teens will be able to handle this one and love it.

Author: Laila Ibrahim
Publisher-Format: Flaming Chalice Press, e-galley, 238 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: slavery, underground railroad
Setting: Virginia, 1850s
Genre: historical fiction
Source: e-galley from publisher via NetGalley

116richardderus
Mai 9, 2012, 11:44 pm

Flaming Chalice Press...whoooooeeee!

Up-gethumbed, of course. I'll avoid it like it gots the cooties, but your review made that a touch tougher than it should have been.

117maggie1944
Mai 10, 2012, 8:20 am

You make it sound so very tempting... good review.

118tututhefirst
Modifié : Mai 12, 2012, 12:48 am

#63 Matinicus An Island Mystery by Darcy Scott

Darlings.....listen to your Auntie Tina the Tutu....self-publishing has come a long way. I recently received some books from a local pub house here in town, Maine Authors Publishing and they are sponsoring some really good stuff. I just finished the first one - a perfect read for May Murder and Mayhem, and full review will be coming very shortly, but this is a 4.9 star (I had to deduct 1/10 of a star for leaving me hanging on for dear life at the ending) - it's got it all....two good mysteries intertwined, ghosts, sex, Maine, lobsters, boats, plot, characters, and an ending that will send you racing for the heart attack pills....

It's going to be hard to find for a while...I think it's only available from the author although it is showing up on Amazon.......

WHOA.....just checked and it is now available from amazon and as a Kindle!!!! WOOT WOOT

Review coming .... I promise....must go get some sleep now.

119richardderus
Mai 12, 2012, 1:32 am

I couldn't find the Kindle version! Must be tired.

120tututhefirst
Modifié : Mai 12, 2012, 11:27 am

RD....I just checked again, and it's there - $7.99!!! Here's the link I have : http://www.amazon.com/Matinicus-An-Island-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0082C3XBQ/ref=sr_1_1...

The links in the LT sidebar are old ---they don't work! But the one above should get you there. ENJOY.

121thornton37814
Mai 12, 2012, 9:32 pm

I've enjoyed the MacInerney books in that series that I've read.

122tututhefirst
Mai 14, 2012, 9:30 pm

#63 Matinicus, An Island Mystery


As I've stated several times before, I don't often have high expectations of self-published books.  HOWEVER, Darcy Scott and the Maine Authors Publishers group really changed my mind with this outstanding whodunnit.  Scott gives us a tightly plotted, expertly populated ghost story set in the present and the past on one of the most renowned but unknown islands of Maine.

The plot is so fantastic that reviewing it is going to be a bit of a tip-toe but I'm going to try to explain why I'm such a cheerleader for this one without giving it away.
First there's the setting:  Matinicus Island is the furthest out of Maine's populated islands with an official population of about 50. It is not someplace one just drops in for an afternoon of sightseeing.  The families who live there are close-knit, often related, and depend almost entirely on lobstering for their income and each other for their survival. There's a single general store, a unisex barber/hair dresser, some satellite dishes, an assortment of unregistered and unlicensed objects that pass for transportation devices, numerous dogs of unknown parentage, no local law enforcement, no doctors or lawyers, (there are two EMTs), and sporadic plane, boat and ferry service (when the fog is lifted) between the island and "America."

Then there are the characters:
-- A disenchanted teenaged girl (is there another kind?) who is waiting for the mother who abandoned her 10 years ago to return.
-- The hard working couple who run the island store/restaurant/bar/post office, etc etc, etc;
-- A visiting college professor on sabbatical, who is ostensibly counting trees and cataloging orchids, but who in reality is hiding out from his latest disastrous sexual conquest.
-- A raucous assortment of crusty, hard-drinking lobstermen...boat owners, sternmen, and wannabes.
-- A ghost who is haunting the 1799 residence where the college professor is staying.
-- A drop-dead gorgeous widow(?) who arrives in her gazillion $$ yacht with an unquenchable libido, a  propensity for sunbathing au naturale, dancing on pool tables,and whose wealthy husband has apparently fallen overboard on the way.

These propel an incredible plot:
The college professor finds an old diary in his haunted house detailing the massacre of passengers of a shipwreck off the coast, the love life of the original occupants of the house, and some other details that can't be revealed here without giving you the whole enchilada.

The local lobstermen are in the midst of a "lobster war" - a snarling fight over territorial rights that periodically breaks out in violence as locals try to keep those "from away" out of their perceived private fishing grounds.  Although the State law allows anyone with a license to fish anyplace in Maine waters, the Matinicus population has tended over the years to ignore that little piece of legality and enforces its own brand of island justice to repel the outsiders, who often find their expensive traps have suddenly "gone missing."  At the time of this story, there's a full-scale dust-up a-brewing.

At the same time the professor arrives, all hell seems bent on breaking loose, and dead bodies keep appearing...usually found by said professor.  Is he responsible?  Are they related to the lobster wars?  Is there a serial killer loose on the island?  How come the ghost seems so agitated?

Throw in some good old fashioned Maine foul weather, some very crusty and rough language, some fairly explicit sex scenes, a little pot, a lotta booze, and you've got a rip roaring, page turning tale. 

Then top it off with an absolutely "I never saw that one coming!" ending, and we have here a winner! This is being sold as the first of the Island Mystery series, (and includes the opening pages of the next installment).  I certainly hope Ms Scott can follow through, because it's going to be hard to follow this one!

Author: Darcy Scott
Publisher-Format: Turtle Pond Press, Maine Authors Publishing, trade paperback, 247 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: double murders, ghosts, island justice, lobstering
Setting: Matinicus Island Maine 1829 and 2005
Series: Island Mystery Series #1
Genre: Mystery - amateur sleuth
Source: review copy from publisher

123cyderry
Mai 14, 2012, 10:05 pm

I want it, I want it!

124tututhefirst
Mai 14, 2012, 10:10 pm

Cheli - I will put it in the August pile.

125richardderus
Mai 14, 2012, 10:17 pm

I seldom need my waders visiting your thread, Tina, but that fangirl gush is nigh on hip deep! Must read soonest.

126tututhefirst
Mai 15, 2012, 1:14 am

Ok Richard, you can probably skip this one....not your cuppa....

#64 Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin



Here's the story from the book jacket: From Gail Godwin, three-time National Book Award finalist and acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Evensong and The Finishing School, comes a sweeping new novel of friendship, loyalty, rivalries, redemption, and memory.
It is the fall of 1951 at Mount St. Gabriel’s, an all-girls school tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina. Tildy Stratton, the undisputed queen bee of her class, befriends Chloe Starnes, a new student recently orphaned by the untimely and mysterious death of her mother. Their friendship fills a void for both girls but also sets in motion a chain of events that will profoundly affect the course of many lives, including the girls’ young teacher and the school’s matriarch, Mother Suzanne Ravenel.
Fifty years on, the headmistress relives one pivotal night, trying to reconcile past and present, reaching back even further to her own senior year at the school, WHERE the roots of a tragedy are buried.
In
Unfinished Desires, a beloved author delivers a gorgeous new novel in which thwarted desires are passed on for generations–and captures the rare moment when a soul breaks free.  

My impression:  For some reason, I started this book back in early 2010, and just never finished it.  I can't find anything in my notes to explain why I abandoned it, but I'm glad I tried again.  This is a story that resonated with me.  I went to a private girls school from 9th grade through college, and the fictional  Mt. St. Gabriel's is eerily similar to the real life Mt. St. Agnes I attended.....down to the fact that they are both now closed and most of the nuns who survive are living in retirement facilities.  Fortunately, I don't remember anyone as controlling as Mother Ravenel, Godwin's fictional headmistress, but the adolescent angst, the rivalries and the atmosphere were evocative of the 1950's Catholicism we grew up with.

Godwin's storytelling is enchanting but long.  This is one of those books that could have been so much better if it had more editing.  It rambled, and even with her indicating the speaker and the time frame as she changed points of view, it still was jolting to have to rearrange perspectives so many times.  In doing so, there were parts of the story that seemed to be told repeatedly, and this repetition meant the book ran on for about 50 pages too many.  The characters are extremely well developed, and exquisitely portrayed in the audio by Kimberly Farr who does a masterful job distinguishing between speakers and accents.

With a robust cast of characters, and a sumptuous setting, it's too bad the story line couldn't have been more crisply drawn.  It was a struggle to finish this one the second time around.  I kept saying "Ok, ok, let's get on with it."  One of the characters - Tildy Stratton's mama - carried her emotional baggage so heavily that I wanted to shake her!  Her relationship with the headmistress, while central to the story, was entirely too drawn out and dwelt up.  One of those "get over it" narrations that really dragged the book down in my opinion.  I still enjoyed the story, but I suspect it was more because of the nostalgic walk down memory lane, rather than the emotion  ridden psychological drama it turned out to be.  Even the ending, although true to the title, left me empty.  I don't think this one was up to Godwin's earlier standard, but still worth the read.

Author: Gail Godwin
Publisher-Format: Random House Audio, 18 hr, 35 min
Narrator: Kimberly Farr
Year of publication: 2010
Subject: relfections of life in a private Catholic girls school
Setting: southern US
Genre: fiction
Source: public library

127thornton37814
Mai 15, 2012, 7:34 am

I know that's a long book when I see how long the audio runs! I have added it to the "library" list for sometime later.

128richardderus
Mai 15, 2012, 1:18 pm

Eighteen and a half hours! Ye gods and little fishes! I shall avoid the prolix Ms. Godwin, and shall up-gethumb your warning flag, I mean review.

129cyderry
Mai 15, 2012, 3:00 pm

I'll pass on that one.

130tututhefirst
Mai 18, 2012, 10:58 pm

#65 Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill.

#4 in this fabulous series. I'm learning and laughing at the same time. These are not big on plot, but the characters and the setting more than make up for lack of great mystery. They remind me so much of the 1st Ladies' Detective Agency series....great big wonderful characters, gorgeous history, culture and geography lessons, some of the local religion thrown in, ghosts, love and did I mention laughter?

One note: I am extremely claustrophobic. One night earlier this week, I was really tired from a long swim, but thought I could finish listening to this audio before I fell asleep. I climbed into bed with my MP3 attached to my ears around midnite. At five in the morning, I awoke with heart pounding, panting for breath, clammy skin, etc. I had just come out of a dream where I was enclosed in an underground theatre whose walls, ceilings and furnishings were all made of pale blue styrofoam board. No exits, no sound, no people, and no way out..... When later that morning I went back to see where I fell asleep, I discovered that poor Dr. Siri had found his "Disco for the Departed" in an underground cave!!!.....SCARY..........

I hearby resolve not to listen to anymore Dr. Siri's in bed!!!

131tututhefirst
Mai 18, 2012, 11:05 pm

#66 Foul Play by Janet Evanovich.

Pure brain candy, chick-lit, and just what I needed to cure my claustrophobia. This is one of her "Single Romance Novels" - a quick audio read by C.J. Critt who is one of my favorite narrators for chick-lit. Cute story girl is TV clown, boy is studly veterinarian, some mystery surrounding the disappearance of a rooster boarding at the Vet's. No calories in this one, but like jelly beans, it was good to cleanse the palette.

Now I can finish an ARC mystery Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster....a totally engrossing missing person story set in the highlands of northern England. A great read for May M&M. When I finish this one, I can settle into Louise Penny's newest The Beautiful Mystery.

Weather is going to be a huge temptation too. We're supposed to have gorgeous spring (70's and sun) for the next 3-4 days, and Mr. Tutu and I really need to get some work done in the yahd. My first company arrives in less than two weeks, and we have to get the gazebo up.

132tymfos
Mai 23, 2012, 4:32 pm

130 What was that? You're not going to bed with Dr. Siri anymore? ;-)
OK, I guess some books are just not good bedtime reading!

133tututhefirst
Mai 27, 2012, 11:44 pm

#67 House of Serenades by Lina Simoni

Bleh , ick, yuck....oh please do not waste your time.

Every once in a while I get sucked into accepting a lemon for review...this one came from Net Galley and I'm not sure I can make anything but sour lemon out of it.

The publisher wants us to believe

"In 1910 Genoa, an Italian port city of divided classes and ancient power struggles, the Berillis are wealthy, powerful, and respected—until the day their darkest secrets begin to surface. Once the police intervene and the gossip grapevine is set in motion, the Berillis' demise is unavoidable. But love lives on, and there's a mandolin player in town who is not giving up on the girl of his dreams. Never underestimate the power of music. The House of Serenades is a brilliant portrait of the Italian upper class at the turn of the twentieth century, its habits, and its ways of life. At the same time, the story denounces the abuse and repression of women (sisters, daughters, wives) that was so common in those years. "

Well I did read the WHOLE THING (like taking my medicine), and I should get a prize for that. It was a painful experience. It was NOT one of the better books I’ve read. I think the author was trying to write a modern day (well 1910) version of Romeo and Juliet. She failed miserably. HOUSE OF SERENADES has the potential to be a good book, but in my opinion needs serious editing and work. I found it rambling, hackneyed, with wooden characters and a very predictable plot. I kept thinking it would get better and did read it in its entirety hoping for something redemptive to appear. In no way does it live up to the blurb above. But then, does the blurb really say anything?

She begins with a description of a woman who could (and should) have been a strong and central figure, but instead was trivialized and neglected by the author. In fact, for 50-70 pages at a time, she just disappeared. I felt like her little cameo appearances were thrown in for comic relief. Some of the story read like a re-hash of biblical stories (e.g.. pg 151 where Ivano--the love sick hero --returns to his father after running away in despair upon learning of the disappearance/death of his inamorata. The whole episode reads like a re-write of the parable of the prodigal son….I was waiting for the fatted calf!).
"All of a sudden he saw the ugliness of what he was doing and had a revelation: no matter how hard he tried to erase Caterina's memory from his mind, no matter deeply he drowned himself in dirt, alcohol and criminal endeavors, Caterina's ghost would haunt him forever. So he washed, shaved, bought a set of clean clothes and returned to the bakery where his father welcomed him with open arms."
OH PLEASE!
It was quite obvious that the author wanted to feature the shabby treatment of women in that society, but the wooden female characters did not give us any in depth portrayal of how those characters felt about that treatment.

In spite of the author’s assertion (in notes at the end) that she wanted to tell the story of Genoa, I got very little sense of place at all. It took almost 75 pages before I ever got a feeling of what the story was really about or where it was heading. After that it was boring, over-written, and could have been cut by at least 50 pages. The ending was very predictable, very choppy, very overdone – dare I say sappy or corny?

I told the publisher I would not do a review because I realize the small press needs all the help it can get and my review wouldn't be helpful. It's too bad. Maybe someone else will find it a winner. I'll give it 1 star for keeping my interest long enough to make me want to finish it so I could see how she ended it.

Definitely not going to appear on the next Pulitzer long or short list!

134maggie1944
Mai 28, 2012, 9:04 am

I'm impressed that you are thoughtful enough to consider what your review might do to the publisher, as well as to the author. Small press efforts do need our support but they need to make good decisions, also. Your communication may help them consider that, too.

135tututhefirst
Mai 29, 2012, 10:50 pm

Just finished Louise Penny's newest The Beautiful Mystery. Review to be posted when I catch my breath and return from heaven. She just keeps getting better and better, and I'm going to have a very hard time waiting for the next one.

Reserve now ladies and gents....pub date is Aug 28th, and you don't necessarily need to read the others first---altho it wouldn't hurt and you've got 3 months.

136cyderry
Mai 29, 2012, 10:55 pm

Save for me, please?

137lindapanzo
Mai 29, 2012, 11:15 pm

#135 Glad to hear it, Tina. I can hardly contain my excitement at the prospect of a new Louise Penny mystery.

138richardderus
Mai 29, 2012, 11:23 pm

*waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

*sobsob*

*waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh*

How come *CHELI* gets it?!? What about meeeeeeeeeeeeee??

*waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

139thornton37814
Mai 30, 2012, 7:45 am

I am officially jealous that you've already got the Louise Penny book. Of course, you'll have a longer wait for the one after that if you don't get an ARC.

140tututhefirst
Mai 30, 2012, 7:44 pm

LT Meetup - Bath Maine .....Tim and Jeremy gave a wonderful "ShowNTell" at the Patten Free Library's Lunch at the library series. I certainly learned a LOT about all the goodies available that I sorta knew were there, but since I have so much fun chatting here, and reading all those books, I haven't really taken the time to go look at Legacy libraries, Zietgeists, etc etc.

So just to prove that we made it here's the group. Cee and I were able to point out how fun it is to meet people online and then eventually see them in person. We had a great lunch at Starlight Cafe afterward, and then each went his/her merry way. Great fun

141ronincats
Mai 30, 2012, 8:24 pm

Great picture!

142-Cee-
Mai 30, 2012, 8:38 pm

Thanks for posting the picture, Tina!
Fun meeting you today ;-)

143msf59
Mai 30, 2012, 8:39 pm

Tina- Nice picture! You look like a happy bunch. Glad everything went so well!

144mckait
Mai 30, 2012, 8:44 pm

Thanks for posting the photo ! Hope you don't mind my putting a copy in Cee's thread ?

145brenzi
Mai 30, 2012, 9:03 pm

LOVE that picture Tina. I'm so jealous of you and Cee but I can see you must have had fun. Also jealous of you re: The Beautiful Mystery but I will unfortunately have to wait til the end of August:(

146Donna828
Mai 30, 2012, 10:42 pm

Aww, lucky you. A meetup with the Big Cheese! You'll have to let us in on the LT secrets you learned.

147cameling
Mai 30, 2012, 10:51 pm

Ever notice what smiley happy looking people LTers are? Love the pic of the MeetUp, Tina.

And btw, you hit me big time with your review of Matinicus.

I'm now also a big Dr Siri fan having just completed his first 2 and have the 3rd on its way to me.

148PaulCranswick
Mai 30, 2012, 11:27 pm

Tina - I enjoyed my own LT meet ups with Caro (in KL) and Megan (in Cchurch) and you clearly enjoyed yours with dear Cee and the guys. Thanks for putting up the photos.

Not often posting on your thread but am a regular here too and there is plenty of reading here to catch my attention also. As a big fan of Camilleri I will be interested to see what you made of the two recent reads.

149richardderus
Mai 30, 2012, 11:36 pm

What a smilin' group! Wonderful day.

150tututhefirst
Mai 31, 2012, 12:33 am



Out of numeric order from my list, but you take 'em when you get 'em written:
#71 The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny



Publisher-Format: Minotaur Books, Hardcover, 384 pages
Publication date: August 28, 2012
Subject: Gregorian chant, murder
Setting: monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups,
Series: Chief Inspector Gamache novels
Genre:  mystery, police procedural, closed door murder
Source: ARC from the author

She's done it again!  In my opinion, it is difficult to find a better writer of mysteries in the current market than Louise Penny.  I was so fortunate to be the winner of an early review copy giveaway from a contest sponsored on her monthly newsletter earlier this spring.   Those of us who have been following her Chief Inspector Gamache series are not going to be disappointed by this one. 

It is different. 
It is not set in Three Pines. 
The normal cast of characters is missing. 

Instead we are presented with Armand Gamache, his deputy and beloved friend Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his arch enemy Superintendent Sylvain Françoeur, and  a group of contemplative monks who have chosen to sequester themselves in the wilderness far north of Quebec.  The monks, who  have taken a vow of silence, use their voices only in the singing of plainchant, the earliest form of Gregorian chant.  They have become world famous for the beauty and glory of their singing, but choose to remain in the monastery tending their crops, their animals, their work and their music.

Suddenly however, the prior (who is also the choirmaster) is found murdered, and the monks must admit outsiders to their world, shattering their silence, their peace and their isolation.  As Gamache and Beauvoir slowly, calmly, and quietly begin the difficult process of determining which of the brothers is in fact a murderer, they must also confront their own demons, particularly the residual effects of the disastrous raid and hostage situation from previous books in the series. The soothing cadences of the chant don't always work enough magic to keep the pain of the past from surfacing.

Penny's strength is in her characters.  By now, if you've read all the book in the series, you feel that you know Armand Gamache almost as well as he knows himself.  But she can still add more to this deeply introspective and compassionate officer.  His protégé Jean-Guy's character is still evolving and not always in the direction we might want.  Penny shines in her ability to portray the depth of emotions and feelings of her characters, allowing them to expand as the story does.  She is not afraid to allow them to be flawed. And she is not afraid to cause her readers pain, and sorrow and disappointment. She's certainly not afraid to leave the reader almost angry at an ending that while it allows for future episodes, it leaves us mourning what might happen.

While the strength is in the characters, the beauty is in the setting, with its quiet, its secrets, its history, and its mysteries.  The murder mystery itself, of the classic closed room genre, is brilliant.  Everyone is a suspect.  There are only a few pieces of physical evidence, the setting is self-contained and virtually impregnable, and Gamache must help the brothers to accept the fact that one among them is a killer.  Finally, there's the music! It is the story itself, and the characters, the setting, the plot  provide the backdrop for the story of the music,  truly a "Beautiful Mystery."  Even if you haven't read any of the previous books in the series, this one is written with just enough back fill to make it almost a stand alone.

And if you haven't read them, there's still almost 3 months before publication, so what are you waiting for?

151mckait
Mai 31, 2012, 6:48 am

I knew it. I just knew it.
I'm not sure I want to read it if it isn't in Three Pines..
I have it pre-ordered, but I may cancel it.
The other one, not in Three Pines was my least liked.

Good review btw..

152tututhefirst
Mai 31, 2012, 11:08 am

I actually think the change of venue adds anothet layer of complexity to the characters. It certainly shows us that in the entire province of Quebec Three Pines isn"t the only place where homicides occur. This setting takes the series out of the cozy genre and presents a more nuanced but traditional mystery.

Of course the setting itself and the theme of ancient chants and religion may not appeal to some. Penny is actually taking some risks with this one,but that just shows me how she's grown as a writer.

153-Cee-
Mai 31, 2012, 11:11 am

Certainly looking forward to the new Penny but not reading this review right now... need to approach with a blank and open mind. That shouldn't be too hard... the blank part, that is.

154richardderus
Mai 31, 2012, 11:41 am

*rapturous sigh*

I can't WAIT to read it!!

155tututhefirst
Mai 31, 2012, 1:58 pm

RD....if you come to Maine, I'll let you read it here - out on the deck with the cool sea breeze wafting off the river....but the book is NOT leaving my house.

Bookings are available....

156richardderus
Mai 31, 2012, 2:04 pm

LOL

Temptress...but keep the alarm turned on, I know some shady folks who owe me favors....

157tututhefirst
Mai 31, 2012, 2:23 pm

I feel I must remind you tho that we have kitties, who must because of their health (they are FIV positive and one is diabetic) remain inside and partake of much human bonding. i do keep them out of the guest suite, and they do tend to recognize humans who are not friends and avoid them but caveat emptor

158richardderus
Mai 31, 2012, 3:16 pm

*choo*

Thagks...baymbe id widter.

*skritchskritch*

159tututhefirst
Modifié : Juin 1, 2012, 4:33 pm

Meet up in Boston?

Ok everyone, the mini-meetup in Bath was such fun, it's time to do another one. I'm going to be in Boston for Saturday September 8 and staying overnight so can make so time to meetup on Sunday also. I have a dinner engagement Saturday nite (it's really hubster's engagement but I have to be the moral support/untrophy wife) but am free during the day.

Does anyone in the Boston area want to take on the onerous task of coming up with a loosey-goosey agenda for fun things to do in the area. I'm not sure where I'm staying (waiting for the hubs to find the email that gave him that info!!!)...but I'm game for anything that doesn't require too much step climbing (old lady knees)

I'll post a new thread after I see if there's enough interest. I'm still not sure how to start a WIKI....

160tututhefirst
Modifié : Juin 1, 2012, 8:30 pm

Don't know if it's just a stage, or if I am truly becoming more and more un-enamored of violent, ugly, so-called "thrillers". I'm thinking that for the foreseeable future I'm not going to be ready any Jo Nesbo.....just finished (or tried to finish) the first disc of The Leopard . I had the same gagging sensations as the poor girl in the story and decided this was NOT FOR ME. So back to the liberry it goes. Glad I only ripped the first 2 of 17 discs. There is NO WAY I'll be listening to 17 hours of horror. I'm not even going to count it as an abandoned book because I wasn't sticking with it long enough to abandon.

summer's here....onto lighter (maybe cozier is the word?) mystery and fiction reading. I get enough horror and violence reading history and non-fiction.

161maggie1944
Juin 2, 2012, 3:50 am

I definitely hit a spot where terror, horror, really ugly violence, and other decidedly unpleasant sensations emitted from books became not interesting to me. I do not need to feel those emotions any more. Real life is completely enough of a horror with some terror on the side for me. Thank goodness I do not have to deal with real life violence often.

162tututhefirst
Juin 2, 2012, 5:03 pm

#68 Beneath the Shadows


Author: Sara Foster
Publisher-Format: St Martin's Minotaur Books, e-galley,  311 pages
Publication date:  June 5, 2012
Subject: search for missing husband
Setting: Yorkshire
Genre: Thriller, gothic suspense
Source: Net Galley

Australian Sara Foster's debut novel is a knockout! Set on the wind-swept moors of Yorkshire, the ambiance is one of modern day juxtaposed with ancient ghosts, legends, family feuds, and long-buried secrets. Her main character, a young mother named Grace has returned to her husband Adam's  family cottage where they were living at the time of his disappearance almost a year ago.  She is determined to find him, or else find out what really happened to Adam. Did he run away, abandoning Grace and his adored daughter Millie? Did he meet with foul play?  Is he alive somewhere?  If not, where is his body?  Grace is ambivalent about staying in the cottage and begins the onerous task of cleaning it out and packing up, although she has no idea where she'll go. In the meantime, she must trust a local handyman, and deal with extraordinary occurences.

Secrets seem to abound in this sleepy village, and no one there seems willing to help Grace pursue her quest for answers.  She searches the cottage's hidden nooks including the dark mysterious basement and the attic, and then begins asking questions about the locals and their relationship to her husband's family.  When her sister and another old friend come to stay with her over the holidays, and a snowfall cuts them off from the outside world, her strange dreams and ghostly encounters increase, driving the story toward a inexorable conclusion and putting her and her daughter in deep danger.

Foster draws her characters well, letting us see just enough motivation and history to make all of them suspects, but she also keeps us asking "was there a crime?"  She paints the setting in broad colors, invoking strong winds, and deep contrasts of light and dark.  Lastly, she gives us a plot that keeps us turning pages.  I began this late one night, and found it almost impossible to put it down to go to bed. It's a stunner, and I look forward to more from this very talented author.

This was a delightful surprise.. Try it, you'll love it.

163mckait
Juin 2, 2012, 5:09 pm

I think Nesbo is particularly violent. One was more than enough for me.
I enjoy thrillers and there are plenty out there with less gore..

164ffortsa
Juin 2, 2012, 5:43 pm

nice review. I'll look for it on Kindle.

165ChelleBearss
Juin 2, 2012, 8:09 pm

Ohhhh I am so jealous that you have already read The Beautiful Mystery!!

166richardderus
Juin 2, 2012, 9:34 pm

>162 tututhefirst: thumbs-upped that excited review!

167tututhefirst
Juin 2, 2012, 10:27 pm

Thank you RD....you are a very proficient thumber.

168thornton37814
Juin 4, 2012, 9:03 am

I've added the Sara Foster one to my mounting wishlist.

169sjmccreary
Juin 4, 2012, 10:34 am

#162 Looks wonderful, but the library doesn't have it (yet). I'll be watching for it anxiously. Thanks for another great review.

170tututhefirst
Juin 4, 2012, 12:42 pm

Beneath the Shadows has a pub date of tomorrow, so it may take a bit for the library to get it. Some libraries have automatic orders with certain publishers, others cherry-pick only those they want (or can afford!) so I'd urge you to ask for it so the library knows there is interest in it. I don't think it will disappoint.

BTW ....Good to hear from you ....somehow I've lost track of you....must go hunt down your thread. Off now to sit at library desk on a dreary RAINY RAINY afternoon. Hubbie who is town selectman, has been out driving the town roads with the Road commissioner all morning documenting the washouts from the deluge. I guess the money we didn't spend on plowing this past winter will get shuffled over to use on re-planting culverts, filling potholes, and re-surfacing. The joys of modern life!

171tymfos
Juin 5, 2012, 2:19 pm

Oooooh. Beneath the Shadows sounds great! The Beautiful Mystery has already been on my radar, but I guess it's time to officially add it to the Ever-Expanding List.

Struck by book bullets again!

Glad you had a good time at the Bath Library event. One of these days, I'm going to actually meet up with an LTer or two, someday.

172tututhefirst
Modifié : Juin 8, 2012, 5:46 pm

Catching up on mini reviews here:

Two more Dr. Siris by Colin Coterrill

#69Love Songs from a Shallow Grave



Love Songs from a Shallow Grave, #7 in the series, was a bit harder to follow than earlier ones. The book opens with Dr. Siri manacled to a lead pipe in some sort of tortuous prison setting. It took me a while to figure out whether the author was giving us a flashback, or whether Siri was channeling again. It evolves into an exposè of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge as Siri investigates the deaths of three young women, each skewered by a fencing epèe. Again his wife Daeng and Nurse Dtui fill the roles of side-kicks helping uncover and bring the perpetrator to justice. A bit darker than the previous in the series, but still satisfying.

#73 The Merry Misogynist


The sixth book The Merry Misogynist is one of the best I've read so far. It is a much more straightforward mystery involving a serial killer, a prime suspect, an established MO, and Dr. Siri off to find the killer before he can wreak more havoc. The good coroner's knowledge of the people throughout the country, his empathy and ability to understand different languages, dialects and customs helps him ferret out the truth. Even through the cruelty of watching the next victim being set up, we are given amusing, entertaining dialogue that is side-splitting funny as Siri and his wife Daeng go crawling through the underbrush for instance in hot pursuit of the killer. Cotterill gives us a surprise ending to resolve the mystery but it's the characters we come away remembering.

173tututhefirst
Juin 8, 2012, 5:43 pm

More MMM wrap-up:

#70 The Potter's Field


Montalbano exhibits some of his educational and cultural background as he leads his team in solving the mystery of the murder of a body found buried in a field of potter's clay. The body was dismembered and chopped into 30 pieces. It has had all identifying features removed, and the only clue Salvo has as to identity is the partial dental bridge discovered in the deceased's stomach during the autopsy. At the same time, Livia, Salvo's girlfriend is driving his crazy by reporting constantly on her conversations with the wife of one of his trusty associates Mimi Arguello to the effect that Salvo is making Mimi work too many late nights. Salvo knows this is not true but can't decide how to approach the subject with Mimi. As always in this series, it is the relationship Salvo has with his team, as well as his relationship with Livia, and his deep sense of right and wrong (as opposed to legal and illegal) that makes him such an attractive and popular protagonist.

#71 The Wings of the Sphinx

Montalbano is feeling his age. He is 56, beginning to ponder his own mortality, experiencing some minor physical reminders of the need to slow down, questioning his long-term relationship and failure to seal the commitment with Livia, and now must solve the murder of a young girl whose only identifying mark is a butterfly tattooed on her left shoulder. When he learns the mark is not a butterfly but a specific type of moth, he is able to trace the young lady to a mysterious and secretive organization connected with the Catholic Church. Here is where Montalbano shines. He is not afraid to take on those in power, even when told to back down by his superiors. This one isn't as light as some of the others, but it's a well-plotted mystery with many complex characters holding it together.

#74 The Smell of the Night


Salvo Montalbano is faced with a financial crime and a missing person. An investment guru has evidently milked hundreds of people out of their life savings, failed to pay them their expected dividends and absconded with the money. Is is a Ponzi scheme gone seriously awry? The only person who believes in his innocence is his secretary MariaStella. Two prevailing theories abound surrounding the accountant's disappearance: he ran away and is now living the high life on a beach on some far off island paradise, or he somehow failed to pay the expected dividends to some higher up in the Mafia and is now feeding the fish in the Mediterranean Sea to atone for his transgressions. Montalbano's superiors are ready to blame this on the Mafia and move on. Salvo has a few too many unanswered questions to let it go, and sets off to find the answer. The ending to this one is well-written and definitely a true shocker.

All by Andrea Camilleri
translated by Stephen Sartarelli
narrated in audio by Grover Gardner
source: Public library

174tututhefirst
Modifié : Juin 8, 2012, 6:30 pm

#75 Death of an Artist by Kate Wilhelm



 The publisher's blurb:
Silver Bay, Oregon, a small coastal resort town with nearly a thousand residents, is home to three generations of women: Marnie, the long-widowed owner of a small gift shop; Van, her granddaughter who is about to graduate medical school; and Stef, mercurial, difficult, and a brilliant artist who refuses to sell her work. When Stef discovers that Dale Oliver—the latest husband/paramour in a very long line—is trying to sell her work behind her back, she puts a stop to it and threatens to do the same to him. Shortly thereafter, Stef dies in an accident in her studio, and Dale shows up with a signed contract granting him the right to sell her work. Convinced that Stef was murdered in order to steal her artwork, Marnie and Van—grandmother and granddaughter—decide to do whatever is necessary to see that Dale doesn’t get away with any of it. This includes enlisting the help of the new stranger in town, Tony, a former New York City cop, who might be the only one who can prove it was murder  and bring the killer to justice.

My thoughts: 
I'm normally a big fan of Kate Wilhelm, and grabbed this latest one thinking it was another Barbara Holloway mystery.    It wasn't.  And I must say that I was horribly disappointed.  Wilhelm's latest is a wide departure from her normal tightly plotted, exquisitely page turning mysteries with many suspects, twists, red herrings, etc.  This one was a few steps past chick-lit.  There is a mystery, but the mystery is much more about whether the budding romance between the mysterious Tony and Stef will blossom.  My attention was held just enough to finish it, but I can't say it will be on my favorites list.  It's not badly written, and if I were not familiar with her earlier works, I probably would have been satisfied.  It's just not what we've come to expect from this talented writer.

Author: Kate Wilhelm
Publisher-Format: Minotaur Books (2012), Hardcover, 288 pages 
Subject:  Murder, art theft
Setting: Oregon
Genre: fiction - private investigator mystery
Source:  public library

175tututhefirst
Juin 8, 2012, 6:56 pm

Well.....trying to decide if I'm going to start a new thread early since I've finished the first 75 for this year. I'm almost afraid to because if I don't use the automatic feature, I don't think the auto stars will follow. What say ye?

176ronincats
Juin 8, 2012, 8:01 pm

You are right, the auto star won't happen if you leave before 200 messages. Maybe we can discuss it for 25 messages here?

177tututhefirst
Juin 8, 2012, 8:24 pm

Well I could always go in and fake a bunch of blah blah blah messages.....LOL

178brenzi
Juin 8, 2012, 8:47 pm

Blah, blah, blah...................

I have got to get to those Dr. Siri books. I don't think I can hold out any longer.

179msf59
Juin 8, 2012, 9:41 pm

Hi Tina- What a nice flurry of M & M books. I'm glad to hear the Dr. Siri books are so consistent. I'm only on book 3. And, as I type this I'm copying the audio of the 2nd Inspector Montalbano. I haven't tried the audio on these yet. This also looks like a consistent series.

180lauranav
Juin 8, 2012, 9:45 pm

Ok, de-lurking in the interesting of upping your message count. I wonder if they knew that feature would be so good at encouraging us to converse even more. (since I need the prodding, obviously).

So glad to hear the Dr. Siri series continues to entertain. I'd never heard of them until May and definitely enjoyed the first, so I look forward to continuing.

I keep resisting Montalbano, but I know it's just a matter of time before I start on that series as well, They just sound so interesting.

181richardderus
Juin 8, 2012, 10:48 pm

Montalbano and Dr. Siri...I'm a happy review reader! xo

182richardderus
Juin 8, 2012, 10:49 pm

Gaaak you're still 18 away from the required 200!

183richardderus
Juin 8, 2012, 10:51 pm



Sumer is icumen in, in MS

184cyderry
Juin 8, 2012, 11:41 pm

It's funny, I've gotten Shape of Water, the first Montalbano, out of the library 3 times and each time I've had to return it unread because I ran out of time. Seems I'm definitely going to have to make a harder effort to move it to the top of the list.

185tututhefirst
Juin 9, 2012, 12:00 am

Cheli - check to see if your local library has the Montalbano's on DVD Video....they're great! and maybe that will get you interested enough to read/listen.

186tututhefirst
Juin 9, 2012, 12:06 am

Brain burps here.....I had a lovely post all done to respond to all you de-lurkers saying Thank you and then blip, poof, magica-boolah, etc etc.....it disappeared.

Now who remembers all the words to that silly Cinderalla "magica something, .....blah biddy blah blah, bippity boopity boo" or was it saliga doolah??

187ronincats
Juin 9, 2012, 12:08 am

You've got me. All I remember is the "bippity, boppity, boo."

188tututhefirst
Juin 9, 2012, 12:17 am

Good grief ---you can find just about anything on the old Internet these days......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOxw7JgxxY

Now I'm going to be singing that stupid song all night long.

BTW, when we built this house 8 years ago, Mr. Tutu got to pick the paint colors for the bedrooms.....he chose Behr's Bippity Boppity Blue......no DAH.

189cyderry
Juin 9, 2012, 9:37 am

Nope, library only has books.

190richardderus
Juin 9, 2012, 9:42 am

Bibbiddi bobbiddi boo!

191maggie1944
Juin 9, 2012, 10:16 am

I am thinking we should have magically gotten to the required number of posts, just like that: shazam! Or do we all need to put our fingers next to our noses? Or what?

Here's my contribution to getting you to a new thread, with all the starring you could possibly want and need.....

Bang! Boom! Bop!

192tututhefirst
Juin 9, 2012, 11:54 am

I even tried Shazam! But that's ok...I'm having too much fun with my daughter visiting. We don't get to spend much time together, and her hubbie went off to visit old school friends, so we've been having some wonderful hot tea, lap-kitty, book talks. She's a lawyer who majored in history, and who reminded me that every girl needs some brain candy once in a while, so we've just been going through the piles of books she brought me, assembling a pile for her, and enjoying each other's company. We even ditched our planned dinner out and movie to stay home, whip us a batch of pasta and homemade sauce, and pretend to watch the SOX as they lost.

She's also into jewelry making, so we got to watch as she whipped out all her jeweler's tools, spyglasses, torches, etc. It's amazing what she can cram into one little case.

193ronincats
Juin 9, 2012, 12:02 pm

I'm into jewelry making too, but not as seriously as your daughter--more beading and wire work as opposed to metal-working, so no torch as yet. Sounds like you are having a wonderful visit--so nice to hear.

194lkernagh
Juin 10, 2012, 1:13 pm

Stopping by to say congratulations on finishing 75 books!

195richardderus
Juin 10, 2012, 2:42 pm

Sunday *smooch* to add to post count

196tututhefirst
Juin 10, 2012, 9:01 pm

Just back from a seriously glorious sunday. went with dtr and sil to Scarborough beach to celebrate sil's mom's 90th birthday. during the 2+ hour drive, I was reading on the NOOK and kept discussing book with hubster. I had downloaded In the Shadow of the Sword: The BIrth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire by Tom Holland from the library. It is extremely well done, but over 580 pages. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to complete it before it expired from the library, and Bob wants to read it too, so we decided to purchase for our Nooks.

Both of us feel it is an area of history we are woefully undereducated about, and so far it appears to be a well balanced objective presentation of a whole lot of religious, political, and cultural concepts interpreted and integrated in ways I've never considered. We're looking forward to digesting this one slowly.

I've also started River of Smoke for the GR as an audio. I always find these books that have many unfamiliar foreign names, places and terms to be excellent candidates for the audio format because my mind seems to absorb them better when I hear them than when I see them. So far, it's every bit as good as the first one in the trilogy: Sea of Poppies

And finally I have a pile of ER/ARCs sitting here in paper waiting to be read, and then daughter person dumped Let's Pretend this never Happened on me, promising me I'd pee my pants laughing. I explained to her that at my age, this is not a behavior I want to begin. but I promised to laugh

197richardderus
Juin 10, 2012, 9:28 pm

Happy day indeed! In the Shadow of the Sword sounds very intriguing. I'm finishing and mulling my review of A Fez of the Heart, about a young man's journey to Turkey and through its complex Imperial past, using the fez as his running theme.

I think you'd like this book, and suspect Bob might be tempted by its concise and fast-paced historical bits.

198maggie1944
Juin 10, 2012, 9:56 pm

I've been eyeing River of Smoke, too. But I have promised to read 10 books before I buy more... books.... sigh

199richardderus
Juin 10, 2012, 9:57 pm

Did you read Sea of Poppies, Karen44? I can't remember seeing a review of it from you.

200maggie1944
Juin 10, 2012, 10:04 pm

No, I've not read it. Should I read it first? Is it important to do that before River of Smoke? I heard a discription of the latter on the radio and my curiosity as peaked.

201richardderus
Juin 10, 2012, 10:07 pm

And TA-DA Tina's got her autocontinue function enabled!

Yes indeed, Karen44, MUST read Sea of Poppies first, much hinges on it.

202maggie1944
Juin 10, 2012, 10:08 pm

OK, thank you, good friends. I sure appreciate your keeping me on the path....

203tututhefirst
Juin 10, 2012, 10:25 pm

Maggie/Karen....I thoroughly agree with Richard....I think reading Sea of Poppies while not absolutely necessary, really will enhance the enjoyment of River of Smoke. I read SOP last December, and I've just started #2. It has some good backfill which I appreciate since I'm now 6 months out from the 1st one, and I think the backfill is probably enough to take a reader through the story, but you will miss the richness of this series if you don't start at the beginning.

I will work on moving my thread over and starting my second 75 over there. But for now, I'm back to ROS.

204jamesalexs
Jan 30, 2019, 8:21 am

Cet utilisateur a été supprimé en tant que polluposteur.
Ce sujet est poursuivi sur Tutu sails into summer in Maine Thread #3.