Batgirl's Book Blog

The reckoning - James Jauncey

2011-04-16T19:21:00.000+10:00

Technically this is a book for teenagers (it's in my library's teenage fiction collection) but like so much teenage fiction it is eminently readable by teens and adults.

I can't remember why i decided to read it - I must have heard about it somewhere but boy am i glad i tracked it down cos it's a pretty awesome read. One I think that would appeal to adults as much, if not more than, teens.

THE REVIEW!

18 year old Fin lives on a small island off the British coast.

One morning he is out for an early morning walk on the beach thinking about how his life will change (soon) when he goes off to university.

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of car doors slamming and angry voices from the bridge above. Then there’s a sort of scream and Fin sees a body falling through the mist. The young woman dies in Fin’s arms.

Fin doesn’t really believe the official verdict of suicide and decides to find out more about the girl.

He discovers that she worked on Seal island where the Green Energies Institute is researching clean energy sources. When he goes to the Seal Island to he thinks he sees his sister (who disappeared several years ago when she went off to university).

Meanwhile Fin’s friends have been caught up in several bomb attacks on the mainland.

The more Fin investigates, the more these events seem to be linked.

A story of a young man coming of age and dealing with family, terrorism, racism, life and death.

Sharp Turn

2011-02-26T20:16:00.004+11:00

I still haven't decided yet whether to take part in Polyxena's #librarytwittermysteryamonth challenge or not (based on Tara Moss's 13th street book club) but the February book is Sharp Turn by Marianne Delacourt (& it was on my tbr list, cos i enjoyed Sharp Shooter, the first Tara Sharp, outing ) so I bumped it up the list and gave it a go.

Sharp turn is the second book in the Tara Sharp series (following on from Sharp Shooter).

Tara Sharp is a PI with an ability to read auras. She still lives in her parents' garage but as her PI business is starting to take off she is hoping that the garage will soon be a thing of the past.

This time Tara has been hired by local motorcycle racing boss Bolo Ingnatius to investigate reports that someone is out to sabotage his racing team.

At the same time Tara has been hired by a local madam to explain the art of reading body language to the girls at the local (high class) bordello.

Throw in Perth gangster Johnny Viaspa who has (allegedly) hired a hitman to clean up some unfinished business and Tara has a lot on her plate.

Tara Sharp is very much an australian version of Stephanie PLum (from Janet Evanovich's one is for... series) - no secret there as this is pointed out on the cover of the books.

The paranormal aspect doesn't really interest me all that much but I still found the book(s) to be funny, clever and worth reading.

Fans of Evanovich and Strohmeyer will probably enjoy Delacourt.

Outwitting Trolls

2011-02-24T19:56:00.000+11:00

Outwitting Trolls is the 25th (and final) novel in William G Tapply's Brady Coyne series.

Boston attorney Brady Coyne is surprised to get a phone call from former neighbour Ken Nicholls. The Coynes & Nicholls had lived next door to each other many years earlier and had not kept in touch. Brady meets Ken for a drink and a catchup on old times.

The next night Ken's ex wife Sharon finds Ken's body in his hotel room.

Sharon hires Brady as her attorney as she thinks she will be the prime suspect in Ken's murder.

This novel is typical Tapply (perhaps not quite as tightly written as earlier in the series - Tapply was undergoing treatment for leukaemia whilst writing this novel) and typical Coyne.

Plot driven and with interesting & engaging characters this is an easy read. It kept me interested and wanting to know what happened even though I picked the murderer about halfway through.

William G Tapply passed away shortly after completing this novel.

I have always enjoyed the William G Tapply's novels (and can re- read them as a comfort read) and will miss not having a new Brady Coyne to look forward to.

I'd know you anywhere

2011-02-22T19:07:00.000+11:00

by Laura Lippman.

Laura Lippman is one of my favourite authors - so much so that I went to the Sydney Writers Festival a couple of years ago to hear her speak. I took TappingBetty with me (who doesn't read much crime fiction) and she has now read pretty much all of Lippman's books.

I'd know you anywhere is a standalone novel (ie not one of her Tess Monaghan series).

The main character is Eliza Benedict. Happily married with two children, Eliza and her family have recently moved from England back to Maryland.

All seems to be going well until Eliza receives a letter in the mail. She doesn't recognise the handwriting but she does recognise who the letter is from.

The letter is from Walter Bowman, a serial killer on Death Row for his crimes - he kidnapped and murdered several teenage girls.

Some 20 years ago he kidnapped a then 15 year old girl called ELizabeth Lerner. He held her captive for six weeks. Elizabeth Lerner grew up, got married and became Eliza Benedict.

This letter (via a third party) starts a chain of events & worries for Eliza - why is Walter trying to contact her? What does he want?

As always Laura Lippman writes a good taut novel. The story alternates between Eliza in the present day and the 15 year old Elizabeth.

An excellent read.

4.5

Murder on the Orient Express

2011-01-26T10:16:00.005+11:00

I haven't decided yet whether to take part in Polyxena's #librarytwittermysteryamonth challenge or not (think i'll wait and see what books are being read) but the January book was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which is one of my favourite Agatha's so I thought "what the heck..."

Poirot is travelling on the Orient Express between Istanbul and Calais when the train is stranded in a snowdrift.

A passenger is found murdered in his locked compartment on the train and with the train cut off it is up to Poirot to solve the murder.

His job is complicated because the victim is widely loathed and several passengers on board the train have a motive for murder.

We were in Salzburg about 20 years ago and heard that the Orient Express would be at Salzburg station for a 30 minute stop at midnight that night.

Guess who was at the station at 11.45pm and when the train pulled in we leapt on board and walked the length of the train (twice) .

We didn't find any dead bodies in locked compartments (nor did we see Hercule Poirot) but it did bring the book to life for us.

And re-reading the book now makes we want to go and find the photos we took at the time.

Hamlet's Blackberry. - William Powers

2011-01-13T21:43:00.001+11:00

Hamlet's BlackBerry:A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age

Back in the 1800s, Thoreau wrote that the man who constantly and desperately keeps going to the post office to check for correspondence from others ``has not heard from himself in a long while.''

Hamlet's BlackBerry argues that the same can be said these days for those who are doing the modern equivalent: incessantly checking e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and the like.

In Hamlet's BlackBerry tech writer WIlliam Powers argues that technology has made us less productive cos we are constantly interrupting ourselves to check email, twitter, fb etc. - although he does admit that tech has made some things easier (eg billpaying).

Having recently read Susan maushart's Winter of our disconnect this is an interesting contrast.

Both advocate regular offline time - Powers & family observe a weekly no-internet day which at first the family dreaded but now look forward to; Maushart's family were deliberately offline for six months.

I enjoyed this book - it did make me think about how 'addicted' I am to being online which is always a good thing. It also got me thinking about why I spend so much time online.

All in all a good read.

The "Hamlet's Blackberry" of the title is what was called a writing table or table book and consisted of some plaster-covered pages bound in a pocket-sized book. A metal stylus came with it and was used to write down notes or lists. The pages could be sponged off like a slate and used over and over again. This was cutting edge technology in Shakespeare's time, a time before pencils and ballpoint pens were available.

Snow Blind - PJ Tracy

2011-01-10T20:33:00.002+11:00

Book 4 in the Monkeewrench series.

The corpses of two cops are found hidden in snowmen in a park. When a third body similarly staged is found in the rural upstate region, it seems it might be a serial killer case.

Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth head up the investigation with the help of the Monkeewrench team.

We also meet Iris Rikker, the extremely inexperienced new sheriff of the county where the third body is found.

The police are searching for a battered wife whose ex husband is after her. She is living at Bitterroot (which at first glance is a company but is actually a 'town' for battered women). The security at Bitterroot is top notch (having been designed by Monkeewrench) yet every lead on each of the three murders leads back to Bitterroot.

Dead run

2011-01-09T20:00:00.002+11:00

This is the third book in the Monkeewrench series (Want to Play & Live Bait being nos 1 & 2).

It's just a normal day in Four Corners, a small crossroads town somewhere in mid Wisconsin.

No-one pays any attention as a milk tanker drives through but then the tanker overturns and as the townsfolk go to help something happens to them & they collapse.

Meanwhile Monkeewrench's Grace McBride & Annie Belinsky, and FBI agent Sharon Mueller are planning to drive from Minneapolis to Green Bay to deliver their crime fighting software to local police forces.

When their car breaks down they hike into Four Corners only to find a ghost town - everything left as thought the inhabitants had temporarily left the room.

They soon discover that all the townsfolk have been killed and that soldiers in full camo gear are hunting for them too.

Most of this story is excellent - suspenseful & intriguing - however it falters a bit towards the end.

Yet my overall impression is a good read.

The cannibal who overate

2011-01-08T18:14:00.000+11:00

This is the first novel in Hugh Pentecost's Pierre Chambrun series.

First published in 1962, The cannibal who overate introduces us to Pierre Chambrun, the manager of New York's luxury Beaumont Hotel.

To my mind it's one of the weaker books in the Chambrun series - if I'd read it first I mightn't have read any of the others.

An expensive call girls hangs herself in her room at the Beaumont Hotel. Police find a note that says she had been paid $10,000 to kill Aubrey Moon - if she did not kill him by a certain date she would be 'dealt with'.

It soon comes to light that John Wills (another guest of the hotel) had also received the same anonymous letter & $10,000 also to kill Moon.

Moon is a thoroughly unpleasant man. He is extremely wealthy and he uses that wealth to bully those around him.

Wills holds Moon responsible for the death of his father (who killed himself after Moon had made his life a living hell).

Moon is planning his 75th birthday party (at the Beaumont Hotel) and is bullying the hotel staff and making outrageous demands. (for example he wants the full chorus of the Metropolitan Opera to sing Happy Birthday to him)

Chambrun is trying to deal with all this Aubrey Moon induced angst whilst still running the hotel to the standard that its guests expect.

Love the series but this is not one of the better titles in it.

Hugh Pentecost is a pseudonym used by Judson Phillips.

2.5

Twitter Power 2.0

2011-01-07T20:59:00.001+11:00

Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm.

Comm is an online marketing guru and in this second edition (cleverly 2.0) he further expands on the way businesses can leverage social media (specifically twitter) to engage with consumers in a variety of way.

He talks of businesses incorporating twitter into their marketing strategy and employing people specifically to respond to customers via twitter (complaints, concerns, compliments).

He posits a number of simple (twitter) rules that companies should follow to drive direct sales:

Don't do it too often

Make the special offers special

Keep the offers targeted

Create entertaining tweets

Don't tweet the hard sell

I read this book cos I thought I might pick up some hints and tips for the library twitter account - it's a bit more business oriented than I needed but still an interesting read and I did pick up a few tips.

The Fallen

2011-01-05T18:39:00.000+11:00

The Fallen is the debut novel of 20 year old Auckland writer (and engineering student) Ben Sanders.

And it's not a bad debut.

The main character is Sean Devereaux, a detective with Auckland CIB.

He's a sometimes stereotypical detective - with the accompanying flaws & foibles - he's street savvy, sometimes jaded, sometimes skating a bit close to the edge.

Sean is investigating the murder of a 16 year old girl whose body is found in a local park. (He appears to be the only detective on the murder case).

At the same time his next door neighbour, a single mum with a young son, enlists his help - she thinks someone is watching her house.

Devereaux enlists the help of his former police colleague (and now private investigator) John Hale but their aim to help Sean's neighbour embroils them in a vicious circle of murder, torture, kidnapping & police corruption.

This is an excellent debut but there is much of the debut novel about it.

Devereaux reminds me of a young Harry Bosch, whilst John Hale is an NZ version of Jack Reacher.

Nevertheless a great debut and a good read.

I look forward to Sean Devereaux's next outing.

4.6

The Happiness Project

2011-01-04T20:18:00.003+11:00

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.

Gretchen Rubin has a good life. She is happily married, has 2 lovely kids, her writing career is going well and she lives in New York City.

Still she thinks she could be happier so she reads up on happiness (authors as diverse as the Dalai Lama, Malcolm Gladwell,) & starts her own year long happiness project.

She decides to spend spend one year achieving careful, measurable goals in different areas of life (marriage, work, parenting, self-fulfillment) and build on them cumulatively, using concrete steps (such as, in January, going to bed earlier, exercising better & getting organized). By December, she's striving bemusedly to keep increasing happiness in every aspect of her life.

The outcome is good - Rubin's funny, perceptive account is both inspirational and forgiving, and sprinkled with just enough wise tips, concrete advice and timely research (including all those other recent books on happiness) to qualify as self-help.

The book is surprisingly compulsive reading, parts of it were not to my liking but it was an i intersting, sometimes fun read.

Shoot to thrill - PJ Tracy

2011-01-03T19:27:00.001+11:00

This is book 5 in the Monkeewrench series, featuring the Monkeewrench geeks/hackers/nerds/gamers and Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi & Gino Rolseth.

The FBI have become aware of a series of posts on the internet (pre-posts actually) giving cryptic clues to murders that haven't yet happened.

The F.B.I., being legally unable to hack into sites that may be hiding these killers, sends its agent, John Smith, to Minneapolis to work with Monkeewrench to uncover the web sites that are posting the murders on the Internet for the whole world to watch.

Monkeewrench is able to identify past murders that were foretold on the web and develop software to comb the web for other posts (the murders have spawned a rash of copycat posts) that may be predicting murders.

I loved this book. It might be a bit computer geeky for some but the characters with their humour, their foibles, and their personalities really come to life for me and make a very readable story.

4.5

Winter of our disconnect

2011-01-02T20:00:00.002+11:00

Columnist Susan Maushart announces to her three teenage children (aged 14, 15, 18) that they are going to undertake an 'experiment' and live without technology for six months.

Maushart herself is a technology addict (she admits to taking her iphone to bed with her) so it is not just the kids that will suffer!

The family starts the 'experiment' when Susan turns off the electricity (at the mains) and they survive two weeks with no electricity, in summer, in Fremantle.

The no screens, no phones, no playstations etc is tough at first but the family eventually comes through it (think reality TV without the tv).

It is struggle for all members of the family - however they can use the internet etc at friends houses, at school, at work, at the library, so it is not a complete isolation.

This was an interesting read for someone who enjoys technology (such as me) not sure how long I could last without all my technology and I don't *think* i'm an addict.

4.5

Nevada Barr: Burn

2011-01-01T18:56:00.003+11:00

I always look forward to a new Nevada Barr book and so it was with great anticipation that I settled down to New Years Day read of Burn, the 16th book in the Anna Pigeon series.

I really struggled with this book - I found it very difficult to get in to (I almost gave up 50 pages - very unlike me!) and even though I persevered it was difficult to read. (imho)

The subject matter (paedophilia & human trafficking) was disturbing but I don't think that was what kept me from enjoying the book.

The book is set in Post-Katrina New Orleans (maybe I prefer to read about Anna in a more wilderness setting?) where Anna is recovering from the events in the previous book - Borderline.

She is staying at the French Quarter home of her friend, Geneva, a blind singer working at the New Orleans Jazz National Heritage Park.

She (anna) is suspicious of one of Geneva's neighbours, a street punk called Jordan; Anna suspects he's a sexual predator.

Meanwhile, in a parallel story, Clare Sullivan a mother of two girls living in Seattle and married to a Saudi Arabian man with a mysterious import-export business, is Clare is returning from a dead-of-night run to the local drugstore for cough syrup, when her house explodes into flames. Since her marriage, to put it mildly, was troubled, Clare immediately becomes the police's No. 1 suspect in the deaths of her husband and children, whose charred remains are found at the ruins of the house.

Overhearing a conversation between two creepy voyeurs at the scene of the fire, Clare believes her daughters are still alive and that they are now in New Orleans.

As a former actress, Clare transforms herself into a completely different person in order to dodge the police and save her daughters.

Her path crosses with Anna's and the two of them join forces to locate the child victims of the New Orleans sex trade.

An unpleasant read & not one of Barr's best.

Lee Child - Worth dying for

2010-10-03T17:09:00.002+11:00

Jack Reacher #15.

It's a real treat to get 2 Reacher novels in the same year. Worth Dying For is boom #15 in the Reacher series and sees our hero being dropped off at a motel in the middle of nowhere Nebraska.

He takes a room at the space themed Apollo Motel & heads into the bar for a coffee. The only other customer is a well oiled drunk who turns out to be the local doctor.

A callout (refused by the doctor) to a woman with a blood nose has Reacher wondering so he drives the doctor out to Eleanor Duncan's home.

Reacher suspects domestic violence & goes in search of Eleanor's husband Seth to 'explain a few things to him'.

It turns out that Seth Duncan & his uncles have the town locked up tight and Reacher's presence is not welcomed.

As is often the case with Reacher there is more to this than meets the eye. Reacher has stumbled into something (he knows not what) and is being hunted by more than just the Duncans.

As always there is violence which always seems more violent because of the stripped-back prose Child uses for description.

The chapters are short & sharp, & the story moves at fast clip making it difficult to put down.

IMHO one of the best Reacher novels yet.

4.9

The Reversal - Michael Connelly

2010-09-28T21:20:00.000+10:00

Michael Connelly has long been one of my favourite crime authors. So much so that I usually list Black Ice, The Poet & Black Echo among my favourite crime novels of all time.

The Reversal continues this trend of excellence. It is a superb combination of courtroom drama, legal thriller, Harry Bosch novel, Mickey Haller novel & damn fine read.

Haller is asked by the D.A's office to prosecute a high profile case, a case that needs someone prosecutorily independent to take the lead.

Jason Jessup was convicted, 24 years ago, of the abduction and murder of a 12 year old girl.

Recent examination of the DNA evidence leads to Jessup's conviction being overturned and the D.A's office decides to retry him.

Haller decides to take on the prosecution role with Maggie (McFierce) McPherson (his 1st ex wife) as second chair, and Harry Bosch as lead investigator.

The story is narrated in first person (by Haller) and in third person by the other characters which keeps the story moving along and makes it difficult for the reader to find a place to stop reading & put the book down.

It's interesting that I like the earlier Bosch stories more - (I prefer Bosch the loner to Bosch the parent).

Nevertheless I highly recommend this book to fans of Michael Connelly, fans of harry Bosch, fans of courtroom dramas, & anyone who wants to read a damn fine novel.

4.9

The Common Lawyer

2010-09-09T10:49:00.002+10:00

A borrower recommended I read Mark Gimenez .

As I was about to head to Sydney (and my e-reader was holidaying in Richmond & Mount Gambier) I grabbed a copy of The common lawyer to read on the plane.

The main character is Andy Prescott - he's a young Texan lawyer (he graduated law school with a solid C average) and runs his own traffic ticket law office out of a room in a tattoo parlour.

His (law) life changes when one of Texas' richest men hires Andy to do some work for him.

Russell Reeves is famous, not only for his wealth, but because his young son is dying of a rare disease.

When he employs Andy as his front man for a local housing project Andy's life changes.

Then Russell hires Andy to find certain women. Each women, it turns out, has a seriously ill child. Except one.

Andy doesn't know what he is looking for but he knows something is not right.

I liked the character of Andy. The book is immensely readable, even though one part of my mind was wondering when something would happen - i wanted to keep reading.

I was a little disappointed in the ending of the book - though, to be fair, i don't really see how else it could have been resolved.

3.5 out of 5.

Another reason Abbeys is awesome.

2010-08-25T18:29:00.002+10:00

So I'm in Sydney and of course no visit to Sydney is complete without a visit to Abbeys bookshop in York St. Their crime section is huge.

I wanted a book (in a bookshop -no way) but couldn't remember the author or title.

I could however remember that it was a first novel by a NZ author, it was on the kiwi bestseller lists,but it was too new to a have been nominated for the ngaio marsh award. I could also remember where I heard about it.

Annabel was able to able to track it down for me (the fallen by Ben sanders) & find me the oz publication date (mid sept).

Subsequently my to be read pile has increased - as has the weight of my suitcase.

Chatting with Peter Robinson

2010-08-18T08:58:00.001+10:00

So Peter Robinson (author of the Insp. Alan Banks series) was appearing at a book signing at Dymocks in the city.

I found out about this (no thanks to Dymocks btw) from a friend on facebook.

There was an audience of maybe 22 people. Which was a shame given how talented & popular an author Robinson is.

He spoke engagingly about his most recent Banks novel (Bad Boy) and about the writing process.

He also willingly signed books & posed for photos. We also gave him hints for his current work-in-progress (a standalone featuring a 'ten pound pom' who moves to melbourne)

Crimefest 2010

2010-08-02T21:00:00.000+10:00

Got a parcel of goodies from Crimefest today.

I was expecting a t shirt & a program.

Also scored a talking book on cd - Peter James' Dead tomorrow and a novel - Tom Cain's Assassin (the library copy was on my to be read pile)

I'm a happy little vegemite.

Tartan Noir

2010-07-17T19:52:00.000+10:00

Book Depository

2010-06-08T20:51:00.003+10:00

There were three packages from Book Depository waiting for me when I got home tonight.

So what did I buy?

First package opened: AA History & Mystery walking tours of London. 24 themed walking tours in and around London. I'd previously borrowed the library's copy and was totally enthralled by it so obviously I needed my own copy so that work's copy could circulate to people other than me.

Second package: strictly speaking not a book ... Postcards from Penguin: one hundred book covers in one box. A collection of 100 postcards, each featuring a different & iconic Penguin book cover. I thought these might be useful for library displays but really I think I just thought they'd be cool...

Third package: Elinor M Brent Dyer's Two Sams at the Chalet School (GGBP ed) just because. I thought I didn't have a copy already but it turns out I do so now I have two copies. Book Mooch or Ebay for that one I guess.

I'm still waiting on more books too.

@flexnibs meme aka Day 7

2010-06-07T10:39:00.002+10:00

Do you snack while reading?
Sometimes - depends on what else I'm doing

What is your favourite drink while reading?
No favourite

Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Horrifies me (fiction). Non fiction if it's my book may make notes (in pencil)

How do you keep your place? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book open flat?
Bookmarks, scraps of paper, ribbon whatever's handy

Fiction, non-fiction or both?
Both

Do you tend to read to the end of a chapter or can you stop anywhere?
Have to read to the end of the chapter - always. Often have to read to end of chapter on right hand page.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No way

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
If I can be bothered - yes. Otherwise I try to work out from context

What are you currently reading?
Cruel intent (J.A. Jance fiction). Barry Forshaw's biog of Stieg Larsson - The man who left too soon; Kenneth Zeigler's Getting organized at work (non fic); Mark Fritz's The truth about getting things done (non fic.) I love books about getting organized!

What is the last book you bought?
I went to Kill City yesterday and bought 5 books by PM Carlson, and 4 books by Hugh Pentecost (2ndhand crime fiction)

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
Everywhere, anywhere. But not at work cos most librarians don't sit around the library all day reading.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
Either

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Tamara McKinley (Matilda's last waltz) for the "I just want to read a good book, not too heavy"

Michael Connelly, John Harvey for crime.

HArlan Coben, Linwood Barclay for thriller.

How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)?
Genre then series. All my kids books are together, all the crime books are together, all the organising books are together and so on.

The 'to be read' are in the bedroom, the 'have been read" are in the study and the 'take back to work' are on the floor by the front door.

Edge of evil - J A Jance.

2010-06-01T13:44:00.003+10:00

I've long been a fan of J A Jance's JP Beaumont series but not so much of her Joanna Brady series - so I approached book 1 of the Ali Reynolds series with a small amount of trepidation.

But not to worry, it's more in the Beaumont vein than the Brady vein!

Ali Reynolds has it all. She's the night time anchor on a Los Angeles news program, she has a happy marriage to one of the Channel's head honchos, an almost grown son, and a life that many would envy.

One night just as she's finished the evening broadcast she sees the station's General Manager waiting for her - basically he's 'letting her go' in favour of a younger female news presenter (the GM is stupid enough to admit this in front of a witness).

She gets home to discover that (a) her husband knew that she was about to be fired, & (b) her marriage is over.

Hearing of the death of a childhood friend Ali takes off for her hometown of Sedona (where her parents run the Sugarloaf diner) to mourn & recover.

She sets up a blog to tell her fans what happened to her and somehow gets drawn into the investigation of her friend Reenie's death.

If there is such a thing as a 'comfort crime' novel then this is it (and no I don't mean a cosy tho there is a cat in it).

Jance's characters are comfortable, I like her style of writing, and it was a near perfedt read for the sickbed.

Lee Child - 61 Hours

2010-04-01T21:17:00.000+11:00

Jack Reacher buys himself a ride on bus half full of senior citizens on tour. The weather is atrocious, visibility thru the snow practically nil.

The bus skids and lands in a ditch.

The passengers are ferried into town in a prison bus and farmed out to local families for the night.

Reacher gets to stay with the Deputy Police Chief.

Seems the town is expecting trouble in the form of reprisals against an elderly resident who is set to testify at a 'mob' trial.

The police are on the alert for (dangerous looking) strangers & Reacher certainly fits that bill...

Reacher is soon drawn into the police situation. He knows people that can give him info about an abandoned army building just outside of town (inhabited by bikies/hippies) who may or may not be part of the problem.

The local privately run prison has a rather unique arrangement with the local police - if there's a problem at the prison and the siren sounds all police must report immediately to the prison - leaving the townsfolk (and the witness) unprotected.

Throw in a crooked lawyer, drugs - put all these things together and you've got a job for Jack Reacher...

This was a gripping read -the sort of book where you keep reading cos you want to find out what happened. I did pick the bad guy early one which spoiled the enjoyment a little - (I couldn't see how the baddie could be anyone else) but it didn't stop me reading on.

Wasn't real happy with the ending but it does leave me waiting impatiently for the next book (30/9/2010) if the last page is to be believed!

Linwood Barclay - Never look away

2010-03-25T18:21:00.000+11:00

It starts out as just a normal saturday. Journalist david harwood & his wife Jan take their 4 year old son Ethan to a local amusement park.

Once in the park someone runs off with Ethan and by the time Ethan is found Jan is missing.

Very quickly David becomes the police's number one suspect - video footage shows no trace of Jan entering the park; who ever purchased the tickets online from David's computer (he says it was Jan) only purchased one adult & one child's ticket.

All the evidence seems to point to Jan being murdered & David being the murderer.

As always Barclay takes a simple premise & turns it into a first rate thriller, complete with twists & turns & some pretty good red herrings.

Loved it.

E 2009

2010-01-26T12:37:00.000+11:00

In September I scored an sony pr505 ebook reader.

It came preloaded with 20 'classic' (out of copyright) titles and a cd containing 100 more classic titles.

As it's a sony - it's not available in Australia and nor is access to the Sony ebook shop (or waterstones).

There are however some ebook shops in australia that sell ebooks in formats compatible with the sony so once i've finished with the classics i should be able to buy some good reads.

Note to self: I must also check out (should have done it before now) if any melb public libraries loan ebooks.

I'm getting used to reading on the sony. Because i can change the font size i don't always need my glasses.

It's ideal for reading on public transport - it's lightweight, doesn't take up a lot of space in my bag and I reckon there's a market for someone to jerrybuild a filofax case to include the sony in.

My ereads so far?

Hamlet
Macbeth

Great expectations
Oliver Twist

Celtic fairy tales

Gullivers travels

Alice in wonderland

Anna Karenina.

Best of 2009 (part one)

2010-01-24T17:54:00.005+11:00

So I apparently read 112 less books in 2009 that I did in 2008. this impresses me not and I blame the reading glasses of old age & decrepitness for the decline. Hopefully (after 12 months I should bloody well think so) I am getting used to/have gotten used to the damn things so 2010 should see a return to usual numbers.

So what crime novels rocked in 2009?

Obviously it's hard to go past The Girl who kicked the Hornets Nest which (while the weakest of the Millennium trilogy imho) is still a brilliant read.

I also discovered Louise Ure - Liars anonymous was a excellent crime novel (with a totally unexpected ending). The fault tree was also excellent.

If the Library doesn't get Forcing Amaryllis soon I will be buying it at Abbeys next month. (Nearly bought it last month when I was in Sydney but thought it would be at work soon so didn't.

Michael Connelly continues to be excellent - I enjoyed Nine Dragons muchly and Sue Grafton turned in a humdinger with U is for Undertow.

Marcia Muller continues to rock with Locked in - a Sharon McCone story in which Sharon has a very passive role.

Linwood Barclay continued to excel with Fear the worst and Peter Temple blew everyone away with Truth (it outsold Dan Brown's Lost Symbol at most Australian bookshops)

I rediscovered David Baldacci with True Blue - now to go back & read the others that i've missed.

In series re-reading I re-read Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series in 2009. This was prompted by her standalone thriller 13 1/2 which I enjoyed. The series re-read confirmed that my favourite Anna Pigeon story is Blind descent whilst I enjoyed reading about the scenery of Liberty falling.

Whilst in New Zealand I bought Alix Bosco's Cut and Run (her debut crime novel) - it was a good story and I'm looking forward to her next novel. I also enjoyed Vanda Symons' Containment.

John Hart's Lost Child is up there among the best crime novels I read in 2009 as is Johan Theorin's Echoes from the dead and Ian Rankin's Complaints.

In Australian reads in 2009 - I've already mentioned Peter Temple but I also really enjoyed

Beautiful Death (Fiona McIntosh)

Blood sunset (Jared Henry)

Killing Hands (PD Martin)

Blood moon (Garry Disher)

More to follow when I find the other list.

When in Sydney go to Abbeys

2009-12-17T17:58:00.001+11:00

Abbeys is pretty much my favourite Australian bookshop.

They have an awesomely wonderful crime section -and an awesomely wonderful not crime section and they publish great monthly newsletters and they are very helpful, and they know their books and their stocks and their authors.

They keep a greqat backlist of crime authors in stock and I have never been there without buying at least one crime novel (usually one I haven't been able to get anywhere else except overseas).

Last time I was there I watched as an older couple piled up their selection of books on the counter.

(There were at least 12 books in the piles). As it was just before Xmas I asked if it was their Xmas shopping. They said no they just liked to read and usually came in to Abbeys every 2 or 3 months and spent about $500 each time (I'm guessing they do well out of Abbeys loyalty scheme as well)

I'm frequently drawn intom conversations with bookbuyers there who (like me) are checking titles against a list of what they own, or titles against a list of what they want to own. Many online friendships/book exchanges/new reads have been forged in an Abbeys browsing session.

Now as far as Melbourne bookshops go - I love hanging out in Readings, Tims, Readers Feast etc but nowhere have I found the range of crime novels, or of avid readers, that I find at Abbeys.

Why is it so?

NZ book month - Devonport

2009-10-30T19:04:00.000+11:00

So I'm wandering around Devonport when I stumble across a secondhand bookshop - Evergreen Books.

So of course I have to go in.

20 minutes later I emerge with the 'coveted' Vanda Symon (and very proud of myself I am for not buying several other mysteries)

After checking out the Devonport Library I curled up on a bench in the sun (overlooking the water) and ate 'fush n chups' for lunch while reading my 'new' book.

NZ Book Month - Auckland

2009-10-29T11:33:00.000+11:00

I'd decided that while in NZ I was only going to read NZ crime books. I'd been following KiwiCraig's blog crimewatch and had a list of NZ crime authors to try.

Top of my list was Alix Bosco's Cut and run. So I headed for the big Whitcoulls to see what I could find.

I found the NZ fiction section and was surprised that Bosco's book wasn't there. Nor were any Vanda SYmons. (I'd bought Ringmaster in 2008 & was eager to get overkill this trip)

I found Symons & Bosco (& Cleave) in the crime section.

Given that is was NZ book month I would have expected them to be in both sections.

Next stop was Borders (nr The Edge)

This is probably one of the best Borders I've ever been in. Their marketing and display was top notch & individual.

There was an 'alcove' of New Zealand fiction & nonfiction as well as an 'impulse buy' display for NZ book month wrapped around a pillar near the cash registers.

I'd already bought the Bosco @ Whitcoulls but the pillar display had me leaving Borders with a Fiona Farrell title as well.

Nine Dragons (Michael Connelly)

2009-10-28T11:18:00.000+11:00

I bought this at the airport to read on the flight from Melbourne to Auckland. A new Harry Bosch story is always an excuse to visit a bookstore and Nine Dragons was no exception.

Harry is investigating the shooting death of a chinese liquor store owner. The course of the investigation leads him into the dangerous world of Triads. In thew midst of the investigation he receives a video, sent from his daughter's cell phone - she has been kidnapped in Hong Kong.

Harry immediately flies to Hong Kong to find her.

I must admit that from this point on in the book I struggled. Connelly's writing was as sharp and as captivating as usual but I couldn't get as absorbed in the plot as I usually do.

Perhaps it's just that I prefer Bosch the loner to Bosch the father.

Anyway, fans of Connelly will enjoy this latest Bosch outing. Connelly is always a good read and whilst this isn't my favourite Bosch novel it still rates well.

Locked in by Marcia Muller

2009-10-24T18:40:00.003+11:00

Marcia Muller has long been one of my favourite crime writers. She published her first Sharon McCone mystery in 1977 (Edwin of the Iron shoes) and Locked in is #26 in the series.

Sharon doesn't actually do much in this book. She is returning to the office one night (flat tyre, cell phone left in office). As she enters her office she is shot in the head.

She is diagnosed with locked in syndrome - a neurological disorder which means she can see & hear everything that is going on around her but is unable to move or communicate.

So the story is told from multiple points of view. Her husband Hy's pov, the povs of her operatives, friends, & family.

All are determined to find out who shot Sharon and which case (if any) caused the shooting.

This is Muller at her absolute best - even though Sharon is not out there asking questions it's interesting to see the characters of Craig and Adah (for example) developing and becoming main players rather than supporting cast.

I suspect this novel will rate highly in the 2009 Golden Fiona awards.

For the term of his natural life

2009-08-27T18:07:00.005+10:00

Under a glorious blue sky surrounded by lush greenery and beautiful water views it is, at first, difficult to imagine Port Arthur as a penal settlement. That impression soon changes as you explore the remaining buildings and read about the brutal way of life there.

Having just returned from Tasmania and a visit to Port Arthur I was inspired to re-read Marcus Clarke's novel For the term of his natural life.

I almost bought the book at Port Arthur (but didn't) which was just as well cos when I got back to Auckland I saw it in Dymocks as part of the $9.95 penguin classics series - so I bought that edition.

The story centres around a young man Rufus Dawes who is wrongly convicted of murder and transported to Australia. It tells of the harsh life facing the convicts and of a group of them who escape from Port Arthur only to become prisoners of the wilderness.

I would almost go so far as to say that For the term of his natural life should be required reading for everyone who has visited Port Arthur or is intending to visit Port Arthur - it rteally gives you a taste of what Port Arthur the penal settlement was really like.

Felony & Mayhem Press - my new best friend

2009-08-02T14:15:00.002+10:00

It's not like I don't have enough books - yet still I find myself buying more.

Recently I was frolicking on the web and I stumbled across the Felony & Mayhem Press website.

And they had republished the only Marissa Piesman books that I did not already own (major win for me) so of course I had to buy them.

This is what they have to say about themselves...

Felony & Mayhem Press was born out of irritation. I’m one of the owners of Partners & Crime, a mysteries-only bookstore in New York’s Greenwich Village, and I had spent years recommending books to my customers. I got a big kick out of this, but that kick kept getting harder to find, as mass consolidations in the publishing industry meant that thousands of good books were being taken out of print. Time and again, I would find myself saying “I have the perfect book for you! And…we can’t get it anymore.” This made me cranky.

Then I read an article in the New York Times about a machine invented by some fellow in Florida. With a name like Bookmaster 15000, it was a loony, Rube Goldberg-like contraption involving computers, printers, glue trays, paper cutters, laminators, thermostats, pulleys, and a partridge in a pear tree. The inventor claimed it could produce a paperback book in seven minutes. It cost $30,000, had no service contract, and was roughly the size of a small mobile home, but for one brief, shining moment I was captivated: We could get the rights to these out-of-print books, manufacture them in our basement, and sell them at Partners & Crime! My partner put the kibosh on the idea, in part by pointing out that we had room in the basement for perhaps two large shoeboxes. But the idea of bringing out-of-print books back to life had taken hold.

From there it was merely a matter of making an insane number of phone calls, borrowing a terrifying amount of money, and mailing out catalogs. We launched officially in June 2005, and now have more than 100 titles in print. Many of them, including some of our bestsellers, are reissues, but we also publish an increasing number of first paperback editions of books previously published in hardcover, and (particularly) first U.S. editions of books that initially came out overseas. We are not at present publishing original work, but we never say never, and yes, we do look at everything that’s submitted.

The list of authors they have published so far is eclectic, and wonderful - as yet you can't purchase direct from the website but you can buy their books through Amazon (a plus for me given the cost of U.S. postage). Authors include Sheila Radley, Barry Maitland, Karin Alvtegen, Reginald Hill, L.R. Wright and many, many more.

I suspect they will be receiving my hard earned $$ for a while to come.

About the Boys

2009-07-18T12:37:00.008+10:00

The Youth Services Team at the library service that employs me has, for the past few years, run a program called About the Boys. It's a series of event for boys aged 10+ and their dads, or mums, or carers. There are book talks, author talks, games etc all aimed at boys, blokes and books. (my interpretation btw)

I'm not a member of the Youth Services Team so all my knowledge of the program came from minutes, emails, etc.

Anyway this year I was invited to talk about some books at one of the sessions. And what an eye opener it was.

Beforehand I wondered what sort of kids would be there?

Would they be dragged there kicking and screaming by a parent who wanted to force them to read?

Would they be precocious little darlings who wanted to discuss Sun Tzu's art of war and it's effect on the global economic crisis?

And so on (stereotypes abound)

I come from a family of readers - my brothers and my nephews all read voraciously - but they all tell me they're in the minority. Well I can tell them - they're not.

The session was great fun.

The boys knew their books (as evidenced by the fact that they got the "Who am I's" long before I did).

They were also prepared to talk about the books they were reading and the sorts of books they and their dads enjoyed.

Bookboy talked about some of the Jnr & Teen books he's been reading, as did Rita. I acted out facing the first ball of the Boxing day Test at the MCG - (I was talking about a series of books about cricket - it was relevant - trust me).

I wish more staff could see these sessions in action. It was way better than I had imagined (and I knew it would be great). If more staff were encouraged/able to spectate on these sort of activities it would,I think, improve staff knowledge of our programs making marketing and promotion more enthusiastic and spontaneous. (imho). And yes I do try and promote it to families visiting the library but it will be so much easier now that I know what it is rather than being told what it is.

Anyhow congrats to the YS team for a great program (and for inviting me to take part) it was great fun.

PS. The YS team also run "About the Girls" sessions as well.

PPS. More details here.

PPPS. About the Books Blog here.

Photo: Bookboy tries live blogging via thoughtwaves.

Look again (Lisa Scottoline)

2009-06-08T19:49:00.002+10:00

So I snaffled from work (borrowed on my library card) the new Lisa Scottoline Look again (it's ok it was reserved for me)and started reading it when I got home from work last night.

As always with Scottoline, it's a damn fine read.

The main character is Ellen Gleason - she's a newspaper journalist and she has an (adopted) three year old son named Will.

One night after work she's going through her mail- in amongst the envelopes is a flyer put out by an organisation that tries to trace missing children.

Ellen notices that one of the children on the flyer looks like her son Will.

She keeps coming back to the resemblance between the kid on the flyer (Timothy Braverman) and her son. At first she figures they're related - after all her adoption of Will was legal and above board - he had heart problems as a baby and his mother gave him up for adoption beacuse she couldn't deal.

But Ellen keeps coming back to the photo on the flyer and does some more digging, trying to avoid the questions - does her son really belong to another family, and if he does, should she keep him or give him up?

The book was good, but I did work out the ending well before I should have but this didn't detract from the suspense or the story at all.

The brain - use it or lose it

2009-05-31T17:34:00.003+10:00

Dr Norman Doidge at the Sydney Writers Festival.

Dr Doidge is the author of The brain that changes itself.

I'd never heard of the 'brain that changes itself until late last year when I spoke at the Kew booktalk about a crime novel in which the protagonist is asked to find a killer who has had 'alterations' made to his brain.

After the talk one of the audience came up to me and mentioned that there was a non-fiction book on a similar subject (the brain, not the crimes) by Norman Doidge.

When I went to reserve it at my library there was already quite a long waiting list for it and that piqued my interest somewhat.

Anyway back to the SWF.

Dr Doidge was in conversation with broadcaster Caroline Baum, who is one of those truly excellent interviewers.

There was a huge crowd in attendance and the line for book signings was about a mile long so didn't get a book signed. But hey.

Doidge is an enthralling speaker, he talked about how the brain was once thought to be quite rigid and that brain trauma was absolutely final; but now the brain can change itself and/or adapt to changes which has lead to different ways of assesing brain function after events such as strokes.

According to Doidge it is essential that we exercise our brains - if we don't use our minds to continue to learn then we may well suffer from 'mental stagnation'.

The Librarian in me was pretty pleased to hear Doidge recommend reading as a way of improving and maintaining cognitive function. Yay.

So there you have it - head for your local library and read, read, read.

Reading keeps your mind active and helps save you from mental stagnation. (Now there's a library week slogan!)

Check out Dr Doidge's website at:http://www.normandoidge.com

Dr Doidge has had a varied writing career, winning prizes for poetry and journalism as well as a stint as editor-in-chief of the Canadian Review of Books.

Must commend Caroline Baum on her 'in conversation with' skills - she was obviously very familiar with his work but let him have the lead, occasionally asking a pertinent question, to get him 'back on track'. A great session.

Laura Lippman at SWF

2009-05-24T19:10:00.007+10:00

Event 116. Laura Lippman in conversation with Christine Cremen.

Laura Lippman has long been one of my favourite crime writers so I was pretty stoked to be able go along to the Sydney Writers Festival to hear her speak.

She was being interviewed by critic and broadcaster Christine Cremen (who has obviously read Lippman's books). The session started with Laura reading a passage from her newest (standalone) novel Life sentences.

The first question looked at the similarity of reasons for writing crime fiction between Sue Grafton & Lippman. (Grafton wrote her first crime novel so she could 'kill off' an ex-husband; Lippman wanted to 'kill' the boss of her then boyfriend.)

Lippman's series featuring P.I. Tess Monaghan is currently up to ten books and Laura gave us a heads up as to why there will be probably be a longer gap than usual before #11 is published.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** (highlight to read)

Laura has written a serialised Tess novella for a newspaper - and it opens with Tess being seven months pregnant (yes the baby is Crow's) - and Laura needs to work out how Tess is going to deal with being a P.I. with a young child...

*****END SPOILER ALERT*****

Baltimore is an integral character in all Laura's books and it is hard to imagine Tess Monaghan anywhere else.

Laura gave a brief overview of Edgar Allan Poe's relationship with Baltimore and how one year she wangled her way onto the viewing group for the annual mysterious visit of the 'Poe Toaster' - a cloaked stranger who, every year (since 1949), visits Poe's original grave marker on January 19 (the anniversary of Poe's birth) and leaves red roses and a half bottle of cognac.

She is also not afraid to have a dig at Charm City - quoting a former Mayor, orPolice Chief who madethe boast(!) that Baltimore doesn't have drive-by (shootings) anymore - it has executions!

Laura was a great speaker and it was a shame that there was only 40 or so of us there to hear her speak.

*****

Her advice to aspiring writers - READ. If you don't read how can you write?

*****

I would have loved to hear Laura in conversation with Sue Turnbull - I think they could have had an awesomely wide ranging discussion.

*****

Crime writer Tara Moss was in the audience taking notes.

*****

The week

2009-05-19T19:21:00.000+10:00

My current favourite (have in my backpack to read at odd intervals) title is not a book but rather a weekly magazine.

And before you waste a lot of time trying to decide between Womans Day, New Idea, Who weekly etc. let me tell you it is actually a news magazine called The Week.

It's a magazine format weekly news summary in a magazine format - very interesting and very readable.

This is the Australian edition which launched late last year. Apparently in the US & UK their editions sell very well.

Like a lot of people I get most of my news online which means sometimes I get just headlines and sometimes I miss stuff altogether.

So having a good news summary for the week because I don't always have time to read the papers seems like a good deal to me.

My reading glasses do not

2009-05-19T18:52:00.002+10:00

I was updating this years 'books read' spreadsheet and realised that my total number of books read in 2009 was way down on the equivalent period in previous years.

After much pondering on 'why is it so' I think I've discovered the reason - my reading glasses.

Yep, my reading glasses (which are meant to make it easier for me to read) actually make it harder for me to read.

You see, I got my first ever pair of reading glasses just before Christmas and since then my reading has decreased even tho' the glasses make it easier for me to read the print.

Once upon a time If I couldn't sleep or was bored I'd just pick up the nearest book and start reading - not anymore.

Now a typical spur of the moment read goes something like this:

Find book
Can't read book
Get out of warm snuggly bed & go looking for glasses (probably in bag ready for work tomorrow)
Glasses not in bag
Perhaps I took them into bedroom in case I woke up and wanted to read
Glasses not in bedroom (mighty p****d if they are)
Wander round flat looking for glasses hoping I didn't leave them at work.
Find glasses in kitchen (why in kitchen - no books in kitchen? - light dawns - was reading ingredients on box of soup)

By now it is either time to get up anyway or I'm too tired to read and it's back to sleep time.

Solution - need pairs of glasses in every room of flat, in every handbag, on desk at work, on info desk at work, in tea room at work, at other branches of work, at abode of every person I know.

Then, and only then, will I be able to resume normal reading throughput.

Either that or I'm going to have to read more large print.

Bayside Literary Festival

2009-05-06T10:29:00.002+10:00

The Bayside Literary Festival is on again this year.(may 22-31 at a range of venues in Bayside.)

Unfortunately I'm going to miss the first few events as I'll be in Sydney - I'm disappointed to miss Fantasy & High Tea with Cecilia Dart-Thornton (" sip from bone china complemented by a range of home made goodies, reminiscent of an old fashioned high tea, as you listen to world renowned and local fantasy author Cecilia Dart-Thornton explain a life which 'alternates between seen and unseen worlds of vivid strangeness, beauty, peril and passion')"

Professionally - one event I'd like to attend (and I'll be checking my roster to see if it's possible) is 'So you want to start a book club' "Meet the Library Reader Promotion Team for idas on how to run your own book club. See new and recommended books, chat to the staff and enjoy morning tea"

It sounds like a cross between a booktalk and (an offline) 'click goes...' session, and would be a good way to launch a 'bookgroup booklist' or 'bookgroup in a bag'.

It would also be a good outreach talk for local community houses etc, but I digress.

Back to the Bayside Literary Festival.

Authors include: Alison Goodman, Jarad Henry, Cathy Cole, Vikki Petraitis, Christine Darcas.

Events include: Start writing your own blog, Poetry workshops, National Simultaneous Storytime, a self publishing talk, writing for radio and stage.

Check out the full program here.

Ye olde cure for bedwetting

2009-04-15T19:11:00.005+10:00

Bibliophile Bullpen pointed me at this little gem...

The Wellcome Library has digitised and uploaded PDFs of its entire collection of 17th century cookbooks - also known as receipt (recipe) books. This first image is a recipe for peacock, followed by a cure for bedwetting. (Wellcome Library ref. MS.1, f.2r).

The second image is from the Recipe book of Lady Ann Fanshawe. 1651-1707

"The comments scribbled next to recipes sometimes reach out across the centuries to give us a powerful sense of individual women’s lives and experiences. Ann Fanshaw’s note endorsing a red powder to be taken after miscarriage (‘I have found good experementalley of this medicin’) is all the more poignant since we know that in the 22 years of her marriage she bore fourteen children and miscarried six times ." Wellcome Library ref. MS.7113, f.73r.

I enjoy exploring digitisation projects such as this - there's something interesting about looking at someones recipe books - often they are an informal version of a family bible (says the genealogist within)

*************

The Wellcome Library is part of the Wellcome Trust, which funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas.

Easter Mysteries

2009-04-12T19:39:00.002+10:00

Janet Rudolph (of Mystery Readers Journal fame) posted this list of Easter mysteries on her blog.

Ship Of Danger by Mabel Esther Allan
Aunt Dimity: Detective by Nancy Atherton
Death and the Easter Bunny by Linda Berry
Easter Weekend by David Bottoms
Papa la-Bas by John Dickson Carr
Do You Promise Not To Tell? by Mary Jane Clark
Little Easter by Reed Farrel Coleman
Last Easter by Caroline Conklin
Holy Terrors by Mary R. Daheim
The House of Death by Paul Doherty
Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans
Deadly Sin by PJ Grady
Gallery of Horror, edited by Charles L. Grant
Precious Blood by Jane Haddam
The Good Friday Murder by Lee Harris
Some Like It Lethal by Nancy Martin
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Do Not Exceed the Stated Dose (short stories) by Peter Lovesey
And Four To Go (aka The Easter Parade) by Rex Stout
Midnight at the Camposanto by Mari Ulmer.

Of these I've only read two - The cruellest month by Louise Penny; and Good Friday Murder by Lee Harris.

Lee Harris has written a series of books featuring ex-nun Christine Bennett - most have holiday/festival type titles. I really enjoyed the earlier ones in the series (there are 17 so far) and the Good Friday murder is Book 1. (Must admit that, for some reason my favourite in the series is #4 The St Patricks Day murder)

I was surprised that I hadn't read the Haddam - I thought I'd read everything of hers but apparently not!

Unfortunately neither of my local libraries hold the Haddam so I may need to go further afield to find it.

Happy Easter reading.

P.S. janet also shares my love of chocolate and has her own chocolate blog... here

The Famous Five - before and after

2009-04-06T10:29:00.004+10:00

I've recently finished re-reading all 21 of Enid Blyton's Famous Five books (in series order).

Before I started I did wonder if I would be as enthusiastic about them as I was as a child. Back then my 3 favourite titles were Five go off in a caravan, Five go to Billycock Hill, and Five on Finniston Farm.

I must admit Caravan and Billycock Hill are still my faves but I'm not sure what I saw in Finniston farm.

Re-reading them as an adult(!) they are noticeably more formulaic and the characters a bit more stereotyped, yet I still greatly enjoyed them (and I'm still quite keen to trade my brothers for Julian & Dick).

I will now attempt to persuade my niece to give them a try.

James Patterson the new Henning Mankell?

2009-03-15T18:09:00.004+11:00

Via Confessions of an idiosyncratic mind

Thanks to Sarah Weinman.

James Patterson Jumps on Nordic Noir Bandwagon

Can we just call James Patterson the most successful book packager working in publishing right now? (Yes, I would argue his sales trump those of Alloy Entertainment, not to mention his brand is more firmly established and wide-ranging than the teen girl crowd Alloy targets again and again.) To wit, his latest example of collaboration, a most unusual one, comes by way of Publishers Lunch today:

James Patterson is reaching across the ocean for his latest writing partner, working on a new thriller set primarily in Stockholm with Scandinavian crime writer Liza Marklund, best known for her Annika Bengtzon series. The book will be published in Sweden in 2010 with Marklund's regular publisher Piratförlaget (of which she is a part owner), but that is the only territory sold so far.

Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly is representing rights for the US and the UK and has "a great deal of interest" from Patterson's existing publishers in both territories. Linda Michaels, who was the "driving force in brokering the collaboration," represents rights for the rest of the world for Barnett, except for Sweden where The Salomonsson Agency represented Marklund.

Barnett sees it as "another example of Jim being innovative" as well as "an opportunity to introduce him to a whole new area of fans [internationally[ who might not be aware of him" while doing the same for Marklund.

The Swedish media are all over the news, with articles in Noje, Realtid, Ystads Allehanda and Aftonbladet. What's especially interesting is that Marklund hasn't really been published properly in the US to date - THE BOMBER and STUDIO SEX came out in 2001 and 2002, respectively, published by S&S/Atria in hardcover and Pocket in paperback - even though she's sold more than 7.5 million copies of her novels worldwide, making her one of the few authors not to capitalize on the Scandinavian crime boom that's finally hit the mainstream media. As to whether it will work to introduce Marklund's earlier work to American readers - well, no one's really rushing to reissue Michael Ledwidge's first few novels since he hooked up with Patterson...

--------------------------------

Gotta say i enjoyed Marklund's The bomber and I'm curious (and worried) about a Patterson/Marklund collaboration...

LibraryLoveFest

2009-03-10T09:49:00.003+11:00

The Library Marketing Team at HarperCollins has launched a blog especially for Librarians called LibraryLoveFest.

They promise to keep it fun, light and informative.

"Among other things, we’ll bring authors (and quite possibly ourselves) to you via video, tell you about the latest books we’re reading and invite you to take advantage of our weekly book giveaways. If there’s late-breaking news about a Pulitzer winner (please let it be a Harper book!) or an Oprah appearance (please let it be a Harper author!) you’ll know it when we know it."

Looks good and you can win books (for those of us who don't have enough books)

Comfort reading

2009-02-27T17:57:00.002+11:00

I've been a bit 'under the weather' for the last few days so have abandoned my usual reading -crime (although I did finish Jim Kelly's Death wore white), and non fic., (John Feinstein's Living on the black: two pitchers, two teams, one season to remember - it's about the 2007 baseball season), in favour of comfort reading.

But even in comfort reading I didn't desert the crime genre altogether.

Yep, Five on a Treasure Island, Five go adventuring again, Five run away together, and I'm halfway through Five go to Smuggler's Top.

In between I re-read Dorita Fairlie Bruce's Dimsie series (for balance you understand).

Now that I'm back on form I'll finish Smuggler's Top (and prob read Five go off in a caravan - one of my fave Five books) , before returning to 'adult' crime with Dorothy Uhnak's Law and Order, or C.J. Box's Blue Heaven.

Once I'm done with the 2007 baseball season next up, non fic wise, is probably Sarah Lacy's Stories of facebook, youtube & myspace. Then I should challenge myself with Maeve Binchy's Heart & Soul (for the reading challenge) as I've been watching her talk about it on youtube.

There you have it - this week's reading list. (Unless I change my mind)

Library Lovers day - the results

2009-02-17T17:35:00.000+11:00

Our Library Lovers Day activity - 'Blind date with a book' - was very successful.

* Most of the Adult books went

* Most of the jnr & teen books went

* Unfortunately very few of the large print books went.

Next year we will wrap more adult, jnr & teen, and less Large Print.

I've already started thinking about next year...

Blind Date with a Book

2009-02-14T19:18:00.002+11:00

As I'm sure everyone is aware today is Library Lovers Day ( a way more significant event than St. Whatsisnames Day)

So yesterday, with lots of help from the talented BL LibraryLover Elves (Huge thank yous to Watson, SuperTurtle, Hanner Cymraes) , we gift-wrapped books in red paper for a promotion - Blind Date with a Book.

We wrapped some new, and some classic, Adult Fiction (and a few non fiction), some large print, and some Junior & Teenage books. Each parcel had a sticker on the front explaining the idea (and we wrote the accession number on the sticker as well).

BBH ( a borrower) saw me wrapping at the info desk and thought I was wrapping Valentine sweets (I must admit some of the books did look like boxes of chocolates once wrapped.)

I'm keen to see how it went today. I know how many books were wrapped but I'm hovering between optimism (all the books were borrowed) and pessimism (none of the books were borrowed).

And (drumroll please) - I've already decided on next year's LibraryLovers day theme - and a couple of activities as well...

Famous Five x 10

2009-02-11T19:53:00.004+11:00

I just happened to be in Readers Feast this afternoon.... I had a voucher burning a hole in my pocket and there was a book I wanted to buy (a match made in heaven one might say).

However RF didn't have the book I wanted in stock (Knitted cakes in case anyone's interested), but as I was wandering around the shop I spotted something I just had to buy...(or rather ten somethings) - a boxed set of the first ten famous five books by Enid Blyton.

awesome and it was only $45. Sure they're paperbacks but they have the covers I remember from my childhood and I can't wait to start reading them.

First up is: Five on a Treasure Island.

2008 - the Top 5

2009-01-05T07:49:00.001+11:00

5. Koryta, Michael. Envy the night

Frank Temple II, a U.S. marshal, commits suicide after a tip leads to the exposure of his secret life as a hit man. Seven years later, Frank II's 24-year-old son, Frank Temple III, learns from an old Vietnam pal of his father's that the man who ratted out Frank II, Devin Matteson, is returning to Wisconsin from Florida. Temple heads to his father's cabin in remote Willow Flowage, Wis., to confront Matteson, who first recruited Frank II into the assassination game. Temple realizes that there's more at stake than his vendetta against Matteson, as he encounters a group of ruthless killers and joins forces with Nora Stafford, the owner of a local auto repair shop in a game of cat and mouse that could have serious consequences for them all.

4. Pelecanos, George. The turnaround

One summer day in 1972, three teenage white boys — Alex Pappas and his friends Billy Cachoris and Pete Whitten — drive into a poor Washington, D.C., neighborhood, high on booze and looking for trouble. They confront three young black men, Billy winds up dead and Alex badly beaten.

35 years later Alex runs the family coffee shop and grieves for his son, recently killed in Iraq. He crosses paths with one of the black survivors of 'the incident' and finds that they have a lot in common. At the same time, another survivor, the man who beat Alex, is out of prison and has extortion (and revenge) on his mind.

= 2. Connelly, Michael. The brass verdict

Mickey Haller, (The Lincoln lawyer) who runs his legal practice from a car, is ready to get back to work after a year off recovering from a gunshot wound and an addiction to painkillers. But he gets more work than he wants when he inherits the caseload of a colleague, Jerry Vincent, who has been found dead. The cases include the forthcoming murder trial of film producer Walter Elliot, accused of murdering his young wife and her lover, and who seems strangely unworried about his impending trial.

As Haller looks for the "magic bullet," the "get-out-of-jail-free" card that would clear Walter Elliot of the double murder, he must explore issues of bribery, jury tampering, fraud, police misconduct, organized crime, legal malpractice, federal crime, and even international crime--not to mention murder, including potentially his own.

Harry Bosch, is the lead investigator on Jerry Vincent’s murder. Bosch hints that the killer might also want Haller dead, and the two work together to uncover the truth.

= 2. Larsson, Stieg. The girl who played with fire

I had been eagerly awaiting this book since early January and when one is that excited about reading a book there is a very real danger of overhyping it and having it not live up to that hype - not in this case.

Almost all the main characters from Dragon Tattoo return in this second book of the Millennium trilogy and Lisbeth Salander takes centre stage. Salander is an expert computer hacker - she is also legally incompetent, a vulnerable young person with a history of being abused by men in positions of power over her.

Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist is now a celebrity journalist. His magazine, Millennium, is about to publish a special edition devoted entirely to cracking open Sweden's sex-trafficking industry. But before his colleagues can complete their investigations, Blomkvist stumbles upon a double murder. The fingerprints on the murder weapon point to Salander, who is nowhere to be found. The discovery of a third murder victim with close links to Salander make her Sweden's Most Wanted.

Blomkvist believes she is innocent, and that the murders have something to do with the Millennium investigation. But the more he investigates the more danger he and Salander are in. A gang of ruthless, violent men want her dead and they are closing in.

1. Larsson, Stieg. The girl with the dragon tattoo

Henrik Vanger, an octogenarian industrialist, hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has just lost a libel case under murky circumstances, to investigate the disappearance of his great-niece, Harriet.
Nearly 40 years earlier, Harriet vanished from a small island mostly owned by the Vanger family, and Henrik has never gotten over it.

Blomkvist takes on the case, despite serious misgivings, after Henrik promises him 2 million kronor for a year’s work. Henrik says he’s certain that someone in his family murdered Harriet.

The girl of the title isn’t Harriet but Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old computer hacker with a photographic memory, a violent temper and some serious intimacy issues. (One reviewer described her as a goth-geek Pippi Longstocking - a description that is as apt as it is wonderful.)

Blomkvist & Salander team up to try and solve the mystery of harriet's disappearance (which is, in Blomkvist's words, a "locked-room mystery in island format")

In some ways this book isn't, strictly speaking, a crime novel - a huge number of people 'who don't read crime' have read this and enjoyed it.

For me - I like the way Larsson writes (wrote), the plot twists & turns. And of it took a while to get into so what - it was definitely worth the wait.

2008 - Another 5

2009-01-04T07:48:00.000+11:00

Barclay, Linwood. No time for goodbye

Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge is caught out late one night with her boyfriend Vince. After a huge family row, Cynthia storms off to her bedroom and goes to sleep. Ther next morning the hungover Cynthia goes downstairs, only to find that her mother, Patricia, her father and her elder brother, Todd, have all vanished. There’s no note, no nothing.

25 years later (and still no word of what happened to her family) Cynthia Bigge has now become Cynthia Archer. She’s married and has an 8 yr old daughter, Grace.

Cynthia agrees to appear in a TV re-enactment of the familys' disappearance in the hope that 25 years later someone will remember something. All sorts of clues start to appear - a psychic claims to know something - mysterious objects are found in Cynthia's house - Cynthia starts to 'see' her brother in the neighbourhood.

Then things start to go seriously wrong.

Maitland, Barry. Bright air.

This is a bit of a departure for Maitland.

His Brock & Kolla novels are set in London - at Scotland Yard - but this standalone novel is set in Sydney and on Lord Howe Island.

The story concerns the death, four years ago, of Luce Corcoran –who died in a rock-climbing accident on Lord Howe Island. Luce was part of a group of people, friends since university, who were seriously into rock climbing.

Luce's former boyfriend Josh has recently returned to Sydney from London where he had been working at the time of Luce's death. Luce's friend Anna comes to visit him and tells him that another of their rock climbing cronies - recently killed in a NZ rock climbing accident - had made a sort of deathbed confession that indicates that Luce may have been murdered.

Josh and Anna decide to try and find out what really happened to Luce on Lord Howe Island and we look back on how the friends all met, the climbing they did, and the separate ways they all went.

Howell, Katherine. Frantic

A fantastic Australian debut novel.

The main character is Sophie Phillips, a paramedic with the NSW Ambulance Service, stationed at The Rocks in Sydney. She is married to a cop and they have a baby boy.

Sophie is at work when she finds out that her husband has been shot after answering a knock at the front door, and 10 mth old Lachlan is missing.

Detective Ella Marconi is assigned to the investigation. As the investigation continues the shooting, and the abduction, seem to be linking back to a series of (unsolved) bank robberies.

Sophie, during all this, is also frantically looking for her son.

Atkinson, Kate. When will there be good news?

"A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen."

Six-year-old Joanna is out walking with sister Jessica, baby brother Joseph and mother Gabrielle when they're suddenly attacked by a complete stranger. Joanna hides in the long grass and is saved, but her brother, sister and mother are stabbed to death.

Thirty years later, Joanna is now Dr Joanna Hunter, a successful GP in Edinburgh with a baby, married to Neil, a local businessman.

Jackson Brodie, meanwhile, is in Yorkshire, stealing a strand of hair from a two-year-old boy. At first we think he's investigating a kidnapping, but it turns out that the boy may be Jackson's own son; his mother is his ex-girlfriend Julia who claims Jackson isn't the father.

A series of coincidences, including a train crash, bring these characters together and weave an extraordinary crime novel - the 3rd to feature retired cop Jackson Brodie.

Lippman, Laura. Another thing to fall

The tenth Tess Monaghan novel.

When Tess is initially offered the job of guarding Selene Waites, the young (and definitely under drinking age) star of Mann of Steel, she's not particularly interested.

There have been a series of incidents on the set - they seem more annoying than threatening to Tess - who is also teaching a P.I. class at a local college.

Then one of the production staff is murdered at which point Tess shifts into investigative mode. What motive could anyone have for wanting to shut the production down?

As always the City of Baltimore, as well as Tess, is very much the star of the book - the settings are uniquely Baltimore - but one of my favourite characters is the gorgeous Mrs Blossom - one of Tess' s students, and a brilliantly comic character.

Reading Challenges -2009

2009-01-03T18:06:00.003+11:00

The yahoo group, Mystery Reader Cafe, is running the following challenge for 2009:

1. Read a mystery with the word "murder" in the title

2. Read a mystery set in your region

3. Read a mystery that has been on your shelf for at least a year

4. Read a mystery from a "new to you" author

I'm going to tackle this one (along with Bookboys: In 2009, read one book that is different in style or genre to your usual reading.)

and novel challenge's 12 point mini challenge.

Complete all 12 mini-challenges between January 1st and December 31st, 2009.
Challenges can be completed in any order.
Overlaps are allowed.
Have fun! Challenge yourself to do something literary every month of the year!

Here are the 12 challenges:

1. Read a collection of short stories and blog about it

2. Read a play. Blog about it, or tell the group about your experience.

3. Read a nonfiction book; write a review on your blog or post it to the group.

4. Read an 2 essays from the same collection; write a review on your blog or tell the group about what you read.

5. Go to a book event; blog about it or tell the group about it.

6. Borrow a library book, read it and review it on your blog (or tell the group about it).

7. Read a book by a new to you author. Do a little research on the author…do they have a blog? How many books have they written? Have they won any prizes? Where do they live? etc… Blog about the book you read and the author or tell the group about them.

8. Make a donation. You can either donate to an organization that supports reading OR make a physical donation of a book (or books) to anyone. Blog about it or tell the group what you did.

9. Promote literacy. This is wide open - use your imagination. You could give a child a book, or read a book to someone who cannot read, or volunteer at an event which promotes literacy, or donate to your local library, or write something on your blog with a link to a group which promotes literacy, or anything in between. The only rule with this one is that you must PROMOTE literacy in some way…

10. Participate in a buddy read or Group discussion. This can be a face to face group, an on-line group or a one on one discussion with a friend who read the same book. Either way, blog about your experience or share with the group. Did the discussion give you greater appreciation or insight into what you read?

11. Read a book outside your comfort level or from a genre you don’t normally read. Blog about it, or tell the group about it.

12. Read a classic (defined as anything published before 1970). Tell us why it fits the category of being a classic. Write a review or tell the group about the book.

Now some of these will come easily to me via work, my blog, or via my bookgroup - others will require a bit more work or thought.

Sometimes I like to be challenged in my reading...

thanks to reading challenges for the heads up.

2008 - Five more

2009-01-03T07:24:00.005+11:00

Billingham, Mark. In the dark

This is practically a standalone novel as Billingham's usual protagonist (Tom Thorne) has only a cameo role in this story of gang violence in London. When a gun is fired from one car into another, the woman being shot at swerves to avoid a bullet and ploughs into a bus stop - killing an off-duty policeman in the process.

The story follows the pregnant widow of the policeman as she looks to unravel the details behind what appears to be a random shooting. She herself is a policewoman and therefore has the the know-how to uncover the truth and track down her dead husband's killer.

Cook, Thomas H. Master of the delta

Jack Branch, teaching high school in his hometown in the Mississippi Delta in 1954, is justifiably proud of his college-prep “specialty” class on the nature of evil.

Jake is surprised to find that one of the students in his class is the son of a real murderer, the Co-ed Killer. Years ago, Eddie Miller’s father abducted, tortured and killed a local girl. When a student disappears, Jack unwittingly makes Eddie a suspect by mentioning he had seen the missing girl riding in his van.

Jake finds he is mistaken about the identity of the girl he glimpsed in the van. To make amends for his “like father, like son” assumption, he begins to take a special interest in Eddie Miller. and encourages him to research his killer father. However evil is never far away...

Rankin, Ian. Exit music

A murder of a Russian poet in Kings Stable Road gives Rebus one last case to solve soon ties are being made to big business, politicians and the criminal underworld. led. Rebus has just 10 days to solve the apparently motiveless murder of Alexander Todorov, an expatriate Russian poet, before he reaches 60 and mandatory retirement in Edgar-winner

When the dogged Rebus and Det. Sgt. Siobhan Clarke look into the crime, they find an array of baffling conspiracies involving Russian businessmen, Scottish bankers and local politicians pushing for an independent Scotland. A second murder, of a man who'd taped one of Todorov's poetry readings, ensures the case gets extra resources, and Rebus's own interest is whetted by the possible involvement of Edinburgh crime boss Big Ger Cafferty.

Fossum, Karin. Black seconds

The story begins when nine-year-old Ida Joner goes missing on her way to buy a comic and some lollies at the local shop. Helga, her distraught mother, reports her missing, but the girl seems to have vanished without a trace.

Inspector Sejer & his colleagues is called in to investigate the disappearance. They have little to go on, however, as nobody seems to have seen the girl and a search of the area by local volunteers reveals no clues.

As the days go by with no news of Ida, we see the effects of the disappearance on her family, on her friends, and on the town itself.

Set in Norway.

Peacock, Justin. A cure for night

Joel Deveraux was once an up and coming corporate lawyer at one of New York City's most prestigious law firms. However he resigns in disgrace after a paralegal (and fellow heroin user) , working on one of his cases dies from a heroin overdose. Joel later tries to resurrect himself personally and professionally by becoming a public defender in Brooklyn. But when he's asked to help enigmatic lawyer Myra Goldstein with a high profile case involving the shooting death of a white college student gunned down in the projects, Joel is forced to revisit some of the same issues that almost ruined him years earlier.

An excellent, gritty, debut legal thriller.

2008 - Five of the best crime novels.

2009-01-02T07:20:00.001+11:00

Sakey, Marcus. The blade itself.

Longtime friends Danny Carter and Evan McGann plan to rob a pawnshop. However the robbery goes wrong & Evan is arrested, convicted, and sent to prison. Evan doesn't rat on Danny (who managed to escape before the police arrived).

Fast forward seven years. Danny has a good job, a steady girlfriend, and is out of the crime game when he hears Evan has been released and is back in town. Evan tracks Danny down and wants him to pull one more job for old times' sa\ke and because he reckons Danny owes him...

Set in Chicago.

Rees, Matt. The Bethlehem murders

This is a first novel by Rees, a journalist, who lived in Jerusalem for a number of years.

This is not the Bethlehem of the Christmas Pageant, there is no baby in the manger. Instead there are gunmen in the hills.

The main character is Omar Yussef a teacher at a UN supported school. He is forced to leave the classroom in order to save the life of an old pupil who has been accused of collaborating with Israel, a crime punishable by death.

Yussef is a man of principle who believes in right and wrong and is drawn into the detection business because of this.

Chercover, Sean. Trigger City

When Isaac Richmond, a retired army colonel, asks Chicago PI Ray Dudgeon to look into his daughter's murder, Dudgeon, who's still recovering from injuries suffered in an earlier case reluctantly agrees to take the $50,000 case. Joan Richmond's death looks straightforward: a deranged co-worker, Steven Zhang, shot her in her home and then committed suicide.

Never one to accept the simplest answer, Dudgeon starts digging and discovers that Joan's former employer was Hawk River, a military contract company under congressional investigation; and that Joan's murder could lead back to both the Department of Homeland Security and some ruthless military contractors.

Levien, David. City of the sun

Twelve-year-old Jamie Gabriel was out delivering newspapers on his bike in the early morning, doing so well he was about to break his own speed record.

He doesn't return on time, however, and his mother Carol begins to worry. When he doesn't turn up at school either, she and her husband Paul called the police. What follows is a parent's worst nightmare.

In desperation, they hire one last private detective, Frank Behr. Frank is an ex-cop who was once on the force in Indianapolis, where the story is set. He knows the case is cold when he takes it, but his past gives him sympathy for the Gabriels in ways he'd rather forget.

French, Tana. The likeness

Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover from injuries sustained during her last case (In the woods).

She’s transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O’Neill, but she’s too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin.

The dead girl’s ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie’s real identity, Cassie’s old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn’t fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding.

At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim’s identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.

A psychological thriller set in Dublin.

My top twenty crime novels for 2008

2009-01-01T10:48:00.007+11:00

Normally I do a top ten but when I was looking back over my notes and rankings there were quite a few novels, worthy of mention, all clusterd around rankings 6-16. So I went with a top 20 for a change!

I said back in January that I thought 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' would probably be the best crime novel I read all year and it would definitely finish in my top ten. A big call so early in the year - and, well you'll have to wait and see how it held up...

So without further ado: my top twenty crime novels for 2008. (in alphabetical order)

Atkinson, Kate. When will there be good news?

Barclay, Linwood. No time for goodbye

Billingham, Mark. In the dark

Chercover, Sean. Trigger City

Connelly, Michael. The brass verdict

Cook, Thomas H. Master of the Delta

Fossum, Karin. Black seconds

French, Tana. The likeness

Howell, Katherine. Frantic

Koryta, Michael. Envy the night

Larsson, Stieg. The girl who played with fire

Larsson, Stieg. The girl with the dragon tattoo

Levien, David. City of the sun

Lippman, Laura. Another thing to fall

Maitland, Barry. Bright air

Peacock, Justin. No cure for night

Pelecanos, George. The turnaround

Rankin, Ian. Exit music

Rees, Matt. The Bethlehem murders

Sakey, Marcus. The blade itself

Over the next few days I'm going to do some countdowny type posts/reviews about these 20 titles...

Welcome to 2009

2009-01-01T10:43:00.002+11:00

The lovely Jo-Nathan over at reading hacks is encouraging us all to include a book/reading related resolution in our list of 2009 resolutions.

In 2009, read one book that is different in style or genre to your usual reading.

I guess for me that means reading either a science fiction, fantasy, or Maeve Binchy novel. (as they are the only genres/styles (I can think of) that weren't represented in my 2008 list.

I'll let you know how I go!

Write or die! from Dr. Wicked

2008-12-21T16:17:00.002+11:00

Now I'm not a writer, nor do I pretend to be one, or even really aspire to be one. But I love the Dr Wicked website.

Write or Die

The idea is to force you to write a set amount in a set time.

You set a word goal, a time goal, a grace period, and a mode.

The four modes are: gentle, normal, kamikaze, & electric shock.

The grace periods are: forgiving, strict, or evil.

After the grace period is up - first, the background colour starts to flash, then an evil sound is played, then if you still don't start typing your work starts to unwrite itself.

Today the evil sound was 'mmmbop' by Hansen (truly one of the worst songs ever invented - it was more than enough to get me writing again.)

One you have achieved your goal a trumpet fanfare is played to make you really fell you've achieved something. You are then prompted to save your work the clipboard and copy it into your text editor.

Write or die is not a word processer it really is just a fun way of being nagged to write something.

Marcia Muller & Sharon McCone

2008-12-09T17:38:00.005+11:00

Marcia Muller has long been one of my favourite crime writers.

Her main character is San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone. I have read along from the first Sharon McCone mystery - Edwin of the iron shoes. (published in 1977).

The 26th (according to Muller's website) Sharon McCone mystery Burn Out was published a few months ago. The character of Sharon has grown - from the young PI at legal co-op All Souls; to the owner of the highly successful McCone agency.

If you're new to the series you're best to read them in order - so you can follow the characters as they grow and change.

Books for Christmas

2008-12-05T16:28:00.003+11:00

Well with the birthdays out of the way for another year I can start on the annual Christmas book buying ritual.

As we had the first of our (3) family christmasses last sunday (feral cherubs are xmasing with their K1W1 rellys this year) I have already done about one third of my xmas book buying.

The sister-in-law: Foodies guide to Melbourne 2009.

The brother: Haruki Murakami 2009 Diary, and Birthday stories (Murakami's favourite short stories)

The 3yr old feral cherub: mini boxed set of In the night garden (along with non book stuff)

The 1yr old feral cherub: board books of In the night garden (along with non book stuff)

At the gift a book evening at work on Wednesday night I bought a copy of Reading the OED which was a gift for me (i toyed with making it a gift for someone else but I want to read it so there you go).

**********************************
I'm currently reading: Fiction: Cross Country (James Patterson)
: Non Fic: Podcasts for dummies

Proving i don't only read crime novels...

2008-11-21T19:34:00.003+11:00

5 not quite so usual sports books (non fiction)

Penguins stopped play (Harry Thompson). A funny, sometimes sad, look at an unlikely bunch of englishmen who form a cricket team and aim to play a game of cricket on every continent.

Pitch invasion: three stripes, two brothers, one feud: Adidas and the making of modern sport. (Barbara Smit). Did you know that the Adidas and Puma sports brands were started by brothers Adi & Rudi Dassler? Both were working for the family's sporting goods company when they had a falling out and Rudi set up Puma in direct opposition to (and in the same town as) Adi's company. An interesting look at a family whose companies ruled the sporting goods world until the 1980's.

Moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game. (Michael Lewis). How Oakland Athletics' (major league baseball club) General Manager uses statistics (sabermetrics) to help him choose which players to draft for the least amount of money for the most efficient and effective return (in terms of on field performance). Very interesting look at how modern technologies can be used to calculate human performance.

Little girls in pretty boxes: the making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters (Joan Ryan). A look at two sports that girls can excel in at a fairly young age and the over zealous parents and coaches who can make or break the dream.

Mr Cricket: driven to succeed (Michael Hussey) Not just a cricket biography but part self help as well. Hussey has taken a very practical, goal oreinted approach to his cricket and in this book he talks about the mental side of cricket (preparation, goal setting, time management etc.) as well as the athletic game oriented performance side. Intersting from a self help point of view as well as from the cricket pov.

(Almost) Happy Birthday to me.

2008-11-19T07:42:00.003+11:00

One of my birthday presents to myself this year (as well as a trip to NZ, theatre tix, and lots of other stuff) is a copy of Roger M Sobin's Essential Mystery Lists: for readers, collectors and librarians.

It was sitting in my post office box when I got home yesterday and I spent yesterday evening poring over it.

It reminds me of Detecting Men, and Detecting Women, written back in 1996 & 1998 by Willetta L. Heising (although it doesn't have the authors series lists that I so loved about Heising's books).

Rather it is a list of all (that I could think of) the major crime/mystery awards -winners and nominees up to and including 2007.

Impressively it includes the Ned Kelly Awards.

It is in the checklist format which the listloving me is going to go crazy over.

The binding is less than perfect - it is a 'not quite trade pbk size' 574 page book - with the spine cracking every time you want to check off a book read (left hand page) or read the nstart of a line (right hand page).

Nevertheless it is a welcome addition to the crime/mystery reference section at the M.A. branch of Gotham City Libraries.

NaNoWriMo

2008-11-01T17:19:00.004+11:00

Fore those attempting NanoWriMo his month here are five books to help inspire you...

Arana, Marie. The writing life: writers on how they think and work.

Doughty, Louise. A novel in a year.

Prose, Francine. Reading like a writer.

Rountree, Cathleen. The writer's mentor.

Writers on writing: collected essays from the New York Times

And one more to inspire you...

Premoli-Droulens, Francesca. Writers' houses.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

New Zealand authors

2008-10-28T17:17:00.002+11:00

Well I'm off New Zealand soon and so I've been reading up on NZ to get a feel for the country.

I haven't been reading travel guides (well actually I have) but I have been reading NZ crime fiction - obviously there is more to NZ crime fiction than Ngaio Marsh (she set a few in NZ tho' most of the Alleyns were set in the UK).

So five other NZ Crime Authors..

Paul Cleave: The cleaner

Joan Druett: Deadly shoals

Charlotte Grimshaw: Foreign city

Mike Ponder: Windsor conspiracy

Vanda Symon: Overkill

5 Australian Crime Authors I've enjoyed reading this year

2008-10-27T09:08:00.000+11:00

Not necessarily set in Australia but all outstandingly good reads...

Sydney Bauer: Gospel

Lauren Crow: Bye bye baby

Leah Giarratano: Vodka doesn't freeze

Katherine Howells: Frantic

Felicity Young: An easeful death

Will post five more later...

Crime Reads - Edinburgh

2008-10-24T18:45:00.006+11:00

Five Crime Authors, who set their crime novels in Edinburgh, and who aren't named Ian Rankin.

I figure everyone knows the Edinburgh novels of Ian Rankin (the John Rebus series) so if you like the Edinburgh setting here's five more authors you might want to try.

Quintin Jardine, author of the Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner series. 18 in the series so far.

Sue Walker, author of several standalone crime novels set in Scotland. Try The Dead Pool (which is set in and around Edinburgh).

Allan Guthrie, hardboiled Scottish noir at it's best. Try Kiss her Goodbye.

Paul Johnston, Futuristic crime novels set in Edinburgh in the 2020's. Try The Bone Yard. Main character is Quintilian (Quint) Dalrymple, a former Senior Edinburgh policeman.

Gillian Galbraith, author of the Detective Alice Rice series. try Blood in the water.

Where is this blog going?

2008-10-24T18:40:00.002+11:00

I'm painfully aware that I have not blogged here for quite some time (i have a notebook full of books to post about here).

I'm just not sure where this blog is going - if indeed it is going anywhere.

I'm setting up a ning for bookgroup so I might make this blog less about what I'm reading and more about books n authors n bookshops n libraries n stuff.

Or I may not.

So in an attempt to rekindle my interest in this blog I'll probably do some themey stuff and the occasional review.

Or not.

#47 Library 2.0: a guide to participatory library service (Michael Casey)

2008-02-09T10:32:00.000+11:00

Part of my professional reading collection.

I'm kinda hooked on web 2.0 (and 2.1) but until now most of my reading on the subject has been from the pov of a participant (personal interest) rather than from a professional (work) pov.

It is a good intro to library 2.0 for managers & middle managers, and for staff who are aware of 2.0 but want to know how it could be used across the board in a library setting.

I think the whole library 2.0 thing needs to be approached with an open mind - to many people it seems that 2.0 = 2 much work

Reading this book is kind of like reading a texbook on a subject that really interests you - you can see how it could be and you find yourself wondering how you could apply it to your workplace.

Well I did anyway. Not that I'm in a position to do any of it but in the hypothetical Gotham City Library Service - watch out!

#46 Mortal stakes (Robert B Parker)

2008-02-07T22:19:00.000+11:00

A Spenser novel. (#3). First published in 1975.

I *think* this is the first Spenser novel I've read. I saw it in a 2ndhand bookshop, I had nothing to read, and it's about baseball. I love baseball.

Spenser is a Boston P.I. and he is hired (sort of unofficially) by the manager of the Boston Redsox baseball team to investigate a rumour (well actually a whisper) that their star pitcher, Marty Rabb, is tanking games (deliberately losing).

Posing as a journalist Spenser hangs around the team and tries to find out the truth. Rabb is having an awesome winning season so it seems unlikely that the rumour could be true.

Will definitely read more of the Spenser series (#35 is published in 2008 so plenty to be going on with)

#45 Cold in hand (John Harvey)

2008-02-06T22:27:00.000+11:00

After a ten year absence Charlie Resnick is back. The extreme-sandwich loving, jazz listening D.I. has changed a lot in those ten years.

Despite a minor appearance or two in the Frank Elder series it's great to have Resnick back at the helm.

Resnick was last seen in full-length format in `Last Rites' in 1998, and the title, and comments by Mr Harvey, indicated that that book brought the series to a close.

Well, apparently not: `Cold in Hand' (the title comes from another one of Charlie's beloved jazz classics) brings the character back.

Charlie is close to retirement age, and things are looking much cosier for him on the domestic side, but there's major pain just around the corner...

I hope Resnick is back to stay.

#44. How to do everything with web 2.0 mashups (Jesse Feiler)

2008-02-06T16:13:00.000+11:00

I heart web 2.0.

It's fun, it makes me think, I enjoy it, it's challenging - It's what I want my job to be.

There are just so many different tools out there and this book shows you how to use mashups to enhance your web presence. My favourite (coming soon to a blog near you) is a mashup that searches Amazon & Google at the same time.

Sweet...

#43 A wrongful death (Kate Wilhelm)

2008-02-05T22:26:00.000+11:00

#10 in the Barbara Holloway series.

Barbara Holloway retreats to a remote coastal cabin to avoid making a life-altering decision. There she encounters a seriously injured woman and her small son. When she goes for help, the two disappear.

Kate Wilhelm is one of my favourites. The first in the Holloway series death qualified remains one of my fave crime novels opf all time.

Whilst her smart house from some 20 years ago shows her progression from sci fic to crime just brilliant.

#42. Getting a grip on time (Robyn Pearce)

2008-02-05T21:00:00.000+11:00

From my Robyn Pearce collection: Getting a grip on time: productivity & life balance made easy.

Very readable book on time management especially getting the life work balance right.

#41 Spotted cats (William G Tapply)

2008-02-05T18:25:00.000+11:00

This is an early Brady Coyne novel that I picked up at the local op shop - I like Tapply's books - I know I'll get an interesting read with some characters I enjoy reading about.

Coyne is visiting one of his clients - a retired big game hunter named Jeff Newton. Newton is a hermit like semi invalid since being attacked by a wounded leopard in Africa. While Brady is visiting him Newton's seven solid-gold pre-Columbian jaguar statuettes given to Newton by a Mayan chief as reward for slaying the wild cat that mauled his son, are stolen. Brady is knocked out after the crooks superficially slit his throat and Jeff, bashed in the head, falls into a coma.

Not the best Coyne novel but good just the same.

#40. Getting a grip on the paper war (Robyn Pearce)

2008-02-04T15:54:00.000+11:00

Robyn is a NZ based productivity, life coach, declutterer, professional organizer type person.

I've always been interested in the topic and now with the soon-to-arrive "it's just stuff" in my 'other life' I have an excuse to indulge myself in books such as this.

In this book Robyn concentrates on the paper that engulfs us at work and at home and gives us strategies for dealing with them.

Worth reading

#39 Ballet Shoes (Noel Streatfeild)

2008-02-03T20:24:00.000+11:00

Recently I purchased from Amazon the dvd of Ballet Shoes, based on the book by Noel Streatfeild.

This had long been one of my favourite childhood books and when I heard there was a made-for-tv version being filmed in 2007 starring 'Hermione' from Harry Potter as Pauline I was intrigued.

It's a reasonably sympathetic retelling of the original - although there some poetic licence taken towards the end.

My main complaint was that the actors who played Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil were the age they should have been at the end, at the beginning.

I seem to recall from the book that Pauline looked young for 12 when she went for her m'audition yet in the film version she looks 14 or 15 (a minor thing I know but)

Posy and Pauline looked much as I imagined them from the book (only older), Petrova was a disappointment as she didn't look right for the part - imho.

Still i enjoyed it and it is available from the M.A. branch if anyone wants an Inter Library Loan.

I of course then went back and re-read the book imagining the characters as they looked in the film - it didn't spoil the book too much.

#38 Maroon & Blue (Adam Muyt)

2008-02-03T15:17:00.000+11:00

When Edward Laurie (Mal) Malcolm married Bonnie McFarlane they bought a house in West Preston where they raised their two sons. Mal used to take his 2 sons (the elder of whom was my dad) to the closest oval to watch a VFL team train. That oval was the Brunswick street oval, and the VFL team was Fitzroy. So began a lifelong affiliation with the 'roys for my dad, his brother and Mal.

This devotion was tested when one of Mal's nephews was recruited by Melbourne and went on to play in the demons' halcyon years of the 1950's. But still the Malcolm devotion to the Roys never waned.

Maroon and Blue by Adam Muyt, subtitled: Recollections and tales of the Fitzroy Football Club, is a book for the fan who still bleeds maroon and blue. It tells stories of the ordinary people who followed Fitzroy until the teams' demise in 1996 (aka the merger with the Brisbane Bears!)

Just dipping into the book brings back memories of going to the footy as a child with dad and the McFarlane relatives - (most of the McFarlanes barrack for Collingwood - one has even written books about Collingwood), waiting outside the changerooms with my sister while dad and my brothers and cousins went into get autographs - girls weren't allowed into the change rooms).

This book will appeal to the VFL diehard who rues the day of the AFL - this book is about grassroots Aussie Rules.

#37 Panic (Jeff Abbott)

2008-01-29T18:28:00.000+11:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away. Jeff Abbot wrote a series of crime novels featuring a Librarian, Jordan Poteet, as sleuth in the small Texan town of Mirabeau. They were basically almost cozies with their depiction of small town life but were very well weritten adn very enjoyable to read.

He followed the Poteet series up with a series about a rookie judge, Whit Moseley. The were a little harder thatn the Poteets but still well worth reading.

He then started writing standalone thrillers and Panic is one of these. The main character is Evan Casher, a documentray film maker. He gets a call from his mum asking him to come home urgently, but she won't tell him why. He goes hoem and finds his mother brutally murdered. He narrowly escapes an attempt on his own life and is saved by by an enigmatic mercenary with an agenda of his own,

Evan discovers that his whole life has been a lie and he sets out to find his true past.

It's a well written thriller - once again worth reading.

#36 Why not you? (John D. Murphy)

2008-01-28T19:40:00.000+11:00

Once again from the section of my life labelled: I love reading self help books.

Why not you? by John D Murphy. Murphy is a Melbourne author who, according the author notes on the book, works in the area of sales and personal achievement.

The book is well set out and gives action exercises which, imho, forces you to look at what you've achieved, and what you want to achieve and gives you a framework to move forward in.

I got a lot out of this book and now have to work out how to persuade tptb that I am a valuable member of the team.

#35 Killer Year (ed. by Lee Child)

2008-01-27T20:37:00.000+11:00

This is a collection of short stories by a group of authors who had their first crime novels published in 2007.

They formed a 'collective' for support in mid 2006 and managed to enlist the help of some high powered mentors (Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Jeffery Deaver, to name 3). During the following 18 months

In this volume they have each contributed a short story - and believe you me there are some names here to watch out for...

My particular favourites (in no real order) are:

Sean Chercover, Marcus Sakey, Jason Pinter, Brett Battles.

They will be winning awards this year..

#34 Double cross (James Patterson)

2008-01-26T21:23:00.001+11:00

#13 in the Alex Cross series.

Alex Cross is no longer in the FBI or the police department, he is now a therapist in private practice. This gives him more time to spend with his kids and time for a relationship with detective Bree Stone.

However there is a new killer on the block who is trying to attract Alex's attention. Dubbed the audience killer - this killer commits crimes in full view of large numbers of people. So Cross comes out of 'retirement' to track the audience killer down.

Once again this is one of Patterson's stronger Cross novels - it has all the Patterson trademarks - such as nonstop action and edge of the seat thrills.

#33 The book is dead (Sherman Young)

2008-01-26T20:36:00.000+11:00

Sherman Young is one of the keynote speakers at 'Beyond the hype' next week so I thought I'd better read his book!

He describes himself as a book lover and he is in fact arguing that new technology will make the book stronger rather than wiping it out.

It's an interesting book and a quick read and although his conclusion may not fully ring true his arguments make a lot of sense.

#32 Cross (James Patterson)

2008-01-25T23:23:00.000+11:00

No. 12 in the Alex Cross series.

One of the themes in all the Cross novels has been the unsolved murder of his wife (in front of him). In this book Cross finally gets the chance to solve that murder.

The book moves between the past (when maria was still alive) to the present (some years after her death) and it looks like Cross is finally going to get the answers he needs.

However as with any James Patterson story nothing is ever that straightforward.

#31 Devil in the White City (Erik Larsen)

2008-01-25T20:36:00.000+11:00

The book is set in 1893. Chicago has been chosen to host the Worlds' Fair (ahead of rival New York) and a committee has been formed to make this the best Worlds Fair ever.

The chapters alternate between the committee, and the exploits of serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes, who depending on which version you believe, was responsible for the murder of up to 200 people.

The book works as an interesting history of Chicago (about which I knew very little - apart from the Bulls, Cubs, & Whitesox) and as the story of a serial killer operating at the same time.

It is an interesting way to relate history - from such diverse viewpoints yet I enjoyed it immensely.

#30 Mary Mary (James Patterson)

2008-01-24T22:22:00.000+11:00

No 11. in the Alex Cross series.

A far better adventure than the previous couple.

Someone is killing Hollywood celebrities and Alex Cross, holidaying in Disneyland, is called in to investigate.

The Cross novels are becoming more and more formula-ised but despite that Mary Mary was a page turner that kept me reading until I'd finished it.

#29 The accident man (Tom Cain)

2008-01-24T19:33:00.000+11:00

This is an excellent debut thriller. The main character is Samuel Carver, who works for a top secret British agency as an assassin.

He is led to believe he is going to assassinate a known (middle eastern) terrorist and he is to make it look like an accident.

So after the target leaves the Paris Ritz Hotel Carver stages a car crash in a Paris tunnel.

Using the death of Princess Diana as the basis of this fictional thriller is a good idea. The story uses the car crash as the starting point and then it becomes this very excellent thriller in the Lee Child, Colin Forbes mould.

A great read

#28 London Bridges (James Patterson)

2008-01-23T21:22:00.000+11:00

No. 10 in the Alex Cross series.

The Wolf is back, the Weasel is back, and this time their plan is more like world domination - they are threatening to blow up some of the worlds largest cities with nuclear devices unless their demands are met.

This is very much a sequel to (continuation of) Big bad Wolf as it takes up directly where the previous book left off. Whilst it contains the familiar Patterson chills and thrills I did not think it was one of the better Cross stories.

#27 The year of living biblically (A.J. Jacobs)

2008-01-23T20:30:00.000+11:00

This book follows A.J. Jacobs' attempts to live one year of his life as dictated by the bible.

"Avoiding shellfish was easy. The stoning of adulterers proved a little more difficult - and potentially controversial. Was it enough to walk up to an adulterer and gently touch them with a stone? Even that could be grounds for accusations of assault, especially with female adulterers in Manhattan."

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book - it could easily have become a bible bashing. Instead jacobs actually discovers a lot about religion - different religions interest him, how they interpret the scriptures. And he writes well. His description of ringing the Seventh Day Adventists and asking them to visit him is very funny without being disrespectful.

A very interesting book to read and one I would recommend highly

#26 Big bad wolf (James Patterson)

2008-01-22T20:41:00.001+11:00

No. 9 in the Alex Cross series.

I found this one to be quite disappointing. I find the Cross novels to be either very good or not so good - this was definitely one of the latter.

The Wolf is a master criminal/serial killer/supervillain who runs a 'service' that allows rich men to 'order' a specific woman (or man) or type of person and the wolf organises for that person to be kidnapped for a very large sum of money.

The identity (probable identity) of Wolf seems to change throughout the story which adds to the confusion and detracts from the thrills.

Not one of his better efforts

#25 Frantic (Katherine Howell)

2008-01-22T20:29:00.000+11:00

A debut crime novel by an Australian author.

Sophie Phillips is a Sydney paramedic. Her husband Chris is a police officer and they have a 10 month old baby son, Lachlan.

Sophie's week starts badly - a distraught father blames Sophie and her ambulance partner for the death of his wife in childbirth and threatens them.

Sophie's husband Chris answers their front door and is shot in the head - and baby Lachlan is abducted.

Chris's shooting is being tied to a police corruption scandal which is rocking the NSW police service and is claiming some high profile scalps.

Detective Ella Marconi is heading up the investigation into Lachlan's abduction but Sophie cannot sit idly by and, along with Chris's police partner starts an investigation of her own.

This is a great first novel and I'm llooking forward to reading the 2nd in the series (also featuring Ella Marconi)

#24. Four blind mice (James Patterson)

2008-01-21T20:18:00.000+11:00

no. 8 in the Alex Cross series.

John Sampson (Cross' police partner) has more of a feature role in this story. A close army mate of John's (from Vietnam) has been found guilty of murder. Her fiercely protests his innocence and John Sampson believes him.

John enlists Alex's help in finding out who did commit the murder - and this leads them to several other murders apparently committed by (unlikely military personnel)

#23. Violets are blue. (James Patterson)

2008-01-21T19:13:00.000+11:00

No. 7 in the Alex Cross series.

It was always going to be difficult for Patterson to back up after the brilliant "Roses are red".

In "Violets are blue" the psychopathic killer 'The Mastermind' is on the trail of Cross and his family.

Worst of all is the fact that the reader knows who the mastermind is but Cross doesn't.

Cross and the FBI are investigating a series of killings dubbed the vampire slayings as all the bodies have bite marks on them and have been drained of their blood.

Cross is stunned to find out who the Mastermind is and the full extent of his serial killing.

#22. The Bethlehem murders (Matt Rees)

2008-01-20T18:58:00.000+11:00

This is a first novel by Rees who, as a journalist, has lives in Jerusalem for a number of years.

This is not the Bethlehem of the Christmas Pageant, there is no baby in the manger. Instead there are gunmen in the hills.

The main character is Omar Yussef a teacher at a UN supported school. He is forced to leave the classroom in order to save the life of an old pupil who has been accused of collaborating with Israel, a crime punishable by death.

Yussef is an interesting study - he reminds a little of Rebus or Morse - he is a man of principle who believes in right and wrong and is drawn into the detection business because of this.

A good read and I look forward to the second yussef story.

#21. Roses are red (James Patterson)

2008-01-20T18:49:00.000+11:00

book 6 in the Alex Cross series.

This is the best Alex Cross so far (imho).

In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C., bank robbers have been killing bank employees and their families if the robbers instructions are not followed to the letter.

The bank robbers are then murdered themselves.

The 'brains' behind the series of robberies is known as The Mastermind and he taunts the police and FBI with phone calls and letters and it seems that only Alex Cross can stop him.

This is a real page turner, definitely unputdownable, as teh action accelerates towards a kick*ss ending.

I so did not see the ending coming. Brilliant thriller writing.

#20. The girl with the dragon tattoo (Stieg Larsson)

2008-01-19T18:29:00.001+11:00

Wow.

This has to be one of the best crime novels I've read in a long time.

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist in Sweden and is publisher & co-owner of independent magazine called Millennium.

He writes a story about financier Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. Wennerstrom objects to the article and sues Blomkvist for libel.

Blomkvist loses and is sentenced to jail. Almost worse than the sentence is the fact that Millennium has lost credibility, not to mention advertising revenue, and its future is in jeopardy.

Blomkvist decides the best way to ensure the magazine's survival is for him to take a year's leave of absence, during which time he will serve his jail sentence.

Blomkvist is surprised to be approached by a lawyer representing Henrik Vanger, Vanger is one of the oldest members of a family dynasty and he wants Blomkvist to investigate his great niece's disappearance some 30 years ago.

Blomkvist initially rejects the commission but Vanger persuades him by telling him that at the end of a year he will give Blomkvist the information needed to bring down Wennerstrom.

Vanger's great niece, Harriet, dissapeared 30 year ago, when she was 16 and no trace of her has ever been found. Nevertheless, every year on his birthday, Vanger receives a single flower in a frame, a memory of the birthday presents Harriet used to give him. Vanger cannot rest until he has discovered who is sending this taunting message, which he is convinced will lead him to Harriet's murderer.

Blomkvist describes Harriet's disappearance as a 'locked room mystery on an island' as on the day she disappeared the only road to or from the island was blocked by a truck crash.

Her last reported sighting was after the road was blocked and she had not been seen since.

Although the book starts slowly(most of it is taken up with Mikael's researches into the Vanger history), yoyu are never tempted to stop reading and the pace picks up at the end as all the threads come together in a superb conclusion: Harriet's fate, the future of Millennium, Wennerstrom's power, the Vanger secret - and the shadow of a Nazi and racist past.

#19. Pop goes the weasel (James Patterson)

2008-01-18T18:18:00.000+11:00

Book 5 in James Patterson's Alex Cross series.

British diplomat Geoffrey Shafer is involved in an online games called The Four Horsemen, where he is the player known as Death. The game consists of the four players fantasising about murders they have planned and committed (or is it real?)

Shafer is going around killing prostitutes, and it is not long before Alex Cross is after him.

But Shafer is not the sort to take this unwanted attention lying down and his revenge hits Cross hard.

#18 Looking for Enid (Duncan McLaren)

2008-01-17T18:27:00.000+11:00

One of the things that attracted me to this book was the cover - (I know, I know - don't judge a book by the...)

It's an old fashioned picture of the Famous Five looking through a telescope towards Kirrin Island.

The book is a biography of Enid Blyton (and the cover is way more attractive than that of the Barbara Stoney biography) and intersperses Enid Blyton fact with Enid Blyton trivia with EB fiction which makes it readable but maybe not completely accurate?

Still I enjoyed it.

#17 Head shot (Quintin Jardine)

2008-01-15T18:20:00.001+11:00

Quintin Jardine is a scottish author with 30 odd crime novels to his credit. His Bob Skinner series features Edinburgh Accisiatnt Police Commissioner Bob Skinner.

In Head Shot Skinner is on his way to a police conference in Malaysia when he learns that his in-laws have been brutally murdered in Washington.

He diverts to the U.S where he muscles in on the investigation (calling in favours from the FBI along the way)

The story ends up being another fictional 'Who killed JFK' story and is a good crime/thriller (although one does have to suspend belief in a couple of places)