Saturday, May 31, 2014

September 2001 - May 2002 Reading

First, a random book from 2004, then on the the 2001/2002 list...

Cry No More
Linda Howard
Audio CD/ 10 hours
2003
Listened to on Friday, 5/28/04 on the way to Dede's
Goodreads rating:  4.03
Setting:  El Paso, Mexico, and Outer Banks with a touch of Idaho and NM

This looked like a murder mystery, but although it had that element, it was mostly a hot... steamy... sexy... love story ...the kind I usually HATE, but not too, too bad this time for some reason.  And the sex bits were, admittedly, enjoyable...    Milla Edge never stops searching for the baby who was kidnapped from her... ten years later, with the help of Diaz, who's supposed to be dark and menacing (a man's man?) she finds him.  Some parts are really sappy (I think the author was trying to be eloquent).

Here's part of a list from 2001:

Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver
Published 1998
audio
Finished August, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.97
my rating:  4

Blood Will Tell
Dana Stabenow
Kate Shugak #6
Published 1996
Finished August, 2001
Goodreads rating: 4.20

Our Strange New Land, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colonial Diary #1
Patricia Hermes
My America series
Published 2000
Finished August, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.71




another Stabenow,but I'm not sure which one, darn!!
audio
Finished September, 2001

Many Stones
Carolyn Coman
Published 2001
audio
Finished September, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.38

From the Corner of His Eye
Dean Koontz
Published 2001
audio
Finished October, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.96
I don't remember much at all about this book, but I do remember thinking it was really freaky...

Standoff
Sandra Brown
audio
Published 2000
Finished November, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.63

Isle of Dogs
Patricia Cornwell
Andy Brazil #3
Published 2001
Finished November 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.01

Girl of Kosovo
Alice Mead
Published 2001
Finished December, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.81

Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Published 2000
audio
Finished December, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.94
My rating:  5

Stargirl
Jerry Spinelli
Published 2000
audio
Finished December, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.73
My rating:  4




Desire Lines
I'm assuming it's the Christina Baker Kline novel, but I can't tell by reading the blurb on Goodreads. It was written in 1998, so that makes sense.  It sounds intriguing, perhaps I'd better give it another read, just to make sure, before I include it.  Therefore, I haven't included it in any other lists...
Published 1998
audio
Finished December, 2001

Skipping Christmas
John Grisham
Published 2001
Finished December, 2001
Goodreads rating: 3.42

Girl With a Pearl Earring
Finished January, 2002
Published 1998
Goodreads rating: 3.80
My rating:  3

The Breadwinner
Deborah Ellis
#1 in a series
Published 2000
Finished January, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.89

The Shipping News
Annie Proulx
Published 1993
audio
Finished March, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.78
My rating:  3.5
If I remember right, I didn't think I'd like this, but liked it more and more as the book progressed.


Esperanza Rising
Pam Munoz Ryan
Published 2000
audio
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating:  3.84
My rating:  4

The Run
Stuart Woods
Will Lee #5
Published 1995
audio
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.76

P is for Peril
Sue Grafton
Kinsey Milhone #16
Published 2000
audio
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.81

Everything on a Waffle
Polly Horvath
Published 2001
audio
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.68
My rating:  4

A Darker Place
Laurie R. King
Published 1998
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.81

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Fronted Snogging
Louise Rennison
Published 1999
YA
Finished May, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.75

Trans-Sister Radio
Chris Bohjalian
Published 1998
Finished May, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.70

Space Race
Sylvia Waugh
Published 2000
Finished April, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.80

Boy in the Burning House
Time Wynne-Jones
Published 2000
Finished May, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.65

In Spite of Killer Bees
Julie Johnston
Published 2001
Finished May, 2002
Goodreads rating: 3.41


January - December 2003 Reading

I'm reading through my stack of journals and I love finding my notes on the reading I did before I began this blog!

Break In
Dick Francis
Kit Fielding #1
1986
Audio - Great Story
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.93
cag: 4

Jockey Kit Fielding, esteemed winner of many races, becomes embroiled in his sister Holly's financial disaster, when a "rag" London paper starts rumors about her husband's training stables.  Twists, turns, intrigues - with Kit Fielding as the clever hero.  A great read.

Crispin, The Cross of Lead
Avi
2002
NEWBERY AWARD
Mid Grades HistFict
Goodreads rating: 3.57
cag: 1/Didn't like it

As is my usual reaction to an Avi book, I am not impressed or thrilled.  There were so many wonderful books published in 2002, I cannot understand why this was chosen for such a prestigious award.  And although last year's winner, A Single Shard, was good, I found nothing special about it, either.  Both go back many, many centuries.  Hmmmmm....
     A young boy who has only been called "Asta's Son" finds himself orphaned and on the run when the steward of the landowner accuses him of theft and puts a bounty on him.  He leaves the confines of his tiny village and meets up with a gentle giant, a "jester" named Bear.  Much of the plot seems drawn out and throughout the first half of the book there are numerous references to religion, Jesus, god.  And as in Charlotte Doyle, Crispin changes too much too fast to make the story believable to me.  Great descriptions of Medieval England, though.

Pictures of Hollis Woods
Patricia Reilly Giff
2002
166 pgs.
Middle Grades CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.98
cag:  5/I loved this book!

Hollis Woods, abandoned as a baby, has always wanted to belong to a "real" family.  She has toughtened, and runs from homes and situations.  This story is written, not exactly in two voices, but flips back and forth between her first person telling of the present and descriptions of pictures she's drawn of the previous summer, when she lived with a family she loved, in a house on the sideof a mountain on the edge of the Delaware River in a town called Branches.
     Hollis is a gifted artist.  Her story unfolds as this fairly short book progresses.  Josie, the elderly ex-art teacher she now lives with is getting Alzheimers adn they "run away" (with Henry the cat) to the house in Branches, where Holly had been so happy, during a snowstorm and Christmas.  Great story.  A 10!

Say Yes
Audrey Couloumbis
2002
Finished 3/4/03
YYA CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.71
cag:  4

A quick read, really good story.  Heartwarming.  Copyright page blurb:  "I her efforts to hand on following the disappearance of her stepmother, Casey resorts to anything, including robbery."  But this book is so much more! I can totally imagine Casey, at 12, figuring out how to live in her NYC apartment alone.  I can imagine her friendship with Paulie, and even her going along with robbing the old lady.  Sylvia returning, apologetically, is real.  Sylvia abandoning Casey is a little harder to swallow.  Another great story.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
Sarah Nickerson
2002
Finished 3-13-03
Middle Grades Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.88
cag:  3.5

Margaret must find out the real story behind her father's drowning five years before.  So she sneaks off to the Washington state island where he grew up - and drowned.   This mystery , written in several voices, grabs you, although I almost put it down at first.  I persevered and I'm glad I did.  Margaret and her new friend Boyd put together pieces of the mystery - using handmade comic books about "Ratt man and the Drowing Ghost" that keep mysteriously appearing.

Back Story
Robert B. Parker
Spenser #30
2003
Finished 3/21/03
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.79
cag:  4

Wonder why this title?  Spenser and Hawk track down the story behind a 28-year-old shooting that took place in a Boston bank during a hold up by the Dread Scott gang - which no one has heard of since.  It had been hugely covered up - FBI coverup, too, and involved a huge mob kingpin, Sonny Karnofsky.  References to the hippy movement, a trip to Lynnfield (and to Parker's old house where Tony deBeurs used to live) a quick trip to Kennebunkport and LaJolla - a bit of work with Parker's Jesse Stone in Paradise - lots included in this one.  Oh, and new Pearl!  What happened to the old one?  Good story.

Bolt
Dick Francis
Kit Fielding #2
audio, 1986
Finished 3/29/03
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.95
cag: 4

This is a sequel to Break In - with Kit Fielding again outsmarting the bad guy - this time thwarting the evil efforts of a Frenchman, partner to Princess Cassillia's husband, who wants signatures to allow him to produce plastic firearms.  Maynard Aladeck still lurks, trouble in paradise with his lady-love,  Danielle, and more horse racing combine to make an interesting read which makes the driving miles fly by!

The Visitant
Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear
Book #1 in the Anasazi Mystery series
1999
Finished 4/6/03
358 pgs. a long one
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 4.10
cag: 3.5/very good

I finally finished this!  I listened to the first tapes a year ago, then lost the last one.  Reading the last part - with, I admit, a few holes from "memory loss" - was very satisfying.  Two stories flip back and forth.  Modern-day archaeologists in New Mexico dig up ancient bodies while we look bak and get the whole story about how...and why...they get there.  Browser, young, strong, a warrior, is the protagonist and sleuth who pieces together and tries to prevent a series of murders of femalse and solves the disappearance of his young wife.

A Corner of the Universe
Ann M. Martin
2002
Finished 4/6/03
Middle Grades CRF
Goodreads rating: 4.03
cag: 3.5

I was a little apprehensive about his - never been a fan of Babysitter's Club - took a little while to get into, but once I did, it went quite quickly.
     Setting:  1950's.  Characters are well developed and writing is clever and clear.  Story is about the summer that Hattie Owens discovers that she has a mentally handicapped 21-year old uncle that's been a family secret for her entire life.  He has to return home to their small town, and there's a very tragic twist that's handled in a non-sensationalized way, with good foreshadowing and storytelling, including a rigid, high class grandmother, a carnival friend, and small town summer activities.

Moment of Truth
Lisa Socttoline
Rosato & Associates #5
Audio book, 2000
Finished 4/15/03
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.80
cag: 2.5/so-so

Jack Newlin, prestigious Philadelphia lawyer, pleads guilty to his wife's murder, trying to protect his pregnant 16-year old daughter, who he thinks did it.  But when he discovers she didn't, it takes his own inexperienced lawyer, Mary DiNunzio, to find the eveidence to prove his innocence.  One bad thing after another happens - either characters are really good or really jerks.  Passed driving time, but not a favorite.

Gooney Bird Greene
Lois Lowry
2002
Middle Grades CRF
Finished 4/17/2003
Goodreads rating: 3.89
cag: 4

fom the book blurb:  A most unusual new student (2nd grader) who loves to be the center of attention entertains her teacher and fellow second graders by telling absolutely true stories about herself, including how she got her name."  A great "how to write a memoir" read aloud!!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Anne Brashares
Listened to on audio - great reader
2002
YA CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.71
cag: 4

This was a keeper!  It's the story of four girls - very close friends - and the first summer of their lives when they're scattered and not together.  It becomes four individual stories all intertwined - these special pants are shared, as are their stories.  Carmen: half Puerto Rican, spending the summer with her dad and his new family in South Carolina.  Lena: in Greece with her grandparents (who live there), painting and "dodging" a local young man, Kostas.  Tibby:  who stays home in Washington DC and befriends a young girl with leukemia while working at the local Wallman's.  Bridget:  pursuing a male counselor at the soccer camp she's attending in Baja.  Good writing, meaty stories.  I think this would really appeal to YA females.

Sweet Hush
Deborah Smith
2003
Adult CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.94
cag:  7/10

Hush McGillen's hard-fought life is rocked when her beloved son comes home from Harvard with his secret bride....daughter of the president of the U. S.  The first part of the book tells of Hush's roots as a poor apple farmer and how she worked to become the most prestigious apple farmer in the south.  The second part is the story of Nicholas Jacobek - orphaned nephew of the president,and how he became a powerful Marine operative.  The third part is the present, the relationship that's instantaneous between the two, and the uncovered lies that Hush has protected for many years.  The president's wife - a strong force in the story - goes head to head with Hush - and whether it's meant to or not, becomes comical and fun.  Don't usually like romance novels and I'd say this comes close, but this held my attention and entertained me well.

A Wild and Lonely Place
Marcia Muller
Sharon McCone #16
Listened to on audio
1995
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 4.02
cag  6/10

Sharon McCone must find the diplo-bomber before he blows up the embassy of an Arabian country - where the granddaughter of the ambassador, Habiba, could get caught in the crossfire.  In the meantime, Sharon's boyfriend Hi (Hye? High?) is battling a weird disease he picked up in the tropics - and she gets in some flying time in their small plane.  A fairly decent mystery.

Hot Money
Dick Francis
Audio read by Simon Prebble - love listening to him, great accent
1987
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.97
cag: 4

Ian Pembroke has been estranged from his father since his father's latest marriage...until that wife is found murdered and attempts are made on Malcolm's life.  So Ian begins investigating his extensive family - because one of them wants an early inheritance!
     Although there are LOTS of suspects, Francis introduces them slowly and cleverly, unfolding the plot well and, as usual, keeps things interesting.  Not his best, but you sure want to hear the whole thing!

Four to Score
#4 Stephanie Plum
Janet Evanovich
1998
audio - C. J. Critt, read very well
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 4.15
cag: 8/10

Stephanie Plum is hunting down Maxine Nowicki, whose boyfriend charged her with car theft.  But Maxine is being elusive, leaving a coded treasure hunt for him to follow, and he hires Stephanie to help him find Maxine.  Steph's got a new sidekick, too; 6 1/2 foot tall cross-dresser transvestite "Sally" Sweet, who along with Steph's black ex-hooker friend Lulu and Grandma Mazer forage into territories like Atlantic City.  And in this one she movies in with Joe Morelli for a few days and there are some pretty steamy scenes.  Great laugh-out-loud parts, too.

The Misfits
James Howe
2001
YA CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.76
cag: 10/10 (or 5 stars) Loved it.

Wow!  This was a wonderful book!  Although 275 pages long, it was a very fast read.  It is told by Bobby Goodspeed, in the first person.
     This is the story of four friends (the "Group of Five"  they call themselves), who have all been taunted and called names all their lives.  They are all 7th graders.
     Bobby - quiet, overweight, mom died of cancer when he was 8, works as a tie salesman (at age 12!) at a local department store
     Addie - very tall, outspoken, tries to stand for what's right
     Joe - now recognizes himself as gay - certainly his own person - changes his name all the time
     Skeezie - James Dean wanna-be greaser
The premise of the book is a 7th grade student council election that these protagonists enter as a third party - the NO-NAME party, trying to get name-calling to stop for at least one day.
     There's some wonderful writing and some very funny places...great insights and looks into the future....

The Watson's Go to Birmingham - 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
1995
Middle Grades Hist Fict
Goodreads rating: 3.90
cag: 9/10

A brilliant story, told by 10-year-old Kenneth/Kenny Watson.  It's the story of his family in Flint, Michigan...and particularly though, about his older brother, Byron/By.
     Told almost in short stories or vignettes, the writing is clever, the voice clear, the stories very funny and warm.  The last few are tough, but a great way to frame the Civil Rights movement - Birmingham, Alabama, when the bombing at a Baptist church killed four little girls.
     This includes some southern/black dialogue.  A wonderful book.  I particularly love the tough guy older brother and the innocent younger one...oh the ties that siblings form without even realizing it!

Loser
Jerry Spinelli
2002
Goodreads rating: 3.70
cag: 4.5

Zinkoff, an exuberant kid who loves school, is not admired by his peers, but he doesn't seem to notice or care.  As we follow him through the grades to middle school, we are invited in for a peek inside his head - and it's an interesting journey.  There's some great descriptive writing here, too.....

The Murder Book
Jonathan Kellerman
Alex Delaware #16
2002
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.88
cag: 3

Alex Delaware and his friend, Milo Sturgis (a gay cop) work together to solve a 20-year old murder.  Milo had been pulled off the case and transferred when he was a young cop, and now a mysterious photo album of bodies has appeared.  Young Janie Ingalls, murdered during or after a Bel Air teenage party, which had been hushed up and never solved.  LA setting - I can almost see it now!

Surviving the Applewhites
Stephanie S. Tolan
2002
Middle Grades CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.62
cag:  5/5

Great story - Newbery Honor - The Applewhite family is artistic, creative, eccentric, and wonderful.  E. D., the protagonist, is home-schooled at their home, Wit's End, in rural North Carolina.  Jake, a rebellious, spike-haired, multi-pierced kid whose parents are in jail, comes to stay with them and the story is then partially told from his point-of-view.  The entire family all become embroiled in a community production of The Sound of Music.  A riotous, super book!

The DaVinci Code
Dan Brown
2003
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating: 4.18
cag: 5

Wow!
Started this at the end of the summer and finished for my book group.  Quite a a book!  I loved Angels and Demons, which Fran gave me and I read when Steve was sick.  It was so intricate, interesting, and thought-provoking....and this may be even more so.  Same protagonist.
     Secret societies that DaVinci, Newton, Boticelli belonged to - the Holy Grail not a cup but Mary Magdalene...Jesus' wife and mother of his child....whew!

And at the end of the journal, a list of books I haven't summarized:

High Five - Janet Evanovich, 1999
The Deadhouse (Alexendra Cooper #4) - Linda Fairstein, 2001
A Stone In My Hand - Cathryn Clinton, 2002
10 lb. Penalty - Dick Francis, 1997
Stone Monkey (Lincoln Rhyme #4)- Jeffrey Deaver, 2002
Decider - Dick Francis, 1993
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl - Martha Brooks, 2002 (5)
Keeper of the Night - Kimberly Willis Holt, 2003 (5)
Summoning God -Gear, Katherine O'Neal & W. Michael, 2001
Dust - Arthur Slade, 2001
Shadow Spinner - Susan Fletcher, 1999
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee, 1960 (5)
Shrink Rap (Sunny Randall #3) - Robert B. Parker, 2002
Buddha Boy - Kathe Koja, 2003
Dave at Night - Gail Carson Levine, 1999
Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan, 2003
Gathering Blue (The Giver #2) - Lois Lowry, 2000
Following Fake Man - Barbara Ware Holmes, 2001
Last to Die (Jack Swyteck #3) - James Grippando, 2003

Friday, May 30, 2014

POETRY PICTURE BOOK - Water Can Be ... - Laura Purdie Salas

Illustrated by Violete Dabija
2014 Millbrook Press/ Lerner Books
32 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.47
My rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Moss Green
Title Page: simple, perfect- bluey greeney with white raindrops and blue and green circles overlapping each other
Illustrations:  I'm not sure of the media used...the pages have no white, they're entirely covered and it almost seems like some of it is sponged...I'd like to know how she did them.
1st line/s:  Water is water --- / it's puddle, pond, sea. / When springtime comes splashing, / the water flows free.


My comments:  This is a beautiful book...both in words and pictures. They go together really well.    You'd think with only two words on each page it would be simple...but it's not.  It's much more intricate, especially when you think about what each descriptor - all of water - means:  Otter feeder.  Downhill speeder..... Salmon highway.  Eagle flyway....  Storm creator.  Decorator....  Mmmm hmmm. Delicious words.

Goodreads:  Water can be a 
Thirst quencher 
Kid drencher 
Cloud fluffer 
Fire snuffer 

Find out about the many roles water plays in this poetic exploration of water throughout the year.

31. Trespasser - Paul Doiron

Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch  #2
read on my phone through Kindle
2011 Minotaur Books
310 pgs.
Adult murder mystery
Finished 5/30/2014
Goodreads Rating:  3.89
My Rating: 3.5 - I liked it
Setting: Midcoast Maine, in a tiny rural town with a summer colony somewhere near Rockland/Thomaston/Camden
1st sentence/s: "I found the wreck easily enough.  It was the only red sedan with a crushed hood on the Parker Point Road.  In my headlights, the damage didn't look too extensive.  The driver had even managed to steer the car onto the muddy shoulder, where it had become mired to its hubcaps."

My comments:  I love the Maine setting and it was a good mystery. But it's hard for me to completely get into Mike Bowditch's head. He IS impetuous (I was rolling my eyes at some of the things he did) but on the other hand I don't understand why he gets into so much trouble for following his gut. He's a cop...sort of....isn't he? I do think I understood him better in the first book, though. Mixed feelings jumping around here. One other note: As much as I love, love, love the setting, it's hard to totally picture it when some of the places are real and some have the names changed. The locale in this book, Seal Cove, is an actual place on Mt. Desert Island, many miles away from the midcoast area where this is supposedly set. So the sense of "place" kept tilting itself for me.....

Goodreads Summary:   In Paul Doiron’s riveting follow-up to his Edgar Award–nominated novel,The Poacher's Son, Maine game warden Mike Bowditch’s quest to find a missing woman leads him through a forest of lies in search of a killer who may have gotten away with murder once before.    While on patrol one foggy March evening, Bowditch receives a call for help. A woman has reportedly struck a deer on a lonely coast road. When the game warden arrives on the scene, he finds blood in the road—but both the driver and the deer have vanished. And the state trooper assigned to the accident appears strangely unconcerned.
    The details of the disappearance seem eerily familiar. Seven years earlier, a jury convicted lobsterman Erland Jefferts of the rape and murder of a wealthy college student and sentenced him to life in prison. For all but his most fanatical defenders, justice was served. But when the missing woman is found brutalized in a manner that suggests Jefferts may have been framed, Bowditch receives an ominous warning from state prosecutors to stop asking questions.
    For Bowditch, whose own life was recently shattered by a horrific act of violence, doing nothing is not an option. His clandestine investigation reopens old wounds between Maine locals and rich summer residents and puts both his own life and that of the woman he loves in jeopardy. As he closes in on his quarry, he suddenly discovers how dangerous his opponents are, and how far they will go to prevent him from bringing a killer to justice.