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Monthly Archives: October 2011

Review: Hit Man by Lawrence Block (Audiobook)

28 Oct

Hit Man (Keller, #1)My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Who would have thought that these tales of the life of a hit man would be so much fun? Certainly, my (very limited) experience with Lawrence Block didn’t set my expectations in the right direction.

Summary via Goodreads.com:

Keller is an assassin – he is paid by the job and works for a mysterious man who nominates hits and passes on commissions from elsewhere. Keller goes in, does the job, gets out: usually at a few hours’ notice . . . Often Keller’s work takes him out of New York to other cities, to pretty provincial towns that almost tempt him into moving to the woods and the lakeshores. Almost but not quite.

But then one job goes wrong in a way Keller has never imagined and it leaves him with a big problem. Finding himself with an orphan on his hands, Keller’s job begins to interfere with his carefully guarded life. And once you let someone in to your life, they tend to want to know what you do when you’re away. And killing for a living, lucrative though it is, just doesn’t find favour with some folks.

Keller is a hit man, but this career leaves him with a lot of time on his hands. The rather unique way he ends up with a dog, his new hobby of stamp collecting, the unexpected side effects of an impromptu rescue of a drowning boy… These stories are interwoven with reports of his job tasks, which are handled in a very matter-of-fact, just-another-day-on-the-job manner. He has workplace challenges, since the repercussions of a mistake in the details of an assignment are fairly significant.

Keller is an interesting guy. The book isn’t terribly deep, but it is textured. It’s intellectually engaging as well as entertaining, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Audiobook Notes

Sound Bytes @ Devourer of Books

For more audiobook reviews, check out Sound Bytes

Narrator:  Robert Forster’s calm delivery was perfect for this story.  He just made Keller and his life feel so normal!

Production:  No issues, no extras.

Audio vs. Print?  My feeling is that I enjoyed this even more as an audio book.  I can’t give a solid reason why, but I think that Robert Forster’s reading of the book gave it a little more of a feeling of everyday life, allowing the contrast between the normalcy of Keller’s life and the unreality of his job to really shine through.  In the end, I’d say to read it in whatever format is more convenient for you.

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2011 in books, reviews

 

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Review: You Are My Only by Beth Kephart

27 Oct

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You Are My Only was breathtakingly beautiful, and very emotional. I wasn’t ready for it to end– I want to know what’s next for these characters.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Emmy Rane is married at nineteen, a mother by twenty. Trapped in a life with a husband she no longer loves, Baby is her only joy. Then one sunny day in September, Emmy takes a few fateful steps away from her baby and returns to find her missing. All that is left behind is a yellow sock.

Fourteen years later, Sophie, a homeschooled, reclusive teenage girl is forced to move frequently and abruptly from place to place, perpetually running from what her mother calls the “No Good.” One afternoon, Sophie breaks the rules, ventures out, and meets Joey and his two aunts. It is this loving family that gives Sophie the courage to look into her past. What she discovers changes her world forever. . . .

The riveting stories of Emmy and Sophie—alternating narratives of loss, imprisonment, and freedom regained—escalate with breathless suspense toward an unforgettable climax.

The story follows Sophie in the present day, as she starts to chafe against the boundaries of her life, which seems stranger and stranger by the page. Within those confines she’s a bright, curious, and overall NORMAL 14 year old (even if she moves frequently with no warning, she’s home-schooled on an odd assortment of subjects, and is forbidden to have contact with anyone else).

I absolutely loved spending time with her, even as my heart was breaking for all she discovered.

Emmy’s story is set 14 years earlier, when her Baby disappears. I found my time with Emmy even more beautiful and heartbreaking, even while Emmy never came off the paper for me. I mourned her situation, and the truly beautiful writing brought that sorrow home. I never quite related to her as a person, but her situation was compelling.

I don’t normally rave about the writing in a book. I’m more likely to complain that it distracts me from the story, even (or maybe particularly) when the writing is beautiful. In this case, the story is simple enough that the words themselves are not a distraction, but simply build layer upon layer of emotion.

Thank you to Egmont USA and NetGalley for giving me electronic access to You Are My Only for review.

 
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Posted by on October 27, 2011 in books, reviews

 

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Mailbox Monday

23 Oct

My mailbox looks a little like this one!Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour, October’s host is Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit.

I haven’t been accepting books for review for the last couple of months, but unsolicited (but still appreciated) books have still made their way to my mailbox.  Some of these will be read and reviewed, others will not, but I’m thankful for each one.

I’ve gotten further behind than I’d like, so this is the print book edition for the last couple of months.  Next week, I’ll post the audiobook edition.

As for my mailbox:

The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin

The Complaints: that’s the name given to the Internal Affairs department who seek out dirty and compromised cops, the ones who’ve made deals with the devil. And sometimes The Complaints must travel.

A major inquiry into a neighboring police force sees Malcolm Fox and his colleagues cast adrift, unsure of territory, protocol, or who they can trust. An entire station-house looks to have been compromised, but as Fox digs deeper he finds the trail leads him back in time to the suicide of a prominent politician and activist. There are secrets buried in the past, and reputations on the line.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

(I’ve been meaning to, but I haven’t read a Michael Connelly book before.  I know I’ll miss out on character development, but can I jump into this series this far in?)

Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab’s DNA cases currently in court.

Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving’s son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch’s longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

Assassin of Secrets by Q.R. Markham

An elite spy risks his biggest asset to defeat an insidious international organization hell-bent on selling the most sensitive state secrets to the highest bidder.

Jonathan Chase, the CIA’s top field agent, is sworn to protect and serve the United States at all costs. But after a brutal period of captivity during the Korean War, Chase developed an agenda of his own: to use his mastery of war to create peace.

His new target: the Zero Directorate, a cabal of rogue assassins who have embarked on a campaign to systematically interrogate and kill seasoned secret agents from across the globe.

But the Directorate has set an elaborate trap, and for Chase the whole mission involves an inescapable paradox. As the world’s preeminent operative, the closer he gets to the cabal, the closer the cabal gets to their primary target.

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci

A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.

“We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.

“I know what I am.”

Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world — or, at least, an idea of the world.

Then he meets Hooper. Who says he’s from another planet. And may be going home very soon.

Survivors by James Wesley, Rawles

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Savvy Verse & Wit and check out others!

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2011 in books, meme

 

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Review: In Pursuit of Miss Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens (audiobook)

21 Oct

In Pursuit of Miss Eliza Cynster: A Cynster NovelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars

So much of this book was wildly improbable, but somehow this didn’t bother me, because I was having so much fun with it. It was a tremendous adventure, with kidnapping, rescue, running, escaping, and long, lonely nights in hiding.

Summary via Goodreads.com:

The pleasure of your company is requested at the wedding of Miss Eliza Cynster . . . but not until she’s rescued from a daring abduction by the most unexpected of heroes!

Brazenly kidnapped from her sister Heather’s engagement ball, Eliza Cynster is spirited north to Edinburgh. Desperate and deter-mined to escape, she seizes upon the first possible champion who happens along— gentleman scholar Jeremy Carling.

Villains and rescues are a far cry from Jeremy’s expertise, yet he cannot abandon a damsel in distress. But danger lurks and hurdles abound in their race to escape the mysterious laird, until a final confrontation on a windswept cliff reveals what their future life could hold—if both are bold enough to seize and own the unexpected love they now share.

I loved the two main characters and their journeys (physical and personal).

Eliza was a somewhat reserved young lady, and the only way in which she doesn’t appear to be the paragon of what a young woman in society should be is her failure to be married at age 24. She’s decided she won’t marry until she finds her hero, and her hero is nowhere to be found in her usual circles.

Jeremy is a quiet scholar (and I’m a sucker for a brainy guy) who has recently realized he’d like more than intellectual conversation in his life.

Both of them get to discover that they are capable of more than they imagined.

As much as I liked the heroes, I also enjoyed the villains– two of them. One is a basically nice guy, if you can overlook his habit of kidnapping young women. The other is a pushed over the edge psychopath. Both do a good job with the chasing and pursuing side of the adventure.

The romance was pleasantly steamy (very steamy), and the couple was all around well suited. I really enjoyed reading this book, my first with this author.

(One last comment– I did indeed come in mid-series here. Certainly the outcome of at least one previous book was fairly thoroughly spoiled for me, but I rarely enter a romance novel without complete certainty as to how it will end, even if I’ve never heard of the book or author before. I’m not sure if certain villainous motives would have been clearer if I’d read some of the earlier books, but I am sure that any confusion there didn’t keep me from enjoying the book.)

Audiobook Notes

Sound Bytes @ Devourer of Books

For more audiobook reviews, check out Sound Bytes

Narrator:I enjoyed the narration by Matthew Brenher.  I’m used to listening to romance novels with female narrators, so I was mildly apprehensive when I first heard the male voice.  It wasn’t a problem, and since there were more male viewpoints than female ones in this book, the choice made sense.

Production: No issues, no extras.  A solid production.

Audio vs. Print:  Whichever is more convenient is probably fine.  I suspect I would have enjoyed the print version just as much, but the audio is truly delightful.

I received my copy of In Pursuit of Miss Eliza Cynster from the publisher for review.  Thank you, Harper Audio!

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2011 in books, reviews

 

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Review: The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen

19 Oct

The Revisionists by Thomas MullenMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

f you want a mind-bending adventure with many twists and turns, time travel, and a look at a path from where we are to a future “perfect society”, this book is for you. If you like to be certain of your footing when you are reading, you’d probably be happier avoiding it.

I’m really happy I picked it up.

Summary via Goodreads.com:

Would you kill to make the world a peaceful place?

Zed is an agent from the future. A place where all of the world’s problems have been solved. No hunger. No war. No despair.

His mission is to keep that way. Even if it means ensuring every cataclysm throughout history runs its course, especially one just on the horizon.

Zed’s mission will ensnare the lives of a disgraced former spy named Leo; a young lawyer, Tasha, grieving over the loss of her brother; Sari, the oppressed employee of a foreign diplomat; and countless others. But will he finish his final mission before the present takes precedence over a perfect future? One that may have more cracks than he realizes?

The Revisionists is a literary tale of action and intrigue that puts a fresh spin on today’s global crises, asking questions about the nature of history and the future, and our own roles in shaping them.

Every time I thought I knew what was happening, something changed. I ended up confused, and I mean that in mostly a good way.

Zed (undercover as Troy) was a fascinating character, with a tough past in the “Perfect Society” of the future. He’s a true believer in what he’s doing, but he’s smart enough to let doubts come in. They include the doubts that would occur to anyone sent through time as an assassin, but they take him places I never even imagined.

The contemporary characters were also thought provoking, if somewhat simpler. But beyond Zed, this wasn’t a book about character. It was a book about world building, and how a future is built. It was a book about plot and thrills and crazy and unexpected changes of direction in both small and large scale.

Every time I start to say more, I realize I’m heading toward spoiler territory, so I’ll keep this review brief.  An adventurous book club would really have a good time discussing the twists and turns, what REALLY happened, and what they think of the portrayal of today’s society, the Perfect Society of the future, and the path between them.

One more comment– The Revisionists was a slow read, and I’m not entirely certain why. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read it, and it wasn”t that I didn’t enjoy reading it. I think I just needed to keep taking some quiet moments to allow me to keep up.

Thank you to Mulholland Books for sending me The Revisionists for review consideration! 

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2011 in books, reviews

 

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Review: Every Step You Take: A Memoir by Jock Soto

06 Oct

Every Step You Take: A MemoirMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Jock Soto has a very interesting history, and I liked the glimpse into the life of this gay ballet dancer of Navajo/Puerto Rican heritage.

Summary via Goodreads:

ock Soto, one of the greatest ballet dancers of our time chronicles the unique circumstances of his extraordinary career, his life among other legends of dance, and his background as a half-Navajo, half-Puerto Rican gay man struggling to succeed in the straight white world of the arts. Regarded as the greatest ballet dancer since Baryshnikov, Soto has achieved a level of success and fame enjoyed by few. Ballet aficionados will be familiar with Soto from the award-winning PBS documentary, Water Flowing Together, which chronicled his life and career. Now, lifelong dance adherents and causal fans alike will have the chance to hear the captivating story of one of the world’s greatest living performers.

Jock Soto actually lived in the Phoenix area around the same time I did, and he lived a similarly middle-class life at the time. There the similarities between our paths ends.

Even more than his talent (which I hear about indirectly in the book, but I don’t really see, since it is hard to get the true nature of dance through the written word), I am awed by his dedication to dance. He knows from a very young age exactly what he wants to do, and is willing to spend all his time and energy on it at an age when most children have a much more limited attention span. Even as an adult, I long for a purpose so consuming, a path that is so clear.

He makes no effort to hide his youthful shortsightedness and selfishness that led to him being on his own in New York at age 14. Still, he was savvy enough to survive this, as well as get through a rather intense young love affair with an older man without family support to back him up.

The best part for me was the glimpses into the world of the ballet, the inner working of his company. I liked seeing the aspects from insight as to how a dance was choreographed (and I wish there was much more detail here– it truly was only a glance), seeing the personal relationships and the politics that went on.

I had two issues with the book, neither of which were enough to keep me from enjoying my reading, but they were enough to keep me from loving Every Step You Take.

First the voice of the narration didn’t match the person being portrayed. Part of it is that he’s looking back, so it is the voice of a 40+ year old telling the story of a teen and young man, but even after he was grown up, it still didn’t seem to have the passion that was being described.

The other problem is that the book really felt like just a glimpse into the life. Ballets, lovers, family relationships, complex living situations all were quickly mentioned, but I never really saw it or felt it. I was interested, but not involved.

Still, when the worst I can say is that I wish there was more to it, I can’t really complain.

I received this book for review from Harper Collins. Thank you for this opportunity!

 
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Posted by on October 6, 2011 in books, reviews

 

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September Wrap-up

02 Oct

Ahh, September.  School kicks into full gear (with my responsibilities for my daughter’s class), the fall TV season starts with the return of favorite shows and my pathological need to try out all potentially interesting new programs….

This year, September also included major traveling by my husband (furthering my respect for all the single parents out there) and my not being able to shake the cold that knocked me out of commission in August.

It’s a wonder I read anything at all. Certainly, my reading was down a bit, particularly audiobooks, but not enough to make me want to change anything there.  What did take more of a hit than I would like is my review writing– with only 6 written, I’m under my goal of 2 per week, and I really want to do better in October.

So, here are my books read:

Paper Books

  1. The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
  2. Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook
  3. Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones (Editors)
  4. Every Step You Take: A Memoir by Jock Soto

Nook Books

  1. Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen
  2. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
  3. The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

Audio Books

  1. Pirate King (Mary Russell #11) by Laurie R. King (already read in print)
  2. Hit Man (Keller #1) by Lawrence Block
  3. Beguilement (The Sharing Knife #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold
  4. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
  5. No One You Know by Michelle Richmond

This brings my totals for the year to 134 books read: 55 paper books, 63 audio books, 14 Nook Books, 1 other e-book, and 1 book in multiple formats.  My favorite reads of the month were the completely charming The Tapestry of Love and listening to Pirate King, which I liked even more in audio than I did in print!

I’m continuing to avoid new review commitments for October, so I’m reading a mixture of old review books and books I’ve bought for myself.  My plan is to find one or two books to accept for November and December, and a few more for January.  Meanwhile, I still have book club books to read.

How was your reading in September?  What are your October plans?

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2011 in books, summary

 

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