ooops!!

Where does the time go?  A month and a half and no book reviews.  The books are stacking up, so I'll have to get the reviews written.  So much has been happening, at the library, at home, wow.  Life is a roller coaster.  Enjoy the ride.

Book Review Friday: Death in Salem

Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind the 1692 Witch Hunt
By Diane E. Foulds

I'm a history buff and a descendant of Rebecca Nurse, one of the unfortunate victims hung for witchcraft in Salem in 1692, so I've read a lot of books about the trials.  Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind the 1692 Witch Hunt by Diane E. Foulds is an interesting addition to the canon.  Instead of focusing on the various theories on the whys and wherefores of the trials, Ms. Foulds' book offers short biographical sketches of everyone involved covering the stresses, personalities, and politics of life in a harsh and sometimes hostile environment.  Complete with an index and bibliography, this is a good resource for students, historians, and genealogists.

Book Review Friday: King Solomon's Mines

King Solomon's Mines
By H. Rider Haggard

I grew up watching Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in the movie King Solomon's Mines.  This is the first time I ever tried reading the book.  Wow, is this a different story.  Main character, Allan Quartermain narrates this tale of adventure and the first thing he points out to his reader, the story is written primarily for his son, is that there are no women in it.  Except for one evil, extremely old, witch, named Gagool.  So if you loved the romance between Granger and Kerr in the 1950 movie, you won't find it here.  H. Rider Haggard's story is an adventure tale, through and through. Set in 19th century, colonial Africa and told at a much slower pace than modern adventure stories, King Solomon's Mines is the story of adventurer Allan Quartermain leading Sir Henry Curtis and his friend John Good on a quest to find Sir Henry's missing brother George, who was lost while looking for the legendary treasure trove, King Solomon's Mines.  On their way they encounter savage animals, natives both friendly and hostile, blazing deserts, and long lost civilizations. 
The slow pace and rich detail might put off some readers used to the short, clipped prose of Patterson, but for the reader willing to spend the time, it's a good story.


If you like adventure stories set in far of locales, you may enjoy:

The Tarzan series by Sir Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sigma Force series by James Rollins
The Amelia Peabody mystery series by Elizabeth Peters (set in Egypt)

Other authors to explore include:

Christian Jacq
Rudyard Kipling
William Dietrich
Robert Louis Stevenson

Book Review Friday: Bruno, Chief of Police

Bruno, Chief of Police
By Martin Walker



Wow!  I feel like I just got back from a long vacation in France.  Martin Walker gives his book Bruno, Chief of Police a real sense of place.  From the description of the small French village of St. Denis to the mouthwatering descriptions of real French cooking this book is a vacation between two hard covers.  Bruno, whose real name is Benoit Courreges, is the only policeman in the commune of St. Denis.  He knows all the villagers personally, teaches their little ones tennis, and works with the police in the other local villages playing a game of cat and mouse with the health inspectors from the European Union who are trying to enforce modern production rules that would shut down half the businesses in the local market square.  And when murder shatters the peace of the little village of St. Denis, Bruno proves that common sense and old fashioned police work can triumph over flash and politics. 

First in a series.  Other titles include:
The Dark Vineyard
Black Diamond
The Crowded Grave
The Devil's Cave
Bruno and the Carol Singers
The Resistance Man
Children of War
They Dying Season

For more mysteries set in France try these authors:
Michelle Wan
Gerald Jay
Fred Vargas
M. L. Longworth

Book Review Friday: A Dangerous Place

A Dangerous Place

By Jacqueline Winspear

The last book in this series left main character Maisie Dobbs at a crossroads, and left her author with a bit of a dilemma, she wanted to take Maisie in one direction, but millions of fans were hoping for another. How Jacqueline Winspear resolves that dilemma, and she does it very well, becomes a major plot point in this new installment of a well-loved series.

A Dangerous Place opens four years after Leaving Everything Most Loved ended.  On her way home to England, Maisie stops off in Gibraltar and becomes entangled in a murder case.  The police dismiss the stabbing death of Sebastian Babayoff as the work of a transient, but Maisie isn’t convinced and begins her own investigation.  Soon she draws the attention of the British Secret Service in a dangerous place where nothing is what it seems to be and everyone is guarding a secret, including Maisie herself.

A well-crafted story complete with many of Winspear’s characteristic psychological twists and turns. While some Maisie fans will be disappointed, most will welcome the return of their favorite psychologist and private investigator.

If you like the Maisie Dobbs series, you might like:

The Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen

The Kate Shakleton series by Frances Brody

The Cordelia Gray series by P. D. James

The Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King

The Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd

The Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd

*Series suggestions courtesy of Novelist Plus

  

Book Review Friday: I Think I Love You

I Think I Love You
By Allison Pearson

It's 1974 and Petra is absolutely in love with David and is sure she's going to marry him one day.  The only problem is Petra is 13 and David is 70s pop star David Cassidy.  I Think I Love You tells the story of young Petra and her girlfriends' obsession with David and all the trials and tribulations of adolescence, first love, and growing up.  The second half of the story sees Petra all grown up with a daughter of her own, still trying to navigate life and make it all make sense.  This was a great coming of age story.  Pearson absolutely nails growing up in the 1970s.  And Petra's struggles with her friends and her parents will ring true for any woman of any age.

If you liked  I Think I Love You, you may like these authors:

Emily Giffin
Jodi Picoult
Anna Quindlen
Beth Hoffman
Kaye Gibbons

Book Review Friday: Cat Out of Hell

Cat out of Hell
By Lynne Truss

After the unexpected death of his wife, Alec Charlesworth takes an extended holiday to mourn and regroup  When he and his dog, Watson, aren't wandering the windswept beaches of Norfolk, England, Alec starts reading a curious document sent to him by a man he barely knows.  The computer files relate the story of a man named Will Caton-Pines, Wiggy to his friends.  Wiggy's sister disappeared under mysterious circumstances and when he went to her home to investigate, Wiggy encountered Roger, a cat who could talk.

Suspend disbelief and allow author Lynne Truss to take you on an hysterical, horrifying adventure into the real world of cats.  You will never look at your cat the same way again.

Truss is the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, and several other works of fiction and nonfiction. She is currently at work on a sequel to Cat Out of Hell.