Reading Slump

I've been having a hard time getting into any books lately for some reason. Knock'em Dead was a cute, though crass at times, mystery. It was an interesting story and the characters were well done. Even though I wasn't in love with it I would definitely read another Rhonda Pollero book sometime. On the other end, there is Tempest Rising with its horrific cover art. I had read some really good reviews and the fact that the main character is a mermaid made me willing to overlook the cover. Apparently I will go against my better judgment for the promise of a good mermaid story. And I tried really hard to like the story but just couldn't. It was really painful reading & I just wasn't into it. So I need to get out of my slump somehow, especially if I'm going to reach my goal of 365 books this year.

Cooking Up Murder, Miranda Bliss

Annie and Eve are life-long best friends who have absolutely nothing in common-except a lack of skill in the kitchen. So when they sign up for a cooking class at the local gourmet shop, they figure the only things at risk are a few innocent fruits and vegetables. But on the first night, Annie and Eve see their fellow student Beyla arguing with a man-a man who later turns up dead in the parking lot. Now the friends feel bound to uncover whatever secrets she's hiding, before someone else's goose-perhaps one of their own-gets cooked.

I seem to go through phases of reading only one genre for a time and then moving on to a completely different genre. Which explains the massive quantity of YA books that I read in 2009 and the teeny tiny amount of mysteries that I ended up reading (or really anything else). If I had been recording my reading for 2008 it would have shown a massive quantity of mysteries; specifically cozy ones. So I'm going to try to be more balanced in my reading this year. Which brings me to Cooking Up Murder.

I loved reading this story. Annie is such a likable and relatable character. I love her best friend Eve and her Scottish cooking instructor, Jim, was appropriately dreamy. It was a very entertaining story and reminded me why I love these cozy mystery series in the first place. In a way they give me the same de-stressing expereince that the Simon Romantic Comedies do. Which is high praise from me.

Thankfully I have already bought the other books in this series so I can keep reading through my don't-want-to-go-back-to-school-depression this week.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

This book definitely lived up to the hype surrounding it. I am not one for graphic crime stories so even though I was impressed I won't be reading the next 2 books in the series.

I love Lisbeth! What a fascinating character. I read a review that called her a "feminist avenging angel" and I agree completely. I spent a lot of time worried for her in the book and then wanting to cheer out loud when she got her revenge against her attacker. That scene was crazy-go-nuts in an excellent death-to-perverts kind of way. I was seriously grinning at 2am when I read that part.

The mystery in the story was clever and kept me awake reading far longer than I had planned to because I just had to know the ending. Now my only complaint is the very last page. That made me mad on Lisbeth's behalf and since I don't plan to read the other books I want someone to post a detailed wikipedia entry full of spoilers so I can know if Lisbeth ever tells Mikael how she feels about him. The internet has let me down so far in providing answers.

Silent on the Moor, Deanna Raybourn

I am pretending that this pretty UK cover on the left is the edition that I bought at Borders. I really don't understand marketing- particularly why one would assume that only UK readers would be drawn in by the promise of vintage looking fonts, an engraving-type illustration of the moors, and an authentic looking Victorian woman on the cover but to lure American readers one would need to see heaving bosoms with tawdry, inaccurate sartorial choices. In short the type of cover that makes me want to fashion my own dust jackets so I can read with no shame in public.

So I was very relieved (after I finished being irritated) to find the pretty UK versions that I now want to order. Which I totally plan to do. By book 3 I have had a complete about face in opinion on this series. I loved this book and I love the characters. I love Lady Julia and Brisbane and Portia and Mr. Pugglesworth and Morag and pretty much everyone else. I also loved the humor in this one, the Wuthering Heights references, and most of all I loved the ending. I am really glad that there is a 4th book coming out and I hope that the series will be ongoing.

Now that I am on friendly terms with Lady Julia I want to go back and reread Silent in the Grave and potentially get over my issues with it. I think owning my own pretty copies of these books will probably help me with that as well. I do think Silent in the Grave has one of the most clever openings I've read in a long time which I can't believe I didn't mention in my initial thoughts:

"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

Silent on the Moors is definitely my favorite of the 3 books. Here are some favorite lines:

"Oh, isn't that just like a man to ruin a thrilling romantic gesture by leaving as soon as you've come rushing up here to sweep him into your arms and declare your love for him?"

...even if her clothes look like something out of a primer on modesty.

"I offered because I knew you would never be able to resist the chanace to play the coquette and thrust yourself at Brisbane."

"Oh, yes. I mean to marry him. But not because I want him to give me a life. I want to marry him to share the life I already have. The difference, I think you will find, is a significant one."

All in all, a very satisying book. There were a lot of excellent swoony parts near the end that I very much appreciated as well.

Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters

Elizabeth Peters' has a wonderfully distinctive and entertaining voice. I loved Borrower of the Night when I read it earlier this year and I have had Amelia Peabody on my list ever since then. Especially since I read this enthusiastic review of Crocodile on the Sandbank at the Book Smugglers.

I am too tired and routine-childhood-illness-as-an-adult-depressed to write anything clever about why I enjoyed reading this but I loved the book. Amelia is hilarious and frequently wielding a parasol as a weapon while telling people that she is "on the job". The romantic tension and bickering between Emerson and Amelia is so much fun to read. Here is one of my favorite Emerson moments:

"Not wounded, not dying, merely enjoying a ladylike swoon," said Emerson's familiar, detestable voice. "Allow me to congratulate you, Peabody; it is the first time I have seen you behave as a lady is supposed to do. I must make a note of it in my journal."(p.217)

I am looking forward to reading the rest of Amelia's adventures. And to being free of diseases carried by children.

Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourn

This is difficult for me to sum up in a few words. It's much easier when I love it or hate it but this one falls somewhere in the middle. The story was clever and engaging. I was definitely hooked and wanted to keep reading but there were many stretches that felt slow and in need of editing to me. I didn't need to read about Lady Julia dithering back and forth for several paragraphs every time she did something reckless. I also didn't need to read her frequent asides of "if I had known then what I know now" throughout the book.

I did really like Julia and Brisbane quite a bit though. The characters were much stronger than the drawn out writing style. This book definitely fell into the "girls who are forward thinkers ahead of their time trap" which is one of my biggest pet peeves. Small doses of that I can handle but this was a little much for my taste. It takes me out of the story and has me questioning the author's motives. Which is not what I am looking for in a reading experience.

Despite these issues I did really enjoy this book and I am planning to read the next two installments as soon as I can get them from the library. I am definitely hoping for more Brisbane & Julia romance them.

Borrower of the Night, Elizabeth Peters

This book really made me happy- it was suspenseful, witty, funny, and clever all at the same time. It reminded me of The Daughter of Time in a way with the whole solving a mystery from hundreds of years in the past thing. I've had Elizabeth Peters on my list of authors to check out for a long time and I'm glad I finally did.

I loved Vicky Bliss. She is hilarious and reminds me of Emily Deschanel's character on Bones- very aware of how beautiful & intelligent she but still in need of reassurance. Vicky is by no means as socially awkward and needy as Bones but she comes close.

This book also had an awesome first paragraph:

"When I was ten years old, I knew I was never going to get married. Not only was I six inches taller than any boy in the fifth grade- except Matthew Finch who was five ten and weighed ninety-eight pounds- but my IQ was as formidable as my height. It was sixty points higher than that of any of the boys- except the aforesaid Matthew Finch. I topped him by only thirty points... If there is anything worse than being a tall girl, it is being a tall smart girl." (p.1)

Vicky is a great narrator and the book is full of funny lines:

"She had fought time with some success, but the signs of battle were visible; the keen blue eyes were set in folds of waxy, crumpled flesh, and her neck had the petrified scrawniness older women get when they diet too strenuously... she looked the way a dowager countess ought to look." (p. 67)

"A girl my size needs her nourishment..." (p.126)

"Stay put tonight. That's an order."
I nodded. A reflexive movement is not binding legally." (p.192)

"Allow me then to assume my trousers."
Tony and I went out into the hall while the trousers were assumed."(p.204)

Its always comforting to find a new author who writes so satisfyingly. Its strangely calming to me knowing that there are is a whole stack of more Elizabeth Peters books out there waiting for me. To my mind the only thing that could improve Vicky's adventures is for a dash more romance in the next installments.

Handbags and Homicide, Dorothy Howell

I think this cute & fluffy mystery was an appropriate read for the week when I purchased my first Jimmy Choos! Am I shallow? Apparently! :) But I really do have a sense of peace now that this hole has been filled in my shoe wardrobe.