Monday, December 18, 2017

Murder on the Links

Fiction by Agatha Christie.

Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot Series)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I'm re-reading Agatha Christie's novels in sequential order; this was her second book. It was excellent, of course, although generally I prefer her non-Hercule-Poirot books. (He just irritates me after a while. I think this is another indication of the author's genius, though; it's like he's a real person who walks in and everyone rolls their eyes.)

It is amazing to me that this was written almost a hundred years ago and is still compelling.


I also read recently by this author: The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Sunday, December 17, 2017

The Teacher's Funeral

Youth fiction by Richard Peck.

The Teacher's Funeral
https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Set at the turn of the century (that's the twentieth, not the twenty-first, by the way), this was a cute story about a one-room schoolhouse in the country.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Brush of Wings

Fiction by Karen Kingsbury.

Brush of Wings: A Novel
https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the third book in the "Angels Walking" series, and sequel to Chasing Sunsets.

It was a pretty good story, but it suffered somewhat from I've-Gotta-Draw-This-Plot-Out Syndrome.

This is a problem singular to series books, but it's similar to I-Can't-Tell-the-Truth-or-the-Story-Will-End-Here Syndrome, which happens a lot in romance novels due to lack of enough plot to sustain the story. (Click here for an example of that if you're interested.)

Series novels often have plenty of plot for one book, but not enough to sustain them over several books; hence, I've-Gotta-Draw-This-Plot-Out Syndrome starts. You have the main character basically sitting in a holding pattern waiting until it's time for the next book, doing useless things that do not advance the story and dithering over decisions that are already foregone conclusions.

For example, books two and three of the Twilight series can be summed up thusly: "Bella loves Edward but Jacob loves Bella but Edward is dangerous so Bella isn't sure what to do." FOR TWO WHOLE BOOKS!

Now to be fair, much of real life is like this. We spend years of our lives not advancing the story and doing useless things. But that is NOT what I want to read about. The whole POINT of fiction is to be able to skip the boring parts. That's why no one goes to the bathroom in novels.

All that is to say: this book was okay, but it should have been a lot shorter. And probably this whole trilogy should have been just one book. And that one book would have been really good!






Wednesday, December 13, 2017

The Hypnotist

Fiction by Lars Kepler.

The Hypnotist
https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A dark Swedish thriller, this book was exciting to read.

The eponymous Hypnotist is a psychiatrist who has vowed never to hypnotize a patient again, after something bad happened ten years ago. Guess whether he can keep that promise?

This one is not for the squeamish, by the way, which you might be able to tell from the bloody scissors on the cover. If you don't mind a little gore, however, you should read this book and find out what gets cut off with those scissors....

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Monday, December 11, 2017

World Without End

Fiction by Ken Follett

World Without End (Kingsbridge Series #2)

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Set in Middle Ages and full of feudalism, war, and the plague, this book might be expected to be terrible.

BUT IT'S NOT!

This is a great book! It's long, but it is definitely worth reading the whole thing. I really loved the characters and the story.

(Although this is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, it could definitely be read independently of that novel, since it takes place a couple of hundred years later and, sadly, all the characters from Book One are dead.)

I'm getting the third book next. Squee!!!


I also read recently by this author: Whiteout 

Sunday, December 10, 2017

The Woman Who Walked into Doors

Fiction by Roddy Doyle

The Woman Who Walked into Doors
https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Well, this was another book that depressed the heck out of me.

It's about an Irish woman with a drinking problem whose husband beats her. Yep, you guessed it! She didn't REALLY walk into doors. She just had a lot of black eyes and broken bones.

Although it's a well-written book I just didn't like it. I mean, does EVERYTHING have to be terrible in this lady's life? Jeez!

And, yes, I realize that sometimes life really is that terrible. But that is NOT why I read fiction. Novels are a place where all the terrible can be fixed with a stroke of the pen. (Or the tap of the computer keyboard, or whatever.) Bad things happen, but all is not lost! Good can triumph over evil!

Not in this book.