The Concrete Blonde

Fiction by Michael Connelly.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a pretty good detective story, but not great.

It's the middle of the series, which is problematic, and the main character detective is a little too much Mr. Tortured Hero for my taste. Still, it was a decent book.

Blood Red

Fiction by Wendy Corsi Staub.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a good thriller; it kept my interest and surprised me at the end. It's supposed to be the beginning of a new series, so I will look for the next one.


I also read recently by this author: The Good Sister.

Invasive Procedures

Fiction by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Usually when I see a co-authored book by a prolific author, I am suspicious. Generally this means that the Great and Popular Author (name #1 on the cover) is too busy (or too old, or too DEAD) to write his own books now and instead sketches out a plotline to shove over to some other guy (name #2 on the cover) so the lesser-known person can do the actual writing. (James Patterson is really bad about this, probably because the guy has too many great ideas for one novelist, but I have seen many other current authors do this. Also V.C. Andrews churned out a respectable number of novels after her untimely death.)

There's not really anything WRONG with this per se, because they are giving the poor workhorse (name #2) credit, but one has to be wary. If you're looking for a book actually written by a popular author (name #1) you like, don't go for the co-authored ones.

Anyways, I really like O. Scott Card a lot. I've read most of his books, (see The Pathfinder's Trilogy) so I was excited when I saw one on the library shelf that I hadn't read. Then I saw (uh-oh), it was a co-authored book. I was like, Oh man! Don't tell me this guy's already too old (or worse!) to write his own stuff! But I gave it a shot.

Fortunately it turned out that this book came out in 2008, and my pal Mr. Scott is still alive and well and writing currently. (Whew!) This story is in fact an adaptation of an old short story that Aaron Johnston, a screenwriter, turned into a movie and then a novel. Additionally, Mr. Johnston is also my pal, and I like his writing very much, although it's more like Michael Crichton than Orson Scott Card. Which is fine.

So, long story short (too late!): This is an exciting medical thriller that I enjoyed very much.

Truly Madly Gulity

Fiction by Liane Moriarty.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I really enjoyed this book, as I have pretty much everything by this author. I had a friend who also likes Liane Moriarty say she was disappointed by this one but I don't know why. Maybe it was a little slower-paced than Big Little Lies, but it was still excellent in my opinion.


I also read by this author: The Hypnotist's Love Story

The Chemist

Fiction by Stephanie Meyer.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I really enjoyed this book; it's a great thriller. It's not like Twilight (which I liked) or The Host (which I loved) by this same author, because it is in the real world. A more exciting version of the real world, of course...

Hidden Figures

Nonfiction by Margot Lee Shetterly.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I was interested in this book in the beginning because of the prologue; the author actually knew some of these women and was able to interview them. Oh, and the movie that's out right now with the lovely poster of three pretty black ladies dressed like Jackie Kennedy. That was also quite a draw.

Unfortunately I had a lot of trouble getting interested in the book past the prologue because the story seemed more about the history and atmosphere of Langley than about the ladies. I guess I shouldn't expect nonfiction to read like fiction, though. I'm just not as interested in this type of book as I should be. Still, it isn't the book's fault I'm not smart enough to enjoy it, I guess.

Private Lives

Fiction by Jane Smiley.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

The main character in this story interested me from th beginning, and I definitely found the book engaging. However, I didn't like how the plot went; it seemed to be unnecessarily cruel to this character I liked until she seemed rather emotionally stranded, and it ended with her story unresolved.

So I both liked and didn't like this story; on the whole, I think I'll give it half a thumbs-up for keeping my interest, but I can't go all the way thumbs-up since I was so unhappy with the end.


I also read recently by this author: Early Warning