END OF THE YEAR REVIEW CATCH UP

I saw this format on Regular Rumination's blog and decided to steal it. Shortest reviews EVER!


A Killer Plot by Ellory Adams 3.5 - a cozy mystery that involves books and food. As decent mystery though I had trouble warming up to the main character.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott 3.5 - an interesting historical fiction novel that looks at what happens to some of the survivors of the Titanic and about creating a new life in America. Light but charming.
 
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen 5- I LOVED this. A great crime book that takes place in Denmark. Great characters and has humor. Highly recommend.
 
The Heroine's Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore 5 -  a must-read for literature lovers. A great look at the authors who wrote some of our most beloved books.

 The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni 5- another favorite. I just loved and adored this book. You must read about a boy named Sebastian who will steal your heart.



Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen 4.5-(Royal Spyness series) I think this is my favorite one so far. Lady Georgiana in Transylvania, a castle, possible vampires and of course murder! Loved it!

In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen 4.5, Oh Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen 4.5- (Molly Murphy series) this is not your typical cozy series. It takes place in New York City at the beginning of the 1900's. Molly is an Irish immigrant who wants to be a private detective. This series deals with a lot of the issues in that time and really brings the history alive.


Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates 4 - Oates writes a stream of consciousness story based on the incident at Chappaquiddick. Short book but packs a punch.

The Girl Who Would Speak For the Dead by Paul Elwork 3- a book about a sister and brother who can fool their friends into thinking the sister can communicate with the dead. Sweet but didn't really come together for me.

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan  3.5 - a fun book about a thief who also writes novels. But he gets caught up in a real-life murder mystery. This is a series, I plan to read more.


The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer 4.5 - One of my favorite Heyer's so far. You will adore the fun-loving Sophy, who is a tornado in the lives of those around her, especially her dashing cousin.

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay 3- people that like cozy mysteries also read other books. They aren't stupid. Authors might want to keep this in mind. A seaside town and a library- awesome. Writing as if readers are slow, not good.


The Snowman by Jo Nesbo 4.5- I'd been looking forward to this book and what a great crime thriller. A bit gruesome at times.


The Guilty by Jason Pinter 3-  a decent mystery about a journalist who seems to become part of all his stories. I'd read another, but not top of my list.


The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor 4- I thought it would be scary and more about... ghosts. But still very enjoyable murder mystery in Victorian (or thereabouts) England.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig 4- a fun, historical, adventure, romance book takes up where The Scarlet Pimpernel left off. I don't know why I took so long to get to this series but I can't wait to read more.

MY READING YEAR IN REVIEW- 2011

I promise this is not JUST a best of list, I know people get tired of those!

This year was not a banner reading year for me. I had hoped to read about 100 books this year as I did in 2010 but I am at around 80 and this includes quite a few rereads. Also, 2010 seemed to be the year of many 5 star reads and tons of chunksters. Not so 2011. I didn't read many of the highly lauded books, they didn't appeal to me. For example,  The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. This book is on every best of list I have seen. I couldn't finish it, I thought it was so boring. I did manage to finish The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, another book that has hit many lists, but I thought it was kind of blah. I certainly don't see what all the fuss is about.

I also had two long reading droughts this year, which is one more than usual but two too many! I am very much hoping to avoid these in 2012. As a result, my blogging has been very slow. Even now, I am reading, but hardly blogging about it. It isn't because I'm too busy, just too tired. I'm thinking of catching up with reviews by making them the length of blurbs! I hope to do much better next year.

Now for my poor sad, neglected books. This whole year I did not pick up Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna from my nightstand. How can that be? It is right in front of me. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is only half finished. And Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie? Only about a quarter finished. Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors and while I did reread some past novels, I still have not picked up The Dovekeepers, even though I got a review copy and have heard the book is fantastic. I didn't read any classics, and most of the books in my book cases remained untouched. I am very ashamed by this and hope to do better next year.

Lastly, some great reads this year, I'll only mention a few.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye
The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
 Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
The Burning by Jane Casey

                   But here is really the BEST of 2011, my new pup Murphy

NEED YOU NOW by James Grippando

Patrick Lloyd is a young financial adviser for Bank of Switzerland/ American branch. Abe Cushman is a Madoff-type, who has stolen $60 billion in a Ponzi scheme but when he gets caught, he does a swan dive off his terrace. Gerry Collins is an accomplice, brutally murdered when he tries to flee. Patrick is informed by the higher ups at BOS, that his former girlfriend, Lily Scanlon is a suspect in helping Collins hide money. But Patrick has secrets of his own and that is where things start to get convoluted. There are way too many things happening at once with this story and too many coincidences. The dialogue is not great and Grippando's pop culture references every third page made me want to throw the book across the room. I feel like the book could have been much better with a little more effort. Also, I don't find government conspiracy plots very exciting or original. Maybe because it isn't shocking or surprising considering what does happen in reality.
I read Grippando's earlier novels years ago and enjoyed them. I don't know if my tastes have changed or he just didn't put much effort into this. Either way, I wouldn't recommend it.

my rating 2/5
I received this book from Amazon Vine Program

THE FACE THIEF by Eli Gottlieb

 "A powerfully dark and gripping tale of two men obsessed with one very charismatic, very  damaged woman who is determined to con from each of them everything she needs to survive..." 


The novel starts with a woman falling down the stairs. We don't know if she has been pushed but we quickly discover that there are two men who could have done it.
Josh Potash invested his savings, only to discover it was a scam, so he tries to find the woman and try and get his money back.
Lawrence Billings is a "face reader" who has written books and gives seminars. Margot asks for personal lessons and becomes a prize student.

A cop questions Margot as her memory slowly returns. He knows what she is but thinks he can change her.

The story moves between the three characters. None are really likeable but they are very human. You may not like the ending but I found it fitting with the rest of the story. I would recommend this to anyone who can enjoy a book off the beaten path.


my rating 5/5
I received this book from Amazon Vine Program

DARK SOULS by Paula Morris, a mini-review

I don't read a lot of YA but I read and enjoyed the author's last book, RUINED. This book takes place in Yorkshire, England and has ghosts, so how could I resist.
Miranda has had a bad few months after losing her best friend in a car accident. Her brother was driving and hasn't been the same since. Their parents decide to take them on a trip to England hoping it will help if they get away. The night of the accident, Miranda saw the ghost of her best friend. Now in Yorkshire, she is seeing them everywhere, But she meets a boy named Nick who can see them,too.

But this isn't a YA romance, it is more about a girl coming to terms with an unsettling gift. Unlike other YA novels, her parents are caring and loving.
The author writes descriptively of the Yorkshire town they are staying in and incorporates a bit of history. This was a quick and enjoyable read.

my rating 4/5
I received this book from Amazon Vine program

THE INFORMATIONIST: A VANESSA MICHAEL MONROE NOVEL by Taylor Stevens

Vanessa Michael Monroe is a fantastic kick-ass heroine. I loved The Informationist and was thrilled to get a copy of The Innocent.
This time, Michael's best friend, Logan needs her help. Logan grew up in a cult called The Chosen. He eventually got out and later helped his childhood friend, Charity and her daughter, Hannah get out. Charity's boyfriend leaves the cult with them but eventually decides to return, kidnapping Hannah and taking her with them. The Chosen have kept Hannah closely hidden but now Logan and some of his former cult members have information about where Hannah may be kept. But they need Michael to get her out. Michael agrees but not before finding out some other motives of the ex-members, including Logan himself. Miles Bradford, who also appeared in The Informationist joins Michael. She has been having violent nightmares and Miles thinks the work will be helpful.
This had less action than the first novel which was a little disappointing. We do see more of what goes on in Michael's head and how she deals with things and more interaction between her and Miles.
The novel mostly takes place in Argentina, but I felt the novel lacked decent description of the setting. It could have been anywhere. There were also some loose ends that did not feel resolved by the end.
All in all, a good book but not as good as The Informationist, which should be read before reading this book or the reader will have almost no background on Michael.

my rating 4/5
I received this book from Amazon Vine Program

THE LAST NUDE by Ellis Avery

This novel had me hooked and reading at a fast pace. It tells the story of Rafaela Fano, a not quite eighteen year old girl living in Paris in the 1920's after having escaped from a trip to Italy and an arranged marriage. Rafaela supports herself through a couple of rich boyfriends and prostitution. She then meets the artist Tamara de Lempicka, who wants Rafaela to model for her. They then begin an affair, which for Rafaela is the first time she has slept with a woman but also the first time she has slept with anyone just because she wanted to. Tamara introduces Rafaela into her artistic circle of friends and the nudes she has painted of Rafaela get her into The Salon and get her a patron.
Rafaela is alternately torn between jealousy of Tamara's past and the possibility of a future with her and creating her own career.
But does Tamara want what Rafaela wants?

I loved this book, based on real-life events of Tamara de Lempicka but I do not know how accurate it is. The writing was amazing and the setting fantastic. What can be better than Paris in the '20's and references and appearances by others from that period.

I only gave the book 3 stars however. I took away one star because I am bothered by the fact that there is a character, Anson, who has life stories taken straight from Hemingway's own life (one part was how Hemingway's wife lost all of his work on a train) and from one of his characters. I thought maybe there would be some explanation later from Anson, that he made this stuff up. But there wasn't. Then I read an interview by the author where she states she wanted to create a character that would show what Hemingway might have become had he no longer been able to write after that train incident. That didn't sit with me. Anson was a smaller character that we never fully got to know, it didn't make sense to steal from Hemingway for that. It seems like plagiarism to me.
The second star I took away was because of the ending. The last section fast forwards some 50 years later and is told from Tamara's point of view. It was long and rambling and did not at all fit with the rest of the book. It could have been cut out. Instead it ended a great novel with a bad taste in my mouth. That was worse than the Hemingway stuff.

my rating 3/5 stars   
I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reveiwers