tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42246675956794164342015-04-21T21:17:13.613-04:00Killin' Time ReadingA Lazygal's Reading DiaryLazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.comBlogger1621125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-44960331438643563202015-04-21T21:17:00.001-04:002015-04-21T21:17:13.629-04:00As Night Falls; Jenny Milchman<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="As Night Falls: A Novel" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428410892m/23308146.jpg" /></a><i>As Night Falls: A Novel</i> by Jenny Milchman<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />There's something to be said about a book that keeps you up long past your bedtime. Despite many "why are you doing this stupid thing?" moments (of course, those are part and parcel of the genre), something kept me wanting to read it all <em>now</em>. There was also a little too much actual violence when the threat of violence would have been enough, and the ending really didn't ring true (no spoilers, but I didn't think it could have ended the way it did).<br><br>ARC provided by publisher. <br/><br/>Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-90953371315848471392015-04-21T21:10:00.002-04:002015-04-21T21:10:39.069-04:00The Book of Speculation; Erika Swyler<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Book of Speculation" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422476749m/23014670.jpg" /></a><i>The Book of Speculation</i> by Erika Swyler<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />Generally a good story - somewhat eerie, somewhat magical, often with tragic overtones. Why did the bookseller send this broke reference librarian a book with his grandmother's name in it? Who was his grandmother? Is there a curse? Why is his sister reacting the way she is to the book? And what about the boyfriend? It's all a rather good melange but... well... maybe there could have been a little less pulling together of the loose ends at the very end? If that part had been a few chapters earlier, it might have been stronger as a "WHA??" moment for readers and allowed Simon time to react.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-57563515216934320162015-04-21T20:49:00.003-04:002015-04-21T20:49:38.710-04:00The Last Bookaneer; Matthew Pearl<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Last Bookaneer" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1419183495m/23398876.jpg" /></a><i>The Last Bookaneer</i> by Matthew Pearl<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />Maybe it was just me, but this dragged quite a bit. There were parts I liked (the history of the bookends, the copyright issues, stories of good "gets") but then, in the middle of Samoa, it just stopped. There was too much time spent there, too little going on. The narrative scheme, like the first half of <em>Wuthering Heights</em>, is told by a participant to someone, which mostly works. There is sometimes a hint of the unreliable narrator because of that, but mostly what we get is Clover's listening to Fergins' tale and his near stalking of Feigns to get all of it. <br><br>Clover was a little problematic for me: he's a mulatto, so there's some prejudice (as when he tries to visit Feigns' residence), but beyond that it's mentioned a few times to no real effect. I also didn't quite buy the ending with him joining the merchant marines and sailing the world. For some reason, that part didn't quite blend with the earlier story.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-64413334627304445432015-04-12T08:04:00.000-04:002015-04-12T08:04:00.189-04:00Everybody Rise; Stephanie Clifford<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Everybody Rise" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1423522763m/23605009.jpg" /></a><i>Everybody Rise</i> by Stephanie Clifford<br/>My rating: 2 of 5 stars<br /><br />Rounding up from 1.5 stars - so close to being a DNF! Perhaps it's because I know the world the author is trying to illustrate that the problems leap out, or perhaps it's because the main character is simply unlikeable, not the sympathetic outsider that I think Ms. Clifford is going for. Let's start with the setting, the Upper East Side (NYC) post-prep/post-college scene. There's a lot I didn't understand, like why she name dropped Spence and Brearley, but made up a school in lieu of using Lycée Francais, or explaining that "Hollins was a horsey school in the 60s" but failing to mention that Dorrian's was infamous due to the Preppie Murder. When Push says she went to "Miss Porter's in the 1960s, it's clear that research wasn't done (anyone from that time would have said "Farmington" - yes, Mad Men got it wrong, too). And really? Did anyone in that world say "cray cray" in 2006? Evelyn's fall didn't inspire anything more than "yes! we're near the end". I did like Preston and Charlotte, despite their being one-dimensional characters.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-37334379832371931462015-04-11T11:06:00.000-04:002015-04-11T11:06:01.432-04:00The Girl at Midnight; Melissa Grey<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Girl at Midnight (The Girl at Midnight, #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403891131m/20345202.jpg" /></a><i>The Girl at Midnight</i> by >Melissa Grey<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />There are major parts of the book that are derivative, and the ending feels wrong because it is so clearly intended to lead to the next book rather than being some sort of conclusion. The love/lust triangles were part of what cost this points: Does Echo want Rowan or Caius? Would Rowan go for Ruby if given a chance? Is Dorian going to be with Jasper, or carry a torch for Caius? Sigh. And the whole firebird search (could/should have gone on longer, imvho) gets resolved without a full explanation, particularly of Rose's part. The better part was the evocation of the worlds of the Avicen and the Drakharin, and how Echo interacts with the human world. Having said all that, I think only readers tired of endless triangles and who are looking for something very different will really complain.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-35572701096382401452015-04-06T09:29:00.001-04:002015-04-06T09:29:17.746-04:005 to 1; Holly Bodger<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="5 to 1" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401202632m/18588998.jpg" /></a><i>5 to 1</i> by Holly Bodger<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />Well, if you're going to differentiate between two voices, making one poetry and the other prose is as good a way as any to accomplish that. It's unclear why one worked better as one, not the other, but that's the author's choice.<br><br>I'm actually rounding up here because there are some interesting issues that are raised, just not dealt with as deeply as they might have been. We're in a future Indian subcontinent, where the ratio of boys to girls is incredibly high; a break-away country, one fiercely dedicated to women's/girl's rights, has been established. But - and this is the crux - does this new country do things better than India? or do they remake the mistakes, only in reverse? <em>That</em> could lead to some really interesting exposition and discussion, but perhaps those ideas aren't supposed to be considered by the target readers? Hence the four, really 3.5, stars.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-54597932102531782572015-04-06T09:18:00.002-04:002015-04-06T09:18:50.920-04:00The Invasion of the Tearling; Erika Johansen<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Invasion of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #2)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417169314m/22698568.jpg" /></a><i>The Invasion of the Tearling</i> by Erika Johansen<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />As sequels or middle novels go, this isn't bad in terms of padding, although at times the Lily sequences threatened to take over. And the plot does move forward, with the Tear attempting to repel the Mort invasion (the rattlesnakes were inspired!). But... the spousal sexual abuse and the cutting really bothered me. Not in the "it's good we're raising these issues" sense but in the "this feels, at times, like a rip-off of <em>The Handmaid's Tale</em> and an attempt to make a fantasy series issues-heavy" sense. Kesea is increasingly unlikeable - is it the sapphires? or just her character development? - which also detracts from what could have been an otherwise good trilogy. I did appreciate learning what led to The Crossing (and how it happened), and more about the Mort Queen, and several characters were more interesting Kesea, the Mace and the Fetch (not necessarily a good thing, series-wise). Of course there are serious unanswered questions to be followed up in the next book. With luck that book will return to the feel of the first.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-41020876205404752232015-04-05T10:11:00.004-04:002015-04-05T10:11:50.501-04:00The Wrong Man; Kate White<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Wrong Man: A Novel of Suspense" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1423608523m/23287183.jpg" /></a><i>The Wrong Man</i> by Kate White<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />Decent escapism, but really a 3.5 rather than a 4. Here's why: I constantly asked, "why is this otherwise intelligent person making such stupid decisions?" Not the one-night stand ("no regrets!"), because, well, ok, I could buy that. But once Kit discovers that the man she's slept with isn't actually "Matt Healy", her brain seems to turn off and that bothers me. Even if she had gone straight to the police, keeping them in the loop, the suspense quotient could have been as high as it is. But if you can get past her questionable choices, this is a decent suspense outing.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-24303934486427981432015-04-04T10:05:00.001-04:002015-04-04T10:05:04.121-04:00Nearly Found; Elle Cosimano<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Nearly Found (Nearly Gone, #2)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412462965m/22663515.jpg" /></a><i>Nearly Found</i> by Elle Cosimano<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />My initial thought was that this was going to be like Barry Lyga's series, but there's less about the serial killer's thoughts than hoped for. There is some forensics, and more would have been great, but mostly this is character and confusion about relationships (especially the relationship between Nearly and Reece, which seems to be forced more for plot purposes than anything else). There was also the completely unnecessary addition of Nearly's ability to sense what people are thinking/feeling when she touches them - why? what real purpose does that serve, given the plot and needs of the mystery?<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-77283101315492298932015-04-04T09:44:00.002-04:002015-04-04T09:44:39.601-04:00Harm Done; Ruth Rendell<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Harm Done (Inspector Wexford, #18)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403184234m/83396.jpg" /></a><i>Harm Done</i> by Ruth Rendell<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />Another first read for an established author; I'm not sure if the series needs to be read in order (somehow I doubt it) but luckily I'm not that compulsive! There are several mysteries here, with one or two fading in importance as others come to the forefront during the year or so the book covers. The question of what to do with released pedophiles is covered, but not answered fully, as I suspect there is no real answer to this (can they be rehabilitated? can they truly pay their debt to society?). I'm now going to have to look for other Rendells and see whether they work as well for me.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-76908329515779473752015-04-04T09:36:00.001-04:002015-04-04T09:36:11.837-04:00Fell of Dark; Patrick Downes<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fell of Dark" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412530586m/23281754.jpg" /></a><i>Fell of Dark</i> by Patrick Downes<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />What a weird, odd book: are Erik and Thorn the same person, just different personalities or aspects in one insane mind? Are they two different people, both mentally damaged in some way? Over the course of four years, at two year intervals, we check in with the two, seeing how they develop and what their lives are like, until at the end they collide. It's unsettling to say the least, and there are passages, at the end mostly, where one has to re-read to understand what exactly is going on.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-44163776386676138692015-04-04T09:28:00.005-04:002015-04-04T09:28:54.659-04:00The Gracekeepers; Kirsty Logan<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Gracekeepers" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409948410m/23012481.jpg" /></a><i>The Gracekeepers</i> by >Kirsty Logan<br/>My rating: 5 of 5 stars<br /><br />This is such a different book - not really dystopian, but definitely in a future version of our world where the seas have risen to an incredible degree. Society is riven between "damplings" (those who live at sea) and "landlockers" (those who live on land). One of our main narrators is a dampling, a circus performer who has trained - but not tamed - a bear, and the other is a landlocker gracekeeper, someone who performs at-sea burials for damplings. Their stories intertwine as they both seek, but don't necessarily find home and haven. <br><br>What made this a 5 is that the world is so well-realized, and the past (aka "the world we now know") is almost a casual given, not something we hear a lot about. There is an air of mystery of sorts, why and how Callanish and North have ended up in the lives they now lead, with the answers not always given but the end of the book. The pacing is slow, allowing the lives to unfold without forcing action. There's something about this book that truly sticks with you long after you finish reading.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-62266513297282690332015-04-04T09:17:00.003-04:002015-04-04T09:17:56.402-04:00Raven Black; Ann Cleeves<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Raven Black (Shetland, #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1425358726m/644655.jpg" /></a><i>Raven Black</i> by Ann Cleeves<br/>My rating: 5 of 5 stars<br /><br />A friend of mine has been reading, and enjoying, the Ann Cleeves books for a while and finally passed one along to me. The mystery here, as in the Peter May Lewis trilogy, takes almost a backseat to the setting (here, the Shetland Islands) and the way people there live. The "traditions" (some dating as far back as the Victorian era), the boarding out for high school, the social stratification and isolation all take on important roles given the nature of the mystery, that of a girl found murdered near the home of a gormless man - plus, she lived in the home of a girl previously gone missing ten years before. <br><br>Can't wait to read the rest of this series!Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-36219441301682330932015-04-04T09:10:00.001-04:002015-04-04T09:10:17.112-04:00Between You & Me; Mary Norris<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413750050m/22253734.jpg" /></a><i>Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen</i> by Mary Norris<br/>My rating: 5 of 5 stars<br /><br />Having heard the author speak about her book, I was excited to read about life as a copy editor and page editor at <em>The New Yorker</em> - and, ok, I'm one of those grammar geeks so it wasn't just about where she worked but how she worked. Lucky for me, therefor, there's more about the latter than the former, but others looking for more of an inside scoop will be disappointed. This is more <em>Eats, Shoots and Leaves</em> than "Behind the Scenes at A Really Famous Magazine". Oh, I did want that, too but... There are some anecdotes, and the discussion about how decisions (copy editing, fact checking) get made is interesting. Ditto what the magazine thinks about profanity, the Oxford comma and other nitpicky things.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher. <br/><br/>Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-51754367388936550802015-03-28T11:54:00.001-04:002015-03-28T11:54:19.775-04:00The Thirteen Chairs; Dave Shelton<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Thirteen Chairs" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414014687m/23436913.jpg" /></a><i>Thirteen Chairs</i> by Dave Shelton<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />The perfect read for those who loved the Short and Shivery series, who are ready for a slightly bigger scare but not ready for full-on horror. Would <em>you</em> dare go into the house? <br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-72881097976867221842015-03-28T11:38:00.000-04:002015-03-28T11:38:02.499-04:00The Ghost Network; Catie Disabato<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Ghost Network: A Novel" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418766531m/22889883.jpg" /></a><i>The Ghost Network</i> by Catie Disabato<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />The author here appears in the book as a sort of Greek chorus: the conceit is that this is her editorial notes and addition to a text written by someone else (Disabato's mentor, Cyrus) investigating two disappearances (that of Molly Metro and Caitlyn Taer). The historical information about the Situationists, the New Situationists and how the Chicago L evolved sometimes overwhelms that investigation; more about Molly and her performances, life and evolution would have been interesting. Readers may spend time doing their own searching for information about the Situationists (I did) or wondering why maps were not included (maybe they will be, or maybe they'll be on a website?). The bigger problem is the pacing, which drags when the philosophy and history is introduced and then rushes on when the investigation gets going again. More of the Disabato footnotes and commentary would have helped.<br><br>Overall, though, this works if you stick with it. There was one moment when I read and reread, thinking that perhaps we now had a even more unreliable narrator than expected; the other possibility is that it was a continuity error that will be caught in final editing.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-67022737461210130162015-03-28T11:03:00.001-04:002015-03-28T11:03:17.089-04:00Serafina and the Black Cloak; Robert Beatty<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Serafina and the Black Cloak" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420158894m/23507745.jpg" /></a><i>Serafina and the Black Cloak</i> by Robert Beatty<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />Serafina lives in the basement of the Biltmore Estate, hidden from the rest of the inhabitants by her father; one day she ventures upstairs and into the life of Braeden Vanderbilt, "son" of the house (nephew of the owners, who act as his guardians) and seemingly unflappable in the face of disappearances and mysteries. The two strike up a friendship and that partnership leads to Serafina's eventually finding who has been causing the disappearances of several of the Biltmore's visitors, in addition to learning more about her mother. <br><br>The folklore part elevates this a little beyond the normal "servant girl/rich boy" relationship without overwhelming the entire story. <br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-56942240492352631142015-03-28T10:52:00.004-04:002015-03-28T10:52:42.772-04:00Ana of California; Andi Teran<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Ana of California" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422812105m/23398869.jpg" /></a><i>Ana of California</i> by Andi Teran<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />Maybe my love for <em>Anne of Green Gables</em> made for more of a "show me" read than it should have; at least I didn't expect (or get) a 1:1 plot/character equivalency. Ana/Anne was as lively as she should have been, but rest had something a little missing, like Abbie/Marilla. And why was it necessary to keep dropping heavy-handed hints into Ana's past? That part got dragged out to an unnecessary degree. <br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-27744146352462166242015-03-28T10:35:00.001-04:002015-03-28T10:35:30.946-04:00Boo; Neil Smith<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Boo" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417710319m/22889761.jpg" /></a><i>Boo</i> by Neil Smith<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />A rare example of the blurb matching the book: the comparison to <em>The Lovely Bones</em> is apt (toss in some of Zevin's <em>Elsewhere</em>, too). "Heaven" is segmented into age and location-based groups, and Boo finds himself in with the thirteen-year-old Americans; they get to stay for fifty years after their death and then, well, no one knows what happens. Soon after his arrival, a friend from school arrives and Boo and Johnny embark on a rediscovery of their friendship and figuring out what happened to them back home. Boo is clearly on the ASD spectrum, while Johnny was a depressive who'd been sent to a recovery facility the summer before their deaths - does this have anything to do with it? Will they learn who shot them and why? And if they do, will this knowledge change anything?<br><br>There were some twists here the really surprised me, inserted into the plot in such a natural way that it didn't feel as though there was a deliberate lead up to the revelation. This might not be the right read for people who have problems with children dying, even if the book is more about growth than death. I did vacillate between a 4 and a 5 because there's a major twist that, while it really works, seemed slightly off (when I read it, that is; upon reflection it worked better).<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-20389994480689629112015-03-28T10:14:00.001-04:002015-03-28T10:14:15.295-04:00Crown of Three; J.D. Rinehart<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Crown of Three" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418103827m/23309529.jpg" /></a><i>Crown of Three</i> by J.D. Rinehart<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />There isn't anything really outstanding here, but equally there's nothing really bad. Triplets, hidden from the world so that they can grow and fulfill a prophecy, magic, evil queens, battles and fantastical creatures will all appeal to the middle grade reader. My biggest complaint is that the female triplet (Elodie) is pretty much a brat and needs to grow more than her two brothers. Why that was needed is beyond me - making her a more likeable character wouldn't have been difficult.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-34289377552077207842015-03-28T10:06:00.001-04:002015-03-28T10:06:06.535-04:00Lost in the Sun; Lisa Graff<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Lost in the Sun" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412531205m/23281891.jpg" /></a><i>Lost in the Sun</i> by Lisa Graff<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />This rating is more a 3.5 for me, because I'm torn between reading as an adult and as a younger person. Here's why: we have a clearly troubled child, and the adults don't seem to be paying as much attention as they should be (wouldn't there be parent conferences? calls home? something??). Dad's behavior is inexcusable at times and someone should have called him on it. Having said that, Trent doesn't make it easy on anyone.<br><br>It's unlikely that the target reader will have had Trent's experience, but I can see them relating to his feelings of alienation and lack of belonging to the family or anything. That alone lifted it from the 3.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-58284829785379752422015-03-28T09:58:00.003-04:002015-03-28T09:58:27.634-04:00The Knockoff; Lucy Sykes<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Knockoff: A Novel" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415582468m/23012475.jpg" /></a><i>The Knockoff</i> Lucy Sykes<br/>My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1187354380">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />Was this really a 4-star? Well, yes and no. No in terms of "deep, thought-provoking read that illuminates the human condition" but <strong>yes</strong> in terms of "perfect rainy day or beach read". And who doesn't need one of those every now and then? <br><br>The authors definitely know the fashion and magazine worlds, which keeps the froth quotient pretty high. That this is a real hommage to "All About Eve" means that the world can take a more important role since we all know what's going to happen next. My biggest quibble is that Imogen is in her 40s, yet at times acts as though she's in her 50s or later: yes, fashion and technology move very quickly, but her attitude and m.o. seem to be from the 80s not 90s. An even bigger quibble is why she never goes to HR about Eve's antics - surely that would have happened, or they would have reached out to her?<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-81798031567698324972015-03-28T09:48:00.001-04:002015-03-28T09:48:25.680-04:00Cuckoo Song; Frances Hardinge<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Cuckoo Song" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412961041m/23344750.jpg" /></a><i>Cuckoo Song</i> by Frances Hardinge<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />The genre here is historical fantasy, or something like that. Triss, her sister and parents live shortly post-WWI, a time when there's still disruption from the veterans returning and industrialization is changing how people live. Dad is an engineer, Mom has "episodes" that require a wine tonic, and sister Pen seems to hate (really, really hate) Triss, who is one of those perpetually sick and fragile children... or is she? And is this really Triss? Pen doesn't think so. <br><br>Intermixed with the story, and the addition of the Besiders, is a semi-cautionary tale about how change isn't a positive thing for everyone. Plus, sometimes you have to let your children go and grow on their own.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-61402122308544239402015-03-28T09:35:00.005-04:002015-03-28T09:35:42.513-04:00The Chessmen; Peter May<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Chessmen (Lewis Trilogy, #3)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348337298m/15832513.jpg" /></a><i>The Chessmen</i> by Peter May<br/>My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />The final entry in the Lewis trilogy is less about the mystery and more about the history of Fin, Whistler and the band Amran (formerly Solas). This is May's MO for his books: wrap the present with a ton of backstory, which allows the reader to understand the present and lessens his need to really do a mystery story <em>per se</em>. That's not to say that learning about Fin isn't interesting, it's just that these are less mysteries than they are character studies. <br><br>And once again, the setting is critical. Lewis is almost as much of a character here as anyone, and at times I wonder if that's more May's interest than the people he's writing about.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224667595679416434.post-70107188525229627112015-03-21T10:41:00.004-04:002015-03-21T10:41:52.127-04:00Palace of Lies; Margaret Peterson Haddix<a style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Palace of Lies (The Palace Chronicles, #3)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404104124m/13260521.jpg" /></a><i>Palace of Lies</i> by Margaret Peterson Haddix<br/>My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br /><br />A number of years ago I did a year of Cinderella stories with my 4/5 grade class; one of the books we read was <em>Just Ella</em> and the class was divided about it (they liked Ella's resourcefulness, but the method of escaping the palace grossed them out). Where was I when the sequel came out? Who knows. Now I have to track that down. This book, the third in the series, is good both as a stand-alone and as a continuation. We're in a different kingdom, with different problems and different characters, but Ella and Jed make an appearance.<br><br>As far as the plot goes, it hits all the right notes: daring escapes, wicked plotters, possibly mistaken identity. There were a few moments when I hoped for something different, but that's because I've been reading these types of books for so long. The target reading group? They'll love this.<br><br>ARC provided by publisher.Lazygalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12008100108035617927noreply@blogger.com0
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