a collection of tried and true
Cormoran Strike is a down and out, ex-military private Investigator in London who is hired to investigate the death of a famous super model. With the help of his temp secretary they investigate the usual suspects to see if the death was a suicide or murder. Terrific writing and interesting characters make this a great read. I hope this turns into a series. This is the novel that was published under a pen name of J.K. Rowling – author of the Harry Potter books.
PJH Rating: ****1/2
Story of Tassie, a twenty year old who just started her first year of college. She finds a job babysitting for a family who just adopted a baby who has been in foster care for the past several years. The novel is told in first person by Tassie and goes back and forth between her personal life, her babysitting and her family back home on the farm. The novel is very interesting and I was hooked right away. The characters are great and the writing is wonderful. The story is interesting – taking on racism, sexism, and patriotism. The section that gives the back story of the adopted couple is truly frightening. Horrific. The author has a unique style that might turn some people off as not much happens a lot of the time, a lot of rambling thoughts… but again this is my type of novel. I’m excited to read her other books.
PJH Rating: ****1/2
A thirteen year old Chinese American boy falls in love with a Japanese girl in Seattle on the eve of World Ward II. The Japanese girl’s family is eventually sent off to an internment camp. It was interesting to read about the history of this time, of Seattle in the 1940’s and of the awful treatment of minorities. The book, although enjoyable, was a bit too sappy for me.
PJH rating: ***
A Seattle woman, unhappy with her marriage and depressed from the death of her child two years prior, takes off on a whim to Alaska to visit where her Mother grew up. She meets someone there, deals with her past demons and becomes involved with the local folklore of the indigenous to look for closure for the death of her son. Not nearly as good as Stein’s previous novel, actually this was an old novel recently republished, but an interesting story nonetheless.
PJH Rating: ***1/2
The new drama teacher at a high school puts on the play Lysistrata, a Greek drama where all the women stop having sex with the men until they stop the war they are in. During the time of the rehearsals of the play all different couples in the town stop having sex as a result of women losing interest, unknown to them that this is also the plot of the play. An interesting read. I liked it and liked the author.
PJH rating: ****
Memoir of author’s grandmother’s life growing up and living in the early 20th century in the southwest. A remarkable woman who grew up dirt poor, was a teacher and a very independent woman for the times. An enjoyable read from the author of The Glass Castle.
PJH Rating: ****
Story of a physician who grew up in Ethiopia along with his identical twin. Amazing storytelling of his very dramatic birth, growing up, politics, medicine, and family dynamics. A great story and well written.
PJH rating ****1/2
A retired British major lives in a scenic country village in England and tires of the pace of modernity…or jumps on board?, dealing with his London based son, the death of his brother, a new lady friend and the possible destruction of his beloved village. A fun novel.
PJH Rating: ****
Set during the onset of WW1, a young woman recently married is on her way to NYC but the ship sinks and she finds herself in an overcrowded lifeboat. The dynamics of the group constantly shift as the situation shifts in tragic ways. A terrific first novel that is hard to put down.
PJH ****
Two 20 something New York City designers document their 40 day experiment of dating each other. While I ended up disliking both participants immensely, and wondering if really was all true, it is an interesting read and I loved the design and blog format. Great on an ipad. The future of publishing? I doubt it, but pretty cool nonetheless and definitely worth checking out.
PJH rating: ***1/2
Eat On Edgecliff 