Sarah
Contemporary with the charm of a golden age mystery. Bennett does a wonderful job portraying the Queen while not shying away from racism, sexism, and colonialism. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in the audio - I might have fared better with the book version.
3.5 stars. I especially liked the beginning and the end - the middle was good, but deals with difficult issues (racism, sexism, classism) that are upsetting and reminded me of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.
Is this what we, as readers, have come to applaud? Books by perfectly average writers where nothing happens, nothing is described in a new or interesting way, all in the name of ‘psychological suspense'? Much like The Woman in the Window, this book is ridiculously overhyped blah-ness.
Charming and entertaining cozy mystery that only faltered in the (requisite) tie-it-up-in-a-bow ending.
The writing was good, but I can't read anymore books centered on a man's hatred of women and/or his complete disregard for women's autonomy and humanity. There are too many murder stories on this theme.
Interesting and insightful, but I felt it lacked something. Maybe more of a human element?
I thought the “plot twist” simultaneously predictable and far-fetched. But I liked the “morgue mama” character and would read others in the series.
This is a fun YA series, kind of like young Austen characters crossed with the atmosphere of Lemony Snicket.
This was recommended to me as a funny, satiric audiobook. I never really got invested in it, and almost bailed toward the end. This was the definition of a “meh” book.
Unsatisfying and dated. I'm not sure it's a “mystery” if you never know the culprit. Also, the events (ecoterrorism at Vail)took place before September 11 and the economic crisis, and the world described feels naive and idealistic (even if we were naive and idealistic then). Don't bother.
I read this to my elementary students at the library last week and we all loved it. I did a little Googling and discovered that elephants can see two colors, so they likely view the world as a color-blind person does. This is a great non-fiction attention-grabbing read-a-loud.
Fun, mostly upbeat stories - a quick listen at 2 CDs. My dogs did not appreciate listening to yips and barks from unseen canines, however! :)
This is a thoughtful and logical alternative to Cesar Milan. I like Geller's methods and have been using them with some success on our dear calamity Jane :)
Interesting and balanced, Pritchett explores and excerpts bear encounters from many eras and perspectives.
Sides does an excellent job of writing a book about the hunt for MLK's killer instead of a glorification of James Earl Ray. Much of this I attribute to the fact that Sides refers to Ray by whatever alias the criminal was using at the time. Using mostly memoirs, newspapers, and police and FBI files, Sides paints a vivid portrait of a man on the run and a country in crisis. A well structured and compelling book.
I don't know why I bothered to finish this book. It has potential, certainly, but fails to rise past the manuscript stage. Dulcie, a grad student in English lit, loves books, cats, and three-bean burgers. When another grad student in her program is murdered, Dulcie finds the mystery of his death intertwined with problems of authenticity in her own thesis. Unfortunately for the reader, Dulcie suffers from the humanities scholar's all too common malady - obsessive introspection. Clea Simon, the author, never let's us out of Dulcie's head, which is especially disconcerting since the book is written in the third person. My other bone of contention is the pacing. The murder takes place within pages of the opening chapter, Dulcie broods about it and her thesis for 200 pages, and then all is solved in three pages. Simon, I believe in an effort to spread suspicion among the characters, makes the characters needlessly complex but never gives them the substance to support such roles.
I learned some interesting information, plus this helped me be aware of my ageist biases. The kind of book where you can skip around and still glean good stuff.
Excellent and fascinating. The level of scientific detail got to be a bit intense for me towards the end.
This book is why I should stop reading older works by male crime writers. The sexism is just ordinary and everywhere. Women are killed for their sexuality, our heroic detective is complex because he listens to jazz and “sensitive” for sleeping with a much younger female colleague. A violent gang rape is brushed off as a right of passage but don't worry, the survivor is fine now because she's a hippie and meditates. Sure, the writing is better than average, but we don't have to keep this in any canon of great crime writing.
Excellent Rocky Mountain thriller, a la C.J. Box. Propulsive and exciting, I devoured it in a weekend. Cam gets extra points for being a great guy and a gem of the BV community :)
Good, and one of the more successful Vera Stanhope mysteries. I wish some of the final details were a bit more clear and fleshed out.