This Body of Death by Elizabeth George

I've read all of Elizabeth George's novels and have mostly enjoyed them. The last couple she has been focusing on child abuse which is an area that I do not enjoy reading about. I'd forgotten that this book was about that before I started to read it. What I like about her books is that the characters are continued and they have mostly shown growth and depth as the books have progressed.

I had trouble with this one from the start mostly because of the style. She uses the flashback method to tell one of the story lines. But where the method was intriguing and engaging in Louise Penny's book,Bury your Dead, in this book it was intrusive and annoying, at least at first. This is because the flashbook story is being told in the form of a report. I suspect it's partly to lessen the horror of the story. And the story is horrific even told in the bland, reporting way of a psychologist's report.

The other story line is good. I'm not sure I like where she's going with a couple of the main characters. it will be interesting to see how they develop in later books.

If you are a staunch Elizabeth George fan then you will want to read this book if only to keep up with Detective Lynley and Barbara Havers. Otherwise I would recommend reading her earlier books as there is more story telling and less background stuff to wade through.

Bookaholism

Hello, my name is Shari, and I’m a book-aholic.

How do I know this? You might think it’s because I have a lot of books, and you’d be right. If you’re my mother you know this because you’ve packed umpteen books whenever I’ve moved.

How I know this though is because I have 3 books that I’m reading right now. And someone just gave me another that I’ve been wanting to read and I’m trying to figure out how I can fit that into my reading schedule without dropping any of other books I’m reading.

Hello, my name is Shari and I’m a bookaholic. Please tell me I’m not the only one. Maybe we can start a support group.

True Blue by David Baldacci

True Blue is a police crime thriller involving two sisters; one who is chief of police and one who has just gotten out of prison for a crime she was framed for.

This is a solid, action-packed novel. As you know by now if you've read my blog for very long, I prefer books with in depth character development. This is definitely not one of those but still entertaining in a shoot em up; good vs evil type of way. And there is plenty of bad guys to be had. Baldacci has some interesting theories on how far the US gov't will go to combat terrorism. This is a modern tale with modern bad guys and strong women who can hold their own against anything that comes their way. This one won't tax your brain very much but will get your heart pumping a few times as you follow the action.

Bury your Dead by Louise Penny

In most jobs you can make a mistake and nobody dies. But in some jobs; air traffic controllers, fire fighters, and police detectives mistakes can be deadly. These jobs have a built in terror factor; the terror that if you fail people may die.

It’s this terror that Louise Penny uses to create suspense and plot development in her latest book, Bury your Dead. Once again we meet Inspector Gamache. He’s in Quebec city recovering from a deadly mistake. While there he becomes involved in a murder mystery and a historical mystery. And if that wasn’t enough mystery, the fact that he may have made a mistake in the Three Pines case (The Brutal Telling) begins to haunt him.

While he is going about the city looking for clues to the murder, we are given access to his thoughts as he plays back his most recent mistake; the one that resulted in a leave of absence from his job. If this hadn’t been handled properly it could have become very confusing for the reader but instead the transitions between real time and his thoughts are smoothly done and the reader is caught up in the story playing in Gamache’s head as much as the one playing out around him. Gamache’s side-kick, Inspector Beauvior reopens the Three Pines case, giving us yet another narrative to follow in this complex but entertaining novel.

This is also a book about history, specifically Quebec’s history. In fact it’s possible to think of Quebec, it’s history, it’s present and it’s politics as another character in the novel. Penny’s love for the province she lives in is very evident throughout all her novels. But the descriptions of the places and people in this one made me want to book my next vacation there.

You could read this book as a stand alone; there’s enough information about the people of Three Pines and the previous murder case to go on. However, the real pleasure in reading Louise Penny’s books is getting to know the characters and their surroundings. She was a journalist before writing fiction and has the journalistic eye for detail and commentary.

Bury Your Dead is a compelling, complex book that examines history and portrays the present through excellent story telling and interesting characters. Buy the book, read the series, you will be glad you did.

Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle

Homicide in Hardcover is the first in a new mystery series called The Bibliophile’s Mystery series. The main character is Brooklyn Wainwright. She’s a bookbinder specializing in restoring rare books. She’s single, quirky, and reminds me a bit of a Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone of the Alphabet murders. Unlike Kinsey who is an orphan, Brooklyn has 5 brothers and sisters and parents who live on a commune.

A prominent book binder and Brooklyn’s mentor is murdered while he was working on restoring a valuable copy of Faust. Brooklyn is asked to continue the restoration and also gets involved in trying to find out who killed her mentor. Also included are good looking detectives, more quirky friends and lots of new age lingo.

There are lots of literary references and it was interesting to read about how books are restored. The series has the potential to be a good one although it took me a while to warm up to the characters. But the book is entertaining and has nice touches of humour and romance. I think this will be a fun series to follow.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

This is the third book in a series by new Science Fiction witer John Scalzi. It continues the adventures of John and Jane Perry. We first met John in the Old Man’s War. This book introduced the concept of elderly humans offering themselves as soldiers in Earth’s foray into outer space. In return for their minds, the soldiers are given new and improved bodies with all the “super hero” type abilities you would expect in SF novel along with the ability to live much longer lives, assuming they aren’t killed in battle etc.

In the Lost Colony, John and his wife Jane are recruited to head up a group of people being sent out to colonize a new planet. All is not as it seems and the colonists quickly find out that they have been manipulated and lied to by the governments of their home worlds. The colony is actually a lure, set up to flush out an alien group that is trying to muscle in on this part of space.
The characters have wit and wisdom and I often found myself laughing out loud at some of the comments and activities going on. If you like science fiction this series will intrigue you.

Church Shopping

No, it’s not the title of a book I’m reading although I may write one about it one day. I’ve decided to do the occasional post about something other than books and today it’s about my quest to find a new church.

Some background. I grew up in the church. I was a Preacher’s Kid and generally was in church every Sunday, often 3 times a day especially when we lived on the Prairies. As an adult I’ve always been involved in church, I’ve done everything from leading a girls club to teaching Sunday School.

Almost 20 years ago I began attending a new church plant that was about 6 months old at the time. I got thoroughly involved and spent many years on the leadership team, I was treasurer and then the small group coordinator. As the church grew I eventually was on staff, part time as the Director of Adult Ministries. This role included small groups and working with newcomers. 7 years of working both a full time job and the church’s part time job finally took its toll and I quit the church job 2 years ago. At the time, I thought I would continue to attend that church but found it difficult to go back to being a “regular attender’ after being so involved in the leadership. That along with a move to a new city in March of this year has brought me to my current dilemma.

I need a new church.

This shouldn’t be that hard, right? Churches are basically the same; generally a group of people who love God and want to see their neighbors come to love Him as well. Trust me, this is the mission statement of every church I’ve visited. True they may have different methods and ways of accomplishing this in their neighborhoods but finding one that meshes with what I believe and want to see accomplished shouldn’t be that hard.

6 months of church shopping and I’m beginning to wonder if I will ever find it. I think I want the kind of love at first sight experience that I had 20 years ago with the small church plant. But like, marriage, I’m not sure that happens twice in a life time. Sitting by myself in a completely empty pew a couple of weeks ago with families all around me made wonder if I should call New Hope Church in Oahu my new church as I seem to enjoy being part of that worship service over the internet more than actually sitting in a church alone.

But I know that God calls us to community of real people, not an internet community. And I miss going to church every Sunday and I miss being involved in leadership. So I will keep looking. For the next few weeks I will visit a very large church in this area with a lot of opportunities for small groups and Bible Studies and see if I can get to know some people there.

Are you a church goer? Have you ever had to look for a new church? If you have some strategies to share please leave a comment..