Books I won't Read

I thought it might be interesting to list some of the books I won't read and why. Generally I have a very open mind and am willing to try most things. But I also have a very active imagination. When I read the Lord of the Rings Triology I dreamed about walking and talking trees for weeks. I found Mary Shelley's Frankenstein too scary to read late at night. And don't get me started on vampires or Ted Dekker.

So, some of the things I don't read are anything violent or with graphic language. Generally I don't read true crime. I don't read anything about or involving child abuse, it just makes me angry.

And I also don't read a lot of romance. As a single, christian female it brings up thoughts and feelings that I have no outlet for and seems more trouble than it's worth so generally I avoid most romances. Although a romance with a good murder in it seems to balance out the emotions!

So are there any types or styles of books you won't read?

The Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson

Goldy Schultz is a caterer who has a knack of finding bodes and then getting embroiled in the catching of the killer.

I read the Diane Mott Davidson’s books at lunch times when I was already eating. If I read it at any other time of day I always want a snack while I read. The plot always involves a catering gig and Goldy spends as much time cooking in the book as she does solving the mystery. The descriptions of the dishes are always appetizing and the recipes are even included in the book. I’ve never tried one as they are mostly gourmet type and out of my league as a cook, but a real foodie would have fun replicating the menus I’m sure.

The theme of the Grilling Season is revenge. The murder happens early on in the book and the rest of the story is about how Goldy works out who the killer is. The back story is just as interesting as Goldy deals with an abusive ex-husband, a teen age son and her new second husband. You can read this as a stand alone as there is enough background in it but if you can find the earlier books in the series I would encourage you to read those first. The Grilling Season is highly recommended.

Coming Up...

As you can tell from the list at the side I'm not reviewing every single book I read. So if you want to know what I think of a book that I haven't reviewed, feel free to leave a comment.

The last two books are ones I wouldn't necessarily recommend but were interestingfor me to read. Deadlocked was about a sort of female Indiana Jones who goes into Afghanistan to retrieve some priceless artifacts and gets captured, runs amok of the bad guys and is rescued by a tall, dark stranger who becomes, of course, the love of her life. It's a good summer beach read.

Host was completely different. A thriller about a scientist involved in cryogenics (freezing of people to be brought to life in the future) and aritifcial life forms and the very scary combining of the two. It was scary but definitely not to everyone's taste.

Coming up will be reviews on the Grilling Season. If you like the Food Network and mysteries you will love this series about a caterer/sleuth and the trouble she gets into. For something compltely different, I'm reading Spook. This is a non fiction book where the scientist is exploring the afterlife and doing it in a very humorous way. It proves to be an interesting read although again, perhaps not to everyone's taste. And I'm reading the Book of Negroes. I'm finding this award winning book a bit difficult to get through mostly because of the descriptions of the treatment of the black slaves but I will finish it eventually and review it.

So that's what's coming up.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Silent in the Grave is a debut novel by Deanna Raybourn. It’s a mystery set in Victorian England. The main character is Julia Grey. Her husband Edward has just been murdered and she sets off to find out who did it. Of course, being in Victorian England there are many cultural taboos to overcome and her handsome side kick, Nicholas Brisbane brings a touch of romance to the story.

I was a little surprised to find out that Deanna Raybourn is a 6th generation Texan. It seems like she might have been better suited for writing about America at the turn of the century. However she has done a beautiful job on the Victorian atmosphere. The heroine is constantly kicking against the pricks of society and shows a modern bent in her thinking and actions. It’s fun and horrifying to imagine what life was like for women back then.

The mystery is good, the ending is surprising and I’m looking forward to reading the second in the series, Silent on the Moor. If you enjoy Victorian mystery/love stories you will enjoy this series; go to your library and get started on it.

Anne Rice Quits Christianity

I am not a fan of Anne Rice as I’ve never been into the vampire book genre. 10 years ago she gave up atheism and embraced a new found faith in Christ. After that she wrote a fairly well received fictionalized book series on the life of Christ. Again, I’ve never read it although I keep meaning to. Now that I’ve rediscovered my local library I will have to see if it has those books.

But today, it’s being reported that Anne Rice has quit Christianity. You can google the story for yourself to see what she has to say in her own words. I agree with a lot of what she says but she has generalized it too much I think. Yes, some Christians give Christianity a bad name but every group has people that they wish would go join some other group.

Christians aren’t perfect, churches aren’t perfect but in God’s wisdom and grace He has chosen the church to be the Bride of Christ. I think that concept is not taught enough in churches today. I also think that if we behaved more as brides; someone who is looking forward to seeing her bridegroom and is preparing for the best day of her life, more people would be attracted to Christ.

Anne says she’s not giving up on her faith; just on Christianity. I think that eternity could be a very long time for her if she has to live with all of us and hasn’t learned to get along. (that last part was said tongue in cheek) Because like it or not all those who have believed in Christ as their Saviour will be living with us in heaven, even if we didn’t get along on earth.

U is for Undertow, By Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton has been creating alphabet mysteries since 1982! starting with A is for Alibi she has continued through each letter using the same female private investigator and thoroughly entertaining me with her stories.

Kinsey Milhone is a divorced 30 something private investigator. She lives on her own in a converted garage apartment; eats pickle and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner and runs for exercise. She is an orphan and in the last few novels Grafton has gradually been revealing more of Kinsey’s background. In this book, the mystery she is solving and the issues that Kinsey is having with her newly found family are almost parallel. The story moves back and forth between the case she is working on and the personal discoveries she is making about her own life.

As I’ve said before I enjoy reading series but often, especially in a long one like this, the characters become tired and the stories seem to be repetitive. I’ve not found that with this series and each book reveals something new about the main character.

This mystery revolves around a cold case that involves a child kidnapping. Someone comes to Kinsey with new clues and she becomes personally invested in trying to figure out what happened almost 20 years ago.

This is not an action packed thriller kind of book. The mystery is solved through solid investigative work. At some point the reader is aware of what happened before the investigator is but that doesn’t seem to spoil the ending.

With only 5 letters of the alphabet left, it will be interesting to see what V, W, X, Y and Z will stand for. The Alphabet series is highly recommended.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larrson

This is the final book in the trilogy that started with the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.

Again this is a big book and it's one of the few times that I will say that all the length might not have been necessary. I got bogged down in a lot of the detail and since much of it concerned Swedish policing and politics I'm not sure it was that necessary to the unfolding of the story. There is also alot of detail on the solving of the mystery and subsequent planning for the trial that happens at the end of the book. But the ending is a satisfactory conclusion of the story although I suspect that had the author lived, he may have had a few more books in mind for the series. I for one would have liked a prequel that delves into the back story of Lisbeth Salander's life as I think one of the things lacking in this series is really good character development.

So I wouldn't rate this highly as the first two but it was a good ending and you can do as I did and skip a lot of the stuff you aren't interested in!