This is the first in a new series by someone who is apparently a veteran author, Karen E. Olson. I'd never heard of her but was fascinated with the idea of a tattooist mystery. And it was basically what I had been expecting. A girlie mystery with a new twist. This one had remarkably few girlie mystery tendencies, with the exception of the main character, Brett Kavanaugh, being incapable of listening to her cop brother. And I have a feeling I'm going to find her midget shop manager the most aggravating thing to deal with as this series progresses. On the plus side, hot English guy and Elvis karaoke bars!
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July 2009
07/20/2009
'I' is for Innocent
The more I think about this series, the more I end up liking it. Kinsey Millhone is growing on me as a character and the mysteries seem to be a little more intriguing as time goes on. This one involves the death of another PI and whether or not a man really killed his soon-to-be ex-wife. I'm also happy that Rosie the Hungarian finally found love and that Kinsey continues to be an imperfect heroine to follow around.
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
This is the fifteenth in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and I unabashedly loved it. I told a bookstore customer that I know it's basically the same book over and over again but since I really like the book, it doesn't matter. I know exactly what I'm getting when I take one of these suckers home and I'm never disappointed. It's slapsticky and predictable and well, terrible. But it will hold my heart forever. Especially since there's a drag queen fireman who likes to wear a chicken suit. Hard to top that.
Hex and the Single Girl
This is one of those terrible girl books that I couldn't resist. And I enjoyed it up until about the last third or so. And that last third? BALLS. I don't even know how to explain it except that it sucked. It went from cute and adorable to just aggravating in that girlie book way that I hate. Please don't make your female characters into complete fucktards to serve the plot. Make the plot serve the characters in a desirable way and I won't get so angry. And well, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
Promises in Death
This is the 28th book in the futuristic romantic suspense series by J.D. Robb and in my opinion, one of the better ones. This one was hard because one of my favorite characters had to deal with their lover dying. And it sucks to see your favorite characters suffer. But it's also ballsy in a publishing world that dislikes allowing loyal readers to get upset about anything. And I continue to admire the progression of every character and every plotline. Now if I could just get her to feature Baxter and Trueheart a little more, I'd be a happy camper.
Garden Spells
I loved this book. It was recommended to me by my sister Alex and was one I would have avoided on my own. But I'm glad I found it. It's full of magic that's chalked up to good old fashioned Southern charm and creates a truly lovely literary universe that handles fear and affection with equal ease. It's hard not to love a book that has an emotionally needy apple tree and a woman whose true confidence lies in her ability to do good hair. I'll be keeping an eye in the author, Sarah Addison Allen.
Salvation in Death
This was one of about three in the J.D. Robb series that I found out about long after it was published, which was nice because it allowed me to read it very close to the next one in the series, as well as a short story that I didn't know existed. In other words, I got to gorge myself on semi-terrible futuristic romantic suspense. And it was awesome. This one involves Lt. Eve Dallas looking for the murderer of a priest, and involves a nice sidetrack into the murder of a televangelist. I love this series because it's one of the few out there that explores the complexity of marriage and not just sex. And Iove it for its crude bursts of humor and intriguing progression of characters.
The Outlaw Demon Wails
This is the sixth Rachel Morgan book in one of my favorite paranormal series. This series is much more along the lines of the Sookie Stackhouse one by Charlaine Harris in that it is a serious outlook on vampires, witches, and other things that go bump in the night. And while I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the last one, I can honestly report that it was still amazing. The complete ingenuity that Ms. Harrison employs in every one of her books is staggering. Then there's the added bonus of long built-up plot points that finally reveval themselves to be wonderful add-ons to an already complex and intriguing literary universe. I don't really want to go into detail because I'm afraid I'll let too much slip and ruin some of the delicacy of this wonderful writing. I'm already looking forward to the seventh in this series, "White Witch, Black Curse," but as usual, I'll have to wait until it comes out in paper.
07/15/2009
Foreskin's Lament
this is probably my favorite book of the year. It's certainlt the one I've spoken about the most with other people. It's basically about the author, Shalom Auslander, growing up in a Hasidic community and why that fucked him up so badly. Apparently, having an alocohic father and an uninterested mother coupled with extreme religious practices creates dissonance and resentment. who knew? But seriously, I loved this book. I loved that black humor used throughout and the inhernet imperfection of everyone featured, not least of which is shown through the author himself. Plus, I'm a little in love with his wife, who doesn't buy into the bullshit holocaust guilt ridden tales that are completely illogical and could never have possibly happened. 5 stars!
Foreskin's Lament
this is probably my favorite book of the year. It's certainlt the one I've spoken about the most with other people. It's basically about the author, Shalom Auslander, growing up in a Hasidic community and why that fucked him up so badly. Apparently, having an alocohic father and an uninterested mother coupled with extreme religious practices creates dissonance and resentment. who knew? But seriously, I loved this book. I loved that black humor used throughout and the inhernet imperfection of everyone featured, not least of which is shown through the author himself. Plus, I'm a little in love with his wife, who doesn't buy into the bullshit holocaust guilt ridden tales that are completely illogical and could never have possibly happened. 5 stars!
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