What I Read in April 2015

I've been really bad at publishing these "What I've Read" posts in the first week of the month. My goal for June is to click the "publish" button before the 8th!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Lonely Rachel rides a commuter train into London every morning and grows oddly attached to the people she sees in the trackside neighborhoods. When a woman goes missing, Rachel involves herself in the investigation and discovers she may be more than an innocent bystander.

Each and every character is a train wreck (ba dum dum). None of these people are likable. The ones that begin to approach likable are so periphery that it doesn't matter that they have redeeming qualities. And that is precisely what made this book fun.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
Supermodel Lula Landry flings herself from her balcony on a freezing winter night in an apparent suicide, but her brother thinks there is more to the case and hires Cormoran Strike, a private investigator and Afghanistan veteran, to find Lula's killer.

An amputee protagonist! An amputee protagonist who is the protagonist for reasons other than being an amputee! While the mystery was not particularly unsolvable or shocking at the end, the diverse, believable (sometimes believably unbelievable!) characters and enjoyable writing made this a great first installment. I'll be seeking out the sequel, The Silkworm.

The City & The City by China Mieville
Dystopian Science Fiction
Two cities, Beszel and Ul Qoma, share the same space on the map, but are governed by two different governments. When a young woman was murdered in one city, but found in the other, Inspector Borlu must tiptoe the delicate boundary between the cities.

Very rarely do I really like books that are dominated by their setting, but The City & The City kept me thinking about it long after I finished it. The story and characters kept me moving through the book, but I just love the idea of two cities that share the same geographical location and have citizens that willfully ignore the other city.

Demons Not Included by Cheyenne McCray
Erotic Romance (also Paranormal Romance)
Half-human, half-elf, and full-time defender and enforcer of Paranorms inhabiting the human city of New York, Nyx must eradicate the demons and save her fellow Trackers -- and her romantic endeavors -- from annihilation.

My thoughts (in order, but summarized) while reading Demons Not Included: "This character is unbelievably skilled in acrobatics and has flawless super-powers, interesting... This book isn't that sexy... oh okay, that's a little raunchy... I get it, her skin is amethyst, not purple... OH. So that's what they mean by 'erotic'... it's over?"

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
New to the neighborhood, dramatic and stuck-up April joins forges a friendship with Melanie. Together, they create an imaginary land of Egypt in an abandoned yard, but odd and sinister things begin happening in Egypt.

I remember reading this in grade school, but I couldn't really remember anything about it. I preferred (and still do to some extent) stories with a strong story element -- things needed to happen and there needed to be a point -- but in The Egypt Game, the story doesn't really build up to anything until suddenly! Here is your exciting ending! I did enjoy watching the children's relationships develop, but the lack of plot-driven chapters made it less memorable for me.

Burglars Can't Be Choosers by Lawrence Block
Crime/Caper Thriller
Bernie Rhodenbarr, an independently employed thief, is caught red-handed during a hired heist and finds himself to be an unsuspecting murder suspect. To clear his name (of murder), Bernie must find the real killer before the police find him.

This was written in the 1970s and is showing its age. Though dated (occasionally painfully so, especially when cutting edge technology like voicemail is discussed), Burglars Can't Be Choosers was still a fun, quick read. Fans of The Cat Who... books by Lillian Jackson Braun will probably like these mysteries featuring criminals (rather than feline detectives) as long as they don't mind their cozy mysteries to be a bit raunchy too.

A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler
Espionage Thriller
Vietnam War Special Forces veteran turned Tokyo hit man, John Rain specializes in making his targets' deaths look natural, but soon becomes embroiled in an international corrupt power play when his clean kill draws too much attention.

Barry Eisler is an ex-CIA covert operations agent and lived in Japan for five years. The Tokyo setting doesn't dominate the story or overwhelm his highly principled assassin, but the sense of place is what really made the book for me. Having never been in war, participated in a secret mission, or visted Japan, this seemed pretty authentic to me. The audiobooks are narrated by Eisler and he does a great job. I'm working on getting a copy of the second book in the series, A Lonely Resurrection, on audio as well.

What I Read in March 2015

What I Read in March 2015

Even though I read six books last month and I'm on track (actually ahead!) for reading 55 books in 2015, only one of those six books was written by an author from the ARRT Popular Fiction List. Since I'm trying to read at least one author from each of their identified sub-genres, I went gung-ho this month and tried to stay on track. I have come to realize that I really like complex suspense novels.

Also, to those of you who anxiously await my monthly post, I apologize for the delay in posting about my reading last month! Right at the end of March, I caught the stomach flu and was out for about five days and missed work. It's been a lot of time scrambling to catch back up. After this week, things should be back to normal.

The Secret Place by Tana French
Suspense
Dublin cold case detective Stephen Moran receives a tip that the girls at St. Kilda's boarding school may know more about the murder of playboy student Chris Harper than they originally let on in this novel of friendship, loyalty, and manipulation.

The Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French (start with In the Woods) is one of my all-time favorites. The Secret Place is the newest (2014) installment of the series and while it wasn't my favorite of the series (that would be Faithful Place), it was still a fantastic read. I love the mystery, the twisty plot, the vivid writing, how involved you as a reader get with the characters; I love it all! Speaking of characters, I think that is my favorite aspect of these books. Each novel focuses on a different character. The main detective in the first novel is a minor character in the later books, but he still pops up. Other background characters remain present as the series progresses, but along with the new mysteries, you get new perspectives on and from the characters. You could read them out of order, but they are written chronologically and I would suggest reading them in that order if you can.

Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton
Psychological Suspense
A family moves in next to a recently reopened church only to discover that the bizarre and bloody traditions of the town are not the only thing putting their children at risk.

Decidedly creepy. I've added everything else by Bolton to my to-read list.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Urban Fantasy
Despite tension in their working relationship, Harry and Murphy team up again to put a stop to the monthly brutal maulings that are plaguing Chicago in the second installment of the Harry Dresden Files.

I want to like this series so much. It has so many things that I like: a cool gritty protagonist, paranormal elements (wizards, werewolves, demons...), mysteries, the promise of a next book with a new mystery... but Harry is just a little flat and I'm not on board with how women are treated and represented so far. (I get that this character is a female werewolf, but do you really have to refer to her as "bitch" when she is being difficult to work with?) I have heard that the later books get better, but I think I'm going to wait a bit before I start them.

Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins
Contemporary Romance
After being jilted by her fiancé, Grace makes up a new boyfriend -- a hotshot pediatrician -- to get her relationship-obsessed family off her back, but the pediatrician may prove to be an obstacle in her relationship with her new, very real ex-con neighbor.

I just might not be a contemporary romance reader. As much as I love a love story and romantic comedies on film, I found myself rolling my eyes at the bizarrely boyfriend-focused main character (and her relationship-obsessed family) and her weird behavior less than one chapter in. I don't like liars. Unreliable narrators, fine. Characters who sometimes tell lies, okay, I guess depending on the situation. But characters who tell bizarre, unnecessary lies that somehow hugely impact the plot and find themselves having to tell more lies... I'm just annoyed. That being said, the story was fun (if a bit flat) and if I'm looking for another contemporary romance, I wouldn't be unhappy with another Higgins book. I just might check to make sure the crux of the story doesn't have to do with the heroine making up a boyfriend.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Suspense
When the body of the local sweetheart is discovered beaten and shot in a park, three men who were once friends find themselves mired in past conflicts thought resolved and present prejudices barely hidden as all try to solve the murder.

It helps that I've been craving gritty thrillers recently, but I think I would have thought this was fantastic regardless. Intense characters with compelling backstories that don't bog down the present plot, a frustrating and inexplicable murder mystery, and gut-wrenching social turmoil propel the reader at breakneck speed.

Codex by Lev Grossman
When investment banker Edward Wonzy takes a vacation before starting his European promotion, he does not anticipate being swept up in an intense search for a mysterious 13th century manuscript that hides Annotation

This suffered from trying to be too many things to too many people. Part literary thriller, part techno-mind games, Codex failed to satisfy either. Character motivations were unclear or unrealistic, astonishingly helpful coincidences were frequent, and all of the technology felt like it was written by someone who asked someone else who plays some video games a couple of questions. The connections between the missing 13th century book (this part of the story was really interesting and I wish Codex had just been a literary novel about the book and libraries) and this bizarre video game felt tenuous at best, except that they were a major plot point. I really liked The Magicians by Grossman and was pretty disappointed by Codex. If you're looking for a book about uncovering literary mysteries with a more intriguing love story, try Possession by A.S. Byatt instead.

What I Read in February 2015

What I Read in February 2015

I've been feeling pretty blah this month. I don't know if it's because I haven't been sleeping well, the grey weather is getting to me, or I've been fighting off a cold, but I just haven't been super motivated to do much other than sit around and knit or sleep. Only one of the books I read in February is by an author of the ARRT Popular Fiction List, so if I'm going to get through the entire list this year, I need to focus and be more diligent about reading those authors.

The Fever by Meg Abbott
As a seizure-inducing illness that attacks only girls sweeps through the high school of a typically peaceful town, paranoia runs rampant and long-kept secrets are revealed.

Teen girls treating each other poorly. If this were a TV show, this would be a major guilty pleasure show and I would watch it avidly. Not much else to say...

Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy
When half of a local girl's mauled body is discovered, a town-wide manhunt ensues and everyone is a detective and a suspect, including self-proclaimed werewolf, Peter Rumancek.

I wish I had made a note every time the author mentioned something about men's intuition residing in their balls. I want a quantitative representation of just how ridiculously gratuitous this was. Balls aside, this suffered a bit from some organizational issues, but was nevertheless an entertaining, if gruesome, read.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
In a seemingly idyllic community where all citizens have assigned roles and their daily lives are carefully regulated, twelve-year-old Jonas is selected to be the next Receiver, the community's keeper of memories.

I remember reading this in middle school and really liking it, but what I didn't notice then was how good it is. Not just that I enjoyed the story, but how extremely well-crafted the novel is. Lowry writes with precision and care that resonates through the reader with such intensity that you can't do anything but pay attention.

Half Broken Things by Morag Joss
Three social misfits -- a professional house sitter, a thief, and pregnant art student -- find unusual sanctuary in each other, but their haven is disrupted when an unexpected visitor arrives.

I'm including Half Broken Things this month even though I didn't finish it, but I'm not counting it toward my annual reading goal. While I was reading this, I really liked it. I'm interested in each of the characters and not so much of what they do, but why they are doing it. Their behavior is pretty unusual, but that's not what drives the book forward. Unfortunately, as soon as I set the book down, I stopped thinking about it and it took a significant mental effort to remember to pick it back up. It was pretty slow to start and not as thrilling as I thought it would be, but I suspect the second half of the book picks up quickly. I would have kept working on it, but it was due back to the library and it was an interlibrary loan... If I remember, I'll see about picking up a copy of this book again in the future, because I would like to finish it. We'll see if I remember.

Say I Love You Volume 1 by Kanae Hazuki
A friendless, stubborn high school girl in Japan finds herself unexpectedly pursued by the school's most desirable male student.

I read this because a patron was so excited that we might order the 5th book in this series for the library, I thought he was going to hop up and down at the reference desk. For such enthusiasm, I am willing to give 30 minutes of my life to reading this manga. It was sweet in a naïve-girl-pursued-by-experienced/domineering-but-well-meaning-guy kind of way, though towards the end she was becoming more assertive, so the relationship may balance out as the series progresses. I had a hard time telling the girls in the story apart (they're all dressed the same with similar haircuts and all have the same HUGE glittering eyes with heavy lashes) and some of the dialogue took me a minute to decipher, but I suspect that may be because I am likely not the target audience for this manga.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Hired by a professional ghost hunter, nearly destitute modern woman Sarah Piper travels from London to a small English village to examine and eradicate the ghost of a servant girl whose detestation of men manifests violently.

What starts off as a delightfully creepy historical mystery quickly falls victim to the pitfalls of predictable romance and a transparent plot. For me, the characters and atmosphere weren't compelling enough to make up for the lack of mystery.

Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton
Cozy Mystery
Down-and-out Lori Shepherd discovers that the hero of her allegedly fictional childhood stories -- Aunt Dimity -- is not a only real person, but has also passed away and now haunts the English cottage Lori has been asked to live in while fulfilling the duties of the will.

This was the coziest book I think I've ever read, right down to the childhood bunny rabbit toy that accompanies the main character and the pleasantly haunted kitchen that helps her bake perfect oatmeal cookies. A quick read that provides a saccharine escape with a very light mystery.

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What I Read in January 2015

What I Read in January 2015

In an effort to expand my reading and become a better reader's adviser (and achieve my goal of 55 books in 2015), I am trying to read at least one author listed for each sub-genre on the ARRT Popular Fiction List*. I've placed library books on hold through out the year (ask at your library about suspending holds to get your books at later dates rather than all at once) to accomplish this and I'll be indicating those books by including their sub-genre in italics after the title and author. I'm hoping to have spread the books out so I have a nice mix the whole year, but we'll see how it pans out.

*What is the ARRT Popular Fiction List, you ask? ARRT stands for "Adult Reading Round Table" and is a Chicago-based professional group, focused on improving readers advisory. They put together this list of popular authors as a self-evaluation tool for librarians and other reader advisers. The list not only introduces representative authors for particular sub-genres, but also asks the user to identify their level of familiarity with each author and sub-genre, highlighting areas of relative strength and weakness. If your public library subscribes to NoveList, you can access the full list through their online database.

If you are a member of Kitsap Regional Library, we subscribe too! Email me at kberg@krl.org or call the Port Orchard branch at 360-876-2224 and I'll help you access the list.

Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
Alternate History Science Fiction
After a sudden, inexplicable force wipes out all modern technology, several Oregon communities struggle to survive.

I am so disappointed that this was the first book I read in 2015. An interesting idea was bogged down by overwhelming, if well-researched, detail about halberds and trebuchets. Casual racism permeates the entire book, ranging from frustrating background characters that rely on stereotypes to criticizing the Nez Perce for assimilating to the one and only non-white main character apparently unable to speak with correct grammar (he's the only one with this affliction). I see reviews that suggest that the later books get better, but I will just have to take their word for it, because I will not be reading them.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Literary Fiction
Red Lobster restaurant manager Manny Deleon attempts to rally his staff and balance his personal life despite blizzard conditions during the last night.

Timing really is everything. I really enjoyed this and though I'm sure I would have liked it whenever I read it, reading it right after finishing a distinctly disappointing novel made me relish it that much more. O'Nan's prose is elegant and complex, but doesn't require a lot of extra work on the part of the reader to decipher. I'm looking forward to reading more O'Nan in the future.

Rooms by Lauren Oliver
An unusual haunting forces both ghosts and the living to come to terms with their traumatic pasts and family secrets.

I have been craving ghost stories recently. Vengeful spirits, haunted houses, and tormented pasts come manifest have been especially enticing. This was a great doorway book into horror. It was eery and had characters with shrouded motivations that kept you interested, but wasn't terrifying. There were no sleepless nights because I was afraid of malicious architectural structures actively working towards my demise. Nothing in this book went too deep (those shrouded motivations may have been initially mysterious, but they were one-dimensional), but I'll be on the look out for other stories by Oliver.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Historical Mystery
Housemaid-turned-WWI-army-nurse-turned-private-investigator, Maisie Dobbs investigates a cult-like veterans' home even as the mental and emotional trauma from the war weigh heavily on Maisie and her community.

This is the book I wanted when I read The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King last year. The stories are very similar, but Maisie felt more real than Mary and I guess I'm not a big enough Sherlock Holmes fan to require his presence in all of my historical mysteries. Not only was the mystery intriguing, the characters well-developed, and the world fully imagined in Maisie Dobbs, it also satisfied my Downton Abbey itch. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
A boisterous new mental patient with ample disregard for rules invigorates the other patients, challenges the staff, and engages in a war of wills against the domineering head nurse.

I do not know anything about the current state of mental health facilities in America, but the one in Kesey's novel is terrifying and I never want to find out first hand whether they have improved.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Amateur Detective Mystery
An aspiring chemist and an amateur detective, 11-year-old Flavia de Luce typically spends her free time seeking revenge on her older sisters, but when she discovers a strange body in the garden, precocious Flavia is on the case.

My mother has been on me to read this book for ages and now I know why! Flavia de Luce is vivacious and refreshing and Bradley's quirky mystery brimming with even quirkier characters makes for an entertaining read.

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein
Trevor travels to his grandfather's dilapidated ancestral mansion in the Pacific Northwest during his parents' trial separation only to discover the ghosts may have different motives than the current residents.

This did not turn out to be the book I thought I was reading, but I loved it nevertheless. I was expecting a classic haunting, but what I got was a coming-of-age story wrapped in a family saga set in a decrepit mansion built from the family's long-gone logging fortune. And it was great.

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Sheep frolic about the pages of Mem Fox's rhyming picture book, but the green sheep is nowhere to be seen! Can you find the green sheep?

Picture books do not typically fill my reading list, but when a patron asked me to grab this from the shelf for her, I was enchanted by the cover illustration. This book is absolutely darling. The clever rhymes feel natural and there is enough going on in the pictures to keep kids and adults alike entertained without becoming cluttered. Very cute!

Neuromancer by William Gibson
Cyberpunk Science Fiction
Employed by a mysterious businessman to hack into a super artificial intelligence with unknown motives, renegade cyber-thief Case teams up with a biologically enhanced samurai and a digitally preserved personality in the novel that launched the cyberpunk genre.

I listened to Neuromancer on audio and I wish I had read it. For me, Neuromancer is one of those books where you understand everything that is going on (and can even keep track of all the characters!) but nevertheless feel like you are missing something. I found myself re-listening to sections and even looking up plot summaries to make sure I hadn't missed something. I never had, but listening to it felt disjointed and I suspect that reading it would have solved that issue. Gibson uses slang and vernacular particular to his future world and does not define anything, leaving the reader to understand only through context. Especially if you are not well-versed in cyberpunk, be prepared to spend some time thinking about Gibson's concepts and ideas on reality, artificial intelligence, and human consciousness and existence, but don't worry about the story dragging -- all these big ideas are nestled into a fast-paced, action-packed story.

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Happy New Year (and What I Read in 2014)

Happy New Year!

I'm the sort of person who is always looking forward, always planning something, and I'm so excited for 2015! I'm going to read (at least) 55 books, take sewing lessons from Nancy's Sewing Basket, get more comfortable in my new job as an adult services librarian, finish organizing the apartment (including setting up Curtis's home office), spend more time with friends and family, workout at least twice per week on the ferry, complete Level 1 of the TKGA Master Hand Knitting program, try to learn Japanese and maybe American Sign Language... I've certainly got lots of BIG goals, but I am determined. Just because I'm busy making plans for this year doesn't mean that I don't have a lot of positive things to look back on too. I finished school and started my new career as an adult services librarian; I got engaged; I moved into a new apartment.

I also surpassed my 2014 reading goal of 50 books by 4! Being finished with school and working in a library sure made a difference in my reading pace. In the three months that I've been working in the library, I read 25 books -- half of my goal for the whole year. I set my goal for next at 55. I'm planning on going up by 5 books every year that I meet the previous year's goal, but given how much reading I did in the fall of 2014, I may have set a relatively low goal for myself. We shall see...

Interested in what I read in 2014? Check out my list below! If you want to keep up with my reading on Goodreads, click here.
     

Read in 2014

Kristine Berg's favorite books »

What did you read in 2014? What are your goals for 2015?

Your Next 5 from SPL

Even with lists that are miles long full of books to read, sometimes you're looking for just the right thing for just that moment. When you're looking for the next book to read and you're stumped, you can always talk to a librarian at your local library! You can also send me an email at kberg@krl.org and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Seattle Public Library also offers a free online readers advisory service, called Your Next 5. All you do is fill out an online form (your name, your email address, and a little bit about what you'd like to read or not read) and one of SPL's librarians will send you a personalized list of reading suggestions.



This is what the Your Next 5 form looks like.
Just fill in the blanks and get a personalized reading list in your email!

Here's the link to Your Next 5:
https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/get-help/your-next-5-books

I submitted a request to SPL's Your Next 5 program and got a response just a day or two later from Misha, a Reader Services Librarian at SPL. Keep reading to see what I submitted to SPL and the fantastic response I received. I've added all of these books to my to-read list!








The information I sent SPL:
I'm looking for a few books that have love stories in them, but aren't *about* the love story, or at least have other significant plot points to propel the story forward.

Books I've liked that I think meet that criteria:
- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
- Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- The Scar by Sergey Dyachenko
- Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

I loved the stories in each of these. They were compelling and I felt invested in the outcome. They're all pretty big in scope (entire worlds hang in the balance), but that isn't necessarily important. I also liked the way each of these writers wrote; they're all pretty different, but I feel like they really care about how they tell their story, not just that they get it written.

I read a lot of fantasy/paranormal, but would like to explore new things too.

If you have some suggestions for me that don't have love stories in them (or push the boundaries of what "love" is... obsessive or unrequited or other ideas...), I'd still be interested in hearing those as well.

Please, no vampires or werewolves. I understand that sometimes they are unavoidable, but I'm feeling a little burned out on those two monsters at the moment.

Thank you!

PS - I have a blog (libraryoutloud.blogspot.com). May I post this Your Next 5 request along with your response?

From Misha of Seattle Public Library:
Hello Kristine,

My name is Misha and I am a Reader Services librarian. Thanks for using Your Next 5 Books!

Here’s your list in the catalog:
http://bit.ly/1DPOjm2 http://bit.ly/1DPOjm2

Thanks for being up front about wanting to share your Your Next 5 Books list. We love it when people spread the word about this service! I will admit it can be intimidating to make a list for a fellow, well-read librarian, but I sincerely hope that you find a book or two on this list that you enjoy and haven't already read.

Now, on to your list. You shared that you are looking for books with love stories where the love story isn't the only significant or compelling storyline. You gave examples like 1Q84, The Scar and Labyrinth. So, here is what I came up with:

You might think that with a title like Miles in Love, that this omnibus in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga might not be about anything else, but most Vorkosigan books have a number of other characters and storylines in their midst. If you have never read this series, you might want to start with Cordelia's Honor or Young Miles, but this is the omnibus that features a love story most prominently. Bujold weaves political intrigue, military action and well-developed characters in her fast-paced yet reflective science fiction series.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt is about first love, but not in the ways that most coming-of-age novels explore it. The teenage voice is so authentic and the story has surprising nuances that I would hate to spoil by even alluding to them here. It is a stunning debut.

Since you liked Kate Mosse, you might like Kate Morton who also weaves parallel stories that are well-written, entertaining reads. The Forgotten Garden is a Gothic family saga that explores how the secrets of the past haunt the present.

Nevil Shute's A Town Like Alice is a classic about a young woman who survives war in Malaya told from the perspective of her family's lawyer. There is a love story at the heart of this novel about perseverance and reconnection.

You asked for a book not about love per se but perhaps about obsession or a story that pushes the boundaries of what love is. Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend is the first in a quartet of novels (the fourth will be translated into English in September 2015) about the intense, complex friendship/rivalry between two women who meet and grow up in 1950s Naples. There is an intimacy and honesty explored through the narration that gives such a realistic portrait of these two women and their intricate relationship. Sometimes there is no deeper or more troubling love than friendship.

Some other books that came to mind: Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker and A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan.

I hope that you find a book or author that you enjoy from this list (and haven’t already read!). Please feel free to let me know what you like and don’t like -- it will help me help you next time!

Happy Reading!
Misha
Reader Services
The Seattle Public Library