Nyssa
2017-01-23 21:17:07 UTC
This post is a long one, so get your refreshments ready,
or just move along if you don't have the patience for long-
winded posts. I'll at least split this missive into two
posts, one covering the end of December finishes and the
second covering January so far.
I've been neglecting both my book review writing and posting
my finishes to ram over the past weeks, but I figure that I
can at least do my duty by ram before I procrastinate some
more about trying to attack the huge backlog of reviews.
Most of my finishes have been mysteries and thrillers, with
a couple of detours into a Christmas feel-good novel and
a short story that was billed as a "horror" story, but fell
short of that description.
The end-of-December finishes included:
"Knit Your Own Murder" by Monica Ferris is the latest in the
Needleworker cozy mystery series. I've been reading these from
the beginning and have corresponded with Mary Monica a few times,
so it was disappointing when this book was not up to the standard
of the previous books. I think she's getting tired of the series
and wouldn't be surprised to see "Goodbye Cruel World" (the title
she has always said she's saving to use for the last book) to
finally bring the series to a conclusion Real Soon Now. The murder
method was clever, but the ending lacked explanations for a lot
of scene of the crime details. I figured out whodunit fairly early on.
"Gun Shy" by Ben Rehder from the Blanco County mystery series
was no disappointment. I've actually managed to write a review
for this one and gave it 5 stars without qualms. It had a nice
mix of humor and a very complex pair of mysteries and a boatload
of characters coming and going. Good stuff!
"Holy Moly" was another visit to Blanco County and was a good
one as well.
This series puts so many other to shame with its complex plots and
simple entertainment value, it puts a lot of pretender authors to
shame, especially that new crop of what I've termed "cookie cutter
cozies" that all seem to have the same plot, just change the name
of the sweet young thing, the food item being flogged, and the
simplistic mysteries.
"Saving Texas" by Nancy Stancil is a combination political thriller
and murder mystery built around a Houston newspaper's reporting team
investigating a Texas separatist movement and some financial
mischief going on at a Texas community college. There's a realistic
subplot about the newspaper business changing and the paper being
sold to an out-of-town corporation. I've done a review for this
one and was on the fence about rating; figure a 4.5 star for this
but I gave it four on Amazon since they don't allow half-stars.
"For Whom the Bread Rolls" by Sarah Fox is an eARC I got through
NetGalley and is the second book in the Pancake House series
of cozy mysteries. I had read and reviewed the first one last
year, also an eARC, and enjoyed it. It's a better plotted cozy
than most with more adult characters rather than flighty airheads
and their giggling girlfriends found in those recent "cookie
cutter cozies" mentioned above. This one blends blackmailing,
murder, and illegal waste dumping into a nice mystery.
This series might work for Carol since there is no nasty language
or hot-and-heavy sex scenes. This second book will come out in
mid-March.
"Sweets and a Stabbing" by Harper Lin was a dud. Yet another
cookie cutter cozy with an unrealistic setting and a mystery
without much in the way of clues. (Comparing this turkey with
"For Whom the Bread Rolls" is like comparing a Yugo to a Honda.)
Skip this one unless the only other thing in the house to read
is a cereal box, but at least the cereal box has some more
believable information than a book centered around a food truck
with three commercial ovens inside baking cupcakes all day.
"Before the Clock Strikes Six" is the non-horror short story
I mentioned. It's really more of a mild ghost story. Ho-hum.
BTW my book-reading total for 2016 ended up at 88. Not too shabby
considering I've read that the average American only reads two
books a year. I'm taking up the slack for a LOT of non-readers,
as are most of the rammers here, no doubt.
Nyssa, who is glad that a vice of reading too much doesn't make
you fat, just damages the budget
or just move along if you don't have the patience for long-
winded posts. I'll at least split this missive into two
posts, one covering the end of December finishes and the
second covering January so far.
I've been neglecting both my book review writing and posting
my finishes to ram over the past weeks, but I figure that I
can at least do my duty by ram before I procrastinate some
more about trying to attack the huge backlog of reviews.
Most of my finishes have been mysteries and thrillers, with
a couple of detours into a Christmas feel-good novel and
a short story that was billed as a "horror" story, but fell
short of that description.
The end-of-December finishes included:
"Knit Your Own Murder" by Monica Ferris is the latest in the
Needleworker cozy mystery series. I've been reading these from
the beginning and have corresponded with Mary Monica a few times,
so it was disappointing when this book was not up to the standard
of the previous books. I think she's getting tired of the series
and wouldn't be surprised to see "Goodbye Cruel World" (the title
she has always said she's saving to use for the last book) to
finally bring the series to a conclusion Real Soon Now. The murder
method was clever, but the ending lacked explanations for a lot
of scene of the crime details. I figured out whodunit fairly early on.
"Gun Shy" by Ben Rehder from the Blanco County mystery series
was no disappointment. I've actually managed to write a review
for this one and gave it 5 stars without qualms. It had a nice
mix of humor and a very complex pair of mysteries and a boatload
of characters coming and going. Good stuff!
"Holy Moly" was another visit to Blanco County and was a good
one as well.
This series puts so many other to shame with its complex plots and
simple entertainment value, it puts a lot of pretender authors to
shame, especially that new crop of what I've termed "cookie cutter
cozies" that all seem to have the same plot, just change the name
of the sweet young thing, the food item being flogged, and the
simplistic mysteries.
"Saving Texas" by Nancy Stancil is a combination political thriller
and murder mystery built around a Houston newspaper's reporting team
investigating a Texas separatist movement and some financial
mischief going on at a Texas community college. There's a realistic
subplot about the newspaper business changing and the paper being
sold to an out-of-town corporation. I've done a review for this
one and was on the fence about rating; figure a 4.5 star for this
but I gave it four on Amazon since they don't allow half-stars.
"For Whom the Bread Rolls" by Sarah Fox is an eARC I got through
NetGalley and is the second book in the Pancake House series
of cozy mysteries. I had read and reviewed the first one last
year, also an eARC, and enjoyed it. It's a better plotted cozy
than most with more adult characters rather than flighty airheads
and their giggling girlfriends found in those recent "cookie
cutter cozies" mentioned above. This one blends blackmailing,
murder, and illegal waste dumping into a nice mystery.
This series might work for Carol since there is no nasty language
or hot-and-heavy sex scenes. This second book will come out in
mid-March.
"Sweets and a Stabbing" by Harper Lin was a dud. Yet another
cookie cutter cozy with an unrealistic setting and a mystery
without much in the way of clues. (Comparing this turkey with
"For Whom the Bread Rolls" is like comparing a Yugo to a Honda.)
Skip this one unless the only other thing in the house to read
is a cereal box, but at least the cereal box has some more
believable information than a book centered around a food truck
with three commercial ovens inside baking cupcakes all day.
"Before the Clock Strikes Six" is the non-horror short story
I mentioned. It's really more of a mild ghost story. Ho-hum.
BTW my book-reading total for 2016 ended up at 88. Not too shabby
considering I've read that the average American only reads two
books a year. I'm taking up the slack for a LOT of non-readers,
as are most of the rammers here, no doubt.
Nyssa, who is glad that a vice of reading too much doesn't make
you fat, just damages the budget