The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

336 pages

I can’t help but cheer on this novel by a fellow librarian and small-town Missouri girl!  McHugh plotted out an excellent Ozarks-based mystery – I was absolutely absorbed.  

Side note: McHugh lives in Columbia and included the staff of DBRL in her thanks/acknowledgements, stating that she spent countless hours in the Columbia Public Library study rooms guzzling coffee and writing this book – cool, no?

Summary from the LA Times:

“With her riveting debut, The Weight of Blood, Laura McHugh makes a strong bid at cementing a new tradition of regional crime fiction while keeping tourism low in the Ozarks. . . . [A] powerful sense of place is the anchor of The Weight of Blood. The well-drawn townspeople and oppressive, dread-soaked atmosphere sprout from the soil of Henbane. . . . The prose is strong, with evocative paint strokes in all the right places. McHugh is an artful, efficient writer who tells her story in vicious blows. . . . McHugh has crafted a sharp, haunting tale of blood in the Ozarks, as substantial as it is pleasurable to read.”—Los Angeles Times

Room by Emma Donahue

352 pages

Jack loves his Ma, loves his daily routine, loves Plant and Bed and items he’s received as Sunday treats.  Jack only knows Room, the tiny area where he’s spent his entire life.  Told from Jack’s perspective, this book is unique and absolutely stunning. 

The Amazon summary:

“To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.”

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

336 pages

Eleanor is weird.  Wild red hair, strange clothing, overweight and bullied at home and school.  Park is half-Korean and sticks out in his Omaha neighborhood.  He spends each day trying to fly under the radar, until he meets Eleanor.   A beautiful , original (yet universal), and heartbreaking love story.  

My favorite summation of the book was written by the genius writer John Green: 

“Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.”—John Green, The New York Times Book Review

Frog Music by Emma Donahue

416 pages

A cross-dressing vagabond named Jenny meets Blanche, a French circus performer turned burlesque dancer, in 1876 San Francisco.  Donahue weaves an interesting tale taken from a real unsolved crime. 

The Booklist summary:

 “Donoghue flawlessly combines literary eloquence and vigorous plotting in her first full-fledged mystery, a work as original and multifaceted as its young murder victim. During the scorching summer of 1876, Jenny Bonnet, an enigmatic cross-dressing bicyclist who traps frogs for San Francisco’s restaurants, meets her death in a railroad saloon on the city’s outskirts. Exotic dancer Blanche Beunon, a French immigrant living in Chinatown, thinks she knows who shot her friend and why, but has no leverage to prove it and doesn’t know if she herself was the intended target. A compulsive pleasure-seeker estranged from her “fancy man,” Blanche searches desperately for her missing son while pursuing justice for Jenny, but finds her two goals sit in conflict. In language spiced with musical interludes and raunchy French slang, Donoghue brings to teeming life the nasty, naughty side of this ethnically diverse metropolis, with its brothels, gaming halls, smallpox-infested boardinghouses, and rampant child abuse. Most of her seedy, damaged characters really lived, and she not only posits a clever solution to a historical crime that was never adequately solved but also crafts around Blanche and Jenny an engrossing and suspenseful tale about moral growth, unlikely friendship, and breaking free from the past.” --Sarah Johnson

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

416 pages

Can we ever truly know the people with whom we share our lives?  Moriarty chases this question in this fascinating page turner.   

The Amazon summary:

“ Liane Moriarty is probably doomed to be forever labeled a writer of “chick lit.” But despite its dopey name, her new novel, The Husband’s Secret, is better described as a comedy of manners and one with a serious undertone. As in her previous books, most successfully What Alice Forgot, Moriarty here wittily and observantly chronicles the life of middle aged, middle class Australian women, suburbanites who grapple with prosaic issues like marital fidelity and torturous ones like moral guilt and responsibility. You can’t help but laugh along with the small observations--“And there was poor little Rob, a teenage boy clumsily trying to make everything right, all false smiles and cheery lies. No wonder he became a real estate agent.” But it’s the big ones--Can good people do very, very bad things, and what, exactly, are we responsible for, and for how long?--that will make you think. This is a deceptively rich novel that transcends its era and place at the same time that it celebrates same.” --Sara Nelson

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "While recovering from an ill-timed makeup mishap, Lula is a witness to celebrity chef, Stanley Chipotle, losing his head--literally. Now Lula and Stephanie are on the hunt to identify the killers before Lula is next on the chopping block. Meantime, Ranger's recruited Stephanie's help for a top secret mission. Someone on the inside at Rangeman is leaking client information, determined to bring the company down. Can Stephanie hunt down a killer, a traitor, and keep Grandma out of the sauce?"

Grandma Mazur and Lula are truly hilarious. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard!

308 pages

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "Personal vendettas, hidden treasure, and a monkey named Carl will send bounty hunter Stephanie Plum on her most explosive adventure yet. Dom Rizzi robbed a bank, stashed the money, and did the time. His family couldn't be more proud. He always was the smart one. Joe Morelli, Dom Rizzi, and Dom's sister, Loretta, are cousins. Morelli is a cop, Rizzi robs banks, and Loretta is a single mother waiting tables at the firehouse. The all-American family. Less than a week after Dom's release from prison, Joe Morelli has shadowy figures breaking into his house and dying in his basement. He's getting threatening messages, Loretta is kidnapped, and Dom is missing. Morelli hires Walter "Mooner" Dunphy, stoner and "inventor" turned crime fighter, to protect his house. Morelli can't afford a lot on a cop's salary, and Mooner will work for potatoes. Stephanie and Morelli have a long-standing relationship that involves sex, affection, and driving each other nuts. She's a bond enforcement agent with more luck than talent, and she's involved in this bank-robbery-gone-bad disaster from day one. Security expert Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, has a job for Stephanie that will involve night work. Morelli has his own ideas regarding Stephanie's evening activities."

One of my absolute favorites!

310 pages

The Poisoned Chalice by Bernard Knight

"CSI-12th century" could be the subtitle of this book, as the main character, Crowner John, is the newly appointed Crowner, or Coroner, for the town of Exeter in southern England.  And there are unusual incidents to investigate - bodies found in connection with a shipwreck that show signs of injuries not conducive to drowning, and the rape and murder of two village maidens who have just reached the age for marriage.  Knight provides us with a variety of interesting characters and gives us a clear picture of the rough life of the 12th century.  He includes some plausible detective work on the Crowner's part, given the limitations of the available instruments. An enjoyable read.  388 pages.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum finds herself in over her head with a caper involving stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives--not to mention her grandmother playing the slots in Atlantic City unknowingly using the stolen money! Meanwhile, the mysterious Diesel returns to once again turn Stephanie's world upside down."

Absolute insanity! The novellas aren't my favorite books in the series, but this is one of the best! 

Favorite part: Lula with a rocket launcher. 

166 pages

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "Mistake #1: Dickie Orr. Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her archnemesis, Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that, Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping never to see either one of them again." "Mistake #2: Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carols Manoso (aka Ranger). Ranger needs Stephanie to meet with Dickie and find out if he's doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out Dickie's also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger's favors always come with a price." "Mistake #3: Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger, and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office. Now Dickie has disappeared and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can Stephanie Plum stay one step ahead in this new dangerous game?" "Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, New Jersey, is also keeping Stephanie on her toes - and he may know more than he's saying about many things in Stephanie's life. It's a cat and mouse game for Stephanie Plum wherein the ultimate prize might be her life."

310 pages

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "While chasing down the usual cast of miscreants and weirdos in Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum discovers that a crazed woman is stalking her. The woman dresses in black, carries a 9mm Glock, and has a bad attitude and a mysterious connection to dark and dangerous Carlos Manoso...street name, Ranger. The action turns deadly serious, and Stephanie goes from hunting skips to hunting a murderer. Ranger needs Stephanie for more reasons than he can say. And now the two are working together to find a killer, rescue a missing child, and stop a lunatic from raising the body count. When Stephanie Plum and Ranger get too close for comfort, vice cop Joe Morelli (her on-again, off-again boyfriend) steps in. Will the ticking clock stop at the stroke of twelve, or will a stranger in the wind find a way to stop Stephanie Plum...forever?"

310 pages

Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "Hoping to discontinue her career as a bounty hunter for something safer, Stephanie Plum is inadvertently drawn into a case that is complicated by her tangled love life, her chaotic family, and her penchant for wrecking cars."

Stephanie's attempt at finding another job goes as well as you might expect: total and complete disaster.   

310 pages

"From Missouri to the Isle of Mull: Impressions of a Little Journey by Three Missourians" by Ethelbert F. Allen, Campbell Wells, and Walter Williams

Written and privately printed in 1909, this little tome chronicles a five week trip from Montreal to the Isle of Mull and back.  Wells and Williams helped found the MU School of Journalism in 1908 and traveled with Allen, a bigwig in the Kansas City Masonic community, by boat and train.  Along with descriptions of fellow passengers, the book recounts Dublin, London (which was the most populous city at the time), rural England, Paris, Plymouth (where they attended the Institute of Journalists' annual conference), Edinburgh, the Isle of Mull, and their inhabitants.  It was interesting to read the impressions that these cities and people made on the three men over 100 years ago.  There are also some amusing observations, such as "Is living cheaper in England?  That depends on the living and the liver."  "Ireland is the saddest country. ... The land and inhabitants alike appear in tears."  And this gem:  "The Frenchman like the Englishman runs his business to get money enough to maintain himself and family in comfort at home.  The American man runs his home as a boarding house where he sleeps and eats to get strength to run his business."  77 pages; published in 1909.

"Checking Him Out" by Debbie McGowan

Sol and Elise have been in a lavender marriage for eight years when a pushy man annoys them in the check out aisle at the grocery store.  When the man, Adam, tracks down Sol at his engineering job to return his wallet, they find out that they are both Englishmen living in Boston.  I can't say much more without giving away major spoilers, but part of the story takes place back in England with both sets of their parents and siblings.  The author did a great job of taking what could have been an ordinary boy meets boy story and freshens it with not only with a lavender marriage but anxiety about love and living fully out of the closet.  The secondary characters were done well and played important parts in the story.  I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.  193 pages (Kindle edition).

"A Bad Case" by Hollis Shiloh

Joe is a private detective in 1955 Los Angeles looking for the stolen jewels of a rich client.  He's not getting anywhere so he asks Lee, a man with "second sight," to help him on the case.  It turns out Lee has more than a little paranormal ability; he is part Fae with an evil half-brother who enslaves humans.  Can he help Joe solve the case without Joe paying the ultimate price?  I really enjoy Shiloh's stories; they are always unusual and touching in gentle and unexpected ways.  This one is no different and has a twist at the end that was great.  82 pages (Kindle edition).

"Chapter Five and the Axe-Wielding Maniac" by Marie Sexton

Josh is holed up in a small cabin in Oregon with a bad case of writer's block when a young man named Rad arrives at his door with a pick-ax and shovel asking to dig up the wooden floor.  Josh thinks he's crazy but when he hears Rad's reason, he begins to change his mind.  Both of their families have something to do with the cabin, and digging up the floor may reveal what that is.  Marie Sexton is one of my favorite authors, so finding this short story free online was nice.  There's a sequel to it that I definitely want to read.  44 pages (Kindle edition).

"Blood Red" by Zayne Michaels

This novella put a paranormal twist on Little Red Riding Hood with the main character being turned into a vampire and then pairing up with a werewolf to bring down his maker.  Good chemistry between the reluctant vampire and charismatic werewolf made the story breeze by.  This was the first in the Once Upon a Midnight Moon series.  71 pages (Kindle edition).

Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich

Summary: "She's accidentally destroyed a dozen cars. She's a target for every psycho and miscreant this side of the Jersey Turnpike. Her mother's convinced she'll end up dead... or worse, without a man. She's Stephanie Plum, and she kicks butt for a living (well, she thinks it sounds good to put it that way). It begins as an innocent trip to the deli-mart, on a quest for nachos. But Stephanie Plum and her partner, Lula, are clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Stephanie's resourcefulness (and stubbornness) rises to a whole new level in this book when she actually sneaks in and lives in Ranger's apartment while he's away! Tsk tsk.


312 Pages

To The Nines by Janet Evanovich

My favorite of the series so far! I just can't imagine a better story than one where Connie, Lula and Stephanie travel to Las Vegas. Morelli's storyline was perfect - I absolutely loved it! 

Best quote: "When you come right down to it, this is really all anyone needs, isn't it? A television and a bag of chips."





312 pages

Blood on the Water by Anne Perry

William Monk, Thames River Police Commander, is out on patrol one fine summer night when an explosion rips across the water.  Immediately plunged into rescue work, Monk only later realizes that he saw someone jump off the deck of a pleasure cruise ship seconds before the explosion.  Monk must conduct his own investigation when the case is given over to the Metropolitan Police.  I enjoyed the story but feel that Perry spent a bit too much time rehashing the emotional turmoil experienced by the characters.  They are all traumatized by the 200 lives lost in the explosion and by the botched investigation and trial that follow. There are some satisfying chapters about Scuff, the street urchin that Monk and his wife Hester adopted, and about Oliver Rathbone, their brilliant barrister friend who has been barred from practicing law.  But a bit more action would have improved this installment of the series.    309 pages.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Samuel Clemens

I chose this as my 'classic' to read for the contest. It is one of Clemens first novels, and represents Tom Sawyer as a good hearted soul, much given to theatricality.   I was struck by how much this is a sitcom or a good yarn of small town life in the Midwest since so many of the characters are stereotypes and much of the humor is the 'aw shucks', variety. While the plot is quite far-fetched, as befits a good yarn, Clemens captures the flavor and dialogue of small town life and is full of witty observations and good humor.  You are probably familiar with the basic story, in which the orphan Tom Sawyer and his pals engage in adventures including dodging the town villain, Injun Joe.  The story climaxes with Tom and Polly getting lost in the local cave and being given up for dead.  164 pages; written 1876.