Winter in Madrid by C. J. Sansome

This novel takes place in Spain in 1940. The country has been devastated by the civil war that lasted from 1936-1939. The war was won by Franco, of the Nationalist Party.  Although Franco received assistance during the war from Germany and Italy, he is remaining neutral in the war raging across Europe at this time, leading up to World War II. England was trying to ensure that he remained neutral.

The story centers on four central characters;  Harry Brett, who fought for England at the battle of Dunkirk and was wounded; Sandy Forsyth, who was a schoolmate of Brett’s in London and is now in Spain doing shady business deals with the regime; Bernie Piper, another schoolmate who became a Communist and fought on the Republican (losing) side during the Spanish civil war and disappeared, and Barbara Clare, a Red Cross worker in Madrid who met and fell in love with Bernie before he went to war.

Brett is recruited by English Intelligence to spy on Sandy, whose business deals may help Franco become independent of England and perhaps align with Hitler. When he gets to Madrid, he finds that Sandy is now living with Barbara. Meanwhile, Barbara has discovered that Bernie is not dead, as had been assumed, but is in a brutal prison camp. Brett is an uncomfortable spy, Sandy is a ruthless profiteer, and Barbara is trying to get Bernie out of the camp.

This is not a book I would have chosen to read. It is for my book club, and I always read them, although I do not always enjoy them. I did not enjoy this book.  None of the characters were very likeable, and war/espionage is not favorite subject. I did find the history fascinating, and found myself spending a lot of time looking up information on Spain and on World War II.

544 pages

"Love's Portrait" by Monica Burns

Julia Westgard has been a widow for two years after suffering in an abusive marriage for nearly 10.  One of the things she does to regain her self-esteem is to commission a racy portrait of herself.  She swears the artist to secrecy but it's accidentally seen by Morgan St. Clair, a shipping company owner.  Julia knows St. Clair because she's invested some of her funds in his successful company and because he has a "love 'em and leave 'em" reputation about town.  When she's caught stealing one of his silk, monogrammed handkerchiefs from his hotel suite for a charity auction, he proposes a wager that may put her independence and heart in danger.  Yes, this was another free e-book.  It had well-drawn characters with emotional baggage and a story that kept me interested to the end.  163 pages (Kindle edition).

"Samson's Lovely Mortal (Scanguards Vampires, #1)" by Tina Folsom

Samson Woodford is a vampire living in modern day San Francisco when he meets Delilah Sheridan, an auditor from NY who's in town for work.  They meet when she beats on his door begging for help after she's been chased by a scarred man in a rainstorm.  Samson is instantly drawn to her, but she knows nothing about the existence of vampires.  Delilah is also drawn to him, but a tragedy in her childhood holds her back from taking a chance on love.  Can he earn her trust enough to reveal his true self?  After she's attacked for a second time when she's with Samson, he knows what he must do to protect her. This was another free e-book that had a great story, interesting characters, humor, and suspense to boot.  270 pages (Kindle edition).

Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby by Ace Atkins

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

When she was 10 years she saw the guys who took her mother and killed her.  Nobody believed her. A friend of her mother was convicted of the crime but she knows he’s innocent. She hires Spencer, Susan becomes involved, he needs Hawk’s help.

Audio:  7 hrs. 53 min.

Print:  320 pages.

Dead White: A Dakota Mystery by M. K. Coker

(Posted for Ann Roberts)

A frozen corpse is found in a snowdrift along a South Dakota highway with the words “white out” carved in his arm.  An unpopular supervisor at the local meat processing plant, Dale Hansen has run afoul of several of the mostly immigrant people that he supervises. He has an unhappy wife and angry step-daughter.

Enter Detective Mark Okerlund, a prodigal son returned home, who is handed the case on his first day on the job. In spite of family baggage, personal heartbreak, and dyslexia, Okerlund and his cousin Sheriff Karen Mehaffey solve this page turner of a mystery.  I was drawn in by the second paragraph, and that’s what I like in a book…and it was written by a colleague from the state archives.  Way to go, Mary Kay!

Paperback, 335 p.

"La Luxure: A Human Vampire Novel" by C.D. Hussey

Julia Brown is an engineer from Alton, IL, who's in New Orleans for a week-long conference.  Hoping to break out of her ordinary lifestyle, she chances into La Luxure, a Goth bar, and is immediately attracted to its owner, Armand Laroque.  He and the people patronizing his business seem more like vampires than Goths, but that only intrigues Julia, much to her surprise.

This was a free e-book that I downloaded because I like vampire stories.  It tended to drag in the middle just a bit but kept my interest through the end.  Julia's struggle between safe but boring life and her attraction to Armand was nicely done.  Plus, Columbia, MO, was mentioned as the home of another conference attendee, which was a nice surprise.  312 pages.

Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin

Dana Cutler accepts what she thinks is a light-weight job - tailing college student Charlotte Walsh and reporting back her activities to the client. But the easy job turns difficult when the President of the United States and the Secret Service become involved; and deadly when Charlotte winds up the apparent victim of a serial killer. If you catch the foreshadowing you can figure out the killer early in the book, but it was still an engaging, fast-paced read. 480 pages.

Protector by Laurel Dewey

Jane Perry is a hardened homicide detective assigned to protect Emily Lawrence. Emily has memories locked inside of her that could lead to the capture of the person who killed her parents. Can Jane keep Emily safe until she remembers what happened or will the killer return and successfully wipe out the lone witness to his crime? The language was on the rough side, but not surprisingly so. I found the psychology behind Jane's character interesting enough that it kept me reading even when the plot turned plodding. Book one in the Jane Perry series. 512 pages.

Wait for Me by Elisabeth Naughton

Kate Alexander had a terrible accident that left her with virtually no memory. But, that's not a problem. Her husband Jake is there to help her fill in all the gaps. The trouble is after Jake dies in a plane crash, it soon becomes apparent that the past Jake described was a lie. Kate is determined to uncover what really happened and put her life back together. Unfortunately, someone wants the truth to stay hidden and is willing to commit murder to keep it that way. I thought the plot had promise, but was disappointed in the Ryan-Kate relationship. (Really, the wife who you thought died five years ago reappears and the best you can do is be angry until it looks like YOU may have been the cause of her disappearance? What did Kate ever see in him to begin with?) 280 pages.

Deadly Business by Susette Williams

While working for her business, Maid for You, Bailey Tucker has the unfortunate propensity of uncovering dead bodies (or parts thereof). Detective Max Wellington can't quite figure out if she is a suspect or a witness; he just knows that when Bailey is around the sparks are flying. The book is mainly a mystery with a little romance and the occasional Christian message. The mix doesn't quite work. The characters and the plot are both tiring. This is book one in the Maid for Murder trilogy. I don't plan to read the rest of the series. 254 pages.

Christmas Crumble by M.C. Beaton

In this delightful short story, amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin is feeling in the Christmas spirit so she decides to invite six elderly, lonely people to her home for a Christmas meal. Unfortunately, during the course of the meal one of her guests dies and it looks like Agatha might be up for manslaughter. (Can her cooking really be that bad??) A bit of slapdash fun for the holidays. 32 pages.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

(Posted for Ann Roberts)

I started reading this book before Christmas and finished up just after the New Year.  I’ve always liked to read Dickens when it’s cold and dreary and I’m pretty sure this was my first reading of Great Expectations. I’ve seen film adaptations before so I knew the plot line, as does everyone, I’m sure. What I had forgotten is how wonderfully funny Dickens' writing is. So while Great Expectations is a tale of class discrimination,  heartbreak, and entrapment, it is also filled with kindness and sweetness in the characters of Joe, Biddy,  Wemmick and the aged P., and hilarity in the characters of the Pockets, Mr. Wopsle, and Uncle Pumblechook.

 I’m sure I’ll be reading Dickens next Christmas.

Hardback, 598 p.

Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

The happy hour is not very happy when 80 patrons start attacking and killing each other. Someone has a reason to do this, will try again, and must be stopped. 

Audio: 13 hrs. 12 min.

Print: 400 pages.

"The Pink Rose: Secrets, Love and Betrayal" by Alicia Roberts

Amy is a shy accountant at Zetta Corporation.  Max is the CEO who doesn't believe in love but needs a nice lady to escort to a fundraiser.  Amy catches his eye and accepts his invitation, but they find that they connect.  Unfortunately, Amy's cousin heads another corporation that is Zetta's main rival, and Max's brother thinks there's a mole in their business.  Can their new relationship survive?  One guess.  This was a breezy, easy read that was 40 pages.  (Only available in e-book format.)

"Perfect for You (A Laurel Heights Novel)" by Kate Perry

This was a free e-book that I downloaded and was pleasantly surprised at the quality.  Freya is a web site designer working hard to put her much younger sister through college, but she's in danger of losing her job if she isn't able to get her creativity back in time to please a major client.  Greg is her upstairs neighbor who has a crush on her, and she liked him until she found out what he does for a living - a lawyer.  Freya blames her father's lawyer for ruining her family's lives when he swindled them out of all their money.  Can Greg break through her prejudice?  Will Freya get her creativity back?  Nicely formed primary characters enhance this fluffy contemporary romance.  367 pages (based on the print edition).

"In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death & Duran Duran" by John Taylor with Tom Sykes

John Taylor is the bass player for my favorite band, Duran Duran.  Although he's not the first band member to write an autobiography, his is the first I've read.  He covers his life, from his birth to middle class parents in Birmingham, England, to the band playing at Coachella in 2011.  This is not a typical kiss-and-tell, rock-n-roll bio, as the only person JT blames for his many mistakes and self-destructive behavior is himself.  

As a longtime fan, I already knew quite a bit about the DD story, how the five guys formed the band, the chronology of their albums, their videos, and all that.  But now I got some of the details, especially how JT and DD co-founder Nick Rhodes met when they were young boys and how the Birmingham night life and music of the 1970s influenced just about everything they did.  I finally got JT's version of how the band lost two of its members after their Live Aid performance in 1985.

But parts of the DD story seemed missing.  They were music video pioneers, but surprisingly little is mentioned about MTV, where most of the world first saw the band (and on which my best friend, Tina, and I spent many hours watching for their videos).  I also thought many relationships were glossed over instead of being deeply explored.  Maybe JT did not feel comfortable with that or maybe he just couldn't remember some of the 1980s and 1990s because he was full of alcohol and drugs.  I commend him for his bravery in telling the world that he's an addict and continues the struggle to remain sober. Still, it's difficult to realize that someone you once idolized was hammered when you did so.  Overall, this was a very interesting and quick read by a man who's survived rock stardom at a young age and now appreciates all that life has brought him.  387 pages. 

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornest Nest / Steig Larssen

Reporter Michael Blomkvist sets about setting the record of Lisbeth Salander's life straight, in order to exonerate her from a list of crimes she has been charged with in connection with the attempted murder of her father, Russian spy Alexander Zalachenko.  In doing so, he uncovers a decades-old hidden spy agency deep within the Swedish government that has been engaged in a massive cover-up and numerous illegal activities.  While Salander recovers from her life-threatening wounds incurred in her own quest for justice.  Blomkvist sets a series of events in motion that ultimately leads to freedom for Salander.  Very engaging read; the best of the Millennium Trilogy in my opinion.  672 p.

A Wanted Man : A Jack Reacher Novel / Lee Child

Jack Reacher is on the move again, heading to Virginia to meet a woman.  Darn the luck, he is hitchhiking and is picked up by two men and a woman who claim to be travelling on a work assignment.  Reacher quickly finds inconsistencies in their story, but not soon enough to escape becoming entangled in an escape from the murder on the Nebraska plains.  As usual, Reacher relies on his sharp powers of observation and military survival skills to both extricate himself from the bad guys and solve the mystery.  416 p.

Help Thanks Wow

Author: Anne Lamott
Pages: 112

It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.
Opinion:
This was a bad book to start the new year off with, I pretty much hated it. It's rambling nonsense you can't follow. I haven't read any of her other books, maybe this was just a bad apple but I'm sorry I read it.

Agnes Grey

Author: Anne Bronte
Pages: 214


Novel by Anne Bronte, published in 1847. The strongly autobiographical narrative concerns the travails of Agnes Grey, a rector's daughter, in her service as governess, first to the unruly Bloomfield children and then with the callous Murrays. Agnes's sole consolations in this dreary life are the natural environment and her blossoming relationship with Weston, the local curate.

It took me awhile to finish this book, I set it down several times to read something else, or because of the holidays I was busy. I am glad I have finished it, it was actually a good book.

Theodore Rex

Author: Edmund Morris
Pages: 555

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Theodore Rex is the story—never fully told before—of Theodore Roosevelt’s two world-changing terms as President of the United States. A hundred years before the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, “TR” succeeded to power in the aftermath of an act of terrorism. Youngest of all our chief executives, he rallied a stricken nation with his superhuman energy, charm, and political skills. He proceeded to combat the problems of race and labor relations and trust control while making the Panama Canal possible and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But his most historic achievement remains his creation of a national conservation policy, and his monument millions of acres of protected parks and forest. Theodore Rex ends with TR leaving office, still only fifty years old, his future reputation secure as one of our greatest presidents.

 

This book was fantastic, it showed TR's tender side, his high intelligence and his drive for success.

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Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Let the Lord of Chaos rule! So it has been commanded by the Dark One, the metaphysical being that is the antithesis of all creation, to his minions and they are intent on his will. Agains the storm stands Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn. The reincarnation of the ancient hero Lew Therin Telamon, prophecy says he will save the world and break it just as Lews Therin did three thousand years ago. He can channel the male aligned half of the One Power and doomed to go mad from the Dark One's taint upon it. He is the worlds only hope, and he has lost some of his closest allies. More powerful than ever before, but more alone than at any point yet in his struggle he is becoming hard and grim. Hate, anger, cold determination, and madness are becoming the forces that drive him forward. If this wasn't bad enough the voice of Lew Therin has begun to speak to him, and he is as mad as the day he died. Even worse though, the voice is real.

Elsewhere in the world Rand's friends and would be allies seek an acnient artifact of the Power that might end the unnatual heat and drought that has blanketed the world. The rebel Aes Sedai, a powerful organization of female channelers, are gathering an army to take back the White Tower. Rand's enemies gather their power. And far to the west the great Seanchan Empire, defeated once by Rand, sets its sights on taking back what they claim is theirs.

At over a thousand pages in paperback, Lord of Chaos is the book that gives the Wheel of Time its reputation for dragging on forever. And the book does drag terribly at points. But it does have its good points. The sixth book in the series, it marks to point where the action begins to shift away from Rand to the other characters and their plots. While he struggles for his sanity the others struggle for the world, and all of it will lead up to one of the greatest climaxes in the whole series.

Pages: 1007