Tokyo Woes by Bruce Jay Friedman

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Crazy Californian goes to another country; he’s a wanderer, but this time it changes those he was with away and at home.

Audio:  4 hrs. 19 min.

Print:  187 pages

NYPD Red 4 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Manhattan movie premiere, heist gone wrong, and murder.  All together another good book.

Audio:  6 hrs. 58 min.

Print:  332 pages

Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout

When a young woman shows up on Nero Wolfe's doorstep claiming to be his daughter, Archie Goodwin is astounded. After all, Wolfe weighs about a ton, detests women, and has never so much as hinted that he has any family! Turns out, Wolfe did adopt a little girl many years ago in Montenegro, but has since lost touch with the woman who was raising her.

Now, she and another young woman are in New York, and are murder suspects. They need Wolfe to help get them out of an untenable situation. Will he take it on?



271 pages

Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck

Madame Wu is the much-admired matriarch of a prominent Chinese dynasty. On her fortieth birthday, she decides to find her husband a concubine, because that part of her life is over now. She moves out of her husband's quarters into quarters of her own, and begins to pursue her own interests. She begins to pursue intellectual pursuits, studying with a local priest. She has always been considered a woman of great wisdom, and now is becoming even wiser.

She allows her children to pursue their own lives and passions, and gives her husband permission to become his own person also. He is at first opposed to this entire enterprise, but comes to enjoy the life his wife has now gifted him with. The household continues to run efficiently, but now has more emotional connections.

This is a very interesting book. When I attempted to read it as a teenager, I found it boring. This time, I found it fascinating.


316 pages

The Free by Willy Vlautin

Amazon description:

While serving in Iraq, veteran Leroy Kervin suffered a traumatic brain injury. Frustrated by the simplest daily routines, and unable to form new memories, he eventually attempts suicide. Lying in a coma, he retreats deep inside the memories locked in his mind. Freddie McCall works two jobs and still can't make ends meet. He's lost his wife and kids, and the house is next. Medical bills have buried him in debt, a situation that propels him to consider a lucrative—and dangerous—proposition. Pauline Hawkins is a nurse at the local hospital. Though she attends to others' needs with practical yet firm kindness, including her mentally ill elderly father, she remains emotionally removed. But a new patient, a young runaway, touches something deep and unexpected inside her.

320 pages

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

In  France in 1939, Vianne Mauriac is living in the quiet village of Carriveau with her husband and young daughter when he is sent to the Front.  It is unthinkable that Germany will invade France, but they do.  The French government immediately capitulates, allowing Germany to establish two countries; Free France, and occupied France. Carriveau is in the occupied section, and a German officer billets in her home. She is forced  to accept if she expects to survive.

As the war progresses, the German take everything from the French; they take the good food, leaving the citizenry to slowly starve. They take their dignity, their hope, and in many cases, their lives. They take any valuables they might own, and people are forced to burn their furniture to survive the cold winters. In the end, of course, France is on the winning side of the war, but life will never be the same for those who live through it.


440 pages

Thirty and a Half Excuses by Denise Grover Swank

Summary: "Life in Henryetta, Arkansas is turned upside down with the arrival of a televangelist, but it's the death of a little old lady on Rose's street that catches her attention. The Henryetta police deem her death natural causes, but Rose suspects foul play and so does an unlikely supporter - the president of the Busy Body Club, her eighty-two year old neighbor Mildred." 

Thirty and a Half Excuses is the 3rd installment of the Rose Gardener Mystery series, and it made me cry! I loved the first book in this series because it was ridiculous and hysterically funny but this one....whew. What a tearjerker! I hope the rest of the series has more quirky and lighthearted moments! 




351 pages

"Noah" by Cara Dee

I read Cara Dee's story "Aftermath" a few years ago and really liked it, so I wanted to read another of her books.  Noah is having a very bad two days.  First, he catches his girlfriend of four years cheating on him, and the next day, the plane carrying his parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew crashes killing all on board.  He's never been so depressed or felt so alone.  However, his 23-year-old step-nephew is left, and when the young man moves in with Noah, things start to look up.

This book was very different from "Aftermath" but was still a compelling read.  Julian and Noah don't really know each other but they bond while trying to get through the tragedy.  My only complaints are that big chunks of time were glossed over (one chapter started with "Nine months later"), and there was too much cussing for my taste.  I'm no prude but I found it distracting and too crude for the characters.  259 pages (Kindle edition).

"Derek" by B.G. Thomas

This novella is the story of how the end of Derek's marriage to a woman makes him finally come to terms with the fact that he's gay.  The story takes place in Kansas City, where the local LGBT community helps him adjust to his truth.  There's are some hippy and new age vibes to it, but I thought it added to the atmosphere of acceptance.  72 pages (Kindle edition).

"On Solid Ground" by Melissa Collins

A vet with PTSD and a tattoo artist with a drug addicted sister try to find love in California.

I really wanted to like this book.  It had many good reviews, but it just did not live up to my expectations for several reasons.  One of the main characters jumped to conclusions and became mad very easily; he acted quite immature and did not seem to have the capability for a healthy relationship.  The story was told in the present tense, which I always find a bit odd to read.  One character had been raped, but the story did not deal with any lingering effects of the trauma.  There were also a number of inconsistencies, so it could have used better editing.  However, there was a service dog, a cute kid, and an upbeat ending, so there were some positives.  328 pages (Kindle edition).

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Summary: "If Hannah Wells wants to get her crush's attention, she will have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice, even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the school's hockey team (Garrett Graham) in exchange for a pretend date."

I read this book in a day - I couldn't put it down! I can't explain why The Deal is so good, but it just IS. I loved the hockey references and Garret + Hannah's flirty conversations. Elle Kennedy does an excellent job of building up their friendship/trust before moving on to the romance phase. If you're going to read a New Adult romance, make sure it's this! It's fun and fresh and has some steamy romance! 

TW: This book does mention rape and abuse, so be careful if those are trigger warnings for you. 

The Deal is the first book in the Off-Campus series. I believe the other books in the series follow Garrett's hockey teammates. 

330 pages

The Summer Before the War By Helen SImonson

This delightful novel, by the author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is filled with the colorful characters of a small, English village on the verge and at the beginning of World War I. The plot centers on a young woman who has moved there to teach Latin and the well-to-do family who sponsored her employment. The family just happens to include a handsome nephew who is down from his medical studies in London.  But as interesting as the characters are, it is the overall action of English country life, which is forced to change significantly as the reality of war sets in. The changes the war brings are large and small, and Ms. Simonson deftly captures all.

496 pages

The Long Way Home, By Louise Penny

This novel finds Inspector Gamache happily retired and living in Three Pines.  The mystery that finds him is very different than what he is accustomed; there is no murder.  Several books ago, the village's artist, Clara Morrow realized that her husband Peter had been lying about some very important things for all of their relationship.  She made him leave but with the proviso that they should come back together after one year to reassess, and after that one year she expected him to come home.  But he didn't, nor did he make any effort to contact her.  At first she was angry, but then she began to worry and tracking him became  the Inspector's mission.  Together with Clara, Jean Guy
Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers (the local retired psychiatrist) they journey further and further into Quebec to find the missing man. 
 Despite the marked difference in this book's format, it is another worthy accomplishment for Ms. Penny.  Each character has some quest they need to complete and the journey for Peter provides the opportunity.

400 pages

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

This Inspector Gamache mystery finds the Inspector and Jean Guy in a remote monastery, where no outsiders ever visit, yet one of the monks has been brutally murdered.  They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate, and they sing; it is their choir leader who is murdered. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as "the beautiful mystery."  As Inspector Gamache and his trusty assistant solve this murder, cracks begin to show in their relationship.  These cracks result in a terrible break, which continues in the next book, How the Light Gets In.
400 pages 

The Guest Room, By Chris Bohjalian

Suburban school teacher, Kristin Chapman encourages her husband to throw his brother's bachelor party, since they have a spacious home in Westchester County.  The plan is for Kris and their daughter to spend the night with her mother in her Manhattan apartment.  The plan quickly goes awry when the party descends into bacchanalian drunkenness --  the "dancers" offer more than lap dances.  Richard (the party's host) does nothing to try and control the situation, and instead goes upstairs with one of the "dancers" where they share an intimate moment, caught on video, in the daughter's bedroom.
The other young woman, suddenly fed up with her life as a sex slave, gets her hands on a knife and stabs to death, one of the large Russian bodyguards while the other guests stand speechless  in the living room.  Alexandra takes the dead guard's gun and kills the other one.  The party is officially over, and a chilling game of cat and mouse begins.  I have been a fan of Chris Bohjalian's work for quite some time, and while this book has a promising plot, it never really develops.  What should have been a nice murder mystery became a trite suburban soap opera, which I was sorry I wasted my time on.
336 pages

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

In this first book in the newest series by Riordan, The Trials of Apollo, the Greek god Apollo finds himself cast down to earth as a mortal, bound to a demigod, and forced to undergo a series of trials in order to regain his divinity. The power of prophecy has deserted the Oracle (aka Rachel Elizabeth Dare) and it is up to Apollo, now a sixteen-year-old boy with a major case of acne, along with his fellow campers to return the prophecies and defeat a new evil.

In this new series we see a lot of familiar faces from Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus, though of the main characters only Percy and Leo make an appearance. As a fan of mythology I continue to enjoy these books, though some of the originality and excitement has worn away as Riordan continues to build on previous story lines from his earlier series.

376 pages

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

Set in Regency England, Elinor Rochdale has been reduced to a penniless governess after her father gambles away his fortune and shoots himself. Traveling to the country to accept a new post, she steps into the wrong coach and encounters Lord Carlyon, who has advertised quite a different sort of position. Lord Carlyon is seeking a wife for his dissipated younger cousin, whose estate he would rather not inherit. Believing Elinor to have come in answer to his advertisement, misunderstanding ensues. In the end, Carlyon persuades Elinor to accept the position he has to offer, and she marries his cousin on his deathbed, becoming both wife and widow in a matter of hours. Shortly after, Elinor finds herself caught up in a series of strange events including midnight intruders, treason, and murder.

This is a lighthearted historical novel, with a dash of mystery and romance. Heyer’s books are reminiscent of Jane Austen’s novels, though with a bit more spunk (that’s not a criticism of Austen). Also, the historical detail is wonderful.

278 pages

How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Bertie Wooster is tooling down to his Aunt Dahlia’s estate while his incomparable valet Jeeves is on vacation. But Bertie’s sojourn is marred by the presence of his former schoolmaster Aubrey Upjohn and the famous nerve specialist Sir Roderick Glossop, who is posing as butler under the name Swordfish. Add some romantic entanglements involving an old school chum, a kleptomaniac, and the disappearance of a silver cow creamer and you have the makings of a first-rate Wodehouse adventure.

Ever since I read my first Bertie & Jeeves books I’ve been a Wodehouse fan. Sure all the plots start to look alike after the first book or two, but the humor is always fresh and Wodehouse’s use of language always amuses. I highly recommend anything he’s written!

206 pages

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

*Note: I had to clean up my original review to make it work appropriate.  That's how mad I was after reading this terrible book.*

What a pretentious piece of ridiculous crud.

It has:
• Harmful, uninformed medical opinions (Why?? It's a book on creativity. Just NO.)
• Bizarre and illogical assessments of historical figures
• COMPLETELY FAKE STATISTICS (How did those even survive editing? You can't make figures up to back your outrageous opinions. You need real sources. They should be cited. This is the fastest way to enrage a librarian.)
• Constant judgment
• So much repetition I want to poke my eyes out (because I got it the first 50 times you said it)
• And an exhausting, superior, egotistical attitude.

I can't believe I wasted money on such a terrible book. Typically, I avoid posting one star ratings and reviews, but since this is parading about calling itself nonfiction, I have to interject to say it's nothing more than a bizarre and often offensive opinion piece, full of some very obvious statements about creativity. Don't read this drivel, unless you enjoy judgmental, condescending monologues that go nowhere.

If you want an interesting, thoughtful book on writing and creativity, try Stephen King's ON WRITING.

Pages: 190

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I avoided this book for years, but it’s fantastic! I worried it would be tiresome or sound too much like Self-Help, which is a genre I generally dislike. I also worried it would make me realize I don't have what it takes to be a writer, which was not something I wanted to have confirmed.

What I got was an engaging book, full of moments that helped shape who Stephen King is as a person and a writer. In addition, he provides a lot of advice on writing, but it’s never annoying or pretentious. He’s honest about his process, and that was really helpful and reassuring to me.

In fact, he said so many unexpected things about writing that remind me of myself and the way I approach writing, that I had some serious “Ah-Ha” moments while reading. I found myself writing “Me too!” in the margins, and I realized that I can and probably should ignore all those people who tell me if I don’t plot and outline my book to death (their way), it won’t be readable. I mean, I’ve mostly ignored them, but I did let it nag at me and weigh on my mind.

I’ve barely written the past year, because I suffered a serious crisis of writing faith. My attitude went from happy and determined to the lowest of the low. I couldn’t reason with myself. I started drafting two novels and quit halfway, which is something I had never done before. I tried to convince myself I’m just a reader and don’t have what it takes to be a writer. That I should give up. But somehow I found myself still dabbling, even when I insisted I was giving up.

I suffered endless pep talks from myself and other writers. I read inspirational quotes and appreciated funny comics about writing. I lectured myself and allowed others to lecture me. I tried and tried and tried but continued to struggle, hating very minute of the wasted time and paralyzing self-doubt.
At the end of each day, I still felt terrible about my writing, which made it really hard to be writing. I forced myself to write anyway, but it was without the joy I used to bring to the table.

Reading this book helped me see that even writers like Stephen King struggle. They have self-doubt. They have failed projects, and sometimes they even panic and throw out something that could be great. Reading this book made me excited about finishing both my half started novels, and it made me interested in revisiting some of my past novels, to see what I could do to improve them.

Now, my only writing crisis is that there isn’t enough time in the day to tackle everything I want to work on, so I owe this book a lot. It did something for me in 3 days that I seemed to be incapable of doing for myself across the span of a whole year. It gave me back the desire to write, the courage to tell my fears to bug off, and the motivation to do the work with as much honesty as possible, regardless of outcome.

Pages: 288

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

I chose this book because of fabulous blurbs on the cover, as well as a 'coming to Syfy' label.  The story follows Quentin Coldwater, a talented loner, as he is accepted into a secret college for magicians. But his new powers don't satisfy his yearning for a more purposeful existence.  Then he and several friends find their way into Fillory, the magic land described in his favorite children's books.  While Fillory is a thin disguise for Narnia, Quentin and friends find that it is a much darker and more dangerous place than they bargained for.  While I found the premise and plotting to be quite original, the characters are mostly very self-absorbed and I found it hard to care very much about them.  This is the first of a trilogy, also coming to TV.  402 pages

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Golden Son by Pierce Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My brain explodes with awesome as I read these stories.

And terror.

Pierce Brown is like the Joss Whedon of YA Sci-Fi novels.

ME: This character is awesome!

PB:  *character dies*

ME: I love this character!

PB:  *character dies brutally*

ME:  THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME!

PB:  *massacre ensues: character dies, as well as his best friend and sister*

ME:  I hate this guy. Worst character ever. So boring and blah. Whatevs.

PB:  YOU LIE. YOU LOVE HIM. *character dies, is resurrected, and DIES AGAIN*

Also, everyone is required to be happy in solidarity when the 2nd book in a series really delivers, because there's nothing quite so heartbreaking as reading book #2 and encountering. . . meh. This is as far from meh as a book can get.

Pages: 464