Remember how I only read two books in August? I think I know what happened – I had about five going at the same time, reading a bit in each every day, and then I finally finished them in September. I finished 8 books in September! There are two that I won’t list here (another enneagram book, and a book about purity culture in the evangelical church and the global oppression and mistreatment of women – let me know if you’re interested in either one). That still leaves five to review.
Borderlines (Joe Gunther #2) ★★★★, by Archer Mayor. In the second book of the series, Joe heads to his uncle’s home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. He’s supposed to just be staying with him while he helps out a neighboring county with an embezzling case. However, almost right away there is an altercation with a local cult, a fire, a murder, and some of his old friends are involved up to their necks. I enjoyed this book as much as the first one. I have the third one on hold at the library – I’ll (of course) let you know how it goes.
Desperation in Death (In Death #55) ★★★, by J. D. Robb. Eve Dallas is searching for a young girl’s killer. She suspects that the girl was being groomed for sex trafficking, and is having trouble getting a handle on the case until another young girl comes forward. Another excellent In Death book!
Down the Rabbit Hole (In Death #41.5) ★★★, by J. D. Robb et al. This is a compilation of four short stories, only one of which is about Eve Dallas. I loved the Dallas one, but the others were just not up to the same J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) standards. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t fabulous. And I had actually read it way back in the day so I probably shouldn’t even count it here. I kept thinking, this all sounds vaguely familiar… Ha!
The Power ★★★★, by Naomi Alderman. Sometime in the far distant future, a man sends a manuscript of a book he has written to a woman to get her thoughts. It’s about the origins of Mother Eve, and how at one point in time men had the upper hand in society. Which seems laughable to the woman reader, but she’s game for a new tale. In the fictional novel, the male author describes how teenage girls suddenly wake up one day with electricity in their palms; they can zap anyone they want to & that changes the face of the earth. On the one hand, this book was very well written. On the other hand I spent about 80% of it being horrified at how women weren’t any better than men once they were in power. I’m still not sure what I think about it, but it helped a lot when I decided to take it as satire (which was probably not the actual intent).
Lily and the Octopus ★★★★★, by Steven Rowley. Oh what a lovely tender, hilarious, heartbreaking, fabulous book this was! Ted has a dachshund named Lily, and this is his story of his fierce love for her. It was very satisfactory (but sad, for sure – be forewarned). And in case you are interested, the audio narrator was very good.
I'm putting Borderlines on the 'to read' list.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one!
DeleteI tend to pick up books for Judy at the library. I brought one home the other day - "The Christie Affair" - a fictionalized version of the time when Agatha Christie disappeared for a time. She said she'd already read it so now I'm tackling it. Only a few pages into it so no review so far.
ReplyDeleteNow I think I've read it too so I'm giving it up.
DeleteI'll have to look for Borderlines. I'm currently still trying to get through The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz. It is seriously overdue.
ReplyDelete