My
February books were a mixed bag. I know you’ll be relieved to know that even I
(the queen of the 4 star rating), can admit when I don’t love a book.
1. A
Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. ★★★★★ In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is
deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to
house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin.
Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his
life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous
decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors.
Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger
world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of
characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular
novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper
understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
The Bug Says: Oh
my goodness, I LOVED this book! I had no idea what to expect, but it was compelling,
and funny, and thoughtful, and an inside view of the Russian revolution. I’m
not really into historical fiction, but this is a story about a man and it is
wonderful!
2. Annie
Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral, by Kris Radish. ★★ For Katherine Givens and the four
women about to become her best friends, the adventure begins with a UPS
package. Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that
will forever change their lives. Katherine’s oldest and dearest friend, the
irrepressible Annie Freeman, left one final request—a traveling funeral—and she
wants the most important women in her life as “pallbearers.”
The Bug Says: I
thought the premise of this book was great – the Annie Freeman wanted her women
friends to scatter her ashes in places that meant something to her. However,
every chapter contained what I would consider a book-ending narrative summing
up how fabulous it all was (every. chapter.), and the “voice” of each of the
women was exactly the same. The author was apparently unable to give all of
these women their own personalities. There were a couple of scenes that I enjoyed,
but otherwise I was skimming through as fast as I could.
3. Golden
in Death (In Death, #50), by J. D. Robb. ★★★★ Pediatrician Kent Abner received
the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden
egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic
airborne fumes entered his body and killed him.
The Bug Says: I
can’t believe that we’re now on book 50
of this series! Of course I loved it – it was like hanging out with familiar
old friends. One little quibble – at the end of the book I was expecting a confrontation with one of the “bad guys,” but instead we just heard
about what happened elsewhere.
4. Belong
to Me (Love
Walked In #2) , by Marisa de los Santos. ★★★★
Marisa de los Santos's literary talents shine in the complex interactions she
creates between three women. She deftly explores the life-altering roller
coaster of emotions Piper faces as she cares for two households, her own and
that of her cancer-stricken best friend, Elizabeth. Skillfully, de los Santos
creates an enigmatic and beguiling character in Lake, who draws Cornelia closer
even as she harbors a shocking secret. And from the first page until the
exhilarating conclusion, de los Santos engages readers with Cornelia, who,
while trying to adapt to her new surroundings, must remain true to herself. As
their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust,
betrayal, love, and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and
that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to
another.
The Bug Says: Oh
what a lovely book! I had read the first book in the series a while back and
forgot that there were any sequels. I really
hated the Piper character in the beginning (think, Nellie Oelson), but she is
redeemed in the end. Although still true to her nature, so still annoying. But
even though the description up there reads like a soap opera, it doesn’t feel
like one. It feels like life.
5. The
Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #12) ,
by Alexander McCall Smith. ★★★★ At a
remote cattle post south of Gaborone two cows have been killed, and Precious
Ramotswe, Botswana’s No. 1 Lady Detective, is hired by fearful client, himself
a suspect. She and secretary Grace Makutsi, wooed by Phuti Radiphuti, both see
her old white van. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni’s apprentice runs away under pressure to
wed. Violet Sephotho runs for the Botswana Parliament.
The Bug Says: Another fine installment in this series. I was kind of
sad that I couldn’t get the audio version (the narrator for this series is really good), but I enjoyed it
nonetheless. However, here is one quibble: Mma. Makutsi was almost a caricature
of herself in this book (which is saying something because she’s pretty much a
caricature all the time). It was still fun.
6. I’ll
be Your Blue Sky (Love Walked In #3), by Marisa de los
Santos. ★★★★ On the weekend of her wedding,
Clare Hobbes meets an elderly woman named Edith Herron. During the course of a
single conversation, Edith gives Clare the courage to do what she should have
done months earlier: break off her engagement to her charming, yet overly
possessive, fiancé. Three weeks later, Clare learns that Edith has died—and has
given her another gift. Nestled in crepe myrtle and hydrangea and perched at
the marshy edge of a bay in a small seaside town in Delaware, Blue Sky House
now belongs to Clare. Exploring the house, Clare finds two mysterious ledgers
hidden beneath the kitchen sink. Edith, it seems, was no ordinary woman—and
Blue Sky House no ordinary place. With the help of her mother, Viviana, her
surrogate mother, Cornelia Brown, and her former boyfriend and best friend, Dev
Tremain, Clare begins to piece together the story of Blue Sky House…
The Bug Says: This one was even better than the 2nd book
in the series. It was just so very satisfactory, even though it dealt, in part,
with another difficult subject (domestic violence). There’s one more book in
the series – don’t be surprised if that one shows up on March’s book review.
I’m
surprised that I ended up getting 6 books read in February – must have been all
that skimming in that second book up there. Well, and I do tend to devour the
In Death books. I know it’s only been a couple of weeks since I last asked, but
have you read anything interesting lately?
