Thursday, February 26, 2015

The Return, by Hakan Nesser

  • Title:  The Return
  • Author:  Hakan Nesser
  • Borrowed from DC Public (AudioBook)
  • Started: 2/19/2015
  • Finished:  2/25/2015
 
Another Inspector Van Veetren mystery, my least favorite so far.  While plot is never my biggest concern when reading mysteries (it's all about the characters), this one is too farfetched, even for me.  Still enjoy these characters, but the book wasn't great otherwise.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino

 
I'm blowing through audiobooks these days.  When you factor in an hour at the gym in the morning, and then 30 minutes or so walking to/from the office, I'm racking up the books. 
 
Anyway, this book is by the same author of the book "Malice" I just listed to a couple of weeks ago, and I think I like this one even more than Malice (and I loved Malice).  These are great "I know who did it" mysteries, where there are so many plot twists and turns, very fun.  I could read these all day.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

A Battle Won, by S. Thomas Russell

Title: A Battle Won
Author: S. Thomas Russell
Borrowed from: DC public kindle book
Started: 2/5/2015
Finished: 2/15/15

The second in the Captain Hayden/Themis series, entertaining enough. But I'm not sure how much more of these I can read, as it is a constant "perfect man beaten down constantly by those around him" thing, to the point that it is comical and unappealing. Will take a break and see if it seems worth coming back to the series.

Friday, February 13, 2015

An Inquiry into Love and Death, by Simone St. James

 
Recommended to me on my public library audiobook account, I took a chance on this period piece love/ghost story.  I wasn't crazy about the ending, but overall the book was enjoyable.  I would have preferred a little more ghost, and maybe not the "surprise" Nazi bad guys, but overall an enjoyable book.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel

  • Title:  Station Eleven
  • Author:  Emily St. John Mandel
  • Borrowed from DC Public (Kindle Book)
  • Started:  1/20/2015
  • Finished:  2/4/2015 
 
Shortly after I finished "The 39 Steps" I started reading "Abominable" by Dan Simmons.  Made it more than halfway through that novel before I had to admit I wasn't enjoying it, and shouldn't torture myself just because I hate to leave a book half-read.
 
So I move onto the book for this post, "Station Eleven."  A post-apocalyptic novel, but not like any I'd ever read.  This wasn't the struggle for survival with roving bands of outlaws.  Told through several voices, going between past (pre-flu) and present (post-flu) it was a strangely enchanting book.  Not sure how else to put it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Borkmann's Point, by Håkan Nesser

Title: Borkmann's Point
Author: Håkan Nesser
Borrowed from DCPublic (audiobook)
Started: 2/2/2015
Finished: 2/5/2015

I thought "Minds Eye" which I read recently was the first of the Inspector Van Veeteren mysteries, but it turns out it was the third. This book was the first. Very much enjoying this series, although the murderer was pretty easy to guess early on, the motive was not.  

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Malice, by Keigo Higashino

  • Title:  Malice
  • Author:  Keigo Higashino
  • Borrowed from DC Public (AudioBook)
  • Started: 1/28/2015
  • Finished:  2/1/2015
 
I read about this book in the WSJ several months back and thought it sounded interesting.  "Keigo Higashino combines Dostoyevskian psychological realism with classic detective-story puzzles reminiscent of Agatha Christie..."
 
I'd like to pretend I understand exactly what that review meant months ago, but it was only after devouring the book that I feel up to speed.  When I first started listening I was so put off by the reader's voice that I almost quit.  I'm glad I stuck it out, once the reader switched from the first narrator to the second, I began to appreciate how the book was being read.  That's hard to explain unless you listen to it, of course, but I digress.
 
This book was fantastic, an excellent mystery.