Ballykissangel: The New Arrival

Ballykissangel: The New Arrival by Hugh Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't know how to rate this book. If you haven't seen the series, it is a nice cozy book.  If you have seen the series, it is more like a screen play.  The dialog is taken right from the script.  I was hoping for some more depth to the characters and some additional story lines, but nothing was there.  If you were a devoted fan of the series, there isn't much point in reading the book.


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The Girl with the Botticelli Eyes

The Girl with the Botticelli Eyes by Herbert Lieberman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a little hard to get started, but once I got into it, it was very interesting. The premise is that a killer is murdering young women and carving out their eyes.  At the same time, there is a major show of Botticelli which is being planned by a curator on the way up.  He is trying to arrange to get a descendant of one of Botticelli's young models who resembles her to come to the exhibition. The two stories merge in a dramatic and life changing way.


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Winter Study (Anna Pigeon Mysteries, #14)

Winter Study by Nevada Barr

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This rating is actually 2-1/2 stars. I was very disappointed in this book. I found it to be more thriller than a good mystery and there was too much violence and disgusting sexual content. I hesitate to say that because there will be those who say that anyone who objects to such content is prudish, but this seems to be a substitute for a well drawn mystery that proceeds from character traits of the perpetrator.

Anna Pigeon has come to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves because her Rocky Mountain National Park may soon have a pack of wolves introduced. She is joining a research team which is part of a 50 year old study of wolves and their behavior. The park has always been closed during the winter for the study, but Homeland Security is considering opening the park to supposedly close a weak border where terrorists may enter the country. They have sent a consultant to report on that possibility.

Shortly after Anna’s arrival, the team discovers evidence that a huge wolf has been seen and there is DNA evidence that it is a cross between dog and wolf, which they call a “Wog.” This animal has been mysteriously introduced and has a behavior pattern foreign to the 3 packs that are already on the island. When a researcher is killed, Anna is no longer studying the wolf packs and becomes a detective and it is at this point that the book degenerates into a sex and violence thriller with improbable behavior and bad language. I am very tired of books that substitute shock value for good writing.

The characters in this book are not well drawn and their roles as victim and killer are pretty evident from the beginning. The conclusion, I believe, is also very weak and does not proceed from the personality of the characters. There are so many places where this book seems to have great potential, but it just doesn’t make it. I hope this is not a trend for the future, because I really enjoy Nevada Barr’s books and would like to enjoy many more.





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Dyer Consequences

Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a little lightweight and predictable, but just the right thing for a life of complications and sometimes chaos.  The story revolves around a murder and the friends who frequent the most wonderful yarn shop in the world.  It is nice to read about such a fantastic yarn heaven and dream of unlimited time to knit.


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The Silent Cry

The Silent Cry by Anne Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best in this series.  It is really hard to see where it is going until the end, but there is suspense all the way through it.


Two gentlemen lay bleeding in the seedier side of London, one dead and one dying.  They are covered in blood but their injuries don't account for the amount of blood.  The younger man lives, but is terribly injured and can no longer speak.  His hands are shattered and he can't communicate with writing either.  Hester Latterly is called to nurse the young man.

At the same time someone is beating up and raping women in Seven Dials and St. Giles.  The wife of a sweatshop owner comes to Monk to pay him to investigate who is doing this.   The women are not professional prostitutes, but young women who work in the factory for a pittance are forced to make a little money on the side to feed their children.  They are already beaten down by poverty and indifference and now someone is making their existence even more miserable.  The violence is escalating and it is just a matter of time before one of them is killed.

The two cases twist and turn towards each other as Evan investigates the former and Monk the latter.  At the same time, Monk is coming across street people who knew him when he and Runcorn patrolled these streets.  Throughout the book, he gets hints as to what he did to make Runcorn detest him so.  If you follow the series, this book pushes the story line much further along the line.


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The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series of books was recommended by the Duke Talent Identification program for gifted kids.  It is a wonderful book and especially for gifted children who may have some difficulty understanding their intelligence which often puts a distance between them and their peers.  The children in the Mysterious Benedict Society are all gifted in different ways and they have to learn to accept the differences and making use of their individual gifts.

The story involves the apparent kidnapping of their mentor, Mr. Benedict, who had planned an interesting scavenger hunt for them, but ended up depending on the clues he left for the children to rescue him.


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The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this, the third book of the series, the children have grown and learned to value their own talents as well as their friends.  Because of the danger, the children are all confined to Mr. Benedict's house to keep them safe.  Suddenly Mr. Curtin, Nicholas' evil twin, has manage to take out the power system of Stonetown and the children are the only ones who can save the town.  The book is full of riddles and puzzles that the children use their unique intelligence to figure out.

This book explores the early story of Constance and helps the children understand her.  I didn't like the fact that she could control minds though.  All of the children are gifted in some way, but all of the abilities are natural like having a photographic memory or the ability to solve problems in creative ways.  Mind control does not fit and moves the book from a series that profoundly gifted children can relate to fantacy.


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The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book for kids and adults.  I am using it for homeschooling.  The book is about 4 extremely gifted orphaned children who answer an add for exceptional students.  Each of the children is exceptional in a different way and they work for the mysterious Nicholas Benedict to enroll in a sinister school also for orphans.  They are able to avert disaster while using their extraordinary talents.

Nicholas Benedict, whom they work for, suffers from narcolepsy as does the headmaster of the school they have infiltrtated.  Both are apt to nod off in times of excitement, strong emotion, and danger.  I did a little reading on the disease and the book is quite accurate on it's effects.

The story is fanciful but still plausible...if here was such a thing as a Benedict Society...and such a dastardly plot.  In other, the reader knows that the story couldn't possibly be real, but if it was, this is the way it would happen.


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The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the best book of the series.  It is a great book for gifted kids and adults, as well as any kid who likes to read.  Benedict's parents were scientists who were killed in an explosion.  He was taken by a relative who died and he was placed in a series of orphanages. He suffered from narcolepsy which often caused him to fall asleep whenever he experienced strong emotions or fear and he also suffered from night terrors which constantly awoke the other orphans. Being a genius, having a photographic memory, and being able to read a book in only a few minutes also set him apart from the other children.

His adjustment was at his latest orphanage was difficult and he was a target of bullies.  Eventually, he was able to use his genius to protect some of the other children and finally make friends.  The book is full of situations that seem insolvable, but Nicholas prevails and manages to carve out a niche for himself.


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The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been using this book for homeschooling my granddaughter and it is wonderful.  I've read it aloud a number of times when my children were young and it is great to listen to myself.

We used the book for both Literature and Bible and there are some amazing Biblical concepts.  The loving creation of Narnia is especially moving and gives a exceptional picture of the creation of our world.  The issue of sin and forgiveness are also explored in a way children can understand it, but is profound for even an adult.  Diggory, one of the main characters disobeys a sign and sets in motion a score of negative consequences that can't be erased.  Later, he is given the chance to make a different choice to help counteract the first choice and wonderfully illustrates the concept of atonement.  The book is full of love, beauty and redemption, but it doesn't skirt the issue of evil and sin.


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Weighed in the Balance

Weighed in the Balance by Anne Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't like this as the rest in this series.  It dragged quite a bit and nothing much happened in the mystery until the last chapters.

The plot revolves about a case which Oliver Rathbone takes involving slander.  A Countess has said that the wife of the exiled heir to the throne of a small Germanic principality has killed him.  He have up his throne for his wife and lived in exile in Vienna.  Their story was a romance for the ages and no one can believe that his wife would kill him.

What I did find interesting was the information about the number of small kingdoms which were caught up in the unification of Germany.  I never thought about what it would mean for these kingdoms which had their own identity and history.  I have even gone to Bavaria, seen Neuschwanstein, and read the history of King Ludwig II and never thought what happened when Germany unified.  Some of the smaller kingdoms fought the Prussian army and others, realizing the futility of resisting, allowed themselves to become part of Germany.


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Long Spoon Lane

Long Spoon Lane by Anne Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was not one of my favorites.  For one thing, it dealt with anarchists and their political agenda, is not one I can relate to, or like to read about.  Of course, the anarchists are only a smoke screen and there is far more going on, but I just couldn't get into this one as well as the others.


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Death of a Chimney Sweep (Hamish Macbeth #27

Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Could an affable local Chimney Sweep actually be a murder?  Hamish Macbeth thinks it's impossible and that there is more to it than meets the eye.  He's proven right when the chimney sweep is found dead also.  What's behind the murders?

This is a nice cozy mystery and a great audiobook where the text is read with all the appropriate accents.  I like this series because it is comfortable and you can always count on it.  If that sounds a little boring, I don't mean it to.  In the middle of books about Afghanistan or the Balkans, or other unsolvable real life situations, there is a place for wonderful books like this series.


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Death of a Valentine (Hamish Macbeth, #26)

Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another book in the Hamish Macbeth series and is a little better than most, so I gave it an extra star.  That is mainly for the trip to the altar that it seems that Hamish can't possibly get out of.  Everything keep inspiring against him and this part of the mystery is actually more interesting than the real one.

These books play a role in my reading life.  They are entirely predictable and easy to listen to as an audiobook.  If I put one of these on my iPod, I can stick with a less than interesting, but necessary task around the house.  They are also a relief between weightier books.


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The Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book for any child who loves to solve mysteries and to push themselves to do more with his or her mind.  The book is full of logic problems, codes and other puzzlers.


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Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (Agatha Raisin, #6)

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Agatha Raisin's marriage to James Lacy was ended before it began when her husband, whom she thought was dead, turned up.  Fortunately and unfortunately, he turned up dead and Agatha solved the murder.  Now she has headed for Greece where James retreated after the fiasco of a wedding.

While in Greece, a "terrible tourist" is murdered and she and James end up having to solve the murder before Agatha is killed.  All this is typical Agatha and the reader ends up wanting to kill her while hoping she escapes the clutches of the real murder.


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Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Agatha Raisin's marriage to James Lacy was ended before it began when her husband, whom she thought was dead, turned up.  Fortunately and unfortunately, he turned up dead and Agatha solved the murder.  Now she has headed for Greece where James retreated after the fiasco of a wedding.

While in Greece, a "terrible tourist" is murdered and she and James end up having to solve the murder before Agatha is killed.  All this is typical Agatha and the reader ends up wanting to kill her while hoping she escapes the clutches of the real murder.


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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Against all odds, Peeta and Katniss Everdeen have survived the Hunger Games, but now they are perceived as a pair and their popularity and even safety depend on no one knowing the truth.  The bravery and love that Peeta shows Katniss has struck a cord with the people of the country and their safety depends on keeping that impression alive.

At home all is not well.  Both Peeta and Gale seem to be angry at Katniss and it is time for Peeta and Katniss to go on their Victory Tour.  The Capitol feel that the pair have helped to fuel the rebellion stirring in some of the districts and yet they are so popular, their hands seem to be tied.


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Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was excellent.  Young Katniss Everdeen lives in a country called Panem which is surrounded by 12 districts.  The Capitol rules over the districts by requiring that they send two teenagers every year to the Hunger Games in which they compete to the death while the people of the country watch on live TV.  There are people who create the games and are able to create even more difficult challenges at will, pitting the children of one district against other districts and their own partner.

Katniss volunteered when her 12 year old sister was chosen and she was allowed to take her place.  She accepted the challenge as a death sentence, but could not bear to see her sweet and sensitive sister go to her certain death.  It turns out that the survival skills Katniss' father taught her helped her to do much better in the games than she ever believed possible.


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