62.
Title: [The Hen of the Baskervilles]
Author: Donna Andrews
Pages: 320
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Preordered
Date Completed: August 4, 2013
Rating: ****

The Hen of the Baskervilles finds blacksmith Meg Langslow nowhere near her forge (as has become usual), but rather in a sheep barn. Directing the county fair with the major, Meg finds herself in the usual level of chaos, with the body of a predictably unlikeable person to boot. 

The Hen of the Baskervilles follows Andrews's formula well, although it's nice to see Meg out of the house and with far fewer relative in tow.  Some elements of the novel are rather incongruent (or perhaps simply overly-absurd), but some level of farce is to be expected in this series.  While the novel won't be winning any awards, it's another fun feather for Andrews's cap. 

56. 
Title: [Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology, and My Harrowing Escape]
Author: Jenna Miscavige Hill
Pages: 416
Genre: Autobiography
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 2013
Rating: ****

I picked up Hill's memoir on a LibraryThing recommendation, and like the original review I can't help but scoff a bit at the author's claim to a "harrowing escape" - a phrase which inspires images of midnight excursions by leaky raft as one flees a communist state, perhaps, as opposed to arguing with family and inlaws. 

What I appreciated and enjoyed about Hill's story is the information she provides on Scientology - the practices, the beliefs, and the politics. This story could potentially describe any number of cults, and for that I found it supremely interesting and engrossing. However, the narrative itself is often alienating (no pun intended); it's difficult to feel sympathy for someone who already feels so very sorry for herself.  I applaud her efforts to shed light on the institution and its often nefarious practices, but many times in her story it seems that Hill's negative reactions are not to the abuses she experiences growing up in the church as a child or young adult, but rather that she would be exposed to this same abuse as the niece of the church's leader. 

Overall, the story is enlightening, and worth a read.

57. 
Title: [Some Like it Lethal] (#3)
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 320
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 2013
Rating: ****

58. 
Title: [Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die] (#4)
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 288
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 2013
Rating: ****



 59.
Title: [Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too] (#5)
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 272
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 2013
Rating: ****

60. 
Title: [A Crazy Little Thing Called Death] (#6)
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 368
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 2013
Rating: ****

As a typical cozy series, I find I can review most of the books as a whole.  Obviously, I enjoy them - I enjoy the parties, I enjoy the clothes, and I enjoy several characters.  However, Nora Blackbird is a ninny; her sisters and Mick are far more entertaining.  My real problem so far is a question of consistency; one of my biggest pet peeves in serial fiction is a lack of consistency, particularly in character development.  I enjoy watching characters evolve and grow and even take nose-dives into a dark abyss now and again, but one cannot simply be the upright, sensible prude of the family ... and then have sex in a phone booth. Or kiss other men while seeing someone exclusively. I understand that Nora's sense of self and propriety are supposed to be terribly at odds with her personal life, but there are several moments when one has to question just how strict her moral compass truly is. 

61. 
Title: [Murder Melts in Your Mouth] (#7)
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 31, 2013
Rating: ****

This last read was far more satisfactory than most of the others in the series.  The pacing of the mystery was strong, with a highly satisfying conclusion. emotional and personal matters develop in a far more natural fashion, and for once Nora seems like an actual person.  However, I spent the whole day craving chocolate.

53.
Title: [Affliction]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Pages: 576
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Preordered
Date Completed: July 4, 2013
Rating: ****

The debates surrounding Laurell K. Hamilton's 20-year-old series have grown far too heated for me to offer much of a review; I just don't care enough to slug it out with other readers. As usual, Hamilton delivers what I've come to expect, while touching on the popular trends in fiction today. The one specific comment I will offer is this: I could barely stomach the moment of "religious vision" in the hospital. I fully intend to continue reading the series for the general enjoyment I find, but if that's the next turn Hamilton will take even I will have to abandon ship. 

54.
Title: [Newes from the Dead]
Author: Mary Hooper
Pages: 272
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: July 5, 2013
Rating: *****

In 1650 Anne Greene is hanged for murder, and "miraculously" revived as she lays on the dissection table.  From this true account, documented in publications from the time, Mary Hooper spins an intriguing narrative, told both from Anne's perspective as she lies trapped in a kind of coma, and the young medical student who becomes the corpse's champion as the first to notice her fluttering eyelids. Though Hooper professes that she has done her research, she first admits that this is a work of fiction, and there is no doubt she takes countless liberties.  Still, the end result is a charming (and occasionally claustrophobic) young adult novel that may well spark an interest in history. 

55.
Title: Gabriella
Author: Celia Kyle
Pages: 79
Genre: Paranormal BBW Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: July 7, 2013
Rating: *

It's not at all worth the purchase price. The women have completely repulsive personalities, and I still don't understand how one includes homophobic remarks in a polyamorous "romance."

Fun New Cozy Series

51.
Title: [How to Murder a Millionaire]
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 272
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 28, 2013
Rating: ****

Although Nora Blackbird is a daughter of a highly distinguished Pennsylvania family, she is on a blacklist: her coke-snorting husband is murdered by his drug dealer, and her parents have left the country as tax evaders after blowing through the family fortune, taking some of their friends' fortunes with them. Faced with needing a job for the first time, she turns to a sympathetic family friend who owns a newspaper, and gives her a job writing for the society page - a place she knows well. When this same family friend is found murdered the police find themselves floundering in a world of manners and social decorum grounded in old bloodlines, and turn to Nora to help them work through the niceties. 

This cozy mystery grounds itself more in parties, couture, and gossip more than actual mystery, and I was shocked to find myself 90% through the book - and facing the murderer - before much was really discovered.  Apparently accessories can be very telling.  Still, I enjoyed some of the eccentric characters, and look forward to seeing the mess of the next book. 

52.
Title: [Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds]
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 272
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 30, 2013
Rating: ****

The second in the Blackbird Sisters series, Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds features the murder of a high society kleptomaniac, with missing jewelry, abusive relationships, and high society drama galore. The pacing is improved, but still requires some practice.  The relationship between Nora and Mick progresses, but still seems to come out of nowhere - for someone who is supposed to be "all wrong" and whose actions are so offensive from the first, Nora falls too easily and too quickly, making a suspension of disbelief overly difficult.  Still, he proves a likeable character, so I'll overlook the hasty beginning in favor of a little more consistent development later. 

48.
Title: [Priceless]
Author: Shannon Mayer
Pages:
Genre: Paranormal ... romance?
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Kindle Library Book
Date Completed: June 20, 2013
Rating: ***

Amazon had this filed under "Paranormal Romance," although the latter part of the genre was suspiciously missing.  It's actually a stronger book for its lack of "romance," although it's very clear where the series is heading. I found the plot - about a quasi-supernatural searching for missing children, after the disappearance of her own sister - interesting, but the lack of character development or sympathy will keep me from digging further into the series. 

49. 
Title: [Marked]
Author: Elisabeth Naughton
Pages:
Genre: actually Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 22, 2013
Rating: ***

I'm pretty sure I've read this story nearly fifty times before. A bookish and overlooked woman, who waits tables at a strip club to keep her bookstore afloat, finds out that she's "actually special," meets a "god-like" brute of a man, etc etc etc. It's exactly what you'd expect from the genre, but didn't hold singular interest for me. So, again, not a series I'll dig back into.

50. 
Title: [A Mating Dance]
Author: Lia Davis
Pages:
Genre: actually Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 25, 2013
Rating: ***

OH THE ERRORS! In this case, Ms. Davis cannot even get away with the excuse of typos - not only are there whole words missing from sentences, but there are endless homonym errors, of the high school freshman variety.  The final line of the book reads: "...to help keep me sane threw it all."  Also, something or other may not be "full proof."  Apparently Lia Davis is a "co-owner to Fated Desires Publishing, LLC," and I only hope someone steps up and tells the boss that she needs a good editor - spell check just won't catch these things. 

The book itself is about a "triad" of shapeshifters. There's a conflict with "rogues" and dying or missing people, and the kind of mistakes that leave you staring at the page for several minutes, because there's no way these kinds of mistakes can slip into professional publications with such regularity. 


Now I've started a new cozy series, and I have a few preorders coming this summer. In-between I think it may be time to actually read something with some history behind it.

45. 
Title: [The Death of Sweet Mister]
Author: Daniel Woodrell
Pages: 240
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 10
Rating: *****

Daniel Woodrell's The Death of Sweet Mister is as poetic as it is repulsive. Though the jacket informs readers that the narrative takes place in the Ozarks, apparently like Woodrell's other works, there is an every-place feel to the story that allows the reader to imagine the events in a time and place of want and need that may be more familiar. It is a story of poverty, crime, and abuse, with a startling conclusion that fully emphasizes the impact of the title.  This is an ugly and at time horrifying LT friend recommendation that moved me as much as promised.


46.
Title: [Dead Men Do Tell Tales]
Author: William R. Maples
Pages: 304
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: June 11
Rating: *****

In one chapter of Dead Me Do Tell Tales, Dr. Maples recounts being asked if his job was anything like a particular television program I've never heard of.  No, he would say, and expressed desire for the protagonist's brilliant assistant that helped the scientist solve cases in mere days.  As such, the good doctor wouldn't likely appreciate a comparison between his life's work and "Bones," but it's just this which first drew me to the book, and I was not disappointed.  Maples is an actual forensic anthropologist, and his book shares his thoughts on the development of the science, its successes, and where he hopes it will go in the future, supported by often gruesome professional anecdotes. I found the former-English-major's narrative to be entertaining and informative, without surging too far above my head.  I've had this on my shelf for some time now, and I'm very glad I finally got around to reading it.  

47. 
Title: [Death on Demand]
Author: Carolyn G. Hart
Pages:
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: June 13, 2013
Rating: ***

Just another cozy mystery, which I'll likely forget in another week.  It wasn't the worst I've read, but it's largely unremarkable. The plot seems to borrow elements from other cozies just like the characters borrow quips from mystery novels I've never read.  I suppose I'm just not enough of a mystery devotee to sympathize with mystery shop owners solving alarmingly frequent murders in very small communities. 

41.
Title: [Daughters of Darkness]
Author: L.J. Smith
Pages: 240
Genre: YA Horror
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: May 20, 2013
Rating: ***1/2

A reread from my childhood, just for good fun.  I'm working on an abstract for an academic volume on werewolves, and was looking for a particular passage that first sparked my interest in the project.

42. 
Title: [The Smoky Corridor]
Author: Chris Grabenstein
Pages: 336
Genre: YA Mystery Horror
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: May 22, 2013
Rating: ***1/2

Grabenstein's book caught my eye while the monsters and I were browsing the children's section at the library, and it proved to be good fun.  The protagonist is a middle-schooler who (along with his dog Zip) can see ghosts, who lead him to solve mysteries and save the day, with occasional help from his amazing and supportive stepmother. 

43. 
Title: [Citizen Vince]
Author: Jess Walter
Pages: 320
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: May 24, 2013
Rating: **1/2

A donut-making conman in witness protection, a hooker with a heart of gold, a mob hitman who happens to appear in a small town (leaving a trail of bodies in his wake), and an ex-felon's moral dilemma over which 1980s presidential candidate to vote for.  What's not to like?

Plenty, including the pace, the protagonist, and a parallel plot about an honest cop that does nothing to develop the story.   I'm sure that fans of the genre would be more interested than I, but for me it was a real flop.

I loved the rather strange excerpt included in Housekeeping versus The Dirt, but apparently Hornby's recommendations are not for me.

44. 
Title: [Ever After]
Author: Kim Harrison
Pages: 448
Genre: Urban fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Pre-order
Date Completed: May 26, 2013
Rating: ***

It really says something about this book that I pre-ordered the book, started reading it, and managed to put it down for several months with no desire to go back. 

So why three stars?  When I finally did get around to finishing it I found the conclusion very satisfying. 

I've had a hard time with this series before, and Harrison at one point "won me back" when I happened to win an ARC that showed the first real progress and character development in the series.  Ever After, satisfying solution aside, is built on angst and vague descriptions of entirely magical fights that are just not engaging.  This book would be successful, in my opinion, if it ends up being the last of the series.  If it's not, it'll likely be the last that I read. 

40. 
Title: [Assassination Vacation]
Author: Sarah Vowell
Pages: 258
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: May 17, 2013
Rating: ***1/2

An excerpt of Assassination Vacation in Housekeeping vs. The Dirt inspired me to pick up Vowell's book; I know shamefully little about presidential history, but the premise of the novel is appealing for anyone with a taste for the macabre or off-beat, so I thought it would be an interesting way to dip my toe into the subject.  And Vowell really seems to know her stuff, from textbook history to asides and anecdotes about the key players that keeps the story interesting and clearly represents the author's slightly quirky voice.

So why just 3.5 stars?  In the middle of the book I turned to my partner and said, "I wish she'd just stop talking.  This book could be so good if she'd just get out of her own way."  Sarah Vowell is a vociferous liberal, which is not wrong by any means, but she's a liberal like some conservatives are Confederate sympathizers: loud and angry with a great sense of superiority that doesn't actually help anything.  I even understand her anger and frustration, because I, too, had to live through the Bush administration and the shameful wars we are still plagued with, but her rhetoric is textbook without any constructive input, rendering the passages as effective as waving a Confederate flag.  Passion is admirable, but passion without action seems sophomoric.  And this is why I chose not to read about politics. 

In a nutshell, Assassination Vacation is a great popular historical text that brings the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley to a (perhaps under-informed) contemporary audience, drawing lines between places and events through the gaze of someone who demonstrates passion for both her history and her future. 

393 
Title: [The Devil in the White City]
Author: Erik Larson
Pages: 447
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: May 14, 2013
Rating: ****

Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, about Chicago's Worlds Fair and serial killer H.H. Holmes is not a book I would have ever found on my own; credit for this read goes to one of my students, who was assigned the book in high school and was shocked that I had never heard of it, given my own reading habits.  A big thank you goes out to her for a fantastic read.

For most of this book I assumed I was reading historical fiction.  In fact, I assumed as much up until my sister-in-law invited me to see a rock opera about "America's first serial killer, H.H. Holmes."  Thus is the narrative style of the text, that it allows for such misconception - Larson's books is a story that seems to imitate true crime writing, as opposed to an overly technical nonfiction account.  As such, I'm sure the scholarship of the text may be suspect to someone who knows the Fair or Holmes better than I, but as someone with no prior knowledge or experience I found the book to be engrossing, and the characters fascinating. 

38. 
Title: [The Midwife]
Author: Jennifer Worth
Pages: 352
Genre: Memoir
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: May 5, 2013
Rating: *****

Jennifer Worth's memoir of her midwifery training in London in the 1950s is fascinating and entertaining.  The narrative device of childbirth and midwifery is used as a great equalizer that allows Worth to examine and describe not just the obstetric practices of post-war England, but housing and class, education, personal relationships, and evolving culture.  The personalities Worth describes are both bigger than life and entirely natural, and more than once I found a character either strangely familiar, or wishing they were.  The conditions of life in the not-too-distant past seem to be from another world, and yet completely sympathetic to a contemporary American reader, as I viewed it through the lens of a mother and supporter of modern midwifery.  The Midwife (also titled Call the Midwife) is a joy, and I am very grateful I found Megan's original review.