Blood Magick: Book Three of the Cousins O'Dwyer Triology by Nora Roberts 304 pages

I love Nora Roberts' books.  I know, I know, her trilogies are pretty much like other authors' series in that they follow a set pattern.  There are always three:  three sisters, brothers, cousins, friends, who share a business or task and in each book of the series one of them finds their soul mate, falls in love and lives happily ever after.  I don't care....I still like her trilogies!  I especially like the ones that take place in Ireland, like this trilogy.  In this book, it is finally Branna and Finbar's turn to be together.  Though they fell in love long ago, they avoid each other because of Finbar's bloodline.  Finally, in this book, that issue is resolved.  A great read for a rainy day. Relax, let the mist surround you, have a glass of wine, put on a little fiddle music and let the O'Dwyers take you away.  They do put on a fine Craic!

Rainey Royal by Dylan Landis 246 pages

Rainey Royal is fourteen when this book opens.  Her mother left to live in an ashram and Rainey lives in Greenwich Village with her father, a famous jazz musician named Howard.  Howard welcomes all sorts of aspiring musicians and acolytes into the home (and his bed) at all hours of the night and day.

Rainey is an artist who challenges and tests every boundary and rule at school and at home.  She is cruel and bullying to teachers and classmates but she is also fiercely loyal.  Her best friend from her teen years, Tina Dial, and another friend named Leah vie for Rainey’s attention and love throughout the book.  The story ends when Rainey is in her early twenties.

This book is set in the 70s and the author does a good job recreating the chaos of the free love movement and of that time.  I would recommend this book and I think it would be a good book club book.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit 160 pages

Winnie Foster led a sheltered life. She was never allowed to leave her fenced in yard. However, one day she decides to run away. Across from her house is a wood, where Winnie runs to. In the wood, Winnie sees a young man drinking from a spring. Winnie was never to see the spring, no one was ever to see the spring.

Jesse Tuck has not aged in 84 years and he looks as if he is just 17. Once Jesse spots Winnie as he is hiding the spring, he calls for Mae & Miles Tuck, his mother and brother. They decide to take Winnie back to their home for a couple of days, while they tell her their story and to make her understand why she should never tell anyone about the spring.

The Tuck family, Angus, Mae, Miles, and Jesse, explain their story to Winnie and how the spring has effected all of them. While staying with the Tucks, Winnie understands the Tucks and begins to care for them. An accident happens at the Tuck’s house and Mae gets arrested. Winnie and the boys must help get Mae out of jail before their secret in revealed. 

The Misadventures of Edgar and Alan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight Eerie by Gordon McAlpine 192 pages

Identical twins Edgar and Alan Poe are now in New Orleans to star in a film as their great-great-great-great uncle, Edgar Alan Poe. While working on the set, the boys meet twin sisters Em and Milly Dickenson, great-great-great-great nieces of Emily Dickenson. After filming one night, Edgar, Alan, Em, and Milly decide to take a cemetery tour and end up meeting two ghosts, Clarence and Genevieve Du Valier, who were killed by two famous pirates, Pierre and Jean Lafitte. Before the ghosts can move on from this world, their crimes must be solved.

Edgar Alan Poe, from the Great Beyond, is still trying to send messages to his great-great-great-great nephews, but gets in trouble when adding to the films script using the words of his supervisor William Shakespeare. After having a conference with the great poet Homer and Shakespeare, Poe gets demoted to the animal room. The place where everyone dreads.

Once Upon a Midnight Eerie takes place right after The Tell-Tale Start. Once again, Edgar and Alan find themselves solving a mystery as well as having to save their lives, as someone else is wanting the boys dead.

This was read by Arte Johnson.

Marry Me by Dan Rhodes 174 pages

Is Marry Me by Dan Rhodes what is known as “flash fiction”?  If so, I confess that I am not much of a fan.  Some of these short stories are only a paragraph long. The longest is three pages long.  They are all told from a man’s point of view and describe the various stages of a relationship: meeting, dating, falling in love, planning nuptials, breaking up, etc.  Sometimes these were funny, sometimes brutal, sometimes sad. 

The book was a quick read, but I found myself putting it down and reading it in small doses instead of reading the whole book in one sitting.  It is not that I did not like the book, maybe I just did not “get it”.  

Your Fathers, Where Are They? and the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers 212 pages

Dave Eggers writes this newest novel in the form of conversations held between Thomas and several people he has kidnapped and brought to a deserted army base.  All the victims had connections with Thomas’ past and with an unfortunate incident involving a friend of his, Don Banh.

Thomas may or may not be insane, but his interrogation of these individuals (including his own mother) are intense.  It seems he feels that the excuses being made for what our society has become are feeble and that there is no incentive for the young to have ambitions and/or goals.

Some of the ideas in this novel are similar to The Circle, which I think might be my favorite Eggers book so far.  This newest book is unsettling because it is so raw and it feels like time is ticking away on any hope for a cure for what ails society today.

Zealot: The Life and Times of of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan, 336 pages

"Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" is a biography of Jesus.  Yep, him.

I found this book fascinating.  The author, Reza Aslan, who is a scholar of religion, did not rely on the bible as his source material.  He studied historical writings about first century Palestine and Roman documents.

Jesus is such a black and white figure for so many of us, I enjoyed this more historical look at his background and the early church after his death.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult 398 pages

Truthfully, I do not know where to begin in telling you about this book. I had heard subtle rumors that the book was hard to read, so I expected an emotional, gut-wrenching story from Jodi. Typical, in other words. This story did not pull me in like some of her other novels. Alice is a scientist, she researches elephants in the wilds of Africa. Then she starts to notice how they mourn. She meets Thomas, who runs an elephant sanctuary in the US and when Alice realizes she is pregnant, leaves Africa to marry Thomas, have a family, and continue her research. Things start to unravel, though, ending with a murder, a missing person, and Thomas in an institution. But remember, this is a Jodi Picoult novel and things are not always as they seem. There is lots of interesting information in this book about elephant society. They are very matriarchal, they love their babies, value friendships and suffer grief. Sorry, I cannot put my finger on why I did not love this book. I am not sorry I read it, but it will not be included on any favorites list.

 

The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty 318 pages

I have mixed feelings about this book.  It was recommended to me by a patron and is the 1st in a trilogy.  Sean Duffy is a Catholic detective working in Northern  Ireland during the "troubles".  A body is found in a burned out car and at first glance, it appears a paramilitary informer has been killed.  Aw, but things are rarely as they seem in a murder mystery!  The informer is gay and in Northern Ireland in the early 80's it is illegal to be homosexual.  This death if followed by other gay deaths.  Detective Duffy has his work cut out for him.  Imagine, trying to investigate a death in the middle of a war, because that is truly what is going on in Northern Ireland.  In Belfast, there are nightly bombings, the Hunger Strike is going on, the economy has tanked and policeman must check under their cars continuously for bombs!  This book really brought home how terrible it was to live in Belfast at that time!

Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child 353 pages

This is another great Jack Reacher tale by Lee Child and this time, it is indeed personal.  John Kott is a sniper.  He is also someone Jack Reacher put behind bars 16 years ago.  But now Kott if free and one of only a handful of men in the world capable of making a shot from over 1400 feet away.  Reacher is called upon to find Kott and prevent the assassination of a world leader at the G8 summit. But is Reacher really being used as an investigator, or as bait?  Hang on!  This fast read takes you from Virginia, to France, to England, dodging a Serbian gang, English thugs, double crosses and close calls. Well worth the short time it takes to read.