Friday, February 18, 2011

Thanks to Angie for leaving her thoughts on my posts. It is appreciated.
I really am missing the Bookies. I have to get caught up with what you are reading so I can at least put in my thoughts and hear the others. It was fun when Angie and I could have a discussion on the books while we were working. I miss that. My goal for March is to read which ever book, the Bookies have nominated, finish it, and put in a few thoughts to Sheila.
I have been trying very hard to stay current with my posts but find myself 2 books behind. Yeah I know, it is sad, but they were late to the library too.
My excuse is that my son Michael came to visit and we all went to celebrate my brother in law Craigs 50th birthday in CA. It was fun but I did get to read my book all the way there and back.
I really nead to invest in one of the Kindles or the like. It would sure make it easy to read in the dark while my husband drives. I find the book lights to not be very user friendly.
That is it for tonight, onward to bed, and up early to work.  Good night to all.

Lie After Lie

Lie After Lie by Lara Bricker: NOOKbook CoverSynopsis


A seemingly perfect world held an even more unlikely killer...



Julie Keown had a great job, financial security, and a perfect husband who was attending Harvard Business School. But after Julie suddenly died, and doctors discovered she's been poisoned with the main ingredient in antifreeze, her parents began to suspect that her husband, James, was not so perfect. This blow-by-blow account shows how investigators and state police unraveled James Keown's chilling web of deceit.



My Thoughts
Amazing. I always love true crime stories. I find them to be very interesting. It seems crazy that people do the things they do but we all know these people are out there. We teach our kids daily about the strangers and the danger.
But... your husband? Son-in-Law? Brother? Son? The list goes on....... Would you ever think some one in your close family would kill their wife?  To treat them well to their face and in front of others while behind their backs-the poisoning begins.
I believe Julie knew more than what people thought she did about parts of her husbands behaviour. Julie may not have wanted to believe it, but I think she knew they had issues with money to start with.
I could be wrong and maybe she was innocently in the dark. Its hard for me to believe that she knew nothing. How can anyone be so blind? It wasn't only Julie that was in the dark though, what about all the others that he fooled with his lies?
I have already started my next book of true crime. It already blows my mind after a couple chapters, more on that when I finish....

Friday, February 11, 2011

House of Windows

House of Windows by John Langan: Book CoverSynopsis


When a young writer finds himself cornered by a beautiful widow in the waning hours of a late-night cocktail party, he seeks at first to escape, to return to his wife and infant son. But the tale she weaves, of her missing husband, a renowned English professor, and her lost stepson, a soldier killed on a battlefield on the other side of the world, and of phantasmal visions, a family curse, and a house - the Belvedere House, a striking mansion whose features suggest a face hidden just out of view - draws him in, capturing him. What follows is a deeply psychological ghost story of memory and malediction, loss and remorse.

This unnerving tour de force, exploring the literary haunted house, from Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft to today, incorporates family trauma, abstract art, literary criticism, the occult Dickens, and the war in Afghanistan. From John Langan (Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters) comes House of Windows, a chilling novel in the tradition of Peter Straub, Joe Hill, and Laird Barron.



My Thoughts
 
The first thing I noticed about this book, was the long paragraphs. I am not sure what it was about that, but it irritated me right away. Needless to say that made it a very difficult read.  The subject matter was way out there. Not anything I would want to read again. It was mainly about a woman reciting her life and her husbands misfortunes in a very boring way.
 
I usually enjoy paranormal and such but I found this to be totally unbelievable and just plain stupid.
The worst part is that I have to pay a late fee at the library because this book took so long to read.
I would not suggest anyone take the time to read this but if you do let me know your feelings.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Everywhere That Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline

Who can you trust when everyone you know is a lawyer?




Mary DiNunzio has been slaving away for the past eight years trying to make partner in her cutthroat Philadelphia law firm. She's too busy to worry about the crank phone calls she's been getting -- until they fall into a sinister pattern. The phone rings as soon as she gets to work then as soon as she gets home. Mary can't shake the sensation that someone is watching her, following her every move. The shadowboxing turns deadly when her worst fears are realized and she has to fight for something a lot more important than partnership -- her life.
 
My Thoughts
 
I really have to stop listening to or reading the same author back to back.
This was also an audio and the same narrator as the last one. As soon as I heard the voice, I was not wanting to listen to it. As I have a long drive I decided I didn't have much choice since it was all I had with me. Not only that, being that it was on my mp3 I felt I had to give it a try.
A book has to be really bad for me to not finish it.
 
Again, it seemed like a short book. It was an ok book for me. I will have to read one of her books to see if that makes a difference in my opinion of Lisa's writings in case I am just that unimpressed with the narrator. I was looking at other books by her and they seem to have the same narrator.
 
As far as the story, Mary seems like a nice person although not very aware of things around her. Or maybe I should say she doesn't seem to be alert to other peoples feelings or behaviours. She did have a close friend who watched over her which was refreshing. Good friends are very hard to find. I was surprised at the ending but it was still just ok for me.
I will wait awhile before listening to another of Lisa's books.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

To Philadelphia lawyer Grace Rossi, who's starting over after a divorce, a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But Grace doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court in the form of an affair with her boss, Chief Judge Armen Gregorian. Then the truly unimaginable happens and Grace finds herself investigating a murder.




As Grace searches for the truth, she unearths a six-figure bank account kept by the judge with an alias; breaks into another judge's chambers; and follows a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.



Performed by Kate Burton
 
My Thoughts
 
I listened to this book while I was driving to and from work.
This was a very short book and I found it to be ok. It didn't impress me much. I am not real big on politics because I find most people in politics to be untruthful. I do think that alot of what happened does happen in their world and we just don't hear all the details of it events.
For Amen's wife to pay him to stay with her for a certain time period and to keep his son a secret, what a shame. All the money in the world wouldn't replace the time he could have spent with his son if he wasn't having to hide him.
All in all the book was ok although I was not impressed with the narrator either so that may have a little to do with my opinion. I found her to be boring and not showing much for feelings.