Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder

I really, really wanted to to like Voodoo Heart. I really did. But I didn't. I sometimes have this problem when I read short story collections - the writing feels one note and repetitive. With Voodoo Heart, it was that and the fact that none of the stories really ended. It's sort of like my first time reading a Philip K. Dick collection - all of the stories seemed to end on a sort of "da-dum!" sort of way. Men are on Mars looking for a future, possible Earth and...Da-Dum! Men came from Mars and already destroyed that planet!! Voodoo Heart was the same way - it felt like all of the stories had that sort of not really an ending, ending. Once, okay. Twice, okay. All 7 stories, not so much.

The tone of the stories was nice, in a sort of combination of Alice Hoffman-y whimsy and magic with a sort of Stewart O'Nan mix of characters, but overall it really wasn't enough to make me like the collection as a whole. For instance, I loved the idea of the story that the book takes it's title from, "Voodoo Heart." It's about a young couple that buy a dilapidated Florida mansion that is right next to a women's prison. The setting is lovely, and the story about a young man who ends up pushing every one a way and destroying all sorts of relationships is easy to find yourself sinking in to, but really the ending just doesn't exist. The story just stops, like the author couldn't decide what the answer was so he just didn't answer. I liked "Happy Fish, Plus Coin," about a young man on the run from his controlling, very wealthy family who meets a man who inspires him to reach for more. The character of Indestructible Gay Isabelle, the man who just can't seem to die is quite touching but again, the story just sort of ends with no real resolution, like Scott Snyder's seen one too many indie movies that decide to leave you not knowing what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johannsen. When you do it too many times in a row it seems more like a cop out than an actual need of the story.

Maybe it's because I don't really care for the overabundance of indie films with that sickly sweet, coming of age, whimsy melodrama and this collection reminded me too much of that. Who knows. All I know is I really wanted to like it because it was so highly recommended, and there was something about the over tone and lack of resolution in every story that just turned me off.

Rating: Meh. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. But it just didn't capture y attention like so many other short story collections have. 

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

I really liked The Sherlockian. Once again, my paperback book club recommended a good one.

In The Sherlockian, Graham Moore brings us a new Sherlock Holmes mystery, but instead of Holmes being the hero we have Arthur Conan Doyle and Harold White. Moore tells us two tales - one of the past and one of the present. In the past, Moore asks what really happened to bring Conan Doyle back to write about Sherlock Holmes after killing him off in "The Final Problem." What brought him back to writing about the detective he was all too happy to kill off? Was it a new mystery he decided to help Scotland Yard solve? In the present, Harold White is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, a Sherlock enthusiast society. At their yearly convention, one of their members has been murdered after he announces he has found the lost Arthur Conan Doyle diary that tells all - why Doyle resurrected Holmes in the first place. Harold takes it upon himself (with a little prodding from one of Doyle's living relatives) to discover why the member was killed and find the diary - the holy grail of sorts to his group. Who killed him? Was it one of his fellow Irregulars? Where did the diary go? What's in it?

Moore really does a nice job of leading the reader through both time lines, flipping back and forth between the two with ease. Doyle and his sidekick Bram Stoker parallel Harold and Sarah in the present day, both drawing on their knowledge of Holmes and how he would solve a mystery so that they can solve theirs. I love Sherlock Holmes, and this way I got one more story, sort of. I really liked Harold the amateur detective. Instead of asking "What would Jesus do?" Harold asks, "What would Sherlock do?" Sort of funny, but it works. I found myself much more interested in how he was going to solve the modern day mystery than Conan Doyle & Stoker in their suffrage/multiple female homicide mystery. It's just cute to imagine this scruffy, nerdy guy pining after his sidekick Sarah and seeking out clues like Sherlock Holmes does. (Even though I will confess to imagining Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock more often than not...)

The Sherlockian is a quick, easy read, one that kept me turning the pages up until the somewhat bittersweet ending. I found it really enjoyable. If you like Sherlock Holmes mysteries, you might give The Sherlockian a whirl.

Rating: 4 1/2 purrs for a very enjoyable just this side of a beach read mystery

Death at Pemberly by P.D. James

I really love P.D. James. I love British mystery writers and she's my favorite right after the good old reliable Agatha Christie. Every time this woman writes a book I scoop it up and devour it, and frankly I am going to be very, very sad when she is no longer a part of this world to keep putting out these devilish, complex mystery stories.

In Death at Pemberly, James decided to bring a murder mystery to the grounds of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy and brings along all of your favorite characters from Pride & Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy and happily married with children, Bingley and sister Jane live nearby. Lydia & Wickam are still causing havoc. Even more so as the big Lady Anne's ball in coming up at Pemberly and the Lydia shows up in a panic saying someone's been killed in the woods on the Pemberly grounds. Was it Darcy's worst nightmare - Wickam? Or was Wickam killed? What will Elizabeth & Darcy do now that Lydia is at Pemberly in hysterics? Will Darcy finally have to face Wickham and what he tried to do with Georgina? I won't say because I don't want to spoil the fun.

I'm not really sure she needed to write this. I mean I am just fine with Mr. Dagliesh in her usual works, but Death at Pemberly was an enjoyable little mystery nonetheless. Not quite up to her normal caliber, but I still couldn't put it down. Ms. James incorporates some of the history of the law and legal mores in that time period along with more of the usual etiquette and social expectations you find in an Austen book. Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite Jane Austen stories, so I enjoyed visiting those characters again, even though this is very much a P. D. James book not a Jane Austen book. There none of the wit of an Austen novel, but there is some of the plotting from a James novel. It's a nice mix all in all, but not one of my favorite P. D. James books. I'd say if you like Austen or you like a good historical mystery, you might enjoy this book. If you are looking for a place to start in the P. D. James canon, I wouldn't start here. I'd start with Cover Her Face or An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.

Rating: 4 Purrrs because I can't rate a P. D. James novel any lower. She's just too clever.

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I read Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time several years ago and really enjoyed it, so I really have no grounds for why it took me so long to come back and read his next novel, A Spot of Bother. He has such a nice voice for for his characters - they are comedic and human and frail all at the same time. They are people you think you could know.

In A Spot of Bother, George Hall is nicely settled in to his retirement. He's working around the house, nice and quiet, when one day he finds a nasty looking spot on his hip, his daughter Katie decides to marry the wholly inappropriate Ray, and all hell breaks loose. George is convinced he has cancer and is dying, Katie starts to doubt her relationship with Ray, son Jamie, the responsible one, ends up ruining his relationship, and everyone slowly starts to fall apart all while the mother of the family tries to plan the perfect wedding in the garden. It's a comedy of errors, with George trying to hide from the inevitable in bushes and hotel rooms, Katie trying to mend or not mend her relationship with Ray, and Jamie try to decide who he is after all of these years.

I really don't know how to do the book justice. It's funny and sad, truthful and joyous in all of those ways that families can be but in an entirely British sort of way. It's Teas and Tescos. It's like you see your own crazy family in the Halls every step of the way as they fall apart and find themselves joined as a tight family unit somehow in the end in a way you hoped for but didn't really expect. Sort of like you do when the life you planned isn't how you ended up, but you are all the more complete because of it.

You should try one of Mark Haddon's books and see how you like it. He's refreshing, a voice of craziness and sanity all in one shiny package, and an author who is able to show you the not so nice sides of humanity without removing the humanity, if you follow. I need to add his next books to my wish list. I don't think I will wait as long to read them this time.

 Rating: 4 Purrs for a delightful, easy read that made me think a lot about how to cope with realities without trying to make the rest of my days by hiding in bushes. Here's to crazy families!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is one of my very favorite writers. She writes stories of broken, imperfect people who just don't care that they are broken. They accept that they will never be super models, never find Prince Charming, and probably never be anything but that crazy mix of imperfection that they are. Most of the time, they aren't even what you would call "likable." Even so, she takes all of that and creates a set of characters that you get wrapped up in, despite the fact that you may not like them all that much. To me, that's talent. These aren't lovable Dexter-type characters that make you like them with their hidden hearts of gold. These are people you have a hard time even seeing a glint of shine anywhere, even in their decent moments. Gone Girl is the third book I have read by Ms. Flynn. From page one I was riveted. I could not read it before bed because if I did there was no way I was sleeping before I finished it. I loved the story so much I wanted to drag it out some, chapter at a time. Otherwise it would be too long a wait until her next one and the story would end too soon.

Gone Girl is about Amy and Nick. It's their 5th wedding anniversary, and Nick comes home to find Amy missing and the house a mess. Did someone take her? Did he kill her? The story is broken up into the two viewpoints and time lines, separate books and sections that take you though the first moments of Nick & Amy's relationship all the way to the end. My advice is to not read ahead on those, let the story unfold on its own without any clues. Hear Nick's voice as he discovers Amy gone and hear her voice in her diary pages. Slowly uncover who these two people are to each other, who they were, and where they go. Seriously, it's like peeling an onion,and each layer is full of things you are happy to learn but also wish you didn't know. You start off in the first section with all of these doubts, and every page after that just  brings more doubt, darkness, and twists so that you really don't know where you will end up. I've never been so manipulated when reading a book, well, since Will Lavender's books (his books are what made me add the "mindf*ck" tag to this blog), and I loved every freaking second of it. I want to say more, but I don't want to give anything away. Just know that the Nick & Amy you meet at the beginning are not who you end up with at the end. And seriously, I didn't see it coming. Not by a long shot. But I do think it's one of those imperfect, perfect tales that show no matter how well you think you know someone, or know some one's relationship, you can never truly know what's in their hearts & minds.

I love Gillian Flynn. I love what her amazing brain comes up so much I almost don't want to read her books just so I can read them for the first time. I only wish she could write faster so I could read something new from her every month. 

Rating: 5 Purrrrrs. More Please!!

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

When I started The Omnivore's Dilemma, I was warned that it might turn me vegetarian. I figured that nothing could do that. If Fast Food Nation couldn't do it, nothing could. I seriously considered it though for a few chapters here and there after reading even more about factory farming, the copious amounts of corn and soybeans grown to support the food habits of Americans, and the slaughter of animals. Then Mr. Pollan sums up the book with The Perfect Meal, a meal harvested, hunted, and grown by him and shared with others. He sums it up with such a lovely thought. It's not just what you eat, but being conscientious about where it came from. Thinking about what it is you are eating, and celebrating it, enjoying it, be responsible for it.

The bulk of the book walks through three types of meals: the corn-fed beef meal, the organic and sustainable farm meal, and the hunter/gatherer meal. What I like about Mr. Pollan is that he thoroughly pokes about at all of the theories. Corn and corn syrup and corn-fed beef, the farming industry and how it has changed over the years. Organic farming and the fallacy of big organic. The spiritual aspect of being a responsible eater.

Michael Pollan has several more books that related to the topic of food and responsibility. I am adding them to my reading list because frankly, he has made me think about what I eat, and done so in such a way where I never felt preached to or talked down to. I too want to eat responsibly, and enjoy every bite.

Rating: 5 purrs...thanks Matt for recommending this one.


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Under the Dome by Stephen King

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I pretty much grab up the newest Stephen King books right as they hit the shelves. I am a bit of an addict that way. Under the Dome was no exception, except in one small way. It took me forever to finish it.

So what's it about? One day the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine is going about its business like any other day when all of a sudden something unusual appears (if you guessed a gigantic dome, you get a cookie). The town is completely cut off from the outside world. People die. What happens to a small town where everyone knows each other but now they are cut off? Do they trust each other? Do they help each other out? Not if you are in Stephen King's world.

It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I really did, once I got about half-way through. It was getting half-way that was the hard part. Well, that and the fact that the book is impossibly huge, and when you like to take the book you are reading everywhere, well, War and Peace sized books just don't get put in the computer bag. It took awhile to get the story rolling, and honestly i kept getting flashbacks to The Stand. (Cell did as well but it seemed to not bother me as much.) I actually put it aside for awhile and came back to it after a month or two. When I came back to it, I sped through it. Maybe it was just timing. It also felt a lot like this old movie I saw when I was younger, but to say any more would give away the twist, and I just can't do that.

I would recommend this if you are a King fan, but if you are looking for an end of the world type tale, I would say check out The Stand first. It's still my favorite.

Rating: 4 Purrs

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Taroko Gorge by Daniel Ritari

Taroko Gorge is another one of those books I was lucky enough to get via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers group. There are good things and bad things about this group, and Taroko Gorge is definitely one of those good things. When I read the write up, I thought this sounds like Picnic at Hanging Rock. I love that movie. While Taroko Gorge didn't end up being a retread of Picnic after all, it still ended up being a very worthwhile read. I was surprised that this was a first novel. In fact, when I saw that it was, I lowered my expectations a bit. I shouldn't have. It was quite good.

Taroko Gorge has many narrators, all telling their version of events leading up to and after the disappearance of three Japanese schoolgirls at the Taiwanese state park Taroko Gorge. Did they fall into the gorge, down a hole, were they murdered? You have the two Americans, one a reporter and his photographer who seem to be the last to have seen the girls, the Japanese class rep who had a crush on one of the girls, a girl who lived in their shadow, and the Taiwanese detective who leads the search for the missing girls all telling the story from their perspectives. Where did the girls go? Are they alive or is all hope lost?

I really liked the different voices, the multiple nationalities all dealing with various prejudices and traditions in hopes of doing what is right. It felt very true, well researched, and the mystery kept me interested until the very end. In the end, found or not, everyone will be changed just from being there,waiting to see. It was a nice mix of traditions, how they can lead to prejudice and misunderstanding, and a mystery. The setting was interesting but not quite enough of a character to be the mysterious Hanging Rock. The characters were developed but not overly so. I knew enough in minimal discussion enough to care about them and their actions.

Overall, I liked this book quite a bit. I read it quickly, not because it was overly simple, but because I wanted to find out what was happening next. I wanted to find out about those girls, because in those short few chapters, I cared.

Rating: 4 Purrs for drawing me in and keeping me guessing. For showing the turmoil of teenage life and the human existence. For giving a very good first novel when expected far less.


- Posted using BlogPress from Bruce

Sumner Island by Michael Cormier

I got a copy of Sumner Island by Michael Cormier as an early reviewer's copy. It's a first novel, and honestly, it wasn't too bad. I thought I was getting a spooky ghost story, but what I got was more like a cross between Somewhere in Time and The Sixth Sense. In fact, I spent the majority of the first part of the novel trying to convince myself it wasn't a retread. Luckily, it picked up towards the end and I got absorbed into the story along the way.

Mitch Lambert is a history professor who, while writing the biography of Maria Boudreau, falls in love with the long-dead heiress. His book increases interest in Maria, and soon people are seeing her ghost walking the island where she was murdered. Mitch believes the man who was accused of her murder was innocent, and is determined to discover the real killer when a psychic comes to the island to have a seance. Along the way, Mitch begins to see things he shouldn't, a sort of time-travel thing, and plays detective. Will he solve the mystery? What do you do when you love someone who has been dead for years?

It wasn't bad, it wasn't mind-blowing. I felt like the ending was a bit of a let down, too neatly tied up I guess. I can't say for sure, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had gotten what I was expecting - a haunted house story. Instead I got a supernatural romance thriller, which was a good read, just not what I was looking for. Go into with the right frame of mind and I think you would enjoy it.

Rating: 3 1/2 Purrs

The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan

Stewart O'Nan is one of those authors that captures a moment in time so well and creates such a feeling of place and character. I read The Speed Queen first, because my other half bought it way back when we were in college and he said I really needed to read it. I read Last Night at the Lobster, and it too was perfection. The Night Country wasn't a disappointment at all, although I am not really sure why people classify it as horror.

A year ago, a group of teenagers died in a car wreck on Halloween. Their spirits live on, haunting those they left behind: the cop who has a secret, the survivor, the mother of the survivor marred forever by the wreck. As the anniversary of the wreck draws near, you learn how their lives have changed and know that each is trying to commemorate it in his or her own way. In some ways, they are trying to move on, in others, they can't.

O'Nan creates this world where it makes sense that ghosts are along side us, whispering in our ears. He's able to include those voices without seeming silly or hammy. His characters are sympathetic, and all of the story leads to this reveal at the end that I literally couldn't stop reading. It's touching, life-affirming, and terribly tragic all at once, all without ever being cheesy or resorting to the stereotypical. It's lovely.

Rating: 5 Purrs

The Chinatown Deathcloud Peril by Paul Malmont

A good friend handed this book over to me because he thought with my love of old 40's noir, old time radio programs, and James Ellroy that I would love a book that stars the authors of two of the most popular pulp stories - The Shadow and Doc Savage. He was right.

In The Chinatown Deathcloud Peril, William Gibson writes The Shadow. He's buddies with H.P. Lovecraft, whose strange death spurs the writer to meet the real-life Shadow and it scares him. Gibson and Lester Dent (author of Doc Savage) are in a race to uncover the answer to one of the greatest mysteries and best pulp stories ever told. All sorts of writers appear in the tale, including L. Ron Hubbard and Louis L'Amour. The two authors are rivals and partners as they dig deep into the secrets surrounding Lovecraft's death and the secrets hidden in Chinatown, all culminating in the biggest pulp of all.

It's fun, it's pulpy, it's a fast read with plenty of all that a good pulp fun with quips, crazy characters, and impossible adventures. It was funny without being too campy, when it could have gone over the edge.

Rating: 5 Purrs for something I probably never would have found myself but loved every page of it.

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

I have had this book on my shelf for a long while, kept looking at it, picking it up, and then putting it back. I wish I had read it earlier because it was a very fun, witty, surprising read. You really don't know who is telling the truth or who is lying right up until the end, when it throws you for a complete loop.

In Bad Monkeys, Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. During her interview, she tells the police she is a member of a secret organization that fights evil. Not crime, but evil. Her job is to get rid of "bad monkeys" AKA irredeemable persons.

The whole book is Jane Charlotte being interviewed by the psych ward doctor, and she walks through her childhood, her first contact with the group, and way the group works. The whole time you don't know if she is lying or telling the truth or if she is just down-right crazy.

The book is one that really didn't give anything away. It kept me guessing the entire time. It made me laugh at the wit (the Catering department sets up ops for Jane). If you like the style of Jasper Fforde but with a little darker twist, you would like this one.

Rating: 5 Purrs for a book I am going to recommend over & over

Sweetheart & Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

Mmmm, mmm. I love me some serial killer fiction. I read Chelsea Cain's debut novel, Heartsick, pretty much right after it came out but then left Sweetheart on the shelf for forever until the 3rd in the series, Evil at Heart, showed up. Then I tore through the 2nd and 3rd books pretty quickly (but honestly, that's partly because of enjoying the story so much and partially because they were pretty easy reads).

In Sweetheart, Archie is back to investigate the murder or accidental death of a state senator and a newspaper man, all the while trying but not really trying to keep Gretchen Lowell out of his head and at bay. At the end, Gretchen escapes, and no one is safe.

In Evil at Heart, Gretchen is free and Archie is in a mental institution. Someone starts killing in Gretchen Lowell's style, and the police are on Archie to investigate. (He's sort of a hero, and Gretchen is a media darling at this point.) Is it Gretchen or is it a copycat? How does Archie's past play into it? Will they catch Gretchen Lowell and will it kill Archie to do so?

If you can't tell, I really liked the third book better than the second, although I liked them both quite a bit. The second felt like it went a little fast and felt a little thin on plot, while the third was better because Gretchen was there, but there was this interesting connection between Archie and the new murders that kept my interest. The speech the writer gives in the newspaper room is just perfect. I wanted to fist pump. The end was one I couldn't put down.

If you like serial killer fiction, then you should check out The Beauty Killer series. It's like the Clarice and Lecter relationship but with a female serial killer and male cop.

Rating: 4 Purrs - I can't wait for the next one.

Audition by Ryu Murakami

I have to say right off that I am a huge fan of the movie Audition by Miike, and when I saw that I won a free early reviewers copy of the novel I literally clapped my hands.

Audition is about a widower named Aoyama, who after many years has decided to take the advice of his son and try to find a new wife. To do so he teams up with a buddy to hold auditions for a movie in hopes that one of the girls who auditions for the lead role might be his new wife. He meets Yamasaki Asami, a shy girl who captures his attention and of course he falls head over heels in love. Despite his friend's concern he pursues her, only to find out there are worse things than being alone at 40.

The movie followed the book pretty closely, only the book really gives you much more why behind it all. Let me tell you some of the imagery is downright gruesome and beautifully written. Miike certainly made it his own when he made the movie, but the book was well worth the read, even knowing how it all turns out.

Rating: 5 Purrs because once it starts rolling it just doesn't give up.

It All Changed In an Instant & Not Quite What I was Planning by SMITH Magazine

I was very intrigued by the idea of the six word memoir. How do you tell the story of your life in six words or less? It seems impossible, even though Hemingway seems to have done pretty well at it. ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn." ) Apparently, you can in fact tell a whole heck of a lot in 6 words.

SMITH Magazine gathered various 6 word memoirs written by famous and not-so-famous people in these two books (and I think there are a few more published) - Not Quite What I Was Planning and It All Changed in An Instant. I found them simple, devastating, hopeful, everything you expect in the story of a human being. I must admit my favorite is the title of the first book - "Not quite what I was planning." Sums up a life perfectly, and it's really left up to the reader to determine if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"I still make coffee for two."

"So would you believe me anyway?" —James Frey

Joan Rivers, Joyce Carol Oates, Amy Sedaris, and more contribute. It's really a quite lovely read, but I found it such that I couldn't read more than a few at once before it felt too trite. I am intrigued on what my 6 word memoir would be. I should think on that.

Rating: 4 Purrrs

Perfume: The Story of a Murder by Patrick Suskind

I bought this book because I heard about the movie and it sounded very interesting. I ended up reading it very quickly, as it was very, very engrossing. Of course, it is a story about a serial killer, which if you know me makes complete sense as to why I would really enjoy it .

Perfume is about Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a child born in the filth of 18th-century Paris. He has no scent of his own, but he has an amazing nose and files every scent away in his head. He decides to apprentice to a perfumer so he can learn to capture scent. Specifically, the scents of certain young girls. Funny how those young girls mostly have red hair, are beautiful, and are virgins.

It's a creepy subject, but the character is just as good as Hannibal Lecter, except instead of cannibalism, this guy just wants to keep your smell around, which you know actually seems a wee bit creepier.

The book was beautifully written, with some very vivid imagery. The movie totally did the book justice, and honestly I wasn't sure if it would be able to do so. I liked them both, quite a bit.

Rating: 4 1/2 Purrs

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

“Draw a picture of my soul, and it’d be a scribble with fangs.”

This review should probably start with if you haven’t read Gillian Flynn, then shame on you. Now after saying that, I must put in a caveat. If dark, moody, borderline icky plots disturb you, maybe you should avoid reading her. Because Dark Places is pretty much what this book is. It’s a dark place, alright.

Libby Day was 7 when her brother murdered her entire family with an axe and a shot gun. She ran from the killer and survived. Now, after 25 years, a group called The Kill Club wants to pay her for her memories, her family heirlooms, and her help in proving that the testimony she gave when she was 7 years old was wrong. They believe her brother did not kill her family, and they want her help proving it. Libby agrees, especially since they will pay her, and her trust fund is running out. She can’t get a job and she doesn’t want one, so why not? Did her brother kill her family? Was it her alcoholic father? Was it someone else?

Libby is a broken, hurting woman, even if she doesn’t want to truly admit it to herself. Gillian Flynn seems to specialize in these types of characters, and she does a good job creating them. Libby grows, and I enjoyed watching her grow without losing who she was in the beginning.
The story flows from present day, following Libby as she uncovers the truth about her family, piece by piece, and into various chapters narrated by Libby’s mother and brother in the days leading up to the murders. You learn the truth as Libby does, and see it from both sides: Libby as she uncovers it and from the involved actors as well. It’s a very effective way to narrate the story. It’s not new, but I liked it.

Like I said before, Gillian Flynn is one of my new favorite authors. Sharp Objects blew me away. Dark Places definitely did not disappoint. This woman cannot write fast enough for me.

Rating: 5 Purrs for writing the best novel I have read in a while. It kept me engrossed and turning the pages for hours.

Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

I think I found this book via my QPB membership. It's more than likely. I seem to find the best books there. Love Is a Mix Tape is probably one of the sweetest, saddest books I have read in a long while.

In LIaMT, Rob Sheffield tells the story of how his love of music blossomed and how that love of music brought him to Renee, the woman he loved, married, and watched die in his arms one night after about 5 years of marriage. He tells the story using each chapter to show why a certain mix tape was important, the songs that were on it, and why it was even made.

I wondered how gimmicky that would feel after a few chapters, but it didn't feel gimmicky at all. Instead I found a love letter to music, the act of loving a song enough to give it to someone else, to add it in between other songs in order to change it, make it your own, and a love letter to the person we meet that we know will change our lives for the better, forever. Not only could I tell that Rob Sheffield loves music, but I could tell that he loves Renee, even now. It was and is a beautiful story. Anyone who has ever made a mix tape knows the magic in it, and Rob brings that magic, the joy the two of them shared, making tapes together, to the reader.

I got through reading maybe the first 2 chapters before I went into Steve's office and said, "This book - you have to read it. It's like it was written for you by you." I can appreciate it, but Steve, as a true music lover, will be able to get it in a way I can't.

Rating: 5 Purrs for telling the story of two people, so different and yet so right for each other. For making a very sad story into one of love and living.

The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay

My friend Matt recommended I read this book because he knows I love a good mystery. What could make a better mystery than a main character that can’t even remember what he is supposed to be investigating or who asked him to investigate?

In The Little Sleep, main character Mark Genevich is a PI. A narcoleptic PI. One who falls asleep mid-conversation. One who can’t tell reality from the hallucinations he suffers. He’s a guy who is pretty certain he’s been hired to investigate these nudie pictures that ended up on his desk, but for the life of him can’t remember who asked him to investigate or really even why. He thinks at first that the pictures were brought to him by a prominent DA’s daughter, Jennifer Times, because the photos look a bit like her, but he soon finds out that investigating something “real,” something not a divorce case is going to be more difficult than he imagined, especially when you can’t tell for sure if what you are seeing is real or not. Who really asked him to investigate? Who is actually in the pictures? Is there even a case at all or is it just Mark’s imagination?

I really liked this book. It did feel uneven in parts, but it is a first novel so it didn’t bother me that much. I liked how the plot kept you guessing, mostly because like Mark you aren’t sure what you are reading is real or hallucination. Some of the solution I had figured out by the end, but some of the bigger points I hadn’t. This I like: a mystery that keeps you guessing, quirky characters (but not so quirky they feel ridiculous), and homage to hard-boiled detective noir. If this sounds interesting to you give The Little Sleep a read. I can’t wait to see what else Paul Tremblay comes up with in his next novel. I will definitely pick it up and give it a try.

Rating: 4 Purrs for a sympathetic character who despite the odds stacked against him, finds out the truth without losing his snarky edge

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

I will admit to finding Patricia Highsmith only after The Talented Mr. Ripley became a movie, but I have been slowly but steadily buying her books used very since. Strangers on a Train is her first novel, and it is a remarkable one. Most first novels you read end up being iffy, with promise but that certain tinge of not quite polished prose. Strangers on a Train had so little of that feel that I struggle to even remember it. Mr. Hitchcock liked it so much he felt compelled to make a movie out of it and we know Hitch knows his suspense.

In SoaT, Guy is just a guy (heh) who would really like to get a divorce from his poorly chosen first marriage so he can marry the sweet, rich girl of his dreams. (He really loves her; it's not a money thing.) He is taking the train back to his hometown to finally file the papers, and on this trip he meets Buddy, a spoiled rich kid who has it all but thinks his father is in between him and happiness. Buddy invites Guy back to his train compartment to have dinner and a drink, and Guy reluctantly accepts. It's probably the worst decision he ever made. You see, Buddy is a sociopath who feels he has hatched the fool-proof plan for murder. He tells Guy you kill my dad, and I will kill your medlesome wife. No one will ever know. It'll be great. Guy is horrified, and what follows is one of the tautest thrillers I have read.

Highsmith really knows how to show a man completely dissolve all of himself. She shows him lose everything that is pure and hopeful, and makes it so real you know it could happen to you. That's why I love her work. The heroes in her stories aren't perfect; they are everyman. You could be there; you could be that person, clinging desperately to sanity and hope but all the while knowing it is over. She starts that path in Strangers on a Train. It is an excellent one.

Rating: 5 Purrs for a brilliant first novel