Saturday, April 21, 2018

Uncommon Type, by Tom Hanks

I liked the stories and Hanks's imaginative breadth.  Even though Hanks is a good reader, the audio format didn't work for me.  Only the longer stories have stuck with me, whether I particularly liked them or not. 

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, by Sue Halpern

Fifteen-year-old Sunny steals a dictionary from a bookstore and is sentenced to a summer of community service at the local library.  Under the supervision of slightly misanthropic librarian, Kit,  and with the friendship of several library regulars, Sunny blossoms and Kit defrosts.  If you've seen the movie, "Running on Empty," you've got a pretty good notion of where Sunny has come from and is heading.

Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman

Such a good book.  It's a bit too complicated to summarize succinctly, operating as it does in two time frames and involving two crimes.  The characters, especially Maryland State's Attorney Lu Bryant and her family, are strong, and the themes of family, friendship, loyalties, and local myths and legends are handled with grace. 

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Widowmaker, by Paul Doiron

I'm not certain why I continue reading the Mike Bowditch books, particularly with this reader.  I guess it's the Maine outdoors that appeals to me.  Mike is asked to find a young man purported to be his brother.

Homicide in Hardcover, by Kate Carlisle

Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookbinder whose mentor has just been murdered. As a prime suspect, it behooves her to solve the mystery.  The parts about repairing the rare books are fun, as are the tangents involving Brooklyn's family, a bunch of New Agers living on a highly successful, wine-producing commune.

A Dark and Stormy Murder, by Julia Buckley

Aspiring writer Lena London moves to Blue Lake, Indiana, to become the assistant to her idol, Camilla Graham.  While working on Camilla's book, Lena also works on solving a local mystery or two.  First in Buckley's Writer's Apprentice series.

Summer before the War, by Helen Simonson

Simonson paints a pre-World War II England where it sucks to be a single woman, gay man or woman, gypsy, refugee, or less than wealthy person. Beatrice Nash is hired to teach Latin at a grammar school in Rye, and becomes involved in the lives of the community's upper crust.