Linda Reads: Concealed In Death by J.D. Robb

May 13, 2014August 28, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

I hesitated to read this book because I was very disappointed in Ms. Robb’s last ‘In Death’ title, Thankless in Death. There have been rumors that her last few books (as J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts) were ghost written and there are arguments galore debating that topic. But Concealed In Death was a great story. It’s true the style of writing is a little different from earlier In Death books. Many comments have been made about the main characters of Eve and Roarke being different. But there have been over 50 stories written about Eve and Roarke and readers should expect that they are getting older, settling down, and wouldn’t have the same dynamic as before.

The book does lack the depth, excitement, and suspense of other In Death books. It’s a quieter suspense, more thoughtful and introspective, with a lot more focus on the victims. I actually found that a nice change. There were a few twists in the story that gave the book a jolt when needed. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read.

Summary of story:

In a decrepit, long-empty New York building, Roarke begins the demolition process by swinging a sledgehammer into a wall. When the dust clears, there are two skeletons wrapped in plastic behind it. He summons his wife, Eve Dallas immediately—and by the time she’s done with the crime scene, there are twelve murders to be solved.

The place once housed a makeshift shelter for troubled teenagers, back in the mid-2040s, and Eve tracks down the people who ran it. Between their recollections and the work of the force’s new forensic anthropologist, Eve begins to put names and faces to the remains. They are all young girls. A tattooed tough girl who dealt in illegal drugs. The runaway daughter of a pair of well-to-do doctors. They all had their stories. And they all lost their chance for a better life.

Then Eve discovers a connection between the victims and someone she knows. And she grows even more determined to reveal the secrets of the place that was called The Sanctuary—and the evil concealed in one human heart.

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in April

April 5, 2014June 4, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

Another month, another list of new books to look forward to!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for April are:

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
And the Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass
Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James
By its Cover: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteryby Donna Leon
The Intern’s Handbook by Shane Kuhn
Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe
The Axe Factor: A Jimm Juree Mysteryby Colin Cotterill
Family Lifeby Akhil Sharma
On the Rocksby Erin Duffy

On Our Shelves: New Cozy Mysteries

March 30, 2014August 28, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

The latest cozy mysteries are in! Is your favorite series among the new titles?

Keeping Mum (A Garden Society Mystery) by Alyse Carlson

Spinning In Her Grave (A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery) by Molly MacRae

Iced to Death (A Gourmet De-lite Mystery) by Peg Cochra

Dead Between the Lines (A Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery) by Denise Swanson

Pearls and Poison (A Consignment Shop Mystery) by Duffy Brown

Inherit The Word (A Cookbook Nook Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber

How To Paint A Cat (A Cats and Curios Mystery) by Rebecca M. Hale

A Biscuit, A Casket (A Pawsitively Organic Mystery) by Liz Mugavero

Ten Great Books Becoming Movies in 2014

March 22, 2014June 13, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year for books and movies! Whether you want to get ahead of the game and read the books before the films come out, or just want to know what you can expect to see hitting the cinema this year, here are our top picks for upcoming movies being adapted from books.

In March:

Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. In 1819, the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. Four people come together on New Year’s Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper’s House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.

In June:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. In John Green’s mega-bestselling novel, 16-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life.

In August:

The Giver by Lois Lowry. Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

In September:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

In October:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick’s wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren’t his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife?

In November:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss Everdeen’s having survived the Hunger games twice makes her a target of the Capitol and President Snow, as well as a hero to the rebels who will succeed only if Katniss is willing to put aside her personal feelings and serve as their pawn.

In December:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return. Peter Jackson turned Tolkien’s novel into 3 films, the final one hits theaters in December.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. In 1943, while World War II raged on in the Pacific Theater, Lieutenant Louis Zamperini was the only survivor of a deadly plane crash in the middle of the ocean. Zamperini had a troubled youth, yet honed his athletic skills and made it all the way to the 1934 Olympics in Berlin. However, what lay before him was a physical gauntlet unlike anything he had encountered before: thousands of miles of open ocean, a small raft, and no food or water.