10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in February

February 1, 2014July 25, 2014 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

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 are:

Red Rising by Pierce Brown.
The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick.
This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash.
The Martian by Andy Weir.
After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman.
Ripper by Isabel Allende.
The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin.
The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon.
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon.
E.E. Cummings by Susan Cheever.

On Our Shelves: New Cozy Mysteries

January 22, 2014September 15, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

January’s batch of new cozy mystery titles have arrived! Great reading for a long winter’s night!

Tapestry of Lies (A Weaving Mystery) by Carol Ann Martin

Home of the Braised (A White House Chef Mystery) by Julie Hyzy

Teacup Turbulence (A Pet Rescue Mystery) by Linda O. Johnston

The Ghoul Next Door(A Ghost Hunter Mystery) by Victoria Laurie

Playing With Fire (A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery) by J.J. Cook

Zero-Degree Murder (A Search and Rescue Mystery) by M.L. Rowland

Pecan Pies and Homicides (A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery) by Ellery Adams

Murder Sends A Postcard (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery) by Christy Fifield

A Chorus Lineup (A Glee Club Mystery) by Joelle Charbonneau

Paws for Murder (A Pet Boutique Mystery) by Annie Knox

It’s going to be a long winter……..start reading a series.

January 14, 2014September 16, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Now’s a good time to get involved in a gripping series to get you through those long winter days and nights. Here’s a list of first titles in a series for a variety of Police Procedurals – Mystery, Thriller and Suspense.

Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Mysteries) by Louise Penny – An engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces–and this series–with integrity and quiet courage.

Bruno, Chief of Police: A Novel of the French Countryside by Martin Walker – Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France. He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it.

Naked in Death (In Death) by J.D. Robb – In a world of danger and deception, she walks the line–between seductive passion and scandalous murder. This series follows the lives of Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, businessman Roake in mid-21st century New York City.

Eva’s Eye: An Inspector Sejer Mystery by Karin Fossum – A Scandinavian crime fiction starring Inspector konrad Sejer, a shy, old-fashioned, polite dad who never stops thinking of his latest case.

Gallows View (Inspector Banks)by Peter Robinson – A critically acclaimed thriller that first introduced the world to Yorkshire, England Chief Inspector Alan Banks.

Sworn to Silence (Kate Burkholder Mystery)by Linda Castillo – In a rural, sleepy town in Ohio, the Amish and English have lived peacefully until a series of brutal murders shatters the community.

White Sky, Black Ice (Nathan Active Mysteries)by Stan Jones – Nathan Active is an Inupiat Eskimo and Alaska State Tro0per who patrols the coldest beat in America.

Face of a Killer (Sydney Fitzpatrick Mystery) by Robin Burcell – Author Robin Burcell is currently a criminal investigator in California and was the first female police office hired in Sacramento – which makes this series about a female FBI Special Agent very believable.

The Cove (FBI Thriller) by Catherine Coulter – FBI Agents Dillon Savich and his wife, Lacey Sherlock tackle crime in San Francisco.

Lonely Hearts (A Charles Resnick Mystery)by John Harvey – Charles Resnick is a jazz-loving, melancholy cop in provincial Nottingham, England.

Jenn Reads: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

January 11, 2014January 11, 2014 / Jenn / Leave a comment

Hey there old friends. Been a while.

Sorry for leaving you for so long, but I’ve been caught up in DVD land for quite some time now, with little time to write a proper post. And I really haven’t read anything worth writing a review for, until the past week, when I’ve finished two books in a row. Yay me!

I must be one of the ten people in the reading world who has not yet read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I like to keep those super popular, everyone-and-their-grandmother-has-read-it-right-now books until the popularity has worn off. Since Gone Girl is still going strong, I’ll hold off.

However, Dark Places fell into my lap due to the mystery book club I belong to. Our youngest member selected it as her choice for January, and I was finally introduced into the twisted and weird world of Gillian Flynn.

I’ll start off right away by saying that I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. It had the potential for 4 stars, but there were several serious flaws. I listened to DP,

Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

which was masterfully read by a full cast, with voices for Libby Day, Patty Day, and Ben Day, it was easy to breeze through this book.

A brief premise: Libby Day is now in her early 30’s, but as a seven year old, her mother and two older sisters, Michelle and Debbie, were allegedly murdered by her 15 year old brother, Ben. Libby’s life is a mess- she’s never worked a day in her life and has no money left. Libby herself is a mess- she’s rude, snapping, surly, angry, and just nasty. She would never be your best friend, or a bridesmaid at your wedding.

Libby receives a letter from a college-aged guy named Lyle, requesting her to appear at a group he belongs to. The group is called The Kill Club, and they are intent on proving that Ben did not kill Patty and her two daughters. If that isn’t weird enough, they agree to pay Libby to talk with people from her past who may know more about the story and who was the actual murderer.

The story flashes between present day (2009) Libby and 1985 Patty and Ben, and the events that occurred that fateful January day. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Ben is not the killer- but who is?

That to me, was the biggest flaw of the book. I’m not one of those mystery readers who sets out from the very beginning to figure out whodunnit. I’d rather take the journey along with the main character and discover with them who the culprit is. Unfortunately, from almost the very beginning, I had figured out who the killer was.

And that was a big bummer.

This is not a book for those who do not like reading books with violence against children, violence, unpleasant circumstances, or those who are easily scared. DP is a dirty, filthy, foul book, with a scenario that could happen in real life. I wasn’t bothered by the violence or foulness of this book, but rather by the lack of depth in the main character, Libby. Only after her life is threatened again (spoiler!) does she finally start to grow as an adult, and the potential to move out of the dark places is opened.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

See you in the stacks,

Jenn

PS- DP is being made into a film, starring Charlize Theron as Libby Day.