pontalba's 2012 Reading List

[karen.d]

Folly by Laurie R. King is a stand alone of hers, not part of any series. FYI King writes at least two series, the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories, and a series about a San Francisco police detective, Kate Martinelli, both excellent btw.

 

This may be the first of LRK's stand alones that I have read, and boy, it's a good'un.

 

Is Rae Newborn still unbalanced? Her institutionalized background would lead one to believe that it's entirely possible. Her history of suicide attempts and paranoia, not that long ago, might lead some to believe so. But she feels "watchers", and fights the demons every day that threaten to overwhelm her life.....again.

Her Great Uncle Desmond left an island, Folly, and Rae is, all these years later, taking it over, isolating herself, rebuilding the burnt out structure that Desmond had built with his own hands. Rae has the talent, willpower, and resources to do so. All by herself. Her woodworking art is world renowned for it's artistry, and originality.

 

The characterizations of this novel are wonderful. King gets inside of a person's head and unwinds the tale beautifully, scattering red herrings all over the place rather artfully.

 

Highly recommended. 4.5/5

 

I have to confess that I have never heard of Laurie R. Kin, but this novel sounds intriguing. It think this will go on my TBR list.

[Brian.]

I picked up a copy of The Devotion of Suspect X and I'm glad to see it got good reviews from you. I think its the 3rd in a series, does not reading the first 2 hurt the experience at all?

[pontalba]

I have to confess that I have never heard of Laurie R. Kin, but this novel sounds intriguing. It think this will go on my TBR list.

 

I first noticed her on account of the Sherlock Holmes connection. I've read most of them, although the last several (there are, I think about 10 or 12 of them) have not had enough of Holmes, and have concentrated more on the Mary Russell character. To their detriment IMO. The Martinelli series is good, although I recommend reading them in order as the characters develop drastically.

 

I picked up a copy of The Devotion of Suspect X and I'm glad to see it got good reviews from you. I think its the 3rd in a series, does not reading the first 2 hurt the experience at all?

 

Hah, I didn't realize it was actually the third. I don't think it hurt, though I must say I was surprised that the professor character is actually considered the "main" protagonist. He is the thread of the stories evidently.

Also!, there is a film Suspect X.....if you don't mind subtitles, it follows the book quite closely, with only a few added scenes, one of which was quite good and added a lot to the story I thought. We both enjoyed the film quite a lot, only last night.

 

I've found out since that there is a TV series in Japan featuring this professor/detective/Holmes character.

[pontalba]

Who are we? Who are we really? Do we even know the answer to that question ourselves?

We all, to some small extent, act out for our friends and family. Not that we ordinarily attempt to hide our "true" selves from our loved ones. But to a greater extend we do hide from our friends, and especially those casual acquaintances and casual fly-bys we encounter every day in life. Some of us more than others of course. However for the protagonist, Alexander Cleve, the famous stage actor has a definite problem in that area. So much so he finally freezes during a performance and simply walks off stage into......what?

To say Alexander is an unreliable narrator is the understatement of the century. However, who among us cannot be said to be an unreliable narrator of our own lives?

 

John Banville presents in Eclipse a brooding, psychological story of a man hoping to find, at last, just who he really is. The prose is of course, hauntingly gorgeous.

 

Highly recommended.

Edited April 9, 2012 by pontalba

[julie]

Oooh, Pontalba

 

The Banville book sounds very good ! You may have gotten a bite on that one ! I havent read any of his,but remember thinking lots of them sounded good. Not sure why I have never gotten to them yet , Have you read more of them,and which one did you like best, if you have read several ?

[pontalba]

Thanks Julie!

Yup, I've read quite a few of Banville's. He first came to my attention with The Sea. The front cover compared him to Vladimir Nabokov, probably my all time favorite author. It is a bit of a convoluted story (with several stories intertwining throughout 2 or 3 time lines) and won the Booker Prize in 2005.

I've read all 4 of his books written under his Benjamin Black name, and what I call his "Freddie series", consisting of Book of Evidence, Ghosts, and Athena. The last three are not literally a series or sequels, but do carry the same character of Freddie, a murderer.

Then there is The Untouchable, a fictional take on the Kim Philby spy scandal in England. Fantastic!

Another is Shroud. Excellent!

Birchwood was the only one of Banville's that I didn't care for that much. Parts were fine, and the prose throughout was, of course, wonderful. But he lost me for the last half.

I believe that is all, including Eclipse just now, and I am reading another Banville at present, Mephisto. So far, so good.

 

Let me suggest one more, non-Banville. The Last Child by John Hart. It's an extremely suspenseful story of a little girl that has disappeared, I believe a few years prior to the beginning of the book. Her brother still searches for her in spite of everyone telling him she must be dead. He will not give up, and goes around the countryside on his bike investigating, searching.

Very suspense filled!

[julie]

Hi Pontalba

I just checked out The Sea on my Nook through the library page . I see that The Lost Child is available at our town library,so will run down there when they open and check it out too .

Thanks for the recommendations .

[pontalba]

Hi Pontalba

I just checked out The Sea on my Nook through the library page . I see that The Lost Child is available at our town library,so will run down there when they open and check it out too .

Thanks for the recommendations .

You're quite welcome! Hope you enjoy it/them.

[Sofia]

 

I just checked out The Sea on my Nook through the library page .

 

I'm so glad to see a fellow Nook owner/reader! I thought was all Kindle-ers!

[julie]

Hi Sofia

Yea, I have Kindles too. The Kindle 3 and the Fire. My husband's friend bought a Nook and decided he would rather have a Kindle, so he bought a Kindle and we bought his Nook from him . I hate to say it ( since most people here own Kindles, I think ), but I prefe3r the Nook over the kindle . It seems so much easier to hold, I like the rubberized backing and wide edging on it ,and the size is really unique . It's my favorite out of all 3 of the readers I own .

[Sofia]

Hi Sofia

Yea, I have Kindles too. The Kindle 3 and the Fire. My husband's friend bought a Nook and decided he would rather have a Kindle, so he bought a Kindle and we bought his Nook from him . I hate to say it ( since most people here own Kindles, I think ), but I prefe3r the Nook over the kindle . It seems so much easier to hold, I like the rubberized backing and wide edging on it ,and the size is really unique . It's my favorite out of all 3 of the readers I own .

 

I almost bought the Kindle Fire, but then the Nook showed up in the form of a gift, and I certainly wasnt about to turn it down! I loooooove my Nook.....my new best friend!

[pontalba]

We bought a nook first, right before Borders went kapluey. But it wasn't that that turned me off of the nook, there were a couple of deals that they didn't make good that really annoyed me. I'm glad to hear they are being better now. I guess I can reactivate my nook, although we both have kindles and frankly they don't get enough use. /sigh/

[Sofia]

Probably be worth reactivating if only for the freebies and the good daily finds...I havent read to many of them yet, but have downloaded quite a few....there's something comforting about knowing they are there when I want them. As much as I love my Nook I will never fully convert to ebooks 100%!

[pontalba]

We bought a nook first, right before Borders went kapluey. But it wasn't that that turned me off of the nook, there were a couple of deals that they didn't make good that really annoyed me. I'm glad to hear they are being better now. I guess I can reactivate my nook, although we both have kindles and frankly they don't get enough use. /sigh/

Probably be worth reactivating if only for the freebies and the good daily finds...I havent read to many of them yet, but have downloaded quite a few....there's something comforting about knowing they are there when I want them. As much as I love my Nook I will never fully convert to ebooks 100%!

 

Boy, now I know my brain is turning to mush. Kobo, not nook!

Edited April 14, 2012 by pontalba

[Sofia]

Haha....and here I was all excited that someone else had a nook! I know nothing about the kobo :/

[julie]

Have you guys seen the brand new Nook coming out in May ? It has some type of light that you can adjust that backlights the screen .It doesnt light up like a tablet or computer,but some other type of lighting. It looks so cool !

Just when I think I have ENOUGH eReaders ... or possiblt too many, they come up with a new one that I'd love to have ...

GEEZ, am I EVER gonna come to the point I have purchased enough of these ?

I don't know much about the Kobo readers either Pontalba,so don't have any info on them . What seemed to be the problem,was it not working properly or the service wasnt good on it ?

[Sofia]

I've seen the new one with the light advertised....looks pretty cool really

[pontalba]

I haven't seen it, but I'm happy with the plain kindles we have already. Honestly, I don't use it as much as I could. I still like the paper book in hand. I believe if we did get anything else it would be an ipad. But I want to wait till a couple more versions come out. Work out a few more of the kinks. We did enough buying last week in any case, with the new desktop, an all in one, touch screen. /happy sigh/ gorgeous. It was on sale too!

In my defense, my old desktop was 11 years old.

Edited April 14, 2012 by pontalba

[julie]

Sofia

Yea, maybe we can both get the lighted Nooks at some point .

 

 

Pontalba

You new computer sounds really fancy ! I bet you love it . You deserved it if your other one was that old ,.

[Brian.]

I haven't seen it, but I'm happy with the plain kindles we have already. Honestly, I don't use it as much as I could. I still like the paper book in hand. I believe if we did get anything else it would be an ipad.

 

I am the same. As much as I love gadget and use loads of them I still tend to do the majority of my reading using books. My parents on the other hand have been reading loads since they got Kindles for christmas.

[vodkafan]

They gonna have to prise my kindle out of my cold, dead fingers.....I don't need no other reader

[pontalba]

Sofia

Yea, maybe we can both get the lighted Nooks at some point .

 

 

Pontalba

You new computer sounds really fancy ! I bet you love it . You deserved it if your other one was that old ,.

 

I'd added memory and a DVD player to it years ago, but it was slow as molassas in January the last year or so. This one zoooooomz!

An added plus is that the keyboard and mouse are wireless, so I am able to sit back and type, easier on my back, not having to lean forward, I can rest my back and type.

 

 

I am the same. As much as I love gadget and use loads of them I still tend to do the majority of my reading using books. My parents on the other hand have been reading loads since they got Kindles for christmas.

 

I believe it, the e readers have encouraged reading, in general. Plus for anyone that has any sort of physical disability, such as arthritis etc, it's wonderful.

 

 

They gonna have to prise my kindle out of my cold, dead fingers.....I don't need no other reader

 

Ok, Charlton, we hear ya!!

Edited April 14, 2012 by pontalba

[pontalba]

Tonight I finished two vastly different books I'd been reading concurrently. Shades of Grey by E.L. James and Follow Me Down by Shelby Foote

 

Different, but.......as has been said, there is only One Story. So.....

 

Shades of Grey seems to be such a polarizing novel. People either vilify it or as has been mentioned in many places, it flies off the shelves. Hmmmmm, sounds rather an interesting combination. To me at least, but perhaps I am contrary by nature.

 

Leaving out the sexual aspects for the moment, it is a sweet story of finding love with a difficult to love person, and the struggles to understand the situation. Period.

 

The narrator is an essentially innocent and naive young woman, seeming sheltered from life, and unawakened sexually, a virgin. The object of her affection is sexually her opposite, in inclination and experience. This is the story of their trying to find a middle ground for their undeniable and growing love for each other.

 

Ok, to the BDSM. It is vanilla as far as I can tell, erotic to an extent, but ultimately, hold on to your hats........loving. Mostly.

I have yet to read the rest of the trilogy, I'm sensing a pattern, possibly optimistic, so until then I'll hold my thoughts on the eventual ark of the story.

 

On to Follow Me Down.

 

I'd known of Foote's (American) Civil War series, but not his fiction. We picked up this one at the Symphony Book Fair a few weeks ago. What a fortuitous find! His prose is liquid and painterly. His characterizations of ordinary people are far from ordinary. The story, of a murder, it told from the POV of the news reporter first, then goes to the murderer himself, to the victim's own telling of the tale. Then back to the murderer, one of the witnesses, the murderer's wife, and the lawyer that defends him. Fantastic! Foote brings to life all the participants in a way that is so true to the time and place. The American South of the late 1940's was a turbulent time and we, the readers, feel the heat of both public opinion and the weather.

 

Highly Recommended

[pontalba]

I've read Fifty Shades Darker, the second in the trilogy now, and have to say it's better than the first in story development. The relationship is developing and deepening between the protagonists in a meaningful manner. Yeah, the sex is great too. But the sex is not the end all, be all of the story IMO. This is a story of redemption of a lost soul, a soul damaged by events that were beyond his control.

 

From the prologue of the book, a nightmare of a man of when he was a 4 year old....

 

He's come back. Mommy's asleep or she's sick again.

I hide and curl up small under the table in the kitchen. Through my fingers I can see Mommy. She is asleep on the couch. Her hand is on the sticky green rug, and he's wearing his big boots with the shiny buckle and standing over Mommy shouting.

He hits Mommy with a belt. .................................

 

Mommy makes a sobbing noise. Stop. Please stop. Mommy doesn't scream Mommy curls up small.

I have my fingers in by ears, and I close my eyes. The sound stops.

He turns and I can see his boots as he stomps into the kitchen. He still has the belt. He is trying to find me.

He stoops down and grins. He smells nasty. Of cigarettes and drink. There you are, you little s**t.

 

The cigarettes play a large role. Unfortunately.

Edited June 12, 2012 by pontalba

[pontalba]

A Devil is Waiting by Jack Higgins

 

Although the book is obstensibly part of the Sean Dillion series, Sean is sadly only on a few pages of Higgins latest. Considering he is the character I read the rapidly disappointing series for is to say the least annoying. The usual mish-mash of events, leading to the inevitable shootout with Bushmills all around and stiff upper lips. Meh.