My motto is, “Never go anywhere without a book.” Our trip to South Dakota was no exception to this rule. Although we saw beautiful scenery, experienced the inspiration of Mount Rushmore, and enjoyed a day at the lake with family and friends–and I ate more good food than any one person should—, I still managed to squeeze in some reading time.
They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney. Recommended by Jen Robinson. Typical Cooney. A case of mistaken identity, or is it, turns into a family mystery and crisis, when Cathy/Murielle must confront the truth about her parents and her past. This one is quite similar to The Face on the Milk Carton in some ways. If you’ve read that one and want to read it again, reworked, you’d like They Never Came Back.
The Big Steal by Emyl Jenkins. Recommended by Carrie at Reading to Know. Cute ‘n cosy mystery, not really a murder mystery, but rather centering on antiques and theft and family history. Antique appraiser Sterling Glass is hired to determine the truth about an insurance claim filed by the museum at Wynderly, home of Hoyt and Mazie Wynfield, now deceased millionaires who furnished their manor with all sorts of novelties and antiques, some of which may not have been what they seemed. I enjoyed it enough that I’d like to look up the first in the series, called Stealing With Style. You might like it, especially if you’re interested in both mysteries and antiques.
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. I really like the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. Suffice it to say that my 15 year old daughter read this book, the fourth in the series, and then we had to stop by the bookstore in Sioux Falls to buy books two and three. I already had the first book in the series at home and refused to buy it again. These books are clean and fun and light-hearted and just right for a vacation time read. Semicolon review of I’d Tell You That I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You.
The ones I didn’t finish:
Good Behavior: A Memoir by Nathan L. Henry. I dipped into this one, an ARC that I was sent by the publishers and that is due out in July, 2010. All I can say is this story is supposed to be a “moving story of redemption” about a sixteen year old who’s sent to jail for armed robbery. I’m sure Nate’s story “tells it like it is.” But I looked at the ending (because the middle didn’t look headed toward redemption at all), and it looks as if Nate is trusting in his own will power and desire to make something of his life to keep him out of trouble. I strongly doubt it will work, and even if he does stay out of jail, he has nothing to give his life meaning other than learning and writing. No Holy Spirit. No Jesus. No God. No church. What happens to Nate when he faces death or suffering? How does he choose good over evil, except in a pragmatic attempt to keep himself from going back to jail again? The book is “gritty” and full off-bombs and other crude and profane language, not to mention sex and murder fantasies and actual violence. Not recommended.
Run With the Horseman by Ferrol Sams. Recommended by Laura at Lines in Pleasant Places—in a comment here.I stuck with this one a lot longer because the writing is delightful. But I finally got tired of Porter Osborne Jr.’s fifteen year obsession with sex of all kinds. The book is very Southern, very funny in places, and as I said quite well-written, but there’s an awful lot of speculation in areas I just wasn’t in the mood to visit.
Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee. Recommended by My Friend Amy. Korean American adoptee searches for her identity in France in an illicit relationship with an older man. I felt sorry for Ms. Kim in her lostness, but I lost interest in the search which seemed to be going nowhere interminably, although the recipes were interesting.