Louisiana Hotshot: A New Oeleans Murder Mystery; Talba Wallis #1 (The Talba Wallis PI Series) —by Julie Smith

 Fiction / Detective

353 pages / 3854 KB

4 Stars

 

What a hoot! How refreshing to read of an older PI who gets headaches from computers and hires a young black woman as his assistant. She’s smart as a whip, writes poetry, and is somewhat known in New Orleans as the Baroness de Pontalba. Eddie is an old curmudgeon, and he and his new assistant, clash every so often, like every time they meet face to face. He’s an ex-cop, she a graduate of Harvard. 

 

The book is filled with scenery of NOLA, and some interesting tidbits of actual history. Remember the old Tennessee Williams play/movie, Streetcar Named Desire? (Stellllaaaaaa!!!!!) Well, there WAS a streetcar line called the Desire line. Who knew? I love it when I can learn something from a fun book.

 

I look forward to reading the next in the series to see what else Talba gets into. 

Oh, maybe I should mention the language is street language. If that bothers you, don't bother reading, you won't like the book. Though you might get an education.

To Cipher and to Sing (The Fairlight Project Book 1) --by Ian Lahey

 Fiction / Sci-Fi

191 pages / 777 KB

5 Stars

 

Mr. Lahey has a marvelous and understated sense of humor. It shows every so often in the book, but in a manner that adds, rather than detracts.

 

This is my kind of sci-fi — it is interesting, humorous, and not all doom and gloom. The androids are fun, especially the newest one who comes to live with and learn from Professor Fairlight, who is not a techie though his wife is. If your type of sci-fi is dystopian with everyone dying by the end of the book, keep on looking elsewhere. But if you like a certain amount of plausibility with your possibility, pick this one up and read it.

 

If you’re a fan of the tv show, Columbo, I think you’ll really enjoy this book. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. Enjoy!

 

Another America / Otro America --by Barbara Kingsolver

 Nonfiction / Poetry

160 pages

5 stars

 

I have read this book twice. I found myself in thrall after the first reading, her poetry stayed with me for years. After this second reading, I found myself amazed at how fresh it was, how relevant to our days and times. I had forgotten so much; I just remembered the beauty of her writing. This time I saw for the first time again the pain, the blood, but still, the beauty.

 

This book speaks of love, of tenderness, of cruelty, of loss. This book speaks of life in all its beauty and its grit, and does so with a poetic elegance accessible to anyone who reads it.

 

Although I do not speak Spanish, I enjoyed having the left-hand page in Spanish, and the right hand page in English. Someday maybe I’ll learn Spanish, and then I can read all the even numbered pages.

 

This time through, I read it in conjunction with another book of poems, also with a great deal of Spanish, but within the poems, Songs Older Than Any Known Singer —by John Phillip Santos. The books blended and complemented each other as if they had been written one for the other.

Songs Older Than Any Known Singer --by John Phillip Santos

 Nonfiction / poetry

129 pages

5 Stars

 

These poems are stories. These poems are memoir. These poems are songs. These poems are beauty. These poems are exquisite art. 

 

This book is to be savored like the most expensive liquor, like the most decadent desert. Unlike said drink and desert, this book can be enjoyed over and over, and has no calories. 

Roots in the Air, New & Selected Poems --by Shirley Kaufmans

 Nonfiction / Poetry

225 pages

5 stars

 

These are not poems to devour as fast as possible. These are poems to savor, ponder, meditate over. Poems that will remain with you, if not the actual words, the emotions they evoked.

 

Many of Ms. Kaufman’s poems bring for not just images, but also smells—from salt water to burning feathers.

 

Roots in the Air was my introduction to Ms. Kaufman, and I am sorry she is no longer with us. What has been published is it. I will look for her other books, and the hours of enjoyment they shall surely bring me.

Reckless: Book 1 of the Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries —by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

 Fiction / Mystery / paranormal

291 pages / 1621 KB

3 Stars

 

 

I finished the book, so that’s an automatic 3 stars. I so wanted to like this, it just looked like great fun, but I had a really hard time believing any of the characters. I sort of liked them, but I couldn’t believe them. Mia is 28, and behaves more like she’s 13. Maybe she’s just naïve in the extreme, but…

 

Oh, maybe that was the whole bit? It’s not meant to be a book for adults, but was written for for those teens approaching adulthood and the 28 was a typo and should have been 18? I believe that genre is called New Adult? 

 

I will not be looking for more of this author’s books.

Penitent: a Scottish murder mystery…(Detective Inspector Munro murder Book 9)—by Pete Brassett

 Fiction

199 pages / 2218 KP

4 Stars

 

 

This is my first Detective Munro book, and I’m glad there are 9 others to enjoy. I enjoy all things I’ve come across that are Scot — yes, even haggis — perhaps because my family is from Scotland, and I enjoyed this story tremendously, especially the language used. Those words I was unfamiliar with were explained in context. All except one, and a quick search on my computer gave me the definition of what is the ubiquitous brown sauce ;-)

 

I loved that the characters were a tad competitive with each other, but they obviously like, and even love, each other and have each other’s back. It was fun to watch them work and play together and solve the murders together.

 

All pieces nicely tied up at the end. A wonderful escape and a great read!