West of Here

by Jonathan Evison

This book turned out to be something quite different than I thought it would be.
The narrative jumps from present day to the early years of the settlement of the Olympic forest/western Washington area.
Characters include natives, social reformers, society ladies, pioneers, fish factory workers, businessmen...even a parole officer.
The flashbacks work well, stringing a thread through the characters and storylines of both eras.
Simultaneously, it follows a group of explorers trying to map the Olympic peninsula, an ambitious group of investors building a dam, a convict recently released from prison, two native boys -- one today, one from 1890 -- and a suffragette trying to change the world.
It was fascinating. There were no happy endings, no tidy wrap-ups of storylines...just a bunch of people plodding through life the best they could.

The Lace Reader

by Brunonia Barry

I guess I expected some Oprah's Book Club feel-good book with this but it turned out quite differently. Part mystery, part psychological thriller, part dysfunctional family drama, it was quite compelling.
It's the story of an old New England family full of females of varying amounts of psychic abilities. The storyteller is mostly the adult daughter of the matriarch and it is made clear early on that she has had mental issues and is a chronic liar, so as the story unfolds you're not sure who to believe.

She returns home unwillingly, only to be faced with all sorts of current dramas that bring up past history of the most unpleasant kinds. The reader finds things out only as she does, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Good book

The Appeal

by John Grisham

Grisham is dependable for good storytelling. Maybe not wonderful literature but good storytelling, good characters.
The Appeal follows a major litigation case in the South and follows the lawyers on both sides, the plaintiffs, the people in the town where the action happens.
Good vacation read, compelling but not too deep.

Stiff

By Mary Roach


Oh my god, I loved this book.
Roach has a journalism background, I think, and it shows in her writing. Great narrative, conversational tone, science made simple and interesting.
Roach investigates everything you'd want to know about human bodies after death: how you know you're dead, decomposition, autopsy and funeral prep, bodies as tools (weapons testing, crash test dummies, medical research), burial and other means of disposal.
She looks at all those topics in terms of today and past eras, with meticulous and fascinating research. I'm definitely looking for more stuff by this author.

Loved it, loved it.

River Song

by Craig Lesley

There's something to be said for reading fiction set in places you know, among people you recognize. Lesley's "Winterkill" about a father and son struggling to find connection, both Native Americans from the Northwest, was inspired and unique.

In "River Song" the same characters are back, traveling from Warm Springs to Yakima to Pendleton, making a few bucks fighting fires, fishing and working in apple orchards. It's a hard life and seems as if it would drive anyone down but most of the characters in River Song persevere, not knowing any other kind of life.

The Indians and the rednecks, the tourists and the farmers, the yuppies and the truckers -- it all seems so familiar and Lesley has painting a stirring and accurate portrait.

Honolulu

by Alan Bennert

A good story, well-researched and told, about a Korean picture bride who comes to Hawaii. The story tells the story of Honolulu, and Oahu, from the turn of the century through the 1930s, using her life as a tool.
I found the parts in Korea most interesting, maybe because I already know a good amount about Hawaiian history. The culture in Korea was fascinating to me, as I knew little about it.
Regret (sons are preferred) longs for a life away from the constraints of early 20th century Korea and accepts a mail-order marriage. The marriage fails but she makes a life for herself on Oahu.
The author uses Regret to tell the story of plantation workers, racial prejudice, Oahu's wealthy elite and even the Aloha wear industry.

Lean Mean Thirteen

by Janet Evanovich

Never great literature but always entertaining, funny, and surprising, her heroine Stephanie Plum never disappoints.
In this story the P.I.'s ex-husband is kidnapped and she's trying a relationship with her cop sometimes-boyfriend.

King Dork

by Frank Portman

The most irreverant, hysterically funny, offbeat and touching story about being a teenager who doesn't fit in. I was halfway through it before I realized it was a teen book, not adult, but I enjoyed it so much I finished it anyway.

The hero is a hopeless geek, with a weird family and only one friend. His father died when he was young and he finds some books that belonged to his dad when was young, becoming obsessed with understanding what his father was like. The book follows this journey, as well as his adventures trying to survive high school.

So, so fucking funny I can't begin to explain.

The Girl in Green

by Laura Lippman

Tried another book by Lippman, this one back to her private detective heroine, Tess Monahan.
It was entertaining and fun, a good beach read.
'Nuf said.

13 1/2

by NEVADA BARR

I've always enjoyed Nevada Barr; I've read several of her forest ranger-turned-detective series and found them engaging, funny, unpredictable and original. None of those things are typical for formulaic detective mysteries.
This one was not part of the series but an atypical psychological thriller about a sociopath, very surprising and dark.
Loved it.
The book opens with a horrific murder that orphaned two young boys. The story line jumps around a bit, from the post-murder childhood, the family before the murders, and a seemingly unrelated present-day story set in New Orleans. I kept changing my mind about the mysteries and I kept being wrong.
I love books with great characters that I can't predict.

LIfe Sentences

by Laura Lippman

I've read two books by this author, liking one and loving the other.

I guess this one falls slightly under the liking bar, not sure why.

The basic plot revolves around a writer back in her hometown, desperate for something to write about. She starts to look into a crime supposedly committed by an old classmate and of course it turns out to be different than expected, with surprises and mysteries revolved.

Those are all things I like so I expected to enjoy this book more but it was just...okay.

Personal History

by Katharine Graham

This was a slow read-- lots of politics in it -- but in the end I was glad I read it.
A biography of the owner/operator/heir to The Washington Post, it was a fascinating journey through the last 80 years of journalism.

A Writer's Coach

by Jack Hart

I started to read this a couple of years ago and it didn't grab me -- don't know why. Then, during Round Two, I was grabbed. Jack Hart is a former Oregonian editor and I've heard him speak at journalism conferences and been taken by his no-nonsense writing advice.
The book was amazing, simple and brilliant -- full of easy to understand examples.
I need to read it again, and again, and again.

Charm City

by Laura Lippman

I tend to avoid book series for the most part, of any genre -- romance, vampire stories, mysteries.
But I have read a few that I've enjoyed, in a beach read, fun way. Earlene Fowler's museum curator/quilt themed series was fun and B has gotten me to read his number series by Janet... whatever.
I'd read another book by Laura Lippman and really enjoyed it so I picked up this one and discovered it was part of a series.
Oh well.
Worth a try.
Turned out to be much better than I expected it. The 'detective' - as always -- is a plucky, quirky woman, a former reporter turned private PI in Baltimore, Maryland.
The characters were unforgettable and the plot was not predictable at all.
That's the best you can expect from detective mysteries.

The Painted Veil

by Somerset Maugham

I'd read some Maugham years ago, during a classics phase, and loved it -- but for some strange reason I never tried again.
This book was so lovely, so spare and unflinching. The characters were very unique and finely drawn, I loved that.
In a nutshell, the book takes place in China before the Japanese make their life hell (late 1920s?). The characters are British colonials, government officials, missionaries and professionals. The Chinese are background characters in this story, which makes it seem racist and appropriate at the same time because that's how the colonials lived -- not as part of the country they were in but apart.
The story is told from the vantage point of an upper class shallow, vain English woman and it's astounding how well written she is, as the author is a woman.