so many books...

What do you get with a long commute? Audio books.
Since the last book I posted here I've listened to probably 15 or more books in the last several months but forgotten to post my thoughts about them here. And now I don't recall all their titles.

 I did finish something I started as a 'beach read.' Another Jodi Picoult. I always enjoy her books, even if they are not any fancy great literature. The characters are good, complex and the stories compelling. She reminds me of Stephen King that way, without the bite.

I'll try to recreate my book long, audio style, just for continuity's sake.

Snow falling on cedars

by David Guterson

I've had more reading time than is typical in the last few months, which has been awesome. I've had this book for a while but I've been avoiding it. I vaguely recall the film, which was high in the romance aspect.

The book takes place in a quiet Puget Sound island community. Farming and fishing sustain it and it's populated with immigrants of many types, the most recent pre-WW11 Japanese. There is an ill-fated romance, a mystery and feelings of distrust and regret.

It's a beautifully written book, elegant in its prose but not overly lush. I realize I've been reading a lot of books set in the Northwest lately. Not sure why but I have been enjoying them tremendously.

Border Songs

by  Jim Lynch

This is a mystery book. I have a whole shelf of books I haven't read yet, a product of my overestimation of how much I can read or gifts. I don't know which this is. It may have been a suggestion from the independent book store in Redmond. 

No matter. It's a character-driven, sense-of-place book, probably my favorite type. The book's 'hero' is a bit off, maybe autistic, or maybe just a genius. He lives in a town bordering the Washington/Canadian border. What it means to live in a border town is a major theme and plot point of the book but really it is about the characters. None are wholly good, or bad, smart or stupid. They just are, like all of us. 

This book snuck up on me. At first it seemed very plain but in fact could be quite lyrical.  I enjoyed this writer's style very much. 

Not enough time for too many books

Seven months since my last book report? I can't believe it. I have actually read a handful since then but haven't had a chance to list them. And now, of course, I've forgotten what they were. 

But now I've just finished "Stalin's Ghost" by Martin Cruz Smith. Another Renko detective book, I think this is my third or fourth. 

In this book he gets involved with a soldier-turned-cop-turned politician and some shady dealings with the blackmarket, the Chechnyn rebellion aftermath and a peculiar hobby of digging for bodies and WWII loot in the Russian countryside. 

I enjoyed it, although the first half seemed slow. It was not my favorite Smith novel however, I'm not sure why. I found it difficult to keep track of the characters, perhaps all of the Russian names. And, as in all Renko books, it was dark. Very dark. 

I also recently finished a Stephen King book, "Mr. Mercedes," that was fantastic. Not his usual supernatural thing but more of a suspense/crime novel, the story follows a serial killer and a retired detective obsessed with finding him. 

I know there are more but it's too late -- I can't recall their names.