MB_kcls
King County Library System
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The Magic of Found ObjectsThe Magic of Found Objects, BookA Novel
by Dawson, MaddieBook - 2021Book, 2021
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Sep 16, 2021
The Southern Side of ParadiseThe Southern Side of Paradise, BookA Novel
by Woodson Harvey, KristyBook - 2019Book, 2019
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 23, 2021
Comment:
I enjoy beach stories, whether they're about bad boys, good detectives, middling lawyers, girls becoming women, lost housewives, libraries or bakers. Up and down any coast, I find the places as interesting as the drama and the melodrama, the light humor and the snarky retorts.
The 'Author's Note' explained that the 'Summer of '69' was written as a birthday gift for her twin brother, Eric. That is truly lovely. I also think the Summer of '69 is a bit of a self-indulgence by/for the author.
I turned 17 the summer of 1969, about to enter my senior year of high school in NW Ohio. I was an Italian girl raised in a Polish neighborhood of a big city, who spent all her years previous to high school in a Catholic school where my life revolved and was the only life I knew. We moved to the small town outside of the city as I began high school. I was a fish out of water compared to these girls who grew up together. It was a revelation.
Even having lived through the era, even after all the beach books I've read, I simply cannot relate to the 'Summer of '69'. Yes, I knew already graduated boys, young men, who were drafted into the Vietnam war; yes, we drank 3.2 beer, yes we had innocent romances, saw the moon launch, the protests and the despicable behavior of the last Kennedy son. But I could not relate to the WASP lifestyle and attitude of this family.
I thought the story was an interesting break from the WW1 and WW2 fiction I've been reading but in a vanilla sort of way. I like vanilla, but I much prefer maple and a few nuts.
I did the math. I was nearly 84% through the book before I found an idea so profound that I had to mark it.
"Her mother is a human being who feels pain - sadness, loneliness, confusion. Jessie thought all grown-ups lived in a different atmosphere, one that was like a cool, clear gel. Adults had problems, Jessie knew - money and their children- but one of the benefits of reaching adulthood, she thought, was that you outgrew the raw, hot, chaotic emotions of adolescence."
How beautifully true! Thank you to the author for recognizing it. I used to sort of roll my eyes when older people remarked they were invisible to the world around them. Now, I am that older, invisible person, but still with some raw, hot, chaotic emotions.
The second profound revelation for the same, young, 13 year old, character came some pages later.
"Maturity and responsibility, she thinks. And then, a radical idea seizes her.
When she was a child, she told her parents everything: I'm hungry, I'm tired, I need to use the bathroom, I skinned my knee, I like, I hate, I want, I need. What if growing up means keeping somethings to herself? The experiences of this summer will become as much a part of her as her bones and muscle, her brain and heart. Ten or twenty years from now, when she looks back on the summer of 1969, she will think That was the summer I became real. My own real person."
I can't imagine having been that self-aware at 13.
Some are referring to the 'Summer of '69' as historical fiction. In historical fiction the events are essential to the story. Simply mentioning a few well known events that occurred in a specific time is not historical fiction. This story is more about the pretense of the family than the world and cultural events that happened to take place around them.
As a side note, I didn't read one tiniest sentence in the 'Summer of '69' that was at all reflected by the cover. Did whomever chose the cover actually read the book? There is not an iota of the joy that cover portrays in the story.
3 starsI enjoy beach stories, whether they're about bad boys, good detectives, middling lawyers, girls becoming women, lost housewives, libraries or bakers. Up and down any coast, I find the places as interesting as the drama and the melodrama, the light…
The Bookshop on the ShoreThe Bookshop on the Shore, Large Print
by Colgan, JennyLarge Print - 2019Large Print, 2019
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
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Added Jul 23, 2021
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 23, 2021
Comment:
Lackluster. That's the best, and saddest word I can find to describe 'Bloody Genius'.
All the John Sanford prerequisites are there - our favorite characters, a new interesting one, and seemingly unsolvable crime, but they did not add up to a good book. The dialogue is boring, the characters are uncharacteristically flat, one dimensional caricatures of themselves and the normally outrageously charming Virgil Flowers has evidently been neutered with the advent of the birth of his twins. The guy on the bar stool, Harry, a secondary character, has the most energy of the bunch. And he's clearly the most astute.
. . . "But I get three types at my McDonalds. I got kids who want to make money for a whole lot of reasons, and they're serious about it. They want to buy a car or go to college, or whatever. They hang in there, and they're determined and they'll work hard until they get what they want. Or a better job. Good kids. Hate to seem them go, but they always do. Then I got the kids who don't have any choice. Maybe they've got to work to eat, maybe they're bright enough to work at McDonalds but don't have a lot going for themselves. I like those kids because I've had some stay with my for twenty years. But the third type: they're no g*dd*mn (**) good."
"How's that different than it's always been?" Virgil asked?
"It is, believe me. There have always been kids who were no d*mn(**) good, but now it's everywhere. Everywhere. It's kids who know they're not going to be millionaires or billionaires or movie stars or famous singers, or in the NBA and it's all they want. They can't see past that. It's like they're not alive if they're not on TV. They don't want to be doctors or dentists or lawyers or businessmen, they want to be rich and famous right now. They don't want to work. All they want to be is a celebrity. Then at some point they realize it ain't gonna happen. They're not talented enough or smart enough, and they sure as sh*t(**) don't want to work at getting to be famous. When they figure that out, that it ain't gonna happen, they turn mean."
"Mean?" Virgil said.
"That's right, mean," Harry said. "You'll get kids who'll kill you for no reason. To feel important. What's more important than killing somebody? You say, you'll go to prison. They don't care. They don't even care if they die. They'll tell you that. 'Go ahead and kill me, I got no life.'" . . .
Referring to someone's response to the depth of Harry's reaction to a school shooting and what he would publicly do to the shooter,
"No. What she said was, 'If you did that, the guy would be on TV. He'd be happy. He'd be famous. He was on TV.' Being on f**n'(**) TV. Being on the internet. She's right, I know some of those kids."
'Bloody Genius is a slow read'. The clues are inventive red herrings but they lead to an infuriatingly maddening and trite denouement.
If you have never read a John Sanford novel, please, please don't start with this one. It's a mouldering corpse of the lively and fun books that came before it . . .
'Bloody Genius' is neither bloody nor genius.
2 Stars
** I included the quotes because I found them not only profound but also the most profound thing about Bloody Genius. Granted, I have no expectation that this genre of books would be profound, but I can always hope. I asterisked letters of particular words in the quotes simply because I have not yet received guidance from GR of their spelling and use in direct quotes from books.Lackluster. That's the best, and saddest word I can find to describe 'Bloody Genius'.
All the John Sanford prerequisites are there - our favorite characters, a new interesting one, and seemingly unsolvable crime, but they did not add up to a good…
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 22, 2021
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Added Jul 22, 2021
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Added Jul 22, 2021
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Added Jul 22, 2021
Christmas at the Island HotelChristmas at the Island Hotel, BookA Novel
by Colgan, JennyBook - 2020Book, 2020
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Jul 22, 2021
Everyone Can BakeEveryone Can Bake, BookSimple Recipes to Master and Mix
by Ansel, DominiqueBook - 2020Book, 2020
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Dec 11, 2020
Comment:
'Everyone Can Bake' is difficult for me to review.
I like the variety of recipes, I love that they are in weight as well as volume and I appreciate the detailed instructions. For all that, I give 'Everyone Can Bake' 5 stars.
What I dislike are filler pictures, such as swaths of compote, a huge close up of lovely layer cake and random fingers (I presume are those of the author) pushing dough into a mold and recipes spread over several pages . . . and variations of those recipes over several dozen pages. The pages of 'Everyone Can Bake are heavy card stock and not glossy, which, to me, means turning all those pages back and forth results in easily stained pages For those liabilities I can barely give Everyone Can Bake 2 stars.
A generous 4 stars, but I would never buy this book. Thank heavens for great libraries!'Everyone Can Bake' is difficult for me to review.
I like the variety of recipes, I love that they are in weight as well as volume and I appreciate the detailed instructions. For all that, I give 'Everyone Can Bake' 5 stars.
What I dislike are…
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Dec 07, 2020
Comment:
It is abundantly clear 'The Sentinel' has been written by two different people.
Jack is so unbelievably smart a$$ glib in the first part of 'The Sentinel'. Unfortunately it seems as it was written by someone who thinks Jack Reacher is based on the Tom Cruise version of him, rather than Cruise being a sorry, laughable version of Jack. For those of us who know him well it is extremely off-putting.
The story settled down a bit after that, but the duel writing is far from seamless. This Jack appeared to look forward to and enjoy the violence he perpetrated on others. Again, not Jack.
Jack also conveniently took the people in authority at their word that they were who they said they were. That was weird, especially with his background.
I really laughed when I got to the bottom of page 189: "Only the geeks call it that. Everyone else calls it The Sentinel."
"What does it do?"
"It protects the integrity of the election system software in forty-eight states. It's the only thing that does."
"Why not all fifty?"
"Politics. I haven't got time to get into it."
"And the Russians are trying to steal a copy. So what? If they succeed, what could they do with it? Change the result of an election? Aren't there fail safes? Paper back-ups?"
"In some places. But changing the result is not their goal. That's too direct. This is the Russian's we're talking about. You've got to understand just how long a game these people play. Their philosophy is if you hit a man with a fire hose, he goes down but can get back up again. If you gather enough raindrops and use them in the right way, you wind up with a Grand Canyon. They're trying to carve gaps in society that are too big to bridge. It's all part of a bigger campaign. To sow discord and division. It's been running for years. On social media. Conspiracy theories. Attempts to undermine the mainstream media."
"Fake news? I've heard about that."
Snort. Russia, Russia, Russia! Further along in the book I'm left to wonder if either brother is aware of Godwin's law.
Almost everything that we love about Reacher is watered down and 'woke'. Jack is not, never was and never will be. His fans will be disappointed with this weak, feckless version of him: new Jack of 2020 is oh, so chatty as compared to stoic Jack. New Jack looks for trouble when stoic Jack reacted to it.
New Jack might as well grow a pony tail, a beard and invest in $300 hipster plaid shirts. 'Hipsters' won't know whether to cheer this new-found Jack or abhor him.
I hope the guy who knows Jack best, Lee Child, comes back with the Jack we know. If not, then it's time for him to say good-bye to a favorite character and let us remember him when he was admirable. It won't be the first time we've said goodbye to long favorite characters (Kinsey Millhone and Alan Gregory come to mind, as does Matthew Scudder).
2 small, sad StarsIt is abundantly clear 'The Sentinel' has been written by two different people.
Jack is so unbelievably smart a$$ glib in the first part of 'The Sentinel'. Unfortunately it seems as it was written by someone who thinks Jack Reacher is based on…
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Dec 01, 2020
Comment:
I am not wowed or moved by 'The Return'. While it's interesting enough, it's certainly not unputdownable.
The only constant in the 'The Return' is the lead character, a former orthopedic surgeon moving on from devastating wartime injuries. But the story is a ball of confusion as there is little weaving of the sub-plots. They sort of jump about all over the place. The major parts of the story are dealt with in snippets with the revelations conveniently coming out near the end of the book.
There are no tears with 'The Return'. There is no browsing back through memorable or moving passages. It's a good story but less than we know Nicholas Sparks to be capable.
3 StarsI am not wowed or moved by 'The Return'. While it's interesting enough, it's certainly not unputdownable.
The only constant in the 'The Return' is the lead character, a former orthopedic surgeon moving on from devastating wartime injuries. But…
The Burglar in Short OrderThe Burglar in Short Order, BookA Bernie Rhodenbarr Collection
by Block, LawrenceBook - 2020Book, 2020
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Nov 25, 2020
Comment:
If I had to pick a favorite Lawrence Block character, I would have to pick them all! However, Bernie Rhodenbarr is the only character that led me to a museum to see a Mondrain exhibit.
'The Burglar in Short Order' is a compilation of early Bernie stories and ends with the author having a conversation with Bernie.
I loved this book. I love the wit and charm, I love that Bernie's favorite books include some by my favorite authors, including a series by his author. What a hoot!
I have mixed feelings about the afterward. Is it the last goodbye to Bernie because a burglar can't burglarize in an era of camera's everywhere or simply a conversation between two friends, the character and the author, who meet far too seldom?
5 Stars
p.s. Mr. Block, we need a bit more John Paul Keller, too.If I had to pick a favorite Lawrence Block character, I would have to pick them all! However, Bernie Rhodenbarr is the only character that led me to a museum to see a Mondrain exhibit.
'The Burglar in Short Order' is a compilation of early Bernie…
The Brilliant Life of Eudora HoneysettThe Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, BookA Novel
by Lyons, AnnieBook - 2020Book, 2020
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Nov 12, 2020
Comment:
After a too long spate of disappointing and vacuous reads, I very much needed 'The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett'.
Some have described Eudora as a grumpy old woman, but I think she is proper, stouthearted and private, which are perfectly descriptive of people world over who grew up in that era around WWII.
The world is changing too fast for Eudora Honeysett just as her body is slowing down at too fast a pace. Her strong will and sharp tongue never do. She thinks she has found the answer in exiting life with grace. And then she meets Rose.
"She isn't used to having such a force of nature in her life. This little girl is like a grenade packed full of joie de vivre, and Eudora has no idea why she has been chosen as a friend. Eudora is everything Rose isn't: old, disillusioned, and able to keep her emotions in check."
The story goes back and forth through the lens of Eudora's life from a childhood through adulthood, that so often teetered between a choice of duty and happiness, and today as Eudora learns and experiences life through the exuberance of Rose. It's perfectly encapsulated when Eudora allows 10yr old Rose to be her "fashion guru' complete with a trip to the shopping center, where she is alternately enthralled with Rose and appalled by the people. ". . . while Rose runs backward and forward in the manner of an overexcited cocker spaniel puppy."
"Eudora is horrified by almost every person she sees: hooded teenagers shouting and shoving; overweight parents with overweight children, stuffing yet more food into their bodies at just after ten o'clock in the morning; people stopping to stare, zombie like, at their phones in the middle of the walkway with infuriating regularity. For Eudora it is a vision of Hades- the crowds, the noise, the pushing- all these individuals moving through their lives with scant regard for others. And why is everyone in such a hurry? They're shopping, for heaven's sake; surely that should be a leisure activity. These people look as if they're participating in some kind of gladiatorial tournament. Shop to the death. Consume or be consumed."
'The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett' is just plain wonderful and exactly what I needed in the chaos of recent times.
5 stars for the brilliant writing of Annie Lyons!After a too long spate of disappointing and vacuous reads, I very much needed 'The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett'.
Some have described Eudora as a grumpy old woman, but I think she is proper, stouthearted and private, which are perfectly…
MB_kcls's rating:
Added Oct 26, 2020
Comment:
'Hellfire' placed constraints on Jonathan Grave and his team, and as such, there was a lot of down time ruminations that read a bit slowly.
The multiple threads of 'Hellfire', child kidnapping, drug cartels, terrorism, are all closely woven to reveal a hellish tapestry. The constraints of it are that none of the information gleaned by means of "Mother Hen" is usable in a legal way and downright scary for the average citizen:
"It occurred to Venice as she was scrolling through image after image how little anonymity was left for Americans these days. Did people really understand that their likeness was recorded dozens of times a day or how easy it was to tap into their webcams and smart phones? Everything everybody did these days left an electronic footprint, and the only thing that kept every move from being observed by strangers was the will of strangers not to take a peek."
I have to knock down my stars from 4 to 3.5 because the ending of 'Hellfire' left me feeling it is somehow incomplete, and particularly because the grief of Father Dom was just . . . left. As his closest friend, there should have been some consolation from Jonathan. That has me worried for the future of Father Dom in anticipated Jonathan Graves stories'Hellfire' placed constraints on Jonathan Grave and his team, and as such, there was a lot of down time ruminations that read a bit slowly.
The multiple threads of 'Hellfire', child kidnapping, drug cartels, terrorism, are all closely woven to…
Comment: