Bookin' It Thru Life

The Wild Dead is book two in The Bannerless Saga and I read it right on the heels of book one.  Like, I finished book one, ordered book two on the Nook, and kept right on reading.  I liked both of these books and look forward to the next book in the series.  While I'll read mysteries, its not my favorite genre, but I'm always happy when I stumble on one that piques my interest.  The Bannerless books remind me a bit of Tana French's mystery series (NOT The Witch Elm which I didn't particularly like) and I found myself warming up to Enid (don't worry Cormoran your status as #1 is still safe) slowly as I made my way through her stories.  I was quite sad to part ways at the end of the book.  No word right now on when the next book will be out but I will surely be pre-ordering it.  And I'm going to take a shot at her Kitty Norville series in 2020... Rating:  #3 Enjoyed It Very Much

Enid the Investigator is our hero in this mystery.  Set in a future where communities have to rely on each other to share scarce resources, the right to bear children is granted by the governing bodies only upon proof that the child can be supported.  Of course, in this future murder is still considered wrong, and Enid is assigned the case of a suspicious death in a community far from her own home.  The title refers to a family unit that has not been granted the right to have a child-ie, they have not been given a banner-and the history of one of the key players in the mysterious death she is investigating includes a possible flaunting of the rules.  The tone of the book is a little dark, in fitting with the setting.  The book is well written, the story compelling and I liked Enid a lot.  I immediately ordered the next book in the series and was not disappointed. Rating:  #3 Enjoyed It Very Much

Of course I've read this book before.  And of course I recall enjoying it.  But I haven't read it at least since I've been in Minnesota (15+ years, believe it or not) and I am a fan of the reread.  Plus, over the years I've seen varying renditions of this on the big and small screen and having watched on on tv recently, I was inspired to revisit the book.  Plus, I recently reread Middlemarch and it reminderd me how much I love this genre.  Aside:  My favorite movie is the one with Colin Firth and my second favorite is (don't judge) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (I saw it during my Walking Dead phase-it was delightful in a silly sort of way!).  Of course any old adaptation will do...I can't resist a Darcy-who can? The book stands the test of time and I enjoyed it very much.  What struck me in this reading was how very sharp the writing was, and how pointed the characters were with their judgments.  I mean, the title sort of gives it away, but I did not recall

The book was touted as addressing the aftermath of a racial incident that went viral.  But the "incident" did not go viral until 2/3s of the way through the book, and in my opinion it was the LEAST of the issues that these characters encountered.  I get really irritated when a book jacket (virtual ones included) misrepresents a book.  I mean, people get paid to write these descriptions-shouldn't they have to read the book first?  And shouldn't the actual content of the book be more important that the inclusion of click-bait phrases?  My experience tells me the answer is "no" on both counts. In this case, the book jacket describes Alix as "well meaning"-frankly, she's anything but that-what she is is selfish and self-absorbed and a little bit obsessed.  And Emira was not so much "aimless, broke and wary" as vapid.  Even when we were in her head or watching her with her friends, I was unable to build a real rapport with this character

This was just published in 2019 so I think I bought it off of a new releases list within the Nook thinking it looked interesting.  It is touted as the story of a sibling bond forged in hardship and lasting a lifetime.  Ok, it was that.  It also got 4-5 stars from a lot of readers.  Me?  I thought it was fine.  The story line of the children's "feral" childhood was the most interesting part.  Their grownup lives were less compelling.  Also, and very oddly, the set up of the book in a dystopian future where an author seeming has to dodge potentially lethal bombs to get home from a speaking engagement?  Why?  What did this add to the story?  Not much other than a weird setting.  There were parts of the book that spoke to me.  The youngest sister's sadness when her siblings all left for college/grad school/real life?  I could get there.  But the sisters' obsession with their brother Joe and his status as the hero of the family and the way they put him on a pedestal?