Book Reviews – Page 118 – Carol's Notebook

Origin by Dan Brown

November 12, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

In the middle of Kirsch's presentation regarding a breakthrough that will change the way we look at humanity's past and future, he's killed. And he, of course, is the only one who can release the rest of the presentation, so Langdon and the beautiful woman, this time around it's museum director Ambra Vidal, have to follow clues to find out how to let the public know about Kirsch's discovery. They are also helped by Kirsch's amazingly advanced AI, Winston. This time the art is modern, which is a world Langdon isn't quite as comfortable with, but did make for an interesting change of pace. And I loved the tour of Spain. As always, Brown touches on history and religion,which is part of what I enjoy about his thrillers. His writing may be a bit repetitive and sometimes gives us information that we should probably already know, I enjoy them. There's nothing wrong with something that's just entertaining. I do tend to listen to...

Not Your White Jesus by Sheri Faye Rosendahl

November 6, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

Not Your White Jesus is a difficult book to write about. Rosendahl makes some good points about Jesus and how he dealt with people throughout the New Testament. However, her tone and slang are totally off-putting. I definitely like Rosendahl's main message. When asked what the greatest of the commandments was, Jesus responded, "The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’" (from The Message). Jesus loved people and we should too, especially the marginalized in society, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the poor, the prisoners, and even people of other religions. His harshest words were always for the "religious" men of the time who were more interested in rules and appearances, not in loving their neighbors. Maybe we should be worried about loving people around the world and teaching them to love...

Cherringham #4-6 by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

November 1, 2018 by CarolNo Comments

I enjoyed this second collection of Cherringham novellas. Cherringham itself is a good setting, a typical small English town with its bar and bakery, its quirky townsfolk and always a murder or theft or something going on. Jack and Sarah make a good team. They are both smart and talented in their own ways. Jack is a former police detective and knows the ins and out of solving crimes. Questioning people comes naturally to Sarah and as at least a semi-local she knows a lot of people, she's also the one who does the computer research and occasional hacking. In "Thick as Thieves," a potentially valuable artifact is found on a farm. It is put in a retired professor's safe but is stolen over night. Sarah had been covering the story of the artifact for the town's paper and is of course curious. Her computer skills definitely come in helpful here, as do Jack's stake out abilities. I can't say I...

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

October 26, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

I love the title Sparkling Cyanide. Christie's titles don't tend to be particularly noticeable, but Sparkling Cyanide stands out. It captures clearly the method of murder - cyanide in the champagne, and it's a bit glamorous. Rosemarie died a year ago, presumably suicide. She was a beautiful woman, but her death benefitted several people. Her husband, George, truly loved her, in spite of her affairs, and has come to believe that she was actually murdered. Any one who was at the dinner the night she died could have done it - her lover or his scorned wife, her sister Iris who stands to inherit, the husband's trusted secretary, or a rather shady "friend" who, a year later is making moves on Iris. George organizes a second dinner party, with the same people, hoping to force a confession. It all goes terribly wrong when George is killed too. Colonel Race, a friend of George's, helps in the investigation. He doesn't actually do much, but he is on...

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

October 25, 2018 by Carol10 Comments

I love mysteries, but if I had to narrow the genre down to my favorite type, I'd pick vintage mysteries. Even narrower, I'd go with country house mysteries, preferably at Christmastime, but winter will do. Death and the Dancing Footman is one of those. Our Inspector Roderick Alleyn doesn't show up until about 2/3rds through. Usually that annoys me, but Marsh tends to make it work. This time around, it gives us plenty of time to meet all of the guests. Jonathan Royal is the owner of the country house and the host of the house party. He is rather not a good person. He's invited a group of people who will quite clearly not get along well. The Compline family consists of the mother Sonia and her two sons, William who is excessively devoted and Nicholas, her favorite. William is engaged to another guest, Chloris Wynne, who used to be engaged to Nicholas. Sonia's friend, Hersey Amblington, who owns a spa and...

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

October 24, 2018October 25, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

The Mysterious Mr. Quin is a collection of short mystery stories, by they're a slight departure from Christie's norm. Mr. Satterthwaite, is upper class, single, a man who loves his comforts and is rich enough to afford them. He enjoys life's dramas, watching rather than participating. Satterthwaite is both the main character and the sidekick. It's his reasoning and actions that solve the mysteries, but it's Harley Quin who mysteriously show up at just the right time, asks just the right questions. Mr. Quin is a touch supernatural, he seems to intercede on the behalf of the dead, those whose mysteries still need solved. These stories are not typical Christie. They're more romantic, with love often triumphing. They're a little dreamy, the plots don't have the precision of Poirot, but the conclusions do seem logical. It's a good collection, but not necessarily what I'm looking for when I'm picking up a Christie. And I have to say I like this Harley Quin better...