The Mysterious Benedict Society [11] May 3, 2009

I recently read The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. What a pleasure it was to read this book. All the characters were utterly memorable, colorful, and well written. A group of children are assembled, after passing some less than straightforward tests, and given the mission of saving the world. They all have different strengths and weaknesses, but all together they make the perfect team. The children are all orphans (in a way) and loneliness and the importance of family are themes that run throughout the book. It may be written for children and young adults, but I think most people would enjoy a weekend spent reading this book. The story was fun, the puzzles intriguing, and the ending….happy of course . There is a sequel out, but I will wait until it is in paperback to read it. 4.5/5

With No One As Witness [8] February 24, 2009

I am currently reading more than a few books right now which really seems to slow down my reading. I will have to work on knocking a few of them off before I start my new stash of Baldacci’s (YAY!). This latest , With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George, was another crime/drama, mystery, serial killer novel. She is a British author and lets you know that from the first page. The book was full of British vocabulary and slang (bloody this and that buggering off together to have a nosh). I was not prepared for this since I have not really read much British writing after the 19th century. It really bothered me for the first 150 or so pages, but then I started to become indifferent to it and the story took over. It was quite interesting bringing in racial politics of England, profiling, psychology of a killer, but then it brought in child pornography towards the end and became a little disturbing.

Something else I did not realize when I started the book is that it features a team of detectives, Havers and Lynley, that have quite a long history together. This is actually the 12th book in the series of 14 so far. It is kind of like starting to watch 24 in the 4th season. There were so many characters from previous seasons who made appearances but you may not care as much about them. While the main story of  the novel was stand alone, there were many smaller story lines that were not as meaningful to me. Even when tragedy strikes “at home” for one of the main characters it did not affect me as much as perhaps a loyal reader. I was far more interested in the parts about finding the killer and wanted to skip the rest. I am not in a hurry to go back and read the previous books but maybe someday. I only recommend if you have read the rest of the series first.

In other news I got my bookmark from my Ravelry swap partner today(thanks again drie80!). It is absolutely gorgeous (photo below). It was my first swap and I loved it.  I am doing an Envelope swap this month as well (fill it in under $5). With Ravelry and Postcrossing I am getting a ton of mail these days from all over the world. I also received my wedding invitation from Sarah . I can not believe how soon my trip will be coming. It is so exciting! I wish it were longer, but duty calls at work. Murat is getting everything ready for his visa so I will keep you all posted on how that turns out. Well off to do my Turkish homework so I will be prepared for lessons tomorrow.

Bookmarks I made (photo by MissJulie)

My bookmark by drie80

Split Second [6] February 2, 2009

After having no luck finding a copy of Split Second in Istanbul, I asked my mom to bring it when she came to visit. I was so happy to finally read about how Sean King and Michelle Maxwell met. They have such great chemistry as friends, partners, and sometime soon *crossing my fingers* as more than all that . The book helped explain the few references made to the past in both the Hour Game and Simple Genius. Also, an important character that showed up in the first book made reappearances in the latest novel. I would definitely recommend reading the books in order now that I have read them all. According to the web, Baldacci’s fourth book in the series First Family will come out this year. I can honestly hardly wait!

I have now read 2283 pages and February has officially started. I am one book ahead of schedule but we will see if I can keep up the reading pace. Being on vacation has been great for reading, but once school/work starts again I think it will be more difficult.

The Camel Club [5] January 29, 2009

I am slightly ahead of schedule on my 52 books challenge. I decided to read The Camel Club, another David Baldacci book. This is my third one so I think it is safe to say I am a fan. I really love his characters. They are just so human. They always have questionable pasts, are always flawed, and always conquer their fears to become heroic (even if it is just to a single person). So far in each book I have found myself laughing out loud a few times, tearing up a little, and getting downright angry at the villains.
The Camel Club is the first in a series of four books so far (more to come). It deals with conspiracy theories, intelligence agencies, “resurrection of the dead”, and mid-east terrorists. It is like a whole season of 24, wrapped up in an extremely readable book, with Jack Bauer being divided into four love-able middle-age men. It also puts an interesting twist on the terrorist angle that you never see coming. It also tries to explain the mentality of the terrorists. While it does not excuse what they do, it does help shed some light on the psychological driving force behind it. The explanation is a little lacking though and Nelson Demille does a far far better job explaining it in The Lion’s Game. Overall I highly recommend the book and can’t wait to read The Collectors some time soon.

Next up will be one of three books The Voices of Marrakesh, Seeing Redd, or Split Second. We will see which one suits my fancy, although all will be read during February. My pages read total is now 1802

Simple Genius [2] January 6, 2009

I literally just finished reading Simple Genius by David Baldacci. It is my second book by him and I am still very much impressed. He has four books out that feature the freelance PI team of Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. I absolutely love them! He is incredibly smart but human, and she is incredibly flawed but strong. You can’t help but root for them. I started with the second book, Hour Game, and this was the third in their series. It was right up my alley with the subject matter: CIA, cryptology, spies, WWII, treasure, Alan Turing, and the Enigma machine (I got to see a real one in Germany!). It was exciting until the very end. I can not wait to get my hands on more of his books!!!