1.5/5 stars
I must have read a different book than everybody else had because I cannot for the life of me comprehend how this book has won any literal awards. As an avid fantasy reader I can tell you that this book is as close to a "riveting fantasy novel" as flour is to being a spice. Why flour you ask? Beuase it reminds me of this book - dry, bland and boring. And I really tried to tie this book all of the chances I could. I wanted to dnf it after 30 pages, but: 1. I was told that it gets much better as the book goes on. It didn't. 2. I was told that series get much, much better. I still have to see that for myself. One day. 3. I scored 4 books from this series at a thrift store for dirt cheap in mint condition, so I wanted to give it a chance before I donate all of them back and forget I ever wasted my time on them.
But Iryna, what about that awesome twist at the end?
I'm sorry, but that twist? I guessed "the twist" pretty early in the beginning of the book. I'm not saying that I'm Sherlock Holmes (okay sometimes I pretend I am), but after reading many fantasy books that twist is not so twisty anymore - pretty standard trick, if you ask me. I can sum up about 85 percent of this book in few sentences. Gen (main character) whines, Gen is tired, Gen is hungry, Gen is being a smart mouth, Gen is hungry, Gen is tired, Gen is hungry. The words "I'm hungry" and "so I took a nap" were probably said at least 20 times. If you are looking for the world's most annoying fiction character, you may stop now. Gen got the prize (in my eyes at least). The rest 15 percent were taken up with all the action that this book decided to throw at us and some political intrigues. By that point I just wanted it all to be just over so I could move on with my reading life. The book is a 280 pages, and it took me 9 days to read it. 9 days! Why? Because I was so unbelievably, out of my mind, ripping my hair out - bored. Was the twist at the end worth the 200 pages of redundancy and absolutely nothing happening? No, no it was not. I know I sound very bitter right now, but I was genuinely excited for this book. And it let me down, big time. I hated the first person narrative, and I loathed Gen as a narrator even more. Side characters were bland, world building was okay at best and the plot didn't go anywhere till the last 30 pages. Despite all of this I will (not soon, but sometime) continue with the book 2. I didn't suffer through this for nothing, I will see for myself if the series do indeed get better. My hopes are very low though. Lower than low. Also I looked ahead and book 2 is written in third person, which is an improvement because I don't like first person narration fantasy, BUT who writes first book in first person and then switches to the third person? Who does that? Why?
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4.5/5 stars
“An arrogant head of state gives permission to all nature of hate as long as it feeds his ambition. And the unfortunate truth is, people devour it. Society gorges itself, and rots. Permission is the bloated corpse of freedom.” I think I've found another favorite author. I had a feeling after I've read Scythe, but I wanted to read his second book to make sure that it wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't. I love Shusterman's writing style, I applaud his ability to twist and turn a story and I admire his ideas and thoughts that he puts out in his books.
If I may recommend, I would definitely advise that you purchase the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition (if you are able) because Shusrteman's commentary made the book even better. We got to go behind every chapter and see the logic and the heart behind his creations. I love how he lets his characters drive his show, and I loved how honest he was in his commentary.
I think I liked Scythe just a tiny bit better than I did Thunderhead. Not because Thunderhead was weaker or anything, but because Scythe literally blew my mind with its turns and twists. I was able to guess some of them in Thunderhead, which I was quite proud of. “It’s my pleasure to be your displeasure.” Thunderhead managed to seamlessly introduce new characters, and while I didn't care much for Munira, although I am sure she will be much more important in the next book, I loved Greyson from the very first pages. His story arc was the most interesting and the most tragic in the book, I even found myself wanting Greyson to have more page time, because I grew to like him so much. Just as in Scythe I found myself enjoying "journal entries" between chapters very much. This time we got to be inside of Thunderhead's "head" and see it get progressively more and more human in its thoughts and later in its actions. The ending was both action packed and epic, and normally I really dislike cliffhangers, but this time I didn't mind. I just cannot wait for the next book to come out. 
This is singlehandedly the best used bookstore haul I've ever did. And man, I am so proud. The most expensive books here were 2$, the rest were 50 cents. So here are my books and short explanations about them.
I'm trying to broaden my horizons and read different books and different genres - hence the array of very different books here, and the absence of ya genre (as I'm trying to sty away from it in 2018). 1. Memoirs of Geisha by Arthur Golden A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel presents with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable. 2. The high mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named Tomás discovers an old journal. It hints at the existence of an extraordinary artifact that—if he can find it—would redefine history. Traveling in one of Europe’s earliest automobiles, he sets out in search of this strange treasure. Thirty-five years later, a Portuguese pathologist devoted to the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie finds himself at the center of a mystery of his own and drawn into the consequences of Tomás’s quest. Fifty years on, a Canadian senator takes refuge in his ancestral village in northern Portugal, grieving the loss of his beloved wife. But he arrives with an unusual companion: a chimpanzee. And there the century-old quest will come to an unexpected conclusion. The High Mountains of Portugal—part quest, part ghost story, part contemporary fable—offers a haunting exploration of great love and great loss. Filled with tenderness, humor, and endless surprise, it takes the reader on a road trip through Portugal in the last century—and through the human soul.
3. The tiger's wife by Tea Obreht
Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation. In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself. But Natalia is also confronting a private, hurtful mystery of her own: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. After telling her grandmother that he was on his way to meet Natalia, he instead set off for a ramshackle settlement none of their family had ever heard of and died there alone. A famed physician, her grandfather must have known that he was too ill to travel. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel. 4. Snow falling on cedars by David Guterson Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric -a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and changed. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award 1995 and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched. Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and changed. 5. The good earth by Pearl. S. Buck This tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall. Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.
6. Year of wonders by Geraldine Brooks
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders." Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. 7. The queen of subtleties by Suzannah Dunn Anne Boleyn and Lucy Cornwallis: queen and confectioner, fatefully linked in a court rife with intrigue and treacheryShe was the dark-eyed English beauty who captivated King Henry VIII, only to die at his behest three years after they were married. She was both manipulator and pawn, a complex, misunderstood mélange of subtlety and fire. Her name was Anne Boleyn. In The Queen of Subtleties, Suzannah Dunn reimagines the rise and fall of the tragic queen through two alternating voices: that of Anne herself, who is penning a letter to her young daughter on the eve of her execution, and Lucy Cornwallis, the king’s confectioner. An employee of the highest status, Lucy is responsible for creating the sculpted sugar centerpieces that adorn each of the feasts marking Anne’s ascent in the king’s favor. They also share another link of which neither woman is aware: the lovely Mark Smeaton, wunderkind musician—the innocent on whom, ultimately, Anne’s downfall hinges. 8. Mind's eye by Hakan Nesser Håkan Nesser is firmly established as one of the world's bestselling crime novelists. And now the novel that introduced Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is available for the first time in English. The swift conviction left Van Veeteren uneasy: Janek Mitter woke one morning with a brutal hangover and his wife dead in the bathtub. With only the flimsiest defense, he is found guilty and imprisoned in a mental institution. But when Mitter is murdered in his bed, Van Veeteren regrets not following his gut and launches an investigation into the two murders. As the chief inspector delves deeper, the twisted root of these violent murders will shock even him. 9. A window refined by Kim Cano On a cold Valentine’s Day in Chicago, Amy White, a young widow who lost her husband to cancer, visits the cemetery and makes an unsettling discovery: a bouquet of fresh daffodils lying in front of her husband’s grave. Curiosity grows into obsession as Amy searches for the stranger who left the flowers, while keeping her activities a secret from her live-in mother and seven-year-old son. The search leads to an unusual friendship that transforms her world and redefines her life. 10. Emma Brown by Clare Boylan When Charlotte Brontë died in 1855, she left behind twenty pages of a novel that signaled her most compelling work since Jane Eyre. One hundred fifty years later, Clare Boylan has finished Brontë’s novel, sparking a sensational literary event. With pitch-perfect tone that is utterly true to Brontë’s voice, Boylan delivers a brilliant tale about a mysterious young girl, Matilda, who is delivered to a girls’ school in provincial England. When everything about the girl’s wealthy background turns out to be a fiction, it falls to a local gentleman, Mr. Ellin, and a childless widow, Isabel Chalfont, to begin a quest for her past and her identity that takes them from the drawing rooms of country society to London’s seamiest alleys. With all the intelligence and pathos of the novel’s originator, Boylan develops Brontë’s sketch of a girl without a past into a stunning portrait of Victorian society with a shameful secret at its heart. 
3/5 stars
The Bands of Mourning was my least favorite installment of The Mistborn series, and by that I am deeply saddened, but mostly just disappointed. If you haven't read previous Mitsborn books (especially the second era ones) this review will probably not make any sense for you, as I will be talking about specifics. “I’m wondering if every person I pass has similar depths, and if there’s any way to avoid the mistake of judging them so shallowly that I’m rocked when they show their true complexity.”
I can sum up my disappointment in this book with a list (that's Steris in me):
- Wayne completely degrading as a character - Steris - is a wasted potential - Not enough plot progression - Too many unanswered questions - Quite boring at times - Where the hell was TenSoon?? I will start with Wayne. When I started The Alloy of Law, which is the first book in Mistborn era 2, I adored Wayne and Wax's dynamic. They were clever, funny and ridiculous in the best of ways. In The Shadows os Self Wayne took a back seat for a while and just wasn't as good, but in Bands of Mourning I'm pretty sure he just lost all of his bonkers. His POV felt like one of a drunk, incoherent blubbering child that had no purpose. It was quite pitiful. He did have some good lines here and there, but for the most part his character was ruined for me. I was hoping that this book would bring out Steris' character to light, as Sanderson does in many of his books (taking a secondary character and giving them the page time they deserve in the next book). No such luck here. Steris was the biggest waste of potential I've ever seen in character development. "Steris go stay with the horses", "Steris wait here with out things", "Steris go stand over there"... Sure, she herself thought herself almost completely useless to their party as well, but that doesn't make it okay. in the end she needed making some important trading choices for them ,but it wasn't nearly enough to redeem the treatment her character got through the whole of the series. Despite all of that - she was still my favorite.
The Bands of Mourning felt a lot like a filler book. Things were happening but they weren't going anywhere, plot wise. To be specific, I think that the three books altogether were very disconnected in the first place. The Alloy of Law was about Miles Hundredlives, mostly. The Shadows of Self was about Paalm and who she really was and now The Bands of Mourning was supposedly about the Set, even though we learned almost nothing about them when the book was over.
I know there's supposed to be one more book and maybe that will tie things up and explain some plot holes, but it seems silly to me to make this a four book series, while the first one was nicely wrapped up and done in just three (much larger three, but still). The Shadows of Self mentioned Trell, but by the end of the Bands of Mourning we didn't know anymore of him than we already did. Same with the Set. And where was TenSoon in all of this? Sitting in a cave? Brooding over everything he's done to Wax, I mean sure, but you know how useful he could have been in this book? And don't get me started with that ending. One sentence!! That's all we got about you know who, and you know what that just made me mad. I will still read the next one, whenever the comes out, and I also think that I should read The Secret History, maybe some of my questions will be answered there. But for now, I'm just disappointed and I didn't think I could ever be, in Sanderson. 
I've said it before, but I am on the quest to read all of Amy Harmon's books, and today a new one by her came out! The Smallest Part follows Noah, who we met twice already - first in The Law of Moses and then in The Song of David. The Smallest Part sounds like it will break my heart, and I'm ready for it.
Publication date: February 13, 2018 Genre: Contemporary Romance, Inspirational Recommended for ages: +16 “In the end, only three things matter. How much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” - Unknown It was a big lie. The biggest lie she’d ever told. It reverberated through her head as she said it, ringing eerily, and the girl behind her eyes—the girl who knew the truth—screamed, and her scream echoed along with the lie. “Are you in love with Noah, Mercedes?” Cora asked. “I mean . . . I know you love him. You’ve been friends forever. We all have. But are you in love with him?” If it had been anyone else—anyone—Mercedes would have stuck out her chest, folded her skinny arms, and let her feelings be known. She would have claimed him. But it was Cora. Brave, beautiful, broken Cora, and Cora loved Noah too. 
So Mercedes lied. And with that lie, she lost him. With that lie, she sealed her fate. She was the best friend, the bridesmaid, the godmother, the glue. She was there for the good times and the bad, the ups and downs, the biggest moments and the smallest parts. And she was there when it all came crashing down. This is the tale of the girl who didn’t get the guy. 
There is hope for YA dystopian books! And that hope is Scythe.
Never have I read 400+ pages book so fast. I just couldn't stop - it was readable, entertaining, unpredictable and just plain awesome. “Everyone is guilty of something, and everyone still harbors a memory of childhood innocence, no matter how many layers of life wrap around it. Humanity is innocent; humanity is guilty, and both states are undeniably true.” Scythe was one of the very few YA books that made the cut to be read in 2018 by me. Since I am trying to bring down my YA books to a bare minimum this year, because they don't do much for me anymore. Happy to say that Scythe not only didn't disappoint me, but it also exceeded my expectations. Now Thunderhead (Scythe 2) is added to the list because you bet I already ordered it for myself.
“Death makes the whole world kin. Rowan wondered if a world without death would then make everyone stranger.”
Sure, it's meant for younger audience, sure it was slowish at times and sure some things weren't original at all. But despite all of that - it was very enjoyable. Especially because the topics it explored were very serious, and musings it provided were very deep and true. I especially liked the author's views on government, corruption and school system. If kids aren't being taught anything knew and everything is redundant and repetitive then aren't they just go to school to stay out of adult's way? School has become a great means of wasting time. Who would you become in the age where death doesn't exist? Would you become sedentary or would you keep moving? Would you still have dreams after everything has been learned and accomplished? Would you treat every day as a gift or would you take them all for granted because your days weren't numbered anymore? Would suicide become a fool's play to you, just means of adrenaline kick? Would you use your eternity to perfect yourself or would you rot away, drowning in your eternal bad choices? “I wonder what life will be like a millennium from now, when the average age will be nearer to one thousand. Will we all be renaissance children, skilled at every art and science, because we’ve had time to master them? Or will boredom and slavish routine plague us even more than it does today, giving us less of a reason to live limitless lives? I dream of the former, but I suspect the latter.” At first I felt a bit prejudice towards Citra, one of the main characters, as she seemed to be this cliche "bad temper for no reason teenage girl". I am so happy to say that as the book progressed Citra not only proved herself, but actually risen to be my favorite. She grew on me, with every choice she made, and that was a great character development. Rowan was my favorite to begin with, but as time progressed and he made his choices I wavered in him and didn't know where his path would take him. In the end, Rowan didn't disappoint. I was so scared that this book will contain star crossed lovers trope, complete with passionate kisses at the most unfortunate time, passionate but awkward half-sex scenes and all other crap that ya dystopian books seem to be full of. But boy was I pleasantry surprised when none of that was present! It literally gives me hope, hope that good books are still being written. Although I suspect there will be some romance in the second book, but I will just have to wait and see. Also, let it be know that Neal Shusterman can write a plot twist! Not just one, but five at least! And all of them except one took me by a huge surprise, and it was totally amazing! “Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness” 
No rating (dnf)
“Sometimes there are no words that fit into the space provided.” I have started reading this book in August and it's February now, so I think it's way past time for me to go ahead and shelve it as DNF. I loved the premise and I adored the format and I enjoyed the writing, I just couldn't get into the plot - and it's nobody's fault. I promised myself that I will be more picky and fierce with my reads this year (and by fierce I mean dnf-ing books when I'm not into them without feeling guilty, which I still do). I read about 134 pages, so I had a pretty good idea where the book was going and what it was doing, but alas it just wasn't holding my attention. I kept going back to it because I loved the way it was written and I also loved the silky smooth pages and the design that ran through the whole book. But I can't read the book based on it's external beauty, can I? “Some people are so blinded by what’s real that they’re not ready for what’s true.” Not many things happened in those 134 pages and the plot seemed redundant, with things being repeated over and over again. I also thought that this book had potential to be very sad and heartbreaking, if only it wasn't being told in the past tense. Telling the story from past tense point of view dulls the pain and the emotions that otherwise would have been flowing, and lately I've been looking for books that can make me feel something. A whole lot of something! And The days the angels fell wasn't making me feel anything. I did enjoy many musing and truths that book was providing about death, life and everything in between - they were profound and very true. This book was provided by publisher through LibraryThing for an honest review. Thank you. 
“Human beings are not designed to be alone. Our creator gave us smooth, sensitive skin that craves the warmth of other skin. Our arms seek to hold. Our hands yearn to touch. We are drawn to companionship and affection out of an innate need.”
I'm on a quest to read all of Amy Harmon books and I only have like 4 books to go. Which makes me both really proud of myself and really sad - because that means from now on I will have to wait for new books to be released. I just can't seem to get enough of Amy's writing, of her characters and of the emotions that flow through each and every one of her books.
Speaking of amazing characters - I related to Josie on such a deep level that she immediately shot up to number 2 of my "all time favorite female characters list" - number one still being taken by Lark from The Bird and the Sword, yes also by Amy Harmon.
Josie is a book worm, and not just because she says so (which I find to be the problem with many books that try to portray their characters as bookish, but fail) but because she is truly one. Josie began reading to escape her reality, and she never stopped because books became such a big part of who she was. She didn't just read for pleasure - she read to learn, to discuss, to speculate and to broaden her horizons. I admired that about her the most, as that reminded me once again to read quality books because everything I put into myself reflects on who I am. But I got off track with my bookish views. Josie loves to garden - she loves to feel the soil below her toes and she loves too cook with all of her fresh vegetables - if that's not an image of me, I don't know what is. If Josie Jo was a real person she would have been my best friend. “I hated making small talk and avoided people in the grocery store and other places just so that i wouldn't have to think of things to say. I liked people, i cared about them, and i wanted to be a good person, but don't make me chat idly on the telephone or make pleasant conversation just for the sake of being polite." -I've never related more! Running Barefoot is a story about young love, but it's also a story of restraint and waiting. Waiting till the time is right, waiting and believing that the person who was meant for you will in the end be indeed yours. The novel starts when Josie is 13 and Samuel is 18 and I absolutely adored the way it was handled. Under the circumstances that could have been the worst, their friendship and love remained the purest. Now, sure Samuel is literally an 18 year boy out of the dreamland - besides being a very angry, lost and closed-up teenager, he turned out to be the utmost gentleman. I loved Samuel's heritage story and how he struggled to fit in, being half Native American and half white. His tribe didn't think him native enough, and his white peers didn't consider him white enough. Samuel was stuck in a limbo of anger and resentment and the way he found his place in the world was truly beautiful. And just because I have't met anybody like Samuel in real life, does't mean that boys like him do not exists. For the sake of all the young girls in the world, I hope they do. And I also hope that more girls read this book and realize what they truly deserve and what true love could really be if they are only patient enough. “Like a shoe that has lost its mate is never worn again, I had lost my matching part and didn't know how to run barefoot.” I inhaled this story and I am sure that this is a novel that I will re-read many times in the future. Only thing was that I expected this book to be more emotional to me than it was. Sure I teared up a few times, but having read Amy's other books, I was excepting a full out cry fest. The event that was supposed to leave me in tears didn't because for me there wasn't enough momentum leading up to it. But there were many other precious moments, and amazing life lessons that I will cherish forever. “You see beauty in things other people just take for granted. You need understanding, and, and…deep conversation, and someone who can keep up with that mind of yours!” 
“Cleaning the wound is often more painful than the cut itself.”
I have the hardest time rating this book. It's either 3.75 or 4 out of 5 starts for me. Or somewhere in between that. It has come as a great shock to me, as this is the first Brandon Sanderson book that I have rated lower than 4.5 stars. For starters, it wasn't nearly as good as Alloy of Law was. Both character and plot wise. But my rating is lower mostly because I found some theology and musings that rubbed me the wrong way in this book - I just wasn't a fan. While In Alloy of Law Wax and Wayne were the ultimate dream duo - here they barely did anything together and thus I really missed their banter (thankfully there was some other banter going around but still). Wax turned from a funny badass allomancer to this removed, high brow and even a bit boring lawman. Except of course I felt for Wax in the end. Because that ending just came like an avalanche over me and plastered me to the ground with feelings.
“You had to adapt. Move. Change. That was good, but it could also threaten identity, connection, and sense of purpose.”
I also have lost all of the interest in Marasi with this book. She showed so much promise in the first book, but here she became the biggest bore of them all, with all of her proper law works, constable politics and just blah-blah-blah. Sure she's smart, and capable and resourceful , but she's just not engaging anymore. Not even a bit. And in the end when all Marasi cared about was a metal spike while Wax's world was crashing down, I literally lost all of my respect for her. And gained a whole more respect for Steris. I liked Steris a lot in the end of Alloy of Law, and I wish she had more page time in Shadows of Self. She didn't, but the time she had - she used so well. I am hoping beyond hope that I will see more Steris in the next book, because I need it! “The immortal demigod took a throaty slurp of her beer, then slammed the mug down onto the table, grinning like a four-year-old who had been paid in cookies to rat out her sister.” With all of that said Wayne was driving the show in this book. Well him, and MeeLan and TenSoon (which I promise I almost cried when I saw his name pop-up in the book). Wayne and Meelan delivered all the banter I was looking for in this book, and TenSoon, let's just say that him being there was enough. “She had a way of pouring everything of herself into what she did. When she fought, she was the blade. When she loved, she was the kiss. In that regard, she was far more … human than any I have known.” The plot was good, but it spent way too much time on Marasi and her countable career, which as I said I didn't care one bit about. And then the ending came and the most brutal truth in the whole history of Mistborn came out and I was just shocked to my very core, and I still hasn't recovered. And neither did Wax. And I have no idea what he is going to do in the next book, and honestly, I'm scared. 
“I often wonder why the whole world is so prone to generalise. Generalisations are seldom if ever true and are usually utterly inaccurate.”
3/5 stars Turned out that this was a re-read for me. Like with many of Agatha's books, as I read tons of them a few years back and can't remember which ones I did read. For such a short book it took me ages to read it. Mostly, because I was very busy. But also because I was very bored.
“There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.”
Miss Marple is portrayed as an old crazy lady that just happened to live next to the place where murder has taken place and she in the end is the one who solves the whole thing. While I don't mind her taking a back seat and letting the other characters run the show - it just didn't work out well for this story. Same tactic was used in The Moving Finger, but I adored that story. It seems that last time I read it, I've enjoyed it more. But this time around there was just too much "going around the bush" and "useless plot twists" for my liking. The novel was only about 290 pages, but I honestly think that it could have been 200 and would still have accomplished the same thing. Dialog was repetitive at certain points and some characters were introduced that didn't add anything to the story at all (specifically Mary and Marple's nephew - useless waste of pages). I still enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoy some of her other works. “Nothing, I believe, is so full of life under the microscope as a drop of water from a stagnant pool.” 
I don't know about you, but I love, love shopping at used bookstores, and regular thrift stores for books. Why?
1. I can find brand new books there for 50c-3$. 2. I can also find the some antique looking books and that's just amazing for any collector of books. I recently went to Goodwill and found these four books - all in great conditions (one of them I actually wanted to buy few days ago full price, so when I found it at thrift store I just had to laugh at such great timing). Now, everybody's thrift store is different - some have tons some don't, but don't despair and keep checking in regularly. 
1. Rooms by Lauren Oliver
I know nothing of this book, but the cover and the blurb caught my attention. A tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. 
2. The monogram murders by Sophie Hannah
Yes, I am aware that this isn't Agatha Christie's book. But I am very curious to see how she handles mysteries in Christie's fashion. My mom said she enjoyed it a lot. This is the book I was going to buy full price. ‘I’m a dead woman, or I shall be soon…’ Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified – but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done. Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one’s mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim... 
3. Autobiography by Agatha Christie
Two Christie books in one trip?? That literally never happens. This lady is a mastermind of mystery genre and I definitely want to get to know her life better. Supposedly it's very funny and charming, just like a lot of her books are. Sadly I couldn't find a description for this book on Goodreads in English (which is so odd) but oh well. 
4. Faithful place by Tana French (#3)
I know nothing of this book, except that it sounds intriguing. I will need to read the first 2 book first though. That which was buried is brought to light and wreaks hell -- on no one moreso than Frank Mackey, beloved undercover guru and burly hero first mentioned in French's second book about the Undercover Squad, The Likeness. Faithful Place is Frank's old neighborhood, the town he fled twenty-two years ago, abandoning an abusive alcoholic father, harpy mother, and two brothers and sisters who never made it out. They say going home is never easy, but for Frank, investigating the cold case of the just-discovered body of his teenage girlfriend, it is a tangled, dangerous journey, fraught with mean motivations, black secrets, and tenuous alliances. Because he is too close to the case, and because the Place (including his family) harbors a deep-rooted distrust of cops, Frank must undergo his investigation furtively, using all the skills picked up from years of undercover work to trace the killer and the events of the night that changed his life. |
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February 2019
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