9 posts tagged “book review”

I always love a good mystery, but a good mystery set in a city that you know very well is much better! Mary Jane Maffini's main character is Camilla MacPhee. She works as a Victim's Rights Lawyer in Ottawa. This particular novel takes place during the Tulip Festival (which is currently running). I love the dry humour, and the stubborn main character. However, as I mentioned before, my favourite part of these novels is that they are set in Ottawa. I love to be able to imagine my home town in all of its spring-time glory. I also love to be able to imagine every scene and setting of the chase scenes, it makes it much more exciting.

BTW, Mary Jane Maffini, the author, is also the owner of the Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore in Ottawa.

Along with local mysteries, I really enjoy reading historical mysteries, particularly those set in the dark and middle ages. The proprietor of The Mysterious Affair in Waterloo, ON, recommended this series to me when he was out of the book that I went in to find. I was really looking forward to read this book, but it didn't really grab me the way some of my favourite historical mysteries have. It is pretty well written, but I didn't take to the main character, Sister Fidelma. I like the main character detectives to be the constant in the book. I like it when I can have some insight into their character, and how they will act in different situations. I found that I never was able to get to that point with Sister Fidelma. I think that the learning curve also had something to do with it. This one is set in 664 AD in a place that I don't know much about. I much prefer novels set in the 11th to 14th centuries, because I can more easily imagine how the time period looks.

I've had this book since 1992, and did, at one point, get halfway through it. This morning, I finally finished it. I found the first half of the book a little dry, it was difficult to get through. I almost put it down again, but I am so glad that I didn't. The ending was so bittersweet, that I couldn't tear myself away from the last two chapters. I also have the next book, but I don't think that I will read it just yet.

My brand new all-Canada guide book arrived recently, and I am trying not to rush through reading all of the history and culture sections, and just focusing on the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland chapters, so that I will still have something to read when we are on our trip this summer. The book itself is beautiful. It has a colour section about the National Parks of Canada. Having just had a quick glance through most of the chapters, it does seem to do a great job of covering the travel opportunities in such an immense country. We'll be travelling to Newfoundland this summer for two weddings, and we'll also be touring the province. I think we will be going to St. Pierre as well, which should give me the taste of France that I've been longing for ever since I visited in 2005. Lonely Planet guides are my favourite guide books because they include tips and information about how to connect on a more local level. The only thing that could be challenging about this book would be trying to complete some of the itineraries that they include. The Ontario four-day itinerary would be extremely tough for any traveller, even a well-seasoned one who travels lightly. Canada is just too big for a four-day trip, anyway. You would never get the true sense of this country by visiting 4 cities in 4 days. You would really be spending your entire trip on the road.

 I love the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. They read quickly and easily, and are filled with supernatural creatures, what more could you ask from a book? Sookie is the telepathic main character of the series, and she is always getting into trouble that she doesn't start. They are full of adventure, and funny, too.

Another fantastic guide from my favourite travel guide company! I can't stand it when I get a guide that assumes I'm spending more than $100 on a place to stay, so these are the perfect guides for me. I was surprised at the amount of information, there's even a blurb on Churchill, Manitoba.

Another perfect summer read. I love Agatha Raisin as a character, and just can't get enough. There is something about a character who never really grows that just makes for good, easy reading.

I love reading these because things are always the same, even as the mysteries change. I also love reading these because I can count on a bit of a surprise at the end.

This was definitely the best book I read all year. I've seen it around for a number of years, and decided to pick it up on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the bookstore in Oregon.

This was an entertaining book, that exercised my memory recall. It really makes a connection with the Wicked Witch, and shows what you can do when you change the perspective of a story.

This is a definite recommend. I am going to look for his other books on my next book shopping trip (okay, so there are no bookstores in my town, this might take awhile)

Matthew Bartholomew lives and works at Cambridge University in 1353. Since he's the doctor, he always gets embroiled in mysteries surrounding murders. The first book in the series A Plague on Both Your Houses was spectacular, with the story set during the plague.

I love the surprises that come with reading stories that take place completely out of any situation that I can relate too. I'm constantly having to remind myself how miserable he must have been while walking in the rain in a wet woollen cloak and leather boots, instead of rubber.

A Deadly Brew begins with the foundation of a new college, and the mystery starts right at the beginning. Bartholomew is one of the few people in his time who looks for proof before drawing his conclusions, which can lead to some funny situations.

Okay, so this isn't the book that I read (although I have read it in the past, and enjoyed it very much). The book that I read - Working Wonders was a free book included with a Cosmopolitan, that I found at a Value Village in Winnipeg. It was exactly what I wanted in a quick, summer read: romance, excitement, and an unexpected ending. The ending was so unexpected that it almost didn't fit with the rest of the book. This definitely wasn't my favourite Jenny Colgan book, but it was a good fit for me at the time.

I took another break from Jonathan Strange, it's just so long.

This book was a quick read, it was very intense and hard to put down. It was originally released with author Anonymous, but newer versions have author Nikki Gemmell.

It is a story of a newly married women who finds herself lost in her marriage. When she is hurt by her husband and her best friend, she crosses the line, and really discovers herself as a woman and sexual being.

What I wasn't expecting in this book was the way that she found a purpose for her life again. This book really shows the two extremes of the main character's personality.

I received this book as part of the First Look program through Harper Collins. It is set in Sri Lanka during really difficult times, which they still seem to be having. I have to say that I didn't know a lot about the civil war in Sri Lanka. This story is a very personal story of what happens to a few people because of one man's actions. It was very touching, very disturbing, and very good. The author had a way of using the language and pacing to evoke the atmosphere of a hot, humid, unsettled place. I would recommend reading this book if you enjoy literature based on current events.