I’ve decided to list the books I’ve read in the last month on the first Wednesday of every month with some thoughts about each one. My favorite of the month will be listed first in case you don’t have time to read the whole thing. The rest are in no particular order. Last month I said I would only list those that I consider to be at least worth four stars on Amazon. The vast majority of books I read rate that many stars because I look for authors I like already, best-selling authors, and/or for plot lines given in descriptions and reviews that interest me.

*****

What a mixed bag this month. Two books with “girl” in the titles, and I’ve already read two before with “girl” in the title, and have one more on my Kindle. I hope we’ve come to the end of that trend. A couple of speculative books that didn’t quite do it for me, and a couple with rather poor endings. Yet there were none I could say I detested. Somewhat disappointed is a better way to put it. But I broke my 4-5 star rule—a couple of these would only earn 3 stars from me.

When Krishna Calls by Susan Oleksiw

First I have to say, the setting, Kerala, in Southern India, is so well-drawn, I felt as if I were there.

The main character, photographer Anita Ray, half-American, half-Indian, is engaging and determined.

The story begins with a mother named Nisha leaving her daughter in the back courtyard of the hotel Anita and her Auntie Meema run. Anita decides to hide the child until she learns more about what’s going on. The police arrive and tell her the child’s father has been murdered, and they suspect the child’s mother, who has disappeared. Nisha worked part-time at the hotel, and Anita does not believe she killed her husband. So she begins to investigate.

This story has many twists and turns and kept me flipping the pages. It also had one of the best, most satisfying endings I’ve ever read. Review posted to Amazon and Goodreads. Highly recommended.

Little Nothing by Marisa Silver

First of all, this book is categorized as “magical realism.” Which means there is magic involved, and that it’s supposed to seem real, I guess. My problem is that this kind of story has never seemed real. I can never put away my suspension of disbelief, no matter how hard I try. But every once in a while, I try again.

This book is a fabulous one in so many ways. If you enjoy magical realism, I think you’ll really like it. But if you’re skeptical, you’ll have some trouble understanding the main character because the plot sort of overtakes her characterization. I got more of her mother’s and potential lover’s feelings than I did hers. And the ending was too vague for me, so that was a disappointment. The main takeaway I need to give you is that I wanted to finish this book—it has so many good points: The writing, the setting, some of the characters, and the overall plot.
So this is one of the most conflicted reviews I’ve ever written. Perhaps I should give up on speculative fiction. But I keep hoping.

Never Con a Corgi by Edie Clair

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It has a lot of positive things going for it—humor, great characters, a mystery. But from the title, I expected a lot more about the dog and how it helped solve the murder. Actually, the daughter of the main character did most of that work. That said, I think a lot of people would enjoy this light read.

5,000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox

This was short. It could have been shorter. But at last I found out how so many writers write so many words and publish so much every year. You cannot type 5,000 words in an hour, and even a couple of thousand. So, what’s the secret? Dictation.

The Promise by Robert Crais

The book confused me because it’s billed as an Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel, but neither character was the major player here. Scott and his K-9 were really he main characters. That wasn’t a bad thing, but overall, considering how huge Crais’s reputation is, I was disappointed in this novel. Maybe better to read an earlier one or two. PS: One of the ugliest covers I’ve ever seen.

Twisted Threads by Lea Wait

I was enjoying this because I love to do needlepoint and even have a very old sampler done by a relative handed down from others. But I have no idea how the amateur sleuth figured out who dun it. The threads were not joined together to show us her thought process. She talked to one person, then all of a sudden she’s off to see another, then another with no internal thoughts. So, you might like to read this because it’s fun otherwise. Just be warned about the improbable ending.

The Girl Before by JP Delany

So unusual and intriguing. Two female points of view with alternating chapters, which works well. Unfortunately told in present tense. Often unnoticeable, but that device sometimes jerks me out of a story whereas using past tense never does. Anyway, both women get to live in an award-winning house that is run entirely by computers. The architect/owner is very strange. The women have had horrifying experiences before moving in and so are vulnerable. All three facts lead to a fascinating story. I’d give it five stars except for some faddish writing bits and the overall improbability.

The Third Girl by Nell Godden

It is hard to review this book. I liked quite a lot about it, but it tried to be both suspense and cozy at the same time, skipping around rather erratically. Also, the main character, a young woman, knowing there’s a killer of young women on the loose, goes off on walks and hikes by herself in a place she just moved to a few days before after buying, on-line, property in France. And she hardly knows any French. In the end she escapes the killer, of course, but we never see how that happens on the page—we’re told about it the next day when she describes it. There are three murders mentioned, but only two solved; the one not solved didn’t even need to be in the book. A lot of improbable stuff. On the other hand, I loved the setting, the main character was interesting, as were some of the other characters, and I finished it. Always a good sign.

The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag

Unusual, convoluted read. Overall I liked it, although much was improbable, and lately I’m seeing a lot of books with amazing coincidences, even in ones when the detective says, “There is no such thing as coincidences,” or “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Of course there are coincidences—I’ve run into many extraordinary and many minor ones in my lifetime. But I don’t think more than one in a novel is a good idea. This novel had more than one or two

Black Coffee (anthology) edited by Andrew McRae

Okay, this isn’t fair. I have a story in this one. The stories are supposed to be noir, but not all of them are, in my opinion (mine definitely is, so you’re warned). But that’s okay. Lots of good ones, regardless of genre. At least take a peek at the description on-line and see if you’d think you’d like it.

The Children of Men by P. D. James

I was surprised to start reading this one because I didn’t read the description or any of the reviews. It was recommended by someone in the Short Mystery Fiction Society, so I grabbed it. And found out it was science fiction, not a mystery! It was good—had a mystery or two in it, of course, but I was kind of disappointed.

Miracle Cure by Harlan Cobern

I am a huge fan of Mr. Coben, and even saw a talk he gave at a conference and had him sign his break-out novel, Tell No One, for me there. The funny thing is that he himself recommends that you not read this book. It was an early book, written in his twenties and a bit heavy-handed about the AIDS epidemic going on then and how gays were treated. So, if you’re not already a fan, I’d take his recommendation and not read this although it kept me reading. Pick up Tell No One instead. It was great.

And that’s it for last month. See you next time. What’s the favorite book you read in September, 2016?

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