Suggestions for the Fried Brain.

You heard it here first, because this is obviously headline breaking news (feel free to roll your eyes), my brain is a bit fried. I’ve had some difficult months and to be completely honest the last thing I want to do is have to think too hard. Add that to my annual date with being sick to death with teenage angst, and we’ve got a desperate need for a change in pace.

What I really want to do lately is pick up a book and be totally entertained. So naturally, enter the mystery! In my mind, mysteries are totally written for this purpose. Well, the cozy ones anyway. I tend to steer clear of any of the darker ones. You get to spend some time with (hopefully) interesting and entertaining characters and then forget about them once the book is done. Especially series – does it really matter what happened in the previous book? Rarely! This isn’t Game of Thrones people (which I've also read lately and enjoyed - but all those freakin' names...egad)!

Lately I’ve begun to re-read two different series that I enjoyed quite a bit many moons ago. They both feature strong female characters, although they are very different from one another.

Yes, I’ve been reading Stephanie Plum y’all. And looking forward to the part in EACH BOOK where Ms. Evanovitch finally has her car explode. It is such a silly and predictable series that you can read an entry in one day. Never in my life would I have thought to cast Katherine Heigl as Stephanie, but, you know, this isn’t high art. She’ll probably be just fine and the movie will be as cute as the books.

I’ve also been reading the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. Kinsey is a little more serious than Stephanie, but she’s still pretty darn fun to spend an evening with. I do wish the covers to the books were more eye catching (they do not fly off the staff recommends shelves like I always hope they will. Only when I hand sell them do they check out).

I’m starting to think I may need to spend some evenings with Richard Jury soon too.

Alas, once the ALA awards get posted on Monday, I’m sure I’ll redirect myself to read some of those Alex Award winners. I must admit, I’m looking forward to seeing what wins!

I May Not Have Been Posting, but I Have Been Reading

A ton of books. A ton! And some were real stinkers. Let's recap (briefly and in reading order):

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

In my official reviewing capacity, I would classify this book as "OK." I really like curmudgeons and there was a great one in this book. The ending was far fetched and ridiculous, but the book overall was entertaining enough. The setting was great.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

If you're looking for a romance with no sexual tension between a bossy vampire with no personality and a witch who could be interesting, but isn't. Well, this is the book for you! There were some disturbing parallels to Twilight. He sneaks in her window and smells her (*shudder*) she falls in love with him, his incredible need to protect her makes him so angry (so angry!) that sometimes he just can't take it. And they never have sex. Never. And it is really, really long.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

This was really fun. I loved Rory, she was just a real appealing character. Loved the idea and setting. Wished there was more to it. I know it is the first in a series, but I didn't get a good enough sense of "why" to make me want to tune in for more. I reserve the right to change my mind though.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

A Scandinavian police mystery where a cop has gotten shot and his bad attitude gets him hidden away in a newly created "Department Q" which will focus on cold cases. This was much lighter than Steig Larsson (thankfully - who could take more of his horrors?) and I had totally figured out what happened about half way through, but it was fun. I really liked Carl the cop and I would tune in again to find out more about his mysterious assistant Assad.

The Night Season by Chelsea Cain

The fourth installment in this series deviates immediately from the previous three. We are mercifully saved from reading more about Archie, our detective hero, and Gretchen's perverse (and pervy) relationship.

Instead we've got a new serial killer on the loose in a Portland that is under siege from storm water. Portland is flooding and people are drowning. Quelle suprise, right? Except that these drownings are becoming more and more suspicious since all of the victims have few itsy bitsy teeny weeny things in common. That's all I can say without spoilers.

Our new serial killer friend is totally creepy, but like Gretchen, he is a little over the top in his methods. Which, to my mind, makes this a fun and easy read despite the fact that people keep being murdered (always kind of a downer).

Susan, our intrepid reporter, is an excellent character and I really enjoy how she complements and balances out Archie the detective. If you haven't read any of these, I strongly suggest that you try them out. I always read them within a 24 hour period because I can't put them down.

Previously:
Heartsick
Sweetheart
Evil at Heart

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Book Source: Library Copy

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran

I've been trying to read more adult books lately with the idea that I'll be able to predict some of the next year's Alex Award winners. It's sort of a futile task, but that's why I picked up this one. It didn't hurt that it was set in New Orleans and I'll be headed out there for ALA this year (woo!). It turns out Claire, our main protagonist might be a bit on the hard side (she's a tough cookie this one) for this to make it an Alex winner, and it also served to freak me out royally about New Orleans, but hey, I enjoyed it a lot. And isn't that the point?

Claire DeWitt was a little hard to like. She's awfully distant, often in a drug/alcohol induced haze, and she's sarcastic and a little mean. At times you will question whether of not she's a reliable narrator. However, if you let her, she'll win you over. She's the world's best detective (so she says anyway, but I tend to believe her) who follows the unconventional methods of detection set out in the book Detection written by an "enigmatic French detective." Basically, nothing is off the table: prophetic dreams, buying illegal guns from kids, hard drugs, soft drugs, gut feelings and the belief that nothing is a coincidence.

The mystery is really well plotted and I loved how the author tied in bits of Claire's history and made it relevant to the story. There are a lot of bits and pieces going on here and as we learn more about Claire we start to understand her motivations and her complexities. It really is a bit of a roller coaster ride and I loved it start to finish.

This is the first in a series and I can't wait for the next title. I imagine it is only going to get better.

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Book Source = Library Copy

Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

Evil at Heart is the third installment in this series, so there are bound to be some sort of spoilers in here, even if they are unintentional.

I saw this one on the staff recommendations shelf at work and snatched it up like it was chocolate covered candy. Which it totally is. I am a little surprised that a) I picked up the first book in the series b) have read all three so far c) will totally read more in this ridiculous yet incredibly fun series.

I mean, it is about a detective who was tortured by a serial killer, but lived (she actually saved his life...twice) and he is way messed up because she totally gets him hot (and we're subjected to this information quite a bit. Luckily we are not subjected to too many euphemisms for his "love").

So in this installment we get a twist away from the Gretchen murders, Archie puts himself in danger to get tortured a little more (wee!) and then Gretchen escapes. Instead there are copycat murders. There are potential devotees to the cult of Gretchen. The plot thickens. Archie's "relationship" with Gretchen moves onto a new level where he might not get all worked up every time they are near each other.

I must say that I can only read these books because the violence is so over the top I simply can't believe it. I mean, this is a woman serial killer who likes to remove people's spleens with an exacto knife and then sew them back up. She also likes to make you drink draino. She does so much crazy stuff that it just gets to be comical, like she's already operated on this person, carved a heart, pulled their intenstines out their big toe with a crochet hook, what exactly is she going to do next? How exactly will she top that?

I love these books. They are fast reads, they are suspenseful, and they don't keep me up at night wondering if anyone is creeping around at my windows. I can't wait until the next one.

Previously:
Heartsick
Sweetheart

====================
Book Source: Library Copy

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

So, um, ya...I already read the sequel to Heartsick. After feeling conflicted about reading a serial killer book, I certainly seem to have been eager to get my paws on the sequel. This will have SPOILERS. You've been warned.

It was good. Not as good as the first one, but still good. All the main players show up. A few new characters are introduced, but there isn't too much time spent developing them since they all die. The author must have figured why waste time developing them? In fact, she must have thought that about all her characters because I don't feel like I learned much new about any of them.

I was a little bummed that Susan got herself in an attempted murder situation again and I hope that isn't a feature of each book - Susan having to be saved from this week's killer. But on the upside, we got to witness more of Gretchen and Archie's relationship which is sick and twisted and completely fascinating. As a result, Archie becomes a little less sympathetic of a character and more of someone you want to slap upside the head. We do get some new information on how their relationship "went to the next level" if you will. I hope that Cain doles out a whole bunch more background information on Gretchen in the next installment. I'm sure everyone is wondering how she became the psychopath with the mostess.

I will say that my biggest complaint is that there are constant references to Gretchen's beauty. Her glowing skin, her this, her that...err...Bella syndrome anyone? Totally overdone.

All this being said, I read this book in 3 hours. Couldn't put it down. And I'm totally wanting to read the next one.

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Honestly, I don't even know how I ended picking this one up. I must have read something good about it, because somehow, without me having any memory of it I requested it. Even though it is a crime thriller about serial killers and the fact that serial killers give me a major case of the heebie jeebies.

That said, however, I really liked it.

I thought the suspense was fabulous. I had no idea who the guilty party was until the author revealed it. And then it was obvious that the author had dropped hints and clues throughout the book leading to the inevitable conclusion.

I really liked the hero, who was a badly damaged (mentally and physically) detective with an addiction the size of Texas to a variety of prescription drugs. He wasn't an anti-hero by any means, but certainly wasn't a knight in shining armor either.

And I've already reserved the sequel. I can't wait.