A Few Books Reviewed

“Good books don't give up all their secrets at once.” 
― Stephen King

     I have really been pumping out the audio books!  One that I started to read "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett was just not grabbing my attention.  It was a bookclub choice so I felt I should give it a try...then I thought maybe it would be better in audio...at least I could be doing something else while I listened and still be able to take part in our discussion. For some reason, the audio version was much better which is unusual. It is not a new book and many of you may have read it.  The story line, a hostage situation, was pretty interesting...but I found the ending to be very weak.

    Another audio book I choose was "A Blue Spool of Thread" by Anne Tyler.  And I also gave up on this one...the premise is family, story telling, adjusting to change...and this one may be better in the written word which I may at some time give a try, but the audio was a real drag!

     Then I went to my old standby for audio entertainment!  James Patterson's The Women's Murder Club series....four women..a reporter, a detective, a medical examiner, and a lawyer all became friendly and get themselves in all kinds of trouble! I had started with the first one, "1st To Die" and have read or rather listened to them in order as their lives also progress.  I just saw where a new one "16th Seduction" just came out last month. Very enjoyable even though predictable mysteries!

     Then another audio I just kind of happened on..."If I Stay" by Gayle Forman... was very intriguing and would probably be a good read also.  I can't tell you too much about the subject because it would be a spoiler but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

     And my current audio which I am about to wrap up is  "Mean Streak" by Sandra Brown.  This is a good audio book...a lot of intrigue...my only reluctance in recommending it is that she gets a little too carried away for my taste in describing her love scenes! Fortunately there are not too many. Now, that remark may send some of you running to the library, and I am definitely not a prude, but I would just as soon leave some things to the imagination! I had not read or listened to any Sandra Brown before, but I probably will again as it does keep your attention.

   And my final book to give my opinion on is "The Muralist" by B.A. Shapiro.  This was also a bookclub selection and I really like it!!!  I am not quite finished with it, but with just a few pages left, it has all the elements of a good book...suspense, strong characters, plot. It is a historical fiction taking place in contemporary times as well as going back in history about artists in the post depression/pre WWII era, when the Roosevelts had established the WPA.  I became very interested in the time period so proceeded to investigate more.  Here are a couple of websites on the subject if anyone is interested. This one lists all the murals and public artworks by state. And here is a link to more of the story of how it got started, artists involved, etc..