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I missed a Salon last weekend, so I have some catching up to do! I did a few more reviews than I thought I had time for, given my back-to-fulltime-work status and its accompanying frustrations (Did I do the right thing? Time will tell! )
Here are my reviews, three crime novels and a memoir:
Murder in the Palais Royale, a mystery novel by Cara Black, her fifth in the Aimee LeDuc Detective series, a series I recommend for anyone who loves Paris and mysteries.
The Stone Monkey by Jeffery Deaver, a thriller written in 2004 about skinheads who prey on illegal immigrants.
Skin and Bones by D.C.Corso, a California writer's debut novel, a psychological thriller about our eroding values, set in the days after Sept. 11, 2001.
Perfection: A Memoir by Julie Metz, who writes about discovering her dead husband's infidelities, coping with it, and moving forward.
I discovered some new books, which I posted about in Turkish mysteries and romance novels, and am finishing up Arabesk, a detective novel set in Istanbul.
Wish I could go to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend. Esme at Chocolate and Croissants wrote a post on her visit yesterday. She met, among others, Cara Black, author of Murder in the Palais Royale. Lucky Esme!
What did you read/do last week?
Your review of Skin and Bones caught my attention this week. I enjoy reading debut authors. Hope you have another great reading week ahead!
ReplyDeleteAll interesting reviews. Murder in the Palais Royale sounds really interesting. I've added that to my wish list. Meeting Cara Black like Esme did, now that would be icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
That festival of books thing looks awesome! Sorry you couldn't go...
ReplyDeleteOh, these all sound fascinating, so now I'm going over to check out the reviews. Skin and Bones intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog.
It's nice that you've been able to keep up with reading and reviewing while working. I can't even imagine trying to make that work with a full time job.
ReplyDeleteThe memoir looks interesting - would be so awful to discover such things after losing a spouse.
You have been very busy. I've not read any of those books. So many books, so little time. This week I finished Breathing Water. Hope to do a review of it this coming week.
ReplyDeleteHelen
Straight From Hel
Sorry you couldn't make it to the Festival of Books... wish they had something like that closer to me. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI really have to get in more reading time!! Currently I'm reading Remember When - Nora Roberts/JD Robb. A nice, easy read whcih is all I can handle this month :)
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about working full time and reading/reviewing! It's a passion, and that's the only reason why we do it! :-)
ReplyDeleteAfter your great review of Murder in the Palais Royale, I picked up the first book in the series so I would understand the links in the newest book. Looks to be a very enjoyable read! (now trying to fit it in my reading schedule!)
Thanks for sharing the catch-up! Looks like you accomplished quite a bit this week!
You have been busy! I did not care for Perfection.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted links to your reviews - I'm so behind on my blog reading after a very busy week! Now I can catch up - I'm especially interested in Skin and Bones and Perfection.
ReplyDeleteYou've certainly had a busy week. Sounds like a lot of great reading - now I'm off to check out your reviews. I'm especially interested in those Turkish mysteries and romance novels - something very new to me. Have fun with your reading this week!
ReplyDeleteThe LA Book Festival sounded like so much fun. People were talking about it on Twitter all weekend! :-) Hope you have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThe book festival only needed two things to make it out of this world-----me and YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteHope this week brings great books and better weather!
I'm certain the memoir I'm reading (although, hey, it does deal with infidelities!) is about a completely different era, as it's about Eleanor of Aquitaine, who died in 1204. But just fascinating -- the book is Power of a Woman by Robert Fripp. My goodness, such meticulous information, presented as her memoirs. She married first Louis VII and then later the future King Henry II -- that marriage created the Angevin Empire, which was huge. Of course, he was unfaithful, so she left him and established her court at Poitiers. You know the phrase, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Well it probably was written about her-- she got their sons to make trouble and make war on their father. She became his enemy, really. (Of course, she kind of gets the last laugh -- he exiles her to England eventually, from Poitiers, and after he died, she ruled for their son.) Very powerful, intriguing woman.
ReplyDeleteThanks to your link for the Turkish set books. We honeymooned in Turkey and I've had a soft spot for books set there ever since.
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