Started: 12/29/18
Finished: DNF
Year: 1988
Pages: 240
Genre: Literary Fiction
Grade: F
Reason for reading: borrowed from Booksfree.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Wittgenstein's Mistress is the story of a woman who is convinced-and may ultimately convince the reader as well-that she is the only person left on earth. Presumably she is mad. And yet so appealing is her character, and so witty and seductive her narrative voice, that we will follow her hypnotically as she unloads the intellectual baggage of a lifetime in a series of irreverent meditations on everything from Brahms to sec to Heidegger to Helen of Troy. And as she contemplates aspects of the troubled past which have brought her to her present state, so too will her drama become one of the few certifiably original fictions of our time."
Opinion: Hated it. It is an exampled of a long writing class assignment of just write something for 10 minutes without stopping. None of it usually makes sense or is connected. This is just a very long example of this type of exercise. Painful to read.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Saturday, December 29, 2018
The Affliction by Beth Gutcheon
Started: 12/15/18
Finished: 12/28/18
Year: 2018
Pages: 353
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "As the chair of a team sent to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for Girls, Maggie Detweiler expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus. Yet upon the group's arrival on campus, no one seems keener for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected despite her affliction-she can't stop talking.
"The following morning, Florence fails to show up for class and her husband seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. Florence's sister, however, is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and during their last visit, Florence had warned, 'If anything happens to me, don't assume it's an accident.' Two days later, Florence's body is found in the campus swimming pool.
"Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder. She and her madcap socialite friend, Hope Babbin, solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year. Soon Hope, who was looking for a reason to ditch her book club anyway, has joined Maggie at Rye Manor to try to uncover what on earth is going on in this idyllic town that seems to have more than its share of secrets. Is this a garden-variety marital murder? Could it have something to do with a school trustees real-estate schemes? Or is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she'd finally shut up?"
Opinion: This book just kind of ended...….no real solution to some of the suspects-like how they weren't a suspect anymore. Great premise of a story but too many loose ends and how/why people would be involved in the first place. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com
Finished: 12/28/18
Year: 2018
Pages: 353
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "As the chair of a team sent to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for Girls, Maggie Detweiler expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus. Yet upon the group's arrival on campus, no one seems keener for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected despite her affliction-she can't stop talking.
"The following morning, Florence fails to show up for class and her husband seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. Florence's sister, however, is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and during their last visit, Florence had warned, 'If anything happens to me, don't assume it's an accident.' Two days later, Florence's body is found in the campus swimming pool.
"Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder. She and her madcap socialite friend, Hope Babbin, solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year. Soon Hope, who was looking for a reason to ditch her book club anyway, has joined Maggie at Rye Manor to try to uncover what on earth is going on in this idyllic town that seems to have more than its share of secrets. Is this a garden-variety marital murder? Could it have something to do with a school trustees real-estate schemes? Or is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she'd finally shut up?"
Opinion: This book just kind of ended...….no real solution to some of the suspects-like how they weren't a suspect anymore. Great premise of a story but too many loose ends and how/why people would be involved in the first place. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Justice Betrayed by Patricia Bradley
Started 11/1/18
Finished: 12/14/18
Year: 2018
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for LibraryThing
Blurb (from back cover): "Two unsolved murders seventeen years apart become personal when Detective Rachel Sloan discovers a connection to her own mother's death in a burglary-gone-wrong. Can she solve the cases before she becomes the next victim?
Opinion: This was a well developed story until the ending. The ending seemed very rushed and brought down my grade. The mystery had a nice twist and made it interesting. This is the 3rd book in the series and I will be looking to get the previous ones in the series.
Finished: 12/14/18
Year: 2018
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for LibraryThing
Blurb (from back cover): "Two unsolved murders seventeen years apart become personal when Detective Rachel Sloan discovers a connection to her own mother's death in a burglary-gone-wrong. Can she solve the cases before she becomes the next victim?
Opinion: This was a well developed story until the ending. The ending seemed very rushed and brought down my grade. The mystery had a nice twist and made it interesting. This is the 3rd book in the series and I will be looking to get the previous ones in the series.
Sunday, December 02, 2018
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun
Started: 11/1/18
Finished: 12/1/18
Year: 1986 (this edition)
Pages: 191
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: bookray through www.bookcrossing.com
Blurb (from back cover): "The world of modern art is a mystery to many. But for Jim Qwilleran it turns into a mystery of another sort when his assignment to cover the art beat for the Daily Fluxion leads down the path to murder. a stabbing in an art gallery, vandalized paintings, a fatal fail from a scaffolding-this is not at all what Qwilleran expects when he turns his reportorial talents to art. But now Qwilleran and his newly found partner, Koko the brilliant Siamese, are back in their element-sniffing out clues and confounding criminal intent on mayhem and murder.
Opinion: I thought that I had read this one but I hadn't. Good mystery with Koko solving the crime. Love the descriptions of Koko-makes it able to imagine his antics. Hadn't realized that this series being in 1966.
Finished: 12/1/18
Year: 1986 (this edition)
Pages: 191
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: bookray through www.bookcrossing.com
Blurb (from back cover): "The world of modern art is a mystery to many. But for Jim Qwilleran it turns into a mystery of another sort when his assignment to cover the art beat for the Daily Fluxion leads down the path to murder. a stabbing in an art gallery, vandalized paintings, a fatal fail from a scaffolding-this is not at all what Qwilleran expects when he turns his reportorial talents to art. But now Qwilleran and his newly found partner, Koko the brilliant Siamese, are back in their element-sniffing out clues and confounding criminal intent on mayhem and murder.
Opinion: I thought that I had read this one but I hadn't. Good mystery with Koko solving the crime. Love the descriptions of Koko-makes it able to imagine his antics. Hadn't realized that this series being in 1966.
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