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Book a Week 2022 - BW44: November Crime Spree - Around the World

Robin M

By Robin M,
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Robin M

Robin M

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Happy Sunday, dear hearts. November is upon us and our newest crime spree category brought to us by Sandy and Amy is all about translated books.

Crime isn’t limited to the US (or England for us Anglophiles). Some of the most interesting, translated works are mysteries from the Around the World, including the tortured protagonists and bleak settings of Scandinavia to the creepiness of Japanese mysteries to the sunshine noir of African authors.

Places to explore:

Challenge: Dust off your forged passport and get on Interpol’s most wanted list by reading a translated mystery.

Our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are I and Inspect.

 

 

Link to Book Week 43

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

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Robin M

Robin M

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I love reading translated books and Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books are on my ebook nightstand.   Already read Shadow of the Wind so next up is The Angel’s Game.

It’s now 12:30 and its the first time I had to sit down all evening. Movie night was called on account of a plumbing emergency.   Hubby decided to use Liquid Plumber, even though a plumber told him in the past never to use.  He used it on the slow draining kitchen sink and snaked the outside drain, blasting the lines with water.  James goes into the bathroom and starts yelling.  The seal on his toilet broke and the bathroom was flooded.  Stuff had backed up in both the bathtub and the shower. We’ve spent the past few hours running snakes, wiping up messes for each try, and cleaning all the drains. It’s finally fixed.  Hubby’s bleaching everything now.  Lesson learned:  Don’t Use Liquid Plumber.  Ugg!

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Vintage81

Vintage81

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Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've updated. I've read 7 books since my last post:

  • The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - This was advertised as a dark academia kind of story, and while it was a bit dark, I didn't find much "academia" in it. I mean the author said the characters were at some sort of school, but I don't really think they learned much. This story followed six different main characters, but it wasn't told from their POV. This book had a lot of issues for me...I disliked all of the people in it. As far as the plot goes, nothing really happens....like nothing. The big plot twist was stupid. This was super disappointing because this book was hyped big time. There's a sequel, but I don't think I'll be continuing. On a plus, the cover is really pretty. 😂 (2 stars)
  • Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen - This book was weird, but in a good way. We follow Zoey who is moving into her deceased mother's apartment in the Dellawisp (which totally reminded me of Melrose Place). Inside, there are these special birds that inhabit the trees surrounding the building. Each of the tenants of the Dellawisp has an interesting story. After the death of one of those tenants, mysterious things start to happen and we even get the perspective of some ghosts. There's magical realism involved too, which I don't normally go for, but it was subtle and felt whimsical and fun and sweet. My only gripe with this book was that I wanted more!! It was just under 300 pages, so I think the author could have gone deeper with the characters. Still a great read. (4 stars)
  • Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - This is my third book by Rowell...Fangirl being my favorite. I also really liked Eleanor & Park. This one was just okay. It was kind of funny because it was set in 1999, which feels like ages ago!! The storyline followed concerns of Y2K and computers crashing, which is so funny to think about now. It did feel dated and knowing the characters, who were in their late 20s, would be around 50 now was kind of weird. It was still a light and fun read. (3 stars)
  • Before I Do by Sophie Cousens - I didn't really enjoy this one too much. We follow Audrey who is about to marry Josh, until someone from her past shows up at her rehearsal dinner. Fred, who Audrey had lost touch with six years earlier, was Audrey's "what-if" guy. She had spent one perfect day with Fred and thought he might be "the one" but circumstances kept them apart and they never saw each other again until the rehearsal dinner. I don't want to spoil things, but to me, this whole story was kind of dumb. (2 stars)

The other books I read were for school:

  • Scythe by Neal Shusterman - This was actually a reread for me, but I read it aloud to my DDs. This is one of my favorite dystopians. What happens if the world has no death, disease, war...humanity has conquered all of those things. Obviously overpopulation would be an issue, therefore a select few are chosen to be scythes and are in charge of selecting people to kill at random. The book follows two scythe apprentices. It brings up lots of good conversations and DDs both enjoyed the story. (5 stars)
  • The Magna Charta by James Daugherty - A play by play of the history of the famous document. This book was interesting and sometimes a little funny. (4 stars)
  • The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen - The story follows Jessica after she's in a car accident and loses part of her leg. She is a competitive runner, so she has a difficult time at first. The story is about her overcoming all of the obstacles. The book was okay, but fairly predictable. (3 stars)
Edited by Vintage81
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Kareni

Kareni

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Ugh, indeed, Robin! My sympathies on the plumbing crisis.

**

Some bookish posts ~

WHAT'S FALL WITHOUT A COZY MYSTERY

https://link.lithub.com/click/29533855.17758/aHR0cHM6Ly9jcmltZXJlYWRzLmNvbS93aGF0cy1mYWxsLXdpdGhvdXQtYS1jb3p5LW15c3Rlcnkv/60412031e063502f04d29416Cd2f6aebe

DEAD MEN DO TALK BACK: TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE FILM "THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR"

https://crimereads.com/dead-men-do-talk-back-taking-inspiration-from-the-film-the-ghost-and-mrs-muir/

ON WRITING A FIVE BOOK SERIES THAT CAN BE READ IN ANY ORDER

https://crimereads.com/on-writing-a-five-book-series-that-can-be-read-in-any-order/

Regards,

Kareni

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mumto2

mumto2

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Since I’ve been a bit better about posting as I have finished books this week I find myself without a book to review.  Bailed Out by Rebecca Zanetti is in progress and it’s part of a series. I’m enjoying her books right now for some reason but know that I have abandoned them in the past.  I guess they just require the right mood. IDK

It is international mystery month here at BaW combined with the letter I.  That means I will hopefully get around to reading a book I have been saving for the letter I,  Inspector  Imanishi Investigates.  I bought it months ago planning to immerse myself in Japanese mysteries at some point this year.  This book was published in Japan in 1961 and the author was both prolific and extremely popular.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112895.Inspector_Imanishi_Investigates?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=oPsC26wr5X&rank=1

In the wee hours of a 1960s Tokyo morning, a dead body is found under the rails of a train, and the victim’s face is so badly damaged that police have a hard time figuring out the victim’s identity. Only two clues surface: an old man, overheard talking in a distinctive accent to a young man, and the word “kameda.” Inspector Imanishi leaves his beloved bonsai and his haiku and goes off to investigate—and runs up against a blank wall. Months pass in fruitless questioning, in following up leads, until the case is closed, unsolved.

But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.

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Mothersweets

Mothersweets

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@Robin MYikes! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that!

I haven't finished anything this week but am in the middle of A Monster Calls  which was made into a movie that I haven't seen so the story is all new to me!

Also, I have a new grandbaby! He was born on Thursday, 7lb 9oz and is the first baby for my daughter and son-in-law. (that's my second-youngest daughter, not his mom, holding him😊)They've named him Arthur.

 

7B3EC535-9EDD-4BB6-BE47-897941507368_1_201_a.heic

Edited by Mothersweets
Hmmm, not sure how to get the pic to just show up instead of being a link
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Robin M

Robin M

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On 10/30/2022 at 1:30 PM, Mothersweets said:

Also, I have a new grandbaby! He was born on Thursday, 7lb 9oz and is the first baby for my daughter and son-in-law. (that's my second-youngest daughter, not his mom, holding him😊)They've named him Arthur.

 

Congratulations Grandma, he's adorable. 

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bookbard

bookbard

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I gave my husband a bunch of Michael Crichton books for his birthday, and I ended up reading Jurassic Park and another one about a plane, Flight something. Jurassic Park was pretty interesting in parts (the rants about science, for example); I've never been able to watch the whole movie but I think it's different, plot-wise. The Flight something or other book was a bit more dull, and had a bit of a silly twist. The guy evidently hated unions! Reminded me of some book I read years ago which went on a long rant about the evils of socialised medicine, might have been Tom Clancy. This wasn't as bad though. It all reads like historical fiction nowadays, set firmly in the 80s, but I was thinking it's sad Crichton passed before the pandemic, it would've been interesting to see what he made of it. 

Apart from those I've been reading Rick Riordan's Egypt series, which we bought for my son's birthday, and re-reading a few other books. My kindle was finally returned to me, hurrah. I did download a new book, a nature non-fiction about a woman visiting an island in Scotland with her horses.

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Kareni

Kareni

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I have recently read several books ~

For my distant bookgroup, I read The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett. This was an intriguing novel about identical light skinned twins in the 1950s and their lives (and the lives of their daughters) after one of them leaves to pass as white.

"The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?"
**

I also enjoyed the contemporary romance novella Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood.

"It will take the frosty terrain of the Arctic to show these rival scientists that their chemistry burns hot.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…
 
Hannah’s got a bad feeling about this. Not only has the NASA aerospace engineer found herself injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station—but the one person willing to undertake the hazardous rescue mission is her longtime rival.
 
Ian has been many things to Hannah: the villain who tried to veto her expedition and ruin her career, the man who stars in her most deliciously lurid dreams…but he’s never played the hero. So why is he risking everything to be here? And why does his presence seem just as dangerous to her heart as the coming snowstorm?"
 **

I also reread with pleasure two science fiction romances Dark Horse (Class 5 Series Book 1) and Dark Deeds (Class 5 Series Book 2) both by Michelle Diener. Here is the blurb for the first book:

"Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, everyone on board is dead, except for one strange, new alien being. She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse."

**

Regards,

Kareni

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Vintage81

Vintage81

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56 minutes ago, Kareni said:

I have recently read several books ~

For my distant bookgroup, I read The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett. This was an intriguing novel about identical light skinned twins in the 1950s and their lives (and the lives of their daughters) after one of them leaves to pass as white.

"The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?"
**I

Regards,

Kareni

I’m curious what your thoughts were on this book? 

I read it a few years back. I don’t remember all of the details, but looking at my notes I really liked the parts of the story that focused on the sisters, but when it started to veer away from them, not as much. The premise of the story was very interesting. I apparently didn’t love the ending, but I honestly can’t remember it. 🤣

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Kareni

Kareni

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We had a very lively discussion, @Vintage81; the book was certainly meaty. I initially was disheartened by the mention of SPOILER ALERT**the murder of the father of the twins* *. END SPOILER; however, it grew on me as I continued. I hear you as regards the story veering away from the twins, but we also talked about the character SPOILER ALERT**Reese passing in a different way* *. END SPOILER and SPOILER ALERT**what very different people Jude and Kennedy were and their own experiences with race* *. END SPOILER. We also decided that a book set ten years further in time would be interesting to read to see where the characters might be then. Overall, I am happy to have read the book.

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni

Kareni

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Currently free for US Kindle readers ~

Bronze Magic (Sorcerer's Oath Book 1)

Regards,

Kareni

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melmichigan

melmichigan

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Congratulations @Mothersweets, he is adorable.

I'm not doing a very good job updating, but I finished my 2022 Reading Challenge some time recently.  I finished the Lizzie Grace series to date. I read Moonlight and Magic by Darynda Jones. I enjoy the PWF books she writes, they make me laugh, and I needed that yesterday. 🙂 I had a quick romp back into Jessie Mihalik's Starlight Shadow Series with Honor and Shadows, which just reminded me to preorder the final book in the trilogy. (It's a short prequel that was free with pre-orders of the first book.) 

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Vintage81

Vintage81

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18 hours ago, Kareni said:

We had a very lively discussion, @Vintage81; the book was certainly meaty. I initially was disheartened by the mention of SPOILER ALERT**the murder of the father of the twins* *. END SPOILER; however, it grew on me as I continued. I hear you as regards the story veering away from the twins, but we also talked about the character SPOILER ALERT**Reese passing in a different way* *. END SPOILER and SPOILER ALERT**what very different people Jude and Kennedy were and their own experiences with race* *. END SPOILER. We also decided that a book set ten years further in time would be interesting to read to see where the characters might be then. Overall, I am happy to have read the book.

Regards,

Kareni

I'm glad your group had a good discussion...those are always the most fun! Even though this wasn't a favorite book of mine, like you, I'm glad I read it, and it definitely gave me lots to think about. So, I appreciate it for that. 😊

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Kareni

Kareni

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I finished two more books ~

Outcrossing: a 1920s British fantasy romance (Mysterious Charm Book 1) by Celia Lake: I liked the story, but my copy (a document, perhaps an advanced reader's copy?) had many sentence fragments and was missing a chapter. I suspect/hope that the published copy is more polished.

"Enjoy this kind and gentle 1920s historical fantasy romance series set in the magical community of Great Britain.

Ferry found freedom as a governess.

Born and raised to be an obedient daughter of the upper class, Ferry refused to marry the awful man her parents chose for her. Instead, she took a position as a governess in a country house deep in the New Forest. 

Now spring has come to England, she can finally spend time in the nearest village and explore the magical, mysterious, and possibly dangerous forest around her chosen home. 

Rufus has great power and no future.

The Great War changed everything for the worse. Rufus came home terrified of being buried alive and without the magical training he desperately needed. Now he's lost all of his family and any hope of building a better life. 

Rufus is down to his last few coins when he saves one of Ferry's charges from a cranky New Forest pony. She's grateful, but she's also kind, the first kindness he's known in weeks. 

When a local smuggler offers him a lifechanging amount of money to do just one job, he knows there must be a catch. But it's the only way to have a future, never mind one with Ferry. She comes from a different world, and Rufus has the sense to know it. 

When the smuggler's demands, interference from the newly returned local lord, and the remaining scars from World War I all tangle together, Rufus and Ferry find themselves in grave danger." 

**

I also enjoyed Dark Ambitions: A Class 5 Novella (Class 5 Series) by Michelle Diener which was a follow on to author's science fiction romance, Dark Horse.

Regards,

Kareni

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mumto2

mumto2

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Earlier this week I finished my official crime spree book with an unreliable narrator.  I spotted a new release that intrigued me a couple of months ago for this category and had to wait my turn.  It’s Not Me, It’s You actually was a book in this genre that delivered a satisfying read.  I frequently feel ……. cheated by the crazy endings that have became so popular so tend to try and stay away from new release books that even hint at an unreliable narrator.  I’m not saying this one doesn’t have a surprise ending but it does have an ending that if I had been paying better attention I might have guessed.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61264418-it-s-not-me-it-s-you

Jen knows she’s a serial dater, but is she a serial killer?

Jen Beeny is leaving her turbulent past behind and now it’s time to start living. Or at least she’s trying to. Between her dead-end job, live-in-landlord and disastrous dates, life in London is not quite turning out as she’d planned.

When her dates start to go missing, Jen is determined to ignore the sense of dread building inside her. She continues on with life…until the police come knocking. All signs suggest Jen is the culprit, and the internet sleuths are gaining traction. But Jen didn’t do anything wrong, did she?

 

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