Thank you, Kenneth Branagh. Apparently I needed a few naps. I know, I know. Many people thoroughly enjoyed watching the latest film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s oh-so-popular mystery novel of the same name. The film has made money. And I looked forward to it for personal reasons. Alas, the sweeping but painfully slow music, the…
When I saw the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, I’m sure I rolled my eyes. After asking if it was a remake/follow-up and hearing yes, I even commented to my friend with me that day, “Oh, no, well, then I cannot possibly see this because I would be completely lost.” Yes, a sarcastic tone accompanied my…
The Girl on the Train provides a mystery reminiscent of Gone Girl, written in a similar style of jumping among first-person writers as the story unfolds over different time periods and from different perspectives. It is entertaining, and the mystery lasts long enough to interest the reader, even if not quite long enough to for…
I love that spark of excitement that happens when, with fall on the horizon, I see that first grand performance of the movie year. That happened with Ian McKellan’s performance in Mr. Holmes. The film is indeed about that Mr. Holmes, as in Sherlock. But I didn’t go because I’m a fan of that literature. And…
What a fantastic, fun read The Stranger is. I’d never read Harlan Coben until now, so his style of fast-paced suspense was new to me, and its different nature from so many other books I’ve read lately was welcome and refreshing. As a mystery, this truly was a page-turner. The general premise brings a stranger…
What do parents do to shape their children, and how much is merely an attempt to live out the parents’ own dreams? Everything I Never Told You focuses on this question as it explores the death of a young girl—a middle child in a mixed-race family in the 70s. It does so gracefully and with…
Too many people associate King with the horror genre, but his writing spans so much more. 11/22/63 is a great example. Sure, there’s a science-fiction element (sci-fi or supernatural? what’s the difference? I really don’t know) with the time-travel notion, but for the most part, it’s part historical novel, part love story, part human condition…
My first Flynn book was the acclaimed Gone Girl. And although Sharp Objects was good, it lacked the depth of mystery and intrigue the later book has. So much about the characters of Sharp Objects seems to just be there, sitting, as if we too have plopped into the middle of this Missouri town much…
When this book was recommended to me, I was basically told, “I’m not going to tell you anything about it. Just read it, and then we’ll talk. Don’t read anything about the book—not even the book jacket or cover. Don’t even look at the cover—just read the book.” And so I did. And so I…
Having started this book just before Christmas, it took some time to finish—me needing to give up reading-for-pleasure for a bit when I was barely a quarter way through. But somehow, that seemed right with this tale. The Goldfinch covers a span of time. And it does so patiently, endearingly, and with a strange tenderness…
Reconstructing Amelia suffers from having been compared too much to Gone Girl. Gone Girl, it is not. But it’s not bad. It entertains—enough. And it is well written—enough. Reconstructing Amelia is a mystery, not-quite-thriller, told in the new style of piecing together a full story from different perspectives. The problem, though, is that the delivery…
I hadn’t read a legal “mystery” in a while, so I looked forward to reading this that came recommended by…. some source I’ve since forgotten. The story is good enough—entertaining enough—- enough. But for some reason (admittedly perhaps because the protagonist reminds me too much of a police officer I know), this reads more as…
Fun, quirky, light, different—-Where’d You Go brings to the reader a fabulously refreshing way to tell a story. The characters, with their depth, faults, and flair, make you want to know more—-about the before, the during, and the what’s-to-come. I read this, on recommendation, on the heels of Gone Girl. And yes, while this too…
Arbitrage—–it’s a bit Wall Street, a bit thriller, a bit mystery, a bit legal drama, a bit family saga, and more. It is greed, deception, desperation, and fraud. It is family trust and love, hidden, lied about, and lost. It is, sadly, probably a glimpse into the trust of some people’s lives. Gere is better…
Fabulous! It was all I could do not to read this again as soon as I finished it. No, actually, half way through, I wanted to start it over, reading it in a different order. (I have one friend who’s read this three times in the past nine months.) I dare not say too much…