Bringing Elizabeth Home by Ed & Lois Smart

Subtitled: a Journey of Hope and Faith

This was the “true crime” pick for book group. We didn’t find it to be very much true crime. No details about what happened to Elizabeth were revealed, as they want to give her the option to tell her own story.

Also, it assumed prior knowledge about the case.

I didn’t enjoy this at all.

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

This was a slow starter, and when it did get interesting, it was ok, but didn’t grip me the way I wanted. Plus I’d pretty much figured out what was going on. And I don’t really like it when I’m smarter than the characters.
I enjoyed the hockey scenes. That was interesting.
Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d pick up another one. I think this might be the start of series. And really it’s ok as a standalone. I don’t care enough about the characters, plus some it was fuzzy in my head, and really the prologue didn’t make sense, even in the end. If an author is going to do a prologue at least take the time to tie up that loose end.

Here’s the official summary from the back of the book:

n the dead of a Michigan winter, pieces of a snowmobile wash up near the crumbling, small town of Starvation Lake — the same snowmobile that went down with Starvation’s legendary hockey coach years earlier. But everybody knows Coach Blackburn’s accident happened five miles away on a different lake. As rumors buzz about mysterious underground tunnels, the evidence from the snowmobile says one thing: murder.

Gus Carpenter, editor of the local newspaper, has recently returned to Starvation after a failed attempt to make it big at the “Detroit Times,” In his youth, Gus was the goalie who let a state championship get away, crushing Coach’s dreams and earning the town’s enmity. Now he’s investigating the murder of his former coach. But even more unsettling to Gus are the holes in the town’s past and the gnawing suspicion that those holes may conceal some dark and disturbing secrets secrets that some of the people closest to him may have killed to keep.

American Eve by Paula Uruburu

Subtitled:Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White: The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century

Sorry no posts in awhile. I’ve been busy and also slogging my way through this book for book group.

With my use of the word slogging, you probably guessed I didn’t like it. If so, you’re half correct.

It got better after about 110 pages (but since I usually only give a book 100 pages- this would’ve been over on the other “started, not finished” list if not for having to read it for book group.

The topic is interested and I know little to nothing about the turn of the century or of Evelyn Nesbit. But the author used really big words in really long sentences, so it was not easy reading. Plus Nesbit’s life after the trial was given short shrift.

Can’t say I’d recommend it – but it should be an intersting discussion tonight.

I’m Not Julia Roberts by Laura Ruby

This is a set of interconnected stories of the ex-wives and new wives of a set of men. Each vignette offers a glimpse at the life of a blended family. The title comes from Lu’s post, which got her banned from secondwivesspeakeasy.com, complaining that Stepmom is not a realistic portrait of a blended family.

This was humorous at times, but because the narratives shift in each chapter/short story, I was left feeling dissatisfied by the entire book, asking myself – what’s the point?

Kiss me, Kill me by Lauren Henderson

This was my YA read for the week. I’ve been traveling for work so not much time for reading lately. I picked this slim book to keep me occupied, and was actually quite disappointed. This was billed as a mystery. Set in Britain. Immediately after 16 year old Scarlett’s first kiss, the object of her affection, Dan, mysteriously falls to the floor and dies. Scarlett must transfer out of her posh girls school, to the school her grandmother runs. A mysterious note (which I found implausible) spurs Scarlett to investigate Dan’s death. And right when she discovers an important clue, the novel ends (at 260 pages). Did the publisher forget the last 40 pages? Or is Ms. Henderson writing a series and wants to keep readers riveted? Either way I was incredibly disappointed with this novel. I wasn’t vested enough in Scarlett, (although I was interested in a secondary character and wanted to know more) and I found the mystery element to be completely lacking and not engaging or plausible.

So it’s been awhile since I read a dud. I guess it was time. Perhaps now I need to create a not recommended category?