New York Times 2009 Notable Books of the Year.

Quick link to their annual list is here.  Click here to borrow the most intriguing titles from the library.  Happy reading!

Black Seconds by Karin Fossum

Our apologies on the long hiatus. As you may have read, most public libraries are crazy busy and Mendocino County Library branches are no exception.

Karin Fossum is well known and extremely well regarded in her native Norway. She is a multiple award winner, beginning her literary career as a poet. Her work has been translated by a couple of translators. Black Seconds was translated by Charlotte Barslund.

The mystery is the 5th of a series of books to be published in the States, featuring Inspector Konrad Sejer. I always find Sejer a bit of a cypher however his rational, humanistic investigative methods are the perfect counterpoint to the quirky characters which form the center of her novels.

All of her Sejer novels are uniformly excellent, balancing a solid mystery with human interest, appealing continuing protagonists and sympathetic view on the marginal and the outcasts.

In brief, the book is about the disappearance of a beautiful little girl called Ida Joner. One evening, she heads off in her little yellow bicycle to a nearby store and never comes back. Inspector Sejer and his sidekick, the angelic looking Jacob Skarre, are called in to find her. They hope they will find her alive. They are afraid to find her dead. At the center of the mystery of her disappearance may be a solitary, autistic man named Emil Mork ... or perhaps not. One never knows with Fossum.

Black Seconds gave me chills. That's not a common occurrence but I've not read such a matter-of-fact even sympathetic rendering of the thoughtlessness, indifference that can lead to a devastating result, almost as a side-effect of one person's following the path of least resistance. Perhaps, in the right circumstances, it could be any of us but yet not ... and that is what gave me that frisson, that creeping sense of otherness. I don't want to say much more because I'd like readers to follow the mystery on their own, come to their own conclusions about the characters.

Read the book and post your thoughts. I'd welcome your take.

As always, this book can be ordered online here if you live in Lake, Mendocino or Sonoma Counties, or from your local library wherever else you live.

~mel

Sacrifice and Awakening by S J Bolton

I just came across Sacrifice and then Awakening by S J Bolton and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. They are dark, involving human sacrifice and snake handling pentecostal cults.
The protagonists and also to some extent past and present victims are both women. One a
doctor and the other a veterinarian. Neither is for the descriptive weak of heart. It
helped me that I grew up with a grandfather for whom the first CSI lab was built and who had
books with full colored pictures of victims of gun shoot wounds (his specialty) and have
a daughter who is a veterinarian and so have been the recipient of books like "The Book of
Bodily Fluids" and a by stander in an equine necropsy.

But if just reading about these things does not both you. You will probably enjoy her books.
I am looking forward to the next one.

Eliza

Tara, the dog and Andy Carpenter, the lawyer

New Tricks is the latest in a series of books about Andy Carpenter and his special Golden Retriever, Tara. Starting with "Open and Shut" you too can indulge in his easy, interesting, self-deprecating, dogwise, lawyering mysteries that take place in the Paterson, New Jersey area. The main character reminds me of a lawyer I know, especially the sports on television part. These books are definitely better than most television shows, fairly inciteful and generally entertaining. They are available through our catalog. Enjoy!

Eliza

FLU: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918

FLU
The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
by Gina Kolata

Earlier I had read the Great Influenza by John M Barry which discussed the state of medicine in the United States at the turn of the last century and the spread of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and who was affected the heaviest.

The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic... delves into the history of various pandemics and the search for whatever unique cause of the flu of 1918. That is pertinent to today because it was also a swine flu. The theory is that this particular swine flu started off as an avian flu and then infected hogs in middle America and then went out as the virulent form that killed so many young people throughout the world. The search is fascinating.

Phryne Fisher mystery series by Kerry Greenwood

People kept recommending these and I kept thinking if her name is Fern, spelled it Fern.
Well it is not. She is named for Phryne, fry nee, after the Greek Courtesan.
Here is a link if you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phryne

Of course, she has a sister who only plays a very small part, named Eliza (consecrated to God)
What were her parents thinking.

Well I just jumped in and read the first one I came across. It would probably be fun to read them in order so here is another link: http://www.phrynefisher.com/books.html

Phyrne is a wonderful liberated woman of her time. An exact opposite of the Stepford Wives.
She is single by choice, in charge of her life, has fallen into the field of a private investigator but has enough money to live in style. She is always fashionably dressed, does most things well and has a great mind. She left England and moved to Australia to be as far away as possible from her family.

I just finished reading #16 Murder in the Dark an exotic tale about exotic people during a week long party at an old mansion with costumes, hunts, polo matches, a goat that loves mint, murder and kidnapping, drugs, drinks and more and more. I think you will love this series and this book.

I am already reading another in the series.

And just for the fun of it. Take a look at Simply Irresistible by Ellen White. The cover says "unleash your siren and mesmerize men" She speaks of different women, Angelina Jolie in the present, but mostly historical. I think it was the introduction that really got my attention.
The author says that "it was under two generations of maternal guidance that I tossed aside my schoolwork and boned up on my flirtation techniques. It was rough going". She was 10 years old at the time.

Eliza

the rivers run dry

Sibella Giorello

Special Agent Raleigh Harmon began as a forensic geologists. Wanting to know more about the cases her work helped and to be part of the team that brought truth and closure, she went to the FBI Academy and became an agent. In this, the second book in the series, she has proved herself as a good agent but bad politician and has been transferred from Virginia to the state of Washington. The characters are fun, the storyline kept me reading and while I am still a little vague about her character, I enjoyed the tale and will look forward to the next in the series.

Skip the reader's guide section. In a word, dumb.


Eliza