Ah Lucas

Thirty books and Lucas Davenport still is a charmer. Masked Prey is set in DC but there is just something very Minnesotan about Lucas that makes me love him.  He is now a U.S. Marshall.  Great story line, great Sandford.  Thank you and now I can't wait until October for hopefully a new Virgil Flowers!

The Jigsaw Jungle was wonderful.  I was so excited to see another book from Kristin Levine who wrote the exceptional The Paper Cowboy and one of my all time most favorite books The Lions of Little Rock.  This new book is just incredible.  It is really is.  This is the best book I have read so far this year.  What an important and, as far as I know, less talked about subject.  I don't want to give any of it away, but wow.  This is just such a book that everyone should read even if they aren't experiencing this.

Spring!

And how excited does that make me for a new Prey novel from John Sandford!!!  Twisted Prey was GOOOOOOOD!  I was so worried I wouldn't like it, being that it was a political-type thriller.  But this was a Prey novel, so it was beyond political and it was, indeed twisted.  REALLY GOOD 

Wow

Speak No Evil was another "wow" book.  What a book.  Wow.  I learned a bit about Nigerian culture and Nigerian immigrants in the US and it was a reminder again that while the US has much more ground to cover regarding the rights of people who happen to love people with similar body parts.  It was also a cruel reminder that there are many people who say that they are following Christ, but are not really into what He said.  Very sad.

Author! Author!

Boring!  Boring!
I remember when Siskel and Ebert reviewed Author!  Author!  And I think it was Siskel who said, "Author!  Author!  Boring!  Boring!"  It was so funny!  But I have to say listening to the author of Down and Across, Arvin Ahmadi was NOT boring at all!  He was a guest on Mashreads and I listened to right when I started DAA and it was so enjoyable to listen to Ahmadi and it made me like his book even more!  But honestly, I would have liked DAA anyway.  Highly recommended for its quirky characters and even though it deals with the common plot of parents who have different expectations for their teenager than the teenager has for him or herself, I think it should get even higher props for being interesting and real! 
Like when you hear a good Christmas Eve sermon or something, you know?  Or Easter.  Something that everyone has heard so many times before?  But the preacher has drawn upon the Holy Spirit in such a way that its like you are hearing about it for the first time.  That's what Ahmadi did here.  Took a story we have heard a million times and made it new!  Great book. 

Shakey

I have no idea why but for a long time I have called Shakespeare "Shakey Shakespeare."  I can't say I am a huge Shakespeare fan.  Or even a tiny Shakespeare fan.  Or even much of a fan.  But I did enjoy Macbeth and Hamlet and Othello.  I blame others of course.  I blame the fact that we had to read The Merchant of Venice in seventh grade.  Are most seventh graders ready for The Merchant of Venice?  I was ready for Macbeth in tenth and Hamlet in eleventh or twelfth, I can't remember, but not TMOV in seventh.  But maybe that was just me.
In any case, this series, Hogarth Shakespeare seems fantastic!  I loved New Boy and I am listing to Vinegar Girl right now, which is based on The Taming of the Shrew, which I don't know at all and it is SO good!   These books are written by really established authors.  Tracy Chevalier wrote this one.  And VG is written by Anne Tyler.  Both of these authors have written for adult audiences.  But on her website, Chevalier says that she thinks young adults will find this appealing as well, maybe.  And I agree. 

Very Timely

and so it was upsetting and hard given the attitude that some have toward immigration today.  Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz, who became a US citizen at the age of thirty and has her own story to tell, tells the story of a high school senior who discovers that she and her family are undocumented.  Set mostly in LA, well, in the richie-rich boyfriend's neighborhood of Bel Air and the Valley, where our main character, Jasmine lives and also in DC, this book is so real!  Jasmine is luckier than most undocumented kids though.  She does have connections.  Great, great book with a lot of think and talk about in here.

The Last...

The last Keena Ford book was terrific.  It really was.  It ended so nicely, even though I don't know if the author knew the series would be ending with this one.  Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-up finds Keena in a place where many of us have been.  Good stuff.  Great ending.  Why aren't there more!

Keena! Keena! Keena!

Many years ago now, a young girl came into the library asked me for a Keena Ford book.  We had them, but I had never read them.  I am so sorry it has taken me so long to read one.  Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-Up was terrific.  Keena is someone who could be friends with Roscoe, Alvin and Ty and Billy.  Not Ivy, Bean and Freddy. 
Keena is a lovable, loving second grader who lives in DC.  The scene in which the Representative makes Keena feel better about her lost hair braid is great! 
Really great book.  I am reading the first one now.  Loving it. 

The first Ford

I am super sad because I am pretty sure that that Keena Ford series is down.  It is just so strange that a series with mean characters can last and last and a series with realistic, good kids only gets a three shot deal.  In Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-up, we meet Keena.
The other thing is, I guess that is okay!  I mean, what ever happened to the stand-alone!  So what the heck!  Three is better than zero!  I am reading the third and last one now!

Nervous

So tomorrow I am supposed to go to Washington, DC because the place where I work won a big award.  The thing is, the award really is because of the whole community in which I work and my boss and co-workers and stuff, so I feel weird going, but I am very thankful for the opportunity!
We are taking the Megabus, which I have seen a lot, but have never taken.  I remember my grandma, my dad's mom, and I always used to laugh about Mega Ice Cream.  Now I see that something called Mega Ice Cream is made by Nestle, so I don't think it is the same.  But back then, Mega was kinda like the generic ice cream.  I need to google more...hang on.  Na.  I guess not everything in the world is on the internet!  Oh well!
Anyway, nervous about going on the megabus.  Have to leave at 5:50 am!  That is super early for a person who is not a morning person!
Ugh.  I am scared!

When you really don't like a character.

I am not an artist.  I am not an artist, outsider hero, like the ones allegedly in this book.  That probably has impacted my attitude toward Radiant Days.  If you are an artist, you may love this book.  I am even recommending it to my friends who are artists.  But man, I really didn't like this book.  Half of it anyway.
The book is told from two POVs.  One from the perspective of Arthur Rimbaud.  I loved his parts.  Based on actual accounts of his life.
Merle is the other POV and she is a homosexual artist who really needs to just get a freakin job instead of thinking that her job is to make art.  Grow up and give me a freakin break.  Get a job and make art on your freakin day off.  Oh it was praised up and down and all over the place.  And maybe if you are an artist, you will love it.  I just couldn't stand Merle at all.  What a selfish piece of trash.  Rimbaud's parts are hilarious and powerful.   The book is super well written and I can appreciate the writing...its just that Merle is SO obnoxious and never proves herself to be anything more than a jerk, in my eyes.  She just ruined it for me.

What's the Big Deal?

The reviews on amazon for D.C. Dead were terrible. I'm not saying this book is any more than what I always say the Stone Barrington books are: Private and Privilege for adults, but a lot of the reviews claim that Woods' books have gone down hill. I actually don't remember them being any better than they are now. I started reading them maybe twenty years ago, so maybe I am just forgetting, but to me, they were all was just candy, guilty-pleasure fantasy. When were they more than that? Sure, Chiefs was awesome, I read that when I was twelve or thirteen and loved it, but that was the last time I remember thinking, "Man, Stuart Woods, what a good book you wrote!"
In this installment, there's plenty of Dino and a decent amount of Holly Baker, and a touch of the ever-annoying Lance Cabot. I was sad that there weren't any appearances by Dino's son and Stone's son. I hope they get their own series, too.
Holly calls Dino and Stone to D.C. to investigate a year-old murder suicide. There's a lot of bad behavior, high-end food and hotels, and the usual cheese. Pretty stand Woods and I'm looking forward to the next package!