While I Didn't LOVE

Robert B. Parker's Colorblind, I had to give it the five stars because I am just so darn proud of Jesse Stone.  I just love that he went to rehab and I just love that Jen is no more.  I just really, really love that.  And that made all the difference.  Yes, Reed Farrel Coleman writes a different Jesse from Parker's Jesse, but Jesse is still a great guy.  This one just didn't grab me like some have.  But still, you go, Jesse.  I love you. Long may you run. 

Rags and Bones

When I was reading The Rag and Bone Shop by Cormier I kept thinking about the book Ragman:  and other Cries of Faith which I read 100 years ago.  One has nothing to do with the other.
I started wondering what a "rag and bone shop" was and found this.  Now I am curious as to how the title of this book fits.  And I see that the book got its title from this.  I  need to think about this more, because I haven't yet read the poem and maybe then I will figure it out. 
This was again another "no happy endings" kind of book.  But it was excellent.  Was Cormier a pessimist or a realist?  I guess it depends on what the one asking the question is.  Some days I might see him a pessimist  and some days as a realist.  I guess on really bad days he might be an optimist!  Ha!  Great book though.  Really great. 

Spoilers!

Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet written by Reed Farrel Coleman is Jesse #16.  I gave it a 4 of 5 stars but maybe it is 4.5 because (SPOILER) Jesse goes to rehab at the end!  I was so happy!  And also very happy that Jen seems to finally be gone!  Jesse's decision to try to give up alcohol just made me so happy.  I loved Jesse in this book and the characters and town of Paradise, of course, it was just that the mystery itself didn't thrill me so I didn't give it 5 stars.  But it is still a great addition!  Great cover!  And a cameo from Spenser, but I didn't like the voice for him!  Haha! 

Dragged for Me

Beyond the Bright Sea was really, really not the book for me.  I found myself feeling as if it were much longer than it really was.  Like Wolf Hollow I just really didn't find myself able to enjoy this book very much.  I did like the message.  I don't know.  I figure it will maybe get some Newbery buzz, maybe not.  And I figured I wanted to give it a try but it was one that I could have passed on and not felt bad.

WOW

The 15th Jesse Stone book, Debt to Pay is just incredible.  Incredible.  Reed Farrel Coleman has done incredible things with Jesse.  And I would bet that Robert B. Parker is proud.  And just as blown away as Jesse fans must be.
This book is a must-read for Jesse fans.  If you have not read the others, you will want to do that first, but man, you need to get to this one.  Wow.

Converted

On goodreads one will find some reviews for Conversion that are really good and one will find some that are very critical.  While I didn't give this book a 5, I did give it a 4.  I thought it was really good!  I thought the main characters were real.  And I learned stuff, too!

Like the real Salem Witch Trials didn't happen in present day Salem, MA. They happened in current-day Danvers, then Salem Village.  The book also points out that The Crucible is not really about the witch trials, but rather about social life in the 1950s and McCarthyism.
This book is set in both the 1690s in Salem Village and also in the 2010s in Danvers.  Back and forth it goes, the Salem story dealing with the witch trials and the contemporary story dealing with accusations and love and heartache and stress of the senior years of highly competitive girls at a highly competitive Roman Catholic school.
Good stuff.  I really did like this one.  It was an original take on a topic that has had a lot of play.
I also learned what Conversion Disorder is!

A New Direction

As I was reading Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot I noticed that there was no longer the usual:
Jesse said.
Jenn said.
Jesse said.
But I didn't think too much of it.  I was listening to it, so I didn't even notice that it wasn't written by Michael Brandman, who had penned the three books after Parker's death.  I found this here.   The latest book is written by Reed Farrel Colemen.  And it has gotten great views.  I found this all out after I read the book and gave it a 4 of 5 stars.  Now that I have this new information, it has made me re-think the book.  Especially this part, "Unlike Atkins, Coleman hasn’t attempted to mimic Parker. Instead, Coleman is continuing the Stone saga in his own crisp prose style. For one thing, Coleman says, he doubts that he could reproduce Parker’s distinctive voice. For another, Spenser is the late author’s most iconic character; Parker wrote only nine Stone novels. That, Coleman says, gives him the freedom to continue the series in his own style -- and room to explore fresh aspects of the character."
Now I have changed by rating to 5 of 5 stars.  Because, what was I really expecting?  Robert B. Parker to come back from Heaven and write more books?  Would ANYONE come back from Heaven?  Na, I don't think so!
But you know what I mean.  Coleman has something good going on here.  And I am excited about the change.

So Many Songs

about trouble.  Here, here, here, and I am sure that there are more.   Those are all great songs, but non really compare to the greatness of the book Trouble by the incredible Gary D. Schmidt.
Incredible.  I know I seem to say that about a lot of books lately, but that's because I have just discovered some really incredible authors. These books are totally out of my usual go-to-i-like-this-kind-of-book box.  That's what reading and reading and reading did to me.  Before I started writing this blog, I never would have picked up a book like Here Lies the Librarian, Tiltawhirl John, Graceling, The Orange Houses and so many more.
In Trouble we meet the Smith family from Massachusetts, the very definition of WASPs.  But not in a stereotypical way.  Schmidt is an incredible author and I don't think he is capable of resorting to stereotyping in his writing.  I was sure that the family would be cold and heartless, but no, they really weren't.  They were real people.

I don't want to recap what happens, just read the goodreads summary, but right after that, read the book. Incredible.

A Tale of Two Emilys

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard was an eARC from netgalley and it had a great cover and so I read it.  Again, I know as well as anyone not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case, I am glad I did.  And We Stay was a 5-Star read.  Heart-breaking and hopeful.  I didn't realize until I finished the book that the author's first book was Paper Covers Rock, which I really didn't like at all.  I didn't like it so much, that I doubt I would have given And We Stay a chance, had I remembered.  I'm glad I didn't remember, though, because And We Stay was beautifully written and realistic and I learned so much about Emily Dickinson.  The book is set in Amherst, Massachusettes, where Dickinson was born, lived a pretty much reclusive life and died.  The Museum itself actually figures prominently in the story. 
Emily Beam's ex-boyfriend, Paul commits suicide in their school library and Emily is dealing with all of the guilt and hell left behind.  In an attempt to heal, she transfers to a boarding school in Amherst.  The ghost of Emily Dickinson is all around and it helps Emily Beam to face the sorrows of her past.  Well drawn characters and a wonderful use of setting.  Great, heart-breaking story, with a lot of terrific, soul-ripping poetry as well.  Really enjoyed this book.

Wow

When I first downloaded the eARC from netgalley and read the first page of We Were Liars I thought immediately of We Were the Mulvaneys.  I've never read We Were the Mulvaneys, but I guess it was the title and the whole obsessed with being the picture-perfect family thing and being from New England, that whole deal.  Turns out though, the Mulvaneys were in Upstate New York.
I couldn't wait to read We Were Liars.  I have loved everything I've read by e. lockhart and expected great things.  Even with my high expectations, I couldn't have expected what was to come.  We Were Liars is going to be The Book to Beat in 2014.  Haunting.  Beautiful.  Heart-breaking.  All of those buzz words, they belong to this book.  Characters that are so, so real, you forget you are reading fiction.  Flawed characters, but ones you are still able to love, like family, like real people.  There is a warning at the start of the ARC from Beverly Horowitz, the Vice President and Publisher of Delacorte Press that urges readers to just read the book, not seek out what it is about before doing so.  And she says at the end that you will want to talk about the book once you read it, and oh, oh I do!  So please, please, get ahold of this book.  Fantastic.  What a way to start the new year.

Never Been a Bob Seger Fan

Main Street #1:  Welcome to Camden Falls just kept me thinking of that Bob Seger song and I just really don't care for that song, or him all that much.  Yes he is very good looking and I guess his songs are okay, so it isn't really him, it's just that his songs were so popular when I was in middle school/junior high and those were tough times for me, so they have that feel to them.  No offense, Bob!  

The book is an Ann Martin one, of Babysitters Club fame and I did enjoy the BSC.  This book has a huge cast of characters, chief among them, two sisters who were orphaned and now living with their grandma in Camden Falls, Massachusetts.  Overall I think the story was good for the intended audience and I could recommend it to girls looking for a new series.  

Man...

Defending Jacob was a seriously good book.  I did see the end coming, which is very rare for me, but that didn't make it any less of a great great.  Set in Massachusetts, the story is told from the POV of the first ADA who starts out investigating the murder of a 14-year-old boy named Ben.  Ben was found stabbed three times in the chest, in a park on his way to school.  Not soon after his murder, Andy, the ADA, finds that his son is going to be arrested for the murder.
This is just a good and creepy book.  And it gets better with every page.  A must-read.