Book Review/s

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton ***

I reviewed this at b and n as part of their first look club. This is where one registers to read the first book of an author and then review it. Yes, you are sent a complimentary copy - which can be a sweet deal.
That said and done the book was ok. The writing was well done. Discriptive without putting one to sleep. The problem was that I was seeing the main character as one that I had seen in a movie awhile ago. No plagerism. But pieces of the story that did not allow the main character to have an identity of her own - at least for me. Very disconcerting.

The Scythe by Ray Bradbury ****1/2

The field keeps growing. The main character cuts it down with a scythe. Next morning the field needs to be cut down again. The reason is haunting. Ray Bradbury at his best.

Now and Then by Robert B Parker ***1/2

Comfortingly the same as most of his other books. Chollo comes back in this one which makes life more interesting.

Mrs. Daffodil by Gladys Taber ****

I love Gladys Taber and this, though marketed as fiction, is probably the closest that one gets to the real Gladys Taber, who was a prolific writer that seemed to keep readers at an arms length. Mrs. Daffodil lives in an old Connecticut house with her friend Kay and some dogs and cats. She is also a writer with one daughter. An old love comes into the story and a line about the husband which probably tells more than she realized. A well written story that wraps around one like a blanket on a cold winters day.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich ***1/2-

Fun. What else to say. All of the main characters come back. Grandma is a hoot. Criminals are as interesting as ever. Just when you think that Evanovich may be getting ready to slow down (how many books can she write like this?) another enjoyable book comes along.

Uniform Justice - by Donna Leon ****

This book was the most disturbing (yes even more than The Scythe) most likely because it mirrored a few certain headlines. A young man is dead. A company that makes money off of the military. The military itself. Donna Leon does not let the reader guess where her politics lay. That said and done the book is well written - one of her best.

Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson ****1/2

I read about this book over at Lazy Cow's. Read it in one evening and laughed through the entire book. A writer with a husband and 4 children. A book written years ago that could have been written today. Motherhood is timeless.