The Last One / Alexandra Oliva / 304 pgs

Wow! I devoured this book in less than 48 hours, it was so good. I really enjoyed this debut novel by Alexandra Oliva, just published this past month, and thought she did a tremedous job with a very original concept.

A married lady who has had a lot of adventures in travel before setting down to get married decides to do one last crazy thing before trying to get pregnant with her husband. She is cast on a reality survival  type show with 11 others and put in a wilderness to do all kinds of crazy, strenuous challenges. Two weeks into filming, she and the contestants who are left are sent on a solo challenge, but the fatique and hunger has altered her judgment abilities and what she thinks is fake might be real. All of the contestants have nicknames based on their occupation (sometimes even their race). So, the married lady is named Zoo because she works with animals

I don't want to give too much away, but the book does shift between Zoo's present and when the reality show first began, giving you an idea just why Zoo may think that everything she sees around her isn't real despite the overwhelming evidence. My only complaint is that when the book mentions the 12 contestants, they are always referred to by their nickname, but when Zoo is thinking specifically about them, she refers to them by their first name, which can be really confusing. Otherwise, the book is spectacular, definitely a thriller, slightly dystopian, and all around a fun read.

Weight of Blood/Laura McHugh/306 pgs.

The setting is Henbane, Missouri, deep in the Ozarks. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Dane has just learned that eighteen year old Cheri Stoddard's body has been discovered--and it's obvious she was murdered. Cheri was "slow," and Lucy had been her only friend--although the friendship was more one-sided on Cheri's part once the girls became teenagers. When Lucy was a baby, her mother, Lila, disappeared--never to be found. Once Cheri's body is found, Lucy begins trying to find out what, exactly, happened to her mother all those years ago. In the process, Lucy discovers secrets that the small town has been harboring for years. The book is told in key characters' voices, in alternating chapters. It's a fast read, and hard to put down once the reader begins it. Since it's a debut novel, it will be interesting to see what the author produces next!

White Ginger / Thatcher Robinson / 289 pages

     I am always looking for a thriller series that doesn't follow the formula. I love kickin' female main characters. The Michael Munroe series (by Taylor Stevens) started that need and wanted another one. I do believe I have found it. Bai Jiang (by chang) lives and works in San Francisco. She is a people finder, a souxun  (so-SOON) who works mostly out of Chinatown. Her life is rather complicated as her grandfather is head of the Chinese triad but Bai isn't part of that world. At least she is trying real hard to stay out of it.

     A young girl is taken from her family and Bai is contacted. After following the tangled trail given by the young lady's family, Bai is taken down some very dark and very dangerous paths. We see part of the slave and drug trades plus what power the Chinese have in certain cities. Bai tries very hard to maintain her calm and professionalism but as the twists and turns deepen she knows she must call upon her family ties to help find the girl and protect her family no matter what.

     This isn't a novel for the cozy set. We have violence, graphic scenes, language and yes, sex. In my opinion it fits. Bai inhabits a world that isn't commonplace middle America. It is exciting and very dangerous and very addicting. We are immersed in a world most of the public chooses not to see. Bai is the person who straddles both, struggling to maintain her Buddhist beliefs and to give her daughter a normal life. I highly recommend this for adrenaline junkies and lovers of "quick moving work it out later" novels. I can't wait for the next one. Bai Jiang is a character to watch. In case you were wondering white ginger is the translation of Bai Jiang in certain Chinese dialects. 

Six Degrees of Reading: The Informationist: A Vanessa Michael Munroe novel by Taylor Stevens, Vanishing Act: A Jane Whitefield novel by Thomas Perry, Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie / Alan Bradley / 416 pages / 8 discs

     I do not know why I have put off listening to this series. I should be ashamed of myself. I guess it was because every publication crowed how wonderful it was. I am usually very wary of those kind of recommendations. They really don't turn out well for me. But as I was driving to Chicago I figured why not. I have been handsomely rewarded.
     We meet 11 year old Flavia de Luce who lives with her family in a slowly disintegrating house (Buckshaw) in the middle of the British countryside. She has two older sisters who are interested in reading and themselves. Her father is in his study looking at his beloved stamp albums. So Flavia has been left to her own devices and having rather a quick and agile mind, reads the textbooks about chemistry in the laboratory in the attic of the house. One morning she discovers a dying man in the garden and immediately knows he will cause trouble for her family. The police are summoned and Flavia is summarily dismissed which erks her to no end. She decides she will solve the case in her own manner.
     You can imagine what this young lady will get up to. She uses her brain and makes assumptions, hypotheses, and conclusions in order to find the answers. As it turns out she is sometimes ahead of the police which surprises them. I love the asides about her family history especially about the spectacular failures of her uncles. She is snarky about her sisters and the plans for revenge verge on the awesome. I am rather fond of this 11 year old precocious and delightful young lady.
    The narrator for this series is beyond awesome. Jayne Entwistle gets it perfect and the tone and range are just wonderful. I can't imagine anyone else doing the reading. We actually feel as if Flavia is sitting down with us and telling the story over a cup of tea. Astounding and wonderful. I recommended this to higher middle grades, teens and adults. No language but descriptions could be a little uncomfortable. Flavia has some tight scrapes but not overly dramatized. I am definitely looking forward to the next one The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag.

Six Degrees of Reading:  Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler, Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King. 

Still Life / Louise Penny / 473 pages / 8 cds

     I have a confession to make. I am in love with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Montreal police. He is a man not given to publicity seeking actions but is a quiet man with deep understanding of the human psyche. Armand is older, hair beginning to gray but with the biggest brown eyes that can see through someone's false story. Inspector Gamache is summoned to a tiny village of Three Pines just north of the U.S. border. There has been a murder. He summons his team and as they arrive we meet them one by one. There are four primary detectives: Detective Beauvoir & Agent Lacoste and a new member Yvette Nicole, As they begin their investigation, the reader begins to sense there is a deep undercurrent to everyone's actions.
     A beloved member of the community has been found murdered in the woods. She had been to a dinner party the night before so those 5-6 people are the last to see her alive. How the investigation begins and the directions it takes are like a police procedural but you have the human side of the detectives interfere. Beauvoir takes a dislike to an older woman and those feelings collide with the need to be impartial. Nicole seems to be a thorn in the side of everyone and constantly bungles instructions but is there a purpose to it? Gamache's past comes calling and those decisions begin to taint the investigation in Three Pines. A wonderfully complex debut mystery. I am looking forward to seeing where the rest of the series takes me.
     Louise Penny's novels have been called cozy mysteries and I agree with that descriptions but there is so much more. We learn about Quebecois history, the city politics of Montreal and their police, the history of Three Pines and what is means to the people who live there. The village isn't on any map and the residents had fled the big city in the hopes of starting all over again. We learn about the art world through two rather intriguing characters who I think will be part of a overlying story arc in the continuing novels. I certainly came to feel these people were part of our community and I would see them at any time. I would love to live in the village of Three Pines. Heartily recommended to anyone who lives an intriguing mystery, human nature and a well-plotted novel. Bet you don't figure out the murderer before Gamache does!!

Six degrees of reading: The Secret Place (Dublin Murder squad) by Tana French, Vertigo 42 (Richard Jury mystery) by Martha Grimes, Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal. 

Archetype: A Novel / M.D. Waters / 369 pages / RAT-Science Fiction

   A debut novel that has you by the throat from the beginning. Emma wakes up in a hospital with absolutely no memory. She doesn't even know this man who claims to be her husband. And these dreams that haunt her. They aren't nightmares but they still bother her and haunt her constantly. Her husband Declan very patiently begins to teach her about their lives together and what she is capable of doing. Before long Emma is home from the hospital, painting glorious landscapes and exercising with long punishing runs. But there is a voice that warns her not to talk about her dreams or are they memories? Emma isn't sure who or what to trust and starts to find answers to her questions. She isn't sure what is reality and those answers only seem to be confusing everything.
  This book is set in one possible future. Women are a rare commodity and the birth rate is falling off drastically. There has been a war and the United States had been divided in two: West is the free zone and the East is a policed society where women/young girls are put in work camps. The more Emma begins to remember the more the tension is wound tighter and tighter. The plot pulls you along and the pages just keep turning faster and faster. There is some language but not off-putting. There is a sex scene or two between Emma and her husband. All together this is something anyone can read - I even thing Young Adults might like it.

Six degrees of Reading:  My Real Children by Jo Walton, Lock In by John Scalzi, Clone Three by Patti Larsen.

The Forbidden Library / Django Wexler / 373 pgs

   A fantasy debut novel from someone who used to work for Microsoft. This was also part of Penguin YA Early Word program. Alice has a wonderful life with her father in their ramshackle house. Until one night when she overhears a conversation that changes everything. Her father tells her he must go on a trip and will be back as soon as he can. Unfortunately the ship he is on sinks with all hands lost. Alice is sent to live an 'uncle' she has never met. She is pretty sure this man isn't any uncle of hers but doesn't have a choice. Uncle Geryon lives in a huge house with only two other people: Mr Black who seems to be everything from chauffeur to butler and Emma who might be a friend or not. But the only good thing to rise out of this situation is the Library where there are more books then Alice has ever dreamed of.
   When it turns out Alice may have some magical abilities, Uncle Geryon begins to teach her basic skills. He sends her back to the Library to help find magical texts that may solve a problem he has been working on. While wandering among the shelves she meets two more eccentric characters: Ashes who is a talking cat and Isaac who is on a quest of his own. Alice discovers Mr Black may have the answer to the riddle of her father's death. What happens next is quite a grand adventure. I was lost in the pages of this book almost immediately. There are exquisite black and white drawings scattered among the pages depicting some of the strange creatures Alice encounters. Be warned! Once you start this you won't want to stop. If an audio is available - great for car rides of all ages.

Six Degrees of Reading: The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson, The Thickety: A Path Begins by Andrea Offermann, The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand by Jen Swann Downey.

Dollbaby / Laura Lane McNeal / 352 pages

   A debut novel from a woman who grew up in New Orleans. Ibby Bell has just been dumped on her grandmother's front walk. She has never met this woman and in fact has been warned about this woman her entire life. Ibby's mom has just driven off without a goodbye kiss and forgotten to give Ibby her suitcase. Fortunately for her, Queenie is around. She is Fannie's (the grandmother) cook and all around housekeeper. Queenie's daughter Dollbaby also helps around the house, cleaning and sewing and doing whatever needs to be done. Fannie has been alone for most of her life: her husband having never come back from a tugboat journey. She welcomes Ibby (short for Liberty) into her home and begins to initiate her in the ways of the South.
   There are secrets in that house and Ibby learns how to live with them. Why does Fannie act funny when certain names are mentioned, why is there a locked room next to hers and why does Dollbaby have different colored eyes? When Ibby starts school she learns her grandmother is a respected, feared and mocked woman in the town. Certainly Fannie has money but why do people tolerate her behavior? Ibby learns a lot about life and family while growing up in this novel. We meet some interesting characters like Crow, Queenie's husband, Mr. Henry the illegal bet taker who is only to enter through the backdoor, and Annabelle the neighborhood girl who takes an instant dislike to Ibby. They all create a welcoming world for Ibby as well as for the reader. I think patrons who loved To Kill a Mockingbird would appreciate this story. A well told coming of age novel set in some turbulent times of the South. Some language but not too strong. I received this from the Penguin First Flights program.

Six Degrees of Reading: The Right Thing by Amy Conner, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman and Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile.

The Wicked Girls / Alex Marwood / 378 pages

     A debut novel from a British journalist writing her first fiction novel. The novel begins with two eleven year old girls wandering the countryside of their small English village. They don't have any where to go as one is avoiding trouble at home while the other has been left home alone by her parents. A shocking event sends the two of them to prison for a portion of their young lives. Fast forward to the present day and Kirsty an up and coming journalist is trying to get a foot in the door of newspaper publishing. She has been sent to a small town which has been under attack from a serial killer. Amber Gordon works at the local carnival as a night cleaner. She is the new supervisor and isn't sure she wants the job. She finds the newest victim and Kirsty tries to interview her for the story. Suddenly past and present collide in a series of events that no one can predict the outcome.
    I will admit I was very skeptical when starting this book. For me, thrillers often run along the same predictable lines. This book however was jaw-dropping. Amber and Kirsty are two women just trying to get by in life and find a little happiness. But something always seems to be getting in their way and as the story goes on the tension gets tighter and tighter till the point where everything just explodes! I read this in two nights. I could not put it down. The writing style is accessible but I will admit to not getting all the English slang. The male characters don't seem to have a backbone among them and I thought that was a little sad. The killer when revealed was totally anti-climatic based on what happened next. WOW!!! I recommend this to anyone who has patrons who love good well-written hard core thrillers. There is language and some sexual content. Excellent start for Marwood. I did receive this from the Penguin First Flights program.

Six Degrees of Reading:  Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison, The Good Girl by Mary Kubica.

Three Wishes/Liane Moriarty/356 pages

Lyn, Cat and Gemma are thirty-three year old triplets. Lyn and Cat are identical twins, and Gemma basically just tagged along for the ride. In the year leading up to their thirty-fourth birthday, the sisters experience love, heartbreak and drama almost every day. Lyn and Cat are both married, but while Lyn has a daughter, Cat's been dealing with infertility. After Gemma's tragic non-trip to the altar, she can't seem to find a boyfriend that lasts more than a few months. The girls, along with their divorced parents, deal with their sibling rivalries with mostly love and laughter.
This is Moriarty's debut novel, and it's a delight. Interspersed between the chapters are stories from unknown people who have experienced the Kettle girls just briefly over the years and who have never forgotten them. Moriarty is definitely one of my favorite new finds.

How To Be a Good Wife: A Novel / Emma Chapman / 276 pgs

   A debut novel from an author who is a bit of a free spirit. Emma Chapman went to school in England then decided to backpack around the world and now lives in Australia. Marta is married to Hector and has a grown son named Kylan. They are living in a small village in a relatively cold nameless country. Marta has always tried to be a good wife - having dinner ready when Hector came home, cleaning the house until it shone, raising her son. But recently she has begun slipping - hiding cigarettes in planters, seeing visions of a bedraggled young woman and isn't sure Hector is who he says he is. We learn her family isn't around and could have possibly been killed in an auto accident and Hector wanted to care for her himself in the aftermath. We also learn Hector has been giving her medication to 'help' Marta to cope with life. With the visions becoming stronger and Hector's behavior beginning to alarm Marta, she decides it is time to find out the truth.
   A great psychological thriller. The questions and doubts about who to believe and what their motivations are color everything. This is a fast read - something that could be knocked out in an evening. The plot turns fast and it tightens with every passing scene. You begin to wonder who is Marta and what has happened. I was a little let down with the ending with such a great story behind it. Maybe we could discuss it together. But overall this is a good recommendation for patrons who like thrillers without all the gore.

Six degrees reading: Room by Emma Donoghue, Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson.

THE RETURNED / Jason Mott / 346 Pages

I read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC); publication set for September 2013.

All over the world, the dead are coming back! They are not zombies or ghosts or even part of some secret government experiment. Amazingly, they are living breathing, talking people who have come back exactly as they were before they died. They are 'The Returned.'

Harold and Lucille Hargrave, a devoted elderly couple lost their only child more than 50 years ago. God-loving Lucille believes it is the end of days and thinks 'the Returned' are devils sent here to tempt or kill everyone. Harold, who lost his faith with the death of 8-year old Jacob all those years ago, feels 'the Returned' are just people and should be treated the same as everyone else.

Suddenly there is a knock on the door and a man from the International Bureau for the Returned is standing on their front porch accompanied by a very familiar looking 8-year old boy ... 

Mott's literary debut provides the reader with a number interesting topics for consideration (or discussion): the meaning of life, being human and/or humane, community reaction, and people's capacity for love. 

A (possible) '6 DEGREES OF READING' connection: Mitch Albom's novel The First Phone Call From Heaven (publication date: 11/12/2013) about a small Lake Michigan town suddenly placed in the world spotlight due to it's citizen's receiving calls from the afterlife.

[6 Degrees of Reading is similar to the game '6 degrees of Kevin Bacon' but with books. Select an aspect of the current title which is shared in another title and describe the connection using a single sentence.  Source : http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/ranews/mar2007/cords.html]

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Audiobook read by Rebecca Soler. 8 Disks.

 
 A young 16 year old girl named Cinder is the best mechanic in the city of New Beijing. She is an outcast because she is a cyborg due to an horrific accident in her childhood. Because of her reputation, the Prince comes to see if Cinder can fix the royal android. Her stepmother interferes and when Cinder's younger sister is infected with the plague which is decimating most of Earth's population, Cinder is sent to the plague testing facility as punishment. What is found there may change the world as everyone knows it.
  As the story unfolds there are glimpses of the conventional Grimms' fairy tale. Cinder is a wonderful heroine. Facing some of the toughest obstacles of growing up, being different and 'adults' just don't understand anything, Cinder comes through with shining colors. There are hilarious one-liners, a burgeoning romance with the Royal Prince, lots of skillful world building (Did you know there are people living on the moon?) and a good mystery about what exactly did happen to the Lunar princess all those years ago.
   I cannot wait to listen to the sequel. What will happen with Cinder and the Prince?  Is Cinder the answer to the plague as the doctors think? And where is the princess? This is a great book for people looking for a not so grim dystopian world. Enjoyable for adults young and old.
  6 Degrees of Reading: Splintered by A.G. Howard, The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia McKillip and Tam Lin by Debra Dean.

Lace reader / Brunonia Barry 360 p.

Towner Whitney comes from a clan of Salem women who can read one’s future from lace patterns.  She left under a cloud of trouble and reluctantly returns when 85 year old Aunt Eva disappears.  Towner professes to be an unreliable narrator; alas she had shock treatment for hallucinations.  Family secrets, complex family relations, prophetic powers, and past trauma yields twists around every corner from the evangelizing ex-husband of Towner’s mother, Emma; to Aunt May hermetic life on an island; and, her twin’s suicide.

Sugarhouse: A Memoir/Matthew Batt/258 pages

"Turning the Neighborhood Crack House into Our Home Sweet Home"--on the cover. That pretty much says it all. A young married couple who have no experience at all in home remodeling buy their first house. It's a fixer-upper to the max. Over time, they learn how to sand floors, install hardwood and slate floors, refinish cabinets and, in general, turn a wreak into a home. When they aren't working on the house, they are dealing with Matt's family which is a big job all by itself.

Frost/Marianna Baer/396 pages

Leena is excited about her senior year at boarding school. She and two of her best friends are moving into a cool dorm on the outskirts of campus. It's an old house that is usually reserved for senior boys, but she convinced the Dean of Students to let her and her friends have it. She's supposed to have the downstairs room to herself the first semester and then share the room with a fourth friend when she returns from study abroad. But her plan changes when the Dean assigns Celeste to the dorm for the semester. Celeste broke her leg right before school started and is on crutches, so she needs a first floor dorm room. Celeste is loner who enjoys drama in her life. Her brother, David, has transferred to the school as well. Right away, Celeste claims strange things are happening in the room. Added to that is vandalism, nightmares and unexplained bruises. Leena is also dealing with some weirdness with the room, but in her case, she finds the room welcoming and safe. She has an unhealthy obsession with the closet.

This book was definitely a page turner. Quite a good Gothic suspense novel. However, I was disappointed in the ending. I thought I had the "twist" figured out, but there wasn't really a twist at all. I think there is more story there to tell, especially with Leena's state of mind, but if you can't tell that in 400 pages, then maybe you save that for another book. Fine debut novel.