Book Review - Body Double

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

I believe at the end of my last review I mentioned I was going for darker fare next time. This book does indeed meet that description. This is the fourth book written by Tess Gerritsen I have read, also billed as the fourth book in the Rizzoli & Isles series. This past summer, TNT started a new drama series called Rizzoli & Isles which I watched and enjoyed. Not until I did some browsing on their website did I realize that the show was based on a series of books. Naturally, I had to start reading them.

There are so many "spoilers" I could give away in reviewing this book, but I will try not to do that. While not everything in the book came as a surprise (the jacket cover tells you that the dead woman is Dr. Isles' twin sister), there were several times that a twist caught me off guard and it wasn't until the end that I discovered I was wrong about who the killer was. I LOVE it when I'm wrong about who the killer is. There was also more than one storyline going on here, sort of, and getting caught up in one made me forget about the other for a time. That's not a complaint, because when it came back up it was kind of thrilling to have one more mystery that had to be solved before the book could end. This is very good thriller/mystery and I highly recommend it. Unless you're pregnant. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. Trust me on it. You won't rest easy if you disregard my warning.

Several of the book storylines have been covered in the TV series, and while this book deals with Maura's parentage and so did one of the shows, it is not nearly the same. Even so, that episode was called "The Beast in Me" which is a huge nod to the book.

If you enjoy thrillers, you might want to give this series a try. If you're more of a TV-watching sort, I think the last four episodes are still on TNT's website for viewing. The second season starts next summer.

The Mushroom Soup!

I LOVE soup. Something about making soup makes me feel all Rachael Ray-ish. (Although, I think she's more prone to making her "stoup" than regular soup.... I think it's just the chopping of vegetables and EVOO that sends me there.) There are several soup recipes that I adore, especially when the weather is chilly, but as a mushroom lover - this is hands-down my favorite. I've made it with the heavy whipping cream it calls for, but I also sometimes substitute half and half when my fat clothes are feeling a little on the snug side.

If you decide to try it, remember to add the garlic. It's in the ingredients list, but not in the recipe. Add it when you cook the celery and carrots near the beginning.

Crust up a loaf of french bread to dip in the soup. You'll be SO glad you did.

Link to recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/soups/the-mushroom-soup/

Book Review - The Wednesday Letters

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

Since the back cover SAYS they die, I won't be giving anything away when I tell you that the first chapter involves the death of the two parents, who die in each others arms. Sad. And enough to make me not want to read any more. I'm glad I kept going.

The rest of the book (except the last chapter) covers the few days between their death and the funeral. I will admit to shedding a tear or two, even though this was not one of those books that just drove me over the edge into a sobbing mess. It was very solid and very enjoyable. Now I want to tell John to go write me a letter every week for the rest of our lives, but that will probably not happen. This was a very quick read and I think I read the majority of the book in a single day. Once the children discover the letters, my reading really picked up. The letters ranged from simple little notes to revelations of all sorts, some of which are quite surprising and some which are shocking. It really makes me wonder how much of my own parent's lives that I have NO CLUE about. I'm sure there is probably a great deal. I recommend this book.

My next review will probably be darker fare. I've read too many feel-goods lately!

And could I use the word "probably" any more?? Probably.

Nobody Greater

Don't die of shock that I'm actually posting to my blog. Seriously, don't. I couldn't take the guilt.

So, this past Sunday morning I was all excited/scared/freaking out because I had the solo to the choir song. This happens approximately once a year, maybe twice if the choir is desperate...as apparently we must have been. I got to sing in the first service and it went off without any drama, which is a nice change. I could elaborate, but that's not what this post is about.

During the second service, the praise team started singing a song they had not sung in the first service. It was so fantabulous that the Pastor came up and took the mike (mic?) and we sang it a gazillion wonderful times. I won't get into the thrill that I felt when I realized the direction the service was going and that I wouldn't have to sing my solo again. I guess I just did get into it, didn't I?

ANYWAY, I felt that I needed to share this praise/worship song that was so awesome because I have been singing it ever since. So has my husband. So has every single church person I've come across in the past three days. EVERY one. Oh, except you Athena, since you missed it. :)

Enjoy.

Books Reviews - May 2010

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I have to say, I'm not sure why I saw this book and thought, "Hmmm.....a book full of demons? I'm SO there!" But, I did. I read this one quickly because it was interesting and I mostly liked the characters. This is part of a trilogy, but I am not going to go on. Why, you ask? Demons. That is really my only reason. The main characters were demon killers, so it's not like it was PRO demon, but still. The book was Twilight-ish in many ways, and there was a couple twists that turned out to be VERY Star Wars-ish. VERY. To the point I was thinking, "Really? No one thought that was a tad copycat-ish?" I'm really liking adding "ish" to everything tonight, can't you tell? It is 3:30 AM, yes AM. I am going to hate myself in about 3 hours. So, you will no doubt enjoy this book if you are into that whole underworld creature kind of thing. Otherwise, you probably want to skip this one.

2. A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen
There was wickedness and there was snow. I didn't write this review right after reading the book, so my thoughts are less than fresh. I liked it, but I really felt there needed to be more of a mother/daughter confrontation....or mother/aunt if you can forgive me for the gigantic spoiler. I have no other thoughts.

3. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
I am 2/3 of the way through "The 19th Wife" which is about Mormon plural marriages and so I'm going to cheat and go ahead and write the review even though I haven't finished the book. It goes back and forth between the history of the Mormons and plural marriage, and specifically Brigham Young's 19th wife....and then a more modern murder mystery also involving a 19th wife in what I guess you would call a "fringe" group that still practices plural marriage. I really enjoy the more historical story and find myself blowing through the modern chapters to get them over with and back to the other story. I would call this one....interesting.

Book Reviews - April 2010

About midnight or so tonight, I realized that we were already two/three days into the month of May and I hadn't posted my April book reviews yet. Mildly alarmed that I had missed my once-a-month reason to blog, I vowed to do it sometime on Monday. Who knew I would be doing it at 2:35 am? Storms and sleep don't mix, people. I'm always telling John we need one of those emergency weather radios, but he scoffs at the idea. Actual scoffing, I tell you. Satellite TV is totally unreliable in bad weather, and how on earth am I supposed to know if we're about to die? He is, of course, sleeping peacefully in the other room. I am totally resentful of this. SOMEBODY has to stay awake wandering the house and looking out the windows for twisters. And whatever happened to those nifty tornado sirens? If we had one of THOSE, I could at least lay down and close my eyes knowing the siren would warn me of danger. I could stay on this rant all night, but since I'm thinking I've only got a good 15/20 minutes before the laptop battery dies, I'd better move on.

I write these reviews as I read the books, so that's why the below mentions me drinking a cup of tea, which sounds calming, and I can promise you I am not doing right at this moment. I think the storm is passing, but I'll be up for another good 30 minutes, just in case I'm wrong. John and Samuel have no idea, but I am ON THE JOB.

Without further ado, the book reviews:

1. Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn
In honor of this review, I am sipping tea with half & half and honey, because that's how Pam Morgan told me they do it in England. I don't know if this is true or not, but I am totally on board. If I could smell or taste right now, I'm sure I'd be thrilled. I could really use a scone or shortbread "biscuit" at this moment. This is the third or fourth Sisterchicks book I've read, although it was a very long time ago when I read the others. I liked the other books, but never loved them enough that I wanted to continue with the series, until I saw that they were going to "Go Brit!". I have a thing about everything British, so I had to read this one. I really didn't love the book, but I did enjoy all the places in England that they visited and talked about. It was almost more of a travel guide than anything. I did cry when I read the last page, but I'm not sure that made the whole book worth it. You can't trust my tears since I tend towards the emotional side. So, if you have this Brit obsession as I do, you might enjoy it. If you don't, you probably want to skip it.

2. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

I think I established in the previous review that I am emotional. I didn't used to be this way, but I believe that while pregnant with Samuel he flipped some sort of internal switch while he was kicking around in there and the waterworks have been on ever since. It's not always very bad, but give me a small amount of stress or illness and I'm done for. Add that praise & worship song about Paul and Silas and mind prisons and chains breaking and I'm seriously undone. You are probably wondering what any of that has to do with this book. I started the book on Tuesday night while I was feeling really, really, really sick. I'm not sure how far in I started the crying, but I didn't read a lot that night and I know I had one good boo-hoo session before it was over. I was really missing my Daddy.

Flash forward to Wednesday. John and Samuel went to church without me because I was pretty sure no one would appreciate the volume of snot I was producing. I still felt horrible, but decided to read for a bit. It didn't take long for it to start again. I cried, I laughed, I cried, I laughed. One particular chapter ending had me weeping so hard that I had to put the book down and just wail for a few minutes. By the time the guys got home I felt about 1000 times worse than I had when they left, but I still couldn't put the book down.

I finished the book on Thursday late afternoon with no more tears.

I highly, highly recommend this book - especially if you are a little more stable than I am. It is funny and it makes you think a lot about your family and friends, and then it might make you cry a little too...or a lot, if you have issues. There are a few "F" bombs thrown in here and there, so be warned, but one of them did make me cackle out loud. This one is a keeper.

3. A Cry in the Night by Mary Higgins Clark
I love books by Mary Higgins Clark. I know I've read a lot of them, but probably because I read them so far apart, I have a very hard time remembering what I have read before and what is new. This was an old book I found at the used book store and the description did not seem familiar to me, so I took a chance. In several books of Mary Higgins Clark's that I've read, there is a twist or a moment where I am surprised by who is actually the evil person behind whatever is going on. That was not the case in this book. It was pretty clear from the get-go that the main character's new husband - Erich - was creepy. Really, REALLY creepy. So, even if there were a twist and he was not responsible for all the weirdness, she still needed to get away from him. So, I liked the book, but I like being surprised and I wasn't as much with this one. Mary Higgins Clark mysteries are very good and you can read them without fear of bad language or raunchy sex scenes or anything other than just a good suspenseful story.

4. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
This book was one my husband had me request on Paperback Swap. I knew nothing about it, but he read it and suggested that I would like it. I read a little over half of this book and really enjoyed it. And then I got bored with the never-ending hostage situation and crazy opera love and just wanted resolution. I tried going back to the book several times and never stuck with it longer than a page or two. Then I lost the book for a day or so, only to discover it had been in one of the many pockets in my mammoth purse the whole time. Finally, I just asked John to tell me what happened so I could read something else. And he did. Then we had this ridiculously long discussion about whether it was acceptable to have an affair if you were in a prolonged hostage situation in a third world country. Let's just say that one of us found the situation understandable, while the other one is COMMITTED TO HER MARRIAGE EVEN IN THE FACE OF THIRD WORLD TERRORISTS AND FAMOUS OPERA SINGERS. Reading is knowledge, people. Even if that knowledge is that you should never, ever, ever send your husband to a third world country.

When John wakes up and reads this, he's probably going to be perturbed that I typed that last part, but he can THANK ME FOR BEING ALIVE. The Riddle men can sleep like babies knowing I am watching out for them. Good night, dear friends.

Randomness on a Tuesday when there is no new LOST

No new LOST tonight, therefore I blog. It's this or cry, so this it be.

Stuff:

1. Couponing is WAY harder than it needs to be. Food should just be cheaper so I don't have to do all this mess.

2. Said couponing has led me to do something that hasn't started, but I'm already regretting. We signed up for the "Couponer's Special" of the Chattanooga Times where we get FOUR Sunday papers delivered to our house (and other papers during the week...) John's main concern is that our paperboy/girl/man/woman/person will HATE OUR GUTS. I fear he is correct. I predict we will cancel this service in 2 weeks.

3. I am watching the series "Bones" on Netflix and I'm in season one. My last point made me remember that in an episode I just watched, Angela says to Bones, "Love your guts, sweetie" and I just REALLY liked it. If that was how I rolled - telling people I loved them and using words like sweetie - I would SO be saying this all the time.

4. Every time I make hamburgers, I proclaim George Foreman as my hero. I wouldn't have thought of this one if I had washed the G.F. and put it away last night like I should have, but it is just sitting there on my kitchen counter in all it's day-old grease-covered glory.

5. I'm loving the book I'm reading, "Bel Canto", but I just really want it to be over with. I need resolution. Soon.

6. I'm starting to believe the P in PMS stands for Pre-, Post- and Potentially Permanent.

7. Is anyone else's kid bonkers for these rubberband bracelet things? It wasn't two weeks ago that Samuel was totally unfazed by them, but sometime since then they have become "cool" and he won't stop begging me to take him to buy some.

8. If I didn't have a DVR, I would never watch American Idol again. I can NOT STAND to hear all the talking, and sometimes not all the singing. Crystal Bowersox will no doubt have an album whether she wins or loses, and I will no doubt buy it. Of course, I said that about Danny Gokey and I still haven't bought his either. Now if there were a coupon for that...

9. Blogs I read nearly every day (or whenever they have a new post). There are a few others, but I read them more randomly. Let me know if there are any more good ones I should be reading.

Living Proof Ministries
Big Mama
The Pioneer Woman
Stuff Christians Like

10. I really need to quit reading blogs and go wash my George Foreman.