book reviews

On my weekend away, I read 7.5 books! I was very happy. :)

Elaine Viets, Half-Price Homicide. I felt this one wasn't quite up to the standards of her others. It was still fun, but Helen was not a particularly sympathetic character during most of it, there was a plot twist that was hard to believe and seemed unnecessary, and the writing just wasn't as good. I know the author suffered a stroke (or possibly a heart attack - a life-threatening medical issue, at any rate) that she later recovered from, and that might well explain the difference. Still, those issues aside, her characters and setting were vivid and the book was an amusing read.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World. This is an old favorite. Very Victorian, but with a lot of action and inventiveness. Well worth reading!

Robert Hale Strong, A Yankee Private's Civil War. This is the first Civil War memoir I ever read, and I still think it's the best. Strong was a private from start to finish, so what he remembers are details of camp life and campaigning that higher-ranked memoirists may have left out. He also volunteered for a lot of extra duties that provided him with some unusual experiences, especially during the March to the Sea. His writing style is warm and personal and detailed.

Kathleen Kent, The Heretic's Daughter. I should have really liked this book. The writing is good, the author clearly felt strongly about her topic (the Salem witch trials, specifically the Carrier family, from whom the author is descended), and the picture of life at the time is vivid. But somehow I just didn't warm up to it. I thought it was a bit too florid, over-written in places, and I didn't feel connected to the main character. Several of the secondary characters were better-written and far more lifelike and interesting. I don't know ... there's nothing particularly wrong with it, but it didn't seem to grab me.