Fear of the Dark Walter Mosely

Mosely is a terrific crime writer, but what I like most is his ability to create characters, and his ability to evoke the flavor of time and place. In this case Los Angeles in the early 1950's, when Compton was a more pleasant place, but where racism was part of the lives of his characters. And crime was frequent-at least for his characters. I grew up in Los Angeles, but this was more a time of my parents than mine. Feels like Raymond Chandler and Chinatown.If they made a movie of this novel, I'd be one of the first ones in line.

Say When Elizabeth Berg

The story of a marriage coming apart; told from the perspective of the man, who must decide whether to fight for his marriage or flee.The author says in the Q&A at the end that she hopes maybe this is a cautionary tale-"Don't take people for granted. Check in with each other often and in a serious and respectful way. Try to head off problems before they become too severe." The author did a good job with characterization, and I liked the way it came out.

Songs Without Words Ann Packer

There was something so very familiar about this book, about the authors style, that I kept thinking I must have read other of her books. But something very odd had happened to me when I got this at Barnes and Noble. I didn't chose it. I didn't, but it was in my bag when I got home, and it was the first book my hand found when it dove into the bag, in a hurry, on my way to coffee. And I don't think I did ever read her books.
So I read the reviews, and two struck me. One from the Winston-Salem Journal said "A novel of friendship so authentic and complex that one cannot read it wwithout examining the subtleties of one's own friendships." And another said "Her characters step out of the pages and into your heart." It is about friendships, a troubled teen-age girl, and the relationship between her two parents-what I loved was the way each character had had his/her own voice, and I loved the detailed descriptions of each person.
So now I will go look for other of this authors works.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim David Sedaris

I have read other books by this author. ( Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Naked ) He is hard to describe; most reviews say he is funny, but he is also sad. I liked the review that said ... the sort of blithely sophisticated, loopy humor that might have resulted if Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had had a love child. And the review that described one of his other books as Christmas stories collected in one slender volumn perfect for use as a last-minute coaster or ice scraper. He writes about his very interestingly disfunctional Greek family, introspective but honest, and usually funny.

The Woods Harlan Coben

This is a really involved story of a twenty year old murder of four teenagers at a summer camp. Really kept you guessing about who did it, and who was buried where, until the last page.

Fortunate Son Walter Mosely

The book notes say" a fierce little fable of loyalty and redemption" It said that you'd be on the edge of your seat by the final pages; actually I was all the way thru. I love Walter Mosely's writing. His usual character is a LA detective named Easy Rawlins, and this one is a little different, but I loved it.
At the end of the book there is a Q&A, and an interview with the author. He says the wonderful thing about mysteries is that you can bring people into different worlds. This one is LA, and this summer I got to go to Key West, and all over the place with Alex Cross.

Fortunate Son Walter Mosely

The book notes say" a fierce little fable of loyalty and redemption" It said that you'd be on the edge of your seat by the final pages; actually I was all the way thru. I love Walter Mosely's writing. His usual character is a LA detective named Easy Rawlins, and this one is a little different, but I loved it.
At the end of the book there is a Q&A, and an interview with the author. He says the wonderful thing about mysteries is that you can bring people into different worlds. This one is LA, and this summer I got to go to Key West, and all over the place with Alex Cross.

Mary, Mary James Patterson

An Alex Cross mystery. Alex is a psychiatrist who works for the FBI. This one is about a serial killer. Of course he comes after Alex. I like these; they are cetainly engaging.

Gumbo Limbo Tom Corcoran

Cheap escapist fiction. Evidently Jimmy Buffet is a big fan of this author; takes place in Key West. An easy read. Jon found this one in his first class United seat pocket. Jon wasn't as desperate as I was.