Book 8: The Seventh Bride

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher is the tale of a fifteen year old miller's daughter, who suddenly finds herself betrothed to a lord.  When she meets Lord Crevan for the first time, something about him just strikes her as wrong.  She wants more than anything to refuse his proposal; but she cannot safely do so without risking repercussions on her family.  Lord Crevan is a sorcerer and orders her to follow a magic white road at night a few days later in order to visit his house.  Once there, she discovers not only does he have five living wives and one deceases one already, but she is trapped for no one can leave the house without Lord Crevan's permission because the road is guarded by monsters that he has conjured.  With help from some of the wives and a hedgehog that she met on the way, she must finish each task that she is given by her betrothed because failure means marriage while trying to find a way to free them all.


I checked this book out through the Amazon Prime library and found it quite entertaining.  The plot and characters are not overly complex so that it reads something like a retelling of a fairy tale.  Still it was quite an enjoyable tale, and something that I would consider reading again at a future time.

Book 7: A Red Herring Without Mustard

The third book in Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series is A Red Herring Without Mustard.  Eleven year old Flavia goes in a gypsy's tent to have her fortune told, but the old woman's words startle her causing her to jump, knock over a candle, and burn the tent.  The old woman is clearly to ill to travel, so Flavia offers to let her stay at a quiet portion of Buckshaw until her health improves.  That night, Flavia wakes in the middle of the night, discovers an intruder in the house, and decides to go check on the gypsy.  Flavia finds her unconscious in her wagon with blood everywhere.  Since she doesn't seem to be dead, she rides the gypsy's horse to get the doctor then waits at the wagon for the police inspector to arrive.  The next day, she finds the previous intruder murdered and hanging from the trident of the stature of Poseidon.  Despite the inspector's obvious lack of desire for her help, Flavia begins her own investigation which result in a series of adventures ultimately ending with the solution to the mystery.


I took a break from the series originally because the second book was not as entertaining to me as the first, but the third story is back to the level of the first and I thoroughly enjoyed it enough that I am interested in continuing with the rest of the books in the series.  I would recommend it for anyone who likes a nice mystery.

Book 6: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is composite of anecdotal stories mostly coming from the current edition of the guide carried by Ford Prefect that are interspersed through a larger story of the events surrounding the main characters of Ford, Arthur, and Zaphod.  Ford Prefect a galactic hitchhiker who is working on updating the guide but became stuck on Earth for fifteen years.  While on Earth he befriends Arthur Dent and plucks him from the Earth just before it is destroyed to make way for a galactic freeway.  Meanwhile Zaphod Beetlebrox and his girlfriend Trillian steal a new starship powered by an improbability drive to find the wealth rumored to be on a planet that most people in the galaxy regard as a myth.  Along the way, they improbably pick up Ford and Arthur just after the two are dumped into open space.


The main tale surrounding the four most prominent characters is full of one improbable event after another possibly due to the fact that their ship is powered by an improbability drive, but still for me, I didn't find it very credible; however, the hilarity of the interspersed tales and the chronically depressed robot Marvin more than makes up for the oddities of the main events.  Overall I laughed often and enjoyed the book immensely.  I would recommend it for anyone looking for a humorous read and will most likely continue with the rest of the books when I find myself in need of a good laugh.

Book 5: Stormbreaker

In an effort to find more books that my 12 year old son will enjoy, I downloaded Stormbreaker by Antony Horowitz, which is the first book in his Alex Rider series.  Fourteen year old Alex lives with his uncle in England.  One night the police show up at his door and inform his housekeeper/nanny that his uncle died in a car crash because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.  It was the last statement that bothered Alex.  His uncle always wore his seat belt.  He snuck into the auto yard closest to the accident site and found his uncle's car riddled with bullets.  The next day, he is summoned to the bank where his uncle worked and discovers that his uncle actually worked for MI6.  They blackmail him into working for them to try to finish the assignment that got his uncle killed.  He tackles that project as any teenage boy might be expected full speed ahead and maneuvers through one danger after another with a combination of athleticism and luck.


I actually had only intended to read the first couple of chapters when I sat down this afternoon, but I was quickly sucked into the story.  It is fast paced and packed full of action.  Alex is very likeable and resourceful with more luck than should be possible, but I quickly found myself routing for him to not only stay alive but succeed.  Altogether an excellent story that I'm confident my picky reader will enjoy.  I enjoyed it enough that I will certainly continue with the second book of the series when I have time.

Book 4: Moon Dance

Moon Dance  by J. D. Rain is the first book in the Vampire for Hire series.  Samantha Moon was a federal agent and regular suburban housewife until six years ago when a vampire attacked her, and her entire life changed.  Now she is a private investigator working out of her home, a mom juggling the schedules of her two children, and a wife whose marriage seems to have an approaching expiration date.  She is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum, a criminal defense attorney and werewolf, who wants the attacker that shot him five times found and brought to justice.

The main character, Samantha Moon is smart and intuitive as a detective, but still clueless about being a vampire and struggling to maintain her life and family.  She is an instantly likeable character.  The plot was well written, engaging, and entertaining.  I downloaded this book for free as part of Amazon prime and was honestly surprised at how thoroughly I enjoyed the story.

Book 3: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle is a delightful collection of short stories concerning a variety of cases solved by the famous fictional detective.   Stories include "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", " A Case of Identity", "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", " The Five Orange Pips", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", "The Blue Carbuncle", "The Speckled Band", "The Engineer's Thumb", "The Noble Bachelor", "The Beryl Coronet", and "The Copper Beaches".  The cases showcase a diversity of clients of different classes with a range of problems both large and small solved in Sherlock Holmes' signature combination of keen observation and logical deduction.

An excellent read for any mystery lover or Sherlock Holmes fan.

Book 2: The Strange Library

"The Strange Library" by Murakami tells the unfortunate tale of a young boy who goes to the library and tells the librarian that he is looking  for a book.  He is sent down to a basement room where an old man brings him three old books on his topic of choice and then escorts him to the Reading Room, which turns out to be a cell.

This is my first time reading anything by Murakami.  The characters were odd but interesting.  The plot was rather eccentric but still enjoyable.  Perhaps another year I'll give a longer one of his books a try.  I think I prefer my plots to be a little more logical (even fantasy worlds have rules).

Book 1: Written in Red

No new book review this week.  I decided to reread an old favorite Written in Red by Anne Bishop, which is the first book in her fantasy series about the Others.


Here is a link to my review of the book from last year.


I plan to read the next three books currently in the series over the next few weeks while waiting for the release of the 5th book Etched in Bone on March 7th this year.