Pen and Pixel

The Cutting Place by Jane Casey My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was serialized in The Times (UK). It is an urban police procedural, female protagonist, a bit less gritty and lyrical than the Dublin Murder Squad books, but a pleasant diversion. Apparently this is the ninth in a series with these characters. I don't feel inspired to go back and read the earlier books in the series, but that isn't a knock on this book. It was compelling enough that I almost downloaded the book via Kindle UK so I wouldn't have to wait for the next installment, which I think says something. The characters are well-drawn, the mystery itself engaging. So, not a waste of my time by any means. View all my reviews

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre My rating: 0 of 5 stars This book was a bit spoiled for me (through no fault of its own) because about halfway through the first chapter I realized I knew what was going to happen--2 nights before I had watched the first episode of Spy Wars on the Smithsonian channel. The entire episode is about the same man as this book is. *sigh* The timing couldn't have been worse. That said, the book is well-written, and exhaustively detailed without being exhausting. If you enjoy tales of moral grey-areas, espionage, Britain, Scandinavia, Russia, the USSR...this is right up your alley. For myself, while I love a good action-packed Bond flick as much as the next person, my preference has always been shows like Sandbaggers (the British series about a small unit in MI6, the first episode of which I think was very much influenced by this real-life story) and Spooks/MI-5 : t...

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane My rating: 3 of 5 stars My reactions to this book are complicated. Reading blurbs about Lehane's prose and narrative style, I can see why the reviewers say those things. Lyrical, sophisticated, noir, and all the other adjectives. Okay, maybe he's brilliant. Maybe. If so, I missed it somehow. I'll give him this--he has a deft hand an creating complex, partially revealed characters with sparse prose and even sparser dialogue. That's hard to do, and he succeeds. He isn't shy about revealing how people can have contradictory character traits and find a way to live with that. And, ultimately, I get the impression that he finds people fascinating, and, on the whole, likes them--sins and all. Perhaps even because of their sins. I don't know. But I end up not being happy I read the book, or met these characters. I don't feel enlarged by them intellectually or emotionally. In fact, I feel even dirtier...

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan My rating: 3 of 5 stars To my surprise I very much enjoyed the first 80% of this book. I was disappointed by what I consider a facile resolution, and I wanted better for some and of some of the characters, but despite that last-minute let down, I don't feel my time was wasted. View all my reviews