5 book reviews for today:
The Family Corleone by Edward Falco – This book is a prequel to The Godfather (by Mario Puzo) and traces the rise of the Corleones from one of many “gangster” families in New York City in the 1930s to the primary crime syndicate family in the New York City area. The book has a strong plot and interesting characters. The story is inherently violent, but there was not gratuitous violence or sex. The audio version was well done. A-
The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey – Kate Crane is a ballerina in a New York company but has seemingly always been upstaged by her younger sister, Meg. But, now, Meg is back home in Grand Rapids for a “medical issue”. As Kate’s story unfolds, we learn about the world of ballet, but also about the complicated relationship between sisters. I also listened to this book on audio, which I very much enjoyed. A
Deadly Little Secrets: The Minister, His Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder by Kathryn Casey – These true crime books are like a guilty pleasure for me. I know that they don’t really add anything of value to my life, but I find them fascinating anyway. I particularly am interested in books about clergy who commit heinous crimes. How did no one see their character flaws before this? How did they get through college and seminary without someone suspecting that all was not right with them? This book told an interesting story of a minister who murdered his wife so he could be with his mistress and the investigation that finally led to a conviction. It’s an intriguing tale. B
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling – I had heard that this book was amazing and that it was awful. I had no idea what to think when I picked it up. First of all, it is NOT a children’s book!! The language and situations are appropriate for adults and not even for teenagers, to my mind. That being said, it is an excellent book. The story line sounds kind of thin – a member of the town council dies suddenly, leaving a “casual vacancy” on the council that must be filled – but it gets filled in by lots of surrounding drama. The strength of this book is the characters. Rowling does an excellent job of making the characters come alive and making you want to care about them, even the least lovable. I strongly recommend this book. A+
The Story of Cirrus Flux by Matthew Skelton – We read this book aloud as a family a few weeks ago. We chose it because we had listened to Endymion Spring, another book by Matthew Skelton, a few years ago on audio. I prefer Endymion Spring because it is more complex and because of it’s historical roots and being set in the library in Oxford. Cirrus Flux is a good book, though. It is the story of the orphan, Cirrus Flux, an orphan in 19th century London, whose father left him a mysterious artifact that a bunch of adults all seem to want. Oh, yeah, and he gets to ride in a hot air balloon that is powered by a bird whose wings set on fire. There’s cool stuff like that in the book. Overall, a good book. A-
What have you been reading?
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