"The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

Synopsis:
The Cuckoo's Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.


You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Review:
After reading the first page, I realized that I like J.K. Rowling's writing style.  Despite being out of my comfort zone (I'm not a fan of murder mysteries), I found this book to be well-written and engaging.  I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads because I couldn't think of anything at all I would have changed about the book (which doesn't happen very often).  I was a little concerned at first at the length of the book (455 pages) but I read it in just a few days because I found it so captivating and enjoyable.  Even though I am not one for remembering minute details, I liked that I was not able to guess whodunnit, but that could just be me.

I intend to read the rest of the books in the series, including the new book coming out in 2017, unless the others in the series aren't as enjoyable and well-written.  However, I have decided, based on how much I enjoyed this book, that I might actually try reading J.K. Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy" as well.  We'll see what 2017 brings.

Read on,
Paula

Year-end recap 2016

1.  Best book(s) I read in 2016: "Circus" by Claire Battershill, "The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith, "Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye, and "Poles apart" by Terry Fallis

2.  Most disappointing book of 2016: "The view from the cheap seats" by Neil Gaiman

3.  Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2016: "The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

4.  Books I recommended most to people in 2016: "Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye

5.  Best series I discovered in 2016: The Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

6.  Favourite new author(s) of 2016: Claire Battershill

7.  Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2016: "The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

8.  Book I most anticipated in 2016: "The Grain Brain whole life plan" by David Perlmutter

9.  Favourite cover of a book I read in 2016: 

10. Most memorable character in 2016: Cormoran Strike

11. Most beautifully written book of 2016: It's a tie between "Circus" by Claire Battershill and "What is not yours is not yours" by Helen Oyeyemi

12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2016: "The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2016: "Spark joy" by Marie Kondo

14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2016 to FINALLY read: "The song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller

15. Book I read in 2016 that would most likely be reread in 2017: "Circus" by Claire Battershill

16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc.  No spoilers!): "The slow fix" by Ivan Coyote

Some fun stats:
Books completed: 46
Goodreads Reading Challenge goal: 40
Books by male authors: 17
Books by female authors: 28
Fiction: 21
Non-fiction: 25
Children's books: 9
YA books: 0
E-books: 3
Did not finish (DNF): 3
Re-reads: 0
Translated books: 0
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 0

Read on,
Paula

"What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours" by Helen Oyeyemi

Synopsis:
The key to a house, the key to a heart, the key to a secret—Oyeyemi’s keys not only unlock elements of her characters’ lives, they promise further labyrinths on the other side. In “Books and Roses” one special key opens a library, a garden, and clues to at least two lovers’ fates. In “Is Your Blood as Red as This?” an unlikely key opens the heart of a student at a puppeteering school. “‘Sorry’ Doesn’t Sweeten Her Tea” involves a “house of locks,” where doors can be closed only with a key—with surprising, unobservable developments. And in “If a Book Is Locked There’s Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think,” a key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason). 

Oyeyemi’s tales span multiple times and landscapes as they tease boundaries between coexisting realities. Is a key a gate, a gift, or an invitation?

Review:
I read this book because Simon from The Readers podcast mentioned it on his Booktube (aka YouTube) review.  It's mid-December and I haven't quite completed my Goodreads 2016 Reading Challenge so I've been seeking out titles to help me accomplish that.  I'm glad I decided to actually read it because I enjoyed it very much.

The book is a collection of short stories.  Although they are all meant to have the theme of keys, there were a few where the key wasn't as obvious to me as in the others.  The stories are lightly interconnected; characters from other stories are mentioned but play no part in the story you're reading.  Simon mentions that they are fairy tale-like and there are some where this is more obvious, especially the one with the red cape and the "wolf".  However, none of them seem to me to be retellings of the "famous" (Western world) fairy tales.  They just require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief because of the tangled realities.

Because it is a book of short stories, I found it hard to follow the plot/story sometimes because of short, interrupted reading (a short lunch break, for example).  But I found the writing compelling, even in the weird stories that I didn't "get", enough to continue reading.

As a single (aromantic asexual) white female, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the fluidity of gender relationships in this book.  This book talks indirectly about romantic relationships as if the ideal world already existed where the gender of who you love is irrelevant.  In a book where labels were not affixed, it made me realize that the labels for same-sex relationships are too harsh for what they represent.  Especially in this book where relationships are not always the focus of the story/plot.

The first story in the collection, "Books and Roses", was my absolute favourite.  I LOVED it.  I took a break after reading it just so I could contemplate the various threads and how they interwove.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fairy tales that aren't exactly fairy tales, light fantasy, and/or short stories in general.

Read on,
Paula

"The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan" by David Perlmutter

Synopsis:

With more than a million copies sold worldwide, Dr. Perlmutter's books have changed many lives.  Now, he's created a practical, comprehensive program that lowers the risk for brain ailments while yielding other benefits, such as weight loss, relief from chronic conditions, and total body rejuvenation.  Science-based and highly accessible, THE GRAIN BRAIN WHOLE LIFE PLAN expands upon the core advice from Dr. Perlmutter's previous works, and introduces new information about the advantages of eating more fat, fewer carbs, and nurturing the microbiome.  Including original recipes, tips and tricks for common challenges, meal plans, and advice on everything from sleep hygiene to stress management, exercise, supplements, and more, THE GRAIN BRAIN WHOLE LIFE PLAN shows how to live happily and healthily ever after.

Review:

I am rather biased because I first read Perlmutter's book, "Grain Brain" last year.  I own it and "The Grain Brain Cookbook".  I am very grateful to Hachette and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of his upcoming book, "The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan".

I am one of those generalized people that Dr. Perlmutter mentions in his introduction.  Going Primal/paleo/following the Grain Brain principles relieved my depression, almost-daily headaches, and frequent heartburn.  My brain is everything to me and the threat of Alzheimer's disease is the scariest possible future; I changed what I eat to thwart that likelihood.

The "Grain Brain Whole Life Plan" is a perfect balance for people who have never read his other books (giving an overview of his thesis) and people familiar with his work (adding new information).  I particularly enjoyed it because it motivated me to switch back to the Grain Brain lifestyle from paleo.

Aside from an abundance of references to his website, I liked the book a lot because (like his previous books) he discusses science-based research studies and what they mean in relation to how our bodies function on the small scale.

As a hobby chef, I found some of the provided recipes to be a little bit fancy for everyday people.  I live in a small town where some of the ingredients used would require a special trip to the city.  But then, I live in Canada so maybe things like jicama and juniper berries are more common in the U.S.  On the other hand, I'm excited to try roasted onion with balsamic vinegar in a salad!

Overall, I'm glad I read this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to be healthier.

Read on,

Paula

P.S. I received this book for free from the publisher for review consideration. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Year-end book recap 2015

1.  Best book(s) I read in 2015: "Ratscalibur" by Josh Lieb, "The readers of Broken Wheel recommend" by Katarina Bivald, "Stone mattress" by Margaret Atwood, and "Spinster" by Kate Bolick

2.  Most disappointing book of 2015: "Go set a watchman" by Harper Lee

3.  Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2015: "The time of your life" by Margaret Trudeau

4.  Books I recommended most to people in 2015: "Rising strong" by Brene Brown and "Big magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert

5.  Best series I discovered in 2015: Although it's not listed as such, "Ratscalibur" by Josh Lieb ends on a cliffhanger which could mean the beginning of a series.  I so hope this is the first in a series!!

6.  Favourite new author(s) of 2015: I look forward to seeing what else Erika Swyler and Katarina Bivald write in the future

7.  Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2015: None this year but "The Martian" by Andy Weir was close

8.  Book I most anticipated in 2015: "Go set a watchman" by Harper Lee

9.  Favourite cover of a book I read in 2015: "Ratscalibur" by Josh Lieb

10. Most memorable character in 2015: Owen Wedgwood from "Cinnamon and gunpowder" by Eli Brown

11. Most beautifully written book of 2015: "The book of speculation" by Erika Swyler

12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2015: "The Yard" by Alex Grecian; the series have such interesting covers but I found this book more gory than I thought it would be and I'm disappointed that I don't think I can read the rest.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2015: It's a tie between "Big magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert and "Rising strong" by Brene Brown

14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2015 to FINALLY read: "The Penguin complete Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle

15. Book I read in 2015 that would most likely be reread in 2016: "Ratscalibur" by Josh Lieb

16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc.  No spoilers!): "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Some fun stats:
Books completed: 50
Books by male authors: 28
Books by female authors: 22
Fiction: 21
Non-fiction: 19
Children's books: 10
YA books: 0
E-books: 2
Did not finish (DNF): 4
Re-reads: 0
Translated books: 1 (Swedish)
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 0

Read on,
Paula

Why I don't read as diversely as I could

Yesterday I started reading "Don't Let Anything Dull Your Sparkle: How To Break Free of Negativity & Drama" by Doreen Virtue.  Although Doreen Virtue is known for her spiritual/new age books, this one (so far?) appears to be a non-spiritual book.  At least, that's what I'm hoping for.  One of the things I enjoy about human life is how events, thoughts, ideas, etc. all mix together in the mind and then sometimes combine to make a better idea or to create an epiphany.  This happened to me yesterday.  I was reading the Doreen Virtue book after spending hours listening to book-related podcasts (The Readers, Book Riot, and Books on the Nightstand to be precise).  And that's when I read this:

Studies show that we can become traumatized by hearing about another person's trauma." (p.4)

 I realized that this is why I do not read as diversely as I could.  I didn't know the exact reasoning behind why until now.  Although I am sure that the books I pass up for this reason have their own merits and value in the world, I find I just cannot read books about abuse, violence, manipulative psychopaths, war, etc.  Everyone has been raving about "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.  I listened to the Overdue podcast episode about it just so someone who had read it would tell me what the big deal/secret was: manipulative psychopaths.  Frequently, books by diverse authors and authors of colour are books about overcoming hardship.  Typically, that hardship takes the form of abuse, violence, and/or war.  "Beloved" by Toni Morrison deals with the topic of slavery, and according to the synopsis on Goodreads '[Sethe] has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened'.  Who wants to read about hideous things?  Despite reading the Book Riot article in defense of reading offensive books, I will continue to read whatever I want to read even if it's not as diverse as someone else thinks it should be.  However, I am not saying I will never read a book that has diverse settings, topics, authors, etc.  I voluntarily read "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee last year because it was not in my assigned reading in school.  I enjoyed it very much.  I'm guessing because it was pretty tame as far as racism goes and didn't have gory details.  I do not like being scared; this is the reason why I don't read murder mysteries or crime novels either.  Sure, I could read diversely and feel so much better about my somewhat-privileged white North American life.  But as a person who reads for plot more than anything else, I highly doubt many diverse books would appeal to me.  I recently read "The Book of Speculation" by Erika Swyler.  If the main characters had been of a different ethnic background, I would still have enjoyed the book.  I read and enjoyed "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.  I enjoy a fair amount of LGBT writing, especially that of Ivan Coyote and Caethes Faron.

So I guess I could say that I read diversely in the same way that I read in general: by whim.  If a book plot sounds attractive enough for me to read the book, I don't care about the gender and/or ethnicity of the author and/or characters.  To me, reading is all about the content and plot.

Read on,
Paula

"The Book of Speculation" by Erika Swyler

Synopsis:
Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone on the Long Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the edge of a cliff that is slowly crumbling into the sea. His parents are long dead, his mother having drowned in the water his house overlooks.


One day, Simon receives a mysterious book from an antiquarian bookseller; it has been sent to him because it is inscribed with the name Verona Bonn, Simon's grandmother. Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his family history, before fate deals its next deadly hand.

Review:
Fascinating, captivating, enchanting.  I read the edition with the above image; my only complaint about the book is that this image bears no resemblance to the contents of the book.  And without reading the synopsis before reading the book, you don't find out until the second page that the story is from a male main character's perspective.  Given that I am a female and there is a female on the cover, I figured it would be a female narrator...I was wrong.

Okay, so based on the synopsis, you know that there is a mysterious book involved.  So I can say that I love how the mysterious book moves forward and the main plot moves backward through time until they meet up.  As I was nearing the end of the book, I suspected what would happen.  I came home with 10 pages left to read but didn't read them at work, fearing that I would cry at the end.  As always, I love a happy ending so I'm glad I was only mostly right.  I loved this book.  I think I would have loved it more if I had been able to read it in fewer chunks (work/life gets in the way of reading time).  Because the two stories are interwoven in the novel, it can be disjointing to read, especially if you don't have enough time to get caught up in both stories.  That happened later in the book for me.  That's why I would like to reread it so that I can absorb more of the details that probably got lost on me because of the choppiness of my reading time.  I did love this book though.  I loved the imagery and the details in the writing.  And this is only Erika Swyler's first novel.  I will keep an eye out for her future work!

Read on,
Paula

Warning: a proliferation of exclamation points ensues (my review of "Ratscalibur" by Josh Lieb)

Can't I please give it 10 stars instead of 5?  Pretty please?

Oh man, it's like a rat King Arthur meets Lord of the Rings!  It's an adventure fantasy story with all the tropes associated with those genres.  It's got humour, sadness, a tiny bit of romance, and lots of ragic (rat magic).  Gondorff the Grey, Ravalon, and the Spork in the Scone!  Come on, who wouldn't want to read that?

I listened to the unabridged audiobook version and loved it so much that I'm buying myself a hardcover copy so I can read it to my pet rats.  And best of all?  There's a cliffhanger!!!  That means there will be more!!!  (And maybe the series could be turned into a movie?!?!)  Finally, a rat-positive book...and it's awesome!

Oh, and the mom is a redhead.  Two thumbs up for that.

Read on,
Paula

"Go set a watchman" controversy

I loved "To Kill A Mockingbird".  Despite all the rumours and conspiracy theories floating around regarding "Go Set A Watchman", I do intend to read it.  I wasn't going to at first.  The thing that changed my mind?  Jeff O'Neill of the BookRiot Podcast made a very important point: regardless of all that's going on now, Harper Lee wrote the book with the intention of publishing it.  Even though her publisher convinced her instead to write what became "To Kill A Mockingbird", Harper Lee meant for this book to be published and read.  Unless it has been edited prior to publication, it probably won't be quite as honed and polished as TKAM.  But I am still willing to read it based on how much I enjoyed reading TKAM.

Read on,
Paula

The complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

First off, I have to say that I did myself a disservice by reading "Dust and Shadow" by Lyndsay Faye before reading the original source material because Doyle's writing style is MUCH simpler.  I loved Faye's Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel about Jack the Ripper and am aware of the global fascination/adoration for Sherlock Holmes.  I read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in high school but could only vaguely remember it.

I liked "A Study in Scarlet" because not only was it a mystery solved by Sherlock but it was also a story told by the culprit about the history of Mormons in Utah and the civil war in India.  The writing style and historical detail made it a fascinating story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I liked "The Five Orange Pips" for the historical lessons about the Ku Klux Klan that sent me to Google about their disbandment in 1869.

Perhaps when the short stories were published in a magazine for the general masses they may have been more suspenseful and exciting.  The more of them I read, the more formulaic they seemed to me.  They weren't thrilling mysteries to solve but threads to follow to the end where everything was neatly tied up.

One of the most annoying things about the Sherlock Holmes stories was the sprinkling of untranslated foreign phrases where context couldn't help with deciphering.  I was thoroughly happy to discover that someone had compiled them all in one spot and explained them.

The way people talk about Moriarty, I figured he would be in at least more than one story but he's NOT.  I was completely disappointed because the whole mythology behind Moriarty as Holmes' arch nemesis has no basis other than Holmes' own word in the one story.  So much has been made of Moriarty that you just expect to see him show up in more than just one story.  And then the actual writing of Moriarty was a let-down because other people's interpretations are far more detailed than the original story where Moriarty himself is more of a shadow figure than a real character.

Much has been made (and implied) about Holmes and Watson's relationship, considering that they lived together as roommates.  So I was utterly surprised when Watson meets his future wife in "The Sign of the Four" and is already married in "A Scandal in Bohemia".  Holmes and Watson don't actually live together for very long until after Holmes' faked death.

Mike from the Book Fight podcast wants to know: "Is Sherlock Holmes supposed to be a giant dick? Why does Watson keep working for him?"  I wondered this often myself.  "The Hound of the Baskervilles" triggered this question when Holmes sends Watson off to work on the mystery without him and then later in the story reveals that he's been working the case anyway.  In "The Final Problem", we meet Moriarty (for the only time) and the story ends with Moriarty and Holmes falling into the gorge at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.  In the next story, "The Adventure of the Empty House", Holmes has been 'dead' for three years when he suddenly reappears and can't understand why Watson faints at the sight of him.  When Watson recovers and asks how Holmes survived and where he's been the last three years, Holmes basically says, "We'll talk about it later.  Right now we have work to do."  The deeper I got into the Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes, the less I liked him.

I decided not to finish reading all of the Sherlock Holmes stories.  I gave up at the beginning of "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" when Holmes mentions vampires in Transylvania.  I was severely disappointed in the source material.  For me, the widespread popularity and legend of the Sherlock Holmes character is blown way out of proportion from the original source material.  Although I like his logical skills of deduction, the man himself is not a very nice person.  Dr. Gregory House of the TV show "House, M.D." is supposed to be a Sherlockian character with similar logical skills of deduction.  In the beginning of the series, I very much liked the show but, over time, House, like Sherlock, shows that he's not a very nice person and I lose interest.

I wouldn't mind reading more Sherlock Holmes pastiche such as "The House of Silk" by Anthony Horowitz but I doubt any of them will be as fascinating and gripping as Lyndsay Faye's novel.

Read on,

Paula