A Hole in the Universe by Mary McGarry Morris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can tell by reading the first few pages, then the rest of chapter 1 that this is going to be a GOOD book!

[UPDATE]
It was a great read. All about surviving the urban war zone.
[/UPDATE]

Why? Because the main character is interesting, a big "Loomer" of a man who was imprisoned for murdering a young woman before he was out of public school.

The story begins with him going for a job interview in his first week out of prison where he had been for 25 years. His brother had set up this interview for Loomer, and loomer just wanted to go somewhere and be alone.

It did not go well. He just wanted a stockboy job at the local grocery store in his childhood home neighborhood (which has turned into a slum war zone in the 25 years of Loomer’s imprisonment), and his brother wanted Loomer to have a "real" job.

That’s just the first chapter, and that’s where I stopped. I’ll let you know if the book keeps up in that fast moving way.






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The Passage by Justin Cronin

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

766 pages of boring words.



I read 4 or 5 pages, skimmed a ways. Gave up.



Nothing happened. Nothing was clear. Nothing to keep me interested.



No character became "real" to me.



Maybe this says more about me than the book, BUT…. I don’t think so.



The author is capable of churning out page after page of words, I’ll give him that.



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A Hole in the Universe by Mary McGarry Morris

I can tell by reading the first few pages, then the rest of chapter 1 that this is going to be a GOOD book!

Why? Because the main character is interesting, a big "Loomer" of a man who was imprisoned for murdering a young woman before he was out of public school.

The story begins with him going for a job interview in his first week out of prison where he had been for 25 years. His brother had set up this interview for Loomer, and loomer just wanted to go somewhere and be alone.

It did not go well. He just wanted a stockboy job at the local grocery store in his childhood home neighborhood (which has turned into a slum war zone in the 25 years of Loomer’s imprisonment), and his brother wanted Loomer to have a "real" job.

That’s just the first chapter, and that’s where I stopped. I’ll let you know if the book keeps up in that fast moving way.






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The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun book to read. Elizabeth Peters must be the Queen of Archaeological Mysteries.

She’s an old-timey kind of writer… I think the bio of the author tells it all (paraphrasing from memory): a woman gets a PhD in Egyptology in 1934 from the University of Chicago and discovers there are NO JOBS available for her in the whole freakin’ world… that’s not the novel, that’s the Elizabeth Peters’ experience.

I’m glad she finally discovered her novelist voice because it’s a good one.

NOW TO THE BOOK… Takes place in London in and about the British Museum "mummy room" etc. Amelia (the hero of the book) and her husband become involved in solving a murder which took place there. Much running about in the London of 1905 (plus or minus a couple) ensues. Lots of ambiance and interesting and amusing plot twists.

If you want the kick in the pants kind of thriller so popular today you won’t find it in this book. The Deeds of the Disturber is a much more relaxed kind of experience.





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lets see what this does!

just want to see if this thing is now working!