Month: October 2011

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, O, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, SERIES

2011.59 REVIEW – The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Tara

The Keeper of Lost Causes
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Translated by: Lisa Hartford

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 395
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Oct. 3– Oct. 8, 2011
Challenge: TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 59
Format: Print
Source: Library Copy

Blurb: The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first installment of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s international bestselling Department Q series, features the deeply flawed chief detective Carl Mørck, who used to be a good homicide detective – one of Copenhagen’s best. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren’t so lucky, and Carol, who didn’t draw his weapon, blames himself.

So a promotion is the last thing Carl expects.

But it all becomes clear when he sees his new office in the basement. Carl’s been selected to run Department Q, a new special investigation division that turns out to be a department of one. With a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases to keep him company, Carol has been put out to pasture. So he’s as surprised as anyone when a case actually captures his interest. A politician vanished without a trace five years earlier. The world assumes she’s dead. His colleagues snicker abou the time he’s wasting. But Carl may have the last laugh, and redeem himself in the process.

Because she isn’t dead … yet.

Review: I’m honestly torn on how to rate this book. I’m not really sure where to begin, so I’ll just start from the beginning and work my way to the end (with as few spoilers as possible, of course).

This book alternates between the perspective of Merete Lynggaard, the politician who disappeared and everyone assumes is dead, and Carl Mørck, a detective who has survivor’s guilt after being involved in a shooting where his two colleagues weren’t as lucky as he was. I must say that when I first met Carl, I was not impressed. I wanted to shake him and say, “snap out of it!” But at the same time, I understood why he was feeling like he was … one of his colleagues lost his life and the other one is permanently paralyzed after a shooting in which Carl didn’t even pull his gun. But his attitude is not very likeable and I struggled with that throughout the entire book.

The next thing Carl knows he’s getting a promotion! That would definitely be the last thing anyone would expect, but they put him in the basement with Assad as his assistant. Now, let me just say that I loved Assad’s character. There was so much to him that was so surprising! He’s definitely a good match with Carl … it was really Assad’s interest that got Carl’s interest going in the Merete Lynggaard disappearance. And as Carl continues to dig deeper (while looking like he’s not doing anything) he realizes that there’s something not quite right about the case.

So now I’m to the point where I need to explain why I’m so torn on my opinion of this book. First of all, I didn’t like Carl’s character. Not one bit. He’s a jerk, plain and simple. He doesn’t care about his job anymore. He has a major beef with one of the detectives upstairs. He practically blackmailed his superiors because he knows how much money his new department has been allocated … and he knows that his department isn’t seeing all that money. He’s just not a nice guy.

But then there’s Assad. He’s a very likeable guy. He’s intriguing because we don’t really know anything about him. Carl doesn’t even believe him when he tells him he’s from Syria; Carl thinks he might be from Iraq. He’s definitely not who he says he is, that much is very clear. And he’s not doing what Carl thinks he’s doing when he sends him up to talk to Hardy, Carl’s paralyzed colleague. But then again, it’s really Assad who pushes Carl to work hard on this case. It’s Assad who gets him interested. It’s Assad who really comes up with some great ideas to work the case with.

So I guess the next logical question would be: will I read more in this series? I’m honestly torn. I’m not sure I could stand another book of Carl’s attitude. But at the same time, I would love to know more about Assad and who he really is. Overall, I put this book at a 3.5 rating, which is somewhere between good and really good. If I had liked Carl’s character just a little bit more, I could have given it a 4, but I just can’t bring myself to do that. I think I could recommend this book to other readers, but I don’t think it would be a good fit for everybody.

Sunday Wrap-Up

Sunday Wrap-Up, October 9, 2011

Tara

Wow, what a week it has been here in our household. As those of you who follow my blog already know, Nathan had his gallbladder taken out on Tuesday. Let me just start by saying that I hope I never have to go through that, because I don’t think I would survive it. I’m too big of a baby!! So I stayed home all week taking care of him. This included waking up every 4 hours throughout the night the first few nights to give him his pain medication. And of course this was not an easy take the pill and go back to sleep deal. No, he had to eat something when he took the pill to keep the nausea at bay. So it was about a 30 minute deal every time. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I sure was glad to get a full night’s sleep on Friday night.

Needless to say, I haven’t gotten very much reading done this week. He has needed help getting up and down, to the bathroom and back, and the first night he couldn’t even lift his arm to feed himself. Apparently when you have your gallbladder taken out  laparoscopically, they pump you full of gas to expand things so they can see and this gas will eventually travel up your arm and settle in your shoulder, causing quite a bit of shoulder pain. So he had to deal with that and his stomach area where the actual incisions were made.

Like I said, it’s been a fun week 🙂 Here’s to hoping next week is better! He thinks he’s going to be able to go into work, but I highly doubt that. However, I can’t stay home another week, so at least he’s at a spot in his recovery where he doesn’t need 24/7 care.

So here’s what (little) happened here on the blog this week:

And I posted one review:

Meme, On My Wishlist

On My Wishlist, October 8, 2011

Tara

Well it’s been a long time since I participated in this meme. But I’ve got a couple of new books on my wishlist, so I will be participating the next few weeks, spotlighting one book each week. For this week ,it’s a book that was published on October 3rd and that I first found through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program (Here’s to hoping I win this book!!)

 From LibraryThing: When he resigned last June, Justice Stevens was the third longest serving Justice in American history (1975-2010)—only Justice William O. Douglas, whom Stevens succeeded, and Stephen Field have served on the Court for a longer time.

In Five Chiefs, Justice Stevens captures the inner workings of the Supreme Court via his personal experiences with the five Chief Justices—Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and John Roberts—that he interacted with. He reminisces of being a law clerk during Vinson’s tenure; a practicing lawyer for Warren; a circuit judge and junior justice for Burger; a contemporary colleague of Rehnquist; and a colleague of current Chief Justice John Roberts. Along the way, he will discuss his views of some the most significant cases that have been decided by the Court from Vinson, who became Chief Justice in 1946 when Truman was President, to Roberts, who became Chief Justice in 2005.

Packed with interesting anecdotes and stories about the Court, Five Chiefs is an unprecedented and historically significant look at the highest court in the United States

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, Scot Harvath, SERIES, T

2011.58 REVIEW – State of the Union by Brad Thor

Tara

State of the Union
by Brad Thor

Copyright: 2004
Pages: 523
Rating: 4/5
Read: Sept. 25– Oct. 2, 2011
Challenge: Take a Chance 3 Challenge
Yearly Count: 58
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: With the fragile peace between the world’s nations shattered, Harvath must unravel a brilliantly orchestrated, fiendishly timed conspiracy intent upon bringing the United States to its knees. Teamed with beautiful Russian Intelligence agent Alexandra Ivanova and a highly trained CIA paramilitary detachment, Harvath races from the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., to the streets of Berlin, the coast of Finland, and into the heart of Mother Russia herself before returning home for a final showdown with an enemy from America’s past more sinister and deadly than has even been seen before…

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! Having liked the previous book (Path of the Assassin), but not really enjoying the whole Middle Eastern theme involved, I was really excited to read about Cold War-era Russian spies. For me, that’s more up my alley than the what the previous book dealt with. This book was definitely action packed. Scot Harvath manages to find himself in all kinds of trouble, no matter where he goes, it seems! And his sense of loyalty to those closest to him is amazing, he definitely puts himself in harm’s way for his friend, mentor  and boss, Gary Lawlor. I am definitely enjoying this series. We didn’t get to see a lot of Meg in this installment, but hopefully in the next book we will get to learn more about her and Scot and where they go to.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Might be quiet for a couple of days…

Tara

So today is D-Day for the husband. He’s getting his gallbladder out today. That means that I will be playing nurse for a few days. So it’s doubtful that I will be reading very much or have much time on the internet. It all depends on how big of a baby he turns out to be 🙂 See y’all in a couple of days!!

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, October 3, 2011

Tara

Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with October’s location being at Savvy Verse & Wit.

Okay, so technically I’m cheating this week. I didn’t have anything arrive in my mailbox, but I did buy three new books at Wal-Mart. **BAD TARA!**

 A hydroelectric dam blows up and the largest off-shore oil field in the hemisphere is destroyed, killing legions of Americans and bringing the country’s largest energy company to its knees. Among the survivors lies a mysterious oil platform worker and America’s best hope for retribution: Dewey Andreas, a former Army Ranger and Delta who is dead-set on following the trail of the terrorists. As intelligence and law enforcement agencies scramble to untangle the Capitana disaster and unearth those responsible, the mysterious figure of Alexander Fortuna – an agent embedded into the highest levels of American society and business – sets into play the next of many long-planned assaults on the U.S. economic infrastructure. Now it’s up to Dewey to put a stop to him … before it’s too late.

 Called on by family friend and government bigwig Earl Parker to chaperone Tillman Davis from Southeast Asia to D.C., Gideon will rely on his peerless tactical skills. But when the hand-off goes awry and Parker is taken hostage, Gideon must evade hostile locals in war-torn Mohan to make his way to a multimillion-dollar oil rig that has been seized by Tillman’s terrorist faction. With the help of rig manager Kate Murphy, Gideon has 48 hours to bring in the man he once called his brother – before a twisted global conspiracy turns deadly.

 Buried within the black ops budgets of the Department of Defense, a newly created spy agency reports only to a secret panel of military insiders. Its job is to target America’s enemies – both foreign and domestic – under a charter of three simple words: Find, Fix, and Finish. When a bombing in Rome kills a group of American college students, the evidence points to a dangerous colleague from Harvath’s past. Tasked with leveraging this relationship to lure the man out of hiding, Harvath must destroy him. But what if it is the wrong man? In Chicago a young woman is struck by a taxi in a hit-and-run, and the family’s attorney uncovers a shocking connection to the Rome bombing. Harvath must link together the disparate violence, and race to prevent one of the most audacious and unthinkable acts of war in the history of mankind.

Sunday Wrap-Up

Sunday Wrap-Up, October 2, 2011

Tara

Wow. October already. I can’t believe it. I have no clue where this year has gone. The years just keep flying by. I guess everyone feels this way, I’m just so not used to it. I never experienced it until I was out of college, which has been longer than I can even think possible! Anyway, it’s been a crazy last few weeks for us. As most of you know, the hubs had a surgery consultation about having his gallbladder removed. We are scheduled for 6:30am on Tuesday morning, so this coming week is going to be tough on our household. I will be taking off work at least Tuesday and Wednesday and probably Thursday and Friday if I need to in order to play nurse. I figure by Friday he’ll want me (and the dog … I take my dog to work, lol) out of the house. So there probably won’t be much going on here at the blog in the coming week. I’ve been working on getting my review index formatted in a way that better suits me (check it out, it’s makes me feel good because I learned some new HTML!) plus I’ve started up two new side blogs (Series Obsessed and Link Obsessed) to keep track of all the series that I read as well as a blog that’s just going to focus on my lists. I haven’t linked the list blog yet, I just started it. Oh and I also added a nifty jump to on my Acquired & Read in 2011 lists. I’m proud of that too. So I’ve been pretty busy with formatting things the way I want them and I will probably put in way too much time on those projects in the coming weeks. I’ve been reading, but I find that Brad Thor books are more time-consuming than the other books I read … I have to pay more attention to them, but I am really enjoying this series. So now that I’ve rambled on longer than I should have, here’s what you might have missed this past week on the blog:

And two reviews:

So that’s about all I’ve got for today. We are going to Nashville to see 3 Doors Down & Theory of a Deadman in concert tonight, that was my birthday gift to Nathan. Buster is at the kennel and the house feels so empty without him 😦

I hope everyone has a great up-coming week! I’m off to read some more out of State of the Union by Brad Thor!

Quarterly Update

Reading Update – Third Quarter, 2011

Tara
  • Challenge Status:
    • Criminal Plots Reading Challenge (5/6 books read – 83% completed)
    • Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge (12/12 books read – 100% completed)
    • Take a Chance Challenge 3 (5/10 books read – 50% completed)
    • The TBR Dare (17/20 books read – 85% completed) – Challenge expired; goal not met.
    • TwentyEleven Challenge (16/20 books read – 80% completed)
    • What’s in a Name 4 Challenge (5/6 books read – 83% completed)
  • Finished: 25
  • Abandoned:
  • Fiction: 22
  • Non-Fiction: 3
  • New-to-Me-Author: 14
  • Female Authors: 8
  • Male Authors: 14
  • Books in a Series: 13
  • Review Books: 7
  • Books I Own: 12
  • Library Books: 5

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Series That I Started This Quarter:

  1. Mickey Haller by Harlan Coben
  2. 87th Precinct by Ed McBain
  3. Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels by J.A. Konrath
  4. Scot Harvath by Brad Thor
  5. Max Freeman
  6. Jack Morgan

Series That I Caught Up With This Quarter:

  1. The Camel Club by David Baldacci
  2. Maggie O’Dell by Alex Kava
  3. Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles by Tess Gerritsen

Series That I Worked On This Quarter:

  1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – I am re-reading this series

Books That I Read That Are Part of a Series, but Picked Up in the Middle of the Series This Quarter:

Monthly Wrap Up

September 2011 Monthly Wrap-Up

Tara

September was another really good reading month. I read some really good books and am very pleased with where I stand for the year right now. I was also glad  to know that I didn’t bring in too many books this month, I definitely need a break from that 🙂

Visually:

Statistically: