Treachery in Bordeaux]★½ by Jean-Pierre Alaux

Series/ Progress:	Winemaker Detective Mysteries  1/10
DATE READ:	February 16 - February 29
NO. OF PAGES:	144
Type of Book	e-book
SOURCE:	NetGalley
	I'm not sure whether it was the writing or the translation but I had a very difficult time getting into the story.  It seemed to move rather slowly and didn't hold my interest.  I will revisit at another time to see if I can get through at a later date.

Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

ABANDONED


I heard about this book with Sherlock Holmes' brother as the central character and was really looking forward to reading it.  

However, I was doomed to disappointment.  The characters were dull, very 2 dimensional, the dialogue was stilted.  I couldn't even bear to continue through more than the first 100 pages.

★½

GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Mycroft Holmes, Cyrus Douglas, Georgiana Sutton
DATE READ: October 24 - November 9
NO. OF PAGES: 96
Challenges: abandoned
SOURCE: Public Library

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I won't even begin to try to tell the tale of this depressing, dragged out tale of murder and alcoholism.

I would have abandoned the entire book 60 pages in but since it was my book club selection I had to persevere.  I had it figured out very quickly and it really didn't hold my interest.

Can't figure out what the big hoopla was all about but I can tell you that I won't be going to see the movie when it's made.

★½

GENRE: Thriller
CHARACTERS: Rachel, Tom, Anna, Megan, Scott, Det. Gaskill
DATE READ: September 10 - September 11
NO. OF PAGES: 336
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI , AlphaKit
SOURCE: audio book  Library


SO SAD THAT BOOK #100 WAS SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT.

Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings

ABANDONED

This author must have either been writing his thesis or being paid by the syllable/name/stats that were used, because after 100 pages I'd had too many stats, too many minuscule details, and too many names which meant absolute nothing.  Not only this, but he kept inserting his own comments and opinions.


 ½★

GENRE: Non Fiction
CHARACTERS:
Series/ Progress:
DATE READ: March 21 - March 26
NO. OF PAGES: 102 of 704
Challenges:
SOURCE: library

The Plantation by Chris Kuzneski

Read: November 10 - November 30

Format: e-book 416 pages

Source:purchased through B&N for Nook

Subject: slavery, revenge, sadism

Challenges: 11 in 11, 75 Book, TIOLI, BOYS

Category: Something New - books acquired in 2011

Genre: Thriller

Stars: ★★★★

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is filled with action but also with many thought provoking concepts, most notably, slavery of whites by blacks as a revenge for their past history.

How would you react if you were expecting your handsome boyfriend at the door and instead when you answer you are drugged and kidnapped and when you awake you know not where, you are a slave to a sadistic black man who says that a remote branch of your family enslaved his before the Civil War and now it's payback time?

Does anyone know where you are? Ariane, the kidnapped damsel, is fortunate because her boyfriend before leaving the US service, was a member of an elite taskforce which could handle just about anything. Jonathan and his buddy DJ track down the kidnappers on THE PLANTATION and work to rescue Ariane and 21 others in the same situation.

This is the first installment of the Payne & Jones series. I received book 3 as an ER and knew after reading that one that I wanted to read the beginning books in the series. The book was exciting and kept your attention but at times was a bit graphic in the violence of the situation. Definitely not bedtime material, but definitely a great read.

The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien

Read: August 1 - August 7
Format: Hardback abandoned after 122 pages
Source: LT ER program
Subject: murder, WWII, search for codex, familial dysfunction
Challenges: ABANDONED
Category: ABANDONED
Genre: Mystery
Stars: ½

I'm giving up. I waited 5 months for this ER book to arrive and as soon as I finished the books I had been reading at its arrival, I started this book, but I can't go on!

What's wrong with it you say? First the writing is not great - it is extremely disjointed, vague, repetitive. There was a small mystery introduced at the beginning and then no further clues. The characters are one-dimensional, and not one is someone that I would care to ever meet and I definitely cannot develop any empathy for. This is supposed to be a mystery/thriller, well I haven't seen anything thrilling in the 120+ pages that I've read, so I quit!

IMO, this book needs a complete re-write. I actually thought I'd skip to the last few chapters to see what the mystery was all about, even those couldn't grab my interest. The concept may have been good, the execution fell flat. This book is ABANDONED.

Future Hope by David Gelber

Abandoned
Format: Trade paperback 93 pages
Source: PR by the book, for review
Subject: future
Setting: our solar system
Category: Abandoned
Genre: Science Fiction

Okay, I was trying to expand my horizons in the type of books that I read and so when this book was offered to me for review, I thought I'd try it. Unfortunately, after trying several times to get through, I have to admit, I can't handle it. It's just not my type of book.

I've read other reviews which I found that make it seem very interesting but I can't seem to get to that point in the book that I want to go on. Someone else with more futuristic tastes would probably really enjoy this book, it's just not me. Maybe if I every move on to that point in my reading, I'll try it again.

This is not a good way to start my reading in May.