Love Frustration - RM Johnson

Hmm, I don't know how to characterize this book. It was a cross between straight fiction and romance. It went by quickly enough, but I doubt I'll remember it. I think the detailed (and in my opinion, entirely unnecessary) rape segment has me firmly putting it in the to the used book store stack. Until that, it was harmless enough that I probably would have passed it on as something fun.

Books with baby (3 books or was it 4)

Echo Park by Micheal Connelly - next in the Harry Bosch series I enjoy. I nice read - quick and fun. Finished it at the doctor appointment before going to the hospital.

Forbidden Fruit by Erica Spindler - started this one in the hospital and after 156 pages I still didn't care. It reminded me of a Danielle Steele novel. At 156 pages in, I was just getting the overview of main character number 3 and so I put it down to return to the used book store.

Legal Tender by Lisa Scottoline - Related to the characters in Killer Smile which I wrote about last month - although this one came first. This was a nice, quick read - as is everything I have tried to tackle lately. I look forward to more of these, although I doubt I would re-read them.

See Jane Die by Erica Spindler - leery after the last one, I picked this one up and got sucked in. I even read it in the car - which I haven't been doing because it makes me sick. Of course, it was the part about who the killer was and I only had 3 pages to go. Fun, it kept me guessing as to who the killer was until the end (although I had narrowed it down to 2).

Brenda Novak series (3 books)

I bought this series to support both a local bookstore and a local author, I knew nothing about them at the time. There's a book signing at Book Lovers in October - but I doubt I'll be there.

The Stillwater series is set up like a fantasy or sci-fi series. After resolving the issues of the current book, Novak makes sure to set up the interest for the next book in the series. The entire series (Dead Silence, Dead Giveaway, and Dead Right) centers around keeping a deadly family secret. Most of the series you know what the secret is - it's just a matter of what will make it out in the open and which family member's perspective will be the focus. The interesting thing is thinking about whether it is better for it to stay a secret or not. Each book also touches on the idea of whether they are keeping the secret to help themselves or to help someone else. Are they avoiding their own suffering or shielding someone else from it?

Anyway, they are a quick read - and the author is local - probably lives within 15 mins of me. I'll be passing these on for others to read. I doubt I would re-read them.

Voices Carry - Mariah Stewart

Another day in bed, another book moves from the unread to the read pile. I'm starting to alternate brain candy with something more serious, so after A Perfect Red today is brain candy.

Voices Carry is a book that would have preceded the "Dead..." series and "... Truth" series I read in the last few weeks. It appears that any couple you meet in those series has a book that explains how they got to together. After having read more of this type in the last few weeks, I appreciate that Stewart focuses more on the crime and solving it than the relationship that will happen in the end. It was a nice quick read - but nothing fabulous. It's also not a series I can see myself re-reading. But, it is a nice way to pass the day.

It will get passed on and then probably returned to the used book store it came from.

The Murder List - Julie Garwood

Another piece of the brain candy that is rotting my mind. It was fun - nothing exciting. It's has some of the tangential characters from the other books, but only phone conversations. It went quickly and thankfully focused more on the crimes and solving of them than the romance aspect. Still, it was fun.

I'll be passing this on. It won't be staying in the library.

Bed rest continued - 5 books in one

Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs - this was a poor choice for me - too much death and the death of an infant. I made it through because there were other crimes, but I didn't think I would. I normally like her stuff, this just wasn't the right fit.

Killjoy by Julie Garwood - Fun romance / suspense type book. Nothing fancy, nothing worth keeping, but not a waste of time.

Priceless by Mariah Stewart - not part of the other series, a stand alone book. More romance than mystery - but enough mystery to get the guy and girl together. Brain candy.

The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland - a historical fiction account of Emily Carr's life painting Indian artifacts (totem poles, big houses, etc.) in Vancouver. I find myself wanting to go see her work - of course, I'll have to use the Internet for now. It's always good to read about someone who gets upset about being called a "good woman painter". Highly recommend this one.

The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr - nonfiction about the search for a lost Caravaggio masterpiece. It takes the reader through the process of researching provenance of paintings. I am still amazed that people have account ledgers from 1600s and back at their disposal. One of the things I kept thinking as I read this was about how future researchers are going to have a hard time finding data about our current "Information age" - incompatible file formats, operating systems and will they even realize the information is on a disk and that the disk might look like a pen??? Recommended.

Reading on bed rest... (10 books)

Finished prior to bed rest...

• The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd - ok / fun, probably wouldn't read again
• The End Of The Dream The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up - Ann Rule - ok, not stellar

Bed rest... (8 books in 4 days?)

• Dead Even / Dead End - Mariah Stewart - end of a series I started a while ago - fun, repeating characters - big cast
• Cold Truth / Hard Truth / Dark Truth / Final Truth - Mariah Stewart - a different series, ties in with the "Dead ..." series from same author - same recurring characters - although I needed to switch authors after this set, I knew the "shocking" turn in the Final Truth book when it started 2 books earlier
  
• Heartbreaker - Julie Garwood - good, fun - page turner
• In Silence - Erica Spindler - fun, easy - got sucked in
  

I'll probably continue with the brain candy reading. I know I have some highly recommended ones on my to read list, but I'm not sure if I want anything that makes me do more than look for the next plot turn / twist.