Not by a long shot (pun intended, which you'll certainly "get" if you read this novel!). And should you read "Niceville?" Why yes, you should, and here's why: it is terrific!

It's a novel of bank robbers and moral bankruptcy, revenge and retribution, honor and deceit, plus a decades-old betrayal and the dreadful, supernatural manner in which some characters are paying for that treachery. Throw in international intrigue and treason. Blackmail. Inexplicable disappearances. Perversion. I know it sounds like a chaotic mess ... but it's not.

Despite numerous characters, and several plot-lines, Carsten Stroud keeps his novel rolling along at a quick pace, and his characters are so well-designed and developed you never feel lost in the book. You've got good guys -- detective Nick Kavanaugh and his wife Kate, Kate's dad, Nick's police partner, Beau; and you have some seriously bad guys, including another cop named Coker, and Byron Deitz, Nick's brother-in-law. You have ghostly, menacing characters bent on revenge.

And you have terrific dialogue, really likable characters (including some of the bad guys -- while you aren't exactly rooting for them at least they show they have some decency under certain situations!), layers of mysteries, and a very satisfying conclusion. Well done, Mr. Stroud! Great book, fun to read, highly recommended!

Very enjoyable! I give the author a lot of credit for not allowing too much sentimentality to infuse his novel, and for injecting a great dose of humor into his writing! Really, parts were laugh-out-loud funny, and that made the book all that much more fun to read. And kudos to the author, too, for not peppering Beatrice, Missouri with too many "quirky" characters!

The recurring themes in the novel are music and singing; there are times throughout the novel when you can almost hear notes being played and voices raised in song -- a terrific achievement, I think. The plot moves along through the characters lives and individual viewpoints, and there are a couple of unexpected twists in the plot that I didn't see coming (and I like that!!). Definitely recommend this book, and I would certainly read this author again.

My feeling about Low Town is one of deja vu: I've been down this road before.

Warden is physically and emotionally scarred by life, a loner, a drug addict and dealer who used to be on the other side of the law. And despite all he's seen, all he's suffered and lost, he still ... cares, looks to protect, seeks justice. He doesn't want anyone to know he still has a bit of a heart, nor that he yearns for some sort of redemption. He's not a likable individual: gruff, harsh, prone to violence, smart, canny, and lethal.

And fiction abounds with precisely this type of protagonist. I wish I could say something about Low Town sets it apart from other similar novels, but there isn't anything particularly new about the author's approach to this theme. Except, perhaps, for the spurts of peculiarly contemporary language -- this is largely a medieval setting, so the vernacular was jarring. There's some small bits of humor (not nearly enough to offset the horrifying brutality), there's suspense, there's a conclusion, and a few of Warden's mysteries are, throughout, revealed. It is well written (despite my snarky comment above about the language), and much of the writing is beautifully crafted. But it wasn't much fun to read, and Warden wasn't much of a hero to root for, so for me it was a disappointment.

This novel had potential, but it seems Julia Stuart couldn't decide if she wanted to write a "whimsical" novel about quirky British folk trapped, in contemporary fashion, in London Tower, or a more serious novel dealing with the terrible grief two parents feel after the loss of their only child. So she's tried to do both, and it doesn't work.

Stuart has a pretty way with words (ohhh, more on THAT later), and did a fine job in bringing out the personalities of her characters, even those who have minor parts. I like the clever allegorical twists she's thrown in, too, and of course the history is indeed fascinating. And I could have forgiven the imperfect splicing of the storyline, since her characters are complex, sympathetic, hopeful, and (sometimes) hilariously hapless (yup, I did get a few chortles from the book).

But the most heinous issue with this novel is that Stuart is so infatuated with her clever phrases that uses them over and over and ... oh, c'mon ... over again. It took great restraint on my part to not throw the book against the wall after reading, yet again, about "fullsome buttocks." And that's just one of many, many annoying little phrases that Stuart feels compelled to endlessly inject into the novel. This ridiculous conceit doesn't propel the plot or enhance the story, and it really irritated at least one reader! This is inexcusable sloppiness on her editor's part.

So I'm giving the novel an "average" rating because as a novel it was poorly executed, but as a history lesson on the Tower of London it was, in fact, well done. But I wouldn't recommend the book.

and neither is this book! Melissa Milgrom shatters the images that taxidermists are ghoulish or perverse (but eccentric, yes, definitely, collectively ... eccentric!). She finds they admire animals intensely, and gives an exclusive look into a world of men and women who are zealous in perfecting how they preserve and display animals.

Taxidermists are beyond "dedicated": they're down-right obsessed with their art, and absolutely exacting with the science in how they achieve perfection. Why is this book not for sissies? Because the chapters on her stuffing a squirrel are excruciating to read -- in a good way! I'm all for journalistic integrity, but the book was falling flat for lack of any real involvement on the author's part. Finally our author gets her hands dirty (well, bloody) as she skins and mounts a squirrel for competition.
Milgrom does not leave out any details during this ordeal. I felt like I was standing next to her, cringing with every cut and snip! By the end of the competition, and thus the book, I felt much more satisfied with the read as whole!

I wanted to be swept away by this novel. A Russian author, a book of dreams, flight, and color! Sounded irresistible. But Russian Dreambook is a bleak read, thoroughly imbued with desperation; it's littered with dashed dreams, violence, and really objectionable odors. The author presents the reader with a string of irritating, disagreeable, violent, selfish, and/or weak characters. Tanya is the only bright star, and even she twinkles only faintly. The most interesting characters are the most annoying (I so wanted to slap Zoya, and yet I felt sorry for her). Frankly I felt sorry for all the characters, they were all so miserable. And I give the author credit -- she has amazing descriptive powers when it comes to stench. Even the ghost smells dreadful! This is just a disappointing read, and definitely not an author I'd recommend.

I am a little bit of a history buff, and this is a thoughtful and well-written look at how food has changed the course of human history. Certainly it filled in some gaps in my knowledge, particularly in relation to the spice trade; in fact, the mythology of how spices were acquired is one of the most fascinating parts of the book. Overall, though, this is not a "History is fun!" excursion. Chapters detailing the wholesale starvation of helpless populations by lunatic dictators are especially heartbreaking. Generally this is a sobering read, concise and logically laid out, but a bit bland. I didn't get any real feeling of passion from the author about his subject ... I kept feeling like something was "missing" from the book. It's good, yes, but not exceptional, and I wouldn't seek out this particular author again.

Wow -- this was a terrific read! This novel kept me on my toes, but I didn't want to race through it ... I wanted to savor it, to think about who might be the bad guy (or gal), and to ponder on the two "heroes": a smart, determined and tenacious reporter, and an enigmatic, difficult, and brilliant young woman.

We have some great characters here, particularly the aging patriarch Henrik Vanger, and the fascinatingly peculiar and complicated Lisbeth. I also liked that even peripheral characters had a great deal of depth; this adds a lot of flavor to the novel! The plot is surprising, suspenseful, and harrowing, and it moves right along. Really a satisfying read, and I highly recommend it!

My only complaints, admittedly minor: the insipid title of the novel, and truly one of the least attractive book jackets I have ever laid eyes on. OK, so I'm a little "waspish!"

Very suspenseful and involving! I was fascinated by Aslaug's life: her profoundly disturbed mother, her abrupt immersion into civilization as we know it, and her coming of age amidst accusations of murder. She is a brilliantly written character.

The author's scholarship is impressive, but better yet she is excellent at portraying empathetic characters. I felt great compassion for Aslaug as she struggles emotionally, psychologically, and physically with her search for connection; she has some heavy monkeys on her back for a fifteen year old. She also has great intelligence, perseverance, and courage.

I would absolutely read this author again (I couldn't put Madapple down once I'd begun it!), and plan on sharing my copy of Madapple with members of my book club. Madapple is controversial, haunting, and illuminating ... highly recommended.

Ahh, this was a baffling and disappointing novel. Reading it reminded me of James Joyce's Ulysses (and I loath James Joyce). The main character, Kasper Krone, debt-ridden Danish celebrity clown, is clever, physically adept, and blessed (or cursed) with extraordinary hearing. But he is not endearing, and with his fits of violence, particularly toward the woman he allegedly loves, is not even particularly likable. The mysterious children are shadowed figures and mostly unnamed, save for the oddly self-possessed KlaraMaria. Classical music, especially works by Bach, are endlessly referenced in the novel, and I had the sense that Hoeg wrote the novel -- or composed it -- the same way a composer would write a score of music. It does have a lyrical sense to it. But if I had to describe the novel in three words, I'd say: Ambitious, but unsatisfying.