February 2010


The third in a series of mysteries set in the White House kitchen and featuring the executive chef. This book takes one more step in complexity. It also feels as though the author is taking her characters a little more seriously. It still feels more like a television script.

[powells]

The second in a series of culinary mysteries. This one is more developed than the previous. Still not quite my thing.

[powells]

A culinary cozy detective story set in the White House kitchen, complete with recipes in the back. It’s a simplistic story but it gets the job done. In an ideal world, this is the sort of book I would have “read” as an audiobook.

[powells]

I forget sometimes how enjoyable a novella can be. There’s no room for puffery in the story, but there’s still room for development. Scalzi handles it well, and hits on some themes that I find interesting. Just be aware that this is a dark book.

[barnes&noble

A very long culture novel that moves at a stately pace. If Anthony Trollope had written a culture novel, it might have looked like this. I happen to like Anthony Trollope’s novels, but this one was short on culture content for my taste. And I’m still not sure whether I really like the intensely clever ending. All that said, I liked this book, but mostly for the process of reading it rather than as a whole.

[powells]

I just keep being more and more impressed by Jim Hines. High quality fluff.
[powells]