A Couple Of Book Reviews

If you ask me, there are two main reasons that someone reads a book very quickly. The first is because the reader finds it fascinating, a real page-turner. Can't put it down. The second reason is that you aren't so sure about the book. The characters might be irritating, descriptions too detailed. But there is a plot that you got involved in and even though the characters are obnoxious, you want to see how it ends. There are probably other reasons, but they probably involve college classes and some kind of paper being due. It's been a while since I've experienced that, and thankfully, I don't remember what that's like.

I just got done speed reading through two books that definitely fall into the first category. With the upcoming move, reading is the perfect free-time activity. Pack a few boxes. Read for a while. Answer e-mails regarding loan or insurance. Take a break and pick up a book. Perfect for my current lack of attention span. Unfortunately my cross stitch has fallen to the side. I haven't picked up fabric and needle for a couple of weeks.

The first book I read was The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett. My husband originally got this book from the library and I initially wasn't interested in reading it. Something made me pick it up, and it wasn't a disappointment. The setting is a quaint English village where a body is found. The villagers are unaccustomed to a horrific find like this, and being a small town, there isn't a CSI type set-up they can call to solve the crime. The authorities call upon the village doctor, whose past expertise allows him to help with the investigation. The story follows the doctor's involvement in the investigation, and then serves up quite a few characters who can be considered as suspicious. It's a good who dunnit with a lot of twists and turns and an ending that I never saw.

The day after I finished The Chemistry of Death, I started reading The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate. The two books couldn't be more different, but I'm eclectic like that. I found The Summer Kitchen on the Gwinnett Public Library's "Featured Titles" list. It sounded interesting and, ok, I liked the cover. The main character is SandraKaye. a 49-year-old Plano, Texas mom. She has a life that looks great on the outside: nice house, nice kids, successful husband. But tragedy has struck her family twice during the past year and she's trying to deal with it. It would be easy for this character to be whiny, but although SandraKaye has regrets and is confused, there is no whining here. Instead, she finds a purpose for her life in a rough neighborhood in Dallas where her life intersects with another notable character, Cass. Again, one would expect Cass to be bitter given her circumstances, but this twelve year old is a tough cookie, but sweet, with a remarkable amount of strength. I love the characters in this book. They're not all likable, but every one of them is insteresting. The Summer Kitchen left me with a good feeling (I generally like a book with a happy ending), and I will definitely look for more books by Lisa Wingate.

OK, let's talk libraries while we're on the subject of books. I've been a patron of the Gwinnett County Library system for more than 20 years. They've been an invaluable source of books and information, and had so many great kids' programs when my son was young. We spent a lot of time there. Recently, it was announced that due to financial issues, the Gwinnett County libraries will be closed two days a week, reduce staff, and shorten the hours on the days that they're open. This is a sad day for me and many others who use the library on a regular basis. I don't know what could have been done instead of these measures, but I would hope that they exhausted all possibilities of where budget-tightening could have been done before they came up with this plan. All right, I'll get off my soap-box now, but I'm just putting it away for now. I'm very certain that I'll get up on it again sometime.

Now go read a book.

Cathy