In the Woods

In the Woods by Tana French

This is a psychological thriller and a pretty creepy one at that. It's about child abduction and murder so if that is not your bag, don't read this.

There are two different situations twenty years apart. In the first, three friends go off to play in the woods and when they don't come home, police and search parties comb the woods. They find one of the kids gripping a tree trunk in terror wearing blood-filled shoes and with no memory of what has happened.

Fast forward twenty years and the kid is now a police detective with the murder squad. He and his partner are given a case in which the body of a young girl is found in the location of the woods, now an archeological dig. The police detective is trying to keep his past both buried in his mind and a secret to his boss and the rest of the world while trying to discover the truth behind this murder.

The book is set in Ireland so there's a bit of Irish slang to get used to but otherwise it's a pretty easy read even with the harsh subject matter. I liked the book and I've heard the author's second book, The Likeness, is a better book and not so creepy. I'll have to put it on my list of books to read.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

I admit it. I read all the "Twilight" saga books. They each took about a day to read. This one took 3 hours. They are like junk food. Think of this book like a package of powdered sugar donettes and a Dr. Pepper - sweet, easy and fast.

I enjoyed the Twilight books as young adult chick-flick books with vampires and werewolves. This book was much the same.

Honestly, I did not remember Bree Tanner from Eclipse, the third novel. As it turns out, her role was fleeting but apparently Stephenie Meyer took a liking to her character and decided to pound out a novella sketching Bree's brief life as a vampire.

It was an interesting look at the life and hunger of a "newborn" vampire. In the Twilight books, the Cullens are all very self-disciplined and even Bella (SPOILER ALERT) is remarkably controlled when she finally gets her wish in Breaking Dawn and "gets" to become a vampire. Bree's young life has very little control, if any, from her or any of the other "newborns".

It's a good appetizer before going to see Eclipse in the theater which I know I'll do but I have no idea when.

The Bastard of Istanbul

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

This is the book that my book club is reading this month. I think it's a good book club book because there is plenty to discuss.

This is the story of a Turkish family living in Istanbul and an Armenian American living between Arizona and San Francisco. There is a Turk living in America, Armenians living in America, an Armenian living in Istanbul and a woman from Kentucky who was married to an Armenian and then a Turk.

The story intertwines all their lives in our modern world but also shows how the past affects us all.

It was interesting to see the difference in attitude between the Armenian in Istanbul and the Armenians in the diaspora a.k.a. America. It was also interesting to see how modern Turks sympathized with the plight of the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide cir.1915-1923 but they felt no link between themselves and the Turkish perpetrators.

This was an entertaining novel and it brought to life issues of ethnicity in America, feelings of disconnect that children of immigrants can have in America as well as personifying the Genocide.

I would recommend this book.