The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy

the black dahlia
james ellroy
c. 1987
325 pages
completed 8/9/2009

read for: read your own books challenge, 1001 books

*may contain spoilers*

In a vacant lot in LA, 1947, Elizabeth Short is found murdered and mutilated. The LAPD is turned upside down looking for her murderer. Two cops, Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and his partner Lee Blanchard, find themselves pulled from their normal beat and thrust into the heart of the investigation. The two cops become obsessed with Betty Short, known in the media as 'the Black Dahlia,' and their lives begin to unravel as they dig deeper and deeper into the mystery surrounding her death.

Okay, that synopsis didn't come out quite intelligently but hopefully you get the idea. This book is complicated! There is a LOT going on. I had some trouble keeping track of everybody and everything that was going on, but that just kept me more and more intrigued. There were so many false turns and faulty leads that just came to nothing, but everything came together in the end.

4/5

The Shape of Mercy - Susan Meissner

the shape of mercy
susan meissner
c. 2008
305 pages
completed 4/27/2009

read for: read your own books challenge

*may contain spoilers*

Lauren Durough, a 20 year old heiress to a prominent Southern California family, tries to dance to the beat of her own drum. Instead of going to the prestigious Stanford, she chooses a local state school. Instead of living in a family paid apartment, she chooses to live in the dorms with her roommate Clarissa. And instead of spending her time working for her father, she chooses to find her own job. The job she finds is in the home of the elderly Miss Abigail Boyles, transcribing a diary written during the time of the Salem Witch Trials by Mercy Hayworth, a distant relative of Abigail's who was tried and convicted of witchcraft. It is during the transcription of this diary and the discovery of some of the secrets of Abigail's past that Lauren learns the problems with her preconceived notions.

It's been a while since I've read a book that I just felt I could not put it down. There have been books recently that I've enjoyed, but this one just held my attention and wouldn't let go. Which is sometimes frustrating when I'm at work!

This period of history terrifies me. I haven't read too much about it because of that. It's definitely interesting thinking about what could possibly be the reason these events started, but it's also horrifying reading about the lives that were destroyed. I don't like to read about it too much. So it was nice that this book was broken up with the stories of Lauren and Abigail as well as Mercy.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. I liked the way all of Lauren's snap judgments and preconceived notions were my same thoughts. After the description of his outfit, I totally thought Raul was part of the catering staff. I was also sure the Mercy was executed and that what came between Abigail and Tom, the gardener's son, was money. But no. All wrong! I also really liked Lauren's father. He was an interesting character. Not quite the stereotypical old money patriarch that Lauren led us to believe. And he had one of the best lines (though I don't have the book in front of me so I'm going to have to paraphrase). When Lauren told him she tries so hard to judge people by their actions and not on their circumstances, he says, 'yeah, that would be better, except you're still judging them.' Quite a revelation for Lauren.

The only thing I didn't really like was the relationship between Lauren and Raul. The beginning wasn't that believable. I don't understand how he fell for her.

4/5

Royal Escape - Georgette Heyer

royal escape
georgette heyer
c. 1938
464 pages
completed 4/7/2009

read for: read your own books challenge

*may contain spoilers*

This was an area of history I've never really read about so I was pretty excited going in. Royal Escape tells the story of King Charles II's flight out of England after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester. I was somewhat disappointed. I think this book could have been better if it had covered more time...more of what led up to the battle of Worcester or more of what happened after he made his way to France. Why did Charles II have to battle at Worcester for his crown? Did he ever come to power after he fled England? I know the answer to these questions, but I think the book might have been better had it tried to cover them a little more.

As it was, just the escaping and hiding all over England, the book was pretty repetitive. The King needs to get to France, he's taken to a safe house near a port of some kind, they make plans, the plans fail, start again. Several times over. At each stop we lost the last set of characters and gained a new set, but soon it was hard to distinguish between each stop. There's always a old mother who treats the King more like a son than royalty, there's a wife who's afraid for or angry with her husband for endangering himself and his family, there's a young girl who wants an adventure with the King, there's a gentleman who is in some kind of legal trouble who's making the plans, etc. Even some of the mishaps that happened were similar. By the third time the King and his party had to ride through a troop of soldiers, hoping the King wouldn't be recognized, it just wasn't exciting anymore.

I don't imagine my disappointment will deter me from reading more by Georgette Heyer. Before I realized the book was so repetitive, I was enjoying it quite a bit. I just think this was not the best bit of history to single out.

3/5

Read it yourself...

A new challenge: the Read Your Own Books Challenge...

From January 1 through December 31, challenge yourself to read your own books, however many you want. I currently own six books that I haven't read yet. So I'm just challenging myself to read those six. My books will be...
1. Possession - AS Bryatt
2. The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy
3. The Good German - Joseph Kanon
4. When Christ and His Saints Slept - Sharon Kay Penman
5. Royal Escape - Georgette Heyer
6. The Shape of Mercy - Susan Meissner

Four I have had for a long time, but two I received in book giveaways this past year. Looks good.