The Leopard - Jo Nesbo

The Leopard - Jo Nesbo (2011)

I was a bit hesitant going in,  because I had read the Snowman, and found it a bit over blown and long.  I like the main characters, detective Harry Hole who has disappeared after his last adventure with a killer and Kaja the police woman sent to find him.  More strange murders have happened in Oslo, and they are looking for the killer and the connection between them all.

OMG - when would it end?  It was soooo long, I found myself willing it to end.  The beginning and end were ok, but the middle just seemed to waffle on.  The cover compares the author to Steig Larsson, and it is true, I had the same frustrations with him.  It just seemed to need some editing to make it tight.

1/5

Bridging the Gap - Kelvin Cruickshank

Bridging the Gap - Kelvin Cruickshank (2011)

Kelvin is a New Zealand medium, who has been made popular on the Sensing Murder TV series.  I have enjoyed his earlier books where he talks about his early experiences of growing up and discovering his psychic abilities.  In this his latest, he talks about you using your own abilities to open up to spirit.

 It was interesting, but for me, I found the earlier two books better reads, as I found much of the information here repetative and  I had read much of it before.  However, it may b that for many this may help them feel more in touch with their own instincts.  3/5

Dolci Di Love - Sarah-Kate Lynch

Dolci Di Love - Sarah-Kate Lynch (2011)

Sarah-Kate is a Kiwi author who writes international stories. Somehow I find it difficult to read many New Zealand orientated novels.  I do admit to owning a few of her earlier stories, but they are on my bookshelf unread and this is the first one I have dived into.

  Lily is a Manhattan busy working wife who finds out her husband seems to have another life in a small Italian village, and so after a night of drinking finds herself living in a small room above a cookie shop run by two old widows.  As life slows down, she begins to enjoy life more.

A bit of chick lit escapism was just what I needed at the moment.  I was a bit puzzled, as in most of these stories about how easily people seem to be able to walk away from their old lifes.  We all feel like doing it, but with mortgages and bills to pay , it would be hard.  Maybe we don't earn enough in NZ, I think I'd need some dollars in the bank, and then I'll escape to Italy too.  3.5/5

Radiance - Alyson Noel

Radiance - Alyson Noel (2010)

Riley is 12, and finds herself dead after a car accident.  However the hereafter is not to be a life of leisure, as she finds herself given a new job as a soul catcher, and with her dog Buttercup helps some lost souls to go towards the light.

I must admit to this one being a young adult novel.  I had browsed those stacks at the library recently with my neice, and found it full of angels, witches, vampires and of course boyfriends.  But I guess you can't complain if the kids are reading.

So this one was a light but enjoyable little read, with a new age concept of heaven, and one that seems more real to me than floating around on clouds with a harp.  4/5

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids (2011)

It starts off with a hiss and a roar, and honestly the first few scenes were great, I was close to releasing some good pig snorts while laughing.   Then like most American comedies, it tried to turn serious, which is a laugh kill, and changes the momentum of the movie and annoys me.  I know it is hard to sustain the laughs all the way through, but there seems to me a formula, of joke, joke, joke, drama, drama, joke that they all follow.

I don't want to give the story away, but basically one friend gets engaged, best friend is bridesmaid, new rich friend is another bridesmaid, rivalry ensues, awesome dress outfit scene, great batchelorette party, overdone wedding shower, Jon Hamm looks cute but is an idiot and the ending is pretty typical. 

We had a laugh, and think it worthy of a 3/5 and bring on more female made fun.

Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Hmmm, I think I had a moment of regret when I made the decision to pick this one up at the library.  The first Wall Street was no great movie, and the decision to make a sequel seemed to be just a reflection of the time in the financial world.  I get that there was an opportunity to teach the masses about the ups and downs of a world ruled by money, and how it is just a house of cards that can fall in an instant.

A 1/5 for this one - it didn't seem to be believable to me, and the characters a bit too forced.

X Men First Class

X-Men First Class (2011)

Well seen I have never watched the earlier movies all the way through, or read the comics there stood a fair chance I wouldn't like this movie.  But actually I enjoyed the first half, and even though I promised my friend that I wouldn't sleep through any of it, once it descended into silliness half way through I did manage a quick snooze.  Alas the combination of a long work week, a warm theatre, some popcorn in my stomach and stupid special effects on screen is a winning combination for a wee snoozathon for me.

2/5

History of a Suicide - Jill Bialosky

History of a Suicide - Jill Bialosky (2011)

In 1990, the authors twenty one year old sister gassed herself in her mothers garage, while her mother slept upstairs.  Years later, Jill Bialosky looks to put the pieces together and try to find out why.  Now grown up and ater suffering her own tragedies, she realises that it really is a life lost and thinks of all the things her sister missed out.

Thoughtful and sad, many of the beginning pages are terribly moving, I did find myself puzzled by the subtitle of the book, - 'my sisters unfinished life' which I found telling in itself.  That the author could not get over that her sister was missing out which is understandable.  Whereas I can see that this was the ending of her life, and although short and tragic, it was the journey she was meant to travel on.

I think that by the end Jill realized that although she was looking for a trail of crumbs she could piece together to find the cause, it in fact was more a deep prolonged sadness, and that seeing suicide as a way out of her problems, was like a switch that just turned on.

Suicide has touched so many families and friends, and it is hard to find reason with the decisions made, and it is the ones who are left behind who always wonder why and what if they had done or said something different.

4/5 - I think I will remember this memoir for some time.

The Africka Reich - Guy Saville

The Afrika Reich - Guy Saville (2011)

I do like the occasional war novel, and I must admit that being a middle aged woman that I am not probably the authors targeted audience for this one.  It seems to me that it is made to be an extended screen play, with our battle worn protaginist sitting in his farm in 1952.  The Germans have won  the war and extended out through Europe and are now the rulers over most of Africa.  A knock on the door and the promise of one last mission, to murder the Nazi who drove away his mother,  entices our hero away from his girlfriend with a worrying past into an Africa where everything is sitting ready to be blown up.

Then we travel through the African continent followed by train, plane, car,hellicopter, jeep, building and tunnel explosions and fireworks chased by teams of Nazis.  I almost gave up after page 100, but somehow stuck with it til page 300, then I skim read til the end.  There is only so many torture scenes you want to read about.

So for me, I had to admit defeat and give it a 1/5.  Back to the chick lit I guess.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe

Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe (2011)

I see that Rob Lowe has been dragged out onto every US talk show to promote his new biography.  Us ladies of a certain age need no introduction, as he was in so many movies and mags in the 80s with his dream boy looks. 

I wasn't expecting much of this book, but was pleasantly surprised.  He had a modern childhood with a depressed mother, and a couple of stepdads, moving houses and running around the neighbourhood with other tv/movie celebs.  He tells us about a lot of girls without it being too sleazy, and that is balanced out with the long marriage with his wife and two young boys.  The insights into the West Wing were interesting, and it didn't seem the same after he left.

So it was a quick read, but I did enjoy it more than I expected - 4/5.