Book Twentysix: Behold, Here's Poison

Behold, Here's Poison, Georgette Heyer

It finally turned fall here in Seattle and that had me itching to take hot baths, drink cocoa, and ready a cozy English manor mystery. I picked up several Georgette Heyer novels at Powells when we were last in Portland, so this is the first thing I thought to reach for. I could give you the details of the mystery, but honestly, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that it was delightful and made me happy. Yay!

Book Twentyfive: Love and Rockets: New Stories No. 5

Love and Rockets: New Stories No. 5, Los Bros Hernandez

My only complaint about this is there was not enough Maggie. Or rather, there was no Maggie! Gah! Though the last two issues Maggie-tastic, so I really shouldn't complain.

Book Twentyfour: The Leftovers

The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta

This was so very depressing, and yet so very good. The premise is that a rapture-like even occurs where a significant number of the world's population simple vanishes into thin air (it's not stated explicitly in the book, but I would guess it's around 3% or so) and the rest of the world is left to figure out what happened and what to do next. And the people who were taken were not necessarily Christian and not necessarily good people. The plot focuses on a suburban town, mostly one family, and bounces around telling stories about multiple characters and their intersecting stories.

But this is really not a book about the rapture or religion, even though religion is discussed. I think it's about how people deal with the inevitability of death. Do you give everything over to religion? Do you lose hope? Do you stop caring about the things you did before? Do you join a cult? Or do you simply ignore what's happening and keep on keeping on? I like this concept very much. And I like Tom Perrotta's writing and the world of characters he created.

Book Twentythree: Kill You Twice

Kill You Twice, Chelsea Cain

Whereas the previous installment in this series was mostly ridiculous, this one is mostly disgusting. I mean, I know these books are supposed to be gory, but this one really got to me. This was, like, seriously gross. There are some scenes I just can't get out of my head, and it's even been over a month since I finished it. Perhaps that's because in this one, Gretchen Lowell is back, or rather, a seeming copycat of hers is killing people all over Portland and Archie thinks it's a good idea to visit Gretchen in prison. Sure Archie, sure. And Susan obviously can't help but get involved again, too.

I know I'll forget saying this when the next book comes out, but right now I just can't imagine reading another. They are good for this genre, but just way too nasty for the delicate little flower that I am.