Just finished reading...

The God of the Hive* by Laurie R. King.

As one of many readers waiting anxiously for the continuation of the story begun in The Language of Bees, I was absolutely thrilled when I learned I was getting one of the coveted ARCs of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

When we last saw Sherlock Holmes, he was spiriting his injured son, Damian Adler away from the "altar" where religious maniac Thomas Brothers had attempted a human sacrifice. At the same time, Holmes' wife Mary Russell is trying to keep Damian's daughter Estelle hidden from Brothers. Mary and Holmes, who work together incredibly well, are separated geographically for much of this book, yet still seem to work in concert.

Meanwhile, Sherlock's brother Mycroft, recovering from a heart attack, has disappeared, and a young, unnamed bureaucrat is orchestrating obscure political processes. (The details of these political machinations is unimportant; it's sufficient to know that they are a bid for power.)

As usual, King's incidental characters are amazingly constructed, particularly the hermit who calls himself Robert Goodman, and the young female doctor who is abducted to care for Damian.

It's difficult to describe the story without giving too much away, but the all the threads described above do end up connecting into a single story, which though it has a more satisfactory conclusion than The Language of Bees, still leaves a few openings for future adventures. And, as usual, King's prose is exquisite and a real pleasure to read.

*ARC received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

Just finished reading...

Thanks to the rainy weather, I've read more books than usual in the past week.
I'm still hooked on the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King, and last week managed to get through A Letter of Mary and The Moor, in conjunction with a few other books that I've been anxious to read.

With one of the bookstore gift cards I received for Christmas, I picked up Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off, which is a great "dipping into" book. Stephanie is a great writer, she can be funny enough to make me laugh out loud, and then a few lines later make me misty-eyed. (Also, she's Canadian, and I recognize a lot of the stuff that she talks about.) It was a great book to keep beside the bed for the few minutes I can stay awake to read before I fall asleep at night.

Another book that I'd been waiting impatiently for, Cornelia Read's The Crazy School, finally came in to the library. It's the sequel to A Field of Darkness, and continues the story of Madeline Dare, a Long Island debutante married to Dean, a railroad worker. In this installment, Madeline takes a job at a private school for troubled teens, abnd soon discovers that it's not just the students who are troubled. While everyone does have secrets, the administrators of the school seem to have more and darker ones than most.
Yes, a flimsy review, but while I enjoyed the book immensely and read it in one day, it's very difficult to describe. But if you liked A Field of Darkness, you'll love this one.

Just finished reading...

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

I first read this book when it was released in 1994, and just finished rereading it due to the possibility I might have to lead a book discussion on it. (It turned out that I won't.)

I seldom reread books anymore, except for occasions like this; not because I don't want to, but because there are too many new books to read. At present, I have 3 books checked out of the library, with two waiting on the hold shelf, as well as the 4 on the list. And my TBR pile at home fills two shelves.

I remembered Mary, and Holmes and the development of their relationship. I remembered Mary's lodgings in Oxford. But I remembered very little of the actual plot, neither the identity of the villain nor the conclusion of the book. It was almost like reading a new book, and I loved it just as much as I think I did the first time I read it.

King is an amazing writer, and her characters are almost alive and breathing. I remember feeling the same way about her last Kate Martinelli book, The Art of Detection. And I've become so involved in the tale of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes that I plan to reread the rest of the series.