Book Nook - The Innocent Man / Sharp Objects / Blood Memory

Sharing some more books that I enjoyed recently...

I've found one really nice side effect from carpooling these days - I can read!! Lately there just hasn't been enough time to enjoy books, so my payoff for having to stay anywhere from 30-60 minutes later than my schedule (now that "summer hours" are over) while waiting for Victor, is that I can read in the car (once I get past my chauffeur's "gun it-then-brake" method of [rush hour] driving which can give me killer carsickness). I also tend to work on various contract projects while at the office that extra bit.

I zipped through this one, beginning during my shift as a mid-track foul judge at GIT's race meet (to pass the time between races). Mesmerizing, and also a bit frightening, when considering the outright deviousness of law enforcement (both police and lawyers) and the ultimate injustices perpetrated upon a once-hailed school athlete and a passing friend of his. The escalating inhumane treatment of an obviously mentally ill man further adds to the sadistic behavior of not only the prison guards, but all the way up to those litigating the case against their chosen suspect.

I snagged this book thanks to a Barnes and Noble gift card and a sale they were having on trade paperbacks (of which the Grisham novel above was also from). Chosen because it involved a damaged main character (a newshound who was a cutter) thrown into the midst of smalltown murders. This was another book that I was able to breeze through fairly quickly, keeping me interested enough to stay up a bit later than the norm. This was a debut novel and I look forward to more from this author (Gillian Flynn).

Oh my - this was a VERY rewarding impulse buy from our trip to Costco to pick up a big load of dog kibble. I always find it super-hard to get by their book tables, and this one caught my eye. It's a thick sucker too - 800 pages - but still a fast read. Like "Sharp Objects" this is another dysfunctional family, another damaged protagonist, another small town, and more gruesome murders to solve, although the main character in this one is an alcoholic with impulse control "issues" and is involved in forensics (and not a reporter). There's some interesting plot twists and the ideas on repressed memory were interesting. I think I am going to have to pick up Iles' first novel featuring Cat Ferry!

Now I am well into yet another book - will post about it upon its finish. It's not even a bloody crime book either . I think dog lovers will want to check it out!