28. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, by Lilian Jackson Braun

It's kind of sad to end the year on this book, but it's the last one I finished in 2008. I was done with Bridge of Sighs and was staying in the guest room at my parents' house. Its bookcase is stocked with my mom's romance novels and a few mysteries. Desperate for something to read, I chose this one.

Don't get me wrong, I've read this series before, and the books can be sort of charming in a really idealized, completely out-of-touch-with-reality sort of way. But this one is dumb. There's not really any mystery here, and Qwilleran doesn't do any detecting. The famous cats really don't even provide many wacky antics. We know what happened from almost the start, and there are no surprises to speak of. I'm not sure why the author even wrote it, besides the obvious profit to be gained from another installment of the series. Oh, well. It kept me occupied on a snow day.

27. Bridge of Sighs

Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo

Stuck at the Denver airport with no reading material and flight after flight being canceled, I headed to the bookstore to buy something to keep me occupied. I thought I'd just get the last Twilight book, but then scanned the shelves and came upon Bridge of Sighs. I vaguely remembered reading that Russo had a new book out, but didn't know any of the details, but I grabbed it up and am so happy I did.

Like the amazing Empire Falls, this one is the story of a regular guy in a small town. This time, the guy is Lou, or Lucy as he's known, much to his dismay. Lucy's writing the story of his life, starting at around age five. We read his story interspersed with his present-day reality and later, with his estranged best friend Bobby's present-day and earlier stories. It sounds complicated and it must be so difficult to write, but Russo does it so elegantly that it's perfect. The world he invents is as real as our own and I didn't want the book to end. It's amazing.

26. Eclipse

Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

It was annoying to find out the third Twilight book is still only hardback, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait for paper. At least I pass them on to a friend when I'm done!

Again, the love triangle causes trouble, even though we know there's no love like Bella and Edward's love (gag). There's a rash of murders in Seattle that have everybody on edge, and that definitely plays a big part in the story, but the central tension in the story is the ancient war between werewolves and vampires and how that plays out in the modern world.

This book finally gets the pacing of the action right. Instead of impending doom but nothing happening until the end, we get more foreshadowing and people actually trying to figure things out. Shocking! Now I really have to read the fourth and final book.

25. New Moon

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

I did end up grabbing the second Twilight book and this one was a much faster read. I don't think it will spoil things too much to reveal the existence of werewolves in this alternate Forks universe. This time around, Bella has an emotional breakdown, a love triangle emerges, and the vamps and Bella take a trip to Italy.

Bella's still annoying, Edward's still patronizing, and Jacob is still crossing all kinds of lines. What does it say about me that I most identify with Bella's parents and wish they were taken into more consideration? Basically, I'm too old for this series, but am hopelessly addicted.

24. It's Not About the Money

It's Not About the Money, by Brent Kessel

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I joined a book discussion at my yoga studio. The author of the selection had been on NPR a few days before, and I'd enjoyed hearing him speak, so I thought it would be interesting and another way to meet more people in the yoga community in Laramie.

This book didn't really float my boat. The exercises Kessel offers to get people thinking about their relationship to money are pretty good, and I like his approach to happiness and financial security. The problem is that it's too simplistic to tell people that they aren't happy or don't feel secure because they have unhealthy relationships to money. Sure, that's often true. But if you don't have enough money to pay bills, you're never going to feel secure. It's one of those middle class mindsets that always bug me.

Anyway, I realize there's a reason I don't like this kind of book, or this kind of book discussion. It feels like group therapy to me, and to me that always rings false.

23. The Satanic Verses

The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

I actually read this one back in September, in preparation for Rushdie's visit to campus and because I had somewhat foolishly agreed to co-facilitate two book discussions.

It took me three tries to read the first chapter. It's totally disorienting and I couldn't keep the two main characters' names straight or what was happening. After this, it got easier, but I was never sure if things were happening for real or in somebody's dream.

The Satanic Verses is an amazing novel, and one I think needs rereading to appreciate. I was trying to move through it quickly so I'd have it done for the discussions, but slowly enough to have something to say about it. Next time I read it, I'll be more careful to make connections between the plot and characters and history and religious symbolism.

22. Twilight

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

I hadn't even heard of the Twilight series when I heard a movie was coming out and that teen girls were freaking out about it. After looking into it a little and discovering the story is set in Forks, Washington, I decided I to read the books, or at least the first one. I try to read as much lit set in Washington state as I can, and I do seem to have a habit of testing out vampire novels.

The movie was coming out the next week, and I wanted to see it and get my fix of rainy and green landscapes, so I grabbed up the mass market paperback at the grocery store. For some reason, I have a really hard time going to a movie based on a novel without reading the book first, unless I have no intention of ever reading it. In this case, I thought I'd devour it in a sitting or two as usual for YA, but it didn't come that quickly.

To be honest, I considered giving up on this one several times during the first third of the book. I took to reading a chapter or maybe two before bed each night and wondering when the action would occur. The characters are actually kind of unlikable, especially Bella. Several times I felt like smacking her for either staring dumbly at somebody who just spoke to her or doing stupid things that put her and then, by extension, others in danger. So, I guess she's a realistic enough teenager.

I stuck with it and got hooked on the story, though, even though nothing, literally nothing happens until the last third. Maybe it was all the description of the Olympic peninsula, or maybe it was the dialogue, which is just corny enough to entertain, but not enough to lapse into total parody. In any case, I decided I needed to read the rest of the series to see what has everybody so hooked.

21. Compulsion

Compulsion, by Jonathan Kellerman

I used to really like Jonathan Kellerman's books. I'll probably never forget Silent Partner, which creeped me out and fascinated me as a teenager. This one was an impulse purchase at the grocery store when I was sick and knew I would need something trashy and easy to read while staying home from work, since I don't have cable tv--no talk shows or soaps for me.

Alex Delaware, the psychiatrist protagonist, seems so boring and stiff as a main character. He seemed so irrelevant to the plot of this "mystery." The story starts with the gruesome stabbing of a retired teacher in a nice neighborhood, in full view of a neighbor. Delaware and his old friend, LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis, figure out who dunnit really early in the book, so it's more like they're chasing the guy as he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.

Milo is a far more interesting character, and I think Kellerman should consider writing from his perspective. The shrink plus cop buddy formula used to work pretty well, but only when Dr. Delaware actually did some in-person analysis of people instead of vaguely diagnosing sociopathy from afar, as he did here. There was really very little psychology involoved in the story. Maybe the author is just getting stale, but this book was pretty dang boring. I considered not finishing it, but decided I had nothing better to do on my sickbed. Don't waste your time.