Book Bag

The last time I was sick Belovedest picked out library books for me.  He used his Master's in Library Science skills to do some research, I think, and it was really sweet of him to make the effort to find books he thought I would like.

Much Ado About Murder
Short story mysteries with a Shakespearean twist.  I didn't get all the way through these before the book had to go back (and so did I--to school) but I really liked the variety.  They feature a bunch of different authors and many approaches to adding the Shakespeare twist. In some, Shakespeare is a character.  In others, Shakespeare's character take the stage again.  Some actually take place within an actual Shakespeare play.  Very clever!

Murder, She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
Thin gruel.  The depth and complexity I'm used to with Agatha Christie or Ngiao March is entirely missing.  I kept thinking--why isn't this working?  What is missing? The plot is clever, the characters interesting, there's description.... it just didn't work.

Queen of Hearts (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
My husband picked this one because it was supposed to be for Downton Abbey fans in the off season.  While I didn't connect it that closely with the PBS series, I liked the lively and engaging characters and the twists and turns of the plot.  And, call me old-fashioned, but I like that while every other character seemed to be sleeping around, at least the main character didn't. I want to read more of these.

Stealing the Mystic Lamb: The True Story of the World's Most Coveted Masterpiece
Look, ma, non-fiction!  This book tells the fascinating history of the world's most stolen piece of art, and in the process, quite a bit about the practice of art theft particularly from conquering armies.  The pacing is uneven, but hey, it's history and sometimes nothing happens for a couple hundred years.  I enjoyed it and would recommend it. The ending is a suspenseful race against time and against incredible odds.  There's quite a bit about the Monument Men in there.  The book really made me think about the incredibly difficult choices people have to make when their country is being occupied and they have no idea how long it will last.

I'm currently slogging through War and Peace.  It may be awhile before I post about books again!

If you pick up any of these, please let me know how you enjoyed them.