Finished Three in One Evening

Hello All!

Once again, I cleverly worded my title--I did not read 3 books this evening, only finished them.

The first was Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood. Greenwood is an Australian author with two series she's currently writing, this one featuring Corrina Chapman, a bakery owner and amateur sleuth. She is overweight, but proud of what she can do with her body, such as lift and carry heavy sacks of flour and vats of dough and stew for her shop. She has created a family of friends, including a witch who runs an apothecary; Jason, her apprentice and former drug addict; two aspiring models who run the front side of the bakery for her; and volunteers for the Soup Run, a food/medical/law van that services the homeless of Melbourne. Corrina also has a wonderful boyfriend, Daniel, who works undercover and for the Soup Run. This series, including this title, are a little light on the mystery, but wonderful in the storytelling and with the characters.

The second I finished was Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. This is a terrific YA title that is all about the underdog. TJ, the main character, is a mixed race adoptee in a very white area of Washington state, and is not the underdog in this story. It starts with TJ defending a mentally handicapped fellow student who wants to wear his dead brother's letter jacket, and the jocks who torment him. TJ decides that Chris should earn his own letter jacket, and eventually puts together a 5 man swim team of misfits. TJ leads the team to all improving their skills during the swim season, and all but one earn a letter jacket. TJ has several other situations in his life, and there is a surprising twist toward the end. This is a strong book, and TJ is a strong character.

The final book I read this evening, from start to finish was Damage Control by JA Jance. This is the first of her Joanna Brady series that I have read since I moved to Tucson; the series takes place in Bisbee, AZ. As one of the cases in the book bring the sheriff and her officers to Tucson, it was very interesting to me to read a book set here now that I live here. Damage Control is definitely a page turner, and an exhausting one. Not only is there a somewhat high body count, Joanna and her husband have a 4 month old baby who is not yet consistantly sleeping through the night--it was exhausting to read about how tired Joanna was! A good story and entry into this series.

As it is getting close to 11:30 PM, I will wish you all
Happy Reading!
Patti