Books Blog : California

A Very Unique Murder Mystery

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:27:00 GMT

I was very much looking forward to reading Heads You Lose, a murder mystery by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. Lisa Lutz's Spellman series is one of my absolute favorite series of books and I was sure this new book would be wonderful even though it wouldn't feature the Spellman family. I wasn't wrong but I wasn't really right either.

Let me tell you about the format of Heads You Lose. There is an editor's note and a few more pages of reading before you get to the title page. Don't skip these or you'll be a bit out of the loop before you hit page one. From there it gets more unique. Lisa Lutz wrote the odd numbered chapters and David Hayward wrote the even numbered chapters. Notes between the authors are featured throughout but mostly between chapters. These notes were distracting at first but eventually they became the best part of the book.

The mystery itself wasn't very thrilling. I honestly got bored with it about half way through, even as more bodies were turning up in the small California town were brother and sister Paul and Lacey Hansen live and work. There were some good characters but they weren't enough to keep me interested when the awkward plot let me down. I did finish the book but I didn't really like the resolution and mostly felt relieved to be done with the book. My overall feeling about the book is that it's just okay; different but not quite special.

There's word that there will be fifth Spellman book next year and I'm still looking forward to it. David Hayward hasn't written other novels but I believe he could write a good one. I just don't think this collaboration worked out very well.

The book's website: http://headsyoulose.com/

Lisa Lutz's website: http://lisalutz.com/

All Things Orange County

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:37:00 GMT

Awhile back I posted about first discovering the Mexican, Gustavo Arellano. I recently finished reading his new book, Orange County: A Personal History. As I said in my previous post, Orange County isn't a place I'd naturally want to read about, but since I'd so enjoyed Ask a Mexican, I decided to give this book a try. I was not disappointed at all. It's a great little history of both Orange County and the author's family. After the introduction, it took me a few chapters to get into the rhythm of one chapter focusing on the county and then one chapter focusing on the family, repeated to the end of the book. The county chapters are genuinely entertaining and mostly* ignored Orange County's somewhat obnoxious television reputation, which is most of what I knew about the county prior to this book. The family chapters are good reading too; I've always enjoyed a good biography and it's interesting to read about the family's transition from Jerez, Mexico to Orange County, U.S.A. Also included are tips on where to eat around Orange County and occasional reminders that all of us can expect to have more Mexican neighbors in the future, wall or no wall.

*I say mostly ignored because there is a whole, entertaining chapter (The "Real" Real Orange County Reel, or: About Those Stupid Television Shows, Why Orange County Is "Hip," and What's Really Real and What's Somewhat Real--for Real!) on the subject, but the book isn't saturated with it.

Discovering the Mexican

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:52:00 GMT

Barely a day has gone by since I began working for the library that I haven't found at least one book that looks interesting. Sometimes I just pass by them, other times I write down the title and author for later. Other times, I go ahead and check the book out; never mind the stack of books already waiting to be read. Ask a Mexican by Gustavo Arellano was one of those books I noticed one day and checked out on a whim. I thought it might be amusing, and it was! It was also surprisingly informative while amusing me. Gustavo Arellano writes for OC Weekly and in 2004 he and his editor decided to run a column, just as a joke, called Ask a Mexican. The idea was for readers to send their questions about Mexicans in for Arellano, the Mexican, to answer. What started as a joke became, as the book's introduction is titled, "Cultural Understanding Via Wetback Jokes". Ask a Mexican, the book, is a collection of previously published questions & answers as well as a few new-to-the-book items like a few short essays. I loved all of it when I read it last year, and that is why I'm very excited that Arellano has a new book coming out next week called Orange County: A Personal History. I know almost nothing about Orange County and ordinarily I wouldn't be excited to read about it. However, I very much enjoyed his writing in Ask a Mexican and I believe if he has brought the same sense of humor and passion to Orange County, it will be worth my time to read it!

Links: