The Last Days of
Night by Graham Moore (Listened to 1/3/17 to 1/6/17) - 3 Star
This is the January book for my book club NNCC. I listened to the book on audio, and as plus
the narrator did a good job, in fact my kids listened to parts and liked it
too.
This is the story of the famous lawsuit between Edison and
Westinghouse over who invented the light bulb, and the reality that it was
about much more than a simple patent, it was about the future of electricity as
we know it. It is set in New York in 1888;
George Westinghouse hires Paul Cravath fresh out of Columbia Law School to be his
lawyer on the billion dollar lawsuit between Westinghouse and Thomas
Edison. The case affords Paul entry to the heady world
of high society—the glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more
insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond
daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his
disposal—private spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P.
Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion
to win at all costs. In obsessive
pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric,
brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes
Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on
stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that
everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they
seem.
The book was good; I liked the dynamics and the writing
style. I knew a little about the
historical figures, especially the rivalry between Edison and Tesla because my
Ex was fascinated by Tesla and had both told me a lot about him and I had read
some of Tesla's papers and biography. I
liked the main character Paul and how in the end everything wrapped up nicely,
I suspect if this had been more fact than historical fiction it may not have
been quite so smooth, life rarely is. I
liked that there was enough fact in the fiction to make the story feel authentic
and I don't feel like Moore took too much creative license.
How to Murder a
Millionaire by Nancy Martin (Read 1/6/17 to 1/7/17) - 3 Star
I have had this book on my shelf for some time, and I just
finally got around to reading it. This
is about Nora Blackbird, a former Socialite in Philadelphia. Her Parents left her with the family farm,
and the 2 million dollar tax debt. In
order to pay the bill, she must get a job, and she beigns working for a
newspaper as the society page writer. It
is during one of these parties that she finds murdered body of the host, and
her friend. This of course pulls Nora
into the investigation, can she figure out who, what and why before it becomes
her life on the line.
This was exactly what I thought it would be, a fun light
read. The characters are quirky and the
storyline is engaging. The love story
angle took a backseat to solving the murder, which was nice. And it was obvious that Martian was doing
some world building to set the scene for a series. Which I admit, I went and put on my
thriftbook.com wish list. I enjoyed the
characters and their craziness. The
murder was tame compared to some I have read, and the mystery was good. Upon reflection there were some clues and I
had my suspicions, but the actual murder was not who I thought it was. Although, I knew the murder was involved in
some way, just not the actual deed. So
although the clues pointed in the right direction, they did not give away the
ending. I liked it. The writing was good, it flowed smoothly and
made it a nice quick weekend book for me.
Fingersmith by Sarah
Waters (Read 1/17/17 to 1/28/17) - 4 Star
This is a Victorian drama in true Dickensian darkness. Sue Trinder is an orphan and raised by Mrs.
Sucksby in the London slums. Sue is
offered to participate in a Con, become the maid of Maud Lilly and help
Gentleman entice her in to marriage for her fortunes. But there are twists, and then there are more
twists!
Midnight Crossroad by
Charlaine Harris (Read 1/2/17 to 1/22/17) - 3 Star
This is the new series by Charlaine Harris and there are
lots of characters from other books in it, which let me tell you sent me down
some rabbit holes since I have read ALL of her books and I had to remember
where they came from. But it was fun, I
like the town and the characters, they all have great back stories, maybe I liked
them so much because I actually knew the back stories. Gotta give Harris her props, my jaw actually
fell open at the end of the who dunnit.
Day Shift by
Charlaine Harris (Read 1/29/17 to 2/1/17) - 4 Star
The next one in the series, built nicely upon the first
book. I liked the storyline better, the
end wasn't as shocking.
Night Shift by
Charlaine Harris (Read 2/5/17 to 2/7/17) - 4 Star
This felt like a wrap up for me, everyone's storylines
seemed concluded, a nice little trilogy.
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