Lydia Chin and Bill Smith pair up again to solve the murder of Lydia’s boss in The Shanghai Moon by S. J. Rozan. I’ve never read the other books featuring Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, but let me assure you it’s not necessary to do so. These books appear to be stand alone, so you can jump in at any point.

Lydia, a free-lance private investigator, is hired by her old mentor, Joel Pilarsky, to help with a new case involving missing jewels that were recently excavated from Shanghai. No costume jewelry here, because these jewels belonged to Jews who fled Europe during World War II and found refuge in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Moon is one of the jewels that is thought to have been stolen and to have found its way to New York City. Around the time Lydia finds out that the Shanghai Moon is one of the jewels she’ll be looking for, someone gets murdered, and shortly thereafter she’s fired from the case. Even though Lydia’s technically fired, she continues working on the case as she’s found letters from the original owner of the Shanghai Moon, Rosalie, to her mother. Lydia feels a connection with Rosalie and wants to find out exactly what happened to her and her jewelry.

I thought the plot moved along at a fair pace and the storyline was interesting, though I sometimes felt a little ho hum about the hullabaloo over a necklace. The letters from Rosalie and the subplot of finding out what happened to her and her family was my favorite part, much more interesting than the necklace.

While the author’s writing is definitely good, her ability to write conversations is great. I know, I should have a great sample for you, but while I was reading, I was like, “I don’t need to mark any parts as excerpts because they’re all great!” And now I can’t find the perfect excerpt. But let me assure you that the writing is top notch and S. J. Rozan writes some of the most life-like conversations I’ve ever read. If you’re a fan of mysteries, you’ll definitely enjoy The Shanghai Moon.

Rating: 85 out of 100

Buy The Shanghai Moon from Powell’s | Buy The Shanghai Moon from Amazon

S. J. Rozan’s website

Natasha, Amy, and I discussed why people (specifically, people who don’t already have a book blog) should read book blogs.

I’d love to hear your opinion, especially if you don’t have a book blog. Why do you read book blogs? Would you recommend your friends read book blogs? What’s your opinion???

Update: Alyce has found the shower caddy I want, so the contest is closed! Thanks for all your help!

I’m so original on titles, aren’t I?

So here’s the thing: I have this shower caddy that I love. I’ve looked high and low for other shower caddies, and none are acceptable. This is the only shower caddy I want.

BUT I CAN’T FIND IT ANYWHERE.

I know most people would just buy a different shower caddy, but this is the PERFECT shower caddy. I love it and don’t want a different one.

So here’s where you come in: I’ll give a $25 gift card (to any store that does gift cards) to the first person who can find this caddy.

This is what I know:

• I bought this shower caddy probably about five years ago.
• I bought it at WalMart.
• I’ve looked for this caddy at WalMart, Target, Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and online.
• If you could find this caddy in metal, that would be fine. I just want a slim shower caddy with the slanted shelves.

Here’s some pics so you can see what I have. Please forgive the shape it’s in…there’s a reason I need a new one!

Good luck!

I recently reviewed The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, so when I saw he was coming to my local independent bookstore, Copperfield’s, I made a point of going to see him.

First of all, David is 40 but looks to be about 20. Seriously. (Sorry, David, I’m sure you don’t want me announcing your age, but if I look like I’m 20 when I’m actually 40, I’ll be announcing my age from the rooftops.)

I was disappointed to see that only about seven people showed up to see David, but I’ve found that that’s often the case at smaller bookstores where the author isn’t super well known. I mean, if I wasn’t a blogger, I probably wouldn’t have ever heard about The 19th Wife. (Again, I’m sorry, David!)

But instead of standing at the podium, all stiff and self-important while talking to only seven people, David had us pull our chairs in a circle and we just chatted. He talked about what he probably normally talks about when he gets a bigger crowd, but it was really cool because it was so intimate! I’ve never seen an author do this, and it’s almost embarrassing when they insist on using the microphone, stand at the podium, and deliver their speech as if there’s 50 people there, as opposed to only the five people that are there.

David talked about how he got the idea for the book, how he did research for the book (one of his stories had to do with how he thought he’d go to one of the Utah compounds and, you know, just interview a few polygamous wives. Needless to say, not only did that happen, but he was literally run out of town by the local sheriff.), and what it was like writing the book.

I know, you want me to tell you what he said, but I’m a horrible story teller, so I’ll just butcher what he said. So I’d just like to encourage you to check him out when he comes your way.

We did have an interesting discussion about where the responsibility lies with historical fiction and disclosing what is fact and what is fiction. David pointed out that he has a very extensive note at the back, letting the reader know that while the book is based on real people and real events, ultimately it is fiction. There are facts in the book, but many things are made up by the author, including a Wikipedia article that appears in the book. Ultimately, though, the responsibility lies with the reader to remember that it’s fiction and to do their own research should they want to take anything away as fact.

After David was done, I was the last one to get my book signed, and we ended up talking for almost an hour (part of the time while the employees were closing the store, and the other part outside while both of us shivered). He really helped me understand a book I was reading, The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second, and it was his insights that will make my review that much better. He was great to talk to, someone who values knowledge and thinking and reading. I had to pull myself away from him, since he was so much fun to talk to, but we were both shivering from the cold.

David Ebershoff was a great author to go see, and I can’t wait until he puts out the next book he’s working on!

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje was picked by my book club, and I was thisclose to not even bothering to pick up the book and blowing off that book club meeting. I saw the movie version however many years ago and thought it was excruciating. I figured the book isn’t much better, but after a lot of thought, I decided that I’m not in a book club so I can read what I already have on my shelf (though that’s always nice). I’m in a book club so I can expand my reading, not so I can be a noob and pick and choose which books I read for book club.

It was with much trepidation that I started reading The English Patient, but I found early on that I was really enjoying it! With that said, I’m sorry to say I didn’t really *get* the book. Later when I found out that the author is a poet, I was like, “Oh, no wonder I didn’t get it. This book is all literary and stuff.” But seriously, the writing is lovely, just not…compelling. I liked it well enough, but wouldn’t be able to write a deep paper about it.

Here’s a quick sketch of The English Patient: Hana, a nurse, is in Italy taking care of this English patient (hence, the title) who’s badly burned and won’t tell anyone his identity. They’re alone is an abandonded villa until this other guy, Carvaggio, shows up that used to be friends with Hana’s dad, who was a soldier and was spying on the Germans when he was caught and tortured for his information. Then these other two guys show up, one of whom is Kip, an Indian Sikh, who is an expert bomb deconstructer. Kip hangs around to find any bombs that may have been hidden in the villa. Other stuff happens, but that is basically the plot on which the story hangs.

The story is basically the history of these four characters, Hana, Carvaggio, the English patient, and Kip. Which was okay, but kinda slow. I liked it, but unfortunately it didn’t give us much to talk about at the book club meeting. The book club discussion went something like this:

*crickets*

Not that we were totally quiet, but the discussion was hard to get going, in large part because no one loved it or hated it. I can see why the book won the Booker Prize for fiction (kinda sorta not really), but it was pretty much over my head. I might be able to appreciate the movie a little more now that I’ve read the book, but I don’t think I’ll test the waters on that.

Rating: 85 out of 100

Buy The English Patient from Powell’s | Buy The English Patient from Amazon

Other reviews:

My Friend Amy

Booking Mama

S. Krishna’s Books

The Magic Lasso

Life and Times of a “New” New Yorker

books i done read (she said what I said…only better)