Book Review: In the Woods, by Tana French

I have Reading Fever. After buying a few books several weeks ago, I found myself purchasing six more on Thursday. The first of which is In the Woods. Tana French's mystery novel is well-written, if not especially fulfilling. The book jacket suggests there are two parallel mysteries and I expected two resolutions. I only got one.

The first mystery involves three children entering the woods and only one child returning. The missing children disappear forever and the surviving child was found in the woods clinging to a tree with bloody socks and shoes. The child is catatonic for two weeks and never fully remembers what happened in the woods that day.

Flash forward 20 years. The surviving child, Adam, becomes a detective and a similar case arises in the same woods. After the incident in the woods his parents began calling him by his middle name, Rob, and he becomes lead detective on the new case with his partner Cassie. He tells no one of the connection but Cassie.

The first half of the book is quite flawless. Easy to read and I absolutely couldn't wait to see what happened on the next page. Terrific character development and vivid descriptions. My only complaint with this part is the sometimes juvenile banter between Rob and Cassie. Their relationship seems more appropriate in a high school setting.

The second half dropped off tremendously for me. We find out that only one of the mysteries will be solved and the mystery that is solved has a weak motive and the investigative skills seem mediocre at best. I was quite disappointed with the ending. I know that novels do not have to be 100% resolved by the end of the book, but the unsolved mystery is the reason I bought the book!

The good news is that the book leaves the mystery open-ended, so possibly French will write another book resolving that mystery. I will definitely buy her next novel, Likeness. In spite of the disappointment in the ending of this book, French proves herself to be a terrific writer with a talent for creating suspense. I have great hopes for her future novels and highly recommend In the Woods to the mystery novel reader.

See You at Wimbledon!

I'm going to Wimbledon! In Wilmington,NC that is.

Description:

"Grab your clubs and walk out onto #9 at Echo Farms. This lovely and well maintained townhome is ready to move in. Very clean, bright, & comfortable 3 bedrooms & 2.5 baths. Master bath has been renovated to a tile walk-in shower. Large deck overlooking the golf course and a brick courtyard accents coastal golf course living. Upstairs features two bedrooms and full bath. Floored attic with pull-down stairs provides ample and additional storage. New HVAC System installed in 2006 provides comfortable and affordable living conditions. Washer/Dryer and Refrigerator all convey along with a 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty at Closing. This home is truly an exceptional value and priced below tax assessed value. Don't let this one pass you by."

In addition to this, the furniture stays!

Below are pics of the condo we are closing on soon: Wimbledon Court.

Cute outside



View of Golf Course



Awesome Couryard



Relaxing Deck Overlooking Golf Course



Second Bedroom (with walk-in closet)



Third Bedroom (with walk-in closet)



Updated Master Bath (the pic doesn't do it justice)



Light Master Bedroom



Kitchen



Kitchen (great light through the window)



Dining Room Looking Onto Deck



Den



Den 2



Courtyard 2



Second View of Front

Verdell's Bow Tie

Verdell is preparing to enter the World Canine Freestyle Organization's video contest. As his costume, I ordered a bow tie. Here are some pics:






Henry also wanted to try it on:



It may look better on him. Verdell needs a smaller size. I'm not sure this will stay on the entire performance.

Verdell and Henry at Play

Verdell and Henry play at a local park.



Verdell was convinced I had treats and rarely left my side. This is Henry playing with a stick.

Easy Off Bam Multi-Purpose Grime and Lime Remover

I have found something great. Something exciting. Something that will clean our place!

Introducing Easy Off Bam Multi-Purpose Grime & Lime Remover.

From the bottle:
"Powerful foaming formula removes even the toughest stains and dirt on many surfaces. Works on stubborn grime, soap scum, grease, lime scale buildup, rust stains and dirt. Dissolves hard water in seconds. For use on tubs, shower tile, glass, kitchen surface es, stone, concrete, faucets and shower heads."

This stuff really works. It works well and fast. I find it works best if you spray it and leave it about a minute before wiping it off. It worked on old toilet stains, toaster grunge that had accumulated so that we could no longer see in the toaster, old stove grunge, a thoroughly scary sink that smelled like vomit, though no one claimed it. A few squirts, a one minute wait, and presto!!! Clean! Our kitchen has never looked better. I now know if something is in the toaster and the sink is Fly Lady clean.

I give it my cleanest recommendation! It minimizes elbow grease and maximizes clean.

I will say that if you use it in the bathroom, make sure you open a window or turn on a fan. Also, it's best to use gloves when cleaning because it is so powerful and it helps to wipe everything down with water after you are through so things do not streak.

The toilet cleaner is also outstanding and got rid of old toilet ring in minutes without much scrubbing and now our toilets are gleaming.

Good luck!

My First Book

Well, I officially have a book out. Will anyone read it? Hard to say, but it's pretty neat and I can display it in my bookcase and casually point it out to people and offer to pose for a picture with it. You know, the basics.

You can find it on:

amazon.com
(For my international fans)
amazon.co.uk
blackwell.co.uk
abebooks.com

The cover art is below. You may ask why there is a tiny clay figure pushing a cart with a giant telephone. Especially because the majority of the book deals with the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Did they have shopping carts and telephones like that? Well, the answer is no. But the people were shrinking even as their purchasing power was increasing. So while the people were small, evidently they were not smart enough to scale down futuristic phones to a more appropriate size.





Blurb from the back cover:

Historically, scholars of economic growth have focused almost exclusively on aggregate output or income as a way to assess the standard of living in a society. This work supplements and challenges this methodology by using evidence of the biological standard of living to measure the physiological adjustments of human populations to changes in economic conditions. Human stature captures the biological costs and benefits of economic activity and serves as a primary indicator of the biological standard of living. While income and output appear to steadily improve over time, human stature fluctuates through time, implying that the general increase of incomes came at the expense of health, nutrition, and ultimately height.

The book begins by using an innovative estimation technique to generate per capita GDP figures for Colonial America, then finds evidence of convergence and divergence of stature in the nineteenth-century United States, before concluding with the global exploration of the impact of economic and health variables on stature in the nineteenth century. The book is addressed to researchers in Economics, History, Nutrition, and Health.

It's never too late for Christmas Pictures!

Well, it might be, but I'll share a few anyway.

Robert is not in any of the pictures because he took them all! Thanks to him for sharing the pictures and documenting Christmas 2007.

Granny and Jerry's Tree



Mom and Charlotte



Charlotte in trouble



Dad with his Gamecock Golf Cover



Pete and I with our new Bose!



My new lip enhancer



Jerry and Granny



Jerry



Mom and Dad's Tree (and new TV!)

Verdell's Newest Freestyle

Merry Tossmas

Don't let retailers ignore the reason for the season.

Autumn Dogs

The day before Thanksgiving was a spectacular one! The weather was beautiful and I took pictures of Verdell and Henry.