What I Read Wednesday

The Last Summer of the Camperdowns: A Novel
This book straddles the line between memoir, coming of age story and mystery--only instead of being a whodunnit, it's a why did he do it? On the cusp of 13, Riddle Camperdown (named after her father's hero, Jimmy Riddle Hoffa) witnesses a horrific crime and is terrified into silence. Over this summer, Riddle changes as the mystery slowly unravels, but so do the adults around her. As the novel unfolds, it's revealed that the mystery is bigger than Riddle and connects all those around her, showing her that no one is really what you think.

Capitol Murder
This is one of those books that is definitely a beach read or a summer read. I checked it out from the library's e-book selection because I didn't have anything to read at the moment. It was a good filler book and kept me engaged. The book focuses on Private Investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are recurring characters in Margolin novels, but prior knowledge of the books isn't necessary. The book begins with serial killer Clarence Little who has a penchant for torture and women's fingers. Through a mistake in an early case, Little comes back up to trial. Brad was his original lawyer and begins receiving letters in the mail from him and is worried about what may happen if he is freed. Meanwhile, there is a terror plot that loosely involves the senator Brad currently works for, as well as PI Cutler. By the end of the novel, all plot points were tied together, somewhat too conveniently, but again, this is a good beach book, so you can't totally complain about that.

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
I probably don't need to give an overview of the plot because you've all seen the movie. But if you're like me and you've seen the movie a hundred times and never read the book, READ THE BOOK IMMEDIATELY. I'm a huge fan of reading the book before the movie, but it just never happened with this one and I never got around to it. I'm so glad I finally did. The author's voice is hilarious and it was great to see how much of it they kept in the screenplay of the movie. As always, the book goes beyond the movie and is worth a read for the asides and the clever description of the Zoo of the Death. This was a brilliant read and I kind of can't believe that I'm just now reading it.

Odd Interlude: A Special Odd Thomas Adventure
This was originally just an e-book but was recently released in print. So while it's part of the Odd Thomas series, it's not a complete installment. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and read through it in one sitting because it was such a great story. While this won't give you the full scope of Odd and his cast of characters who you've probably come to love (no ghost of Alfred Hitchcock or Elvis or Sinatra, for example), you still get enough of the Odd Thomas experience to enjoy yourself. Odd and Annamaria on their journey to their next location end up in Harmony Corners, where things are anything but harmonious. Intent on solving the mystery of Harmony Corners, Odd discovers several interesting characters: a brave 12 year old girl, a mummified creature, a super-smart computer, among others. Definitely a quick, fun read.

Bobcat and Other Stories
As with most short story books, some of the short stories were incredibly poignant while other were not as much. That said, most of these were really strong with varying subjects. Some took place in America, some in other countries, so the topics really did vary. What seemed a common theme in each of these stories was that they all revealed an uncomfortable look at human nature that any one can relate to.

What are you reading?