Books and Auckland Botanical Gardens, May - June, 2024

 My recent books and more garden photos from the Auckland Botanical Gardens

-by Malka Older

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles:  Second book of a mystery/murder on Jupiter.  Will happily read the next when it arrives.

-by Sujata Massey

The Malabar Widows: 1920's India, mystery/murder with a great protagonist.  I really liked this and aim to finish the series.

-by Peter Attia

Outlive:  Premise is: if you really want to live a long healthy life, you need to take prevention seriously, starting now.  Great overview of what to focus on, and some guide of how-to.  Straightforward information, well presented.

-by Rupert Holmes

Murder Your Employer:  Set mostly in a school that teaches you to murder, not in general, but that one specific person you need to delete.  Follows 3 students on different journeys.  Good fun if you like a 'How done it'

-by Percival Everett

James:  A retelling of Huck Finn A Pulitzer Prize finalists, had to wait for a bit on hold, totally worth it.  Fantastic, much better than the original, and it goes a bit different especially at the end.  Very satisfying. 

-by Cat Bohannon

Eve:  A history of how women's actions and needs, especially around childbirth, shaped human evolution.  Great read, don't be put off by the size, half of it is reference info.

-by Kelly Link

Magic for Beginners (all her short stories) and Steampunk! An anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (she edited and contributed):  I didn't finish them all, but  they kept me entertained on a long flight.

-by Sara Farizan and Nicoletta Baldari

My Buddy Killer Croc: Cute graphic story for elementary kids about the DC villain killer croc.

-by BA Paras

Behind Closed Doors: Psychological thriller with a satisfying ending.  I'd like a few more twists, but it kept moving nicely!

-by Mick Herron

Slow Horses: Spy story about spies who got left behind.  Might read the next ones!

-by Delia Ownes

Where the Crawdads Sing:  Amazing.  A huge hit that I just got around to.  A murder mystery in the background of a coming of age story.  1950s to 1970, North Carolina marshland and the people who eked out a living.  The best I've read recently.

-by Kimberly Pauly

Sucks to be Me:  YA vampire book.  It was fine.  Many plot holes, but one aspect I like is that there are classes you have to take before you can choose to become a vampire.

-by Michael Bennet

Better the Blood:  Thriller/mystery, a How They Caught Him story.  Based in New Zealand and it incorporates a lot of native/colonialism issues.  Did the audio book, made it great for all the names I don't know.

DNF

-by Percival Everett

Dr. No:  It sounds fantastic in theory, but a bit tough to get through.  Half of the book is about the Professor who specializes in Nothing.  Clever writing, but that only gets you so far.