Now for last month!

 

February:

 

A Question of Belief - Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti #19) - 3,5 out of 5 stars.

 

El Arte de La Guerra - Sun Tzu,Alejandro Bárcenas - 3,5 out of 5 stars.

 

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides - 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Drawing Conclusions - Donna Leon - 3 out of 5 stars.

 

The Bat - Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #1) - 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Fun Home - Alison Bechdel - 5 out of 5 stars. --> My favorite one, hands down!

 

 

 

Happy March, people!!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

There is so much I loved about this story I just don’t know where to begin and I have to be very careful not to give anything away.

We meet Cece while she is dumpster diving and then we learn that she is a “Freegan” and is from a very wealthy family. She is also a sketch artist and captures the nuances of faces in an uncanny way. She has a twin brother, Teddy, who works with their father at a lab that researches DNA. Her father is known all over the world for his work. She lives in a house with 4 other ecologically-minded and socially conscious friends, Charlie, who is her twin brother’s best friend, Trina, Becky and Jonathan.

We learn very quickly that her twin brother has been killed. It is Cece’s artistic ability and her knowledge of her father’s company that brings her in to the middle of the investigation of his death but the investigation goes off in some truly unexpected tangents that will change her life and others in monumental ways.

I started reading this story and just couldn’t stop. Every time a clue connected it seemed to twist the story into another direction and this continued throughout the whole story. I was like “wow”, “no way”, oh my stars!” and then the final twist so good…I couldn’t wait to write this review to tell you all about it!!

I truly don’t know how the author is going to top this story in the next installment but I want to be first in line to read it!!

This 20th Guido Brunetti mystery is another solid offering from Donna Leon. It features, as usual, a wonderful look at the culture of Venice. It's difficult to read any of these books and not crave the food being eaten or prepared or the beverages being imbibed. The story and the storytelling are very well done. Brunetti remains true to himself, upholding justice, if not always strictly, the law. It's always great to visit the world of Commissario Brunetti, to see him deal with the red tape of bureaucracy, the politics of the time, the regional differences of Italy, the crises of conscience. And this story is no different in that we get to see him interact with those who support him in his efforts: his wife, Vianello, and Signorina Elettra. It's also refreshing to watch how he works through his cases, using his intellect and going on instinct and intuition. He rarely uses a gun, only occasionally uses a cell phone, and rather reluctantly embraces the so-called "advances" of technology, such as the internet. Defintely an enjoyable read.

As always, this manga gets better and better with every volume. We get to meet so many new amazing enemies in this one, and a new person that'll be joining the cast for the duration. It's funny how when I first saw Megumi, our second female character to really take any front-and-center stage in importance in this series, that I didn't like her. I've been so badgered by bad female characters that my minimal exposure to her instantly brought a frown to my face and made my eyes darken, my thoughts instantly turning to, "Oh God. Not another one." But I, as a reader, was blind. And for a short while, I retained that pensive dislike until I learned more about her. And then, I did a remarkable and rare thing today:

I changed my mind about her.

A great deal more of who she is and what she's still going through was revealed in this volume, and it only became that much more horribly drastic and heart-wrenching when things came towards what seemed a fatal conclusion. However, through it all, every single one of the characters we're getting used to seeing now began to shine. Kenshin, Yahiko, Sanosuke even came around, and Kaoru, too, welcomed Megumi into her heart.

What is the most profound about this volume in particular is the message that I believe it sends over all the others: Though you may disagree with someone, stand on completely opposite ends of the spectrum and believe in sides normally versing each other... you can still respect the person facing off against you. You can, even, like them.

This stood true for the Oniwabanshu, our villains that got introduced in the last volume. We got to see more of them here, and we had a whole new side to them revealed when it came down to the toughest and most trying of moments. We learned not just their skills, but saw their loyalty, devotion, and strength as men. We saw who they were beneath the skin. It made for a gripping and mortifying end to a great volume.


If you're keeping up with me in this series, this is yet another volume that doesn't disappoint. It really does get only better and better.