Dexter is Delicious - Jeff Lindsay (Dexter #5)

Awhile back I read the first four Dexter books in pretty quick succession.  And then I was done with the series and a bit bummed.  It isn't the best written series, but anything about a do-gooder serial killer is certain to pique my interest.  So, imagine my excitement when I returned to the library last month after a brief hiatus and found that not only had Lindsay published one new Dexter book since the last time I'd paid any attention, but he'd actually published two!!  Needless to say, I borrowed them both straight-away!  The fifth installment finds the recently married Dexter with a newborn daughter - a little girl who has stirred some kind of unfamiliar emotion in Dexter and made him want to be a better person...perhaps even one that gives up his Dark Passenger and his late night murders.  Dexter is then pulled in by his disaster of a sister to assist in investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl.  The case leads him to a strange cult of cannibals, while he continues to fight his own demons while trying to rid the world of others.  As usual, Dexter's sister irritated me to no end - she seems wholly incompetent at her job and hell-bent on bringing everyone else down with her.  But, I am a fan of Dexter, and watching him navigate his new family while still remaining somewhat true to his dasterdly nature was entertaining, as usual.

Simisola - Ruth Rendell (Chief Inspector Wexford #16)

I'm always on the look-out for a new mystery writer/series.  My grandmother-in-law recommended Ruth Rendell, and this book in particular.  I'm clearly not going in order here, as this is the 16th book in a series of about 22 featuring Inspector Wexford.  When Wexford's doctor's daughter goes missing, Wexford is fast on the case.  The "twist" is that his doctor happens to be one of the few black people in the British town of Kingsmarkham.  While looking for the missing woman, the bodies of two other women turn up murdered and Wexford is confronted with his own racism, as well as those of the witnesses he encounters.  I found the writing in this book fine - better than most mysteries that I read - but in terms of plot, it wasn't particularly suspenseful and I found some of the investigation a bit tedious.  I will read the other Rendell novel my grandmother-in-law loaned me (written under the name Barbara Vine) to see if there is any thing more that grabs me, but I probably won't rush out to read more in this series.

Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Niebla #1)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's adult fiction novels are among my favorites, so when I learned his children's series had been translated into English, I had to check it out. Prince of Mist is a ghost-story featuring the three Carver children who have just moved into a new home where the owners son died under mysterious circumstances.  With the help of a local kid, the Carvers set about to uncover the secrets of the spooky hauntings.  This book was definitely suspenseful, and the main character (a young boy by the name of Max) was quite likeable.  I have never read the Goosebump series which I think is supposed to be quite frightening, but I don't know if I would allow someone younger than high school to read this.  I thought it was incredibly creepy - but I do have a low tolerance for the paranormal.  I want to read hte next in the series, as I like the author, but not if it's another ghost story!

Bringing Up Bebe - Pamela Druckerman

One of the quickest lessons I learned as a new parent was that no one knows my child better than I do, and while I listen to advice and ask questions of others about how they raise their children quite often, in the end, I have (to this point) followed my instincts with my son and things seem to be going ok.  In doing this, I have contradicted many of the absolutes I was sure of before I had a child.  I never thought I'd be the kind of parents to share a bed with my child, or carry him around for hours on end, or do many of the things that are associated with attachment parenting.  But, after only a few days of life, it became clear that these methods were what worked the best for my son (and for me). As a result, it took a long time for my son to sleep through the night (he still doesn't always do it), but he is not a picky eater and he is sometimes well behaved and other times defiant.  I am indulgent and I am strict, but hopefully in a way that is predictable and consistent.  That being said, I am always open to how other people do things - so when I heard about this book, I thought I'd check it out.  Bringing Up Bebe is written by an American mother living in Paris.  While her child exhibits many of the "American" ways of waking up often, snacking throughout the day, throwing tantrums, the author marvels at how well behaved the French children seem to be - sleeping through the night after only a couple weeks, eating in 5-star restaurants with the patience of a Buddhist monk, and in general being the angels to the American child's devil.  While American parents are stereotyped throughout this book as overbearing hoverers who martyr themselves for their children, the French are praised for their ability to hang on to their identities as people, while still enjoying their role as parents.  I am hesitant to buy into any system that people claim works for "all" children - but I did think there was much about this book that could be applied to my own parenting style.  I liked the chapter about French women working outside the home - and the value that gave to their relationships with their husbands.  I didn't like that there seemed to be a definite expectation that men did not participate as fully in the lives of their children as the mothers.  I liked the idea of couples focusing on their relationship, but not sure that would (for me) include shipping my three-year old child off to camp for weeks at a time in the summer.  So, as with all advice, I pick and choose the things that I like and think would work for my child.  I do like any "system" that advocates not being a martyr and retaining one's own identity while still being an active parent.  But, again, I think that all children are different and while they probably all need consistency and boundaries, some of the methods advocated in this book seemed too harsh for my tastes.  Druckerman is, at times, too hard on herself - and her children - any parent who thinks this much about the best way to raise her children is probably doing a great job - but in the end if seems like she finds the right American/French balance, and is doing just fine raising her bebes.  And we'll see which of these methods that I haven't chosen for my first-born will in fact find be perfectly suitable for the next ones that come along.

Quiet - Susan Cain

Ever since I scored as an extreme introvert in a work administered Myers-Briggs test, I have been fascinated with the qualities of introverts and extroverts- the different ways that we learn, interact, express ourselves, and of course conduct ourselves vis-a-vis other people (or alone, as the case may be).  Quiet is a thorough examination of the lives of introverts - how and why we behave the way we do, and how best to function in a world that values the qualities of extroverts.  But rather than encourage introverts to overcome their natural instincts, it is a book about embracing the positive in introversion and using it to your advantage in business and relationships.  The book is, of course, written by an introvert, and is definitely biased in favor or extolling the virtues of introversion over extroversion, but despite this, I felt it had many valuable insights and I found myself nodding my head vigorously as I read much of it.  There is a significant amount of the book dedicated to business and product development by introverts - which I wasn't that interested in.  I did like the parts about extroverts raising introvert children (though my husband and I seem to have found our introvert selves in the opposite position of having spawned an extrovert).  This books is comprehensive, and does much to dispel the myth that introverts are simply shy hermits who don't know how to interact with others.  It served to validate my existence, but also give me some comfort that I do have much to offer in a world that seems to value all those boisterous loud-mouths.

The Scarecrow - Michael Connelly (Jack McEvoy #2)

The Scarecrow features the return of journalist, Jack McEvoy.  On the eve of his forced retirement from the paper, McEvoy learns of a 16-year-old drug dealer who has confessed to a murder.  Under the guise of investigating the boy's innocence, McEvoy uncovers one of the biggest stories since his encounter with the Poet years earlier.  He teams up again with FBI agent, Rachel Walling, in a race against the real killer and the government conspiracy to cover it all up.  As with the first McEvoy novel, the fact that he is a journalist, rather than an attorney or actual detective, meant that he was often making ridiculous leaps in logic, or otherwise trying to scoop the story rather than get to the whole truth - which I found consistently annoying throughout the novel. But, of course, those leaps are what allow for all the crazy twists and turns necessary for a good story. 

The Hundred Secret Senses - Amy Tan

Amy Tan is one of those writers who books I always seem to enjoy when I read them, but I haven't read too many - and luckily for me, she has a lot of them.  In The Hundred Secret Senses, half-Chinese-American Olivia is pestered constantly by her full-Chinese born half-sister, Kwan Li.  Olivia just wants to live a normal existence, but finds this difficult with her sister constantly interferring with advice - particularl advice from the ghosts that she is in contact with on a regular basis.  When Olivia's marriage fall apart, she agrees to travel to China - with Kwan Li and her ex-husband.  The book switches between the present day - and Kwan's storytelling of her previous life in China.  As with many of Tan's books, it is a story of past lives and family history, and establishing identity in the face of tremendous expectation.  While the characters were at times infuriating - Olivia is so stubborn (and downright mean at times) and Kwan is so overbearing - Tan writes them as real people - just like one's own family who you can't help but love and protect despite their never-ending annoyances.