Book Catacombs 2016-2021

Books I've read from 2016-2021

2019:

1. The Big Four (Hercule Poirot.5)
2. Railhead (Railhead.1)
3. The Professor & the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity & the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
4. The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot.13)
5. Lord Edgware Dies (Hercule Poirot.9)
6. Young Goodman Brown
7. The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot.2)
8. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
9. Evil on the Nile (Hercule Poirot.24)
10. Batman: Hush (TPB)
11. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
12. 1922
13. Books of Blood: Vol.1 (Books of Blood.1)
14. Dark Carousel
15. Books of Blood: Vol.2 (Books of Blood.2)
16. Miracle Creek
17. Their Eyes Were Watching God
18. Watership Down
19. The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events.4)

2018:

1. Ready Player One (Ready Player One.1)
2. InterWorld (InterWorld.1)
3. La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust.1)
4. Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot.11)
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. And Then There Were None
7. Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot.17)
8. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot.1)
9. The Silver Dream (InterWorld.2)
10. Darkness Visible
11. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories
12. The Raven: Pop-up Book
13. It
14. Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles.1)
15. Predator’s Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles.2)
16. Infernal Devices (The Hungry City Chronicles.3)
17. A Darkling Plain (The Hungry City Chronicles.4)
18. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (Hercule Poirot.20)

2017:

1. Batman, Volumn 1: The Court of Owls
2. 1984
3. Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
4. Gwendy’s Button Box
5. The Magicians (The Magicians.1)
6. Twenty Thousand Leavues Under the Sea
7. The Time Machine
8. The War of the Worlds
9. The Invisible Man
10. Irena’s Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto
11. Coraline
12. Wishful Drinking
13. Cell
14. Around the World in Eighty Days
15. Odd and the Frost Giants
16. Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot.10)
17. The Snowman (Harry Hole.7)

2016:

1. Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children.3)
2. Dead Wake
3. The Colorado Kid
4. Penguins Big Adventure
5. Everything's Eventual
6. Penguins Say Please
7. Meg: Hell's Aquarium (Meg.4)
8. Dada
9. The Secret
10. The Jungle Book (Disney Board Book)
11. Guess How Much I Love You
12. The Walking Dead: March To War (#19)
13. The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events.1)
14. The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events.2)
15. The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events.3)
16. A Monster Calls

Frosty the snowman, was a stabby murdery soul...

The Snowman

by

Jo Nesbø 

           I honestly have no idea how I feel about this novel. I both enjoyed and disliked it equally. I don’t know if it’s b/c of mediocre translation from Norwegian to English that is causing the duality disconnect, or what.  It’s cliche, cheesy, predictable, purposely (and quite obviously) misleading, weak to mediocre dialogue, and weak, and at times, confusing, character development.  I knew, or rather, suspected, who the killer was after their first introduction.  I said to myself, "Self, it’s this character.  It better not be, because seriously, how cliche and cheesy and predictable would that be?  But I bet it is".

          Having said that, it was, I don’t want to say compelling, ensnaring maybe? enough to keep me reading.  Indeed I spent late nights telling myself, "just one more page".  "One more chapter". 

I don’t know if it was b/c the story had me hooked, or that I just wanted it to be over, or b/c it was the last book on my 2017 boal.  Perhaps all of the above. 

          I picked this book up b/c of the movie coming out.  (I’ll wait for DVD)  This is the 7th book in the “Harry Hole” series.  I ain’t gonna lie, I giggled every single time I read the name, Harry Hole. I’m giggling right now. Detective, or is it Inspector?  Now I can’t remember. Let’s go with Inspector Harry Hole, **giggle**, is after a serial killer. He’s the only cop in Oslo that’s dealt with a serial killer.  They don't get many in Oslo.  Probably b/c it’s too friggen cold.  Ain’t nobody got time for.  The killer leaves a snowman at each victims house.  That’s not me being funny.  That’s the plot.  I was honestly hoping it was evil demon possessed snowmen doing the dirty deed, but sadly it was not.

         OK, I am simplifying it.  The killer seems to be targeting women with children.  Women who have been unfaithful in their marriages.  The aforementioned poor attempt to mislead the reader into believing it is this character, no this character, NO, this character!  Was a bit painful.  But somehow it still made me doubt myself and wonder if it really COULD be that character.  What annoyed me wasn't just the intentional misleading, but that the inspector was convinced each time it was the character we are being led to believe is the evil-doer.  Then after some revelation or incident, Inspector Hole suddenly says he had some reservations/doubts about whether the person he was just gunning for, was really the killer.  

         I know it seems I've nothing but negative things to say about the book, but honestly it wasn't horrible.  It was just, meh.  Entertaining enough to keep me interested and reading.  And there were some key scenes that could've been really 80's thriller movie cliche, but did a good job of avoiding.

         I can neither recommend nor not recommend this novel.  If you happen upon it, read it. If you don’t, it’s snow big deal.  Oh yeah, that just happened.  I regret nothing.

Happy Reading! Stay Booked!