an amish police chief

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo; 2009; $9.99; 363 pages; Minotaur Books, New York, NY; 978-1-250-16163-5; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Rockwood; 1/11/2020-1/14/2020

I have read lots of Amish books but never an Amish mystery.  Linda Castillo has written a series of books set in Amish country with a female police chief who used to be a member of the Amish church growing up.  She and her family have a secret that eats at her constantly in this first book in the series.
Young girls, both Amish and English are being kidnapped, tortured and murdered.  The killings resemble those that happened in the same area sixteen years.  The chief's secret complicates her investigation.  She eventually is fired by the city council which of course is when she manages to solve the case.  The story is pretty good except for the coincidences that propel the climax.  

too many coincidences

A Small Town by Thomas Perry; 2020; $26.00; 320 pages; The Mysterious Press,New York, NY; 978-0-8021-4806-3; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Sellwood; 1/8/2020-1/11/2020

Way too many coincidences in the story.  This is a story that could have begun a series, but Mr. Perry decided to cram it all in one book.  
A small town in the middle of the country is dying until a new federal prison comes to town.  It is initially a country club but becomes the home of the worst of the worst.  One day almost the entire population of the prison escapes and terrorizes the town.  Within a couple of days all but the twelve ringleaders are either killed or caught and returned to the prison.  
Two years later the city council sends the chief of police on a extended sabbatical to "study methods of law enforcement", but in reality she is trying to track down the ringleaders and execute them.  A good portion of the book is spent tracking down the first inmate, but after that the cons congregate together making it easy for her to kill groups of them at once.  
It doesn't make sense to me to cluster together if you are trying to evade someone.   

2019 in the rear view mirror, Part 2

Following are noteworthy books from the past year.  I will link to my initial review if possible. Some of the reviews are on an old website that no longer exists.   

Books that took less than a day...
The History of the Wonderous World as recorded for the The Laurel Society, Practitioners of The Wonderous Science, Updated and Approved by the Most High Hidden Librarian, An Overview of Significant People, Concepts and Events, A Supplementary Volume to Mysteries of the The Laurel Society by Brian W. Parker & Josie Parker

The Next Person you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.  A sequel to the Five People you will meet in Heaven

Dangerous Minds, A Knight and Moon Novel by Janet Evanovich

Biggest Disappointment
Blue Moon by Lee Child

Favorite Thrillers
City of Windows by Robert Pobi
Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

Books to reread on a regular basis
12 Rules For Life, An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
Keep Your Love On!, Connection, Communication & Boundaries by Danny Silk

Book that hit me emotionally
Between Heaven & The Real World, My Story by Steven Curtis Chapman with Ken Abraham

I read it in 2018 and 2019, it's that good
Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

The Biggest Surprise
Aloha Rodeo, Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World's Greatest Rodeo and a Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith

The Biggest Book I read in 2019
Deep River by Karl Marlantes, 724 pages

Book whose world I would like to read more about
The History of the Wonderous World as recorded for the The Laurel Society, Practitioners of The Wonderous Science, Updated and Approved by the Most High Hidden Librarian, An Overview of Significant People, Concepts and Events, A Supplementary Volume to Mysteries of the The Laurel Society by Brian W. Parker & Josie Parker

Books that expanded my mind
The Color of Compromise, The Truth About The American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
12 Rules For Life, An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

2019 in the rear view mirror

First the numbers for the year.

I started 76 books this year and did not finish three of them.  

The books I did not finish were Shelby Mustang, The Total Performance Car; Songs of America, Patriotism, Protest and the Music that Made a Nation and There, There.

In all those books I read 24,327 pages.

I read books by 73 different authors (some of the books were written by more than one person)  

I read books for the first time by 30 authors.

I read books by 7 people that I know or have met.  I read  two books by a person that made Ruthann and I characters in a book.

I read...

3 books in less than a day

7 books that took a day

11 books that took two days

17 books that took three days

12 books that took four days

11 books that took five days

4 books that took six days

3 books that took seven days

5 books that took eight days

1 book that took nine days

1 book that took ten days

1 book that took eleven days

1 book that took twelve days

1 book that took twenty days.

I gave...

1 book 3/10

2 books 7/10

9 books 8/10

5 books 9/10

57 books 10/10.

Tomorrow more about the books, with less numbering.  

a male has to be the hero

Genesis by Robin Cook; 2019; $27.00; 387 pages; G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, NY; 978-0-525-54215-5; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Belmont; 1/1/2020-1/8/2020

I have read several books by Robin Cook, although I hadn't read anything by him since 1983.  The review of this sounded pretty good so I thought I would give it a try.   
The big question is who is the main character.  There were a couple of possibilities, but it was hard to tell.  I picked Dr. Nichols cause I thought she was the most interesting and seemed to be driving the plot, but I don't know.  
Throughout the book the primary characters are women with a few male supporting characters.  However one of the male characters becomes the one who solves the case and saves one of the women.  
I thought this was a reach and unfortunate because all the women were strong and should have been the heroes of the story.  
The other problem I had was there was too much exposition and too much medical exposition especially.

5/10

Wowser, cross culture writing

Silence by Shusaku Endo; 1969; $16.00; 212 pages; Picador Modern Classics, New York, NY; 978-1-250-08224-4; Corner Reading Society selection January 2020;  purchased from SmileAmazon.com; 12/12/2019-12/20/2019

I am not always excited about the books that the Corner Reading Society picks, but I joined the group to read books that I normally would not read.  This is a book that I am glad I read.  I normally do not read books that have been translated because I believe they lose something in the translation, I don't believe this book did. 
This is the story of some Portuguese priests that travel to Japan at a time that the nation was closed to outsiders.  It was not a good time to be a Christian in Japan.  Think Samurai and such.
The WRITING is phenomenal.  At one point I had to remind myself that the author was Japanese because he wrote from the viewpoint of one of the priest so well that I thought the author had to be Portuguese.  
This is the last book in this years rotation for the Corner Reading Society.  On Saturday, the 11th we will vote on the books for the coming year.  

Nothing is impossible and nothing can stop him

Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay; 2019; $26.00; 358 pages; Dutton, New York, NY; 978-1-5247-4394-9; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Hillsdale; 12/31/2019-1/1/2020

Don't tell Riley Wolfe that something is impossible to steal because he will figure out a way to steal and perhaps deal out some of his own brand of justice.  
Iran and the United States are collaborating to bring the Crown Jewels of Iran to a small private museum in New York City.  A 182 carat diamond, the Sea of Light is a part of the collection, which is to be guarded by a beyond state of the art security system, a security team made of former Seals and Delta guys, and a platoon of Iranian Revolutionary guards.  Riley is told it will be impossible so he figures out how to do it.  Lives and hearts will be sacrificed and broken so that Riley can pull off the job. 
Riley's backstory is told as an FBI agent is trying to figure out what motivates Riley.  Riley manages to sabotage his own love life by not caring whose heart he breaks.  
I am looking forward to reading more adventures of Riley Wolfe.  

Freaky Friday and the rest of the week too

Anyone by Charles Soule; 2019; $21.99;420 pages; Harper Perennial, New York, NY; 978-0-06-289-063-4; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Hillsdale; 12/26/19-12/31/19

Gabrielle White invents a device that will allow humans to transfer their mind into another body and the device becomes the property of an unscrupulous businessman.  He allows the populace to think that they are enjoying freedom but he has used the technology to rule the world.  
She fights back from a unique prison in which she is imprisoned.  
Everyone can be anyone, which is good and bad.  An interesting take on the mind transference trope, I will be reading more by Charles Soule.

10/10 

Ignored by those in front of them

Dignity, Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade; 2019;$30.00; 284 pages; Sentinel, New York, NY; 978-0-525-53473-0; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Central;12/21/19-12/26/19

This is about the class divide in the United States.  The author a former Wall Street investment banker took a trip around the United States and visited and got to know people who are living in the margins of the United States.  There are people who have nowhere else to go and are fighting to be recognized as part of the society of our country.  They're looked down on those in the front row, (seems to me those in the front row don't even see those in the rows behind them).  The author is also a good photographer who has some great photos of the places and people he visited.  It is a good reminder of those who don't make the news.

10/10