Angieville

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. A little over two years ago I came across this book. At the time I thought it had been published just recently, but I realized later it was originally published in Canada in 2002 and then a little over a year later in the U.S. I can't even remember now how I first heard about True Confessions of a Heartless Girl . But I remember that the fact that it was set in Canada and written by a Canadian was part of the draw. That and the intriguing storyline. I'm mystified as to why we seem to rarely get wind of some of these gems from our northern neighbors. Heartless Girl was the winner of the 2002 Governor General's Literary Award and if this is any indication of the quality of the winners of that award, I will be paying attention to future winners and n...

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris I am so into this series. I stumbled across Charlaine Harris right about the same time I discovered Janet Evanovich --just after my son was born. I credit the two of them for getting me through those postpartum blues, for making me laugh when all I felt like doing was cry. While I always look forward to the next Sookie Stackhouse book, it's Harris' Harper Connelly mystery series that's really got me champing at the bit for more. Harper finds dead people. With the help of her stepbrother Tolliver, she travels from town to town helping police departments and grieving families alike get to the heart of mysterious deaths. The best thing about these books is the unexpectedly complex relationship between Harper and Tolliver (two people who don't have a thing in the world except each other) and the increasingly mesmerizing/horrifying events they find themselves mixed up in. Harper never fails to find the body(ies) in question, but the two...