Summary:
College professor of English Lit Alison Bergeron is good at finding dead bodies. Apparently she's found some previously, and now she's found her ex-husband's body in her kitchen. The book follows her playing junior sleuth, her non-relationship with the married cop in charge that she wishes was more, her relationship with her priest best friend's brother that she wishes wasn't, a mob guy and his wife, and her seemingly innocuous neighbors.
Thoughts:
So many stories in here, you would think it was hard to keep up, but they were more or less straightforward, except for one. And the cop boyfriend and his wife had a storyline thrown in there too, just for good measure. I got bored with Alison's relationship with him almost from the jump. I would have much rather seen a mystery novel branch out and NOT have the junior sleuth hook up with the hot cop. Also, this writer has to come up with better nicknames for people. "Miss Blurry Tattoo Ass," "Bagpipe Kid," and "Accordion Boy" all leave a whole lot to be desired. "Detective Hot Pants" isn't bad, though, but I suspect the author's witty best friend came up with that one, because the MC's witty best friend did.
All I ask is for a crime novel to be written by a woman, about a single woman, and not have her hook up with the Detective Hot Pants of the book. Just one, please. I think I need to write that one myself, though...
Pages: 294
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: B-
Would I Recommend?: Eh, it's okay. Same old, same old murder mystery.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Elsewhere (Gabrielle Zevin)
Summary:
Liz is nearly sixteen, and totally ready for life to come her way. She's on the way to help her best friend pick out a prom dress, but gets forever waylaid by a taxi to the torso. Oops. After she dies, she goes to Elsewhere, where everyone is dead, and instead of existing forever in whatever form they died in, they all age backwards. She meets her grandmother who died long before she was born, as well as plenty of other people who become very dear to her.
Thoughts:
It's a very interesting take on the life-after-death thing. I really like the idea, actually. There are images of elderly people holding hands with their young spouses that died long before they were ready. Sure, it's a little weird. But it's a nice story. Plus there's dogs and cats there in Elsewhere, so it's got to be okay, right? I just have to wonder about who I would be able to see again by the time I got there, if this was how it came about. Definitely a take on the afterlife that I'd never have thought about. I hope this is how it is, because I'd love to see my family in their younger forms.
A couple cool quote-ables that I came across from this book:
"In my humble opinion, love is when a person believes that he, she, or it can't live without some other he, she, or it."
"Love, Lizzie, is when we have irrationally convinced ourselves that we do."
--page 180
and
"A life isn't measured in hours and minutes. It's the quality, not the length."
--page 266
Just thought I'd share those. Definitely recommend this one, for the thoughts this could provoke.
Pages: 277
Genre: General fiction, maybe a little fantasy?
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
36 down, 14 to go!
Liz is nearly sixteen, and totally ready for life to come her way. She's on the way to help her best friend pick out a prom dress, but gets forever waylaid by a taxi to the torso. Oops. After she dies, she goes to Elsewhere, where everyone is dead, and instead of existing forever in whatever form they died in, they all age backwards. She meets her grandmother who died long before she was born, as well as plenty of other people who become very dear to her.
Thoughts:
It's a very interesting take on the life-after-death thing. I really like the idea, actually. There are images of elderly people holding hands with their young spouses that died long before they were ready. Sure, it's a little weird. But it's a nice story. Plus there's dogs and cats there in Elsewhere, so it's got to be okay, right? I just have to wonder about who I would be able to see again by the time I got there, if this was how it came about. Definitely a take on the afterlife that I'd never have thought about. I hope this is how it is, because I'd love to see my family in their younger forms.
A couple cool quote-ables that I came across from this book:
"In my humble opinion, love is when a person believes that he, she, or it can't live without some other he, she, or it."
"Love, Lizzie, is when we have irrationally convinced ourselves that we do."
--page 180
and
"A life isn't measured in hours and minutes. It's the quality, not the length."
--page 266
Just thought I'd share those. Definitely recommend this one, for the thoughts this could provoke.
Pages: 277
Genre: General fiction, maybe a little fantasy?
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
36 down, 14 to go!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Diva Las Vegas (Eileen Davidson)
Summary:
Alexis Peterson is a soap opera actress who has discovered quite a few dead bodies lately. In this book, she finds a woman dead in a Halloween haunted house on the lawn of the Playboy mansion. She and her boyfriend, Det. Frank Jakes, follow the clues all the way from L.A. to Vegas and back again.
Thoughts:
Another good one, though this one felt a little too open at the end. Davidson opens up a few non-essential stories in the background of the main murder mystery, (namely, her ex comes back threatening a challenge of their custody arrangement, and Jakes wants a little more commitment from her) and they're really not talked about much, and literally the last page opens one of those things wide. I like my books to have some kind of resolution to them, and this book literally opens another can of worms on the last page. I like Davidson's books, and I'll definitely keep reading these, but it is a little annoying.
Pages: 293
Genre: Mystery, with a bit of romance.
Grade: B-
Would I Recommend?: Sure. They're pretty good mysteries.
35 down, 15 to go!
Alexis Peterson is a soap opera actress who has discovered quite a few dead bodies lately. In this book, she finds a woman dead in a Halloween haunted house on the lawn of the Playboy mansion. She and her boyfriend, Det. Frank Jakes, follow the clues all the way from L.A. to Vegas and back again.
Thoughts:
Another good one, though this one felt a little too open at the end. Davidson opens up a few non-essential stories in the background of the main murder mystery, (namely, her ex comes back threatening a challenge of their custody arrangement, and Jakes wants a little more commitment from her) and they're really not talked about much, and literally the last page opens one of those things wide. I like my books to have some kind of resolution to them, and this book literally opens another can of worms on the last page. I like Davidson's books, and I'll definitely keep reading these, but it is a little annoying.
Pages: 293
Genre: Mystery, with a bit of romance.
Grade: B-
Would I Recommend?: Sure. They're pretty good mysteries.
35 down, 15 to go!
Tales of the Vampire Slayer, vol. 3 (Various)
Summary:
More tales from the non-Buffy slayers. Only four of them in this collection. The first is a Native American girl, the second is a Chinese girl, the third is an American in the South, and the last is an American in Tokyo.
Thoughts:
There was one that was more than 100 pages (the one about the Chinese girl), and honestly, it was the least engaging. I think I might stop here on these books. The quality has gone downward for sure.
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery-ish
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Probably not. The older ones are much better than this.
34 down, 16 to go!
More tales from the non-Buffy slayers. Only four of them in this collection. The first is a Native American girl, the second is a Chinese girl, the third is an American in the South, and the last is an American in Tokyo.
Thoughts:
There was one that was more than 100 pages (the one about the Chinese girl), and honestly, it was the least engaging. I think I might stop here on these books. The quality has gone downward for sure.
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery-ish
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Probably not. The older ones are much better than this.
34 down, 16 to go!
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