Summary:
Jeannie is a thirty-nine year old movie promoter dealing with a jerk trying to take her top spot in the company, and who just got proposed to by her hunky boyfriend. But she's also a nineteen year old who hasn't moved out of the house, and who has a crazy family that's all coming back to the house for a summer. The novel flips back and forth between those two parts of Jeannie's life, as Jeannie tells her honey why she thinks he shouldn't want to marry her.
Thoughts:
I liked the younger Jeannie much better than the older one. Young Jeannie laughs off her crazy family a lot more than older Jeannie. Jeannie is self-involved, and a bit of a jerk. She doesn't make time for her family, and especially as a thirty-something, is so concerned with how "wacky" her family is that she won't even take her hunky man to meet her family, and he's ready to marry the woman. I'll take "Oblivious Bitch" for 500, Alex.
Book 8 of 30 for the year
Pages: 419
Genre: General fiction, romance
Grade: B-/C+
Would I Recommend?: Eh. It was kinda stupid, all things considered.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Juliet (Anne Fortier)
Summary:
Julie, with her twin sister, Janice, is raised in the States by her aunt. Aunt Rose passes away and leaves everything to Janice, and nothing but a letter to Julie. Julie has to fly to Siena, Italy, and try to figure out what her parents were working on before they died. She falls into a search for information on one of her ancestors. See, the fun thing is, Julie is really Giulietta Tolomei, and her ancestor of the same name was the real Juliet. The storyline flips between the current day Giulietta and the original.
Thoughts:
Incredible story. I had no idea there was a real Romeo and Juliet, let alone the fact that Willy Shakes actually stole the story from a few other authors, who wrote about the real people. It's such an engaging story, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters, except the sister. She drove me crazy, even when we were supposed to really like her. Past that, everyone else was awesome, and I truly enjoyed both sides of the story. I highly recommend this one. It's a great novel, and I'm glad I picked it up from the Book of the Month club.
Book 7 of 30 for the year
Pages: 447
Genre: Romance, historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Yes. Absolutely.
Julie, with her twin sister, Janice, is raised in the States by her aunt. Aunt Rose passes away and leaves everything to Janice, and nothing but a letter to Julie. Julie has to fly to Siena, Italy, and try to figure out what her parents were working on before they died. She falls into a search for information on one of her ancestors. See, the fun thing is, Julie is really Giulietta Tolomei, and her ancestor of the same name was the real Juliet. The storyline flips between the current day Giulietta and the original.
Thoughts:
Incredible story. I had no idea there was a real Romeo and Juliet, let alone the fact that Willy Shakes actually stole the story from a few other authors, who wrote about the real people. It's such an engaging story, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters, except the sister. She drove me crazy, even when we were supposed to really like her. Past that, everyone else was awesome, and I truly enjoyed both sides of the story. I highly recommend this one. It's a great novel, and I'm glad I picked it up from the Book of the Month club.
Book 7 of 30 for the year
Pages: 447
Genre: Romance, historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Yes. Absolutely.
Pirate Latitudes (Michael Crichton)
Summary:
In Crichton's last published novel, he explores the pirate world in Port Royal in the 1660's. The Governor of Jamaica gets word that there's a treasure ship in a semi-nearby Spanish port, and sends the local "privateer" to capture it and bring it back to Port Royal. Pirating ensues.
Thoughts:
Awesome. Pretty much anything by Crichton is incredible, and this was actually found in his notes after he passed. It's a pretty cool look at the history of the area and how things came together for that area in those times. A fun romp through the Caribbean in the 1660's. Go and enjoy!
Book 6 of 30 for the year
Pages: 312
Genre: Historical fiction, Pirates!
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. Crichton is a genius.
In Crichton's last published novel, he explores the pirate world in Port Royal in the 1660's. The Governor of Jamaica gets word that there's a treasure ship in a semi-nearby Spanish port, and sends the local "privateer" to capture it and bring it back to Port Royal. Pirating ensues.
Thoughts:
Awesome. Pretty much anything by Crichton is incredible, and this was actually found in his notes after he passed. It's a pretty cool look at the history of the area and how things came together for that area in those times. A fun romp through the Caribbean in the 1660's. Go and enjoy!
Book 6 of 30 for the year
Pages: 312
Genre: Historical fiction, Pirates!
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. Crichton is a genius.
Star Island (Carl Hiaasen)
Summary:
Cherry Pye is a coked-up, washed-up, boring Britney Spears-esque pop star that every paparazzi photog is trying to catch overdosing. One such slime ball becomes obsessed to the point that he tries to kidnap Cherry. The trouble is, he grabs Cherry's body double, Annie, instead. There are so many other lines of plot, it's ridiculous. The book winds up tying most everything together, and what they don't tie up in actual story gets wound up in an epilogue.
Thoughts:
It was a fairly easy read, and I kinda liked most of the characters. But every time the book gave Cherry's full name, my brain would start singing "She's my cherry pie..." Any book that can get an earworm like that in my head needs to go down. It was pretty well written, but I could always tell what was coming from a mile away. Totally meh kinda book.
Book 5 of 30 for the year
Pages: 337
Genre: General fiction
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Not really.
Cherry Pye is a coked-up, washed-up, boring Britney Spears-esque pop star that every paparazzi photog is trying to catch overdosing. One such slime ball becomes obsessed to the point that he tries to kidnap Cherry. The trouble is, he grabs Cherry's body double, Annie, instead. There are so many other lines of plot, it's ridiculous. The book winds up tying most everything together, and what they don't tie up in actual story gets wound up in an epilogue.
Thoughts:
It was a fairly easy read, and I kinda liked most of the characters. But every time the book gave Cherry's full name, my brain would start singing "She's my cherry pie..." Any book that can get an earworm like that in my head needs to go down. It was pretty well written, but I could always tell what was coming from a mile away. Totally meh kinda book.
Book 5 of 30 for the year
Pages: 337
Genre: General fiction
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Not really.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Ham Bones (Carolyn Haines)
Summary:
One in a series (the rest of which I have yet to read), we follow a woman named Sarah Booth Delaney, a woman who lives with a ghost of her ancestor in a small town in the south called Zinnia. Zinnia has the honor or getting a Broadway-caliber production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in its little local theater. Sarah Booth knows the cast and director from her stint in NYC trying to get on Broadway, and when the leading lady dies just moments before the show must go on, the finger of blame (and the lead role in the show) lands on Sarah Booth.
Thoughts:
First things first, I was annoyed the whole way through this book because the character goes by her first and middle names. Yes, very quaint and southern of her. But who gives their character such a name? Sarah Booth? That, to me, looks like a whole lot of word padding. Give your character a different name if you want her to sound very southern. Delilah. Scarlet. Tallulah. Jolene. Whatever. But Sarah Booth?? No. Now you're just upping your word count for NaNoWriMo. Cheater.
Anyway. I didn't particularly like this one. Sure, it was a good mystery in general. Who doesn't like a whodunnit? But the writing made me want to gag. And how many amateur sleuths don't wind up with a crush on the cop running the show? I'd be more interested in seeing that, thanks.
Haines may have many more books published than I ever will, but only because she writes the most generic crap that her books are more beach readers than anything else. Why "beach readers"? Because people only take cheesy crap novels that they don't really have to think about to the beach. They go for the mindless relaxation rather than actual substantial material. I'm glad I got this one free from the Book of the Month club registration instead of spending actual money on it.
Oh, and when you're writing a series, let's actually end the book that you're writing right now, rather than something that reads more like "for more on Sarah Booth, make sure you grab the next book, coming out in two months because I can bang out one of these in my sleep, and get more of your money this way!" than "the end." Boo, Carolyn Haines. Boo.
Pages: 275
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Would I Recommend?: Eh. Beach reading only. Or as a mindless jaunt after reading something good and heavy like The Book Thief.
Book 4 of 30 for the year
One in a series (the rest of which I have yet to read), we follow a woman named Sarah Booth Delaney, a woman who lives with a ghost of her ancestor in a small town in the south called Zinnia. Zinnia has the honor or getting a Broadway-caliber production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in its little local theater. Sarah Booth knows the cast and director from her stint in NYC trying to get on Broadway, and when the leading lady dies just moments before the show must go on, the finger of blame (and the lead role in the show) lands on Sarah Booth.
Thoughts:
First things first, I was annoyed the whole way through this book because the character goes by her first and middle names. Yes, very quaint and southern of her. But who gives their character such a name? Sarah Booth? That, to me, looks like a whole lot of word padding. Give your character a different name if you want her to sound very southern. Delilah. Scarlet. Tallulah. Jolene. Whatever. But Sarah Booth?? No. Now you're just upping your word count for NaNoWriMo. Cheater.
Anyway. I didn't particularly like this one. Sure, it was a good mystery in general. Who doesn't like a whodunnit? But the writing made me want to gag. And how many amateur sleuths don't wind up with a crush on the cop running the show? I'd be more interested in seeing that, thanks.
Haines may have many more books published than I ever will, but only because she writes the most generic crap that her books are more beach readers than anything else. Why "beach readers"? Because people only take cheesy crap novels that they don't really have to think about to the beach. They go for the mindless relaxation rather than actual substantial material. I'm glad I got this one free from the Book of the Month club registration instead of spending actual money on it.
Oh, and when you're writing a series, let's actually end the book that you're writing right now, rather than something that reads more like "for more on Sarah Booth, make sure you grab the next book, coming out in two months because I can bang out one of these in my sleep, and get more of your money this way!" than "the end." Boo, Carolyn Haines. Boo.
Pages: 275
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Would I Recommend?: Eh. Beach reading only. Or as a mindless jaunt after reading something good and heavy like The Book Thief.
Book 4 of 30 for the year
The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
Summary:
A gripping story of a young girl's childhood in Nazi Germany as told through the eyes of Death, who gets busier the deeper we get. She travels with her mother and brother to Germany, to a woman in the German version of Child Protection Services. On the train ride there, her brother dies, Death gets his first look at the girl, and the girl gets her hands on the first book. The story follows the girl to her permanent home in a small town outside Munich, where she develops her love of reading and books, and where all hell is about to break loose in a couple short years.
Thoughts:
What an incredible story. Liesel, the girl, is faced with two major losses right as we meet her. Her brother dies on the train, and her mother leaves her with CPS who put her into a foster home. The hits will keep coming, too, as one might expect from a book about the Holocaust. As the book trudges along to its and the war's demise, we meet her foster parents, Hans and Rosa, her friend Rudy, the town mayor and his wife, and a host of other characters, many of whom do not survive beyond 1945. There is so much to this story, and seeing it through the eyes of Death himself makes it all the more poignant, we watch Death get busier with each passing day. Still, Death finds as much good as he can while he must carry away the souls of the lost, and he seems to rejoice over the souls that manage to escape him.
It is a very large book, and it certainly takes a toll on the spirit. But it is beautifully written. Don't avoid it because of its size or subject matter. It's damn good.
Pages: 576
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. Just be prepared with cheesy crap afterward to get yourself out of the doldrums of Holocaust sadness.
Book 3 of 30 for the year
A gripping story of a young girl's childhood in Nazi Germany as told through the eyes of Death, who gets busier the deeper we get. She travels with her mother and brother to Germany, to a woman in the German version of Child Protection Services. On the train ride there, her brother dies, Death gets his first look at the girl, and the girl gets her hands on the first book. The story follows the girl to her permanent home in a small town outside Munich, where she develops her love of reading and books, and where all hell is about to break loose in a couple short years.
Thoughts:
What an incredible story. Liesel, the girl, is faced with two major losses right as we meet her. Her brother dies on the train, and her mother leaves her with CPS who put her into a foster home. The hits will keep coming, too, as one might expect from a book about the Holocaust. As the book trudges along to its and the war's demise, we meet her foster parents, Hans and Rosa, her friend Rudy, the town mayor and his wife, and a host of other characters, many of whom do not survive beyond 1945. There is so much to this story, and seeing it through the eyes of Death himself makes it all the more poignant, we watch Death get busier with each passing day. Still, Death finds as much good as he can while he must carry away the souls of the lost, and he seems to rejoice over the souls that manage to escape him.
It is a very large book, and it certainly takes a toll on the spirit. But it is beautifully written. Don't avoid it because of its size or subject matter. It's damn good.
Pages: 576
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. Just be prepared with cheesy crap afterward to get yourself out of the doldrums of Holocaust sadness.
Book 3 of 30 for the year
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith)
Summary:
The story of Pride and Prejudice, with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and Wickham and Lydia, and Jane and Bingley... Only with zombies. Seriously. The girls in this "adaptation" (for lack of a better word) are expert zombie killers. Still, their mother wants to marry them off as soon as possible, to any man that might come along. Mr. Darcy is as prejudiced as ever at the beginning, and Elizabeth too proud for her own good. It follows the same general storyline that the real Pride and Prejudice does, but with a few undead insertions.
Thoughts:
Funny as hell. Honestly, if you like the old story and have a bit of a sense of humor, you'll enjoy this twisting of the classic. Grahame-Smith weaves the zombies in almost seamlessly, and leaves as much of the classic alone as he can while still giving the feeling of overall foreboding that a zombie flick imparts. Jane and Elizabeth are like Buffy and Faith, masterful killers of the undead and saviors to as many innocents as possible. (Except neither of them took the crazy person pills that Faith did.) It's a little bit silly, but keeps true to Austen's original romance twists. It just has zombies, too.
Pages: 317
Genre: Classic fiction, horror
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. If you liked the original Austen, and you have room in your mind for a little silliness, you'll enjoy this.
Book 2 of 30 for the year.
The story of Pride and Prejudice, with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and Wickham and Lydia, and Jane and Bingley... Only with zombies. Seriously. The girls in this "adaptation" (for lack of a better word) are expert zombie killers. Still, their mother wants to marry them off as soon as possible, to any man that might come along. Mr. Darcy is as prejudiced as ever at the beginning, and Elizabeth too proud for her own good. It follows the same general storyline that the real Pride and Prejudice does, but with a few undead insertions.
Thoughts:
Funny as hell. Honestly, if you like the old story and have a bit of a sense of humor, you'll enjoy this twisting of the classic. Grahame-Smith weaves the zombies in almost seamlessly, and leaves as much of the classic alone as he can while still giving the feeling of overall foreboding that a zombie flick imparts. Jane and Elizabeth are like Buffy and Faith, masterful killers of the undead and saviors to as many innocents as possible. (Except neither of them took the crazy person pills that Faith did.) It's a little bit silly, but keeps true to Austen's original romance twists. It just has zombies, too.
Pages: 317
Genre: Classic fiction, horror
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. If you liked the original Austen, and you have room in your mind for a little silliness, you'll enjoy this.
Book 2 of 30 for the year.
Notwithstanding (Louis de Bernieres)
Summary:
A collection of stories about a small town in England called Notwithstanding. The stories range from the forties and fifties to the eighties and nineties. Some are about the narrator himself, though not many. Most of the stories take place before the narrator was born, and many do not even involve the narrator's family, let alone him.
Thoughts:
The book is disjointed at best. I bought this in a Waterstone's (the British version of Barnes and Noble) while on my honeymoon in London, and was disappointed by it. While reading, I felt that some stories went on far too long, some only just started getting me interested and then they were over. The idea behind the book was obviously to collect those stories from a small town that everyone tells and everyone knows, because they've been told so many times, like the time Timmy fell into a well and the time that Big Mike caught the huge fish from the town's only lake.
The whole thing was depressing, because unlike most of those kinds of stories everyone knows from their childhood, few of the stories related about the town of Notwithstanding actually make you smile. They almost all ended with sadness, and when they did, like the one about a boy catching the biggest pike in a woman's backyard pond, the narrator goes on to say something along the lines of, "Young Ms. So-and-so was diagnosed six months later with an advanced stage cancer and was dead a year later. She was so young and beautiful." Just stop at the happy "yay we got it" part. Don't remind us what you said three chapters earlier about the woman dying.
The other thing about Notwithstanding is that there was absolutely no chronological anything. It skips from the narrator's thirty year old self to a story from the sixties to the narrator's boyhood friend to "now" to the thirties. With jumps all over like that, I could hardly tell which way was up. It was worse than the Time Traveler's Wife because at least that had a vague order to it, and it told you who was how old and where you were in the story. Notwithstanding was just a jumble of stories told because they were there. It was like the author ran down to the neighborhood pub, and listened to two drunken good-ol'-boys talking about their favorite remember-whens and the author wrote them all down in the order they came out of liquored up mouths.
Pages: 342
Genre: Fiction, Short stories
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Not on your life. Boring, and not even amusing for those of us Anglophiles who would love to know what a small English town is like.
Book 1 of 30 for the year.
A collection of stories about a small town in England called Notwithstanding. The stories range from the forties and fifties to the eighties and nineties. Some are about the narrator himself, though not many. Most of the stories take place before the narrator was born, and many do not even involve the narrator's family, let alone him.
Thoughts:
The book is disjointed at best. I bought this in a Waterstone's (the British version of Barnes and Noble) while on my honeymoon in London, and was disappointed by it. While reading, I felt that some stories went on far too long, some only just started getting me interested and then they were over. The idea behind the book was obviously to collect those stories from a small town that everyone tells and everyone knows, because they've been told so many times, like the time Timmy fell into a well and the time that Big Mike caught the huge fish from the town's only lake.
The whole thing was depressing, because unlike most of those kinds of stories everyone knows from their childhood, few of the stories related about the town of Notwithstanding actually make you smile. They almost all ended with sadness, and when they did, like the one about a boy catching the biggest pike in a woman's backyard pond, the narrator goes on to say something along the lines of, "Young Ms. So-and-so was diagnosed six months later with an advanced stage cancer and was dead a year later. She was so young and beautiful." Just stop at the happy "yay we got it" part. Don't remind us what you said three chapters earlier about the woman dying.
The other thing about Notwithstanding is that there was absolutely no chronological anything. It skips from the narrator's thirty year old self to a story from the sixties to the narrator's boyhood friend to "now" to the thirties. With jumps all over like that, I could hardly tell which way was up. It was worse than the Time Traveler's Wife because at least that had a vague order to it, and it told you who was how old and where you were in the story. Notwithstanding was just a jumble of stories told because they were there. It was like the author ran down to the neighborhood pub, and listened to two drunken good-ol'-boys talking about their favorite remember-whens and the author wrote them all down in the order they came out of liquored up mouths.
Pages: 342
Genre: Fiction, Short stories
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Not on your life. Boring, and not even amusing for those of us Anglophiles who would love to know what a small English town is like.
Book 1 of 30 for the year.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Slacker Slacker!
I've been very lax on my posting duties the last six months. I'm here to say that I'll be much better for the next few days. I've got a back log of ten books for the year to write up, and plan to post about them over the next few days.
My apologies to those who actually read this, but I'll get back on track by the end of the week.
-K
My apologies to those who actually read this, but I'll get back on track by the end of the week.
-K
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