Summary:
Daniel is a guy who used to be a computer programmer for Hewlett-Packard. Now he's a hermit with so many mental hang-ups, he can't even count them, let alone the rest of us. He spends most days exactly the same, spying on an unknowing real estate agent through his open window, doing nonsensical puzzles and mathematical calculations in his head just because he can, and avoiding curbs at all costs because there could be a scary abyss lurking at the bottom of that three-inch step. His whole world is centered around dealing with his imagined issues, and he hardly ever ventures past them to converse with the outside world.
Thoughts:
Yes, it's that Steve Martin. To be honest, it's weird. It took me a long time to get through it, including going through a ridiculous number of books between when I started it and when I finished it. I got my hands on it initially through PaperbackSwap.com (which is an awesome resource for books, particularly because it doesn't cost all that much!) in mid-February, started it maybe in March. I just took a look, and the next book I had my hands on from PBS Dead as a Doornail, which I finished and posted about in late March. There are twenty two books between that book and this one now. As I type this post up (in mid-June), it took easily three months to start, and then subsequently get myself back to, this book. That doesn't bode well as a gauge of how much I liked it. But, as usual, I digress.
The book is droll. It doesn't have specific chapter markers, nor easily noted stoppage points. A scene could go on for a paragraph before moving on to the next, or it could take five pages, and you could never tell which it would be until you got to the end of it. I was hoping that the author's comedic background would lend itself to creating a fun, light-hearted book that I would love and adore almost as much as I do him. But alas, that was absolutely not the case. I read sixty pages, over the course of about a month, and couldn't stand it anymore. I put it down for nearly two months before picking it up again. In the end, it takes until page 88 of a 163 page book for anything of substance to happen. Until then, the reader is introduced to more and more of the main character's crazy until you want to kill him and put him, and yourself, out of your shared misery. From page 88, it turns out to be almost interesting, but by that point, I was so fed up with the crazy that I just wanted to power through to the end to get the whole mess over with.
I don't recommend this book, by any means, unless you're severely mentally challenged and think this will be a help to you. Seriously, don't bother. Steve Martin's comedic prowess makes no appearance in this novella. None.
Book 34 of 50
Pages: 163
Genre: General fiction
Grade: D+
Would I Recommend?: Nope. Not even because it's Steve Martin.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Seven Up (Janet Evanovich)
Summary:
Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, sucks at her job. The only reason she's still at it is because she's really, really lucky, and because one of her bounty hunter buddies, Ranger, is really effing hot. This time around, Steph's after an eighty-year-old with an attitude and former (probably still current) mob connections who is not afraid to take a shot at anybody in his way. Poor Steph keeps trying to drag the old man to jail, and getting herself mocked every time it doesn't work out. Nice. Her perfect sister, Valerie, is home from California and getting in her way, thanks to Valerie's impending divorce and new-found need to reinvent herself. And Grandma Mazur's always getting in the way, this time in the form of being kidnapped.She's got Morelli, her cop boyfriend/lover boy, proposing marriage, and Ranger, that hot buddy of hers, proposing one night of who knows what. And Joyce Bernhardt keeps pissing her off. How you doin', Jersey. Just a day in the life...
Thoughts:
Hey, you guys got a short reprieve, didn't you? Once again, Steph's got a thousand issues, and no patience to resolve any of them. I love that there are always a dozen balls in the air for Stephanie, though I will admit that I feel bad for her because of it. Things just don't seem to ever be easy for the poor girl. I still appreciate her relationship with Morelli, though her impending hook-up with Ranger is going to put a crimp in those plans real fast. I almost wish she would break up with Morelli so she could get Ranger out of her system. Who knows if that will happen, (uh, everyone who's actually up to date with the series, considering there's 12 others) but I wish she'd just make up her mind already. Next thing I know, Evanovich is going to send another man into the mix, just to increase the sausage party Steph's already surrounded by currently. Still, the writing is great. Stephanie's voice is perfectly Jersey. And the books are not only fun, they're easy to plow through in a matter of a few days, sometimes less if you give yourself a couple hours. Love this series.
Book 33 of 50
Pages:
Genre: Mystery/romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Would I still be reading this series if I didn't recommend it?
Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, sucks at her job. The only reason she's still at it is because she's really, really lucky, and because one of her bounty hunter buddies, Ranger, is really effing hot. This time around, Steph's after an eighty-year-old with an attitude and former (probably still current) mob connections who is not afraid to take a shot at anybody in his way. Poor Steph keeps trying to drag the old man to jail, and getting herself mocked every time it doesn't work out. Nice. Her perfect sister, Valerie, is home from California and getting in her way, thanks to Valerie's impending divorce and new-found need to reinvent herself. And Grandma Mazur's always getting in the way, this time in the form of being kidnapped.She's got Morelli, her cop boyfriend/lover boy, proposing marriage, and Ranger, that hot buddy of hers, proposing one night of who knows what. And Joyce Bernhardt keeps pissing her off. How you doin', Jersey. Just a day in the life...
Thoughts:
Hey, you guys got a short reprieve, didn't you? Once again, Steph's got a thousand issues, and no patience to resolve any of them. I love that there are always a dozen balls in the air for Stephanie, though I will admit that I feel bad for her because of it. Things just don't seem to ever be easy for the poor girl. I still appreciate her relationship with Morelli, though her impending hook-up with Ranger is going to put a crimp in those plans real fast. I almost wish she would break up with Morelli so she could get Ranger out of her system. Who knows if that will happen, (uh, everyone who's actually up to date with the series, considering there's 12 others) but I wish she'd just make up her mind already. Next thing I know, Evanovich is going to send another man into the mix, just to increase the sausage party Steph's already surrounded by currently. Still, the writing is great. Stephanie's voice is perfectly Jersey. And the books are not only fun, they're easy to plow through in a matter of a few days, sometimes less if you give yourself a couple hours. Love this series.
Book 33 of 50
Pages:
Genre: Mystery/romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Would I still be reading this series if I didn't recommend it?
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Insatiable (Meg Cabot)
Summary:
Meena is a script writer for a very popular soap opera, Insatiable. She's all set to fight for a promotion, when her arch rival shows up already having gotten the promotion, and is taking the show in an impossibly horrible direction. She's going to add vampires, which are, of course, all the rage right now. Her show is about to start a vampire war with their rival show Lust, and Meena thinks the whole thing is stupid. Meena is upset, and feeling downtrodden. But after a early morning (read: 4am) walk with her dog that resulted in a bat attack against her and a handsome stranger, though, things start looking up. The only problem is that Meena doesn't realize she's stepped into a real-life vampire war, and her knight-in-shining-armor is right at the center. Oh, and Meena knows how everyone's lives will end. She's magic like that.
Thoughts:
Anyone that has read anything from me over the last few years knows that I am hopelessly in love with Meg Cabot's writing. This was no exception. Granted, I'm starting to get sick of the vampire wars as much as the next girl. (I still maintain that they don't effing sparkle, and they never will. Dumb books.) But this was a nice twist on the norm. Sure, Meena falls for a vampire and has ridiculously hot sex with him, but she hates the idea of it, and wishes she never heard the word "vampire." She at least isn't crazy in love with the idea of living forever, and doesn't want to die to be able to do so. Cabot's writing was flawless, as usual, though the subject matter was bordering on cliche at this point. The ending left things far too wide-open for my taste, but I'll give her a pass, because I love her so much. Also, there's apparently a second book in the series too. (Shocker, with that ending.) Don't worry, I won't jump on it yet. You do know what a sucker I am for a series, though!
Book 32 of 50
Pages: 464 pages, read as an e-book
Genre: Fantasy, romance, and vampires
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: If you're into vampires, sure. If you like Meg Cabot, sure. If you like a fairly good romance novel, sure. Otherwise, it's not a must-read.
Meena is a script writer for a very popular soap opera, Insatiable. She's all set to fight for a promotion, when her arch rival shows up already having gotten the promotion, and is taking the show in an impossibly horrible direction. She's going to add vampires, which are, of course, all the rage right now. Her show is about to start a vampire war with their rival show Lust, and Meena thinks the whole thing is stupid. Meena is upset, and feeling downtrodden. But after a early morning (read: 4am) walk with her dog that resulted in a bat attack against her and a handsome stranger, though, things start looking up. The only problem is that Meena doesn't realize she's stepped into a real-life vampire war, and her knight-in-shining-armor is right at the center. Oh, and Meena knows how everyone's lives will end. She's magic like that.
Thoughts:
Anyone that has read anything from me over the last few years knows that I am hopelessly in love with Meg Cabot's writing. This was no exception. Granted, I'm starting to get sick of the vampire wars as much as the next girl. (I still maintain that they don't effing sparkle, and they never will. Dumb books.) But this was a nice twist on the norm. Sure, Meena falls for a vampire and has ridiculously hot sex with him, but she hates the idea of it, and wishes she never heard the word "vampire." She at least isn't crazy in love with the idea of living forever, and doesn't want to die to be able to do so. Cabot's writing was flawless, as usual, though the subject matter was bordering on cliche at this point. The ending left things far too wide-open for my taste, but I'll give her a pass, because I love her so much. Also, there's apparently a second book in the series too. (Shocker, with that ending.) Don't worry, I won't jump on it yet. You do know what a sucker I am for a series, though!
Book 32 of 50
Pages: 464 pages, read as an e-book
Genre: Fantasy, romance, and vampires
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: If you're into vampires, sure. If you like Meg Cabot, sure. If you like a fairly good romance novel, sure. Otherwise, it's not a must-read.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Rock Star's Daughter (Caitlyn Duffy)
Summary:
Taylor is a fifteen year old girl, with a partying mom and a rock star dad, who goes to a boarding school. The summer before she turns sixteen, her mother dies and she's forced to go on the road with her father, who she has only met twice before. The book follows Taylor as she deals with the loss of her mother and builds a relationship with her father, her father's wife, and the rest of the band, the crew, and the roadies. She's got a lot of learning to do.
Thoughts:
Taylor's an inexperienced girl in many ways, not the least of which being her never having been disciplined by an adult. She's had to raise herself, which puts her in an awkward place when she realizes that there should actually be rules to follow, even when you're a teenager. Taylor is naive, and very young-for-her-age, despite having to help her mother get through life too. The summer romance bits are thin and not very well done. She "falls in love" after three brief encounters with a cute boy. Sure, I was a teenage girl once too, but really? In any case, the book isn't all that well-written, and Caitlyn Duffy writes like she's just starting out as a writer (which, by reading the Author's Bio on the last page, she apparently is). I would say skip this unless you can get it free as a Kindle book, like I did, and don't have to shell out anything for it. Otherwise, save your time. I had to push my way through the last few chapters because I just wanted to move on to something else. My attention wasn't held at all. I won't be continuing this series, most especially because it seems Duffy will be writing about different girls that all go to the same school, instead of continuing with the same life she's already built. That's not my favorite kind of series, let me tell you.
Book 31 of 50
Pages: 319 read as an e-book
Genre: Teenlit
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Meh, only if you can get it free, and have NOTHING else to read. Otherwise, not worth the bother.
Taylor is a fifteen year old girl, with a partying mom and a rock star dad, who goes to a boarding school. The summer before she turns sixteen, her mother dies and she's forced to go on the road with her father, who she has only met twice before. The book follows Taylor as she deals with the loss of her mother and builds a relationship with her father, her father's wife, and the rest of the band, the crew, and the roadies. She's got a lot of learning to do.
Thoughts:
Taylor's an inexperienced girl in many ways, not the least of which being her never having been disciplined by an adult. She's had to raise herself, which puts her in an awkward place when she realizes that there should actually be rules to follow, even when you're a teenager. Taylor is naive, and very young-for-her-age, despite having to help her mother get through life too. The summer romance bits are thin and not very well done. She "falls in love" after three brief encounters with a cute boy. Sure, I was a teenage girl once too, but really? In any case, the book isn't all that well-written, and Caitlyn Duffy writes like she's just starting out as a writer (which, by reading the Author's Bio on the last page, she apparently is). I would say skip this unless you can get it free as a Kindle book, like I did, and don't have to shell out anything for it. Otherwise, save your time. I had to push my way through the last few chapters because I just wanted to move on to something else. My attention wasn't held at all. I won't be continuing this series, most especially because it seems Duffy will be writing about different girls that all go to the same school, instead of continuing with the same life she's already built. That's not my favorite kind of series, let me tell you.
Book 31 of 50
Pages: 319 read as an e-book
Genre: Teenlit
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Meh, only if you can get it free, and have NOTHING else to read. Otherwise, not worth the bother.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)