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.
Friday, April 22, 2011
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
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan)
Summary:
In the third Percy Jackson installment, Percy finds himself stuck with Grover and a bunch of chicks on a mission to save a goddess, and his friend Annabeth. This time, the journey is a cross-country trek to San Francisco via Washington, DC. They have to save Artemis and get her to the Council of the Gods by the winter solstice, which is only a week away. Oh, and Annabeth's life hangs in the balance, too. Just another quest for poor Percy.
Thoughts:
Awesome as usual. I loved that this time, they weren't out to save just anyone. It was a goddess herself that was in trouble. And also Annabeth. Percy is just starting to realize he's got a thing for Annabeth, too, which makes life all the more interesting for the Olympian crew. Also, it begs the question, if Zeus is your dad, and Athena is your would-be girlfriend's mom, doesn't that mean that your would-be girlfriend's also your niece? Things to ponder. But yeah, this is awesome, just like the rest of Riordan's work. I'll be hunting down 4 and 5, for sure, and I'll probably be looking up more of Riordan's work when I'm through this series.
Pages: 312
Genre: Fantasy, Greek mythology, teen lit
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely!
40 down, only 10 to go!
In the third Percy Jackson installment, Percy finds himself stuck with Grover and a bunch of chicks on a mission to save a goddess, and his friend Annabeth. This time, the journey is a cross-country trek to San Francisco via Washington, DC. They have to save Artemis and get her to the Council of the Gods by the winter solstice, which is only a week away. Oh, and Annabeth's life hangs in the balance, too. Just another quest for poor Percy.
Thoughts:
Awesome as usual. I loved that this time, they weren't out to save just anyone. It was a goddess herself that was in trouble. And also Annabeth. Percy is just starting to realize he's got a thing for Annabeth, too, which makes life all the more interesting for the Olympian crew. Also, it begs the question, if Zeus is your dad, and Athena is your would-be girlfriend's mom, doesn't that mean that your would-be girlfriend's also your niece? Things to ponder. But yeah, this is awesome, just like the rest of Riordan's work. I'll be hunting down 4 and 5, for sure, and I'll probably be looking up more of Riordan's work when I'm through this series.
Pages: 312
Genre: Fantasy, Greek mythology, teen lit
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely!
40 down, only 10 to go!
Suite Scarlett ( Maureen Johnson)
Summary:
Scarlett is the third child out of four of a pair of hotel owners in New York City. The day she turns sixteen, she is given the responsibility of keeping up one of the rooms in the hotel, and in fact, it's the schmancy-est room in the hotel. But she also is saddled with the burden of the knowledge that the hotel is not doing well at all. The day after her birthday, Scarlett's suite gets booked for the whole summer, and she becomes the personal assistant of the room's occupant, Mrs. Amberson, a crazy former Broadway star who's back in the city for some excitement and to reminisce about days gone by. The excitement comes via Scarlett's brother Spencer and his fledgling theatre group who are trying their damnedest to put on Hamlet, with little success. And so goes Scarlett's summer...
Thoughts:
A lot of plot lines to keep up with, for sure. A character was introduced in the first couple of chapters that I nearly forgot about 100 pages later when she was brought up again. Honestly, getting through this book was like slogging through mud during a typhoon. I really loved Maureen Johnson's book, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but the can't-put-it-down nature of that book was completely lost when it came to this one. I'm sadly disappointed. There's too many depressing things to make this book as wonderful as Johnson's previous work. There is apparently a sequel, but I'll be skipping it. No thanks.
Pages: 353
Genre: Teen lit
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Probably not. It's not worth the slogging.
39 down, 11 to go!
Scarlett is the third child out of four of a pair of hotel owners in New York City. The day she turns sixteen, she is given the responsibility of keeping up one of the rooms in the hotel, and in fact, it's the schmancy-est room in the hotel. But she also is saddled with the burden of the knowledge that the hotel is not doing well at all. The day after her birthday, Scarlett's suite gets booked for the whole summer, and she becomes the personal assistant of the room's occupant, Mrs. Amberson, a crazy former Broadway star who's back in the city for some excitement and to reminisce about days gone by. The excitement comes via Scarlett's brother Spencer and his fledgling theatre group who are trying their damnedest to put on Hamlet, with little success. And so goes Scarlett's summer...
Thoughts:
A lot of plot lines to keep up with, for sure. A character was introduced in the first couple of chapters that I nearly forgot about 100 pages later when she was brought up again. Honestly, getting through this book was like slogging through mud during a typhoon. I really loved Maureen Johnson's book, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but the can't-put-it-down nature of that book was completely lost when it came to this one. I'm sadly disappointed. There's too many depressing things to make this book as wonderful as Johnson's previous work. There is apparently a sequel, but I'll be skipping it. No thanks.
Pages: 353
Genre: Teen lit
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Probably not. It's not worth the slogging.
39 down, 11 to go!
The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan)
Summary:
In the second Percy Jackson book, Percy is sent on a trek to the Bermuda Triangle to help rescue his friend, Grover. Annabeth comes along, plus a new friend from Percy's most recent school. Along the way, he encounters all new and interesting mythical creatures, some that help him, and some that really don't.
Thoughts:
It's a great second step into the Olympian world of today. The series is fun, and the characters are lovable for sure. Even the ones that aren't so nice are written so well that you can't help but appreciate them for their awfulness. I'll be keeping up with this series. (Actually, I've already finished another of these books, I just haven't posted in a while, so I figure I'll go in order, haha!) I definitely suggest these awesome books for anyone, teen or not, because they're just that fun.
Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy, teen lit, Greek mythology
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
38 down, 12 to go!
In the second Percy Jackson book, Percy is sent on a trek to the Bermuda Triangle to help rescue his friend, Grover. Annabeth comes along, plus a new friend from Percy's most recent school. Along the way, he encounters all new and interesting mythical creatures, some that help him, and some that really don't.
Thoughts:
It's a great second step into the Olympian world of today. The series is fun, and the characters are lovable for sure. Even the ones that aren't so nice are written so well that you can't help but appreciate them for their awfulness. I'll be keeping up with this series. (Actually, I've already finished another of these books, I just haven't posted in a while, so I figure I'll go in order, haha!) I definitely suggest these awesome books for anyone, teen or not, because they're just that fun.
Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy, teen lit, Greek mythology
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
38 down, 12 to go!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Extracurricular Activities (Maggie Barbieri)
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.
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.
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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