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.
Friday, April 8, 2011
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!
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Rick Yancey)
Summary:
Alfred Kropp is a fifteen year old hulk of a boy, whose mother died, and whose father left very early in his life. Alfred never even knew him. Alfred lives with his Uncle Farrell, who works as a security guard in Samson Towers. One day, Uncle Farrell is approached and asked to steal a sword from Bernard Samson's office. Uncle Farrell, in turn, says that Alfred has to help him steal the sword, or he'll send Alfred back to foster care. Given no other choice, Alfred goes along with it, only to learn that the man wanting the sword is evil, and the sword is really the Sword of Kings, Excalibur. Alfred feels horrible about the theft, and decides to do everything he can to get the Sword back to its rightful place. Along the way, he learns more and more about the legends and history of King Arthur, and his Knights.
Thoughts:
Wonderful! I'm definitely planning to get the rest of the series. Some of the plot twists were easy to see coming, but the writing was fantastic. It was one of those can't-put-it-down kind of books. This, like the Percy Jackson book from earlier this year, was one that I never looked to see how many pages I had left. It was engaging. At every turn, I felt more and more awful for Alfred, and was rooting for him more and more. Great stuff. The worst part was the end, because I couldn't get another dose of story until I get the next book!
Pages: 339
Genre: Fantasy/mystery
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
33 down, 17 to go!
Alfred Kropp is a fifteen year old hulk of a boy, whose mother died, and whose father left very early in his life. Alfred never even knew him. Alfred lives with his Uncle Farrell, who works as a security guard in Samson Towers. One day, Uncle Farrell is approached and asked to steal a sword from Bernard Samson's office. Uncle Farrell, in turn, says that Alfred has to help him steal the sword, or he'll send Alfred back to foster care. Given no other choice, Alfred goes along with it, only to learn that the man wanting the sword is evil, and the sword is really the Sword of Kings, Excalibur. Alfred feels horrible about the theft, and decides to do everything he can to get the Sword back to its rightful place. Along the way, he learns more and more about the legends and history of King Arthur, and his Knights.
Thoughts:
Wonderful! I'm definitely planning to get the rest of the series. Some of the plot twists were easy to see coming, but the writing was fantastic. It was one of those can't-put-it-down kind of books. This, like the Percy Jackson book from earlier this year, was one that I never looked to see how many pages I had left. It was engaging. At every turn, I felt more and more awful for Alfred, and was rooting for him more and more. Great stuff. The worst part was the end, because I couldn't get another dose of story until I get the next book!
Pages: 339
Genre: Fantasy/mystery
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
33 down, 17 to go!
Because She Can (Bridie Clark)
Summary:
Claire is having a crazy day. She's just gotten news that her mentor is leaving the publishing company she works for, and now the little bit of attention she'd been getting for her projects will be practically null. Her best friend Bea asks her to come to a gallery opening, and when Claire arrives, she finds the man she crushed on as a college student. And now he's interested in her! And he's going to get her a job with the best publisher in the city! The book follows Claire for a year after this fateful day, all the way to her wedding day, where she's about to marry that man, Randall. But is it normal to have this many doubts on your wedding day?
Thoughts:
It's a poor man's Devil Wears Prada. Quite literally, it's the same story, as Claire gets crapped on at every turn, and the boss is an unholy bitch. Only it's a book publisher, not a magazine publisher. Pretty much most other things in the story are the same. This was just written three years later, and it has a wedding in the mix. It was vaguely amusing, and not really much to talk about compared with DWP. I feel like I liked this book better than DWP, but only a little. I vaguely remember being annoyed by DWP when I read it. Past that, I wouldn't bother with this one if you've read the original. No wonder this was on the bargain rack.
Pages: 274
Genre: Chick lit
Grade: C
Would I Recommend?: Eh. Could go either way.
32 down, 18 to go!
Claire is having a crazy day. She's just gotten news that her mentor is leaving the publishing company she works for, and now the little bit of attention she'd been getting for her projects will be practically null. Her best friend Bea asks her to come to a gallery opening, and when Claire arrives, she finds the man she crushed on as a college student. And now he's interested in her! And he's going to get her a job with the best publisher in the city! The book follows Claire for a year after this fateful day, all the way to her wedding day, where she's about to marry that man, Randall. But is it normal to have this many doubts on your wedding day?
Thoughts:
It's a poor man's Devil Wears Prada. Quite literally, it's the same story, as Claire gets crapped on at every turn, and the boss is an unholy bitch. Only it's a book publisher, not a magazine publisher. Pretty much most other things in the story are the same. This was just written three years later, and it has a wedding in the mix. It was vaguely amusing, and not really much to talk about compared with DWP. I feel like I liked this book better than DWP, but only a little. I vaguely remember being annoyed by DWP when I read it. Past that, I wouldn't bother with this one if you've read the original. No wonder this was on the bargain rack.
Pages: 274
Genre: Chick lit
Grade: C
Would I Recommend?: Eh. Could go either way.
32 down, 18 to go!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Fairy Tale Blues (Tina Welling)
Summary:
Forty-something (or fifty-something) AnnieLaurie is married to a sweet, funny man named Jess. He's self-absorbed and careless, and for their anniversary, he gets her the same pair of blue topaz earrings that he got her for Valentine's Day. This brings Annie to the realization that she needs a break. A break from her life with him, from the store they own together, from everything about their life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She leaves the anniversary dinner abruptly, and hops a flight to Florida, nothing with her but the clothes on her back and her purse. She decides she's taking a "marriage sabbatical."
Thoughts:
The book feels like it's Welling's way of working through her own issues with her marriage. The main female character even is named like a fanfic "MarySue." It's written alternatively from Annie's and Jess's points of view. While Annie describes her world and her "awakening" and all that, I kind of wanted to reach into the pages and smack her around. Yes, Jess has issues. But you're not without them either. I wanted to put it down so badly because it just wasn't GOOD to me, but I hate stopping a book in the middle, so I usually tough out even the worst books. (Case in point: Raiders of the Low Forehead. Worst book I've ever read, bar none, but I actually finished that flaming pile of- ugh. Awful.)
What makes me sad about this book is that Jess works on himself, yes, and so does Annie, but the only real actions that go on during the book are when Annie meets Daniel, a former drug runner, on the run from his former boss and the cartel they work (or worked, in Daniel's case) for. That's the only real fun in this book. It was wholly depressing, and a waste of a week or more of my reading time. And this was one of the books from Paperback Swap that I had been waitlisted for. And I didn't even like it. Waste of time and a PBS credit.
31 down, 19 to go!
Pages: 312
Genre: Chick-lit, self help
Grade: D
Would I Recommend?: Not unless you're a 50+ with serious marriage issues.
Forty-something (or fifty-something) AnnieLaurie is married to a sweet, funny man named Jess. He's self-absorbed and careless, and for their anniversary, he gets her the same pair of blue topaz earrings that he got her for Valentine's Day. This brings Annie to the realization that she needs a break. A break from her life with him, from the store they own together, from everything about their life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She leaves the anniversary dinner abruptly, and hops a flight to Florida, nothing with her but the clothes on her back and her purse. She decides she's taking a "marriage sabbatical."
Thoughts:
The book feels like it's Welling's way of working through her own issues with her marriage. The main female character even is named like a fanfic "MarySue." It's written alternatively from Annie's and Jess's points of view. While Annie describes her world and her "awakening" and all that, I kind of wanted to reach into the pages and smack her around. Yes, Jess has issues. But you're not without them either. I wanted to put it down so badly because it just wasn't GOOD to me, but I hate stopping a book in the middle, so I usually tough out even the worst books. (Case in point: Raiders of the Low Forehead. Worst book I've ever read, bar none, but I actually finished that flaming pile of- ugh. Awful.)
What makes me sad about this book is that Jess works on himself, yes, and so does Annie, but the only real actions that go on during the book are when Annie meets Daniel, a former drug runner, on the run from his former boss and the cartel they work (or worked, in Daniel's case) for. That's the only real fun in this book. It was wholly depressing, and a waste of a week or more of my reading time. And this was one of the books from Paperback Swap that I had been waitlisted for. And I didn't even like it. Waste of time and a PBS credit.
31 down, 19 to go!
Pages: 312
Genre: Chick-lit, self help
Grade: D
Would I Recommend?: Not unless you're a 50+ with serious marriage issues.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Aunt Dimity's Good Deed (Nancy Atherton)
Summary:
Lori Shepherd is back Boston in the third installment of the Aunt Dimity sagas. She's gone and gotten married, though her new hubby turns out to be a Class A workaholic. Two years of marriage have brought Lori little more than anxiety and annoying in-laws. She plans a trip for the two of them to visit Dimity's- and now her- cottage in England, as a second honeymoon. Only hubby the lawyer is too busy working on a case to leave. He promises to finish soon, and then head to England to meet Lori, and sends his father to keep her company in the meantime. How wonderful. But two days into the trip, Lori's father-in-law goes missing, and she spends the next few days running around the English countryside trying to find him.
Thoughts:
Wonderful, again. Atherton's got a fabulous way of telling her stories. Lori is a bit of an idiot some times, and you wonder how she misses some obvious things. What are you going to do. The writing is awesome, so I'll forgive Lori being slightly dense. I'll definitely continue with this series. Atherton is great.
30 down, 20 to go!
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. Atherton's awesome.
Lori Shepherd is back Boston in the third installment of the Aunt Dimity sagas. She's gone and gotten married, though her new hubby turns out to be a Class A workaholic. Two years of marriage have brought Lori little more than anxiety and annoying in-laws. She plans a trip for the two of them to visit Dimity's- and now her- cottage in England, as a second honeymoon. Only hubby the lawyer is too busy working on a case to leave. He promises to finish soon, and then head to England to meet Lori, and sends his father to keep her company in the meantime. How wonderful. But two days into the trip, Lori's father-in-law goes missing, and she spends the next few days running around the English countryside trying to find him.
Thoughts:
Wonderful, again. Atherton's got a fabulous way of telling her stories. Lori is a bit of an idiot some times, and you wonder how she misses some obvious things. What are you going to do. The writing is awesome, so I'll forgive Lori being slightly dense. I'll definitely continue with this series. Atherton is great.
30 down, 20 to go!
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. Atherton's awesome.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (John Boyne)
Summary:
Bruno is a nine year old boy in 1940's Germany whose father is a Commandant in the German army. After a visit from the Fury, Bruno and his family are moved to a house far away called Out-With. There is nothing anywhere near the house, except for a very big fence that goes on for as far as Bruno can see. Bruno and his sister have no one to play with or talk to except the other soldiers. One day, Bruno goes exploring, and finds a speck that becomes a spot that becomes a blob that becomes a boy. Suddenly Out-With is not as bad.
Thoughts:
It reads exactly like being in a little boy's brain. Boyne does a perfect job of getting the 9-year-old's voice right. It also showed an interesting point of view of Nazi Germany. It's not often that you see a story written about the World War 2 era from the view of the Germans. This was incredible. I see why this is so highly recommended. It was a great story, written beautifully. I think it's tied for favorite of the year so far. It's only tied because the whole thing in general is kind of depressing, but that's the only thing keeping it from really surpassing everything else for the year. Great book though.
Pages: 240
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Hell effing yes.
29 down, 21 to go!
Bruno is a nine year old boy in 1940's Germany whose father is a Commandant in the German army. After a visit from the Fury, Bruno and his family are moved to a house far away called Out-With. There is nothing anywhere near the house, except for a very big fence that goes on for as far as Bruno can see. Bruno and his sister have no one to play with or talk to except the other soldiers. One day, Bruno goes exploring, and finds a speck that becomes a spot that becomes a blob that becomes a boy. Suddenly Out-With is not as bad.
Thoughts:
It reads exactly like being in a little boy's brain. Boyne does a perfect job of getting the 9-year-old's voice right. It also showed an interesting point of view of Nazi Germany. It's not often that you see a story written about the World War 2 era from the view of the Germans. This was incredible. I see why this is so highly recommended. It was a great story, written beautifully. I think it's tied for favorite of the year so far. It's only tied because the whole thing in general is kind of depressing, but that's the only thing keeping it from really surpassing everything else for the year. Great book though.
Pages: 240
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Hell effing yes.
29 down, 21 to go!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)