"Miracle and Other Christmas Stories" ~ Connie Willis

"Miracle and Other Christmas Stories" is one of my favorite books of all time.  I reread it every December.  Connie Willis is a multiple Hugo and Nebula award winning author of science fiction.  I'd say science fantasy, if that's a category, which I say yes, it is because it's my blog.  There are so many things I love about the Christmas season.  Trees and lights and cookies and fresh snow on the trees.  Christmas songs I know all the words to and can bellow at the top of my lungs.  Watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Christmas Story".

I'd been reading Connie Willis for a while when "Miracle" was published in 1999.  The idea was just so intriguing, a book of Christmas themed short stories that also had a sci fi / fantasy slant. As she says in the introduction.

"Here they are-an assortment of stories about church choirs and Christmas presents and pod people from outer space, about wishes that come true in ways you don't expect and wishes that don't come true and wishes you didn't know you had."
 

 How could I NOT buy this book?

There are eight short stories and each has it's own style and feel.  "Miracle" is about an office worker who wants nothing so much as to go the office Christmas party, where this year she hopes to catch the attention of her handsome co-worker.  Her cards are addressed, the dress is bought, the presents are wrapped and along comes Chris, to give her heart's desire.  This story makes me laugh and smile every year.

"Inn" takes place during a Christmas Eve choir rehearsal as one member tries to help a homeless man and his pregnant wife.

"Adaptation"  takes on Dickens's "A Christmas Carol"

"Newsletter"  makes me smile and want to try writing my own.

Do I love all the stories? No, there are a couple I don't get, but that's ok, because I get so much enjoyment out of the others.  I'm not usually a fan of short stories.  I'm a long haul epic series kind of reader.  Willis's writing draws you in and makes you care, which is amazing given the format . A wonderful addition to your Christmas traditions.

"Talisman Trilogy" ~ Brenda Pandos

I read the "Talisman Trilogy" over the last week and I'm really not sure why.  The series consists of "The Emerald Talisman", "The Sapphire Talisman" and "The Onyx Talisman".  The first one was free and the others were $2.99 so that might explain why I finished the series.  So two disclaimers: first this is a young adult series, second it was recommended by a person with a young adult daughter.  I am not however a young adult woman and parts of this series just pissed me off.  Other parts just bored me. 

The main character is 16 year old Julia Parker who is an empath, who can sense what others are feeling.  The first part of the book sets up Julia, her friends, her school, her classes, etc.  Being a long way from high school I just skimmed these parts.  Then one night on her way home, Julia is attacked and rescued by Nicholas, cute alpha male with a capital "A".  Soon Julia meets cute beta male Phil and our triangle is complete.  Turns out Nick is a half vampire vampire hunter, who's been watching over Julia for most of her life.  Then throw in the prediction that Julia is the key to stopping the vamps and there is basis for the series.  The twist is that as a vampire sires a new vampire his bloodline is tied to that vamp and any that they sire.  So if you kill the head of the blood line every vamp attached to it will *poof* die.  So Julie needs to kill the father of all vampires to destroy this curse.  I actually like that part of the series.  It was interesting and what actually kept me reading.

What I did NOT like was the characterization of the female characters.  It's the same thing that bugged me Twilight, but at least with that I didn't notice until after I was done with the series.  With this series, it pissed me off all the way through.  Julia spends so much of time caught up in this storm of dramatic emotion, it just made me tired. Julia goes from I just met you to I'll die without you over the course of about one date.  Later when Julia and her friend talk about sex, Julia says she not ready and that she wants to wait until she is married.  Later on Julia and her friend again have this conversation and the friends says she wants to marry her boyfriend and again wait to have sex until after she is married.  I have no problem with waiting for the right person, I have no problem with being committed to a person, and I have no problem with marriage.  The thing is, if you asked a group of teenage girls what they were going to do after high school, I don't think get married immediately would be the top answer.  None of the female characters express any desire to be anything but part of a couple.  No mention of future goals or career plans.  Even Julia's aunt does nothing but be a surrogate mother to Julia and have a baby.  Where is the girl power?  Where is the strength and confidence that you yourself are enough. 

Finally, in the third book you really get a look at what Julia's dad does and it is so ridiculous that I could barely keep reading.  I honestly don't even know why that part was even included.   Generally I try to stay away from writing negative reviews, but I just couldn't do it in this case. 

"The Chalk Girl" ~ Carol O'Connell

"The Chalk Girl" by Carol O'Connell is the latest in her mystery series featuring Kathy Mallory.  I was happy to hear this book was coming out.  After the events in "Find Me", I was afraid Mallory's story was done.  The amazing thing O'Connell does is make Mallory the main character without ever having her tell the story.  It's always told by the characters around her.

It was a good Mallory book.  It was good to have her back in New York and back on the job.  One of the drawbacks to the series is that you don't spend much time, if any, with Mallory's internal thought process.  And I wanted some, just a hint of what happened after the end of "Find Me" and the beginning of "The Chalk Girl".  I enjoyed the conflict between Charles and Mallory, who despite his unrequited love for her, stands up to her several times in this book.

This series is not sweet and light, but it is good.  It's a love it leave it kind of deal no middle ground. The book starts with a school field trip in Central Park where we are introduced to a young child named Coco right before a rat swarm.  Turns out Coco, in a bloody t-shirt, isn't part of the class.  She says "The blood fell from the sky while she was looking for her uncle Red who turned into a tree".  There starts a complicated story of murder and revenge.  As I said I liked it and am waiting paitently for the next installment.  Side note ~ I actually read this back in June of this year, but it was summer and summer is short in Minnesota, so you have to take advantage while it's here.

"Unseen Academicals" ~ Terry Pratchett

"Unseen Academicals" on the surface is about football, or soccer to us crazy Americans.  The Unseen University must field a football team or face losing a substantial endowment. Underneath, it's a about growing, challenging the status quo, and prejudices, both ours and others.  It was a good book and I mostly enjoyed it.   Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.

Maybe I still harbor some ill-will toward this book that is no fault of it's own.  See I had checked this book out of the library and it was on the floor in the back seat.  So last summer I'm taking my two nieces, 6 & 7, to Como Park for the day.  As we are cruising across town, Niece #1 says "I don't feel so good".   Then as I frantically try to find an exit, Niece #2 says "Too late, she threw up."  We got everything cleaned up and ended up having a great day, but I did end up with a ruined library book. So I bought them a new one and took it in. Turns out it wasn't the "right kind" of hardcover book with the same isbn number and I had to pay for the ruined one as well.  In the end I had two copies, one that went right into the trash and one that sat on a shelf for over a year.

Anyway, This book is full of new and old characters.  I especially liked Glenda and Mr. Nutt.   Glenda in some ways reminds me of myself.  When you look at you life and your routines and think why do I do this.  What are the invisible restrictions and rules that are so ingrained that you don't even question how they came to be.  Mr. Nutt is hard to describe, especially without giving away crucial information.  I'm not a football fan, but Pratchett pulls me right in with his descriptions of the crowds and the sense of loyalty to the sport. 

Since the University has to field a team anyway, Lord Vetinari tasks them with revamping the game and drag it into the century of the fruitbat.  The clash of old and new, street vs university, and rival clubs provides plenty of action.  I liked this book and while not my favorite book, I would recommend it to anyone who likes smart, funny or football books.

"Desert Places: A Novel of Terror" ~ Blake Crouch

I was so impressed by the "The Pines" that I bought "Desert Places" almost the next day. I did not enjoy it nearly as much.  This is Crouch's first book and I can see where he wanted to go, he just didn't get there for me.  I'm again reminded of Dean Koontz.  Koontz is one of my favorite writers, but I'm not a fan of all his books.  In fact there's about 1/3 that I think are brilliant, 1/3 that are good, and a 1/3 that I just don't like.

Desert Places starts with a bang. Successful mystery writer Andrew Thomas is living the good life.  Career, money, friends, then one day he gets a letter telling him there is a dead body buried on his property.  That she has his blood on her and the murder weapon is a missing knife from his kitchen. If he goes to the police, the killer will let the police know where more bodies can be found on Andrew's property.  The killer is looking to make a connection with Andrew. 

The why and the who are interesting, but lack a substantial back story.  It is supposed to be a story about survival and what makes us tick.  What can push us over the edge and can we come back.  I just don't think Crouch ever really answers his own questions.  There are moments when I see the potential that will come in future books like "The Pines".  I bought the second one in the Andrew Thomas series at the same time I bought the first.  I will read it and see how it goes.  I might just need to stick with his later books.

"The Pines" ~ Blake Crouch

This book was recommended to me by my uncle.  I always pay attention when he does this for a couple reasons. The first is that he doesn't do it that often, so if he says take a look, I take a look.  Second he is one of those scary smart people who is not easily impressed.  That is not to say he isn't a cool guy, because he is very cool, but you aren't going to find him reading "Twilight" or a couple of my other guilty pleasures.  "The Pines" is a creepy, intense, mind bending, really good book.

"The Pines" opens with the main character, Ethan Burke, waking up hurt in an empty field.  He can't remember who he is or why he's there.  He sets out into town to find out what's going on and ends up in the hospital.  Eventually he remembers he is a secret service agent on his way to Wayward Pines, Idaho to investigate the disappearance of two other agents. Upon arriving in town he is involved in a car accident.  The townsfolk, including the sheriff give every appearance of helpfulness without actually providing any help.  All Ethan wants is a way to communicate with the outside world and he's not having much luck.  He and you are left with one really big question, "What is going on in Wayward Pines?"

I read this book in one day.  Crouch has a way of writing suspense and tension in the most everyday situations that I haven't seen in a long time.  The opening sequence of Ethan walking through town was so creepy and I could feel myself being pulled into the story.  My arms were tense and my brow was furrowed.  And that's just the beginning of the book for crying out loud!  It just keeps building from there.  Then just when you think it's going one way, the story shifts and you're shaking your head going "What? Huh? What?" Then it shifts again.  I don't usually talk about the end of the stories, because I don't want to spoil things, but WOW does this have one HELL of an ending that I did not see coming.

Crouch reminds me of Dean Koontz at his best.  I finished this book and went looking for more.  It was creepy and weird and good.  I can't tell you if it was well written or not.  I didn't pay that much attention, I was completely caught up in the story.  It was the perfect book to read right before Halloween.

"Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" ~ Lois McMasters Bujold

For those of you familiar with Lois McMasters Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, get ready to jump up and down.  This is the Ivan book we've been begging for and  IT IS AWESOME!!!  For those of you who haven't read any Bujold yet, stop, go get some, and start.  This is science fiction space opera at it's best.  Bujold has always said she tries to write a book that can be read from any point in the series without the reader being lost.  That is true here, you can start with this one and read a smart, funny, enjoyable book. The rest of us get all that and the hysterically funny in jokes.  

As I said this is Ivan's book.  Lord Captain Ivan Xav Vorpatril.  Ivan's been a favorite character of mine through all the books.  Cousin to Miles Vorkosigan, nephew to Aral & Cordelia, son to Alys, and "um" something to Simon.  Easy going Ivan, who wants nothing so much as to have a good time, enjoy life, and not have to work too hard at it.  The book opens with Ivan on Komarr for military inspections.  He's approached by an undercover government agent Byerly Vorrutyer to help out a lady in distress. Never one to leave a lovely lady in distress, Ivan sets out to render assistance whether Tej wants it or not.  And she does not want it. I love this scene where Ivan first tries to pick up Tej after work.

"Say, can I buy you a drink?
"No, thank you."
"Dinner?"
"No."
He waggled his eyebrows cheerfully. "Ice cream? All women like ice cream in my experience."
"No!"
"Walk you home?"
"Certainly not!" She linked arms with Dotte and started off. Vorpatril followed not giving up. He slipped around in front, grinned some more, and tried, "What about a puppy?"
Dotte snorted a laugh which didn't help.
"A kitten?"
Tej snarled at him, "Go away. Or I'll find a street Patroller."  

He opened his hands in apparent surrender, watching with a doleful expression as they marched past. "A pony...?" he called after them, as if in one last spasm of hope.
 

 Before you know it Ivan, Byerly, Tej, and Rish, Tej's blue skinned companion, are in it up to their eyebrows.  That's when Ivan gets creative.  Then the book gets really fun as they end up back on Barrayar.  This book is just great.  It's got the feel of a 1930's screwball comedy.  I loved seeing life from Ivan's point of view.  Tej is just adorable.  The other piece that I enjoyed was getting a glimpse at Alys Vorpatril and Simon Illyan's relationship.  There is so much I want to comment on but I don't want to give anything away.  Just read it, laugh out loud, and enjoy!

Side not this book won't be released until November 6th.  I bought an adanvanced e-reader copy from Bujold's website.  That is how much I wanted to read this book.

 

"Off The Grid" ~ PJ Tracy

PJ Tracy is a mother daughter mystery writing team.  Their books are mainly set in Minnesota.  The first book "Monkeewrench"  is fantastic.  I loved it and have continued to to read the series as it comes out.  "Off The Grid"  is the latest, but not the best in the series.  I was excited to catch up with the characters after the ending twist in the last book. 

I liked the book but it does have two major issues.  First it presupposes that you've read the other books.  If you haven't you will not understand the Grace character at all.  Having read the other books, Grace's changes are central to the emotional tone of the book.  Second the mystery is not great.  It had potential but I just didn't get it.  It seemed very two dimensional and there needed to be more explanation. 

I loved catching up with all the regulars again and I will keep reading the series.  There is a short conversation between Roadrunner, yes that is his name, and a native police chief that was both sweet and scary at the same time.  When Tracy gets it right she can pull contradictory emotions out of you that make perfect sense.  Plus I always enjoy a good book set in my home state.  I would recommend starting at the beginning and waiting for this one in paperback.

"When Parents Text: So Much Said...So Little Understood" ~ Fraioli & Kaelin

This book was a Kindle daily deal on Amazon so I snatched it up.  It was fantastic!  The authors are best friends who grew up together, went of to college, graduated and ended up moving back home when the job market wasn't as rosy as they hoped.  Not an uncommen story these days.  In the process they and their parents had to redefine some of their roles as they struggled to live together as adults, not just parent and child.  The authors grew up exposed to cell phones, computers, Youtube, and Facebook.  Their parents, and me to a certain extent, often  feel like we're learning a second language.  And sometimes, we just don't get it.  That gap, and the hilarious results, lead to this book.  Well, first it lead to the website www.whenparentstext.com and then to the book. 

As you read these just substitue any 17-25 year old you know for "ME"  and any parent or adult over 35 for "MOM" or "DAD"

ME: Mom, did I see you last night? Sorry I came home a little hammered…

MOM: Um, yes. You did.

ME: Uh oh. What happened?

MOM: I reminded you to change your clocks and you burst into tears. I’ll remember it’s a senastive subject from now on.

DAD: I'm not sure but I think I just accidently divorced your mom on facebook...I'll keep you updated
ME: (silence)
MOM: why is your father married to his sister on facebook?


ME: You get to pick me up from college in 28 days!
DAD: Ok
ME: Yay would be a better response
DAD: Why do we get to drop you off somewhere else afterwords?

The book has chapters from "n00bs" to "the world wide web" to just "wow".  It was fun.  It was fast.  I laughed out loud so hard I cried and I'm pretty sure I scared my cat. Sometime things just tickle your funny bone.

"Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas" ~ John Scalzi

I realize it's been a while since my last post.  I got distracted finishing up my non-fiction book and with a little show called Dr. Who.  I admit I'd never seen it before and can't figure why not.  Anyway, that's a whole other topic.  So I have a backlog I'm hoping to get through in the next few days.  First up is "Redshirts" by John Scalzi.  I bought this book to take on vacation and it was perfect.  I just enjoyed this book while sitting on the deck in the sunshine.  Any "Star Trek" fan can tell you who a redshirt is. He is the poor unnamed crewman who dies on the away mission.

"Redshirts" main character is Ensign Andrew Dahl who is posted to the Universal Union Flagship The Intrepid.  It doesn't take him long to realize the bad things happen on away missions, especially if you go with the Captain, the Science Officer or Lt. Kerensky.  Dahl soon becomes involved in tying to find out why.  Given the title I expected some tongue in cheek fun and it was there.  Nice characters, good flow, and interesting plot keep the book moving.  Woven in there is the idea of what is "real" and does it matter?  This was a fast read partly because I was on vacation and partly because I wanted to see what would happen next.  I finished it in a day and a half.  I paid $11.99 on Kindle and had no problem with that.  I don't know that I would spring for the hardcover version.  I will however check out Scalzi's other titles.

"Ready Player One" ~ Ernest Cline

"Ready Player One" is a recommendation from a favorite author's blog.  It is great.  Seriously great for a first novel.  The setting is 2044 and the world has just continued to get worse and worse.  The majority of the world works, plays and "lives" in a type of virtual reality know as OASIS.  OASIS is owned and designed by James Halliday.  The book opens with his death and his fortune, including OASIS, going up for grabs to the first person who can solve his riddles and find the "Easter Egg" he has hidden in the game.

Our main character is Wade Watts an overweight, poor, 17 year-old who is far more comfortable as his avatar Parzival than as real life Wade.  Wade is a "ghunter" and has been searching for the egg, along with everyone else, for the last five years.  This has lead him, and the world, to become obsessed with the 1980's, the decade that Halliday was a teenager.  Wade is convinced that the clues are somewhere in the minutia of "Dungeons and Dragons", "Pac-man", "Family Ties", and "Transformers" and he's right. 

There is adventure, some romance, and some coming of age all rolled into one.  One of the oddest bits for me is the 80's pop / geek culture.  I was a teenager in the 80's and I didn't get half the references.  On the other hand, they are explained with such reverence that I feel like I missed out on some really cool stuff.  And I was there. Cline also explores the theme of loneliness and the ability to form lasting relationships with people we haven't physically met.  The terror of moving beyond the virtual world where you can present yourself as anything you want, to the physical reality of this is who I really am. He has some great arguments for both sides of the coin. 

I just really liked this book.  The writing was good and I never felt bogged down.  The action had nice tension and the final battle was amazing and just had me grinning through the whole thing.  I cared what happened to Wade, Aech, and Art3mis. Both the 80's flashbacks and the future OASIS fit together perfectly in way that shouldn't have worked but does.  I want to go the the OASIS and visit planet "Ready Player One".  Well, right after I'm done with the Wedonverse sector.

Fifty Shades of Grey ~ E. L. James

Fifty Shades of Grey is one of those word of mouth books everyone is suddenly talking about.  I just heard about it the other day and was curious.  The person I heard about it from was afraid it might be a little too hot for her to handle.  A couple others had the book but hadn't started it yet.  Someone else I asked said isn't that the kinky sex book?  So I read the description and thought why not.  I downloaded it to my Kindle and away I went. Now I  enjoy a good romance and  I've dabbled in the erotica genre. Though to be fair there isn't really a genre I haven't dabbled in at one time or another, with the exception of political science, which I just can't stand.  So back to the book.  It was...ok, with a potential to be slightly better.  This review will include some minor spoilers, but not anything that isn't already being discussed.  So reader beware.

The story is told from 21 year old Anastasia Steele's perspective.  This lovely, inexperienced, sheltered young woman meets gorgeous, young, dynamic billionaire Christian Grey.  Sparks fly and soon Ana realizes that she wants Grey.  Grey wants Ana but he has specific needs when it comes to sex.  The book spends some time trying to build up the mystery to reveal that Grey is a "Dominant" and only has relationships within certain parameters.  Those parameters are discussed at length throughout the book.  In fact more time is spent discussing the BDSM particulars than actually doing them.  So, the sex.  Yep, it's there.  Alot.  But, as I said, for all the build up, the characters don't really engage in anything except the most basic BDSM play  More sensational then substance.  That said I think a number of husbands and boyfriends will see a benefit from this book without ever having to turn a page.

This book is a very quick read partly because the writing is not great and partly it gets a little repetitive after awhile.  On the other hand, it sucked me in and I just keep going to see where was going to go.  I stayed up way too late reading it.  I finished it in two sittings.  Any book requires a suspension of disbelieve.  This one more than others.  It didn't hit me while I was reading until after I'd finished and stepped away from the story.  Both characters are pretty stereotypical and one dimensional.  Plus I found Ana's "responses" and extreme "natural aptitude" slightly unbelievable.  Not to mention the total and utter physical perfection that is Grey.  Now one aspect I really enjoyed was the emails flying back and forth between Ana and Grey.  Any character development that happened, happened in those emails and I thought it was an interesting technique.  I don't feel an overwhelming urge to run right out and get the next one, so I know I'm not an E.L James convert. 

On a side note my sister and I are both big "Friends" fans and one bit kept popping into my head after I finished this book and making me laugh.  It's from the episode called "The One With Rachel's Book"

Rachel: (gasps) You found my book?!
Joey: Yeah I did!
Rachel: Joey, what-what were you doing going into my bedroom?!
Joey: Okay, look I’m sorry, I went in there to take a nap and I know I shouldn’t have, but you got porn!
Rachel: Hey-hey, y’know what? I don’t care! I’m not ashamed of my book. There’s nothing wrong with a woman enjoying a little…erotica. It’s just a healthy expression of female sexuality, which by the way, you will never understand. (She goes into her room.)
Joey: You got porn!

Small Favor / Side Jobs ~ Jim Butcher

Let me just start with the part where I LOVE Jim Butcher.  This was not always so.  I read the first book and thought it was ok, the second was worse, and then he struck gold with the third book.  I was working in a bookstore at the time or I might not have made it to book three.  I highly recommend starting with book three Grave Peril. His main character is Harry Dresden.  Harry is a private investigator who happens to be a wizard.   He even advertises as such in the phone book. I love Butcher's sense of humor and I love the mix of mystery and fantasy.  I have read the books more times than I can count and am waiting for book 14 to come out this fall.  That's right, I said 14.  Along the way I discovered that James Marsters, Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was the narrator of the audio books. So I decided to listen to one.  OMG!!!  I died and went to heaven.  He is wonderful.  I could probably listen to him read the phone book.  Well maybe not the phone book, but pretty much anything else. So now and again I pop one of the audio books in and listen while I'm driving to and from work.  I did that recently with Small Favor.

This is one of my favorite books.  I'm trying to balance my enthusiasm with the need to not give too much away, so continue reading at your own peril. The book starts with Harry and the Carpenter family being attacked by agents of the Summer Court. And where Summer is, Winter can't be far behind.  Harry owes Mab, Queen of the Winter Court, a favor and Mab decides to call in her marker.  She wants him to find someone and if he doesn't he'll end up dead. So you now have some of my favorite recurring characters, Michael Carpenter, Knight of the Cross and the Fairies.  Oh, this is going to be good.  Most of the other supporting cast is here, Murphy, Thomas, Molly and Mouse.  Plus a few surprises that I can't mention, but boy do I want to.  As usual, Harry is an underdog caught between a rock and a hard place.  There is plenty of action, humor, suspense and magic. Some intriguing character hints.  I loved it all.

Listening to the audio books is such a pleasure.  I read so quickly that I know I'm not getting every word.  Listening forces me to take it slow.  Marsters has a wonderful voice and is truly great narrator.  I never have any trouble distinguishing between his character voices.  I like Harry, but Bob's voice is probably my favorite along with Toot-Toot.  He is able to bring all the emotions and carry you along as he goes. And at 12 cd's it lasts awhile.  I own all the books on CD except the latest, and I never get tired of them. Marsters has narrated all of the books except the last one.  I've converted both my sister and my brother-in-law to fans of the series through the audio books. I converted my mom to a fan through the books.  My dad is the stubborn hold out. He just doesn't know what he's missing.

"Side Jobs" is a collection of Harry Dresden short stories that have been published through out the years.  They are in chronological story order with a short blurb about how and why the story came about. Plus a notation about where it falls within the book timeline.  I had to pull this out because one of the stories deals with what happened to one of the characters in the aftermath of Small Favors.  Then I remembered on of the other stories and had to go read that one.  After that you might as well just read them all.  The collection illustrates how much Butcher has grown as a writer.  The earliest stories show you the potential and it's a joy to read stories that just keep getting better.  I think it's a great collection, but would caution you to have read a good portion of the series before you pick it up, because spoilers abound.  Mostly I just think you need to go read these books right now.

Master of the Delta ~ Thomas Cook

Master of the Delta was a page-a-day recommendation.  The little blurb said it was about an english teacher teaching an advanced class on historical evil.  He then discovers one of his students is the son of "The Co-ed" killer, a local murderer.  The teacher encourages this student to write about his father for the class.  It sounded intriguing and so I thought I'd give it a go.

The book was a complete surprise.  The first thing is that it takes place in 1954.  I'd assumed that it was more contemporary.  The second thing was an expectation of a thrillerness, if that's even a word, a dive right in and full speed ahead sort of writing.  That was not this book.  That isn't to say that there wasn't tension and suspense, there was.  It was just a slower more lyrical style of writing. 

Jack Branch is the son of an important southern family.  The family still owns it's plantation out on plantation row.  He's well educated and aware of the privileges his upbringing has brought him.  In contrast to that is Eddie Miller a kid from the wrong part of town with a murderer for a father.  The story is told in three parts that inter cut with each other through out the book.  The main story in 1954, excepts from a trial, and present day.   I enjoyed the writing.  Thomas Cook has a gift for evoking the feel of a time and place. 

My biggest problem is that I kept expecting this to be some other type of book.  A James Patterson, Jeffery Deaver, Dean Koontz thriller.  I'm not sure why.  I kept waiting for the action, the evil, the event, the something to start up.  There must have been something in the blurb that struck my mind that way.  To me this had a more literary feel and style.  The situations and problems in this story are real and much more believable than the serial killer next door who is out smarted by the plucky heroine.  I liked the book.  I liked getting hints and clues from the trial and the present day.  It helped enhance the story.  I don't know that I'd go out of my way to read another of his books, but if one came my way, I'd read it.

Coming Soon!!

I've not forgotten about this blog, but I've gotten a little distracted.  I finished a mystery by Kate Atkinson, but I just got the next in the series so I figure I should wait and do both at the same time.  I finished another thrille,r sort of, by Thomas Cook, but haven't quite formulated my thoughts yet.  I've got a non-fiction going and that always takes more time.  Finally I've been re-listening to my Jim Butcher audio books on my way to work so I've got one of those on the way.  In the meantime, Happy Reading!

"Phone Kitten" ~ Marika Christian

A friend of mine turned me onto this free Kindle book site called Pixels of Ink.  I both love and hate this site.  Usually twice a day they list 3-5 books that are free for Kindle on Amazon at the time of the post. I  LOVE free books.  I HATE the  temptation because, even though they aren't taking up physical space, adding 5 books a day to my to-be-read pile is intimidating even for me.  Anywho, this leads me to my latest book, "Phone Kitten", which I got free thanks to the above mentioned Pixels recommendation.

This book was just a funny, cute, and light hearted mystery.  Emily Winters finds herself fired from her newspaper job, through no fault of her own, sees an ad to be a phone sex operator and thinks why not.  Now, I do have to say that I was slightly worried about a raunch factor, but the author handles the subject matter with a sly, witty, subtle touch that just had me giggling in some parts.  What Emily finds is that once the deed is done, most of these guys just want someone to talk to and at two dollars a minute, she's happy to oblige. 

With her life back on track Emily has met a new guy and on their first date, she accidentally runs into one of her clients.  When he turns up murdered the next day, she is sure she's in trouble.  So she decides to start "Drewing it", as in Nancy Drew, against the advice of her best friend Dennis.  Emily is sweet and completely inept in the style of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.  The romance with Rick is just adorable and hot in all the right places. 

Did I mention that I liked this book?  It hit all the right notes in all the right places for me.  Chick Lit, Romance, Comic Mystery, what ever, it was enjoyable.  Like a perfect cupcake.  You couldn't live on it, but boy is it good.  I can't wait to see where this series goes.  As I said it was free when I got it and is now listed at $2.99.  Unfortunately it only seems to be available in ebook format at the moment.  Hopefully that changes soon.

"Simply Chakras" ~ Sasha Fenton

I've had a recent interest in chakras so I bought "Simply Chakras" by Sasha Fenton.  Because the first thing I do with anything I'm interested in is go find a book.  I liked this book.  It was easy to follow and well laid out.  The information was good, but not overwhelming.  I also like how she acknowledged where traditions differed, but basically said do what feels right to you.  It starts with some history about chakras and them moves on to the individual chakras. Each chakra gets it's own chapter andthe author provides the basics of what each chakra does, the influence of too much or not enough, the physical link and the spiritual link.  The later chapters deal with physical chakra healing and spiritual/emotional chakra healing. 

My one wish is that she had included some exercises to go with the chapters.  I have a chakra meditation that I love and would have liked some new things to try.  The book is beautifully illustrated and I feel it will serve me well in a reference capacity.  It also gives me something to refer to while I wait for some classes to become available.  I'm looking forwarding to learning more about them.

I'm So Happy For You" ~ Lucinda Rosenfeld

This was a recommendation from the page-a-day calendar and I was really looking forward to reading it.  Then I started it and and now I'm so happy these aren't my friends.  There is a part of me that just wants to rag on how much I did not enjoy this book, but another part of me wants to be respectful to the effort that the author put into her creation.  Someone liked it enough to not only buy it, but publish it.  I'll be honest, I didn't even finish it.  I got part way through, read the end, and felt no desire to go back and find out what happened in between.

The story is about the friendship between two New York best friends in their 30s.  Wendy's life is ok.  It's not overly exciting, but it's stable.  It's made more stable and superior, by the crazy instability of her best friend Daphne.  Wendy's life seems so much better when compared to Daphne's.  Then just as Daphne's life take a series of improbable upticks, Wendy's starts going downhill.  This is supposed to be a witty, insightful look at the reasons why some women stay friends.  That was not my experience.  The main character, Wendy, and I got off on the wrong foot when she used her low salary at work to  justified her constant emailing, on-line shopping, and being late for work.  Then there was her need to cement her BFF role with constant gossip and speculation.   She touches on it briefly to say she really shouldn't do it and then proceeds to keep doing it.  I couldn't decide if Daphne was just crazy or oblivious.  Either way I didn't really care. I saw Wendy and Daphne as two sisters, with Wendy saying "But MOM, Daphne got one more present than I did!!"

 It may be I have a different definition of friendship.  The people in my life like Wendy and Daphne are not people I like to spend time with.  They aren't people I call close friends and certainly not best friends.  They are acquaintances, people I know.  I trust my best friends.  They're the ones who know and love me warts and all.  A close friendship, for me, is about support and trust and a belief that my life is better by having this person in it.  This was not the book for me.

"Snuff" ~ Terry Pratchett

British author Terry Pratchett can be an amazingly funny writer while at the same time being amazingly thought provoking. His best books are the ones that have a great balance of the two.  "Truth" being a great example and one of my favorite books.  The satire present in every book is used to skewer society and culture in both broad and small, sly ways. Just consider this quote from "Truth"

 There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who, when presented with a glass that is exactly half full, say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!

 The books about the City Watch have always been among my favorites because you're mixing my fantasy and mystery genres again.  I do have to say that the Moist von Lipwig books "Going Postal" and "Making Money" rank right up there as well.  Ah, but the Watch...what a group of characters.  An odd collection of misfits that you can't help but love.  And Sam Vimes, what can you say, when your creator starts you drunk in the gutter, there really is no where to go but up. 

"Snuff" is a City Watch book and I have a feeling it might be the last one.  Maybe because of the author's health or maybe because he's just come to the end of the story.  Either way it feels like an ending.  While the humor is there, this comes down on the more the serious side.  There is alot of self reflection going on inside Sam Vimes.  At the beginning of the book Lady Sybil has dragged her husband Sam, kicking and screaming, off to the country for a vacation.  What's a city boy to do in the country.

"The countryside! What's to amuse you in the countryside?  Do you know why it's called the countryside, Carrot?  Because there is bloody nothing there except damn trees, which we're supposed to make a fuss about, but really they're just stiff weeds! It's dull!  It's nothing but a long Sunday!"

 That might be funnier to me than others because my dad had to plant two trees for evey one he cut down.  Of course Vimes finds all kinds of things going on in the countryside. Pratchett explores where the law starts and stops, personal resposibility, slavery, and justice verses law.  And it does it all in his own trademark style.

"But of course, who would tell anything to a twerp like Flutter?  He wasn't even a henchman - you needed a certain amount of tactical thinking before you could properly hench - but henchmen hang about, and when they're with someone as thick as Flutter they don't always gaurd their tongues."

 I've read that some people feel this book isn't up there with Pratchett's best work.  I don't disagree, but it's still pretty damn good in my opinion.  If you've never read a City Watch book, don't start with "Snuff".  Start at the begining with "Guards! Guards!"  otherwise you're just not going to appreciate this book as much as you should.  You need the history and the growth to understand where Sam Vimes is now and the questions he's struggling with.  I also enjoyed having Sybil present as a main character in this book and having her and Sam truly interact as a couple.  Last, but not least I laughed myself silly at the "Pride & Prejudice" send up.  If you haven't read Terry Pratchett, start now.

"New York to Dallas" ~ J.D. Robb

"New York to Dallas" is the 33rd (I believe) book in J.D. Robb's In Death mystery series.  I will stop what ever I'm reading as soon as I have a new In Death book in my hands.  I recommend this series whole heartedly, but just start at the beginning.  The author takes all my genres and mixes them up into a fantastic combination.  Nominally a mystery series, it is set about 40-50 years in the future, where the main character Eve Dallas is a New York police officer.  Roarke is the gorgeous, rich, reformed bad boy who Eve marries by the 3rd book.  Here comes my romance genre sneaking in.  One of the things I love is the married relationship between Eve and Roarke.  Neither had a happy childhood and watching the author have these two characters develop and build a life together is a testament to the series.  I also love a good mystery and while it's hard to not have themes get repetitive with 33 books, I never feel like she is recycling stories.  There are stories that stay with me from all points in the series.  The futuristic element plays out in easy, but not too unrealistic ways.  Like Eve being able to hit the vertical lift in her car to take her up and over traffic while in pursuit.  They have stunners and blasters instead of gun.  She also uses a specific slang that helps set the dialog apart.  It takes some getting used to, but it's not too bad.  Over the course of the series, there have been great supporting characters introduced and I love seeing who's going to show up in a book.  Another thing I love is that Robb always makes room for character beats and development.  Time passes, life goes on, and people mature.  With too many other mystery series that doesn't happen.

"New York to Dallas" is like the season finale of season four of your favorite tv show.  You been with the series awhile.  You know who the players are.  You watched them work through the beginnings and build some history.  You've been through a few twists and turns and you have a solid sense how they might behave given a particular situation.   The story starts with a particularly nasty abuser and murderer of young girls, Isaac McQueen, escaping from prison.  He escapes with the thought of revenge on the rookie cop who put him there, Eve Dallas.  This brings Eve back full circle to her beginnings as a cop and when McQueen sets up shop in Dallas, it brings her back to her past.  Eve was found as an abused child alone in the streets of Dallas.  It's interesting to see Eve and Roarke basically on their own again working in an unfamiliar city with unfamiliar people.  I really liked it.  It reminded me how much I like them.  It was also interesting to watch Eve's struggle to cope with her past while pursuing this killer in the present. There is one scene with her cat that nearly made me cry.  Of course, my cats have done that for me in the past so I can relate. This book does deal with some strong subject matter, murder, rape, and pedophilia, but it fits within the context of the story and I never feel it's used gratuitously.  Did I feel there were a few "take this with a grain of salt" situations, yes.  Did I care, nope.  There is some unexpected resolution for Eve that took me by surprise, but left my satisfied.  All in all, I liked the book and thought it was an excellent addition to the series.  For those who don't know, J.D. Robb is Nora Roberts.

"A Reliable Wife" ~ Robert Goolrick

"A Reliable Wife" came from the page-a-day recommendations and I now know it is a pretty hot book club book.  Taking place in 1907, Ralph Truitt, an older, wealthy Wisconsin business man advertises for a "reliable wife".  Younger woman Catherine Land answers the ad and comes to Wisconsin with a plan.  She is going to marry him, kill him slowly and be left a wealthy widow.  Now before anybody starts yelling "SPOILERS!!!" at me, it tells you this on the back of the book.  I was immediately intrigued and couldn't wait to read it.  What I discovered is this is either a love it or hate it book.  I loved it (mostly).

The writing is spare, clean, and cool.  I know, cool, what's that?  It's the only way I can explain it.  There is nothing extra, no exuberance, no extrovertness to the writing.  The writing was almost meditative for me.  This is reflected in the characters of Ralph and Catherine.  The story alternates between their points of view and while you, the reader, are exposed to their inner thoughts and dialogue, the rest of the world isn't.  These are both people with secrets to hide.  They are both careful and aware of the persona they are projecting to the world around them.  About half way through, a third character is introduced and then the story alternates between the three to the end of the book. 

Having said all that there is a tension that starts and then builds throughout the book.  Starting with, is she going to do it?  When is she going to it?  Why is she going to do it?  Who is this person?  What are her motives?  Is Ralph going to figure it out?  There is a surprising amount of action sprinkled throughout the book.  The settings of rural Wisconsin and St. Louis are the fourth and fifth characters rounding out this book.  Goolrick highlights the lives of many types of people with out preaching about it.  The long, dark, harsh, lonely winters in Wisconsin.  The excesses of the rich and the plight of the poor in St. Louis. 

This is not a happy book.   Those who hate it will say the language is to simple, it's to dark, I didn't like the characters, etc...  I don't disagree per se.  Everyone is trapped to some extent by their circumstances.  I enjoyed reading it and I kept turning the pages, because I wanted to know what was going to happen.  Somethings I thought I figured out I got right and others I got wrong. I liked Ralph and Catherine...well, you'll have to make up your own mind.

"Mr Dixon Disappears" & "The Book Stops Here" ~ Ian Sansom

"Mr. Dixon Disappears" is the second book in Sansom's Mobile Librarian series and "The Book Stops Here" is the third.  The latter was the one recommended in the Booklover's page-a-day calendar.  It's hard for me to call these mysteries and I'm not sure why?  Maybe it's because, with the exception of the "Mr. Dixon Disappears", nobody is unjustly accused, murdered, or in fear for their life.  In fact, except for that book, none of the mysteries in the series even revolve around a person.  So I feel a lack of tension or suspense that I normally have.  Maybe this is the "tea cozy" type of mystery, I don't know.  Any way this series improved dramatically from the first book.  Some of you may remember that I wasn't even sure I'd read these two books.  You can thank my Dad.  He liked the first one so much he bought the second, read the third and fourth and then ordered the other two books the library didn't have. BIG STUFF for him. 

I thought the writing improved so much.  It was descriptive without bogging down the story.  You feel the small town North Ireland life.  I loved this passage from "Mr. Dixon Disappears".

"It rained here all the time, but still it somehow caught you unawares, creeping up on you.  If it was possible for weather to be duplicitous and undermining, then Tumdrum's weather was: it was bad weather, morally bad weather; it was rain that left no visible trace, no puddles, only a deep-down damp, a remorseless damp that at first you couldn't get out of your clothes and then you couldn't scrub out of your skin and then you couldn't dig out of your soul; the kind of damp that if you could have smoked it , you wouldn't have know but already you'd be addicted."

Of course I live in a place obsessed with the weather, so I sympathize with the main character and laugh along with the author.  Israel Armstrong, the vegetarian, Jewish, mobile librarian is back. Along with Ted, companion and fellow driver, Rosie, occasional assistant, and ever present, but always physically absent, girlfriend Gloria. 

In "Mr Dixon Disappears", Israel has settled into his routine.  The whole "fish-out-of-water" vibe is still there, but not nearly as distracting as in the first book.  I also laughed at a number of places in this book.  Especially when he's listing all the reasons people don't return their books.  As a former bookseller that had me laughing out loud, because people really will say the craziest things.  Israel, by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, becomes involved with the disappearance of Mr. Dixon, owner of the local department store.  Israel tries to put the skills from his fictional detectives to use to help solve the mystery, but without much luck.  This was my favorite in the series so far.

In "The Book Stops Here", Israel is invited back to his home town of London for the annual convention of mobile librarians.  This was Mom & Dad's favorite in the series.  Israel is looking forward to going home, showing off his London life to Ted, and seeing his girlfriend Gloria.  Then the unimaginable, and the basis for the story, happens. After Israel's mom makes him park the mobile library around the corner, it disappears.  Then the race is on to find the bus before the convention is over.  Some very funny things happen along the way.  Sansome also takes some time to explore how you really can't go home again.  Nothing is as Israel remembers and the harder he tries to recapture it, the more painful it becomes.  You do meet Israel's mom who is great fun.  You begin to understand alittle more why Israel is the way he is.  There is one more in the series, we'll see if it makes the "to-be-read" pile.

"Morgue Drawer Four" ~ Jutta Profijit

"Morgue Drawer Four" was a page-a-day recommendation and it deserves it spot.  This mystery was originally written in German and the translation to English is excellent.  The story starts out with small time car thief Pascha Lerchenberg describing the events leading up to his demise, where he ends up in morgue drawer #4 under the care of pathologist Martin Gansewein.  It turns out Martin is the only one who can hear Pascha and Martin is very reluctantly drawn into helping him investigate his death.  Especially since Pascha had a blood alcohol level of 3.7 when he fell from a construction walkway. 

"Three point seven! Right on! I was extremely impressed with myself.  This pleasure did not persist, however, since my inebriated condition was apparently being used against me here.  My murderer was going to get away with it because the official opinion was that my self-induced state of intoxication was the cause of my tumble from the bridge.  That's just not what happened!  And even worse, my buddies were going to think I was so wasted I died from my own stupidity.  What kind of obituary was that? 'He was so wasted he fell off a bridge!' " 

 Pascha and Martin are a classic odd couple.  Pascha is a street savvy, beer guzzling, act first think later kind of guy.  Martin is a highly educated, tea drinking guy who drives an economical/environmental car that drives Pascha crazy.  In fact, most of Martin's life seems a little left of center to Pascha but Martin's excursions into Pascha's world are equally bewildering to him.  The story is told from Pascha's point of view, with the added bonus that he can hear and sense the emotions coming from Martin.  The character development is good.  You get an immediate sense of who these two guys are.  I also loved how Pascha is forced into some reluctant self-reflection when the afterlife isn't working out quite the way he thought it would.  The story moves along at a nice steady pace and kept me turning the pages.  I enjoyed the descriptive language and the time the author spent establishing the scene.  I'm not sure if that was all the author or partly the translation.  Either way it works for me. I didn't guess the villain, but then I usually don't.  I was excited to learn that the next two books in the series have already been published in German and are currently being translated.

"The President's Vampire" ~ Christopher Farnsworth

     This is the second book in Farnsworth's Nathanial Cade series.  Cade is a vampire who was turned and then willfully bound by a voodoo curse to serve the President of the United States and his appointed agents. The first book "Blood Oath" was enough fun that I kept an eye out for the next book.  I would classify these books as political thriller with some supernatural.  Honestly, though, what doesn't have a hint of the supernatural these days.  Not that I mind, it's just that my genres used to be pretty standoff-ish toward each other.  Here's one of my favorite bits that illustrates this fraternization as Farnsworth describes the bad guy's top secret, hidden base. 

"There were ley lines to be considered, the position of the stars and the ritual of sacrifice. (He) knew better than to questions these touches.  After a while, he began to think of them as another section of the building codes, like occult OSHA regulations."

The occult OSHA regulations just made me laugh. Oh, and just wait until you find out where it is.

     The book starts out a little slow for me.  Also, I found the snippets at the beginning of each chapter kind of distracting.  And you are told who the villain is pretty early on.  And you don't get enough back story on Innsmouth.  Ok, those are my biggest gripes.  Other than that..."The President's Vampire" is fun.  It's action packed, moves right along, no crazy left turns, and the writing is short and to the point.  Not being a military person, I can't say how accurate the gun, weapon, military portions are, but they sound good to me.

     Cade doesn't get much character development this book.  Zach, Cade's "handler" gets a little more, but not much.  I'd like to see the author spend a whole chapter in Cade's past not just those snippets.  Maybe next time.  Farnsworth also does a good job with the bloody bits without grossing me out.  It would be easy to cross over from horrific to cheesy.   This book was an easy read, which I mean in the best possible way, and I liked it enough to see when the next one is coming out (April 26th, 2012)

"Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise" ~ Wil Wheaton

I have got to stop reading books with such long subtitles.  Thank goodness for copy/paste.  After reading "Memories of the Future" by Wil Wheaton, I decided to try his autobiography "Just A Geek".   After leaving Star Trek and doing some personal work on his life, Wheaton decides he's ready for that major acting career.  Then not much happens.  He gets married, has a couple stepsons, and goes on auditions for jobs he doesn't get.  So to pass the time he starts a blog WilWheaton.Net.  The book is a mixture of autobiographical information and pertinent blog posts.  This is where the "unflinchingly honest" part comes in.  It's almost too honest.  His insecurities and, at times, an almost whiny tone wear after a while in parts.  Most of that is connected to Star Trek and acting.  Wheaton eventually makes his peace with Trek and the ghost of what might have been.

This book was written before "Memories of the Future" and it shows.  It isn't nearly as polished or professionally distant.  Where this books is good is in his journey from actor to writer.  To see the transition slowly taking place is very interesting.  To feel that self-confidence start to build and solidify is cool. It's also an interesting look into the life of a non-A list actor and see the process at work.  Where this book shines is when Wheaton talks about his family and his love of all things geek.  His love for his wife, stepsons, family, and friends is evident in every word he writes about them.  He is also a geek from way back.  The story told in "The Trade" illustrates this point.  Be it comics, tech, movies, or gaming  he has a giddy joy in it all.  I can't give this book an enthusiastic thumbs up, but it was interesting and I'm glad I read it.

"World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" ~ Max Brooks

This was a Booklover's Page-a-day recommendation from a few years ago. I liked the idea enough to put it on my Amazon list and it sat there until now. I wasn't sure what to expect besides, like, you know, zombies. But I like zombies so ok, let's give it a go. Plus I didn't realize that Brad Pitt was turning it into a movie.

Brooks tells the story from an oral history perspective. His unnamed narrator travels the globe collecting first hand survivor accounts. I expected this book to be funny. It wasn't. It's serious and that surprised me. Once you except the basic premise that some unknown factor caused people to become zombies, it becomes about the survival of the human race. Brooks starts with a survivor from the "ground zero" city in China and follows through to survivors at the end of the "war". His survivors include the whole range of people from government workers, to soliders, to families. One particularly awful person was a drug company president who developed and marketed a vaccine for rabies while being fully aware that the problem was not rabies.

I found this book to be more of a cautionary tale. It felt real. Like this is a place we, the human race could end up. There is a section were a general talks about the useful skills needed after an apocalypse. Not the lawyer, or the ad executive, or the sports figures, but the plumbers, the carpentars and the farmers. I remember telling my mom that assuming we lived through the attack my dad would be highly valued for his skill set. The actions and reactions to situations rang true for me. Congratulations to Brooks he did a great job. It took me a while to finish this book. In fact I finished two other books while reading this one. Part of that comes the non-linear format, but part comes from the need to set the darkness aside. I'm glad I read it and do recommend it. In all honesty though, I'm not sure how Brad Pitt's going to make a movie out of it.

"Memories of the Future - Volume 1" ~ Wil Wheaton

I'm a moderate Trekkie/Trekker. I've seen the shows and all the movies. I can't quote dialogue, but I do know which actors go with which show. I get it from my Dad who was a big fan of the original series. So when Star Trek: The Next Generation came out in 1987, I was excited. It was must see tv for me and Dad for the next three years until I moved away to finish college. Now 20+ years later, with the advantage of streaming video, I've been rewatching season one. I feel a little disloyal to those memories because I just didn't realize how bad some of those first shows were. I don't mean the effects, those hold up pretty well for their age, but the plots. Oh my.

So watching the show lead me back to Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher, who has had some small but fantastic roles in Leverage and The Guild and is now a pretty famous blogger. I discovered he was hired to do humorous recaps/reviews of the first season of ST:TNG from his unique position of having been there and now being a writer. Then the people who hired him ran out of money, but he was enjoying the project so he just kept going. What you get is "Memories of the Future". Wheaton reviews the first half of season one with joyous snark and true affection for this show he was a part of. I never had a problem with the Wesley character at my ripe old age of 17. I don't know if that would be true if I was watching the show for the first time now. Wheaton explores some of that in the book.

This is not a "tell all" book. Each chapter corresponds with one episode. Starting with Encounter at Farpoint and going through Datalore. He starts with an in-depth review of the episode, a quote, a memorable techno babble selection, a behind the scenes memory, and the bottom line. Wheaton has a highly personable style that makes you feel you're just sitting around having a conversation. The language, while hysterical, is also explicit. Definitely not suitable for work. That said I was never offended. Mostly I was laughing too hard. Judge for yourself.

From The Last Outpost ~ "There are a few power surges, and the Ferengi ship fires at the Enterprise! Luckily, the shields hold, and the blasts bounce off harmlessly. Everyone wants to return fire, except Picard, who gets cranky and says the Enterprise should just chill out for a moment."

From Code of Honor when Security Chief Tasha Yar is kidnapped ~ "Picard sends the ship to red alert and goes back to the bridge, where he tries to contact Lutan, who is totally ignoring him. That shit don't fly with Picard, so he shoots a whole bunch of photon torpedoes at the planet to shock and awe the Ligonians. Lutan must be in the parking garage or something, because he still doesn't answer his cell."

And in the midst of Tasha still being kidnapped Dr. Crusher comes and asks the captain if Wesley can come hang out on the bridge ~ " 'Picard says, "Are you out of your fucking mind? My chief of security got kidnapped and taken down to the planet and we haven't heard from her in over a day, you idiot! Of all the times in the world to drag your little wunderkind up here, you picked now? What are you smoking, and why didn't you bring me any? Get out of here, and take Mary Sue with you!' Nah I'm just kidding again Picard invites Wesley to sit at ops. Next to Geordi. In the middle of a major crisis."

For any ST:TNG fan this book is so much fun. It doesn't take long to read and you don't have to pay lots of attention to follow along. Plus at $4.99 on Kindle, it's a steal. I can't WAIT for volume 2.

"One For the Money" ~ Janet Evanovich

I am a HUGH Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum fan. She is one of my favorite authors. When I say HUGE fan, I mean HUGE. I have advanced reading copies, hardcover first editions, a few foreign editions, and paperbacks for actual reading and loaning about. Some are autographed and some aren't. When I used to sell books for a living, she was a top recommendation. With the exception of my brother, my whole family reads this series. Why, you ask? Because she makes me laugh...out loud and snort, and giggle, sometimes in inappropriately public places. When I got to the cliffhanger at the end of 'High Five" I actually screamed "NO!!!" and threw the book across the room because I would have to wait a year for book six.

After we went to see the movie on Sunday I needed to reread "One For the Money". Mostly because my sister and I couldn't agree and/or remember if some things in the movie had been in the book. After finishing it I remembered why I used to tell people to start with book two. Book one is dark. Darker than the movie, and much more serious than any other book in the series. It also has the most well constructed mystery of the series. I don't read the series for the mysteries. Honestly, I don't usually even remember what they are after I'm done. I read it for the characters. For Stephanie, Ranger, Morelli, Lula and Grandma and the craziness the author dreams up for them. And for the smouldering sexual tension between Stephanie and Morelli and Stephanie and Ranger depending which guy your for. They both work for me. But back to the book, Benito Ramirez is a seriously scary villian. Stephanie also has a desperation, a helplessness and a weight that you that you don't see in later books. This bounty is the difference between surviving and not. You understand why she is sees this as her only option. The other characters, especially Lula face true jeporady as a result of Stephanie's actions. I like the book and the series. Is it great literature? No. A memorable mystery? No. Lots of fun? Damn skippy it is.
(Originally posted 02/02/2012)

"Shakespeare Wrote For Money" ~ Nick Hornby

I love Nick Hornby. I truly like the way he writes. "Shakespeare Wrote For Money" is the third volume of "Books I've Been Reading" columns that he wrote for the Believer magazine. Each chapter starts with a list of the books he bought and a list of the books he actually read. As he puts it "Reading begets reading." and this is never more true than when he explains how his reading started out in one place and ended up in another. And he never takes himself too seriously, especially when he is talking about about the magazine's editors.

"The Polysyllabic Spree, the three hundred and sixty-five beautiful, vacant, scary young men and women who edit this magazine, have never really approved of my reading for fun, so after several warnings I was taken by force to the holding cells in the basement of their headquarters in the Appalachian Mountains and force fed proper literature. It's a horrific place as you can imagine."

I also love that his September 2006 column listed his books read as "none". A little something called the World Cup took over that month. Reading his justifications for not reading a thing for a column about books is some of the funniest stuff I've ever read.

The recommendations are varied from sports to poetry, literary essays to young adult, fiction to non-fiction, there is even a blank-verse novel about werewolves. That last surprised him as much as anyone and don't look at me I had to go goggle "blank verse". But it's seldom about the actual books for me. There are probably only a handful I'd check out further. It's all about Nick Hornby. This book is like a phone call from a good friend. You know, the one who makes you laugh because they can and will say anything.
(Originally posted 01/31/2012)

"Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the new Girlie-Girl Culture" ~ Peggy Orenstein

I couldn't wait to read this book. I'm a girl, lots of my friends are girls and an increasing number of them have daughters. I also have the privilage of being an aunt to two wonderful nieces ages 6 & 7. I never thought much about the "princess" culture or the "pink, sparkle, shine" culture. For me it's fun. I get to sprinkle glitter, play with Barbies and pretend to be a fairy. Then I go back to the less fun parts of my life work, laundry, etc. I want my nieces to feel special, that they deserve to be treated well and that all options are open to them. What's the harm?

That's the question Orenstein, journalist and mother of a young daughter, examines in this book. "What's the harm?" What is being directed, marketed, and pushed on girls on a daily basis? The author does research, finds some interesting studies, talks to the people she knows and other moms. As she puts it, "Apparently, I had tapped into something larger than a few dime-store tiaras. Princesses are just a phase, after all. It's not as though girls are still swanning about in their Sleeping Beauty gowns when they leave for college (at least most are not). But they (Princesses) did mark my daughter's first foray into the mainstream culture, the first time the influences on her extended beyond the family. And what was the first thing that culture told her about becoming a girl? Not that she was competent, strong, creative or smart, but that every little girl wants - or should want - to be the Fairest of Them All."

In the end she has just as many questions, if not more, than when she started. That freaked me out. Because anyone who know me knows I want to do it right. Give me a clearly defined set of rules and expectations and I'm good to go. The pressure aimed at girls about how to be a girl is enormous. It took me about a week after finishing the book to calm down and for reason to return. Orenstein looks at this culture from preschool up to middle and junior high school. In the chapter "Pinked!" she looks at when the color pink overwhelmed any and all products related to girls. "Sparkle, Sweetie!" looks at body image and sexualization, including the world of toddler beauty pagents. "Wholesome to Whoresome: The Other Disney Princesses" tries to make sense of the Mileys, Lindsays, and Britneys. How outgrowing thier "innocent" branding is confusing for for them and their fans. Finally, in "Just Between You, Me, and my 622 BFFs" tries to navigate the internet and social media. Things that weren't even an option when I was a teenager, like taking a picture of myself in my bra with my phone and sending it a boy. Not that I couldn't have done this but it would have taken a whole lot more work and it wasn't forwardable to his address book at the press of a few buttons.

Once I resurfaced, I realized, as the author did, that sometimes a princess is just a princess even if the world seems over run with them. That you pick your battles and chose your "teachable moments" and do the best you can. That there is a fine line between deserving to be treated well and being entitled to what ever you want. For me, I think, it comes down to awareness. Maybe looking a little deeper, listening a little harder. And if you are lucky, you get to hear Kitty tell Snowy that the dinosaur needs to put on his sunscreen before he jumps in the lake while playing with the 4 year old.
(Originally posted 01/24/2012)

"Naked Heat" ~ Richard Castle

Let me start by saying I mostly liked this book. I know, faint praise. I love the Castle tv show and would gladly marry/run away/ shack up with Nathan Fillion in a heartbeat. I've loved him since Firefly. But (and yes, I know you aren't supposed to start a sentence with "but") I can't get into the Castle books. I thought my problem with the first one was that I listened to it on audio and couldn't tell the main characters voices apart. Which is bad when one is male and the other is female. "Naked Heat" I read on my Kindle. I thought the writting was thin, the plot ok, and the inside jokes bugged me. My sister says the jokes are supposed to be funny and sometimes they are. Mostly though I don't like the Nikki Heat or Jameson Rook characters. Or probably I should say I don't like them as well as Beckett and Castle. I see Heat and Rook more like pale echoes of instead of inspired by. And my time is valuable so I'd rather spend it with the originals instead of the imitations.That said. I've read worse. It had it's moments and the last third wrapped it up nicely. This would be a great vacation book or airport book. It doesn't take alot of thought and you don't mind if you leave it behind after reading. I'm glad I checked it out of the library. I also don't mean to pick on the author, because I know it had to be a tightly controlled process. here are your characters, your story, but don't stray to far or do anything drastic because it still needs to fit within the Castle world. I haven't decided if I'm reading the next one yet or not. We'll see.
(Originally posted 01/19/2012)

"Case of the Missing Books" ~ Ian Sansome

This book wasn't in the calendar, the third one in the series was. But let's be honest, anyone who knows me, knows there is no way I'm jumping into the middle of a series. So I had to start with number one and it has it's moments.

Israel Armstrong is an English, Jewish, vegetarian librarian who has been hired to run the Tundrum and District library in Northern Ireland. When he gets there the library has been closed and they want him to run the mobile library. He reluctantly agrees, because he's broke with no other options, not even enough money to get back home. Thus begins this poor sod's fish out water experiences. Then as he prepares to start this new career he discovers that the library books are missing, all 15,000 of them.

You do feel for him even if he isn't a particularly likable main character. He doesn't understand the lingo (neither do you as the reader sometimes.), he's living in a converted chicken coop and his girlfriend doesn't seem to miss him much. The locals aren't much help. They don't understand why he wants a map. They all know where they live and are more than willing to give him directions that tend to take him thru "Ballygullable" until he catches on. Get it Bally - "gullable".The cast of supporting characters are much more fun than Israel. Especially Ted local cab owner and former mobile library bus driver. Plus his boss Linda Wei, who is never with some sort of food and won't take no for an answer. The search for the missing books is slow to get going but does get more enjoyable as Israel tries out different literary detective styles (in his mind, if no where else). I enjoyed the resolution and it left me smiling. The running bit about the map had me laughing and I liked it enough to try the next in the series.
(Originally posted 01/10/2012)

"The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and my Family" ~ Dan Savage

Fair warning, this book is about gay marriage. If that is a topic you object too, don't say you weren't warned and provided the option to stop reading this review.


As the book jacket says, "Dan Savage’s mother wants him to get married. His boyfriend, Terry, says “no thanks” because he doesn’t want to act like a straight person. Their six-year-old son DJ says his two dads aren’t “allowed” to get married, but that he’d like to come to the reception and eat cake. Throw into the mix Dan’s straight siblings, whose varied choices form a microcosm of how Americans are approaching marriage these days, and you get a rollicking family memoir that will have everyone—gay or straight, right or left, single or married—howling with laughter and rethinking their notions of marriage and all it entails." I loved this book. It was interesting, funny, thought provoking without being preachy, and timely. I found myself telling people about it and reading portions of it to them. In 2004, Dan Savage is a sex advice columnist who has been with his partner for 10 years and the two are adoptive parents to a 6 year old boy named DJ. Two things happened that year. The gay marriage debate exploded when Massacusetts became the first state to issue same sex marriage licenses and Mr. Savage's own relationship was turning 10 years old and they wanted to throw a party to mark the occasion.

This book is more a memoir that happens to include a "social commentary", but that's because he can't escape the "social commentary". I admit it's a topic that I haven't had much reason to examine, except to believe that all American citizens should have access to the same benefits. Mr. Savage takes on most of the traditional arguments against gay marriage and refutes them in a way that is both personal and backed with well researched studies, cultural, and historical examples. I particularly like the example at the end of chapter 8.

But it's the memoir part that makes you laugh out loud. Mr. Savage is a witty, neurotic, outspoken. big city boy worrier. The book starts with Dan, Terry and DJ on a cross country trip from Washington State to Michigan to spend a two week vacation with Dan's family. Dan agrees to drive 1,500 miles from the "artsy-fartsy island where we live...to an artsy-fartsy resort town on Lake Michigan" and as he puts it,"...It was a strategic, insincere agreement. Two weeks before we were supposed to leave, I played my trump card: Driving to Michigan and back would mean driving through-not to mention sleeping, eating, and going to the bathroom in-some of the least welcoming places for gays and lesbians in the country: the reddest of the dreaded Red States. 'Gay couples driving across Montana or South Dakota aren't on a road trip, Terry,' I said. "They are on a suicide mission."

It's sections like this or the bit about the dog, or when they visit the wedding expo, or trying to book the location for their party that make this book stick with me. The author is a sex advice columnist and the language is reflective of this and no topic is off limits. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. I also didn't realize until after finishing the book that Dan and Terry were the ones who had started the "It gets better" project.
(Originally posted 01/08/2012)

"Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" ~ Stieg Larsson

I reread this after seeing the movie. I read it the first time on Mom's suggestion. She told me "It's slow getting started, but once it gets going it's pretty good." and she was right. For those out there who aren't familiar with the story, disgraced Swedish reporter Mikal Blomqvist is hired to find out what happend to industrailist Henrik Vanger's great-neice Harriet Vanger 30 years ago. The other story going on is Lisbeth Slander, the girl from the title. She's a 24 yr old antisocial, but extremelly skilled with computers, ward of the state. She introduced when Vanger hires her to do a background check on Blomqvist.
Mom was right, it takes a while to get going, and at 644 pages it's up there in length, but you want to know how it turns out. Larrson gives you so much detail that you almost believe you are in Sweden. This works both for and against him. You also spend alot of time keeping the Vanger family tree straight as they form the basis of the suspect pool in Henrik's mind. I also like that except for one convinient coincidence, I bought how the mysetry was solved. Lisbeth Salander is an amazingly different heroine. In no way does she fit the mold of any mystery/thriller leading character I've ever read. Much of her story is explained internally with a logic that makes sense to her. Larsson did a good job of explaining to me why she does what she does. It may be a completely alien reaction from my own, but I do understand. Expecially during some violent passages.
I liked this book. Enough that I read the next two, watched all three Swedish films and saw the American version. The story is good, really good. I needed to know what happens next. It scared me in parts, horrified me in others, and (once it got going) kept me completely engaged. It is not for the faint of heart, either in subject matter or length. The swedish title was "Men Who Hate Women".
(originally posted 12/31/2011)

"Yes, My Darling Daughter" Margret Leroy

This book was recommended as a gothic story in the vein of "Rebecca", "Woman in White", and "Jane Eyre". The main character is Grace a young, single mother of 4 yr old Sylvie. Sylvie has nightmares, a horrible phobia of water and a growing conviction that she remembers a place she's never been. Barely getting by Grace seeks help form a psychology professor with some unusual ideas about what's wrong with Sylvie.
So I'm thinking atmospheric, secrets, spooky happenings, possible past lives, maybe even GHOSTS (which would be cool!!). Well I got a few of those things. Mostly I got bored. The "lyrical and suspensful writing" did not resonate with me at all. I spent a good portion of the book wanting to slap Grace who's focus narrowed with radar precision the second a male character strolled through the story. Sylvie has the vocabulary and grammer of a much older child. I've known some 4 yr olds. None of them sounded like this. Finally, the story just takes FOREVER to get going. I know it's supposed to be a slow suspensful build, but it wasn't, it was just slow. It's almost half way through the book before the professor even shows up. The story had some strong potential, but never got past gloomy for me.

"Hurry Down Sunshine" Michael Greenberg

Every year I buy the Page-a-day Book Lover's calendar. Every year I swear I'm going to take advantage of the recommendations. And what happens...every year I look at each day, think "hmm, that looks good" or "No way" and do nothing. Every January I thow out the previous year's pages to make way for the new ones. So I've decided, this is the year, and yes I know it's not over yet, that I read those books. I have 30+ recommendations saved on my Amazon list and another stack in a drawer. Here's to some new adventures.

"Hurry Down Sunshine" by Michael Greenberg caught me with the first sentance and made me cry with the last. On July 5th, 1996 at age 15 Greenberg's daughter "was struck mad". She experiences a psycotic break associated with a bipolar disorder. I found this book honest, sad, hard, and unflinching. The author never glosses over the truth or hides from the reality of the situation. The book is split into three parts. The events leading up to Sally being hospitalized, Sally's hospitalization, and Sally's return home. What, how, why are all questions he asks as he deals with this "new reality". He wonders if he should have seen something, been a better parent, is it his fault as he struggles to understand. Greenberg is also honest enough not to gloss up a "happy ending"This was a quick read for me. Partly because I didn't want to put it down and at 234 pages it wasn't very long. I liked this book. Due to the subject matter I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but it made me think and I was still thinking about it after I was finished.
(originally posted 12/26/2011)