Reading on the Bright Side

Dead In The Family

2010-05-22T10:22:00.000-04:00

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Usually I jump right into a Sookie Stackhouse book and I don't stop until I reach the end. I'm completely satisfied and can't wait to crack open the next one. Sadly, I didn't feel that way with this one. For one thing the way the book began with the very short, choppy chapters I couldn't get into the flow until around page 92 or so. Once I hit page 100 I was off and running. The build up of tension went on throughout the book as it always does but the resolution felt too quick and left me feeling a bit disappointed.

I enjoyed the growth we saw in Jason's character and I hope that remains. Sookie's internal examination of her own character and how cold she's grown towards certain things was very well done. With so many different characters it's impossible to give everyone a lot of time on the page but there's never enough Sam to suit me. I think he's probably my favorite character in the series outside Sookie herself. Here's hoping the next book is a bit more enjoyable for me.

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2009-12-14T12:16:00.003-05:00

I apologize for taking so long to post this review! I managed to miss the fact that though I reviewed it on Good Reads I never got around to it over here.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott is told from the point of a 15 year old girl who was abducted and abused since she was ten years old. Her captor, Ray, has molded her into his twisted version of the perfect girl. When the book begins all she's waiting for is the day she gets too old to fill Ray's fantasy so he'll kill her. That desperation remains throughout the book though we do get to see the barest hint of hope towards the end. The book's ending is not what you expect to see but perhaps the only ending that matches the tone of the book.

Goodness this was a hard read. Not the language, but the content. Like I said when I started the book, this wasn't the story I expected to read. It is powerful, it is chilling, and honestly? It's a bit harsh for my tastes when it comes to YA. I think it's an excellently crafted book, but when I was a teen I would not have gotten any enjoyment out of this story. I can't see myself recommending this to anyone under the age of 18.

Reading Update

2009-09-11T09:35:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted a review in over a month. For that I apologize. I have been reading, but the books have been pretty fluffy. I will get reviews up for two "cozy" mysteries I read in August soon. Currently I'm reading a YA novel that is a very hard read. When I saw the title "Living Dead Girl" I was sure it would be some type of light humor about a teen goth - that's what I get for not reading the book jacket. This is YA Realistic Fiction - gritty and emotional without being sappy in any way shape or form. I'll post a full review when I finish it. But as I usually only get time to read during my lunch break I've drug my heels on this one. Every page makes me lose my appetite so it's usually left sitting on my desk while I find a writer's magazine or a book on MS Vista to flip through instead.

But since I have to turn it back in to the library next week I'll finish it up and post my review by Thursday. Have a great weekend!

American Gods

2009-08-05T16:57:00.000-04:00

Two reviews in one day, I'm on a roll!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I started reading this the first time about four years ago and I never finished it. But, since it is a source of inspiration for Scion, the tabletop game I absolutely adore I decided to give it a second chance. Not the mention I happen to think Neil Gaiman is a brilliant author, so I figured my first time around with American Gods was just not the best time for the book.

I was right, because this time the story grabbed me and I really enjoyed it. Shadow is a character that is incredibly illusive. He doesn't give away much of what he feels or thinks and is, in general, a good guy that made some mistakes along the way. He more than makes up for them once Mr. Wednesday hires him. The story unfolds slowly and builds to an intriguing climax before it gives an ending that satisfied me.

What I think I enjoyed the most however was the game of trying to decide who all the characters represented. I'm pretty sure I got all of them, but of course there's no answer key to tell me if I'm right or wrong. Now I just have to find the novella Shadow is featured in as well, I'd like to know what happened to him.

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Bad Moon Rising

2009-08-05T16:44:00.001-04:00

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've been anticipating this book for ages now. See, I love the Dark-Hunters but the Were-Hunters really really intrigue me. I think Vane may be my favorite of all the characters in these books. But this book isn't about Vane, it's about his brother Fang and his star crossed love Aimee Peltier, the only daughter of Mama Lo and Papa Bear, the owners of Sanctuary. The Peltiers are a fantastic family full of great characters. Frankly I hope we get to see a book for Dev and Kyle as well sometime.

Fang is an interesting character but I didn't connect with him the way I expected to. Aimee is marvelous, you just can't help but like her and want to see her happy. Getting to see Savitar in action was great, and meeting the Hellchaser Thorn added a new character I want to know more about. Given this was a Were-Hunter novel instead of a Dark-Hunter novel it made sense that we saw very little of Acheron but I missed his presence anyway.

What I enjoyed in this book was Fang and Aimee's devotion to each other and their loyalty to their families. That worked really well for me and fit the characters as we've come to know them through other books. The one thing I didn't like was the lack of time line for the book. I found myself getting confused in some areas trying to determine which timeframe different portions of the book took place.

No matter what the Dark-Hunter series continues to entertain and inspire, I'm just disappointed that I have to wait a while for another book to come out. :)

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Graceling

2009-07-02T17:36:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I added a new review. Sorry about that!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. The main characters' exploration of their graces was fascinating. I enjoyed the romance in the story but I also liked the fact the romance didn't overshadow the plot of the story as well. The direction the romance took really surprised me simply because of the book's genre. In YA urban fantasy I'm not surprised by the exploration of a physical romance but in a more traditional fantasy it was a bit unexpected. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

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Graveyard Book

2009-05-16T15:46:00.001-04:00

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was good book. I know, simple sentence, but it's true. It was an enjoyable story, with a very engaging plot. I didn't learn anything by reading it other than a reaffirmation that Neil Gaiman is a wonderful storyteller than can keep me entertained for hours.

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Sweet Love

2009-04-14T09:21:00.002-04:00

Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I started reading Sarah Strohmeyer's books after discovering the Lipstick Chronicles she and several other sassy authors contribute to. In the time I actively read that blog Strohmeyer wrote about this book a lot and I was looking forward to reading it. Finally picked it up last week and I have to say I enjoyed it. The recipes discussed sound incredibly good, but that's just the proverbial icing on the cake. The real heart of the story is Julie's relationship with her mother and her childhood crush Michael.

Michael seems too good to be true and their relationship blossomed fairly quickly on the page. But Julie and her mother's relationship seemed incredibly real to me. The only thing that really disappointed me was the lack of exploration in the relationship between Julie and her father. There was so much resentment built up on Julie's side, I really would've liked to see her father's side of things or even for him to have a few more lines - something that would give me the chance to see if their relationship would be salvageable after the story was over.

Would I recommend this book? Sure! It's not just a light fluffy read, there's moments that inspire strong emotion, but it also brings a smile to your face or even makes the reader laugh out loud in a few places.

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Dream Hunter

2009-03-26T09:10:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading the Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon and I have to say I absolutely love it. I've become a huge fan of her work since stumbling into this series. Most of the series I read in order, but my first foray was Dream-Chaser, the second of the Dream-Hunter sub-series. It just worked out that my last book would be out of that sub-series as well.

Dream Hunter is about the renegade dream god Arikos. As one of the Oneroi, Arikos feels no emotion except what's reflected off the humans he observes in dreams. He's fascinated by one human in particular, Meagara "Geary" Kafeiri. Arikos comes to Earth with the intention of spending just a little bit of time with her and their story is a fascinating adventure. Arik as a character took a bit of time to warm up to but I liked Geary immediately. This book also contains readers' first introduction to Tory Kafeiri who we later see in the book Acheron.

It's enjoyable but the hero in this doesn't immediately connect with me in particular. It's an interesting read and even though this wasn't my favorite book in the Dark-Hunter series, I wouldn't miss it.

Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress

2009-01-12T14:11:00.004-05:00

I'm excited to read Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress by Shelly Mazzanoble. I first came across this book last year and immediately ordered a copy for my library. Since we put it on the shelf it's regularly checked out and that confirms something I already knew. Girl Gamers are a mystery and people want to know more.

The author has a great conversational style, she makes it easy to understand the basic concepts of Dungeons & Dragons and table top games in general. I laughed several times while reading this book. It made me think back to my early experiences with D&D and wish I could get a game started up once more. Considering it's been a few years since I played D&D that's a big boost in the books favor. There were only two things I didn't care for with this book.

Number 1: The only accent color is a bright, almost obnoxious pink.
Number 2: Ms. Mazzanoble does a great job at debunking the gamer stereotype, but she plays up and comes across as delighting in the girl stereotype that women think of nothing more than shopping, hair, beauty, ect. As a female gamer that bugged me a bit, but this book is geared more towards women who are drug into the game by their significant others so maybe that stereotype fits the "target audience" better.

Overall it's a great book, one that is a fun read whether you're just getting into D&D and table-top gaming in general, or you're a veteran gamer and just want a bit of nostalgia.

Yule: Celebration of Light & Warmth

2009-01-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

This is a short review because I already knew this was a good book. Yule: The Celebration of Light & Warmth is part of Llewellyn publishers Sabbats and Esabats product line. I've read other books in out of this line and enjoyed them. Yule provides some of the history of the holiday, the similarities between Yule and Christmas, and some great recipes. The rituals are laid out nicely with explantions for many - though not every step.

It's easy to read and entertaining. A great way to help get into the seasonal spirit!

This is the last review for the book-a-month challenge - even though some of the reviews were posted late (like this one) I still managed to finish. It's been enjoyable trying to choose books that fit the monthly themes.

Acheron

2008-12-19T11:22:00.002-05:00

St. Martin’s Press did an excellent job marketing Sherrilyn Kenyon’s book Acheron. Their marketing campaign for “The Year of Acheron” caught my attention and I was curious. So I signed up for the updates. I read the short story “Fear the Dark” and was completely lost. A friend of mine had the first four books in the Dark-Hunter series and promised to mail them to me since we didn’t have them at the library. But I was impatient to start reading so I tackled Dream Chaser. Acheron intrigued me in that book so I snatched up his book as soon as I saw it on the New Releases shelf at work.

I found the first part to be very well written and engaging. Rissa was a sweet character, one I liked immediately. I was fascinated by Acheron’s interactions with Artemis, especially the early ones when he had nothing but hope for his future with her. Seeing his friendship with Savitar, the birth of the Dark-Hunters...I really came into the series at the wrong place, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.

When the timeframe shifted to today the story really picked up speed. I loved meeting the various characters like Talon and Sunshine – characters that became favorites when I finally read their story. Soteria is a fun heroine. Like all of Kenyon’s female leads, she isn’t perfect and that makes her very likeable. She’s still a strong character but without that perfection you can easily identify with her.

Acheron is the end of the first part of the Dark-Hunter series according to the author. It’s an interesting read, thoroughly engaging, longtime fans get to see familiar characters once more and each one is a welcome treat. For me, it’s been fun to read from the beginning of the series and meet the characters I first glimpsed in Acheron’s book.

Something I found interesting about the character of Acheron is how due to his experiences in his human life he never expects anything from people. Nothing good at least. So when the people he’s given so much to come back to help him he’s stunned. Humbled in a way. It was a lovely scene, one I look forward to going back and rereading soon. It worked out nicely that I got to read this book in November when the Book-A-Month challenge theme was Giving. Acheron gives of himself everyday and he’s rewarded for it in the most wondrous ways. I couldn’t help but enjoy that.

If you’re a fan of vampires, mythology, or paranormal romance I think you’d enjoy the Dark-Hunter series, especially this book. It can be read on its own, but it is much more satisfying as part of the overall series.

Dream Chaser

2008-11-05T12:05:00.007-05:00

I've heard about the Dark-Hunter series for a while now, but dispite my enjoyment of paranormal romance, I've never picked up one of the books. A few weeks ago I needed something to read while on my lunch break and came across Dream Chaser. This was a great read! I was a bit lost on the Dark-Hunters and exactly what the mythos for the series was since this book is in the middle of the series, but it was still enjoyable. The heroine was likeable and the supporting characters interesting. The hero was compelling. His quest for vengence and his determination to remain solitary both made complete sense and I really enjoyed the way the heroine got through his walls and made him warm up while still retaining his cold demeanor. The interaction between the hero and the supporting character, a mouthy ghost permenantly stuck in 1988 was excellent. It was a lot of fun reading this and getting more information about the Dream-Hunters.

As my first foray into the series it hooked me enough to want more. I was confused because I didn't know all the back story, but that confusion did not detract from the main story at all.

Up next, Acheron!

Haunted Halls

2008-11-05T11:50:00.004-05:00

October’s Book-A-Month theme was Hauntings. Given the type of books I go for I knew I would be all over this theme and have plenty to work with so I decided to try a Non-Fiction book on hauntings. Something I’ve always been fascinated by are the ghost stories you find on college campuses so when I found the book Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses, I expected some great ghost stories and a bit of information on the history of the stories.

Sadly that’s not what I got. What I got was a Sociological dissertation on the way ghost stories are used to deliver moral lessons in the American heartland. I was disappointed by the clinical tone of the book and the lack of representation for the Southern States. Colleges I know have a reputation for ghostly encounters weren’t mentioned at all. There are Southern universities and colleges mentioned, but very few. I did learn some interesting things about the ghosts from New England and the Northern Mid-West, but on the whole, I was bored by the book. Luckily, this wasn’t the only book I read during the month of October. More coming on my newest interest, the Dark-Hunter series.

Ink Exchange

2008-09-15T14:30:00.006-04:00

Ink Exchange picks up a few months after Wicked Lovely. The new peace between the Summer and Winter Courts has brought a stability to faerie society that doesn’t sit too well with the Dark court. Dark Fae thrive on violence and emotion but it’s no longer easy to feed off their fellow Fae. The Ink Exchange is the solution Irial, the king of the Dark Court uses to save his subjects from death. It isn’t perfect and he’s aware of that, but the only other choice is all out war with the three other faerie courts. The only thing is he didn’t expect to actually care for the human that receives his mark. Nor did he expect how much she would change under his influence.

Melissa Marr pulls the reader into an incredible tale of politics, fantasy, friendship and even a bit of romance. The characters get additional depth that really rounds them out and shows their flaws as well as their strengths. YA Urban Fantasy at it’s best.

Wicked Lovely

2008-08-26T09:09:00.004-04:00

In the city of Huntsdale, Aislinn prefers the inner city, the land of iron and steel that keeps her interactions with the Faeries to a minimum. Aislinn possesses the gift – or perhaps the curse to see the Fae. Her grandmother has brought her up to follow three rules. Rule #1 – Don’t attract the attention of the Fae, Rule #2 – Don’t speak to invisible faeries, and Rule #3 – Don’t stare at invisible faeries. Without doing anything at all however Aislinn’s broken Rule #1. Not only did she attract their attention, she attracted the attention of the Summer King, Keenan.

Keenan searches for his Summer Queen, a mortal woman destined to become Fae and rule at his side. Due to the machinations of his mother, the Winter Queen this is a daunting task that puts each young woman he approaches at risk. In order to rule by his side the women must take up the Winter Queen’s staff. If she is not the one destined to be queen she becomes the Winter Girl. Her touch is cold, her world is covered in frost. Aislinn doesn’t want anything to do with the Fae, but once Keenan sets his sights on her there’s nothing she can do to lose their attention.

I wasn’t sure I would like this book – but I loved it. Melissa Marr has an engaging writing style, one that’s very easy to read. No character is a caricature or a stereotype. You immediately get a sense of Aislinn’s personality as well as Keenan’s. There are surprises throughout the book, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect by the end. It was a pleasant surprise and a well thought out world. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Ink Exchange.

2008-08-04T10:53:00.001-04:00

Like many other Twilight fans I was at the bookstore at Friday night in order to pick up my copy of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight saga, as soon as it was available. I didn’t read it as fast as the other books but I’m still left stunned by the story. Going into this book I was looking for three things…ok, four. #1 – Bella and Edward get married. #2 – Bella is changed into a vampire. #3 – The Volturi confront the Cullens over Bella’s change. And #4 – Jacob gets a happy ending. I thought if I got all those things, or even 3 of the 4 I would be happy.

I’m not happy. Parts of the book at very good – there’s some great character moments for the Wolves. Some very sweet parts between Bella and Edward. Bella’s joy at certain happenings in the book is wonderful. But over all – the book is not the story I wanted to see. It doesn’t fit the rest of the series. It doesn’t fit Stephenie Meyer’s world as she’s presented it before this.

Before Breaking Dawn, the message that love requires sacrifice, compromise, and a lot of work for a wonderful emotional reward came through loud and clear. In Breaking Dawn that message is chucked right out the window. It’s hard to write a review of this book without spoilers – but I’m trying my best. The message of the series is lost in this book because of the central plot point that comes so far out of left field my brain couldn’t wrap around it even after a few hours of sleep. I will have to reread this book in order to full absorb the story, but upon my first reading I can not say I was truly satisfied with the ending. It has some very good scenes and some excellent character moments but as the conclusion of Bella & Edward’s story it doesn’t stand up to my expectations.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2008-08-04T10:41:00.002-04:00

I started out the month of July with a goal to read 1984 for the Book-A-Month challenge. I managed to get through the first chapter then put it down. The whole concept of Big Brother was a bit much for me. I will finish the book but not for the challenge. Instead I decided to indulge in a book about Alien Invasion and how the humans of Earth deal with it. Independence was the theme for July so I thought Stephenie Meyer’s The Host fit the bill.

The Host is an interesting story that’s an interesting take on the classic Body Snatchers theme. In the Host parasitic aliens have infiltrated Earth civilization and quietly taken over. The aliens are known as Souls – luminous jellyfish sort of looking creatures that are surgically implanted in the host body through a small incision at the base of the neck. The Soul then wraps around the brainstem and its tentacles attach to various parts of the brain and spinal column. When a Soul wakes up from this procedure they are in complete control of the host body – the host mind is completely silent and repressed so the Soul is in sole control of her host body. Except in Wanderer’s case, her host is still present and refuses to completely give up on her body. Their tale is fascinating and provides the few free humans left in the world some hope that the extinction of the human race as free-willed beings is not as certain as they once thought.

This book certainly qualifies as Science Fiction, but there’s enough realism that it’s very easy to believe it and get lost in the story. I enjoyed the characters, they felt very real to me and it was interesting reading the story from the point of view of a Soul while still getting the Human point of view through Melanie, the ever present host personality. Meyer left the ending open enough to support a sequel but it isn’t a requirement. The story is whole on its own, but if a sequel does come out I’ll be interested in reading it.

The Well Read Witch

2008-07-07T10:18:00.004-04:00

Happy belated Independence Day, America!

I’m a few days late with my Book-A-Month challenge entry for June. This month’s theme was knowledge – what book doesn’t provide you with some kind of knowledge either by giving facts like in non-fiction or through insight into the human condition like fiction? I read four novels this past month, though three of these were repeats and then one non-fiction book. I don’t read much non-fiction, at least not all the way through. I find it just doesn’t hold my attention. However, in June I picked up The Well Read Witch, a bibliography of essential books for pagans in general.

The conversational style made this an easy read. The author Carl McColman shares his choices for the most important books in the field of pagan spirituality as well as gives a very short overview of what paganism is in general. His list flows from suggestions for beginners and the curious to advanced topics and community involvement. McColman advises anyone interested in pagan spirituality, specifically the Wiccan religion to find a mentor, someone who can show and instruct you in the rituals and traditions of your path; but he’s quick to point out that books are excellent places to start your journey and provide insight along the way. The Well Read Witch is a good book, easy to follow, easy to skip around and skim the titles & annotations, and an excellent guide to building up a pagan book collection either for personal use or for libraries.

July's theme for the Book-A-Month Challenge is Independence. I'm finally going to tackle George Orwell's 1984 and hopefully Lois Lowery's The Giver as well. Reviews will be up once I'm finished with the books!

Twilight Saga

2008-06-11T10:16:00.006-04:00

I am horribly horribly behind when it comes to jumping on this particular bandwagon. Back in the fall I read about the biggest YA publishing Phenomenon since Harry Potter, Twilight. I checked out the book and due to time constraints I didn’t give it a chance. I read the first half of the first chapter then returned the book and figured it just wasn’t for me. Well since then I’ve worked with the kids here at the library more and more. Many of them have raved about Twilight and how good a book it was, so I decided to give it another try. I put in a request for the book and now, three months later, I got it.

And devoured it.

What I didn’t get into the first time around utterly grabbed me the second time. I was entranced by Edward and Bella’s story, followed the comparisons author Stephenie Meyer makes with Romeo & Juliet and Wuthering Heights. I was charmed by the supporting characters like Alice & Emmet, fell for Jacob and wanted to soothe his pain.

Yeah I didn’t read just Twilight but its sequels New Moon & Eclipse as well. I’ve done almost nothing this past weekend except read these books. I was hooked. I enjoyed watching Bella and Edward grow as characters. I really enjoyed that as Bella was not a character I could get into originally. She came across in that first chapter as a fairly flat character, not much personality and though responsible and mature in many ways she wasn’t special for me. Bella had to grow on me. Edward’s initial reaction to her is what got me interested. What was there about this bland character that upset him so much? What else was there about her? I had to find out and because of that, I had to read. In reading I learned that while Bella didn’t know herself as well as she thought she did, she was an interesting character. Always taking care of others, never taking time for herself – she never really learned who she was. It took all three books but by the end, she did know herself – not as well as she will by the end of the fourth book, but the character definitely grew somewhat.

Edward is a fantastic character – one that isn’t explored well enough for me because I always wanted to know what was going on in his mind, but the story is told from Bella’s point of view, we can’t know Edward’s mind. Still, seen through Bella’s eyes he is larger than life and utterly amazing. She does recognize some of his flaws, but they don’t detract from what she sees as his perfection. I have to admit, as much as I’m looking forward to the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, I’m anticipating Midnight Sun, Edward’s version of Twilight even more.

So yes, read this series, give Bella & Edward’s story a chance and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Just stay through the first chapter and you could very well be hooked.

Only 1 in May?!

2008-06-02T12:13:00.007-04:00

I'm kind of ashamed. I only finished one book in May. I know, for many people this is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about, but I'm a bit prideful about how quickly I can read books. May was a busy month with several different things going on both at work and in my personal life (vacations...you gotta love them). I started 2 different books and I'm still reading both of them, but then I got the call that the new Sookie Stackhouse book was on hold at the library for me.

All other books were forgotten until I finished that one.

From Dead to Worse is the eighth book in the Southern Vampire series and it is an enjoyable romp, but a bit light on mystery (was solved by about page 150 if I remember correctly) which is surprising since Charlaine Harris is fantastic at writing thought out enjoyable and not too easy to guess mysteries. At least I'm not too good at solving the mystery before Sookie. Even still, this was a fun book. Ms. Harris gave us some great moments between characters and made me laugh out loud a few times too. I enjoyed seeing Sookie deal with the consequences of various actions, one thing she doesn't shy away from even if she wants to is taking responsibility for what she's done. I also really liked the fact that she made it clear exactly what she wanted out of a relationship.

Sookie had a lot of character development, in fact many of the characters did and I was glad to see it. The banter between Sookie and Eric was fun, but I've always had a soft spot for that character since the first book in the series I read was Dead to the World. The action in the book was almost over the top - at this point Sookie is involved in more fights and conflicts than one woman ought to be. But then when you consider that Sookie is also a telepath involved with both vampire & werewolf/shifter communities I think it's easy to see why she's caught in the middle so often.

From Dead to Worse is a great Summer read. Light enough to breeze through, but engaging enough that you don't want to put it down until you're done.

Now that June is here I'm still switching back and forth between the other two books I started in May - reviews will come once I've finished them. And I'm set to check out two YA books - the very popular Twilight & a new one called Beastly. On top of that I've got Don't Know Much About U.S. History for the Book-A-Month challenge. A challenge I totally failed in May since the theme was Mothers and I didn't read a book devoted to moms. Lots to read and only a little time. I'd best get to it.

3 Books in April

2008-05-07T11:17:00.009-04:00

In April I made an attempt to read True Beauty by the plus-size model Emme. The book came out in the 90s so it could be considered outdated, but the conversational style was good. I didn't finish the book, something I'm doing all too often lately. Even my tried and true - go to books aren't really holding my attention these days. True Beauty was no different. I got about half way through it and still didn't feel like I'd learned anything new. The message basically said you can't lose weight and get healthy until you're comfortable with yourself and love the skin you're in no matter what size you are.

I do believe you have to love yourself and be comfortable with yourself in order to be truly beautiful, but Emme didn't give me any real suggestions on how to go about coming to terms with your weight, your body, and realigning your body image to something more positive than negative. So that was a bit of a disappointment.

In addition to True Beauty, I also picked up Dark Possession & Dark Prince, both by Christine Feehan. I actually finished both of these novels and enjoyed them even though I read them out of order.

Dark Possession is the latest in Christine Feehan's Carpathian series. In this one Carpathian hunter Manolito sets his sites on MaryAnn, a therapist from Seattle that his sister in law hired to help a young woman in her family. During their rocky courtship Manolito struggles against his own dark nature as well as curiosities in MaryAnn's. She is a great heroine, one with flaws and personality quirks that make her much more three dimensional than many romance heroines. Erotic and suspenseful, I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good vampire novel with a twist.

It was because of the twist I tracked down Dark Prince, which is the first of the Carpathian books. Much of the book is devoted to setting up the Carpathian society, how the Carpathians differ from the vampires of legend, and the long term conflict between the Carpathians and the human vampire hunters that want to eradicate them. I didn't enjoy Dark Prince as much as Dark Possession, though it was a fun read. While Mikhail the leader of the Carpathians is an interesting character and his flaws are touched on and given enough screen time to make him into more than just a cardboard hero, I didn't get the same sense of Raven, the heroine. She was a bit flat to me - good and kind, virginal, filled with innocence despite the horrors she's witnessed while helping the police on different cases. A little too perfect for my tastes. I was much more interested in the scenes between Mikhail and the other Carpathians, their personalities were fascinating and I enjoyed the banter and report they shared. I've bought the second book in the series, Dark Desire, but haven't had the opportunity to read it yet. Looking forward to it though.

Friday Night Knitting Club

2008-03-19T11:44:00.005-04:00

For the March edition of the Book-A-Month Challenge I chose Friday Night Knitting Club. The March theme was craft and as we all know knitting is not only a handi-craft but an art, I thought this would be the perfect book. I went into it expecting to thoroughly enjoy it. After all it sounded like an interesting book about women's relationships & friendships brought together through a shared hobby. My kind of read.

Imagine my surprise when I found that it comes across as a lot of disjointed "woe is me" "he broke my heart" "i didn't follow my dream" passages that also throws out knitting terms without explaining what they are. There's a lot of talk about the love of knitting and how old-fashioned as it may be, it's still something special. I understand having a passion for a hobby and getting wrapped up in sharing that passion with others that you sometimes forget to explain things to the folks that are just learning. I have no idea what Casting On is even after seeing the term mentioned in the book more then ten times in the first few chapters. Other terms such as types of stitches, wools, and patterns were thrown into the story but never explained even though some of the characters were supposed to be beginners just like some readers. Some may feel that it wasn't necessary to explain the hobby which is only the plot device for bringing people together, but I have to disagree. When a hobby is used in this type of story I want to feel the passion for the hobby that the characters have and part of that is telling me exactly what their language means. Translating the terms into concepts I can understand.

The main character of Georgia starts off as a strong woman with a successful shop and a wonderful daughter, but she quickly becomes tiresome. She isolates herself from her customers and often comes across like she's a martyr to Single-Motherhood. She comes across to me as cynical, unable to trust anyone but her mentor Anita and after the first three chapters I found that I really didn't care about her any more. None of the characters truly really came alive for me, though Anita came close - yet there was something about her that was almost too saintly.

I got through the first 125 pages and put the book down, instead turning to other books that the Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. Due to moving I haven't finished that one, I was laughing and enjoying the read though I'm having a hard time identifying the narrator so far. Other books that pulled my attention were the classic graphic novel Infinity Gauntlet & Christine Feehan's Dark Possession. This is the first of Ms. Feehan's books I've read and so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it so I'll be hunting for more from her.

The April theme for the Book-A-Month Challenge is Beauty. Not sure what book I'm going to read for that one yet, though first of next month be looking for my review. Happy Reading!

The Queen's Fool

2008-03-03T14:33:00.007-05:00

Yes, I'm still on my Philippa Greggory kick.

For the February Book-A-Month challenge the theme was the heart, naturally given the month those so inclined turn towards romance. While Queen's Fool has a bit of romance in it just like The Other Boelyn Girl, romance takes a back seat to duty, intrigue, and the royal court.

The Queen's Fool tell the story of Mary Tudor's reign and Elizabeth's rise to power through the eyes of a young Jewish girl, Hannah, who has the gift of the Sight. After she's discovered by Lord Robert Dudley he begs her for a fool to King Edward at the end of his brief reign. Now in Dudley's service, Hannah is forced to make difficult choices, usually bending to Dudley's will as she becomes infatuated with him on sight. This doesn't make it easy for her to find her own happiness, but over time Hannah gains the trust of both Tudor Princesses and successfully navigates the minefield of political intrigue. Through it all there is the shadow of her Jewish heritage and the betrothal to a young medical student named Daniel. Like her is he also a Jew in hiding, a common bond between them though the length's Hannah's father went to in order to hide her made Hannah independent and less inclined to accept Daniel's orders the way the women in his own family do. This independence causes problems for the couple, but along the way Daniel is loyal to Hannah and she to him though they both have periods of doubt and time apart.

I particularly enjoyed the way Gregory weaves Hannah's private life through the threads of history and how intriguing she makes both Elizabeth and Mary. The ghosts of their mothers are very present in the story and you can see how each woman was effected by the treatment their mothers recieved throughout their lives. Queen's Fool was a great read and left me itching to get my hands on The Virgin's Lover which I'm almost finished with now. Another excellent book that I'll talk about next time.

The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-02-04T14:47:00.001-05:00

Friends have been after me to read The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory for years. As part of the Book-A-Month challenge I decided to take the opportunity to read this one. First let me say, while I’m very interested in history and know the basics of the War of the Roses and the Tudor line of England I never paid much attention to the individual wives and people associated with Henry the Eighth. Because of that all I really knew was Anne Boleyn married King Henry after he set aside Katherine of Aragon. I knew Henry created the Church of England because the Pope wouldn’t allow Henry to divorce Katherine. That’s all I knew. I never had a clue about Anne’s family. As such this book has been an eye opener as all good historical fiction should be.

The Other Boleyn Girl tells the tale of the court of Henry the Eighth and the rise of Anne Boleyn to Queen through the eyes of Mary, Anne’s younger sister. The sibling rivalry, intense family loyalty, and ambition are palpable through every interaction between the sisters. It is a fascinating look at life in the Tudor court and the life of a young woman growing from idealistic, naïve girl into a calculating, yet still loving woman who is almost too good to be true. Ms. Gregory does an excellent job of showing Mary’s faults, as well as her good points. She also makes Anne out to be the most manipulative and ambitious woman ever to walk the earth, and the Howard & Boleyn families to be incredibly cut throat in all dealings. While this isn’t the current Academic belief about Anne it makes an excellent story with Anne and Mary as foils for one and other.

The court intrigue and politics are fascinating, the dialogue easy to follow, all in all a thoroughly good book and an author I’ll be reading more from in the future.

Dime Store Magic

2008-01-11T13:36:00.002-05:00

The third book in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Other World series was fantastic. In Stolen, the narrator Paige Winterbourne came across as pushy and arrogant, in Dime Store Magic she comes into her own. The reader gets to see her as an idealist who wants to bring the North American Witches Coven into the 21st century as well as a young woman struggling against the loss of her mother and the added responsibility of taking care of Savannah, a 13 year old orphan.

When Savannah's biological father is told about her whereabouts he brings forth a paternity suit. The elders of the coven want Paige to give Savannah up because the child is too willful and lacks the strict morality of the coven. Since Paige's mother entrusted Savannah to her care, Paige is unwilling to abandon her. Instead she fights the paternity suit and deals with the reprecussions Savannah's father throws at her.

This is the first book in this series without Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf in existence, as a major character. While she does make a couple of brief cameos due to being friends with Paige, it is obvious from the first page that this book isn't about Elena and she isn't vital to the story. The series and the world it's set in gets a little bigger through this distinction and it makes you wonder who else might wind up as the main character. Could we see stories about Cassandra the vampire? Or Leah the half-demon? I rather doubt we'll see a book about Leah, she's a bit too much the villian in this one.

The pacing in this book is good and the characterizations work well. Paige, Savannah, and the new character Cortez are all fully fleshed out. I enjoyed the characters and even warmed up to Paige, a character I did not care for in the previous book Stolen. I was disturbed by the way the coven members turned their back on Paige and Savannah during the conflicts of this book, that showed a severe failing in the coven itself.

Kelly Armstrong has created a wonderful world that is just different enough from our own to make it recognizable and yet fantastic at the same time. Her characters are interesting with flaws and insecurities as well as great power at their fingertips. I highly recommend her books to any lovers of paranormal stories.

The Time Traveler's Wife

2008-01-11T13:21:00.003-05:00

I just started reading this book today and so far...not impressed. The Time Traveler's Wife has a good premise. It's the story of a relationship that spans across entire lifetimes. Henry, the time traveler, has no control over his condition. He blips out of the present day and jumps forwards or backwards in time without any assistance, including clothes. He has all sorts of good reasons for this which he explains to his wife Clare when he meets her six year old self. As Clare explains to Henry when he first meets her in 1991, she's known him almost all her life, though he didn't start traveling to meet her until later.

I've heard this described as "literature", "science fiction", and "romance", but so far I can't decide which genre it truly belongs in. So far I haven't been able to pick up a plot as this is a pretty non-linear story telling style with a great deal of paradox. When 24 year old Henry jumps back in time to the Field Museum in 196? (check the year) he knows what he's supposed to do because he remembers it. He will meet his younger self at the age of 5 as he experiences his first time jump. Another time he jumps to meet himself at age 9 when he teaches his younger self to pick pockets. Paradox. It goes back to the age old question of which came first. If Henry never went back in time he'd never learn how to pick pockets.

I have to apologize for publishing this post today, I thought it hadn't been published by mistake. It was actually intentional since it was and still is incomplete. I never finished this book which seems to surprise most people I've talked to about it. I just didn't like the book enough to finish it. Thus my review isn't as complete as some others I've written.

So let's just leave it as this particular book wasn't my cup of tea.

Stolen

2008-01-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

Just by looking through the titles found on this site it should be no surprise that I enjoy paranormal mysteries/romance novels. A couple of years ago I read the book Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. Was a good book with plenty of werewolves, suspense, family dynamics, engaging characters, oh and of course a bit of romance. I had a hard time warming up to the main character, Elena, at first but after the first three chapters or so I was hooked and by the time I was done I throughly enjoyed Elena's sarcastic sense of humor and was pleasently intrigued by her mate Clayton.

This month I picked up the second book in Armstrong's "Women of the Otherworld" series Stolen and enjoyed it even more than I enjoyed Bitten. In Stolen we meet up with Elena, Clayton and thier Pack Alpha Jeremy. Someone's kidnapping supernaturals and it's up to Elena and her allies to find out who it is and stop it. The story moves at a good pace and new characters are introduced that are a lot of fun, particularly Adam, a half-demon that's actually very sweet. Stolen also introduces readers to Paige Winterbourne, the young sometimes arrogant witch that will lead The Coven. Paige also happens to be the narrator of the third book in the series Dime Store Magic. That one's waiting for me at home.

Stolen is a good read if you enjoy supernatural stories the way I do. If you have an interest in Werewolves and pack dynamics you'll love it.

I have two books on my plate for this month, Dime Store Magic and The Time-Traveler's Wife, which I'm reading for the Book-A-Month Challenge. If I finish those two I'm going to check out The Other Boelyn Girl as I've been told it is absolutely fantastic. Look for those reviews in the coming weeks and keep on reading!

Long Lost Reviewer Returns

2007-12-12T09:45:00.001-05:00

It's almost five months since I posted my last review. Maybe longer and for that I apologize. First finishing the plans for my wedding and the subsequent party & honeymoon kept me away then once I returned Blogger and my computer/ISP decided not to be friends any longer. It's taken until today to get this issue worked out and huge thanks to the IT guys at work for helping me fix the problem.

I have several reviews in the works, first being a long delayed review of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows. From there I have Marley & Me, The Cinderella Pact, Many Bloody Returns, & The Golden Compass. There will be others, but first I have to finish The Golden Compass.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

2007-08-27T14:43:00.000-04:00

I started this book the night it came out and finished it the next day. Like many I raced through the book and I probably missed a few elements. But that's part of the fun when you get to go back and reread books. You get to discover some of the things you've missed.

Overall I think Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows is J. K. Rowling's best book since Prisoner of Azkaban. The story has a fast pace, the characters are mostly true to themselves and you can see real growth in them throughout the story. Harry's lost some of his wonder at the magical world and he's lost his faith in the wizard government, though I think it could be successfully argued he lost that in Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore isn't there to guide him and that loss is felt keenly. Luckily he doesn't have to go it alone. As always Ron and Hermione are there, ready to help and support him. One of the things I love about this book is the fact that even though he's dead Dumbledore as a character is still seen in almost every chapter, he's very much a part of the story even though he gets very little actual screen time.

It's interesting to see the way Harry handles Dumbledore's shady past. In The Order of the Phoenix he handled discovering that Dumbledore was not actually all-knowing, but he still believed (as many readers did) that Dumbledore was inherently good. In Deathly Hallows we see that to label him as such doesn't fit. Rowling shows that the wizarding world, just like the muggle world is full of shades of grey. Dumbledore was a good person, but at one point in his life he gave in to the belief that the ends justify the means. I truly enjoy how Rowling uses the revelation of Dumbledore’s past as a way for Harry to grow up and make his own decisions about how to handle the fight against Voldemort.

While I enjoy Harry's growth in this book I marvel over Ron's. Books 4 – 6 sullied Ron for me a bit. He lost some of his innate courage, courage he showed in book 1 when he accepted his role as the knight in the chess match and in book 2 when he faced his fear of spiders (though Aragog and his children understandably strengthened that fear). I'm trying to think of particularly courageous moments in book 3, and I'm not really sure what's the best example. His injury when Sirius grabbed him to get to Scabbers precluded his ability to stand in front of Harry like Hermione did. In any case, Ron's character dissolves in book 4 when he gives into his jealousy and turns his back on Harry. In book five he backs down from his brothers and allows them to get away with murder while he's a prefect when the more courageous thing would be stand up to them and at least attempt to get them to follow the rules. Not to mention his performance anxiety he has once he becomes keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This isn't the confident budding strategist that Rowling introduced us to in Sorcerer's Stone. Sadly, that person doesn't truly make another appearance until book 7. But when he does, Ron flourishes. He's lost some of his stumbling in front of girls (his involvement with Lavender Brown seems to have helped), he's trying to think like a strategist again, though he doesn’t quite pull it off to the extent I would like, and after a crisis of faith brought on by the One Ring posing as a Horcrux, he shows his commitment to Harry's quest and to seeing Voldemort fall. Bravo for making Ron more than just comic relief once more.

Neville Longbottom is another character that finally comes into his own. He's come such a long way from his start as an almost squib that can barely remember to tie his own shoes much less remember complex spells. I delight in the fact that Neville is the one leading the resistance at Hogwarts, he shows that Gryffindor courage and plays a part in ending Voldemort in a way that shows even though he wasn't marked by a lightning bolt scar like Harry without Neville, the self-proclaimed Dark Lord would've won.

All in all this is an excellent book and one I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a fitting end to Rowling’s series but I also take comfort in knowing the Trio survived and should she ever take a notion, they could appear on the written page once more.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2007-08-13T09:48:00.000-04:00

Many people started rereading the Harry Potter series in anticipation of the final enstalment of the series. Rather than go through the previous six books I chose to just check out the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, again. And...I didn't finish it. I read about half of it and put it down because sadly it couldn't hold my interest. I love the world of Harry Potter and the first three books I've reread at least five times, but I've only managed to get through the fourth book twice and I've never reread the fifth. My interest in Harry's story hasn't faded, I've grabbed up each new book the day it came out and devoured it over the opening weekend.

With Half Blood Prince, Harry is dealing with a Wizarding World that still doesn't quite believe Voldemort has returned despite the climatic battle at the Ministry of Magic from the fifth book. He's still in school and Dumbledore is finally sharing information with him. Harry's day to day life takes up a great deal of time in this book and for the first time he starts to show interest in Ginny Weasley. I could talk about the time spent on relationships and the way they're written for hours on end, but it's not very important for this review. Harry learns a great deal in this book, both about the Wizarding world, his arch-nemesis, and the usual teenage lessons dealing with relationships. It was an enjoyable read, but I don't think I'll be going back to it for many years to come.

Guns of the South

2007-08-02T18:29:00.000-04:00

Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove is not my usual reading material but I decided to give it a try based on an author recommendation. I’m really glad I did, the book is thought provoking, entertaining, and brings historical figures to life giving them a personality that is steeped in historical accuracy but has enough of a novelist’s flair to be true characters. Like I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this book is set in the Civil War, starts in 1864 in fact. The moment the book starts you’re introduced to General Robert E. Lee, a man I read about many many times as a child (I think I was the only one in my middle school to check out his biography more than once). When General Lee is introduced to Andries Rhoodie, history as we know it changes completely. What happens throughout the book is based solely on the question, “What if the South had better weapons?” More specifically, “What if the South had AK-47s?” It’s a fascinating read and Turtledove does an excellent job showing the big picture through Lee and his journey while also showing the common man’s point of view through Nate Caudell, a school teacher from Nashville, NC.

My biggest complaint with this book is still the vocabulary. In the beginning of the book the use of the N-word (I know, still a rather immature way to describe it) pulled me out of the story every time it was used. By the end of the book I didn’t blink when I saw it. It fit the story and that bothered me. The fact that it didn’t faze me by the end, but when I saw it in the book I’m currently reading (The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama) it jarred me once more. The use of the word is unacceptable to me in modern speech, but I realize that Mr. Turtledove wasn’t making a commentary on today’s speech by using it, he was highlighting the setting of his story. It fit that story, it fit the example Senator Obama used, it doesn’t fit day-to-day speech now and my discomfort with the word is intact. Oddly that was an important realization for me.

Despite that tangent, I can honestly say I enjoyed Guns of the South. I’ve already recommended it to one person and I know I’ll be recommending it to other fans of history and the fantastic. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on another Harry Turtledove novel, as I’d been told, the man does amazing things with Alternate History novels.

Fire Me Up

2007-07-24T14:37:00.000-04:00

Fire Me Up is the second book in Aisling’s series and brings back all the enjoyable characters from the first book such as Jim, the demon in a Newfoundland’s body, Rene the mysterious French cab driver that’s always in the right spot to get Aisling out of a jam. And of course you can’t forget the captivating leader of the Green Dragon Sept, Drake. When the book opens, Aisling is certain that Drake is out of her life forever, but like she does with most things in the supernatural world she now inhabits, she doesn’t take her place as his claimed mate seriously. And that’s Aisling’s biggest problem. She’s entered into this world within a world, the supernatural underworld filled with demons, witches, dragons, wizards, and all sort of other creatures that make up our best folklore. She’s out of her depth and in Fire Me Up she is trying to learn more so she can understand this world she now inhabits. But the problem is, she doesn’t take it seriously enough. She only goes so far down the path to understanding before she allows love, life, or a mystery to distract her and it hurts her position with the green dragons, the Guardians she tries to petition for training, and the supernatural community (known as the Otherworld) as a whole.

The book is highly entertaining and readers get to learn so much more about the Otherworld and the Dragon Septs, which was a highlight for me. But throughout the book I couldn’t help but be disappointed in Aisling, her personality is great and I love the chemistry between her and the dragons. But as much as I like her, her attitude towards this world she’s a part of is far too flip. She’s learned just enough to get herself into trouble, but has natural talent (and luck) to get herself out again. She doesn’t consider the consequences very well. Makes for interesting but frustrating reading at times.

What frustrates me the most is when Drake shows up and does his best to make sure Aisling will honor her duties as his Mate during a conclave of the Dragon Septs, she has to make a choice and sadly, she never really does. She wants Drake and wants to help him, but she doesn’t really listen when she’s told that the role of a Mate, a role she willingly accepted, was far more important that she realized. A Wyvern (sept leader)’s mate is more than just his lover or wife, a Mate is an advisor, ruler, and partner; someone who needs to be focused on the Sept’s welfare and interests. It’s a lot to take in and Aisling just doesn’t get it. The consequences of her actions in the previous book are brought to light and she has a very steep learning curve by the end. I’m hoping to see an added bit of maturity in her dealings with the Sept in Light My Fire, the third book of the series.

If you enjoy quirky paranormal mysteries like the Southern Vampire series, and you enjoy feisty heroines like Sookie Stackhouse, you can’t go wrong with Aisling Grey.

Living Dead in Dallas

2007-07-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

Another from my Summer of Charlaine selection! (I really didn't intend to have an over-arching theme for the summer, but what can you do?)

Second in the Southern Vampire Series, Living Dead in Dallas is all about how Sookie's gift of telepathy is used by Vampire regent Eric as a favor to his counterpart in Dallas. One of the Dallas vampires has gone missing and Eric expects Sookie to be able to help find him. Instead she makes an impression on the vampires, the humans that want to rid the world of vampires, and the shapshifters she didn't even know existed. No matter what, Sookie's life is nothing if not interesting.

This one is fun, but by taking Sookie and Bill out of Bon Temps, I lost a little enjoyment because the supporting characters weren’t there. Sookie is great in any setting, but Bill just doesn’t hold my attention and even still his screen time was very limited so I had to get used to a new set of supporting characters, which we may never see again. With Living Dead I discovered that Bill isn’t on my top three favorite characters list since he tends to be a bit too cold and removed from Sookie in many ways. While I think this works really well for this character that’s forgotten what it means to be human it doesn’t endear him to me that much. The fact that he tries to see things from her point of view and sometimes will react a bit more like a regular guy is interesting, but when he shares the page with the more outrageous and charming Eric, Bill simply pales. Perhaps if I’d read the first novel before Dead to the World I wouldn’t think so, but Eric won me over in the fourth book. Still, even with the sadly dull and remote Bill, Living Dead in Dallas is a fun and enjoyable book.

Quick Status Update: The past couple of weeks have been hectic and my promised review per week simply hasn't occured. This week I'm planning on catching up with all the June reviews so I can start on the July reviews next week. While I don't intend on flooding the blogosphere I do want to catch up so I can review the books I'm currently reading rather than wracking my brain to remember what happened and exactly how I felt with the last few. Two more reviews for June then it's on to July!

Poppy Done to Death

2007-07-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot this "traditional" mystery I read in early June. After discovering Charlaine Harris through Dead to the World I had to read more. I enjoyed the book too much not to. So June became the month of Charlaine. The next book I took on was Poppy Done to Death, the last book in the Aurora Teagarden series. This is a quiet, traditional mystery in the sense that there's no vampires, telepaths, or other paranormal elements. While I firmly classify it as a mystery there is also a romance element in the form of Aurora's boyfriend, True Crime writer Robin Crusoe. This book is smart and funny with an interesting plot that revolves around the murder of a local woman who happens to be close friends with Aurora (Roe to her friends). It was a quick read, but I didn't figure out who the murderer was until very close to the end. I like it when the culprit isn't obvious halfway through the book. But another thing that I like about the series is slightly superficial. Aurora is a librarian and nine times out of ten I'm drawn to characters that share my profession. Still Poppy Done to Death is a nice easy summer read that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a good mystery.

Dead Until Dark

2007-07-09T15:11:00.000-04:00

Charlaine Harris introduces the world to a new reality with Dead Until Dark. The first of the Southern Vampire series, Ms. Harris tells us about how Vampires have always been all around us, but thanks to a Japanese creation of synthetic blood now they can come out of the coffin, so to speak. With that one detail readers are whisked away into the world of Sookie Stackhouse and the small town of Bon Temps, LA.

With the first novel of a series a writer has to throw a lot of information at readers while still gaining their attention and interest in the characters. Setting up a environment, a world so similar to the "real world" with only one or two differences could be glossed over, but that's not what happens. Instead readers are shown (instead of just told) the dangers to both vampires and humans. Along the way you meet Bill the Vampire, Sam Merlote - Sookie's boss and occasional star of fantasies, her womanizing brother Jason, and a cast of characters that you enjoy visiting in other books in the series. Sookie is a reluctant sleuth, but she is a brave one. She sets out to figure out who's causing a series of murders in Bon Temps with only the smallest hesitation. Her humor and outlook on life are fun additions to the story and will keep you coming back to the series.

Two books down, thirteen more to go before September 1st.

2007-07-09T13:38:00.000-04:00

Not quite a review (I will get back to that, I promise), but still about books.

After a blog post from the Looking For Group guys, I went in search of an Alternate History book, one I've picked up and put down over and over again: Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. This time I'm giving it a good go and man, it's fascinating. Getting into the mindframe of General Lee and his officers as well as the foot soldiers like Nate Caudel is incredibly interesting. The twist that makes the story an alternate history is one that just makes you go, "Wow, what if?" Though I have to say, while probably historically accurate (and Mr. Turtledove is well known for his research) the repeated use of the n-word (yes, I abhor that word enough to not write it) is one of those things that does twist my stomach a bit every time I see it. It's so interesting to read about the mindsets, but man...the phrasing, that insult side by side with some of the nicer thoughts about the African-American characters just bugs me. And even though I know it was probably an accepted, almost expected use of the word in day to day speech, it comes close to pulling me out of the story every time it's used. I'm taking my time with this one, but I figure I'll finish it before July 20th. I have to, otherwise it'll get abandoned for the weekend while I read Deathly Hallows. :)

Coming up: a review on Charlaine Harris's first Southern Vampire book Dead Until Dark.

Dead to the World

2007-06-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

June has been the month of Mysteries. Paranormal Mysteries in fact. In May I jumped back in time with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, an old favorite, but I just had to step away in the middle of the 5th book. There's only so much historical fiction I can take at once, so I started looking for something completely different and found Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Series.

Since I was checking the books out from the library I started with Dead to the World, which is actually the 4th book in the series. The main character, Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress with an extra gift, the ability to read minds. She lives in a world, not much different from our own, except for the vampires that freely roam the earth and are out of the coffin, so to speak. Because of Sookie's gift she finds the company of vampires soothing since she can't read their minds the way she can regular...living humans.

Her optimistic outlook on life and her feisty nature make Sookie a great heroine and an intriguing woman to the supernaturals around her. Her love life is one that while prominent in the story, it doesn't interfere with the two mysteries she's trying to solve. One on behalf of the vampires and one that is much more personal, the disappearance of her brother. In a way the resolution to these mysteries seems to happen awfully fast, but at the same time, at 320 pages, there's not a way to draw out the conflict too much. Dead to the World was a good introduction to the Southern Vampire series and made me want to continue reading about Sookie and the rest of the characters.

Oddly enough, Sookie and her friends in Bon Temps, Louisiana reminded me of the cast of characters from Mitford, North Carolina found in the Mitford series by Jan Karon. Two extremely different genres, but the small town atmosphere, and camaraderie that comes from that small town (and small ensemble) comes through in both series. Since reading Dead the the World I've gone back and read the first two books in the series. Looking forward to getting the third in July.

Welcome!

2007-06-26T10:47:00.000-04:00

To anyone who decides to check out this blog, welcome!

I'm a pretty fast reader so I hope to update this blog on at least a weekly basis if not more often.

What's this blog for? Well, it's an offshoot of my personal blog, one that will probably tell readers quite a bit about me, as you can learn a great deal about a person through thier reading interests. This blog is for simple reviews about books that I read this summer, depending on how I enjoy the review process, I may continue on past the summer. We shall see.

Pull up a chair, settle in with your beverage of choice and indulge in a little reading on the bright side of life.