All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (Meh. I may not finish this one.)
Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Granger (I liked The Starter Wife better, but it's not too bad of a read)
The Cat Who Walks through Walls by Robert Heinlein (reading for the 2nd time ... it's been over 15 years since the first time, though)
In my shipment on its way from Better World Books ...
Par for the Course by Ray Blackston
Bundle of Joy by Robin Lee Hatcher
Cape Fear by John McDonald
Above All Things by Deborah Rainey
So many books ... so little time ... and yes, I am reading three books at once ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Stay by Allie Larkin
Stay: A Novel
by Allie Larkin
published by Plume
Synopsis from Publisher's Weekly via Amazon.com
Larkin debuts with a funny and touching story about love, loss, and dog ownership. Twenty-something Van Leone, fresh from serving as maid of honor at the wedding of her childhood best friend and the man Van's been in love with since college, impulsively buys a German shepherd puppy on the Internet while drowning her sorrows in vodka and a late-night Rin Tin Tin marathon. Van's surprised to discover, however, that the little ball of fuzz she's expecting is an enormous Slovakian police dog that she names Joe. The expected furniture-destroying and neighbor-terrifying antics ensue, but Joe quickly becomes Van's family, chief confidant, and romantic catalyst. The fresh start Van had envisioned turns out to be more complicated than she'd hoped—particularly after the newlyweds return from their honeymoon—but Joe nudges her ever forward. Though the support cast could be trimmed and the love interest lacks satisfying depth, Van's conflicts feel authentic, and her emotional frankness is refreshing. Cute story, nicely told. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Stay is hilarious! Van's relationships with Peter, Diane, and Janie are quirky and very, very human. I disagree with the above review regarding the support cast: Louis and Agnes don't enter until half-way through the book, but add lots of comic relief to the storyline. I was a little surprised that Joe didn't show up closer to the beginning ... there seemed to be way to much wedding stuff going on (that could have been pared down in my opinion.) The book was a quick, but fun read. Highly recommended!
by Allie Larkin
published by Plume
Synopsis from Publisher's Weekly via Amazon.com
Larkin debuts with a funny and touching story about love, loss, and dog ownership. Twenty-something Van Leone, fresh from serving as maid of honor at the wedding of her childhood best friend and the man Van's been in love with since college, impulsively buys a German shepherd puppy on the Internet while drowning her sorrows in vodka and a late-night Rin Tin Tin marathon. Van's surprised to discover, however, that the little ball of fuzz she's expecting is an enormous Slovakian police dog that she names Joe. The expected furniture-destroying and neighbor-terrifying antics ensue, but Joe quickly becomes Van's family, chief confidant, and romantic catalyst. The fresh start Van had envisioned turns out to be more complicated than she'd hoped—particularly after the newlyweds return from their honeymoon—but Joe nudges her ever forward. Though the support cast could be trimmed and the love interest lacks satisfying depth, Van's conflicts feel authentic, and her emotional frankness is refreshing. Cute story, nicely told. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Stay is hilarious! Van's relationships with Peter, Diane, and Janie are quirky and very, very human. I disagree with the above review regarding the support cast: Louis and Agnes don't enter until half-way through the book, but add lots of comic relief to the storyline. I was a little surprised that Joe didn't show up closer to the beginning ... there seemed to be way to much wedding stuff going on (that could have been pared down in my opinion.) The book was a quick, but fun read. Highly recommended!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks
Synopsis from Publishers Weekly via Amazon: Bag the tiara and get out the gun: Heather Wells, former teen idol, turns detective in the cute debut of a new mystery series from bestseller Cabot (The Princess Project and other titles in her Princess Diaries series). After the 20-something Heather's rocker boyfriend dumps her, and her mother and manager flee with her earnings, she becomes an assistant director of an undergraduate residence hall at Manhattan's New York College (read: NYU) in hopes of free tuition. When students start to die mysteriously while "elevator surfing" in the building, weight-conscious, romance-obsessed Heather goes on a crazed hunt to uncover the truth—with an unwavering sense of style. As Magda, Heather's dorm cashier friend, says: "Even if the rest of your life is going down the toilet... at least your toes can still look pretty." Cabot delivers Heather's amateur sleuthing adventures in a rapid-fire narrative that may leave some readers begging for time-outs to control sudden laughing fits.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
I just re-read this book for the third or fourth time and it still makes me laugh! The book is not deep - don't read it expecting to learn how to create world peace. It's Heather's relationships that make it: grad student Sarah, landlord Cooper, ex-boyfriend Jordan, even creepy Mrs. Allington! Meg Cabot is great at comedy ... even the deaths in this book are funny! There are two other books in the series Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big Boned. They are all worth reading!!
Synopsis from Publishers Weekly via Amazon: Bag the tiara and get out the gun: Heather Wells, former teen idol, turns detective in the cute debut of a new mystery series from bestseller Cabot (The Princess Project and other titles in her Princess Diaries series). After the 20-something Heather's rocker boyfriend dumps her, and her mother and manager flee with her earnings, she becomes an assistant director of an undergraduate residence hall at Manhattan's New York College (read: NYU) in hopes of free tuition. When students start to die mysteriously while "elevator surfing" in the building, weight-conscious, romance-obsessed Heather goes on a crazed hunt to uncover the truth—with an unwavering sense of style. As Magda, Heather's dorm cashier friend, says: "Even if the rest of your life is going down the toilet... at least your toes can still look pretty." Cabot delivers Heather's amateur sleuthing adventures in a rapid-fire narrative that may leave some readers begging for time-outs to control sudden laughing fits.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
I just re-read this book for the third or fourth time and it still makes me laugh! The book is not deep - don't read it expecting to learn how to create world peace. It's Heather's relationships that make it: grad student Sarah, landlord Cooper, ex-boyfriend Jordan, even creepy Mrs. Allington! Meg Cabot is great at comedy ... even the deaths in this book are funny! There are two other books in the series Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big Boned. They are all worth reading!!
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Published by Washington Square Press
It is late and I am tired. Probably because I have been staying up WAY to late this week reading The Forgotten Garden. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Synopsis from Amazon: A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.
The main characters in this book - Eliza, Nell, and Cassandra - are so well formed. I wish there had been more about Lesley and why Nell didn't do a good job raising her; also more about the "Bad Man" that Eliza's mother talks about.
There is obviously a weird relationship between Linus and Georgiana ... the author alludes to what happened between the two of them, but I never quite got the exact idea. Linus is clearly cuckoo and I assume he made a pass at Georgiana, but I'm not sure.
I love how Christian and Cassandra are tied together by Nell.
You wish that Nell had know the truth about her parents - I certainly didn't see the truth coming and assumed what Cassandra did way before she spoke to Clara about it.
I was also confused about whom William Martin saw with Eliza. I thought it was Linus, but apparently not.
What I don't understand is why Eliza went back for the brooch after putting Nell on the boat. Why didn't they go to get it first? I suppose there wouldn't be a story then. And I am also assuming that Nell's fall caused amnesia about her name.
I am anxious to get my hands on Kate Morton's other books including The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours.
My advice ... READ THIS BOOK! You won't regret it!
It is late and I am tired. Probably because I have been staying up WAY to late this week reading The Forgotten Garden. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Synopsis from Amazon: A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.
The main characters in this book - Eliza, Nell, and Cassandra - are so well formed. I wish there had been more about Lesley and why Nell didn't do a good job raising her; also more about the "Bad Man" that Eliza's mother talks about.
There is obviously a weird relationship between Linus and Georgiana ... the author alludes to what happened between the two of them, but I never quite got the exact idea. Linus is clearly cuckoo and I assume he made a pass at Georgiana, but I'm not sure.
I love how Christian and Cassandra are tied together by Nell.
You wish that Nell had know the truth about her parents - I certainly didn't see the truth coming and assumed what Cassandra did way before she spoke to Clara about it.
I was also confused about whom William Martin saw with Eliza. I thought it was Linus, but apparently not.
What I don't understand is why Eliza went back for the brooch after putting Nell on the boat. Why didn't they go to get it first? I suppose there wouldn't be a story then. And I am also assuming that Nell's fall caused amnesia about her name.
I am anxious to get my hands on Kate Morton's other books including The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours.
My advice ... READ THIS BOOK! You won't regret it!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
World Without End by Ken Follett
Published by Dutton Adult
Amazon review: World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas--about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race--the Black Death.
World Without End is a sequal to The Pillars of the Earth. Don't be prepared to whip through this book in a day ... or even a week! It is 1024 pages but fairly easy reading. Follett does an okay job of including the important details and glossing over the rest. He isn't afraid to skip ahead 5 years to get to the action. I read The Pillars of the Earth about 8 years ago, and, while I recall the basic plot, I don't remember a lot of the details. This wasn't an issue when reading World Without End.
I found some of the characters annoyingly predictable. It isn't a surprise when Godwyn and Philemon back people into a corner to achieve their goals. Merthin and Caris never seem to decide if they are really important to each other. The nasty people are nasty and the stupid people are stupid. It is pretty predictable. Then the plague comes and it is even more predictable.
I don't as a general rule like historical fiction. This was palatable and good for the four 4+ hour plane rides I had in a two week period. However, I probably wouldn't have finished it otherwise.
Follett has some much better books. I would recommend The Key to Rebecca, On Wings of Eagles, and Eye of the Needle before I would World Without End.
Amazon review: World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas--about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race--the Black Death.
World Without End is a sequal to The Pillars of the Earth. Don't be prepared to whip through this book in a day ... or even a week! It is 1024 pages but fairly easy reading. Follett does an okay job of including the important details and glossing over the rest. He isn't afraid to skip ahead 5 years to get to the action. I read The Pillars of the Earth about 8 years ago, and, while I recall the basic plot, I don't remember a lot of the details. This wasn't an issue when reading World Without End.
I found some of the characters annoyingly predictable. It isn't a surprise when Godwyn and Philemon back people into a corner to achieve their goals. Merthin and Caris never seem to decide if they are really important to each other. The nasty people are nasty and the stupid people are stupid. It is pretty predictable. Then the plague comes and it is even more predictable.
I don't as a general rule like historical fiction. This was palatable and good for the four 4+ hour plane rides I had in a two week period. However, I probably wouldn't have finished it otherwise.
Follett has some much better books. I would recommend The Key to Rebecca, On Wings of Eagles, and Eye of the Needle before I would World Without End.
Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen
Published by Washington Square Press
Abridged ssynopsis from Booklist via Amazon: High-school sweethearts Julia and Michael have left their humble West Virginia roots far behind for a glamorous life in Washington, D.C. As they achieve more in their careers—she as a high-end events planner, he as the CEO of his own sports-drink company—they lose themselves as a couple. After Michael has a near-death experience, he decides to give away all their wealth and focus on his relationship with Julia. But she’s not ready to forgive him for choosing his work over her when she needed him most. Pekkanen’s novel traces the couple’s attempts to make amends for allowing success to replace love. --Aleksandra Walker
I really liked this book. The very end was not unexpected, but the way the author got the characters to that point was. The flashbacks talking about Julia and Michael's history worked well; it did not seem as if you were bouncing back and forth between the present and the past without any continuity.
My favorite character was Michael. He was flawed but lovable. I sort of wanted to shake some sense into Julia for jumping to conclusions and not giving Michael a chance to prove himself.
I have also read The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen and liked Skipping a Beat better.
Abridged ssynopsis from Booklist via Amazon: High-school sweethearts Julia and Michael have left their humble West Virginia roots far behind for a glamorous life in Washington, D.C. As they achieve more in their careers—she as a high-end events planner, he as the CEO of his own sports-drink company—they lose themselves as a couple. After Michael has a near-death experience, he decides to give away all their wealth and focus on his relationship with Julia. But she’s not ready to forgive him for choosing his work over her when she needed him most. Pekkanen’s novel traces the couple’s attempts to make amends for allowing success to replace love. --Aleksandra Walker
I really liked this book. The very end was not unexpected, but the way the author got the characters to that point was. The flashbacks talking about Julia and Michael's history worked well; it did not seem as if you were bouncing back and forth between the present and the past without any continuity.
My favorite character was Michael. He was flawed but lovable. I sort of wanted to shake some sense into Julia for jumping to conclusions and not giving Michael a chance to prove himself.
I have also read The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen and liked Skipping a Beat better.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Airframe by Michael Crichton
Published by Ballantine Books
Available at Better World Books
This is the 2nd time I have read this book. It was just as good this time around! I forgot what happened until about a third of the way in and then I suddenly remembered. It didn't take away from the book at all.
Here's a brief summary from BWB: Three passengers are dead. Fifty-six are injured. The interior cabin virtually destroyed. But the pilot manages to land the plane. . . . At a moment when the issue of safety and death in the skies is paramount in the public mind, a lethal midair disaster aboard a commercial twin-jet airliner bound from Hong Kong to Denver triggers a pressured and frantic investigation.
My review: This book is full of corporate intrigue and suspense. It is very compelling reading. There is a lot of technical detail regarding construction of the plane and the associated computer systems as well as industry lingo. I didn't find it confusing, but it is something to keep in mind. The entire book takes place over a week-long period and is fairly fast paced. The main character is female, but doesn't have any of the silly stereotypes that characters sometimes have. I have read most of Crichton's work, and this is definitely one of my favorites.
Available at Better World Books
This is the 2nd time I have read this book. It was just as good this time around! I forgot what happened until about a third of the way in and then I suddenly remembered. It didn't take away from the book at all.
Here's a brief summary from BWB: Three passengers are dead. Fifty-six are injured. The interior cabin virtually destroyed. But the pilot manages to land the plane. . . . At a moment when the issue of safety and death in the skies is paramount in the public mind, a lethal midair disaster aboard a commercial twin-jet airliner bound from Hong Kong to Denver triggers a pressured and frantic investigation.
My review: This book is full of corporate intrigue and suspense. It is very compelling reading. There is a lot of technical detail regarding construction of the plane and the associated computer systems as well as industry lingo. I didn't find it confusing, but it is something to keep in mind. The entire book takes place over a week-long period and is fairly fast paced. The main character is female, but doesn't have any of the silly stereotypes that characters sometimes have. I have read most of Crichton's work, and this is definitely one of my favorites.
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