And yes, I realize that writing in a book is a sin. I've got a library degree, after all. But it was my book, and how can you own a book like this and NOT go through it, marking the ones you've seen and keeping some notes on them? What would be the point, I ask you?

Anyway, what's great about this book is that it's in order chronologically. You start with the oldies and progress to the current day. Every movie has at least a single solid paragraph of description and commentary, and some of the more famous or popular ones have photos and longer reviews as well. I was astonished by the number I'd already seen -- probably over a third of them. And also by the number I'd never even heard of -- probably also over a third (there is a fair smattering of foreign film in there, and I've been slow to get on that bandwagon, and a lot of the really old movies were off my radar as well).

The best part, though, is that it's not snooty. You'll find "Citizen Kane" in there, sure (over-rated, in my opinion). But you'll also find some of my all-time favorites, like "Jaws," "Tombstone," and "Top Gun." "Top Gun"! In the same book as "Citizen Kane"! Gotta love that. It's not a book about appreciating film as an art form so much as it's a book about loving movies and the way movies can transport you or make you feel. Because of this book, I've seen all kinds of films I never would've seen without it. I've been transported to places I never would've gone otherwise. I've met people I'll never forget. I've seen things that will always stay with me. This book has had a tremendous impact on my movie-watching ways -- and since watching movies is a huge part of my daily life, that's saying a lot.

So, if you're still looking for a great present to give a movie-loving friend or family member, you absolutely cannot go wrong with this one. It's the only book I own that I probably go through at least once a month, writing down movies I want to look for soon or adding notes about ones I've seen since the last time I sat down with it. I don't even do that with my Faulkner, people, and you know I loves me my Faulkner. This book rules the roost. And hey, Jen, if you're reading this, I don't think I ever thanked you profusely enough for it. You rock, ya rock star. You can give me a present ANY ol' day of the week.

By the way, there's a newer edition of this book out now -- to take a look at that one, click here or search on your favorite bookseller site for ISBN 0764159070 (my version is ISBN 0764157019). (12/8/2005) [read me!]

That's why I was excited when I came across this Norwegian thriller, and why I greatly enjoyed it despite the fact its protagonist is extremely hard to like (sympathetically so, but also irrevocably so).

It opens with a train of about 200 passengers on their way across Norway to Oslo. There's a huge blizzard raging outside, and right as they pass into The Snowy Nowhere^TM, their train derails and crashes. Luckily, only the conductor is killed. Unluckily: BLIZZARD. Only, luckily: nearby hotel! But then, unluckily: MURDER!

Rescued quickly by the incredibly kind owners of the one and only hotel in the nearby small town of Finse (elev. 1222, hence the title), the crash survivors are initially grateful to be alive, warm, and fed. But when it becomes clear they'll be trapped there for days by the storm, tensions rise, fueled dramatically by the presence of a Muslim couple who act suspiciously, a group of armed guards protecting a mysterious guest on the top floor of the hotel, and a super right-wing TV personality who never shuts the hell up.

When a clergyman is found dead in his room the next morning, the hotel owner gathers a few people together -- people she's marked as the emerging leaders of the group (a doctor, e.g.) -- to tell them what happened and ask them what to do. Hanne Wilhelmson overhears the conversation and despite her reluctance and misanthropy, she gets involved, quickly taking over the leadership role herself. Why? Because she's a retired police detective (paralyzed from the waist down after a shooting on the job), so, of everyone on the scene, she's the one with the mad skillz needed to save the day. Hanne urges the group to keep the murder a secret until she can figure out what happened, but when more bodies appear, it soon becomes clear something vicious is going on, and any one of them could be next.

Wilhelmson is the unlikable protagonist of this novel I was alluding to earlier -- she's stuck-up, bitter, nasty, and obnoxiously pessimistic. Granted, she has plenty of reasons to be, not the least of which is the fact she's so effective at solving the murder at the hotel primarily because people talk openly right in front of her, assuming anybody in a wheelchair is a drooling moron. So, while it's easy to understand why she is the way she is, it's still somewhat draining a personality to spend huge swaths of time with, I confess.

That said, this is an extremely entertaining thriller, and while I didn't find the resolution of the mystery terribly surprisingly or compelling, the story itself was riveting from page one. This is the eighth book in the Wilhelmson series by Anne Holt, and the first to be published in English, with more to follow soon. I'll definitely be picking up the next one, and will see if Hanne can charm me with time. (10/18/2012) [buy it]

Some of the stories in this collection are as bad as the novel was - I go back again to the words "clichéd, boring, and trite." But there were a few that were absolutely wonderful, including one, "Pop Art," that I've now read twice and loved even more the second time around.

"Pop Art" is about a little boy who befriends another little boy who just so happens to be a living, feeling blow-up doll named Art. The two become best buds and the story deals a lot with Art's feelings of fragility and "otherness," as well as his poignant courage and strength. It's a simple, cleanly-written coming-of-age story with a bizarre and fascinating twist, and the ending actually made me tear up both times. That's saying a LOT, believe you me, because I don't often cry at books.

A few of the other stories in 20th Century Ghosts were just as strange and just as mesmerizing, and, overall, the collection impressed me enough to reverse my position on Hill (who's Stephen King's son, by the way) as an author and start looking forward to reading whatever it is he puts out next.

The thing I noticed the most as I read this collection, though, which is technically described as a book of horror stories, is that it's when Hill is NOT writing horror that he starts to shine. The first story in the book is the only truly "horrifying" of the scary ones, and that's only because it's truly, authentically disturbing. But even it has an ending that struck me as a bit on the silly side, and that's the direction Hill always seems to head whenever he's trying to put on a fright. (Something he learned from his father, I would say - I'm not much of a King fan, especially over the last decade or so.)

Here's hoping Hill breaks from the family tradition for his next novel or collection and sticks to what he seems to do best: peeking deep inside his characters and finding out what motivates and moves them, and staying far, far away from monsters, ghosts, and serial killers. You've got nothing new to add in that category, Joe, I'm sorry to say. But when it comes to making me feel things, you got me sitting up every now and then. Run with that. Trust me on this. (5/13/2010)

As the story opens, Henry has sacrificed his marriage for his dubious career, thinking he had to keep his wife in money in order to keep her in happiness. He bounces from job to job up in the icy waters, from what I think was an oil drilling station to a tug boat staffed with a bunch of totally crazy coworkers (I guess you'd almost have to be nuts to be in their line of work, though), and out of sheer boredom, he turns to the distress channel to keep himself entertained. The actual rescue mission was the only part of this novel that was at all entertaining -- for the most part, the rest of the time I was as bored as Henry was. There's just something about reading about other people's ennui that is soooooooo. . . dull. Anyway, it's described on the book jacket as being The Perfect Storm crossed with Chuck Palahniuk. To which I reply: the hell you say. Do with this information what you will! (1/7/2007) [read me!]

Of course, if all went as planned, we'd just close the book and turn on CBS. Lord knows the cast of the latest Survivor installment was far more interesting than the totally 2-D characters in this book. But when everyone but the 13 players dies during the first broadcast and a voice announces that the rules have changed, I got intrigued. Call me crazy. The voice, "Control," says they've all been infected with a deadly virus (which everybody kept comparing to Ebola even though it was NOTHING LIKE EBOLA -- this got on my nerves after awhile, probably cuz I'm a biochemistry snob). Anyway, without a vaccine injection every 24 hours, the contestants will die just like the crew did. The game is to continue as planned, but every day at noon, viewers will vote one person out -- and that person will be denied that day's dose of the vaccine.

This intrigued me not because it was particularly clever or thrilling, but because I assumed it was going to lead to something interesting. It was a direction I thought was obvious -- would the American public really play along? Really vote to KILL someone off each day? Despite witnessing first-hand the torturous pain the virus inflicts when left unchecked? Yet instead of an exploration of this, the plot follows a completely shallow and straight path. The bad guys lose, the good guys win. And nothing is made of the fact viewers did indeed vote to execute 8 or 9 people before the game was stopped.

Clearly Brown didn't find that all that unusual. Even the parents of a teenage boy who has become addicted to the 24 hour coverage end up helping him vote to kill one of the contestants who has flipped out and turned into a homicidal maniac. Brown sets the scene up like this: parents confront boy who has missed FOUR DAYS OF SCHOOL (how COULD he let his grades slip like that! He's a GOOD BOY!). Boy makes excuses. Parents ground him and decide to take his computer. But as the Dad goes to grab the monitor, they all notice that the crazy contestant is trying to KILL the hero! And, as a family, they sit down and immediately vote so many times to kill off the nutter that their fingers are sore! Well, thank god these fine people were watching! Thank god they voted to kill that guy before he could hurt anybody! Thank god nobody bothered to think, "Hey, that guy might not have turned into a homicidal maniac had someone not infected him with a deadly virus, forced him to watch others die from the disease, and then told him he had less than 10 days to live himself. Maybe we ought to cut him some slack?" Thank god everybody in the world apparently had no problem with voting to kill complete strangers for no good reason.

Anyway, not only did this book do its best to ignore any call for deep thought, it's also chock full of stupid dialogue, characters so stereotypical they don't even seem human, and just plain ol' carelessness. For example, are we really supposed to believe that the designers of the 24/7 game didn't put any safeguards in place to keep people from voting more than once? Hell, I could set up a system preventing that myself in ten minutes! And, for pete's sake, why all the references to Ebola, which has absolutely NOTHING in common with the virus Brown kept describing? I found this novel exasperatingly awful. I can't believe I read the whole thing. Save yourself! Stop now and turn on CBS instead!

The next day, Frank heads to the barn in search of wood for the fire and finds the mummified corpses of an entire family buried under the floorboards.

Now, here's where things become slightly hard to believe -- several sets of cops end up capturing Corso, only to release him again so he can continue to investigate the murder of the family. Why even the Feds would let a true crime writer run the investigation, even after it becomes clear that the bad guys are violent sociopaths who kill everyone who gets in their way, kind of boggles. But the plot and characters were so enthralling it was hard to hold this and a few other plot problems against the book. Instead, I found this one pretty hard to put down, and pretty satisfying by the end. I'll definitely look for others in the series -- if only to see if some of the earlier ones describe Dougherty's tattoos in a little more detail! Recommended, just don't think too much while you're reading. (10/28/03)

This is an informed, deeply sympathetic portrayal of Africa, a continent that is endlessly fascinating and incredibly compelling. I go through periodic phases these days during which I lose all hope for Africa -- it just seems so impossibly clouded with the thick smog of several lifetimes' worth of lost chances. But French -- French has hope. And so do the people he tells us about. And that's pretty darn refreshing, not to mention inspiring. Now all we need to do is make this book required reading for the rest of the world -- and then to get off our butts and start actually listening to what Africa is trying to tell us. (5/16/04)

This is a light, entertaining read, and I really enjoyed it even though I wouldn't say it was all that brilliantly written. For one thing, the characters never really seemed like real people to me (particularly Kate's cheek-twitching, stalker boyfriend Adam), and I can't quite put my finger on just why. However, I enjoyed the vet stuff, the setting, and the Aussie hunk (of course!), and am greatly looking forward to the next book in the series, due to be released in the U.S. in October (these books have been out for a while in England, I gather). It's no James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, but if they made this book into a movie, I'd go see it. Especially if they cast Hugh Jackman as Scott Spenser -- mrrrrrowl! Recommended if you're in the mood for something a bit frivolous to take with you on your summer vacation. (7/26/2006) [read me!]

It wasn't until a few years later that the Jungers realized who it was they'd had working in their backyard all that time -- a young man named Albert DeSalvo. The man who later confessed to being none other than the Strangler himself.

After growing up listening to this family story over and over, Junger decided to do a little investigating about the Boston Strangler crimes himself, and the result of that investigation is this riveting, though not terribly well-written, book. The murder near the Junger house was actually pinned on a young black man who had been working for the elderly woman who was killed, and that man, Roy Smith, was eventually tried and convicted on roughly no evidence whatsoever. He served over twelve years in prison before he was let out for good behavior, only a few weeks before he died of stage-three lung cancer.

But though DeSalvo confessed to thirteen of the Strangler murders, he never confessed to the one in Belmont AND he never really confessed in such a way that satisfied many people. His confessions were scatterbrained and often inaccurate. And the investigator who interrogated him fed him details the entire time. DeSalvo was never convicted of the stranglings, but was killed in prison in the 70's, there serving time for rape. Some think he was killed by a conspiracy to punish him for letting an innocent man, Smith, serve time for his crime. But no one really knows for sure, and, really, no one is likely even to know now.

This book explores the many facets of both the Smith and DeSalvo cases, shedding both light and dark on them simultaneously, to the point where I had absolutely no idea what to believe by the end. And though, as I said, it's not the most brilliantly written book of all time, it was definitely engrossing -- I could barely put it down once I started it. This is actually the first of Junger's books I've ever read, and it's certainly made me think it might be time to go back and read his two others (the famous Storm and also his second book, Fire). He's a marvelous storyteller, and this is definitely a book that can keep you up until the wee hours of the night. Recommended! (7/4/2006) [read me!]

Their first case is brought to them by a local politician, who wants to hire them to find a cleaning lady who has stolen some "documents" and then disappeared. Only, once Patrick and Angela find her, they discover all is not quite what it seems. Their continued investigation leads them deep into the worlds of political corruption and child pornography, and ultimately ends in a massive gang war that takes out dozens of people city-wide. Lots of rough and tumble action, snappy dialogue, and intensity abounds. The one flaw I'd say it had is that it could've used some serious tightening up in a few places -- places where I started to feel bogged down in conversations between some of the characters that had no real direct application to the storyline or even to their own development. That's where the book started to feel a little n00bish to me. Other than that, though, this is a gripping read, and definitely one I highly recommend to fans of gritty crime fiction. (4/13/2009) [read me!]

On the surface, this novel is about an old man, Jonathan Rebeck, who lives in a cemetery and spends his days playing chess and talking to ghosts. He's lived at the cemetery for over twenty years, after going bankrupt as a pharmacist, and in all that time he's never left the grounds, not even once. He sleeps in a mausoleum and is assisted by a talking raven (metaphor with Elijah here not lost upon me) who drops by daily to deliver pilfered sandwiches and other items, and to fill Rebeck in on the latest news of the world. It's a simple life, in a fine and private place, and it has suited Rebeck very well.

When two new ghosts enter the scene, however, Rebeck's life begins a gradual shift. He first becomes friends with newly buried teacher Michael Morgan, a man who believes his wife poisoned him and is extremely bitter about being dead. As it turns out, death is not an endless stream of ghostly walks, spying on the living, and regrets - it is instead simply a gradual forgetting. You begin by forgetting details: names, places, events. But gradually you forget everything else as well - how to make sounds, how to feel sensations, how to love someone. Michael strenuously resists this forgetting. Angrily resists it, in fact. But then Laura enters the scene. She's the ghost of a young woman recently hit by a bus, and her take on death is a sigh of relief. Life was hard, why remember it? Why not just let go of all of this? Just let it go. Let go.

The more time they spend together, the more Michael and Laura begin to pull in from their two extremes (must not forget! can't wait to forget!) to meet somewhere in the middle. And then they fall in love ("for as long as I remember love," Laura says). Meanwhile, Rebeck has also begun to experience love, in his case for a woman about his age named Mrs. Klapper who has started visiting her dead husband's grave a few times a week. Mrs. Klapper and Rebeck get to talking one afternoon, hit it off, and soon find themselves making more and more plans to meet, opening up to each other at last all the various pains and fears of their hearts.

And so it seems our characters are all headed towards happiness, until something happens that threatens to separate Michael and Laura for good (as if death weren't bad enough!). It's their love for each other that finally spurs Rebeck into action. But to save them, he'll have to leave the cemetery for the first time in two decades. Can he do it? Yes. Yes, he can.

This is a strange, offbeat novel with a surprisingly sharp wit and an equally surprising tenderness for its characters. At times, it does feel just slightly first-novel-y (and it was, in fact, Beagle's first novel - he later wrote The Last Unicorn, which, incidentally, was one of my favorite movies as a child); it can be a bit repetitive in places, for example. But you'll hardly notice it in between all the truly delightful conversations between characters (I was especially fond of the exceedingly sardonic raven) and the thought-provoking ideas about the natures of both life and death. The title comes from a poem by Andrew Marvell: "The grave's a fine and private place,/ But none, I think, do there embrace." As it turns out, this is both true and untrue, and the various ways in which it is both, either, which, neither are an absolute delight to discover.

Definitely a book that will require another reading for me, and soon. Clever, gentle, funny, kind, patient, compassionate, and fascinating - I absolutely loved it. (p.s. Thank you, Rook darling.) (12/5/2009)

This is a really great novel, full of history and suspense. It just has a really good mood to it, you know what I mean? And, even better, it's part of a series! I love it when that happens. Recommended to all fans of classy British mysteries.

Yet despite the fact she finds Sarah a bit weird and Edward strangely aloof, Tassie takes the job and even joins the couple as they begin to interview birth mothers. Eventually, Sarah and Edward adopt a mixed-race little girl they name Mary-Emma, and Tassie's adventures into nannydom - and into the increasingly troubled (and troubling) Brink family - begin for real.

Though I enjoyed this novel for the most part, especially the sections about adoption and the almost comic social politics involved in being a wealthy white couple with a mixed-race child, I had the same problems with it I often have with Moore's writing, problems here amplified by the fact this is a novel instead of her usual short story. Moore's style -- a meanderingness punctuated by wordplay I sometimes find awkwardly placed and jarring -- works pretty well here as the voice of a 20 year-old farm girl. But even thinking about it in those terms -- the terms of a realistically drawn 20 year-old voice, I mean -- didn't change the fact it still struck me as not being quite as sharply written as it needed to be.

As usual, Moore turns incredible phrases frequently -- when she's on, she's easily one of the best writers I've encountered in the last few years, my god -- but those moments of gape-inducing awesomeness were often dampened by frequent tangents that played little role besides, it seemed to me, that of supporting Moore's desire to be as witty as possible.

And don't even get me started with the whole terrorist-boyfriend subplot: so unnecessary and so awkwardly done. I could tell what Moore's goal was, given the story's setting (about a year post-9/11), but she didn't come even close to nailing it. A good editor, in my opinion, would've chopped that whole chunk out, and, frankly, tightened this novel up into a novella instead.

I want to repeat that I think Moore is a mind-blowingly talented writer, and if you've never read any of her short fiction, you should stop reading this crappy blog right now and go dig some up (I reviewed her story collection Birds of America about a year ago -- you can start there). But I think she's a much stronger writer when she's writing under space constraints. Somehow, this novel ended up feeling both overwritten AND underwritten to me. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but by the end I was ready to be done. Never a good sign. (11/3/2010) [buy it]

Soon Finch discovers she can hear and speak to a dozen or more ghosts in the graveyard. And the more she does, the more each of their unique stories are revealed to both her and us -- the baby boy who never stops crying, the gentleman revealed after death to be a transvestite, the young daughter who tries to get Finch to make her mother accept her suicide, etc.

As Finch gets to know each ghost over time, listening to each of their individual and poignant stories of courage and suffering gradually begins to make her see her OWN story (also one of courage and suffering) in a new light. Cutting herself off from the world may have helped to protect her heart from pain and rejection, but it also protected it from love and friendship, a trade-off Finch finally decides just ain't worth it.

This isn't brilliant novel -- it's fairly simply written and doesn't really delve too deeply into any majorly-emotional or "thoughty" kinds of themes. However, despite what may sound here like fairly dark content, this is actually a very light, feel-good kinda book. Finch is sharp-minded and sharp-tongued, making her exactly the kind of lady I like to hang out with, and the story itself moves quickly and is presented engagingly. If you're looking for an even-keeled, no stress, easy-readin' sort of novel to dive into between hectic holiday moments this month, you might give this one a shot. See what you think. Recommended! (12/13/2012) [buy it]

There's something about the way the details of the horror that struck them all are presented -- almost casually, here and there amidst Ellen's stories of her childhood -- that very clearly conveys Ellen's state of mind. Her reluctance to recall the terrible thing as a whole. As the book progresses, she reveals more and more to us, as she herself finally comes to address head-on the demons that have haunted her for so long. This same technique also creates an extremely suspenseful atmosphere for the book -- I HAD to find out what happened. I HAD to keep reading. I literally read this book in two sittings. The second time I picked it up, I could not put it down until it was all over. Incredibly, the shocking truth very closely resembled a true life event that has been in the news lately, even though this book was written years ago and in Dutch. Really reminds you how much we are alike -- all of us people, all over the world. Our fears, our love, and our tragedies. Outstanding novel -- moving and unforgettable. Highly recommended!

Three years later, he climbs to the top of Mt. McKinley and never comes down. In the weeks that follow, Bean is left in limbo, half expecting him to come home. But who comes home instead is Mick's elderly mother, Hanna, who grates on Bean's nerves with her incessant chatter and chain smoking. Finally, Mick's body is found and, left with nothing, Bean and Hanna decide to go home.

Only, after all that time together, the two women find they've built a bond between each other. A bond they decide they can't live without. So, instead of going their separate ways, Bean and Hanna move together to San Francisco where they struggle with their grief and try to figure out, together, how to move forward without Mick.

It's not a revolutionary plot concept. But the story here is really secondary. What makes this addictively readable novel great are the wonderful, intensely drawn characters and the unique, delightful writing. Marquis takes images and concepts we've encountered a thousand times and makes them seem completely new. His turns of phrase will make you pause and the emotions of his characters will stick with you even after you've turned the last page. I just loved this novel (though after the chapter about the conditions on the "slime line" at the fishery, I may never eat canned fish again!). Can't wait to see what this new novelist puts out next. Highly recommended! (9/16/2004)

Man, I sure hope her kids never read this book, about how their births took so much from their mother. Ugh, how awful it would be to hear that. I feel pretty badly for them, to be honest.

Of course, I'm not a mother. So, what the heck do I know, right? And she did say in the preface that her intended audience was mothers (from which I now extrapolate that the intended is NOT wannabe-mothers like me). I should've taken that as a warning, as I found this book pretty troubling. But that's hardly Cusk's fault -- she was just being open. And courageous, as her feelings are not ones you often hear mothers being honest about. As always, her writing is strong, and this book is well-crafted and peppered with interesting bits of politics, philosophy, and literature. Cusk is a terrific author. But I think I should've just stuck with her fiction. Ugh.

The clues end up taking Houseman and his friend and partner, DCI Agent Hester Gorse, to the local kosher meat packing plant, where both men worked. Their coworkers, though, were almost all illegal aliens (Mexicans), and when they heard about the murders, they ran. After some intensive investigating, however, Houseman and Gorse find a witness who knows exactly what's going on. Though he tries to mislead them at first, Carl and Hester quickly discover themselves smack dab in the middle of a complex terrorist plot and their quest to capture the man at its helm will culminate in an extremely suspenseful stand-off that makes the O.K. Corral look like a block party.

Once again, Harstad, a former Iowan deputy sheriff himself, has crafted an exceedingly well-written and thrilling police procedural. I love these characters and their relationships with each other, and I especially love the way Harstad incorporates so much "radio" jargon into their dialogue. For some reason, this just makes you feel that much more like an insider -- it gives the characters a legitimacy and depth. In fact, these characters are so well-developed I forget they're fictional and Harstad's skill at sucking you into their world is just honestly unsurpassed. This is how you write a cop novel, people! And it was especially satisfying after last week's tedious Robert B. Parker novel ("Stone Cold"). If you haven't discovered Carl Houseman yet, you're really missing out. Start with "Eleven Days," the first book in the series. I dare you not to get hooked! Can't wait for the next one, Harstad! (11/7/03)

It's the true tale of a young soldier during the Spanish American War who was given an order by his boss to take a message to a man in Cuba named Garcia. The young soldier essentially saluted, turned around, and took off with the message, without stopping to ask any questions ("Why?" "What's in the message?" "What should I do if. . .?" "Who's this Garcia fellow anyway?" e.g.). The soldier goes to Cuba, tracks down Garcia, and hands over the message. Then he returns to his post and resumes his usual duties. Get it, got it, did it, done.

What is this story supposed to tell us? It's supposed to tell us, hey, take the time to think for yourself for a change, and spare everybody else the task of having to do all your thinking for you. Oy, if only there had been a tactful way for me to present a copy of this book to that old colleague of mine -- she could've really used the wake-up call! The message of this book is a good one and I think it's great my dad gave it to my brother when my brother was a teenager -- perfect timing. It's an idea I'll definitely keep in mind for when/if I have my own kids.

Incidentally, if you've read this book, you might be interested in the other thing my brother passed along to me, which was a printout of an essay called "How I Carried the Message to Garcia" written by Andrew Summers Rowan (the young soldier from Hubbard's book). Hubbard's book is more about the metaphor itself; this essay is about what actually happened to Rowan on his quest to track down Garcia and deliver the message. It can be found on the web at http://www.foundationsmag.com/rowan.html. Recommended! (4/29/2006) [read me!]

It's the true story of Frey's six weeks in drug rehab. It opens with him waking up on an airplane, covered in blood and vomit, with absolutely no idea where he is, how he got there, or where he's going. When he gets off the plane at the other end, his parents are there and they promptly drive him to a clinic. At first, James rejects the very idea of getting better -- for one thing, the counselors tell him AA and the Twelve Steps are the only way, and he simply refuses to believe that is true. He doesn't accept that there is any kind of "Higher Power" out there, let alone one that would be interested in listening to him whine and make excuses all day, and he says if that's really the only way anyone ever gets better, then that's it -- he's going to die.

But, slowly, James begins to make strong friends at rehab, his two closest being an older man named Leonard, who he knows is involved with organized crime and who becomes a second father to him by the end of the book, and a woman he's not supposed to know at all named Lily (men and women are forbidden to mix at the clinic but the two fall in love anyway). The more time James spends sober, the more he begins to realize the damage his addictions have done (to him and his family) and how much he wants to overcome those addictions and live a normal, healthy, happy life. Though he rejects the notion of the Twelve Steps, he finds strength from the Tao Te Ching, and eventually, he decides he's simply going to will himself not to drink or do drugs ever again -- a technique that apparently was successful for him since now, twelve or so years later, he's a sober, published author with a few screenplays under his belt and a new book out ("My Friend Leonard," which starts up where this one leaves off). As if that weren't enough, he's also the first modern-day writer Oprah has featured in her book club since the Jonathan Franzen incident of 2001 drove her back to the classics.

What I found the most amazing about this book, aside from its gut-wrenching story, is its unbelievably intense writing style. Frey writes with a completely raw, emotional voice that at times feels almost out of control -- like water gushing from a broken pipe. In some passages, he gets going so quickly and with so much energy and desperation that he omits punctuation altogether, creating an effect that actually felt somewhat like addiction to me. It's fast, uncontrolled, desperate, passionate, and go go go. After only a few pages, I was so hooked, I couldn't bear to set this book down until it was all over. I've never read anything that made me feel quite like that before. It's one of the most unique voices I've encountered in a really long time.

"A Million Little Pieces" is the first book I've read in 2006, but I won't be surprised if it also ends up being the best book I've read in 2006. Check back in 12 months and see if I'm still raving about it incessantly. And, if you haven't read it yet yourself, get your hands on a copy as soon as possible. This book is incredible. Highly, HIGHLY recommended!

Addendum (1/29/2006): Despite all the scandal and hoopla surrounding the veracity of elements of this book (see The Smoking Gun report on Frey's lies), I still stand by my original description of this book as a unique, powerful piece of writing. Fiction or non-fiction, I still think it's damn good. It's a shame Frey felt the need to lie -- something that I feel is more a part of the pathology of his addiction than it is some cosmic character flaw -- but regardless, I do believe that the meat of this book is true. And I'm willing to forgive Frey for manipulating my emotions so unfairly, as long as he's learned something from this experience (and after being utterly humiliated on the Oprah Winfrey show, let's hope he has). That said, I'm unlikely to read the sequel to this memoir, "My Friend Leonard," as it's about the time Frey spent in prison, something we now know never even happened, and that's enough to make me doubt the truthfulness of anything else he might have to say about himself at this point. But if Frey publishes a work of bonafide fiction next, I'll be first in line to check it out. I think he has a terrific voice and style, and I'm willing to give him a chance to prove himself to me one more time. (1/4/2006) [read me!]

The story focuses on a 16 year-old girl in 1906 named Mattie Gokey who has finally managed to break free of her domineering father and taken a job at a local hotel, a job she hopes will earn her the money she needs to go to college. While at the hotel, she has a conversation one hot afternoon with a guest -- a young woman named Grace Brown. Grace gives Mattie a packet of letters and asks Mattie to destroy them for her. The next day, Grace is found dead in the river, supposedly the victim of a boating accident.

The description of the plot on the book's cover had made it sound like this mystery was going to be the main thread of the novel. Additionally, Grace Brown's story is based on a true story, one Theodore Dreiser first novelized in his book An American Tragedy. Having seen that in the description, I went into this novel expecting it to A) be a crime story, and B) be written in a somewhat "literary" style. But by that aforementioned halfway mark, I could see it just wasn't going in either direction. Instead, the plot primarily stays focused on Mattie herself -- Mattie complaining about how her Dad never lets her do anything, Mattie whining about how much she wants to go to school and be a grown-up, Mattie expressing her desperation for independence and the chance to start over. Etc. etc. etc.

At first, this made no sense to me -- what the heck is going on in this book? You have the idea to tell a somewhat-famous true crime story from the perspective of a teenage girl and you waste it like this? It wasn't until I finished it that I realized I'd missed something very important on the cover. As it turns out, this is a YOUNG ADULT novel. It's not going likely to be a gritty, intense crime tale, nor is it going to be, say, at all Theodore Dreiser-ish. It's going to be what it is, which is essentially Little House on the Prairie, except set in a bigger town and lightly scented with a moderately scandalous murder, the implications of which primarily pass all the main characters right by.

I might've really enjoyed this book had I known it was a YA novel when I started reading it. Instead, I was just so confused and puzzled by what seemed like the author's wasting of a perfectly good idea that it mostly just made me feel peevish. So, my plan at this point is to give it a few more years and then try it again. I just can't tell if the 13 year-old me would've liked this novel if only the 34 year-old me hadn't gotten in her way (the 13 year-old me is still in there, you know -- she just has to be alerted when she's needed). If you've read this novel, I'd love to hear what you thought about it, especially if you read a lot of YA books and found this one to be a standout, good or bad. (8/17/2008) [read me!]

In this one, septuagenarian Sister Mary Helen has just gotten her new post at Mount St. Francis College, where she's been reunited with her old friend Sister Eileen (they were novices together decades ago). She's only there a few days when an earthquake hits San Francisco. When the shaking stops, the two old biddies decide they'd better check the building to make sure no one was hurt -- and they soon find, of course, a body.

The dead guy is one of the college's top professors, and it's clear he's been murdered. Before the mystery's solved, the sisters will uncover a heinous human trafficking ring at the college -- one helmed by none other than the dead professor himself, and involving the exploitation of countless illegal immigrants, as well as more than one murder. So, plenty have reason to want him dead -- but who actually did the evil deed?

Despite the fact this wasn't my favorite of the series, this is still an engaging mystery. It just didn't have as much funny banter between the main characters, and it didn't feel as "comfy" as some of the others. However, a series that actually improves with age can be a rare thing these days, so this is one no mystery fan should miss! I can't recommend it highly enough -- charming, entertaining, and very, very fun. (2/15/2006) [read me!]

The thanks they get? Starting the next day, the three men Alex helped rescue beat up his best friend Vinnie. And pretty soon, Alex and Vinnie realize they are no tourists. In fact, they're up to something illegal -- something regarding prescription drugs. Selling? Buying? Using? Trading for something even worse?

Meanwhile, Alex's new girlfriend, Canadian policewoman Natalie Reynaud, has just gone back to work after losing her partner. Nothing like getting right back on the horse, she thinks, so she immediately agrees to go undercover to try to help the Mounties bust a gang of gun smugglers. The only problem is the leader of that gang is the most terrifying man Natalie's ever encountered. And right about then is when all hell breaks loose, as Alex and Natalie's two cases collide violently, resulting in the shocking death of one of the characters in this series I'd come to greatly respect. Damn. Hate it when that happens.

This series consistently delivers with great mysteries, terrific characters, and a good sense of humor in all the right places. It's definitely become one of my top five favorite active series, and I'm hoping Hamilton keeps cranking out more of them with each passing year. If you haven't read any of these yet, add them to your list! Highly recommended! (4/18/2007) [read me!]

These are always satisfying, entertaining, and a blast to read, so if you haven't picked up an Anna Pigeon yet, get thee to the library STAT! Barr is a terrific writer and every time I read one of these, I think about how much fun it would be if somebody turned the series into a TV show. I wish some network or another would take that task on! (9/20/2007) [read me!]

A clue she finds at the scene (and withholds from the police, of course -- will Sister Joan never learn?) leads her to Michael Peter, a local antiques dealer with a bizarre hobby and a bit of a snobbish attitude. Right about this same time, a young woman who had read an article about Sister Joan's involvement with the police on a past case comes to Joan for help -- her sister Crystal has disappeared and she is too afraid of her brother-in-law to confront him and find out where she is. When it turns out that the brother-in-law is Michael Peter, the plot thickens!

Again, well-written, charming, and just all around entertaining. I can't wait until I forget the plots of these novels so I can start all over at the beginning again (eh, give me about three years -- they'll be like new!). Recommended! (12/9/2004)

Oh, the story? I almost forgot. It's about a young Romany (gypsy) boy who disappears right about the time people around town start acting pretty odd. The adults start talking about "evil" and the kids in Joan's school suddenly become, well, "good." Joan's first clue that something big is up is when things start disappearing from the convent chapel. But what at first seems like petty theft quickly expands into something far, FAR more sinister. Highly recommended, as usual! I do recommend reading these in order, by the way, as plots of earlier installments are often referenced in later ones. (9/12/2004)

The plot involves a series of seemingly unrelated murders at the local hospital -- Joan becomes involved when Mother Dorothy's godmother becomes one of the victims. And while I confess I found the actual resolution (and justification by the killer) of this mystery somewhat unrealistic, it's still, as usual, an absolute delight from start to finish. I will definitely miss this series and look forward to the day when I've forgotten all the plots and can start over. And for those of you who like "cozy" type mysteries set in small English countrysides, this is a series I highly recommend. Rock on, Sister Joan, wherever you are! You will be missed! (12/21/2004)

Who is after Magdalene, and why would they be leaving roses all over the place as a warning if their intention was to kill her? It just makes no sense. But, thankfully, Sister Joan and Detective Sergeant Mill are on the case! And while Joan has the ironic audacity in this one to actually think to herself, "withholding evidence is a serious crime!" despite the fact she is CONSTANTLY withholding evidence, this is another fine installment in the series. Recommended! (11/1/2004)

Only seven of the ten old friends show up at the reunion and Joan is shocked to discover the three missing pals are actually dead -- each one a victim of various freak accidents. But the rest of them have such a good time together they decide to follow Joan back to the convent and have an extended reunion retreat in the peaceful religious setting.

Only, of course, things don't stay peaceful for long. A young gypsy boy is murdered soon after the gang arrives and the case very much resembles the murder of another little boy ten years earlier -- a boy that several of Joan's friends had a connection to. As the odd behaviors and coincidences pile up, Joan starts to realize someone wanted the group to reunite for a very sinister reason. And that that person has murdered at least six people to cover up a terrible secret.

These books aren't flawless -- just about every one has contained a plot element that I found unrealistically convenient (plus, Joan is constantly obstructing justice by keeping things from the police and, oddly, they never seem to mind -- this has never made any sense to me!). But the characters and setting are just so enjoyable, I'm very willing to overlook the few problems. I love these and it'll truly be a sad day when I finally turn the last page of the last one. Highly recommended! (10/14/2004)

Another delightful installment in one of the most thoroughly entertaining mystery series I've come across in years. Recommended!

In just two installments (the local library didn't have the second volume of this series, so I've read one and three so far), this has become one of my all-time favorite mystery series. Sister Joan is just a wonderful character -- intelligent, witty, and even sarcastic at times. And the setting of this one was delightfully creepy and extremely well-drawn. I just really, really enjoyed it. So, if you're in the mood for some terrific writing and a riveting mystery, pick up the first in this series, "A Vow of Silence." I can't wait to read all the others, and sure hope Black is planning to keep churning them out! Recommended! (8/17/2004)

The main character is a nun named Sister Joan. This novel, the first in the series, introduces us to Joan a few years after she entered her holy profession. She became a nun later in life than usual, following a bitter break up with a man she truly loved. This piece of baggage is something she is still struggling with -- and it adds an interesting and very relatable level to Joan's character.

She's spent her whole nun-life so far with the same set of sisters, so she's understandably reluctant when her Reverend Mother asks her to transfer to another convent. But then the Mother explains why -- a close friend of hers from that convent sent her a mysterious and cryptic letter, and then a few days later, she was dead. The Mother wants Joan to infiltrate the other convent and poke around a bit. Something seems fishy and the Mother wants Joan to find out what.

From her first day at the new convent, Joan is uneasy. Her new Mother wears nail polish and perfume and has some extremely unorthodox beliefs about Mary Magdalene. As Joan settles in, she gradually begins to discover things that disturb her. And before long, she has grown to suspect at least one murder has been committed and that this convent has morphed into a very, very unholy place.

Note for the record that I'm not a Christian and that while this novel is about nuns, it's not what I'd call a "religious" book. It's a good old-fashioned whodunit with your typical reluctant armchair detective at its helm. I find nuns and convent life fascinating and that made this doubly fun for me. But any lover of a good mystery will enjoy this. Recommended! (5/8/04)

Between that beginning and that end lies page after page of fascinating history, geology, botany, and biology, as well as some of the most hilarious stories about two rookies in the woods you will ever read (still chuckling over the invisible bears scene). I absolutely savored every page of this book and hope some day to give that trail a try myself. Bryson is a wonderful writer, with a terrific sense of humor. I can't wait to get my hands on all his other books. Highly recommended!

The series is about a private detective, John Taylor, who has a supernatural gift of sorts and spends most of his time solving cases in an other-worldly section of London known as "the Nightside." The Nightside is a dangerous, magical place, full of serious bad guys, all kinds of weird creatures, and a multitude of eerie sights and sounds. As the series opens, Taylor, born in the Nightside, has finally managed to escape its pull, moving into an ordinary brownstone in the ordinary city and making a fairly satisfying life for himself as an ordinary PI in the ordinary world.

Everything's all woo-hoo-normalcy! until a new client walks through his door. Joanna Barrett is a no-nonsense, type-A, hot momma, and she wastes no time with pleasantries. Instead, she sits down in a chair, crosses her dashing gams, and announces she needs his help and she needs it now. As it turns out, Barrett's teenage daughter has run away again. Only this time, instead of the usual treks to the big city to get into everyday sorts of trouble, Joanna is convinced she's managed to get herself into the Nightside - no mean feat, since there isn't exactly a door. Not wanting to get sucked back into that place, where Taylor was born and spent most of his life erasing and redrawing the line between good and evil, he first refuses her case. But Joanna Barrett is a hard woman to say no to, and that's why Taylor soon finds himself returning to the place of his birth, Barrett right there at his side (refusing, as you'd expect her to, to maintain a safe distance).

All three of the novels in this single volume combine this type of traditional private eye story with the kind of characters and events we're more used to seeing in stuff like The X-Files. In other words: it's a fairly weird and decently intriguing combination. Three books in, I do have to report that I don't find these novels to be terribly well-written. But they're steadily improving, and even when they're a bit on the clunky, juvenile side, they're still satisfyingly entertaining. The wife of the friend who loaned them to me recently referred to them as "brain candy," and, well, yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. A good choice for those days when you just want to escape into a story without having to fire off too many synapses.

The Nightside series is definitely worth picking up if the combination of Sherlock Holmes and Fox Mulder sounds like an intriguing concept. Don't be too put off by the quality of the first two, though - as I said, though Green takes his time finding his stride, once he does, these books turn into a bizarrely engaging kick in the pants. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more over the next few months.

Recommended! (2/22/2010)

The problem is, Dale doesn't actually remember anything about the summer of 1960. He just knows something happened -- something bad. Back home, he moves into the little farmhouse where his best friend Duane used to live, and begins trying to dig out the memories he needs to write his novel. And here's where, as in Summer of Night, the story unfortunately spins wildly out of control in a direction that makes no actual sense. Suddenly Dale finds himself being haunted by two dead people from his past. Okay, that's cool by me. But the two people chosen -- well, uh, why them, exactly? One of them was barely in the first book, and certainly didn't play a major role at all in Dale's life. Even more bizarrely, while all this haunting is going on, Dale's also being threatened in a more real way by a group of, wait. . . SKINHEADS? Wha. . .?

Yet, as with the similarly nonsensical Summer of Night, I couldn't put this book down once I picked it up. Maybe Simmons' trademark style is stories that make no sense? That, indeed, don't even make a good-faith effort to make sense? I never would've said that would be the kind of story I could get into. Usually loose ends and badly explained events really irk me when I encounter them in novels. But this time. . . it was almost more disturbing because it was so ludicrous. I have no explanation for my reaction to either novel, but regardless, I really liked them both. I'm definitely going to be seeking out more of Simmons' novels -- if only to see if they are all as ridiculous and as utterly addictive as these two were. Just. . . just weird, man. Anyway, recommended. I think. (7/22/2006) [read me!]

Three visits later, I had the first day without any back pain whatsoever that I've had in over a decade. Call me a believer -- I have been healed! As a librarian, of course, my immediate response to this revelation was: I NEED INFORMATION! After not believing at all in this type of medicine, I suddenly found myself overwhelmed by the urge to learn more, and have since checked out about half a dozen books from the library that I hope will educate me on the mysteries of not only acupuncture, but many other aspects of Chinese medicine as well.

This is a great book for beginners and new patients, as it lays out the basics in a very accessible Q&A format. It covers everything from what you should expect from your first acupuncture visit (not just jumping right into the needle part, but instead starting off with a lengthy examination and medical history), to the basics of Chinese medical theory (Qi, Yin/Yang, etc.). I still have a lot of questions I felt haven't been satisfactorily answered after reading this, but I do have a better overall sense of the basics, and from there, I think I'll find it a lot easier to delve in a bit deeper into the more advanced texts. Definitely recommended, and if you are someone with chronic pain, particularly neuromuscular pain, I really can't stress strongly enough how much you really need to try this therapy out. If you have any questions about it, or you want to know more about how I've been doing with the treatments myself, please don't hesitate to email me! I can't believe I waited this long to try acupuncture -- don't be dumb like me! (7/1/2007) [read me!]

This novel was just as much fun as the other one I read, though neither one is perfect (ridiculously, all the nuns in this one kept incessantly quoting Shakespeare -- even a nun from a different order was doing it. Is memorizing Shakespeare some kind of nun thing? Or did the author just want to show off how well-read she was? Somehow, methinks the latter more than the former). Still, these are great, light reads with solid mystery plots and entertaining characters. I'll be devouring this whole series over the next month or two for sure. Recommended! (11/15/2005) [read me!]

The main character, Lindsay Chamberlain, is both a forensic anthropologist and an archaeologist. When this novel opens, she has just survived a kidnapping (which I presume is how the previous novel ended?) and has been sent by her boss to the Smokies to help out with a dig. A nice, easy, peaceful dig that he hopes will give her time to cope with her fears and refocus.

Instead, the dig turns out to be haunted, Lindsay get sucked into a murder investigation, and someone starts leaving her threatening notes. Hardly a vacation! This was a great book -- fascinating science (Connor is an archaeologist and provides lots of cool details), great characters, and an extremely suspenseful plot. My only complaint is that since EVERY chapter ended with a cliffhanger, it was damn hard to put the book down at bedtime! Perfect for fans of the early Patricia Cornwell novels or Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan books. Those are slightly better written, but any fan of those stories will love this one as well. I'm hooked!

Rich in details of quilting, Civil War-era America, and the realities of life for women in the 19th century, this is a light-hearted, fast-paced and delightful novel. I couldn't have picked a better book for the stressful week before Christmas! Highly recommended!

You see, I was MAD CRAZY about Blackout after I finished it. I loved it! Sure, there were a few story-related elements I was concerned about, but I figured all would be fixed and explained by the end of the second book. As it turned out, though, this was only half-true. Things were explained, sure, but they were definitely not fixed. In fact, they just got more and more broken until I finally got to the information I'd been dying for the entire time -- the explanation for why/how time travel trapped a group of historians from the future in London during the Blitz of WWII -- and that information ended up totally blowing my mind. WITH ITS ABSOLUTE LAME-ITY LAMENESS.

That said, even if the time travel thing had been resolved in a way I could get behind, I would still have been super-duper disappointed by All Clear. Listen up -- I enjoyed this story a LOT and I'm VERY glad I read it and I want to make that perfectly clear (before you guys go off on me for hating Connie Willis, whose previous novels I have adored), but this was a sloppy piece of writing and it's made me wonder what the heck Willis was thinking. Why didn't she just write the novel she so clearly wanted to write? The general-fiction WWII novel? Why throw in this half-assed, totally unnecessary sci-fi element? Just because she was expected to, as a genre writer? Well, that ain't good enough, Ms. Willis! Not by a long shot!

I can't say much about the ending of this book (the why/how part) without ruining the whole thing for everyone who hasn't read it, but I can complain about a few specific problems I had with the series overall pretty safely, I think.

My number one rant is that this series was absolutely, without a doubt, too damn long. The second installment in particular featured repetitive after repetitive after repetitive everythings -- the characters had the same conversations over and over (was that the retrieval team? have you seen the retrieval team? was that the retrieval team? hey, did you see the retrieval team yet?), they did the same things over and over (another subway play, another night in the bomb shelter, some more shenanigans from the kids), etc. Everything was just the same stuff over and over and over, and while I suppose you could argue that's sort of how the Blitz itself was, that kind of repetition didn't do this crazy-long story any favors, and it also started to kind of blur the edges of the characters for me (especially the two women, who began to seem to me like they were the same person talking constantly to herself). The characters I had found so intriguing in the first novel were boring the absolute bejesus out of me by the end of the second.

It would've been incredibly easy for Willis to have kept this novel the length of a single book -- the second book's important features could easily have been edited down to about 100-200 pages, making for a super-long single book, but certainly not the longest I've ever read. More importantly, as I said earlier, she could have simply made this a novel about the Blitz, leaving out all the science-fiction time travel stuff to begin with. I liked very much the idea that, in the future, historians will travel back in time to observe important events personally. But that didn't actually make any sense. Nor was there any attempt to explain what they were doing with this new information that made the work so tremendously important. I mean, first of all, why would that kind of technology go to HISTORIANS? Out of all the kinds of people in the world? Clearly, in the story, historians were the only ones allowed to use the technology, but how did they manage to keep other people, especially people in other countries, from doing it too? Only the British get to travel in time? Not bloody likely.

Besides, surely the technology required would've cost a fortune -- you're trying to tell me that in 50 years, history departments are going to be the ones rolling in the bucks? I was willing to suspend my disbelief on that element for the sake of the intriguing idea. But when that idea flopped so disastrously at the end, all the little things that had been niggling at me throughout came out whompin' instead.

Am I glad I read Blackout and All Clear? Yes! Definitely! While I was obviously disappointed overall, I still enjoyed VERY, VERY MUCH the parts of the novel that focused on the Blitz itself. I've read and heard from readers here that some of the little details Willis included in the narrative were inaccurate -- using the wrong terminology for money or phone booths, putting skunk cabbage in England where it doesn't belong, minor stuff like that -- but the historical information about the Blitz itself seemed fairly reliable, and she certainly quite clearly and profoundly conveyed the fear, courage, determination, and ritual the British people sank into during what must have seemed to them a never-ending onslaught of death. Those were some amazing people, those Brits. And I'm really glad I got to spend so much time with them, getting to look inside their lives and witness the incredible ways in which they were able to cope with such horrors with such aplomb.

If only the novel(s) had been about THOSE GUYS instead of the three idiots from the future, this would've been an absolutely mesmerizing series. (I call them "idiots," by the way, because of another little quibble I had -- these three were supposed to be HISTORIANS, yet they seemed to have an astonishing lack of knowledge about history, at least beyond whatever details had been "installed" on a computer chip in their brains before their travels). Instead, it's distracted, overly long, and not nearly as thought-provoking scientifically as Willis's other novels about time travel have consistently been.

Glad I read it. But I won't be reading it again. If you're interested in WWII novels, you might find this series enjoyable for that aspect alone. But sci-fi lovers probably need not apply. (8/26/2011) [buy it]

The problem is that, in my opinion, the author was far too focused on the witch's actions. Since the witch mainly came at night, that left Sanders-Self with a whole lotta days to pass for the Bell family. And here is where the novel could have been really wonderful -- had these days had plot as well, had they been fully developed explorations of early 19th century life, had the author taken her time with them, this book would have been terrific historical fiction. Instead, she races through the days to get us back to the witchipoo, and the witch itself is pretty damn dull. For most of the book, the spirit's motivation is completely unknown to the family or the reader. And at the end, when the reason the Bell Witch has come is finally explained, it hardly makes one sympathetic towards it after the hell it's put the entire family through. Needlessly. And with far too much drama.

To me, it seemed like Sanders-Self had the wrong focus. Sure, it's a book about the Bell Witch, so it only makes sense that it focus on the witch itself. But what the tale of the Bell Witch REALLY is (in my opinion), is a story of a time, its people, and their superstitions and personalities. Had that been the backbone of the novel, it would have been irresistible. Instead, this is a long-winded, ridiculous, and ultimately completely unsatisfying ghost story. You won't be scared, you won't be moved, you won't learn anything, you won't be entertained. And, unfortunately, you sure won't be missing anything if you just pass on this novel.

This is the first one that came in, and it's a good little book for total rookies like me. It's about 12 years old, but I figured the basics of plumbing probably haven't changed all that much since 1993. The book features large, simplified diagrams of various tools and systems, and step-by-step instructions on doing some common plumbing repairs on your own. I think that had I had this book last week, I might have gotten a little further with the kitchen sink, though it's hard to say. The bad thing about this book, though, is that it didn't address the other problem we're having, which is that our toilet sometimes doesn't stop running after you flush it. The book has a chapter on this, but it only uses a ball-float-type system as an example, and that's not the type of innards our toilet tank has.

I think our problem is related to the float, which isn't a ball but is instead a hunk of circular plastic that sits on top of the vertical thingy that sits on top of the "ball cock" (a term I learned from the book and which I can't actually say without snickering, for obvious reasons). Our float doesn't really float all the way up sometimes, and to stop the running, you have to go in and lift it the rest of the way up. The previous owners had foolishly put a brick into the tank to conserve water, not, apparently, taking into consideration the fact that bricks are made out of mud, and that mud is made out of dirt and water. Put mud into more water and what you end up with is MORE MUD. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist, no offense. So, our toilet tank is now disgustingly cruddy and even though I have replaced the brick with a 1L plastic bottle of water (which works just as well, I might add), I haven't had much success in getting rid of all the melted brick that remains. My guess is that all the parts now have a lot of dirt built up on them and that the float is so cruddy it can no longer float as freely and easily as it's supposed to. My float longs to be free! Free my float! Unfortunately, this book didn't show me how to take that type of apparatus apart so I could clean it, and I'm afraid to do that without instruction, lest I find myself unable to put it all back together. It's our only toilet, after all, and even though I live in the outdoorsy Northwest, I'm simply not the kind of girl who enjoys peeing in bushes.

So, I'll have to wait for my next plumbing book to show up at the library. However, I did learn quite a bit from this guide about the basic structures and functions of home plumbing, and I would recommend it to anyone else who is just getting started. A great beginner's book. Incidentally, if you have any suggestions about my toilet, or recommendations for other good beginner home repair books, make sure to let me know! (7/21/2005)

But though I found it entertaining enough overall, especially in the beginning, it took a turn for the boring and befuddled somewhere around the midpoint, and I found myself increasingly frustrated by the author's lack of thoughtful use of the story's primary gimmick: the book is a collection of blog posts, complete with comments from "readers," and I really feel like Roux wasted an opportunity to do something truly interesting with that set-up. More on that in a bit.

Here's how the story goes: Allison Hewitt is one of a group of bookstore employees recently trapped together by the zombie apocalypse. Luckily, she's trapped with a still-functional laptop and a working wi-fi network, and she immediately starts to blog her situation to anybody who might still be alive out there in the world.

As supplies begin to run low and morale collapses (no bathrooms and a steady diet of break-room beef jerky will do that for you), Allison manages to convince a couple of her colleagues to join her in a quest to get to the apartments above the store and see if any of them are habitable. She grabs a fire axe, the others grabbing baseball bats and fire extinguishers, and together, they burst out into the store, whacking zombie heads left and right, and scramble upstairs. (The zombie fight scenes are a little "been there, done that," I'll grant you, but still fun.)

After some exploration, they decide the group's gotta move in. They can't stay in the break-room -- the time for panic has passed, they're alive and likely to stay that way if they're careful, and it's time to move forward. The group takes over two apartments and tries settling down into a more manageable life. But when Allison discovers a broadcasting radio station, the gang decides the next step is to leave the building altogether and try to make it over to the university campus -- where the broadcast is coming from and where, the broadcaster reports, a large group of survivors have begin to collect.

Maybe Allison's mother is there, you see? Maybe Phil's family. They can't ignore the possibility, so they set out with what little supplies they have left in pursuit of a larger community.

Most of the group manages to make it to campus safely, but that's where the story starts to fall apart. There's a bizarre plot twist involving a group of fanatically religious women who kidnap and torture Allison and her friends; a boring, boring, borrrrrring love story between Allison and an astronomy professor; and a gang of militant survivors trying to force themselves into power, shooting anybody who dares challenge their authority.

Most of the second half of the book is an absolute mess, with a lot of inconsistencies in the story and subplots I feel like I've seen/read a million times already in both the zombie and post-apocalyptic genres. That might've been okay, though, were it not for my increasing frustration over the blog format.

The problem was that I felt Roux could've done more with that device, and I was annoyed that she wasn't bothering. Despite the fact it made little sense Allison was able to keep a laptop running AND access a still-operational wi-fi network (whatever -- I was willing to roll with it), when I first realized Roux was going to include comments from readers, I got a little bit excited. I was expecting a whole second storyline to develop in the comments section, as people chimed in from all over, swapping stories and advice, starting flame wars from all the stress and anxiety, forming relationships between themselves and with Allison, etc. All the stuff that typically DOES happen in a blog comment section (hi, guys!). At the very least, I was expecting more emotionally charged content and question-asking. What's going on? My god, I just had to kill my own mother. That sort of thing.

Instead, there are only a couple of comments per "post," and most of them are totally vacuous (Keep fighting, Allison! Hey, we're on a boat, tra la!). Disappointing. Occasionally, Roux tried to shove in an incongruously-timed comment from a reader suddenly logging on to despair, and once there was a father posting about his infected son, but none of these comments were particularly emotionally evocative, in part because the replies to them from Allison and other "readers" were usually bizarrely cavalier and quick. Instead of exploring what that father might be going through, for example, Allison just says something flip like, "He's not your son anymore -- kill him!"

Man, great opportunity wasted to explore some of the painful, personal side of the whole end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it thing, instead of just the gleeful zombie-killing adventure side (which is mostly what this novel deals with -- nobody seems to think twice about killing anybody in this book, even zombies they recognize, which I just found strange, though that's not uncommon in the genre, really).

One positive note: I did like the fact each blog post/chapter's name was a relevant book title (In Defense of Food, A Room with a View, Things Fall Apart, e.g.) -- clever, but not enough to save this novel from its thorough lack of originality. That was what the format needed, and failed, to do.

Overall, I'd say this one's definitely worth picking up if you're in the mood for something brainless (pun intended) and fun, but while I did find it entertaining (I read the whole thing, after all), after reading the excerpt from Roux's upcoming second novel (included at the end of this book), I don't think I'll be going on from here.

Fooey. (2/25/2011) [buy it]

This non-fiction book is about the massive culture-shock that ensues, and Turnbull's funny and light writing style make it hard to put down. I did have two complaints, though. One is that it's about fifty pages too long (one too many dinner parties and that whole section about her dog should've been axed by an editor). And the other is that she really never talks about her new relationship with Frederick. This book is all about the icy, inaccessible snobs of Paris, and how to find a job as an international freelance reporter, instead of about the challenges of starting a relationship with someone you barely know by moving to their foreign country and cohabitating immediately. Yet you know this must have been just as tumultuous and difficult, and I for one would've been curious to hear some of those stories as well.

Nevertheless, this is an engaging and entertaining book and one I'd definitely recommend to anybody who is a fan of this genre. I still think Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" is better, but this one certainly holds its own. If Turnbull ever writes a sequel, I'll be first in line to check it out. Recommended! (5/4/2005)

This hilarious and poignant book is the story of what happened next in Jane's life. It takes us through her training, on site at her first accident, into the hospital where she bonds with a dying AIDS victim, and all the way to becoming the first woman officer of her department. Her stories will make you laugh, and her determinance will inspire the pants off you. I've often thought about becoming an EMT myself, actually. But I never thought I'd really be able to do it. Though I'm still not sure I'm ready to sign up, thanks to Jane, I know I could make it if I really wanted to. This is one awesome lady, folks. Oh, and also a damn fine writer to boot. Read this book! You're going to love it. (9/8/03)

This is the prequel of sorts to The Da Vinci Code, which I never read (but I did see the movie, which I think should count for something when it comes to this genre -- which is to say, the genre du crappe). I say "prequel of sorts" because Brown actually wrote this one first, it's just that it flopped due to its terribleness and nobody read it until the second book came out and hit the bestseller list.

Now Angels and Demons is also a movie, this time starring Tom Hanks without the bad hair, and so the paperback has worked its way back onto airport newsstand shelves. Coincidentally, I was recently at an airport newsstand. And thus, this.

The plot of this novel has to do with a container of antimatter stolen from CERN by terrorists and then hidden somewhere in the Vatican, set to blow up just as the Papal Conclave elects the new Pope. The flaws in this novel regarding science are too many to list, but I can sum them up by telling you that there is a chapter in which the Pope's First Officer (or whatever they call that guy in non-Star-Trek terms) delivers a speech that includes the phrase, and I quote, "science killed wonder."

This is a phrase only someone who is completely clueless -- and I mean COMPLETELY CLUELESS -- about science would ever say. Pshaw. Utter nonsense.

Here's the thing, though: the parts of this novel that involve running around looking for the clues that will lead Tom Hanks and Whatshername to the antimatter so they can save the Pope People? Those parts are actually kind of fun. Brown's problem isn't that he can't tell a thrilling story, it's that he can't do it without cluttering up the good parts with a lot of totally boring and pointless crapporama. Also, he is a bad writer -- that is, his actual wordsmithing is BAD. His writing lacks in flow; it's choppy and amateurish. His dialogue doesn't feel legitimate. His descriptions of settings and people lack creativity and panache. And entire chapters were complete throwaways, which is something I hate with a vengeance.

What this novel needed was stronger editing, and it's too bad it did not get it. Did The Da Vinci Code? If you've read that one and thought it was dramatically better than this one, let me know in the comments and I'll give it a try.

I bet the movie version of this book is total goofy fun, by the way. But I'll definitely be waiting for the DVD. (5/19/2009)

For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's the story of a young, fiery orphan girl named Anne Shirley. She is taken from the orphanage when Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, brother and sister and getting on up there in years, decide they want to adopt a child who can help them around the farm. They were expecting a boy and were surprised when Anne showed up instead, but she so charmed them right off the bat they couldn't turn her away. Eventually, after some initial upsets and excitement, they become as loving and close a family as if they'd always been together. Anne herself is a chatty, imaginative and intelligent child and it's just great fun reading about her daydreams and her daily life on the farm and in school. The miniseries (and I've now seen two of the three movies) is wonderful, but the book adds so much more dimension to Anne because you get to experience more of her thoughts and ramblings. I just thoroughly enjoyed this -- in some ways, I'm glad I never found it as a kid, because that means I get to discover it NOW instead! I'll be reading all the other books in the series gradually over the next few months, so watch for more! Highly recommended, for women of any age! (4/25/04)

True to form, one of the two main characters in "Appaloosa" is very, very Spenser-like, though I will confess it took me over half of the book to decide which one it was (it's Hitch). But the bad news is, this is really not a very good novel. It's got one of the oldest, most overdone Western storylines in the book -- the stereotypical "good guy" is hired by a town to rid them of the stereotypical "bad guy," although in this novel, the "good guy" is actually a team of two: Virgil Cole, an infamous lawman, and his big-strong-silent-type sidekick Hitch, a crack shot with an eight gauge (though, as Cole himself says, it's hard NOT to be a crack shot with an eight gauge). As if that weren't unoriginal enough, none of the characters themselves are unique in any way, shape, or form either. The prostitute with a heart. The "lady" who's a tramp. The cowardly politicians who don't quite know what to do with themselves. I'd say it felt like a homage to the genre, except that it's not accurate enough. The characters don't talk right -- they talk like Spenser -- and not a single person in this novel is real enough to care about.

The ending made me think this is likely to become another one of Parker's series, and maybe it'll improve as he gets a little more practice. But before he writes the next one, he needs to watch some episodes of "Deadwood" and stay away from old movies that will just reinforce the same tired old storylines and stereotypes this novel was mired in. All in all? Major disappointment. (8/9/2005)

What he didn't count on was that fairy's spunk. He makes the mistake of kidnapping Captain Holly Short, officer of the LEPrecon, and she's not your usual cute little elf. She's a savvy badass, and so is her boss, Root, who is determined to rescue Holly and stop Artemis in his tracks.

I've heard this book compared to "Harry Potter" more than once, which is why I picked it up when I saw it at the library recently. But I have to confess, I was kind of disappointed by it. It's not nearly as imaginative as the Potter series, nor was it as funny as I expected it to be. I loved Holly and her fellow elves and magic people, but Artemis himself -- eh, not so much. I enjoyed this one for the most part, but definitely am not intrigued enough to pick up any others in the series. Definitely recommended to kids, but I'm not sure adults will get as much out of this series as we have out of the Potter or Lemony Snickett books (which are much better written and far more magically delicious, in my humble human opinion). (11/1/2005) [read me!]

But then two things happen that change everything. First, Heck meets a young French refugee (a girl) and her family, and he falls in love with her just as he's packed off to battle. And then, during his first, frightening exposure to combat, Heck makes a horrifying discovery about himself -- he's a coward.

This is a short novel, but it is just amazingly written. I read whole scenes more than once, so struck was I by the quality of the prose -- images that come alive, or even just simple turns of phrase that just take your breath away. Heck is a lot more complex than you might've expected from a simple country boy, and watching him struggle with the harsh, confusing realities of war is just intense and enthralling. This is a tremendous novel -- don't miss it. Recommended! (3/24/2005)

Alas, I have to confess that while her perspective IS unique and interesting, I don't think it's made her a better doctor. Which is not to say she's a BAD doctor, but instead to say I don't think it's given her a step up in terms of understanding and compassion. Instead, it seems to have led to her a place where she can't help but compare each patient's own medical problems to her own, and rare is the patient who actually trumps her in terms of misery and pain. This struck me early on in the book, in the chapter in which she describes her experience treating a man who was dying from a lifetime of alcoholism. Instead of being truly compassionate about his obviously painful and difficult life, she can't help but rail against how unfair it is that he could've been completely cured if only he'd stopped drinking. She says things like, "If there were something I could give up, something I could stop doing, to make this go away, wouldn't I do it? Wouldn't I never have another glass of wine, another cup of coffee, another chocolate bar, ice-cream cone, strawberry?" Ice cream cone? Chocolate bar? Alcoholism isn't about choosing to keep drinking -- it's about the complete loss of that choice. And while I understand her frustration -- this is not a unique sentiment in regards to addicts -- I was disturbed by this reaction. Shouldn't a doctor know better? Shouldn't a doctor know that it's not that simple? When she later went on to talk about the cost of treating certain types of patients and wondered whether anyone would ever say it's a waste of money to treat someone like this unrepentant alcoholic, it felt disturbingly clear to me that she actually believed that it was. That that money was better spent on HER medical condition -- treatments that cost, she said, between $25-50K a year -- than on this guy who didn't have the willpower and strength to just quit eating his metaphoric ice cream cone.

I'm sure she'd deny this, and I'm sure when you're her patient, you don't encounter any of this type of sentiment directly from her. But it made me feel uneasy all the same. I think if I'd had an appointment with her before reading this book, I would cancel it after I was done. I'd be unable to talk to her frankly about my own ailments, all the time wondering if she was just rolling her eyes mentally, thinking, "She thinks she's in PAIN? She doesn't know what pain IS!" I'm sorry Weisman is so sick and has had such a difficult life. It's a truly awful, unforgiving disease and I admire her strength and persistence and her refusal to let her condition pin her down. But I'm not sure she's a better doctor because of her experiences. Is it just me? Or did others feel this way about it too? (9/16/2005)

It's the wonderfully written and imaginative story of a little six year old boy, the bastard son of a self-exiled prince named Chivalry. One day, his mother decides she's had enough of him and decides it's about time the royal family starts chipping in with the childcare, so she essentially ditches the little boy, leaving the king and his sons to figure out what to do with him. Because he's a bastard, he doesn't really fit into the family, yet, he IS family, and cannot, then, truly be ignored.

So, at first the little boy lives in a kind of limbo. He moves in with the stablemaster, Burrich, who takes him under his wing and names him "Fitz." But after he's gotten a bit older, the king decides it's time to give him a real job in the family. So, he moves Fitz into a dark room in the castle, and, that first night, a shadowy figure wakes him up. It's the king's poisoner -- his assassin -- and he's there to teach Fitz the ropes.

Meanwhile, the kingdom is under constant and brutal attack by a group of meanies called the Outislanders. Desperate to protect their land, the king decides it's time to start training more young people in the Skill -- a sort of ESP-ish power that allows people to get inside other people's heads and plant ideas or thoughts there (or simply communicate with them). Fitz is enlisted as one of the trainees, but the group's professor, Galen, hates him with a passion and soon has teamed up with one of the other princes, Royal, who is likewise a big jerk, to sabotage first Fitz's Skill training -- and then to go after his very life. Eventually, things come to a head when Fitz discovers Royal actually has it out for his own brother, Prince Verity (who has been nothing but kind to Fitz and who is also slated to inherit the throne). Fitz is forced to use the Skill, his assassin's training, the riddles of the court's fool, and another talent called "the Wit" (which allows him to communicate with animals), to try to save the kingdom. But can our young lad actually pull it off? And survive?

This book was an absolute delight from start to finish. I was immediately sucked into the story, and it just never let me go until I was done (and even then, I lost no time in putting book two on hold at the library). It's wonderfully well-written and is one of the most creative fantasy stories I've read since The Lord of the Rings. Adult fans of the Harry Potter books might also enjoy this one -- there were some similarities there as well, I noticed. In any case, even if you don't usually read fantasy, but. . . you should really consider giving this one a try. Highly, HIGHLY recommended. Can't stress that enough! (6/30/2006) [read me!]

Said concept? Vowell, who is a history buff, decides to go on a pilgrimage of three presidential assassinations (Lincoln's, McKinley's, and Garfield's), taking us to the sites of their deaths, the monuments of their lives, and everywhere in between, as she regales us with factual stories about the figures involved in the assassinations, as well as the cultural and political circumstances that led to the murders to begin with.

What I loved about this book was not only that it was extremely educational (I knew a lot about Lincoln's history, of course, but not much at all about McKinley's and Garfield's), but that it was quirky, witty, snarky, and just plain fun to read. Vowell is brilliant -- sharp-witted and sharp-tongued -- and the stories of these three men and the motivations of the various men who wanted them dead are just as riveting as any work of crime fiction. Highly, HIGHLY recommended, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Vowell as soon as possible! (2/25/2009) [read me!]

The novel tracks both the girl and the young man over the next decade or so of their lives, focusing strongly on their separate experiences during WWII (he as a soldier, she as a nurse). Both of their actions are continually influenced by their shared past and the emotions they cannot shake as a result of that one fateful day in their youth. The girl's shame weighs heavily on her -- and his anger and rejection of anything resembling forgiveness leads him down a path he never thought he'd be capable of traveling.

Taken together, this is a wonderful story of the evolution of peoples' minds as they experience their various pieces of life. It's a story not just about shame and forgiveness, so much as the struggle to put things right -- both of them -- the struggle for an atonement neither can really achieve.

Amazing story, amazing writing, amazing book! This was my first McEwan novel -- it definitely won't be my last. HIGHLY recommended!

She was right too -- this would've been the perfect novel for a snowy day indoors. And while I confess I found it slightly heavy on the silly and cheese, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and will be sure to track down others in the series.

It's about a wife and mother of two, Lori Shepherd, whose friend sends her out one afternoon on a solo hiking trip to clear her mind. It was all going surprisingly well, too, until Lori is blindsided by an unpredicted blizzard. Dazed by the sudden cold and blowing snow, Lori starts wandering in random directions until she finally stumbles across a huge old house in the park -- a mansion called Ladythorne. When she knocks, there's no answer. But a split second later, she's joined by another hiker, Wendy, who also got caught in the storm. Wendy has a crowbar and the two promptly bust inside and start looking for firewood to heat the place up.

Just as Wendy and Lori are settling in next to a warm fire, they're suddenly confronted by a raving man with a shotgun, who has another hiker, Jamie, in tow. The raving man turns out to be the mansion's caretaker, and after explanations are traded around, he settles down and offers to let the three hikers stay in the house until the snow clears.

As their stay progresses, however, Lori becomes increasingly suspicious of her fellow hikers. It's so odd -- so coincidental -- that they both are also Americans (this is set in England) and that they both also stumbled across Ladythorne in the storm. And eventually, Lori finds her suspicions are right -- the two hikers are there together and not by accident. The reasons why involve an old WWII story, a woman driven mad by fury and sorrow, and an invaluable set of jewels called the Peacock parure.

Where Aunt Dimity comes into all this is the "silly" part. She's dead, and Lori talks to her by writing in a magical notebook. Lori also talks to a stuffed animal as well, but since I confess I do that myself periodically, I can hardly hold that against her. The cheesy part comes in at the end, when all is revealed to be far less sinister than we all imagined it would be. But since the cheesy part made me a little misty, I can likewise hardly hold that against the author. All in all, it's not what I'd call "great literature." But if you're looking for a cozy -- a good, simple mystery for a snowbound day -- this is one I'd highly recommend. And I look forward to reading the others over the next year or two as well, as the cozy urge hits. (3/1/2005)

As it turns out, it's quite entertaining, though not without a few flaws. The main character of this series is a small-town Idaho sheriff named Bo Tully. When Bo is called in to a local ski lodge to investigate a missing person, he initially expects an open-and-shut case coupled with a vacation-esque stay at the lodge. But on the way there, he and his partners (his dad, Pop, who is a retired sheriff, and his buddy Dave) are nearly killed by an avalanche, leaving everybody at the lodge, including them, trapped for several days. After poking around a bit, Bo and his team quickly discovers that A) the missing person is actually a murder victim, and B) someone was trying to kill THEM with that avalanche.

Though the writing could've used a little tightening up in places, and McManus sometimes tries just a little too hard to be funny, for the most part, this is a thoroughly entertaining and engaging little romp. I really enjoy mysteries that are set in small locations (a mansion, a ski lodge where everybody is trapped, etc.), and this one was exactly what I wanted when I read it. I'll definitely be looking for the first book in this series, The Blight Way, and recommend this one to anybody who is in the mood for a light mystery with a comic edge and a lot of blizzardy snow. (9/5/2008) [read me!]

His second passion is for his work the other nine months of the year. He's a graduate student at Harvard, writing his thesis on the Amish. In particular, those Amish who have been shunned. He even spends several months living with a devout Amish family and through them becomes acquainted with Beulah, a young Amish woman who was banished from the community when her husband was shunned and she refused to respect the rules that said she must not touch him, speak to him, or even acknowledge his presence.

Jeremy himself is about to learn a little something about confusing and bitter exile, though. Because his third passion is for Max, one of his campers, a young boy with a rebellious nature and a seductive charm. And though Jeremy struggles to remain in control, ultimately he is forced to confront both his reprehensible desires and their root -- a legacy of sexual abuse perpetrated by counselors on campers at Ironwood. Abuse he experience himself as a camper there -- abuse Max now says he is a victim of as well (not by Jeremy, but by another counselor there).

This is an extremely well-written and thoughtful, intelligent novel that compares two communities where people are cast out when they let their passions overpower their sense of right and wrong. Where individual desire is grounds for exile, and all deeds must have the good of the group at heart. Though the situation at the camp is clearly far more disturbing than Beulah's shun-worthy crime, Lowenthal has a gentle touch with this topic. A non-judgmental touch that makes it hard not to feel compassion for Jeremy even while you recoil from his thoughts. And though this is ultimately a sad tale, Lowenthal is an incredible writer and his words will make you think as well as feel. Highly recommended! I'll be looking for more work by this author.(6/1/03)

Told later by a relative that Sophie had been seen floating dead in the local river, identified by the bright ribbons in her hair, Lillian packs up her grief, stuffs it deep into her suitcase, and does the only thing she can think of - she gets on a ship bound for New York City, leaving the bones of her old life, her husband, her daughter, her parents, behind.

In America, she connects with a cousin and soon finds work as a (very bad) seamstress at the Goldfadn Yiddish Theatre. The theater is owned by an older man, Reuben, and his handsome young (closeted gay) son Meyer. Spotting an opportunity to rein in Meyer's lifestyle, or at least his image, Reuben convinces him to marry Lillian and she agrees, recognizing the wealthy union as extremely practical. Meyer has no interest in her romantically, but he's a decent enough man, and when Reuben becomes enamored with her, Lillian offers herself up to him, as much for the human contact and connection as anything else.

Just as Lillian has begun to settle into her new life - not a great one, but it'll do - another cousin shows up at her door with news that brings her to her knees: Sophie's alive. She was rescued by another local Jewish family, the cousin says, who managed to escape with her to Siberia, where they are now living under a new name, completely safe. Alive. Alive. And safe.

Desperate to find her daughter, Lillian turns to her closest friend in New York, an elderly, sharp, caring gentleman named Yaakov - a fellow survivor of horror. Yaakov, though crushed to learn Lillian plans to leave, nevertheless teaches her everything she'll need to know to cross the country to Alaska, where she can safely pass through the Bering Strait into Siberia (attempting to go in through Europe, Yaakov says, would be suicide). He gives her money, a sturdy leather satchel, and a thesaurus, and Lillian packs her belongings, says her goodbyes, and boards the train west.

From there, Lillian's quest to Sophie takes us on an incredible tour of the U.S., from her first stop in Chicago, to the black quarter of Seattle (where she stays for a tumultuous time with a lively prostitute named Gumdrop), and finally deep into the Alaskan wild, where Lillian nearly dies more than once and ultimately finds her salvation.

This is an absolutely stunning novel, featuring the kind of brilliant writing that makes all other writing (especially my own) seem utterly pointless. Lillian is a lover of language, and so clearly is Amy Bloom. Several sentences - simple turns of phrase - made me gasp, others had me panting for more. And all the while, I lived and breathed through Lillian, seeing everything, feeling everything, wanting everything. The ending may strike some as pat; it made me weep.

Read this one. (5/5/2010)

Though Spenser usually charges a bit more than pastry for his services, he takes the case for Paul's sake. It turns out the bank was held up by a revolutionary group calling themselves "The Dread (sic) Scott Brigade." They've taken credit for the robbery and can only be the ones responsible for the shooting too. But after only a little digging, Spenser quickly realizes that what happened that day involves more than just a bunch of hippies who lost control and shot an innocent bystander. Because all of a sudden, a mob boss is threatening Susan's life if Spenser doesn't stop digging. And the FBI is being curiously unhelpful as well.

Another witty, entertaining mystery from Parker, who is one of my all-time favorite authors. Getting my hands on a new Spenser novel makes my whole day. And this one is a strong addition to the series with plenty of laughs, twists, and turns. Recommended! (4/18/03)

This is a funny, tender, and entertaining novel about the amazing love women can have for each other, and how profoundly that kind of love can change our lives. Only, really, it doesn't seem quite that cheesy, somehow, when you're actually reading it. Ahem. Ha ha. Recommended!

Boy, was I wrong (as usual)! After deciding to give the first chapter a try, damned if I didn't discover it was just as fantastic as everybody had been telling me it was. I couldn't put it down! Of course, it's full of tons of stories that didn't make it into the film. And, what's more, it's written so well, I couldn't stop turning page after page until I was done.

I will say I'm glad I saw the movie first (in fact, I've seen it twice), as it made it easier to envision some of the battle scenes and to keep the characters straight. But you could just as easily go the other way, I think. One thing's for sure, though -- you must experience both the book and the film. Getting to know these characters and what they were willing to sacrifice for themselves, each other, and their country, well, consider it your patriotic duty. Plus, the photo of Captain Nixon (played by Ron Livingston in the movie) the morning of V-E Day is absolutely priceless. Highly, HIGHLY recommended! (9/24/2004)

This new installment, the sixth in the series, has an intriguing plotline. One afternoon, while picnicking on the fields of a remote, abandoned farm, Tempe's dog starts to go crazy. He begins to tear at the earth over by the treeline, and moments later, he's discovered a pile of bones. Tempe quickly calls in the cops and organizes an official dig for more remains. When she gets the bones back to her lab, she determines that they are primarily skeletal bear remains. Except for the couple of human fingers. Uh oh.

Back to the farm the gang all heads, where they quickly discover in an outhouse the rest of a pair of hands, as well as a skull. In the meantime, a few other strange events are popping up - a small plane crash in which a pile of drugs is discovered along with the dead bodies of the two passengers, the discovery of a set of feathers from an extremely rare bird, threatening emails in Tempe's inbox, and the mysterious disappearance of a couple of Fish and Wildlife agents. Somehow, it seems, all these events are connected - connected to a woman whose baby Tempe found burned up in a furnace about a week before she found the bear bones. But how?

Okay, so, the storyline was a bit convoluted, but it was still as entertaining as ever, and so was the science (though there was not nearly as much science this time as is usual for Reichs, much to my dismay). What's changed is Tempe, who in this novel rolls her eyes at least every other page and has turned into a crass, insulting, stuck-up-sticky-beak. She goes on and on (and on and ON) about how much she hates cop Skinny Slidell for how uncouth he is, and yet she spends a great deal of her time insulting people left and right (inwardly and outwardly). Making fun of their clothes, their body size, their mannerisms, etc. The only person she doesn't insult is her new love interest. And frankly, despite that, I couldn't figure out what that great guy was doing with her. Which is strange, because previously, I thought Tempe Brennan was one bitchin' chick.

Additionally, it seemed like every chapter ended in a cliffhanger. The last sentence was always a variation on "And you'll never guess what happened next!" And while this can create an entertaining "page-turner" effect when used every now and then, when it happens at the end of practically every chapter, it just feels amateurish and clumsy. As though Reichs realized her story was flawed and had to come up with some other way to make sure people kept reading. Or, even worse, as though Reichs has just started to focus on quantity instead of quality.

Overall, I still enjoyed this novel and will be looking forward to the future installments, just as I still look forward to new Kay Scarpetta novels, despite the fact they usually disappoint me now. Fans of the series will definitely want to pick this one up. Newbies, though, should start at the beginning ("Grave Secrets"), not only because the novels contain plot elements that carry over, but because if you start with "Bare Bones," you'll never read the others. And thus, will miss out on the ones that made Tempe Brennan great. May Reichs be reading all the negative reviews of her latest and take their words to heart. This is one series I'd hate to lose.(7/16/03)

The story follows a young boy, Agu, who is happily enjoying a good life with his parents and sister in an unnamed West African country when all hell breaks loose. It begins when his best friend disappears, and quickly escalates to the point where the family is hunkered down in their home listening to guns firing and machetes hacking just outside their door. In a desperate attempt to save his son, Agu's father whips open the front door and tells Agu to run as fast as he can away from the guns. As Agu hoofs it at warp speed through the dirt, he turns back just in time to see his father murdered before his eyes.

Later that day, Agu is found by a gang of rebels, led by a charismatic and manipulative man known only as Commandant. Agu is given a choice -- join the "army" and fight with them, or die right there on the spot. At first, Agu is horrified by the violence that quickly unfolds, as the army comes across a truck full of adults identified as bad guys and proceeds to hack them to pieces. But as Agu brings down his machete for the first time himself, he immediately connects with the violence, and slowly begins his tortured transition from a normal, happy, "good" boy, to a killer.

It's that transition that is so, so overwhelmingly sad. He's so young and was so happy, and now he's left only with anger and hate and blood and fear. Agu tells us his story in brilliantly written prose that immediately gives him a unique, childlike, authentic voice ("I am soldier and soldier is not bad if he is killing," he says. "I am telling this to myself because soldier is supposed to be killing, killing, killing."). That voice will haunt me for weeks, I suspect. And this story has brought to painful life all the horrors we've only heard about in our safe little Western nation. This book is one of the strongest first-novels I have ever read. And the author is only in his early 20's! Can't wait to see what he writes next. Don't miss this one, people. It's incredible. (5/24/2006) [read me!]

When a new patient, Eddy Squillante, comes into the ER one day, takes one look at Peter, and exclaims in terror, "Don't kill me, Bearclaw!", the story of Peter's past comes out at last, a story that explains a lot of his "quirky" personality.

You see, Peter is in the Federal Witness Protection Program ("WITSEC") after spending nearly a decade as a hit man for a bigwig mafia family, the Locanos -- a mafia family that became like his own until the son, Peter's best friend Skinflick, turned on him.

Peter reassures Squillante that he isn't planning on killing him, but it's too late -- Eddy has already called someone and set things up so that if he dies, the Locanos get a phone call telling them where to find their old enemy. The doc isn't too freaked out by this, all things considered, until he learns from Squillante that Skinflick, who Peter had thrown out a 6-story window a few years back, is still alive. And desperate for cruel, painful revenge.

Surgical complications take Eddy, alas, leaving Petey with about 90 minutes to get the hell outta Dodge. The problem is, if he moves again in WITSEC, he'll be giving up medicine for good (can't exactly hang a medical license in your office with somebody else's name on it, after all). And, of course, there's that other patient of his about to lose her leg if Dr. Brown doesn't help . . .

Well, RATS! What's a foul-mouthed, shady-moraled, ex-Mafia hit man to do?

This novel is incredibly funny and clever, with a great story and lots of interesting tidbits about the inner workings of modern medicine, pharmaceutical marketing, and mafiosos (plus the Holocaust -- a unique combination, for sure). I also found the parts about Peter and Skinflick's boyhood friendship really poignant, and was truly moved by the story of the love of Peter's life, the beautiful, gentle, tragic Magdalena.

For a comedy about sarcastic hired killers, in other words, this novel is surprisingly touching.

Well-written and fun, Beat the Reaper is a quick read and a great choice for anyone looking for a good summer vacation book. Recommended! (6/2/2011) [buy it]

Beautiful Boy doesn't just offer up stories from the parents' perspective, though. It is also packed with information about both methamphetamine and addiction in general. As David sends Nic to rehab and back again, over and over, we also get a taste of the various philosophies of treatment (12-step, rational recovery, etc.), as well as advice and research information from some of today's top addiction experts (Richard Rawson, Nora Volkow, e.g.).

The informational aspects of this book will expand your mind; the personal stories will break your heart. Not a bad way to spend a weekend on the couch, all told.

While David was working on BB, his publishers came calling for Nic's story as well. Tweak tells the same tale, but from the addict's point of view. It gives us some insight into just what drives an addict to keep returning to their drug of choice, no matter how much they might desperately want to quit, and also offers up the perspective of a troubled teenager trying to contend with parents who keep forcing him into rehab before he's ready.

Tweak is, however, written by a kid (well, he's in his early 20's, anyway), and it pretty much reads like you'd imagine. Nic occasionally turns a profound phrase, but this book by itself would probably have gone relatively unnoticed. In combination with his father's extremely well-written book, however, Tweak takes on added significance. It's a unique pairing, and one nobody who is interested in methamphetamine or other types of addiction should miss. All in all, a fascinating, educational, and emotional pairing. Highly recommended! (1/27/2009) [Read BB, Read Tweak]

It's a great concept, but McCarthy's humor just isn't really my thing. Her style is pretty juvenile, and she seems to think that all it takes to be funny is to put the REALLY GROSS PARTS in all-caps. In the hands of an author with more talent, though, especially one with a more sarcastic, sophisticated sense of humor, this book could've been a LOT funnier and also far more informative. No big loss here -- it's not like I expected much from Jenny McCarthy, after all. But if you're looking for a book that really tells it straight about pregnancy and is also funny and educational, definitely skip this one and go straight to the "Girlfriends' Guide" series by Vicki Iovine. I give her book, "The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy" to everyone I know who gets knocked up, and it always gets rave reviews in return. My sister also says Iovine's book "Girlfriend's Guide to Baby Gear" was a lifesaver when it came time to start buying STUFF as well. Iovine is smart, funny, and irreverent -- the perfect balance in a book about what is a pretty weird experience overall! Nice try, McCarthy, and a noble idea. But I won't be looking for your sequel, I'm afraid. (4/14/2006) [read me!]

This book is based on Gawande's theory that the best medical advances stem from doctors who strive constantly and consistently to DO BETTER. Not satisfied with current knowledge or techniques, they continually strive to blaze new trails and find new ways to improve the quality of life for their patients. As examples, Gawande describes in detail several fascinating facets of medicine, starting with the advances in war medicine that have saved thousands of lives in Iraq -- lives that would've surely been lost for good in Vietnam -- and taking us into the worlds of cystic fibrosis clinics and, particularly fascinating for me, obstetrics. I could barely put this book down once I started, not just because the topics were so engrossing, but because Gawande is just simply a really, really good writer. I can't fully explain what it is about his writing that makes me want to keep reading, but he's definitely got whatever that somethin'-somethin' is, and all I want when I'm done reading one Gawande piece is to get my hands on another one, STAT.

So, if you too are interested in health and medicine, and you have no idea who Gawande is, get hot! You can find a lot of his articles for free on the web, including many chapters of this book (see NewYorker.com and do a search for his name). And if you like what you see, hie thee to the library or bookstore for the rest. Definitely, definitely recommended! (5/22/2007) [read me!]

Though the Tim Burton film of the same name is based on this book, it's really quite different. You'll find the stories from the novel have been expanded into even greater, more magical tales. And, while some movies that stray that far from their original sources lose something in the distance, in this case, the book and movie are delightful companions to each other. They each add something the other is lacking. I saw the movie first, but I think you could safely begin with either medium. What I'd highly recommend, though, is making sure that if you have a "Big Fish" experience, you have the full experience -- read the book AND see the movie. What you'll end up with is a legend you won't soon forget. Highly recommended! (5/4/04)

This book has an outrageous, inexcusable number of grammatical and spelling mistakes in it and sometimes the writing is a bit off, but it's a short, good-natured kinda thing, and the plot is pretty decent. It wouldn't be a bad choice for anyone in the mood for something extremely light. Let's hope, however, that Bell actually had an editor for the other ones. Because I'm not sure I can put up with another novel full of that many typos. Doesn't anybody proofread anymore? (1/21/2004)

Bryson's talent puts him in a unique position, especially in regards to Africa. He has the power to teach his readers so much about the places he goes to and he makes learning about those places incredibly rewarding and fun. He even touches on exactly the right theme here -- right away, he tells us that he, like so many Westerners, has a variety of preconceived notions about Africa (based on movies, television, and bits and pieces of the news) that very he very quickly learned were completely inaccurate. These notions more than anything else make us think of Africans as so "other" we can't relate to them or their needs at all. But the reality Bryson discovers (but that he barely talks about because he's too busy complaining about potholes and going off on his fear of small aircraft) is that Africans are just like us. They have dreams, they want to be challenged, they make sacrifices for their children, they care about their communities. All the $12 donations in the world won't change things in Africa unless our opinions, perceptions, and assumptions are changed too. It's just such an incredible place full of incredible people. I couldn't help but feel like they deserved a little more than 49 stoic pages. Go back to Africa, Mr. Bryson. Give us a real book about the amazing things you see there. Make us care. I know you have it in you -- what do you say? (4/10/04)

Luckily, he manages to convince a law firm that he's a PR dream -- a criminal who just wants to make good -- and the law firm agrees to pay for his last year of law school via correspondence courses. When he graduates with nearly a 4.0 average, the law firm pulls some strings to get him released early. Billy then takes a job at one of the toughest firms in the city -- and promptly starts trying to find out the truth about not only his father's case, but the case of another man he believes was wrongly convicted -- his prison pal Darryl.

The only problem is that in the process, he gets closer to finding out who the real killers were. And they aren't too happy about that. Will Billy be able to clear the names of the two people closest to him? Or will he be killed before the truth is revealed?

Though this novel was about 100 pages too long (due to some dull, unnecessary parts as Billy settles into his job and woos a woman in the firm), it was otherwise a riveting and well-written legal thriller. Recommended!

A friend of mine recommended this collection of stories to me several months ago, though, and I bought it the next week. It's been sitting around on the floor of my room since then, eventually getting kicked under the bed where it stayed until last Thursday when I went digging around under there looking for a lost shoe as I was packing my bags for a train trip. I dusted it off (the book, not the shoe) and the next day on the train pulled it out and started to read. Read the entire thing in a single sitting, barely taking a break to look up. Scenery, your loss.

Maybe it's got something to do with the mindset - when you're reading The New Yorker and suddenly come to the fiction section, it requires a dramatic changing of gears that I don't always shift with grace. I wonder if that's why I never felt overwhelmed by Lorrie Moore's greatness before.

I'm overwhelmed now.

The characters in these stories are regular people, their situations as normal as they come, and I think that's what makes them so mesmerizing. Some of the stories are hilarious, and others are almost unbearably sad, but they all seem like stories about people who actually exist, who weren't dreamt up but are outside right now walking down your street. That's startlingly refreshing, I have to say.

Moore's writing style is something I still have some issues with at times, but one of the things I love most about it is the way she frequently pairs adjectives and nouns together that don't really go together, and yet somehow go together perfectly. The one I remember most vividly from this book was the phrase "frantic candlelight," in the story "Agnes of Iowa," which is about a couple trying to overcome stagnation in their relationship. They "struggled self-consciously for atmosphere" in their bedroom, where "frantic candlelight flickered on the ceiling like a puppet show." Candlelight can't be frantic - that makes no sense. And yet, in two words, it completely conveys the emotion of that room and the two people in it.

There are dozens of other examples like this. Go discover them. I'll wait. (9/15/2009)

Boy, was I wrong, though. Jance is a marvelous writer! This is the latest in one of her two famous series -- the J.P. Beaumont series. Beaumont is a Seattle homicide detective and in the novel right before this one, something apparently happened to him that was so awful, it drove him into retirement at last. So, this novel starts with Beau's (his nickname) first act of official retirement -- he's going on a cruise.

Technically, it's not exactly a vacation for him -- he's agreed to go to serve as a kind of chaperone for his elderly grandmother and her new husband (they wanted to go but were worried something might happen to them mid-trip and wanted a family member present just in case). Still, it promises to be a relaxing and pleasant voyage for Beau.

Of course, that wouldn't make for much of a mystery novel, so before Beau even has a chance to settle in, a woman at his dinner table goes missing and another woman, one he's attracted to, is the prime suspect. Not long after, another person on the ship is murdered, and things start to get a little crazy after that. This was one of the best mysteries I've read in awhile -- complex plot full of twists, wonderful characters (Beaumont is terrific -- kind of a cross between Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder), and a unusual setting (a cruise ship!) that made even the non-thrilling moments pretty entertaining. As soon as I finished this novel, I logged on to the local library site and put several more Jance novels on hold. Can't wait to get them! Highly, highly recommended to all mystery fans!

The second, Drood, a fictional take on Charles Dickens, I found kind of a slog, in large part because I'm not much of a Dickens fan, so the elements of his life and creative process were less inherently interesting to me. I think I'd like it if I stuck with it, though, and I do plan to go back to it at some point and try again. If and when the mood strikes.

But his third, this novel, had me excited as soon as I read the description on the back of the paperback. A story combining Native American spirituality, the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the crafting of Mount Rushmore? Sign me right the heckwild up. I've always been fascinated with Native American history and culture, thanks in large part to my grandfather, who was extremely knowledgeable on the subject, and I didn't know much about Mount Rushmore (been there once but was too young at the time for it to have made any significant impression on me) and was curious to learn more. All in all, sounded like the perfect summer tome.

The novel opens by introducing us to its main character, a Native American man in his 70s named Paha Sapa ("Black Hills") who is the chief explosions expert working under architect Gutzon Borglum at Mount Rushmore. This job seems odd to anybody who knows the history of the monument -- that it's essentially a big "frak you" to the Native Americans of the region, a monument to white power over red, carved meticulously into one of the most sacred mountains of the Sioux people. But it's not long before we realize what Paha Sapa is actually doing there. He plans to help build the thing, and then he plans to blow it right up. It's his destiny, he believes, a destiny he saw in a vision as a boy, many, many years ago.

Cut from there back to 1876, Custer's Last Stand at Little Big Horn, just after the Sioux have whomped the white man's ass. There, a ten-year old Paha Sapa is moving around among the dead, when he comes across a soldier who is still alive, though clearly not for long. He reaches down to touch the man and is suddenly infused with his soul or ghost (however you prefer to think about it), just as the man dies under his hand. It's not until he recounts the experience to his Elders later that night that he realizes the man was Custer himself.

As it turns out, Paha Sapa has a unique ability to touch people and see into their lives, both their pasts and their futures. And now, having touched someone at the moment of their death, he also carries within him the spirit of the most infamous archenemy of his people, Gen. George Custer, who spends the next half-a-century-plus babbling constantly (mostly in x-rated detail about sex with his wife, oddly enough) inside Paha's head.

As the story of Paha's life unfolds -- the various things that ultimately brought him to Mount Rushmore to fulfill his destiny there -- he experiences just about every historically important event of the era. He knows Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse personally (and fears them equally), he works for a time in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, he travels to see the new Brooklyn Bridge and gives us an intricately detailed account of how it was built (amazing), and he falls in love with his beautiful, doomed wife at the Chicago World Fair.

Throughout it all, Paha Sapa finds himself in a constant struggle between wanting to retain and reassert his heritage, and knowing it's too late; that his only option now -- his only real option -- is to come to terms with the "Wasicun" (white) world he inhabits and somehow manage to craft a Self that fits into both his past and his future.

I was absolutely riveted by this novel from start to finish, no doubt about it. As far as I could tell, based on a combination of my own knowledge and occasional Internet searches to learn more about some element or another (I've done a LOT of reading about Mount Rushmore of late, for example), most of the details of the story's various historical punctuations are incredibly well-researched and accurate, despite being fictionalized to include Paha Sapa's participation or observation. The more philosophical elements of the story -- the search for one's identity, the pain of grappling with the loss of your people, the Cassandra-like agony of knowing the future and being unable to prevent it, the development of Paha's "relationship" with Gen. Custer, and Paha's ultimate, exceedingly calm decision to destroy one of the most famous monuments in our country right in front of one of its most famous presidents (he plans to blow it just as FDR shows up to see its opening ceremonies) -- are enthralling overall as well.

THAT SAID, there is no point in trying to argue that this is a "good book." It is, in fact, pretty much a disaster. Some of the very same things I liked about it were among its strongest literary flaws -- one character experiencing so personally so MUCH of history's most famous events and people? That's just one example of what I felt like was Dan Simmons's fascination with the era getting in his own way. The book is also enormous, and overly rich with historical details that just don't matter (I could see he was telling us about the Brooklyn Bridge, for example, because it was such a unique example of white technological marvel, standing out in contrast, like Mount Rushmore, against the novel's broader back-drop of Native American "magic," but while it was definitely an amazing segment, it didn't belong in this novel and neither did several other tangents into history along the way).

In this regard, I couldn't help but be reminded of what ultimately drove me bananas when it came to Connie Willis's series Blackout/All Clear (my review of All Clear is coming next, incidentally) -- both authors clearly had agendas, and those agendas were to share a love of some historical era with the reader, but the authors also had to deal with the reader's genre expectations for them, and therefore had to shove into what were otherwise plain historical novels (or even plain historical textbooks, frankly) elements of science fiction (Willis) and the supernatural (Simmons) that conflicted with the narrative, and ended up resulting in a discombobulating mess that went on far too long and lacked clear focus.

Despite its enormous flaws, however, I very much enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anybody who has read The Terror and/or Drood and liked them -- you already know what Simmons's horror-historicals are like, so you may be as able to overlook his tendency toward distracted tangle easier than the average reader. I also think this novel would appeal to anybody interested in Native Americans in general and the history of that time and region, as well; I learned SO MANY THINGS about the Sioux and the Black Hills area, for example, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning them!

But despite that enjoyment, I'm fully willing to admit this book was a mess, desperately in need of a good, firm editing hand. It was a mess I was more than happy to put up with, but a mess nonetheless.

Recommended with caveats! (8/23/2011) [buy it]

AND THEN. I heard there was a sequel! Yahoo! So, you know -- I waited some more, next thinking I'd wait until they were both in paperback and then I could devour them in a single, glorious weekend. But man, the sequel isn't out in paperback until October! And I needed Connie Willis last week. I needed her bad! So, I caved. Naturally, when I got to the end of this one I let out the "Arrrrrrgh!" of a truly tortured soul. TALK ABOUT CLIFFHANGERS, MY GOD.

OCTOBER?! No can do. I'm going to have to see how long the hold line is at the local public library instead, fo'schizz.

This wonderfully written, totally inventive novel is set both in the future and during WWII. In the future, time travel has become possible, but is restricted to use by historians, guided by a set of carefully-drafted rules, as well as restrictions established by what I took to understand was the nature of time travel itself (though I confess I didn't quite get that part and am hoping we get more science with our fiction in book two, All Clear).

The historians get to go back in time to various important events, but before they go, they are required to study the period's customs, clothing, language, and more. Then they are sent back, with time travel itself somehow making it impossible for them to appear in the past at any time or place that could impact what happens -- a "divergence point" (which we were just all recently hypothesizing about on the comments about my recent review of Source Code, if you're interested in this stuff). They can't enter or exit the past in a location where they can be seen coming or going, nor are they able to carry out any action that might change the already-happened timeline. It's not just against the rules, it's impossible.

As the story begins, a group of historians are heading out, despite some glitches in the system, to several different places in England during the time of The Blitz (1940-1941). One is sent to London itself, another to an estate in the country where several London children were sent for safekeeping, and a third to Dunkirk.

As events unfold, however, all three begin to realize things aren't working quite right. The portals that let them return to their present aren't working. And they're able to do things that MUST be impacting the course of history, like "accidentally" saving the lives of over 200 British soldiers.

Struggling to figure out what's going on, the three eventually manage to find each other and regroup in London to come up with a plan. And that's when they realize things HAVE changed. Things they knew happened at a specific date and time are happening late and differently. Have they "broken" time? Did they change something that's now meant time travel wasn't discovered (e.g., did the Germans win the war)? Did the machine just break -- there was definitely something wonky going on when they left, after all -- and their boss will get it fixed it any day now and send a rescue team? Or could it just be that the information they had, mostly reported by newspapers at the time, simply isn't accurate?

Just when we think they might be getting close to figuring out what's going on, BAM! The book ends!

[Cue the aforementioned Arrrrrrgh!]

Masterfully written and incredibly well-researched, this book (and all of Willis's novels, for that matter) are absolute MUST READS for all fans of quality sci-fi. Highly, HIGHLY recommended. Watch for my review of the sequel just as soon as I can get my hands on a delicious, delicious copy. (5/23/2011) [buy it]

I enjoyed this novel, though it was a little weak in places. The setting was really fun and the plot was exciting, even though I found the ending (the answers to all the questions) to be a little hokey and felt let down by that. However, this was my first Anna Pigeon novel and I definitely intend to read more. It ain't literature, but it was a good time. Recommended!

The thing is, despite the horrific violence in this novel (made doubly horrifying by the fact it's based on real events, by the way), it's so brilliantly written I found myself hoarding its pages. I wouldn't read it unless I was in the perfect setting for reading, and since I do at least 50% of my reading on the bus or while I'm walking somewhere, that cut out a lot of book time. The next thing I knew, I'd been working on the same book for two weeks, which is pretty unusual for me!

Describing the plot of this novel succinctly is a bit of a challenge -- believe me, I tried. But there's just too much that happens to really give you a decent overview. So, suffice it to say it's about the Glanton Gang, a real group of mercenaries who got their start in 1833 when they were hired by the Mexican government to take out roving bands of Apache warriors. They were paid by the scalp, and it wasn't long before the Gang got a real taste for killin' and found themselves branching out, murdering any other Native Americans they encountered, as well as the occasional Mexican or white guy who got in their way.

The novel focuses primarily on two characters -- Judge Holden, Glanton's big, bald, bad-ass of a second-in command, and a 14 year-old runaway known only as "the kid," who joined the group primarily to escape jail after being arrested for filibustering. Holden is sort of like Darth Vader, with "the kid" as Luke Skywalker, inasmuch as Holden is one bad dude and the kid is kind of his moral polar opposite. Except that the kid is not actually a big dorky sweetheart, really -- he's a killer too, he's just a bit more discriminating about it. And, of course, the story is set in Mexico and Texas, not outer space. Also: no Yoda. Or Wookies, more's the pity. OTHER THAN THAT, though, TOTALLY STAR WARS.

Have I mentioned I need sleep?

Anyway, this novel totally blew my mind with its brilliance and is now poised on the cusp of replacing William Faulkner's Absalom! Absalom! as my all-time favorite "literary" novel. Why McCarthy's The Road won a Pulitzer and this one didn't, I have no idea. Not that I didn't also think The Road was good, of course, though for a post-apocalyptic novel, it was sorely lacking in zombies, if you ask me (oh stop, I'm kidding!). But The Road didn't blow me away the way this novel did. Then again, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has always been like the literary equivalent of the Oscars for me -- rarely does it jibe with my own opinions or tastes.

In any case, read this book! Unless you're really squeamish, in which case you might want to wait for them to make the film, NOT go see it, and then wait even longer until the film is edited for airing on network television. Just a suggestion. For the faint of heart. Yeah. I'm going to take a nap now. (4/20/2008) [read me!]

Pretty soon, nearly everyone in North America has been infected by the biologics. People's bodies become transformed into brown and green sheets of goop covering everything. At the same time, a few "survivors" have banded together to try to figure out what is going on -- and why they were spared. And, across the world, one infected scientist has quarantined himself so that he can be studied, and soon discovers that not only are the biologics intelligent, but they can actually communicate with him from inside his own brain. Through careful conversations with the biologics in his mind, the scientist begins to unravel their plan for a kind of world domination. But is it a good plan or an evil one? Do they want to destroy humankind, or just make our bodies a nicer place to live in?

I found this sci-fi novel pretty gripping until we started to get into the final third of it. Right around that point, I started to find it a bit repetitive and hokey, and confess that I began skimming a few sections so I could hurry up and get to the end and find out how the author was going to clean up the mess. Still, I enjoyed it enough to know that Greg Bear is an author I need to get to know better -- a science fiction writer who really uses SCIENCE in his fiction, which I truly appreciates -- and I will be looking for more of his books soon. (5/15/2006) [read me!]

In this one, Alex's friend Vinnie asks for his help in tracking down his lost brother, Tom. It's a touchy subject because Vinnie had given his brother his own identification so that Tom, recently paroled, could take a week-long, high-paying job as a hunting guide for a group of Detroit yuppies who wanted to go shoot some moose in Canada. Parolees can't leave the state, but Tom had been really depressed lately, and Vinnie thought the trip might do him some good. Now Tom and the yuppies are five days overdue, nobody has heard from any of them, and Vinnie's starting to worry that something's gone wrong.

So, Alex agrees to help, and the two of them drive up to the town where Tom had said they'd be staying. They are immediately suspicious when the people who had rented the group a cabin on a local lake act weird when asked about the missing group. Alex and Vinnie also discover that they aren't the only strangers in town looking for Tom and the others. And the next thing they know, they find themselves out in the middle of the wilderness, hunted by someone with a rifle and on the run from a group of particularly aggressive bears. This was the section that kept me awake the first night, with the resolution of the mystery being the cause of the second night's midnight-oil-burning! Another great installment in a consistently delightful series! Highly recommended! (3/9/2007) [read me!]

Frank quickly finds himself unwillingly teamed up with the Feds as another bank robbery goes down. In both cases, the robbers turned out to be kidnap victims -- they were captured and drugged, and then woke up alone with a bomb strapped around their neck and a note telling them to rob a particular bank or else be blown to smithereens. As more and more victims detonate, Corso and the Feds are faced with a tough decision -- refuse to cooperate and let more die, or start handing over the cash for as long as it takes to catch the bad guys.

This is another gripping, thoroughly entertaining installment in Ford's consistently awesome series. And man, will the ending of this one make Corso fans howl! Highly, highly recommended! (8/4/2007) [read me!]

The mystery begins when Sunny is hired by a wealthy movie mogul to bodyguard his biggest star, a brainless Barbarella named Erin Flint. Only a few days into the job, though, Erin's friend Misty is found with her neck snapped in the mansion's gym. That brings Paradise police chief Jesse Stone into the picture, and from there we progress from a bodyguarding-a-celebrity novel into a novel about a prostitution ring gone awry (do they ever go any other way, I ask you?) and the murder of more than one person who had the goods to bring a bunch of rich movie people down.

Honestly, though, who gives a hoo-hah about the plot? What's fun about Parker's novels are the characters and the writing. And bringing together Jesse and Sunny in this way made for an absolute blast. My only criticism of Parker's novels, and it seemed particularly true of this one, is that EVERY character in his books who is intelligent also possesses an extremely snappy wit -- and not only that, but it's the SAME extremely snappy wit. And, I'm sorry, but extremely snappy wit is actually a very, very rare thing. The good guys are always funny and clever in Parker's novels, the bad guys, always stupid and sloppy. Nevertheless, I LOVE extremely snappy wit, and despite the fact it makes all Parker's main characters sound exactly the same (I've long contended, for example, that Sunny Randall is, in fact, just Spenser in a dress, though Jesse does seem to have somewhat more of a unique character these days), I love Spenser so much and have for so long that I hardly mind. Another highly entertaining novel from one of the greatest, most enjoyable mystery writers I've ever encountered. Definitely recommended! (8/9/2006) [read me!]

HOWEVER. There was no skipping a review of this one, because I LOVED IT SO.

This is the non-fiction story of a woman named Helga Estby, a Norwegian immigrant living in Spokane in the 1890s along with her husband and eight children. After a hard life moving around the harsh Midwest with her family, trying to find a safe place to live and farm, Helga and her family had mostly settled into Spokane when the economy collapsed. Owing thousands in taxes and mortgage payments, the Estby's were about to lose their farm when an intriguing offer fell into their laps.

A mysterious sponsor on the East Coast was, Helga learned, offering to pay $10,000 to any woman who walked all the way across America. This was an era of a lot of change in terms of the way women were viewed in our nation, and the sponsor aimed to accomplish two goals with this idea: one, to get a woman to model a new shorter-style skirt (the hem is just above the ankle, gasp! See picture of Helga and Clara in the skirts here!) and show it off to as many other ladies along the route as possible; and two, to demonstrate to the world that chicks can do shit like walk all the friggin' way across AMERICA.

Hoping to win the wager and save the farm, Helga takes the gig, enlisting the company and partnership of her eldest daughter, 19 year-old Clara. They armed themselves with a compass, some pepper spray, and a revolver, and set out for parts East.

Their route took them through 14 states and exposed these two ridiculously amazing women to a huge variety of experiences. They visited American Indian reservations, survived terrible snowstorms and heat waves, shot a couple of thieves (atta girl, Helga!), and met an impressive number of famous politicians from the era. In each town, Helga and Clara would head first to the local newspaper office, tell a reporter what they were doing and how it was going, and then set out to find the local mayor or another bigwig and have that person sign a letter they were carrying explaining their task. By the end of the trip, Helga and Clara had obtained the signatures of, among numerous others, William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley.

Their adventure ends in devastating tragedy, in more ways than one, and it was that tragedy that led Helga's family essentially to shun her for generations after she returned home. When she was in her last years of life, she finally wrote a memoir about the walk - which her children promptly burned the moment she died.

Luckily, newspapers never forget (see why we still need newspapers?), and author Linda Hunt was able to put together most of the story based on dozens of articles streaming across the U.S., as well as general historical information about the era. There's also a fair amount of speculation involved, as Hunt tries to give us some insight into what Helga's life might have been like, basing some of those elements on other accounts from similar women of the time. (Incidentally, I come from Norwegian immigrant stock myself, so I can attest to the fact we are totally bad ass.)

This book is absolutely FASCINATING. I cannot recommend it highly enough! More than the story of two incredibly determined women who walked 3000 miles to save their farm, it tells the story of one of the biggest times of transition in the fight for women's rights. I devoured this book in two days, and will definitely be revisiting it again. READ THIS BOOK. (And watch for a review coming soon of Helga's grand-niece's fictionalized account of the story, a YA novel titled The Year We Were Famous. Can't wait!) (8/20/2013) [buy it]

The plot of this installment involves some missing girls, a skeleton found in the desk drawer of a cop hundreds of miles away, and an old friend of Tempe's who disappeared when she was a teenager. What I found hokey was the way all these stories ended up converging -- I mean, seriously, what are the odds that the Tempe's old friend would be connected to these missing girls decades later, and that this random skeleton in some cop's desk would also end up being tied in? To be honest, I was having a hard time suspending the requisite level of disbelief to go along with this one.

Nevertheless, I WAS willing to go along with it because I like the characters in this series, and I also always enjoy the science as well (Reichs is a forensic anthropologist herself, so she knows of what she writes). Overall, this is still a well-written and entertaining series -- I just wish Reichs would drop the gimmicks and slow down a bit with her writing, taking more time to craft solid plots that don't rely so heavily on what felt to me like lazy coincidence. I'm concerned she's decided that since every novel she puts out nowadays is going to make her a fortune regardless of its quality, especially now that Bones has become a big hit, there's no need to really take her time with each installment. And that would be bad for all of us. Love the show, love the books -- let's keep it that way, Reichs! (10/4/2007) [read me!]

This book was given to me as a birthday present from a good friend of mine who works in a bookstore and recommends all kinds of awesome stuff to me whenever I see him. He'll undoubtedly be pleased to note, for example, that two of the best books I read in 2009 are ones he passed along to me. (Thanks, Steve!) But even better in terms of this particular gift, he got my copy of Boneshaker signed by Cherie Priest herself! Every couple of chapters, I would turn back to the front page and look at her signature and marvel at the fact this woman exists in the real world. A person with this kind of imagination. But she is, look! She signed my book! Someone met her! She wrote a note to me in my book! It's kind of amazing. Oh, to have that kind of creativity and brain. I wish, I wish, I wish.

This story is set in the mid-1800's in Seattle, but it tells the tale of a very different Seattle from the one we all know and love. (Hate. Love. Mostly hate. STILL RAINING, GAH!) The tale begins as Seattle is expanding into a real boomtown, people coming in from all over to strike it rich in gold. One resident, an inventor named Leviticus Blue, has come up with a machine he thinks is going to revolutionize the industry - finally a machine that will allow miners to break through the ice in Alaska and get to the massive stores of gold hiding behind them. Only something goes awry and the machine is unleashed on the city of Seattle instead, where it not only tears up the town, but also releases a toxic gas that begins to kill- and then bring back to life, zombie-style - all those who come in contact with it.

Flash forward a few years, and the city of Seattle has now been walled off to contain both the toxic "blight" and the scary undead residents who creep around the streets, insatiably hungry for human flesh. Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes, lives just outside the walls with her son Zeke, who struggles daily with the stigma attached to being the son of the man who destroyed Seattle. Throw into the mix a complicated history with Briar's father - thought by some to be a hero and others to be a criminal - and life for the teenaged Zeke is only getting harder.

His solution? To go under the wall and into the city of Seattle to try to find the truth about his family. To survive the blight and the zombies and make his way to the facts about Leviticus Blue and his grandfather. Only as soon as his mother realizes what he' s done, and that the way he got in can no longer be the way he comes out (a tunnel the next day crushed by an earthquake), she immediately makes plans to find a way into the city herself to try to find him before it's too late.

Desperate to stay alive, each Wilkes ends up teaming up with survivors inside the walls, trying to make their way to each other and back to safety. And that's where the real fun for the reader begins. You've got ravenous undead, criminal overlords and gangs, air pirates, drug addicts, and heavily armed, extremely cranky refugees to work with. Who do you trust? And if you trust no one, how are you going to make it out alive?

If you're a fan of A) zombie stories or B) science fiction in general, I think you're going to have a great time reading this novel. I myself can't wait to find out what else Priest has written and start loading up my nightstand with her paperbacks. Hope they make this one into a movie. Man, it could be a GREAT movie if someone did it right, too. Someone do it right? Please? For me. Much obliged. Amen. (1/12/2010)

So, while I scribbled down a few of her suggestions, I didn't find this a useful reference tool at all. Pearl seems to have sacrificed content for the gimmicky organizational structure, and I'm not sure that's really a plus for serious readers who were hoping to get some intriguing recommendations. For those of you who, like me, are always on the lookout for a great book to add to the pile, you'll do better to stick to Pearl's real reviews, or, hey, (warning: shameless self-promotion ahead), to stick to this web site right here! Yeah, baby, yeah! (6/13/04)

I'd tell you what this installment was about, except that it was so scatter-brained and incoherent, I can't really say for sure. I got about 250 pages in and then actually QUIT READING IT, which tells you right there how bad it was. Once I get that far into a novel, I will almost always keep going regardless of quality because of the time investment I've already made. But I kept getting more and more confused, bored, and annoyed with every passing chapter and when I hit the half-way mark, I could tell there was no going any further. (And besides, how can you title your novel Book of the Dead and NOT include any references to Bruce Campbell? Have we forgotten our Evil Dead references, Patty? You could've at least had a character named Ash, yo!)

Anyway, blah blah blah, the plot has something to do with a crazy psychiatrist lady and a dead kid, blah blah blah. But it hardly matters -- the problem wasn't just that the plot made no sense, it was that Cornwell's usual cast of characters have become terrible stereotypes of themselves, with nothing even remotely interesting or endearing left about any of them. Not only could I just not care about them anymore, I barely recognized them as the same people I used to know from the early books in the series. Save yourselves! If you're in the mood for a great forensic mystery series, go with Kathy Reichs's stuff instead, because this series has turned to absolute crap! (5/25/2008) [don't read me!]

Tempe teams up with the local coroner (an old friend of hers) and the two begin to investigate what caused the demise of their victim. The trail quickly leads to more and more bodies, and then eventually drops them right into a nightmare that's lasted for nearly a decade and involves a local medical clinic, a huge religious organization, and . . .Tempe's somewhat-goofy ex-husband Pete.

Though I love these novels and have greatly enjoyed every single one, I do at long last have a complaint I can't keep to myself anymore, as it's something I noticed in the last book as well and I'm already getting really tired of it. Reichs has started to rely on a writing gimmick I find extremely annoying -- ending every chapter with a "cliffhanger" to make sure we keep turning the pages. This is okay when done a few times in a novel -- but EVERY CHAPTER? First of all, it makes the chapter breaks feel stilted and unnatural. Here's an example of what I mean ( I'm completely making this up in terms of content, but not in terms of effect): ". . .She cut into the body and, oh my god! What she found inside was so horrific and amazing it would CHANGE TEMPE'S LIFE FOREVER! . . . Chapter Ten: The victim had eaten a Big Mac for dinner last night." I realize the point of doing this is to make the book impossible to put down, but first of all, the reality is that sometimes I actually do need to be able to put my book down, and second of all, this is just such a cheap gimmick, and Reichs is too good of a writer to need to rely on it. This is a trick used when you don't think your plot and characters are strong enough to keep your reader turning the pages -- and Reichs's always are. Back away from the cliff, Ms. Reichs. This extra drama is just so unnecessary!

Anyway, despite that little annoyance, this book, as well as the entire series so far, still kicks butt. If you're a fan of forensics and well-written mysteries, definitely check these out! (1/23/2007) [read me!]

The bridesmaids' letter says that the ghost of Ellie's grandmother has revealed herself to them and requested that they find Ellie and bring her to the "Old Rectory" (the 3 ladies' home) so she can tell her something. Curiosity beats out suspicion, and Ellie promptly heads out, only to discover there's quite a bit more to this story (and, ultimately, to the story of Ellie's past) than originally thought, including, but not limited to, a horrible murder years before.

This installment was a little hard for me to get into, though it may just have been my mood (distracted) while I was reading it. Even with that, though, I still found "BMR" entertaining -- this is one of my favorite mystery series and Ellie is definitely on my top ten list of favorite mystery heroines. Great characters, unusual and often hilarious plots -- excellent combination! (Dec 2001)

Desperate to find a cure, the villagers send Ox to Peking to try to find a wise man to help. Unfortunately, though the village scraped together all the money they had for this task, it's still not enough for the experts of Peking. One by one, they laugh Ox's offer of a few coins off, slamming their doors in his face. Ox is about to give up when he comes across Master Li, a drunken genius with a much-touted "slight flaw in his character." Master Li agrees to return to the village with Ox, and after studying the situation for a while, figures out both the cause and the solution to the village's problem. Unfortunately, the solution involves finding the Great Root of Power, which Li believes is the key to a cure for the children, and finding the Great Root will be no easy feat. To that end, Master Li and Ox set out on a series of searches for the Root, traveling from one side of the country to the other, and encountering a vivid and wild collection of gods, monsters, ghosts, wise men, villains, and, for extra kicks, the most expensive woman in the world.

While at first this novel seemed a bit disjointed, like the diseased-children storyline was just a clumsy excuse to spin a series of separate adventure yarns, it became clear by the end that there was actually a fairly elaborate underlying framework to the whole thing - one based on an ancient legend and a children's rhyme. Even better, though, this novel is simply a blast to read. It's packed with truly magical descriptions of "an ancient China that never was," a delightful cast of characters, and loads of satisfying puzzles, relationships, and resolutions. On the surface, Bridge of Birds seems like a straight comic adventure/fantasy story. But the more you read, the more you begin to realize it is also a very poignant tale filled with emotion and warmth. I had a really hard time putting this book down once I started it, and I absolutely fell head-over-heels with both Master Li, the perfect flawed hero for a story like this one, and his lovable and endlessly faithful foil, Number Ten Ox. The only thing that kept me from being completely miserable when it was over was the knowledge that it's the first in a series. Can't wait to read Number Two Book about Number Ten Ox! (And hey, Steve, thanks for recommending this one - I really enjoyed it and you totally rule!) (7/6/2009)

Though I had a few problems with the last third or so of this novel (lots of coincidences, which I hate), this is a haunting and well-written tale full of realistically imperfect and wholly loveable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and am looking forward to whatever Kallos publishes next (I believe this is her first novel). Definitely recommended! (8/11/2006) [read me!]

A lot of the first half of the book will be familiar to anyone who watched the series -- some of the same midwifery cases are presented (for example, the husband and wife with 25 children who don't speak each other's language) and many of the characters are recognizable too (oh, Chummy, I love you so!). The book also features more historical background on the evolution of the practice of midwifery and the striking poverty of the East End.

The problem is that what I enjoyed the most about the TV series was essentially every character except for Jenny, who I mostly just found cloying and annoying (hey, that rhymes!). Chummy, a class-A awkward underdog, was obviously my favorite, and several of the nuns were also wonderful, engaging characters. Unfortunately, these people all played much larger roles in the BBC series than they do in the book.

The episode I found the most yawn-inducing of the TV series, by comparison, was the one that focused almost completely on Ms. Worth and her complicated love life, and naturally, since this book is HER memoir, there's an awful lot of that kind of stuff in it. Go figure. I didn't find her all that interesting as a narrator, either in the series or in the book, and in terms of the traditional "fish out of water" observer, she comes off as more patronizing and judgmental than curious and compassionate. Though her horror over the conditions in which she finds herself working (the slums of London, essentially) was honest, she never seems to shake that horror off long enough to see through the grime and disease. She's judgmental of the women and judgmental of the way they live their lives (why can't they just CLEAN UP, she wonders an awful lot), and despite her increasing experience over the pages of her story, she never seems to grow very much. Additionally, she's not much of a deep thinker. She doesn't ponder the women or their lives to try to make sense of them -- she merely describes them, and mostly with distaste.

Plus, as you'll realize by about the third page, though Ms. Worth is definitely a midwife who wrote a book, she is NOT a writer who worked as a midwife. If you catch my drift. (If you don't, what I mean is, BOY, is this book badly written!)

That said, I did enjoy reading this, believe it or not, mostly for the brief snippets of the lives of everyone else Jenny encountered. I think other fans of the series will have a good time with it as well, as long as you give yourselves license to skip tedious chapters at will. (Anything that appears to be focused on Jenny, her family, or her old boyfriend, you should flip past as quickly as possible.) The stories about the women of the East End -- their courage, their grit, their spirit, their tenacity -- those are the real treasures in this book. And they alone are worth swimming through the muck of mixed-up verb tenses to get to know.

It's too bad Chummy (luf!) didn't write this memoir, I thought to myself as I turned the last page. I have a feeling it would've been a vastly different book, and greatly improved. I'm looking forward to season two of the series, but am unlikely to pick up the other memoirs in Worth's series. Disappointing! (11/27/2012) [buy it]

This powerful, loving, hilarious, and tender memoir is about the end of her parents' lives, and the challenges brought forth both by grief and practicality. Spanning their last several years together, from the day she first began to realize they were in a sudden decline, to their final months in an assisted living residence, the memoir features not only Chast's graphics, but also photographs, copies of her mother's handwritten (and delightfully rhyming) poems, and little pieces of history and memory.

The decline hastened after a fall -- ain't that always the way - and both her parents never really recovered from the resultant trauma (mom got hurt, dad got scared). Nothing in this book is something you haven't encountered, either in your own life as a caregiver for an elderly loved one, or through the stories of loved ones who have done that themselves. But it's the way it's told here that is so enriching, enlightening, engaging. Chast is a beautiful writer, something it's easy to forget when you simply look at her art, which leans toward the scribbly side (though I love it, don't get me wrong). Her insights are bottomless and her love for her parents, especially her difficult and somewhat cold mother, comes sharply ringing through both the text and the drawings.

This is a powerful and richly emotional book, and it made me laugh out loud to boot. Definitely going to be in this year's top ten list for me, and I bet if you read it, you'll feel the same. Highly, highly recommended! (7/15/2014) [buy it]

To be honest, before I read this book, I was not a fan of Fran's. But after this, I have to say I think she is, as the kids say, "da bomb." A total inspiration. Recommended to any woman facing a similar diagnosis, or just to any woman wondering what that might be like.

Put 'em together and what have you got? You've got quite an interesting and extremely entertaining mystery. Hunter tackles the first half the book, which focuses mainly on one man, Benjamin Thorpe, who is in New York City on business and spends an entire night trying every connection he can think of in order to "get laid" (I'm sorry, there's just no couth way to say that). He first calls an old fling, but she brushes him off. So, he decides to go to a "massage" salon, but his hour ends too soon (if you know what I mean) and he ends up getting beaten half to death by the pimp in charge. Lying in the gutter, he is rescued by a prostitute who takes him home, cleans him up, and then offers to sleep with him for $100. He doesn't take her on and instead goes back to the hotel, resigned to his loneliness, and calls his wife.

Part two starts and immediately, you know McBain is in charge. Now the main character is a police detective, Emma Boyle. She's investigating the murder of a prostitute, who worked at the XS Salon (the massage parlor Thorpe went to). There, she is put on the trail of a man the ladies say flipped out the night before. A man named Michael. Emma soon discovers that Michael's real name is Benjamin Thorpe, and she begins trying to track him down, as he's become their number one suspect. Nearly 48 hours pass before she gets a break -- Thorpe calls a woman he'd sort of met over the phone that night in the hotel (a friend of the fling that turned him down) and proceeds to seduce her into having phone sex with her. She reports this to the police and Emma thinks she's got him nailed. But is Benjamin really the killer? What about the guy seen with the vic each night for the past few weeks -- a guy her friends say she was afraid of? If Benjamin was only in town that one night, who is the stranger?

I won't tell you the ending, of course, but I will say that I greatly enjoyed this novel, even though, in reality, the plot is about as standard as they get. The thing that's fun about it is knowing the two authors well and then getting a chance to see them working together side-by-side. It's a real kick, to be honest. And, in any case, I'm an 87th precinct junkie and I'll read ANYTHING Ed McBain puts out. Recommended for mystery fans and fans of either author.

Switch to present day, when private investigator Jackson Brody suddenly finds himself working all three cases for various family members. It sounds intriguing, but the novel was really more about the characters than the plot, and I confess I didn't really take to most of the characters. Additionally, the mysteries themselves were pretty mundane and unoriginal -- I've seen all three stories told a hundred different ways on primetime television, and I saw every one of the handful of twists coming from a mile away as well (which was okay, except that one of them was just eye-roll-inducingly lame -- for those of you who have read it, I'm referring to the identity of the homeless girl).

So, what did I miss? Why did every critic love this novel so much? Is it because it's an unconventional mystery that tries to be more about the people than the crimes? Do you just have to be different to be considered great anymore? Because as much as I wanted to like this, it is simply not a great novel. It's really only a decent one. Will I read the next one in the planned series featuring Jackson Brody? Oh, probably. But I'll be hitting the library for that one for sure. (12/31/2005) [read me!]

I think I will enjoy others in this series, but kind of found the "rich snob is killed over money" plotline a bit been-there-done-that and snoozy. Luckily, it's pretty well-written and I've always been intrigued by the Amish, so I was definitely entertained. I'll look for others in this series soon. (4/27/04)

After reading the last one, The Book of the Dead, it occurred to me it was possible this series was always bad, and that I simply hadn't known any better way back when I used to enjoy it. So, I decided to pick up one of the series' earlier installments and see what I thought. I chose this one because I couldn't remember a single thing about the plot -- seemed like a good one to use as a test case.

And guess what! This is a really good book! It was an excellent reminder of all the things I used to adore about this series -- the sharp plots (this one involving the mysterious death of a reporter in what at first glance looks like a diving accident), the great characters (ah, the old Lucy and Pete -- so much less thoroughly annoying than the NEW Lucy and Pete!), and the solid medical science. And, wonder of wonders, the writing isn't bad either.

So, I guess the answer is: No, the series wasn't always bad. In fact, it used to be pretty great. Cornwell, you've got some 'splaining to do. (7/5/2008) [read me!]

However, as is usual with a Stephen King novel, there are a lot of problems with this one. The primary one is that it turns out the premise was really the only original, creative thing King had to offer in this novel. The rest of it is pretty much ripped off from a variety of other sources, including every Romero "Dead" movie (though King tips his hat to Romero in the beginning as if to say, "Sorry I'm TOTALLY stealing every good idea you ever had about zombies!" so at least he wasn't just out-and-out thievin', right?), as well as the stellar zombie movie 28 Days Later (about a small group of survivors, including a young girl, who must struggle to live after a virus turns everybody else into zombies. That group hooks up with another group, and pretty soon humans are turning on each other as well as on the zombies -- gee, sound familiar?).

Heck, King even rips HIMSELF off, as there are also strong elements of The Stand, Carrie, and Firestarter mixed in for good measure.

About the only original or clever thing about the plot, in my humble opinion, was the way it looked like King was going to use the virus to flip the whole "instant information" thing right on its head. That is, suddenly the technologically-vacuous zombies are the only ones who can effectively communicate with each other (well, sort of), and the humans are left struggling with only word of mouth to guide them along. Oh, the irony. Here we were laughing because cell phone users got turned into disgusting poo-covered monsters, and dammit it all to hell if they don't STILL have better access to information than the rest of us!

The problem with said irony is that it didn't quite work. The "normies," as the non-infected call themselves, end up doing quite well with their word-of-mouth transfers of information, in ways that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. What is really the likelihood that multiple groups of humans are going to watch the zombies' behavior and come up with the same terms for it ("flocking," e.g.), or that suddenly, all the normies seem to know to put their shoes outside their doors before falling asleep? Word of mouth really isn't all that effective, especially since the normies actually rarely seemed to run into each other. This didn't make a whole lot of sense, and that's not a rare occurrence in a King novel, unfortunately.

That said, I have to disclose right now that once I picked this novel up, I couldn't put it back down. I was riveted the entire time. King is the master of snappy dialogue, for one thing, and he's gotten a lot funnier in his old age as well. Additionally, though the main character (Clay) didn't really do much for me (oh, of course he has a missing son he's desperate to get back to, yawn), I loved Tom and I confess to falling for the little boy (Jordan) as well. Spunky, that one.

Anyway, I could go on and on with the criticisms, but really, who among us goes into a Stephen King book expecting genius? When we pick up a King novel, we merely expect to be entertained. And he does that here very, very well. This is definitely a great summer beach book, folks. Don't miss it if you enjoy a good zombie bloodbath. Or a bad one, for that matter. (7/10/2006) [read me!]

Jason, the only non-celebrity and also the resident Vineyard expert (having lived there all his life), is a writer himself and as such is always interested in a good murder. Since he was the only partygoer NOT in the book (Mildred herself said so at dinner -- nobody has actually seen the manuscript itself), he's quickly ruled out as a suspect, to his great disappointment. Unable to leave well enough alone, he hooks up with an old friend, a retired police detective, and the two of them start trying to solve the crime themselves.

But before they get too far along, the killer strikes again, this time poisoning several of the celebrity suspects. And while it made sense someone might want to kill the mean-spirited Millie Silk, what could possibly be the motive for the other murders? Can Jason put the clues together and figure out the who, what, when, why, and where before he becomes the next victim? Don't ask me -- I ain't tellin'!

Graves is a lifelong resident of the Vineyard himself and his knowledge of the local society and culture made this book that much more entertaining. This is just a great whodunit -- clever and funny. I hope Graves has written others! Recommended! (4/15/04)

Even worse, they were threatened with legal action, but never actually given lawyers or taken before a judge. Instead, for months or even years, they were subjected to brutal and humiliating medical treatments, as well as the open disdain of many of the men and women put in charge of "helping" them. Though many of the women held contracted their STDs from the very soldiers they themselves were accused of infecting, the men suffered no sanctions whatsoever -- it was always assumed the women were to blame. Arrested on dubious charges (in some cases, women were picked up and carted off merely for wearing a dress someone found too "provocative" in an area where there happened to be soldiers stationed), held without legal proceedings, and subjected to humiliation-based abuse -- gee, sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

And it is that undercurrent of modern-day relevancy that makes this novel all the more compelling. It tells the fictional-but-based-on-fact story of a young woman, 17 year-old Frieda, who ran away from home after her oppressive mother attempted to marry her off to a man twice her age. Frieda hits the big city and quickly gets a job at a local department store, wrapping parcels for customers of the ladies undergarments section. Many of the women Frieda meets and befriends are what were called "charity girls" at the time. Young and often more than a bit naive, charity girls would trade their attentions and affections to men for gifts or entrance fees to local dances. They weren't prostitutes, exactly -- not promising sex for money, but instead offered their company and perhaps a kiss or quick feeling-up for jewelry, meals, or evenings out. In war-time, poverty was fierce, and these young girls just wanted to be able to continue to enjoy some of the niceties of life. It seemed, to them, a small price to pay for some happiness. Though Frieda isn't quite a charity girl herself as the story opens, she's begun flirting with it, and when she meets a charming young soldier named Felix, it doesn't end up taking much for him to successfully seduce her.

Felix disappears, and a few weeks later, Frieda is greeted at work by a stern woman who tells her Felix has tested positive for an STD and the government knows Frieda is to blame for it. She threatens Frieda, but doesn't end up taking her away -- not yet. Nevertheless, Frieda's boss knows who the woman is and what she does, and he wastes no time in firing Frieda, leaving her starving and penniless within a few short weeks. Desperate, Frieda scrapes together enough money for a train ticket, and heads off in search of Felix, who has written her promising to help if he can.

On her way to the base, though, Frieda is tricked into trusting another young soldier who claims to know Felix and offers to take her to him. Instead, he forces her into an abandoned building and attempts to rape her. Just as she has finished fighting him off, however, she is grabbed by another man who is convinced she's there to prostitute herself to the first soldier she lays eyes on. He takes her to an old brothel that has been converted into one of the aforementioned detention centers for STD-positive women. And so her months of agony begin.

This is a truly shocking tale, made all the more horrific not only by the fact this actually happened, but by the fact most of us, I'd wager, are completely UNAWARE this ever happened. And while I will say I didn't think this novel was particularly well-written, nor did I find the characters terribly three-dimensional, the content of the story itself is what makes it a book not to be missed. Stick this one on your list, everyone. You should know about this. Recommended! (12/15/2011) [buy it]

When she wakes up, Barry is dead and Goldy's protege Julian has been arrested for the crime! To prove Julian's innocence, Goldy knows she's got to solve this case. And the mall has to have something to do with it. Something about the construction that's going on? An evicted tenant who's holding a grudge? Or did it have to do with an affair between Barry and one of the shop clerks?

Once again, this is a very entertaining and fast-paced mystery with a great sense of humor. I always get a couple of great recipes out of these books as well -- I love that! If you haven't discovered Goldy Schultz, you've got a lot of catching up to do. I envy you! Recommended! (2/5/2004)

I have read and enjoyed many of the Bosch novels, but have to admit this one kind of dragged on for me. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it -- I can't actually point to anything as the source of the problem. The characters and plot were as strong as usual. It just seemed to go on a bit longer than was necessary. Eh, probably just me. In any case, I think fans of the series will enjoy it. Anybody knew to Connelly might want to start elsewhere, though. Just in case.

The house has been in the Beauforte family for generations, but stood empty for years after the murder of one of its tenants (the Beaufortes rented it out for a time to a TV news anchor and his family after the Beauforte matriarch, Charmian, had a stroke).

Lila Beauforte, Charmian's daughter, decided to move back into the house with her husband Jack, hoping to recover a bond with her family and its lengthy history in the city. But almost immediately, she found herself hunted and tormented by a terrifying spirit. After a month of torture, she finally moved out, on the verge of a complete mental collapse.

Desperate to help his wife, Jack agreed to let Cree come and work with Lila, despite his disbelief in her work and his suspicion that his wife is just plain nuts. Cree is not only a ghostbuster, though, she's also highly empathic. And not only can she sense quickly that the spirit exists, as well as the fact it has nothing to do with the murdered tenant, she gradually is able to actually hear its thoughts -- feel its emotions. She also makes a startling realization -- there are actually two ghosts in the house. Two spirits violently connected both to each other, and to Lila.

I'm a sucker for a good ghost story and while I usually prefer a bit more in the thrills and chills department, I found the psychological approach to the story really unique and interesting. Cree is a fascinating and interesting character and the story was well-developed and fast-paced.

The only real complaint I have is that the novel was about 100 pages too long. There are a lot of lengthy passages that are unnecessary to the story or its characters' development -- too much rambling on about New Orleans, Mardi Gras traditions, and various psychological concepts. And some of the stuff about Cree's past could've been touched on less frequently without altering its impact or relevance to the story. All these long, unnecessary passages got in the way of the plot at times which, especially towards the end when I was on the edge of my seat, really frustrated me.

But ultimately, this is a book I greatly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the next installment (and hoping it will be set in Cree's hometown, Seattle!) and recommend this to all fans of ghostly fiction. (6/16/03)

But when she is contacted by a freed slave, Judah Daniel, who is herself a nurse, and is told that another freed slave saw some kids stealing the money, it all begins to make sense. The kids are members of a gang of scruffy no-gooders who call themselves the "Cats." And if they truly did take the money, that means they've also taken smallpox with them -- into their families, their neighborhoods, their schools.

Before the two women know what's happened, the disease has spread to a Union encampment, leading to accusations of germ warfare. But the cruelest blow comes to the town's most vulnerable population -- its children. Somehow, Narcissa and Judah need to work together to stop the flow of tainted money. But by this point, the money has fallen into the hands of some very dangerous people. It's a LOT of money, and by trying to track it down, the two nurses begin digging around in a world that really dislikes the attention. If they aren't careful, they're going to get hurt. But if they don't get that money, dozens more might die.

This was an intricately plotted novel, with tons of history woven through a pretty entertaining detective story. I loved the two main characters, and greatly enjoyed the historical elements as well. I'll definitely be looking for the other books in this series. Recommended!

It's a mystery about a murderous vampire. But it's no cheesy Anne Rice rip-off. The main character, Iowa Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman, is called to a huge mansion on the outskirts of town when the bloody body of his boss' niece (Edie) is found in a bathtub on the second floor. At first, it looks like a suicide. But as Houseman and forensics expert Hester Gorse study the scene, they see some things that just don't add up. After talking to Edie's housemates, all doubts vanish -- they tell Houseman about a man they both befriended and feared named Daniel Peal. A man they believe is actually a vampire and who had a special fondness for Edie's blood.

Houseman and Gorse aren't sure what to believe, especially when a card-carrying vampire hunter also turns up on the scene. The more they learn about Peal, though, the more they begin to fear Edie's housemates may be next. But how do you stop a vampire? Especially if you don't know where to find him in the first place?

Houseman and Gorse are wonderful characters -- smart, funny, and big into talkin' shop (and I LOVE forensics, so I really enjoyed that aspect of this novel). With them at the helm of what eventually becomes a very complex and riveting plot, this book was the very definition of "thriller." Fans of mysteries and the TV show "CSI" will love this. And there's good news -- it's part of a series! Highly, highly recommended!

It's spooky. It's funny. It's clever. It's crafty. It's got great characters and a solid, suspenseful plot. These novels are a blast, so don't miss 'em if you're a fan of cop-focused mysteries. Recommended! (3/26/2008) [read me!]

Unfortunately, his company has one last assignment for him in town. One of their oldest clients, the Duchess of Weymarshe, has specifically requested Edward for a strange task -- she wants him to come organize and catalog her large collection of medieval books. At first, Edward is incensed. But when he begins poking around in the books, his indignation turns to curiosity, which deepens even further as he learns that somewhere amongst the collection, there may be a very special medieval codex. One scholars for centuries have sworn doesn't even exist.

Eager to find the codex for the Duchess, who seems desperate to get her hands on it, Edward enlists the help of Margaret Napier, a brilliant medieval scholar he bumps into while doing some research on the codex. But before they can even get started, they are ordered to stop by the DUKE of Weymarshe. And pretty soon, Edward and Margaret are stuck in the middle of a familial battle, the outcome of which depends entirely on the codex itself.

Meanwhile, and sort of bizarrely, Edward's friends get him hooked on a strange and mesmerizing computer game called MOMUS. As Edward plays by night and hunts for the codex by day, the lines between the real world and the computer-generated one begin to blur. In fact, as it turns out, the computer game itself has a connection to the missing codex, and by the end, Edward's quest for the hidden text becomes almost obsessive, completely taken over his life.

This was an extremely engrossing novel -- I just loved it. It's very unique, as well as delightfully odd, and even though I found the ending somewhat lackluster, I was so fascinated by the rest of it I hardly minded. I loved all the library and medieval book stuff, for obvious reasons, and the two main characters, Edward and Margaret, are just wonderfully drawn. Definitely one to add to your list! Highly recommended! (7/7/2005)

But while the story was intriguing for awhile, the writing was just. . .clumsy. Right away, I felt like Greenlief's dialogue was off somehow. But about halfway through, it started to get a lot worse -- as if the editor had given up reading around page 150. The characters don't talk or act like normal people. Their behavior is inconsistent and never feels "real." They "burst" out laughing at awkward, inappropriate times, and are constantly overreacting with defensive anger whenever another character makes any kind of gentle teasing comment (eyes always "flashing" as they whirl around to snarl at the offender). It just didn't make any sense. The characters never settle into themselves -- instead feeling like paper actors in a poorly written puppet show the entire time.

As if that weren't bad enough, the book is also about 50 pages too long. There's FAR too much time spent telling us when the characters go to bed, wake up, eat breakfast, take a shower, pop more Tylenol with codeine (which just about every character was taking for some problem or another by the end of the book). Clunky and unnecessary. It was like Greenlief just didn't know how to transition from day to day without covering every single step. Borrrrrring.

Bah. I'm still not sure why I read this one all the way through. I think it's because Greenlief did have a knack for making the snowy, woodsy setting come to life. But, ultimately, time spent slogging through this book was time wasted. Take my advice and look somewhere else if you're in the mood for a good winter thriller. (6/24/04)

Revenge is Hawk's way, and I would've expected nothing different from him. But what bothered me was Spenser's reaction to this. A good portion of the novel consists of Spenser arguing with himself, with Hawk, or with Susan, in an attempt to convince himself (and, of course, us readers) that he has to help Hawk kill twenty people because loyalty to a friend is more important than loyalty to yourself and your ethics. But despite the fact Spenser doesn't actually end up killing anyone, I have to confess I was pretty disturbed by the idea that if your pal wants to kill someone, you're just not a good friend if you don't help them do it.

And then, of course, there was the sheer unbelievability of parts of the story. Two law enforcement agencies, the local PD and the Feds, are made aware of Hawk's plan, and neither one seems particularly bothered by the idea he's planning to walk up to several people and shoot them point-blank in the head. In fact, the Feds actually encourage him to do it. Sure, Spenser and Hawk may be respected guys in their town -- but I just kind of felt like Parker himself thought Hawk's plan was acceptable, and, in fact, that it was actually the right thing to do. And I disagreed wholeheartedly with that. For the first time ever, I thought about closing a Spenser and not finishing it. I didn't really want to watch my favorite mystery hero be taken down to the same level of the criminals he's been fighting for decades. And his argument that he had to do it for Hawk -- well, it's the argument of someone who doesn't have the brains or the courage to actually stand up for what's right. Not the Spenser I have long admired. Not the Spenser I know at all.

However, despite that, I still read the whole thing, and had as hard a time putting it down as ever. Parker is the master of sharp, living dialogue, and his novels always read like a witty conversation. I'm two hours past turning the last page, though, and I'm still not quite sure how to feel about it. If you're a Spenser fan, you won't be able to just skip it. But I sure hope I don't end up being the only one who feels this conflicted about it. Revenge is a weak, cowardly response. And those are two adjectives I never would've thought I'd be applying to characters from a Robert B. Parker novel. (5/15/2005)

But either way, I have to admit I was pretty impressed by the author's imagination here. The story is about a famous Hollywood actor (fictitious, of course) named Todd Pickett. He's not a great actor, but is so gorgeous most movie fans don't seem to mind (think Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare). But when a director refuses to hire him because he's starting to get a few wrinkles, Todd's thrown into a panic. If all he's really got to keep himself famous is his face, and his face is starting to go. . . Well. . .

So, he decides to try a face life. Only it goes horribly awry. To avoid being seen as the scars heal (so no one will know he's stooped to cosmetic surgery), he rents a huge, old mansion, deserted and deep in the woods away from the city, nestled in an area known as "Coldheart Canyon."

What Todd doesn't know is that the Canyon house used to be the home of another glamorous star named Katya. Katya used to host huge A-list parties there back in the 30's -- well, orgies, really. Although, as Todd is soon to learn, what really kept the people coming back to Katya's wasn't the sex -- it was the room in her basement. The room with the magical tile mural. The room that somehow rejuvenated all who entered. Keeping them young forever.

When Katya tired of her friends and cut them off from trips to the room, they began to age rapidly. Some of them died from age-related diseases only a few weeks after being exiled from Katya's room. Others, panicked that their aging faces would lead to a collapse of their Hollywood careers, committed suicide. But all of them returned to Coldheart Canyon after they crossed over to the other side. And they've been waiting outside the house ever since -- waiting for someone to let them back in.

Sort of a ghost story, sort of a freak show, sort of soft-core porn, and also a bit of a cautionary tale about the hazards of vanity. This book was about 200 pages too long, but hard to put down nonetheless. Imaginative, original, and pretty exciting -- I'll definitely be looking for other Barker books soon. After all, October IS a great month for creepy. Mua ha ha ha!

Their imaginations, thus formally released, start to free them from the harsh desolation of Coldwater. When a new prisoner, a handsome Irish man named O'Connell, is taken under the Captain's wing, Emily begins to project the romance of her stories onto her relationship with him. Her transgressions, however, quickly get back to the Captain, sending him on a downward spiral of emotion. He soon becomes overcome by passion himself - a passion of paranoid madness - forcing his daughters to use their stubbornness and creativity to escape the tyranny of their father and the isolation of Coldwater.

This was a strange book - I had read that the daughters were all semi-based on the Brontes and was expecting something semi-biographical, I think. An Australian penal colony, however, made for a far more interesting setting than I expected and the exploration of the relationship between the daughters and their father, who they soon realize they hardly really know, was engrossing. The overriding theme of this novel is that knowledge is power and power, in the wrong hands, is a very dangerous thing. A mesmerizing look at what isolation, desolation, and absolute power can do. Recommended!

I wish this novel had been about a hundred pages longer, and that there had been more of an evolution back towards something normal for the main character. Instead, it just ends miserably and with no hope for the woman's future. In short, major downer. And while I can understand and even appreciate why the author might not have wanted to give this a pert Hollywood happy ending, I don't have to like it!

Except that I did like it. Oh heck, I don't know what I'm talking about. This is an interesting new author we have here though, folks. She's one to watch. (3/6/04)

This was an incredible book that anyone interested in medicine absolutely must read immediately! I learned a ton from Gawande and left this book not only with an education in various surgical procedures and medical conditions, but with an entirely new perspective on doctors in general. Absolutely wonderful and HIGHLY recommended! (1/22/04)

Hilarious and fast-paced mystery that I could barely put down. I was excited to discover there's a film version and even more excited to discover this is the first of a series. Highly recommended to all mystery fans who love great plots, funny dialogue, smart women, and the occasional steamy kissing scene.

First of all, let me say that this is a truly wonderful book. It's set in Greece during WWII, which, in and of itself, is fascinating since you hear all the time about WWII and England, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the U.S., but since when have you heard anything about WWII and Greece? And why not? It was definitely involved in the whole thing too, you know. How much of what happens in the book is fact and how much is fiction, I don't know and I really want to find out -- that alone ought to tell you that I found this book interesting enough to want to learn more. A good sign.

Setting aside, the plot is also fascinating. On a small scale, it focuses on a young Greek woman who falls in love first with a village boy and eventually with an Italian soldier (Captain Corelli). On a much grander scale, the book is about what war does to people. People on every side -- people of every position, every rank, every country, every sex, every occupation. While the effects of the war on the people in this book were varied -- some became brave, some became cowards, some fell in love, some fell out of love, some became proud, some ashamed, etc. etc. etc. -- for the most part, the effects can be boiled down to one phrase: war hurts. But this book goes beyond the usual examination of that concept. Some of the characters in this book experience the war in a way I've never seen written about in all the many books I've read about war. One of the best characters in the book (and I mean "best" both in that I found him the most intriguing and he was the best person) is a gigantic gay man who joined the military so that he could be around the kind of brotherly love that men encounter when thrown together in those kinds of circumstances. Whereas the current debate over gays in the military usually focuses on how sexually stimulating those nasty gays will get when they see their comrades nekkid in the showers, this book really brings into focus a much more realistic look at the issue. Our gay soldier does fall in love with a straight friend. In fact, he falls in love with two of them. And what it does is this: it makes them ALL better men for it. Take that, you don't-ask-don't-tell dunderheads.

The writing is also tremendous. de Bernieres has a keen wit and he's not afraid to us it! He is also masterful with the language -- some of his descriptions of things moved me to tears. Some of them made me laugh out loud. I have underlined entire passages and already gone back to reread them twice. He is a truly talented writer and I already miss getting to read his phrases. I can't wait to find out what other books he's got out there. Another good sign!

However, despite the fact that I loved the setting, characters, plot, and writing, I have to say now that the ending of this book is just plain awful. My perception of what happened is this: de Bernieres got towards the end of the book and realized he had only two options for the ending -- the happy option and the tragic option. And rather than settle for one of those two, either of which would be hard to pull off without running the risk of being cliche, he decided to just pretend he had a third option and made up an ending that fit none of the characters involved and essentially ruined the whole book for me. Not only did the ending come 50 pages and two decades too late, but it is one of those endings that is neither happy nor sad, neither good nor bad, and, alas, neither interesting nor moving. After a book of such powerful emotions and messages, to have an ending like this one tacked on carelessly at the last just killed me. I was so majorly disappointed. While it sounds like I'm cursing the author for daring to take a path that hadn't been gone down before, what I'm actually cursing him for was for not having the courage to be cliche and to hell with it. By writing this "neither" ending, he betrayed not only the readers, who were desperate by this point for some kind of emotional finale, but his characters as well. The explanation one of them gives for what went wrong is so wholly unbelievable that it made me snort. As if I believe for a moment that lovers like those two would ever have made that kind of a mistake about each other. The tragedy here is that de Bernieres chickened out. That he did it in the name of originality does not make it okay. And don't even try to argue that it was intended to be yet another example of the damage that war can do to people. You aren't going to convince me of that.

But, I'm sure I'm the only one out there who feels this way. It wouldn't be the first time I was disappointed by something everybody else in the world absolutely loved. So, hey, just ignore me and go read this book. I'm sure you'll enjoy it -- I did myself. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you get to the ending!

This is not only an interesting look at the history of a criminal investigation tool, but also a remarkable and almost beautiful examination of what happens to our bodies when we give them back to the earth. A must-read for all armchair forensic expert wannabes or anyone else who just thinks science is damn cool. Recommended!

For a while, it looked like maybe he and Kate would get together, which I would've enjoyed. But for some reason, Shaw brings his estranged wife back at the very end and the two reconcile. And while that's okay too -- I liked Dan very much by the end of the novel and was glad to see him happy again -- the problem I had with this one is that I just really missed Scott and I, let alone poor dumped Kate, could've used a little rebound romance in the story myself. Scott was an extremely entertaining character and he brought a lot of energy to the story, so without him, I felt like this novel was a bit flat. I'm not sure what Shaw was thinking ditching him -- surely she must've known her readers would fall for him every bit as much as her characters did. My only hope is that he's destined to make a return in the next novel, Country Lovers, due out in the U.S. in April.

In any case, I did still thoroughly enjoy this novel -- the setting of an English vet hospital reminds me quite a bit of that old TV series All Creatures Great and Small (which I think I'll check for on DVD soon, actually). I definitely recommend the first novel to anybody who thinks it sounds like fun, and keep an eye out for my review of the third one this spring. (1/2/2007) [read me!]

In "Cozy," Hastings and his wife Alice go on a vacation in New England, staying at a B&B (or maybe it's an inn) called "The Blue Frog Ponds." While there, they do a little hiking and get to know some of the other people staying at the B&B with them. And, of course, they become involved in a murder investigation. The scary part is that guests of the B&B are getting bumped off one by one. The even scarier part is that the cop in charge is a complete moron getting nowhere fast on the case. Good thing Stanley's around!

Great novel for when you're out sick or at the beach for a weekend. I read it in a day. It's not literature, and I was a little disappointed in the ending (too obvious!) but if you're looking for a charming little mystery, this one will do the trick quite nicely. Recommended!

As for the book, I can say with complete conviction that this is by far the best installment in this series yet. It begins with Tempe being called in to investigate the death of an Orthodox Jew who was found with a shotgun at his side in a closet. At first, everyone thinks it was a suicide, but Tempe's analysis of his skull proves otherwise. As she's leaving the autopsy room, another Orthodox Jew comes up to her and presses a photograph into her hands, saying it's the reason his friend was killed. The photo is of a skeleton and the writing on the back leads Tempe to believe it was taken during the excavation of Masada in Israel in the 1960's. Masada was sort of the Jewish counterpart to the Alamo, where hundreds of Jewish people, the story goes, had holed up to try to escape the Romans. When they realized the Roman army was on the verge of breaking in and slaughtering them all, they decided that rather than let them take their lives, they would kill themselves and go out by their own hands. When the site was excavated in the 60's, the archaeologist in charge of the dig very suspiciously omitted a few extremely interesting discoveries -- one of which, Tempe learns, was the presence of the unidentified skeleton in the photo. Why did he keep the skeleton a secret? As it turns out, it's because the identity of that skeleton may completely destroy the very foundations of Christianity as we know it.

Probably the most fascinating thing about this story is the fact that it's based very much on fact. As Reichs herself writes at the beginning and end of the novel, the vast majority of the things in the novel about the bones, the dig in Israel, and the various people involved are actually true. I loved that she included so much information about the REAL case of the Masada skeleton -- that was a wonderful touch and it's definitely made me curious enough to want to read some of the other books she recommended. In short, this is a well-written, highly entertaining, and extremely educational and intelligent novel. One of the most wholly enjoyable books I've read all summer! Highly recommended, and don't forget to tune into "Bones" next fall! (7/19/2005)

Intrigued and a bit intimidated, Isadora pledged to keep a diary of her time in Havana, and this book is the result. Packed with fascinating descriptions of the country, its culture, its people, and their politics, this book was an absolute delight. I was having so much fun sinking into Tattlin's Cuban world, I hardly noticed how much I was learning about that enigmatic, isolated, beautiful country.

This is a great book for people who like a little education with their entertainment. And I hope that wherever the Tattlin family is living now, Isadora is keeping a journal! Armchair travel doesn't get much better than this -- recommended! (7/6/03)

This novel is a fictionalized take on this story, focusing on both D.B. himself and an FBI agent on his trail. But, instead of being the riveting cat-and-mouse tale this might have been, it's instead a rather hit-or-miss examination of two men struggling with feelings of purposelessness.

Cooper in the novel is actually a Vietnam vet named Phil Fitch -- jobless, luckless, alone, and uninspired. After pulling off the hijacking, he finds himself condemned to a life of anonymity, even while his alter ego of Cooper becomes a legend. When he can finally stand it no more and tells his girlfriend who he really is, instead of fawning all over him, she has him beaten and robbed. And thus, he's forced to return to those woods to try to find the part of the money he'd stashed there years before.

This is where his path finally crosses with that of the FBI agent. But first, we have to slog through that guy's parallel story of aimlessness. Frank Marshall has the perfect life -- a house and family and career -- but when he is forced to retire from the FBI, everything kind of falls apart for him. He becomes enamored of the wife of a man he put away, but is unable to do anything about his feelings. He's sort of trapped by his inaction -- unable to shake himself loose of the perfection and simplicity of his life so far.

I'm not sure I can actually recommend this book, despite the fact I found the writing to be utterly fantastic in places. The plot just meanders so much and so pointlessly, and the two stories seemed to kind of stall in the middle. I started skimming, eager for some development -- any development! But while the end kind of made it worth the effort, I mostly found myself just glad I could put the book down and move on to something else. Eh. I appreciate that Reid was trying NOT to write the typical page-turning thriller this book could easily have been. But frankly, that would've been a lot more interesting. (11/17/2004)

It's very accessibly and humorously written, and my favorite feature is the fact that it provides a list (with identifying drawings) of every tool you'll need to have handy before you start each task (because, while I'm getting better at this, before I bought a house I didn't know a socket wrench from a sock monkey). It also has a great section on preparing a safety plan for your family, and another one on how to find a good contractor for those jobs that are just too far over your head.

I know I'll get a lot of use out of this book (and will be looking for the authors' similar book on basic car repairs next). Recommended to all other home maintenance rookies! (1/9/2006) [read me!]

At first, everything is pretty exciting for Jed, until he finds out he's been hired for an ulterior reason -- the main scientist on the base, an old-timer named Mickey Moss, didn't actually bring a geologist out to study the weather after all. Go figure. Nope, instead, he brought Jed to the South Pole to analyze a rock he's found -- a rock he thinks is from Mars, something that would make it worth over five million dollars. But before Jed even has a chance to really examine it, the rock goes missing. And then Moss is found murdered. Pretty soon, the researchers and staff find themselves being picked off one by one, with one body found with an anonymous note implying that the killer is after the missing rock, and will keep killing until whoever stole it hands it over. Everybody suspects Jed -- after all, he's the newbie and he was the only one who really knew how valuable the rock would be. Then again, there's also the mechanic with an extremely large, and violent, chip on his shoulder. And, frankly, I'm finding that psychologist guy a little bit shady, as well, though I can't really put my finger on just why. Who is killing off the staff at Admundson-Scott? And how can the others stop the murderer when they have no weapons, no crime-fighting skills, no contact with the outside world, no means of escape, and no locks on any of their doors?

Man, this was just a really exciting and thoroughly entertaining novel. I can't remember the last time I found a book so gripping it kept me awake for hours and hours past my bedtime -- but that's exactly what this book did. When I got to the last third, I couldn't go to bed until I was done. I love it when that happens (that is, until the next morning, when I'm utterly exhausted!). Highly, highly recommended, and I can't wait to read more by this author soon! (11/5/2006) [read me!]

Life is going fairly smoothly for Dexter until he gets called in to look over a crime scene and discovers something unusual -- it's a body, hacked into pieces, and there isn't a single spot of blood anywhere. As a guy who likes to chop up his own victims and who is likewise obsessive about tidiness, Dexter is immediately intrigued and impressed by this new killer's work. His sister Deborah, a beat cop who wants to be promoted to detective, immediately latches onto Dexter's uncanny insights about this new rash of murders and tries to use his theories to get herself noticed by her superiors. Soon, Dexter and Deborah are working off the clock, trying to find the killer before he strikes again. But they have two very different motives -- Deborah wants to keep him from killing anybody else; Dexter just wants to meet him and shake his hand, so to speak.

Up to this point, I was enjoying this book well enough. It's definitely readable -- fast-paced and darkly humorous. But I had some serious problems with the exaggeratedly stilted style. Dexter is the narrator of the novel, and we're supposed to get a sense of his complete inability to feel emotion -- his sociopathicness -- from the style in which the words are put together on the page. The problem is, I felt like the style was inconsistent, and in some places it was just plain ol' badly written. Nevertheless, I appreciated that Lindsay was trying to give his character a distinctive voice and I was intrigued by the characters and the storyline.

What blew the novel for me was the ending, when it is finally revealed to us who the mystery killer is. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say that there are two "suspects" by the end, and neither one of them was interesting or unique in any way. The first one, the one we're led to think is the killer for most of the last quarter of the book, was a cliché of just epic proportions. And the second one -- well, hmmm, what's bigger than "epic"? Because, it, too, was just eye-rollingly "been there, done that" to me.

All in all, I think Lindsay has come up with a very interesting character in Dexter, and though I thought this novel was pretty weak, I was glad to see he's working on a second novel featuring the same characters. Maybe he'll get the hang of this in time for the second one to turn out great. Dexter is a unique character -- a clever idea. I'm just hoping he wasn't Lindsay's only clever idea. Only time, and the next book, will tell! (3/15/2006) [read me!]

Alas, other times, it does not.

The book starts off with a pretty intriguing tale and one that so gripped me in the first fifty pages I couldn't bring myself to give up on it when the author's myriad weaknesses began to reveal themselves. I suppose that says something, something sort of good. I read the whole damn thing, after all. So, props for that, sir, whatever it was. Your premise pulled me in; if only your execution had kept me as engaged, this could've been a really good book.

What happens in the beginning is this: a mailman in a small Irish town, a lonely fellow named Desmond, is surprised when all of a sudden one of the older ladies on his route, a lady who used to invite him in for tea regularly, begins to snub him. Her name is Moira Walsh, and though she's always been a bit of a recluse, she was usually quite kind to Desmond. After the snubbing began, Desmond would walk by her house delivering the mail and often hear strange sounds coming from inside - thumps and moans - and once even saw a fluttering at an upstairs window that looked maybe, sort of, possibly? like a young girl? But he never bothered to knock, or to listen harder, or to ask questions.

And so, of course, he is devastated by the guilt that hits when the brutally slain body of Mrs. Walsh is found inside one morning a few weeks later. But it gets worse - upstairs, the coppers find the starved and broken bodies of her two 20-something nieces, Fiona and Roisin, both clearly tortured, held hostage, and steadily poisoned with rat bait over the span of several months. When Fiona finally tried to make a break for it, stabbing her aunt in the chest with a sharpened screwdriver, Moira still managed to take her own before gasping her last breath herself. And Roisin's organs failed, either shortly before or shortly after Fiona's escape attempt, eaten away by the systematic poisoning. Three women dead - and one other sister still missing - BUT WHY?

You can see how I got sucked in, right?

Desmond quits his job, traumatized, and we never hear from him again. He's replaced by a younger man, Niall, who spends most of his time both on and off the job sketching wolves and drawing comics. One day, purely by chance (chance being the primary plot device in this novel, I'm sorry to report), he discovers in the dead letter bin a journal that Fiona had written while a captive. Having heard the stories of the Walsh house, he immediately begins to read it. And when he later comes upon a similar journal written by Roisin, jackpot!, we finally get the complete story of what led to the girls' capture and torment by their aunt.

And what a laaaaaame, unbelievable story it was. It has to do with a "handsome stranger" (yawn) who rides into town one afternoon on a noisy motorcycle and proceeds to charm the sense right out of every women in town, including Aunt Moira and Fiona. By the time it becomes clear to the Walsh sisters that he's the kind of bastard the world would be better off without, it's too late for Aunt Moira, who's been completely duped by his attention and cons.

Part of Jim's initial charm is that he's a seanchai - an Irish storyteller - and he travels around from pub to pub in the area telling a cliffhangery tale of twin princes, one of whom gets turned into a wolf by a curse when he kills his crippled brother (golly gee, what a coincidence that Niall is also obsessed with wolves!). This tale sort of ends up making sense when you get to the end of the book and discover it was somewhat of an allegory for Jim's life with his own twin. But the problem is, every plot point carrying us to that finale is based on an unbelievable series of lucky stumbles. Characters do a ridiculous number of things that make no sense (really? You're going BACK to the scene of the crime to bury the murder weapon? Why is that, exactly?), and Niall somehow manages to blunder his way all the way to the root of it all, primarily because the author shoves every clue right into his face. And into ours. Borrrrring.

There's no suspense to this story whatsoever. You know it'll all be resolved - in fact, you can tell the author can't wait to resolve it for you, he's so pleased with his own cleverness. But while the actual story wasn't too bad, the writing was flat and dull and the characters don't stand out in any way. The sisters were all a blur, even though the author tried to describe their personalities to us more than once - he told us, he didn't show us, and that's Creative Writing 101, brother.

What's more, I found I just didn't care about any of them; they had no emotional depth whatsoever (one exception was the girls' cop friend, who deserved more of a role than she got). Even worse was that one of the story's final "twists" was so painfully predictable - and I would guess it would be to any woman reading this story - it actually made me cringe. After reading a book as creative and well-written as Amy Bloom's Away, this novel just frustrated the hell out of me. Such an intriguing idea for a story, and so blown to bits by such lackluster storytelling. Argh!

And yes, yes, I could've put it down at any point and moved on. Of course I could have. But I was a fool. What can I say? Don't be like me. (5/6/2010)

You can imagine, then, her horror when sixteen years later, Eliza falls in love with a thief named Joaquin. Even worse, he soon decides he must go to California to join the Gold Rush so he can make enough money to support Eliza, and when Eliza finds out about this, she smuggles herself onto a later ship and follows him across the sea.

Luckily for Eliza, she's not alone on her voyage -- luckily, I say, because she's pregnant and has a terrible miscarriage mid-route. Her traveling companion, though, is a Chinese doctor named Tao Chi'en, and he ends up saving her life.

When they arrive in San Francisco, Eliza sets out to find Joaquin and soon realizes she'll get nowhere in the new world dressed as a woman. So, she dons men's clothing instead, and becomes a young boy. Over the next several years, Eliza travels all over California, following a trail of wild stories about a bandit named Joaquin. Little does she know, though, that the REAL man she loves is the one who has become her constant companion -- Tao Chi'en.

This is a wonderfully written novel that really transported me to another time. I loved the combination of so many races and cultures, as well -- the British, the Chileans, the Chinese, and the Old West all in the same novel! Another fine book from Allende, and one definitely not to be missed. Recommended! (7/13/2006) [read me!]

To catch the killer, Flann decides they need to send Ellie undercover on the dating web site to see if she can lure the bad guy out by creating an online identity for herself that mimics the victims' profiles. But when the dating service killer starts to remind her a little too much of the same serial killer her father had been pursuing, Ellie begins to think she might not be the only player in this game who has a personal motivation to succeed.

This mystery is really nothing special. It's entertaining enough, but has a predictable story and is very awkwardly written in places (for example, McIlroy's nickname is "McIl-Mulder," because his colleagues think he's weird -- think Fox Mulder from The X-Files -- but that's hardly a nickname that rolls off the tongue, for one thing, and the comparison between the two characters never made any sense to me either). The characters are pretty trite and uninspired as well -- McIlroy is every grizzled detective you've ever encountered, and Ellie is every young female professional who has had to sacrifice her love life for the sake of her career. Man, I'm tired of that character -- she is everywhere these days! The online dating stuff was fairly entertaining, if only because I don't know much about that realm, but a lot of the pop culture and technology references were pretty remarkably dated for a novel that was published in 2007.

I've heard Burke's series featuring a lawyer named Samantha Kincaid is fairly popular, so I might check one of those out (Burke herself is a deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, which gives me hope I might find her lawyer character a bit more realistic than I found her cops). But I can't really say I found much in this novel worth recommending to others. Definitely one you can skip. (3/3/2008) [read me!]

In the boxes are all kinds of great things -- old beer ads, gorgeous glassware, antique gambling "punch cards," and. . .a dismembered human finger in a jar.

Unsure what to do with the finger, she calls in a friend -- Homicide Detective Bruce Oh. But while they are puzzling over the finger, something oddly coincidental happens -- the man who owns the building Jane's parent's tavern is in is found dead. With the same finger nearly chopped off.

This sends Jane on the trail of a killer, which ultimately leads her through a pretty convoluted mystery plot. I had several problems with the actual mystery in this mystery, like when the woman dies from anaphylaxis and her body is found sitting calmly against a wall, on a tippy pile of boxes, holding a smaller box firmly in her hands. Yeah, cuz anaphylactic shock is a PEACEFUL way to die. Uh huh. Sure. Also, while I understand that both Jane and the author love to collect things made out of something called "Bakelite," if I have to hear the actual WORD "Bakelite" one more time, I just might go mad and hurt someone. I didn't count, but I'd estimate that "Bakelite" was used approximately 36,000 times in this short novel. Just, please, SHUT UP ABOUT THE BAKELITE! No offense.

That said, believe it or not, I actually really enjoyed this book. Great characters -- quirky and funny -- and lots of non-B-word-related shoptalk about garage sales and junk, which is always fun. It's a light, mindless kind of novel, which is just what I want sometimes. I'll definitely look for the first book in the series, "Killer Stuff," the next time I'm in the mood for something frivolous.

The following weekend, I was in the mood for a crappy horror movie, and I noticed this flick called Devil's Pass was available for streaming at Netflix. It sounded intriguing: I love movies set in snowy nowheres, and it was directed by Renny Harlin - admittedly not a great sign but at least I'd heard of him.

As soon as the movie started, I was astonished to discover it was about the same thing as the book I'd just picked up - the Dyatlov Pass incident - something I'd never even heard of until this bizarre coincidence.

What a bizarre coincidence!

Also: what a fascinating story! And man, is it ever the perfect fodder for a horror or sci-fi movie - why there haven't been more of them, I have no idea. Before I get into specifics about the movie and the book, though, let me fill you in on a little background. This part is the true-story part.

In the winter of 1959, a group of young adults in Russia decided to take a break from school and go ski-hiking into the Urals. They started out as a group of 10 (8 men, 2 women), but not long into the trek, one of them fell ill and had to turn back.

The other 9, led by Igor Dyatlov, a 23 year-old student at Ural Polytechnic and highly skilled climber, had no concerns about their trip, despite the fact they were climbing in the snowy nowheres of Siberia in January - certainly not my first choice for camping. These guys knew what they were doing, though, and they were having a great time doing it. Photos from their trip show them goofing around, enjoying camp, laughing. It was clearly a blast.

At least, it was until it wasn't anymore.

After their deadline to get back to town came and went, the group's friends began to get worried. They soon put together a search team and headed up along the same path the Dyatlov group had taken.

For five days, they found nothing. On the sixth day, they found the group's tent, eerily set up inside as though the group had just been there and would be back any moment. Food was laid out. Several of the hikers' boots were lined up by the tent entrance. But at the back of the tent was an ominous sign: a huge slash in the canvas, clearly made from the inside, as though something terrible had been coming in the front and the rear was their only way out.

Eventually, all the hikers' bodies were found, and it became clear they had fled in a panic, separating from each other and running in wildly impractical, random directions. Most of them had frozen to death alone - they were all drastically under-dressed for the weather, many in what amounted to pajamas, and, as the boots in the tent had suggested, several were in their stocking feet. In Siberia. In January.

Disturbingly, though, two of the bodies showed evidence of some kind of violence - one had a crushing head injury, the other was missing her tongue. Another two were found in an embrace, next to the embers of a small fire. And, weirdest of all, several of them had high levels of radioactivity on their clothing.

Leading to the question: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? First, the movie's theory. Devil's Pass is about a group of film students who decide to follow the path the Dyatlov group took and make a documentary about the incident. It's essentially The Blair Witch Project, only set in Siberia instead of New Jersey - this, for me, was not a bad thing.

After days of hiking in, the group finally gets to the place where the Dyatlov tent was discovered, and decide to call it a night, pitching their own tent essentially on the same spot where Igor's had been. This, incidentally, would also not be my first choice for camping.

While the others are setting up, the team leader and her buddy head out for some early poking around. It's just trees and snows and hills and rocks and stuff - until they come across something plenty weird: a door. A door in the side of the mountain. Thumbs up!

From there, the movie gets even more intriguing. Annnnnnd then it takes a sharp turn towards Hilariously Dumb. All in all, though, it's not a terrible flick and I'd say it's well worth a rental if you're interested in some really crazy theories about what happened to Igor and his pals. Why the hell not?

Speaking of really crazy theories, let's move on. The non-fiction book Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident is written by a journalist, Donnie Eichar, who essentially does the same thing the kids in the movie did - he goes to the Northern Urals and hikes the same path, in the hopes he'll discover something no one else has and finally put to rest the decades-old question, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

The book is written in alternating chapters, with half of them set in the present day, focusing on the author's research, interviews, and travels, and the other half set in 1959, telling the story of the Dyatlov group (reconstructed thanks to the hikers' journals and camera, as well as interviews with friends and search party members).

Everybody in Russia seems to have a theory about what happened to the Dyatlov party, with no two theories alike. Those theories range from alien abduction to a Soviet military conspiracy involving a secret radioactive weapon the group had accidentally stumbled across them testing out. The conspiracy theory is strengthened somewhat by the fact the government had been unwilling to help during the search, and later refused to release any of their own information about the incident and the victims.

Assessing and dismissing most of the major theories one by one, Eichar finally proposes yet another idea, only this time, the theory is based in science and is supported by scientists specializing in exactly that very scientific thing - a thing I will not describe so as not to spoilerize you.

The problem is, after such build-up - such suspense, such drama, such crazy, crazy weirdness - Eichar's theory was kind of a super-bummer let-down for me. Partly because it's really the only theory that makesany sense whatsoever, which means it's probably truly what happened. Which means, ugh, how awful. Frankly, alien abduction probably would have been a gentler way to go.

So, what the hell happened? The answer is we still don't know for sure and we may never know (though, apparently, there are more super-secret documents the Russians won't release - suspicious!). Yet despite the fact that after reading the entire book, you still won't really know anything more about what happened than you did when you started (which is to say: nuttin'), it's well worth reading anyway, just so you can meet Igor and his friends, follow them along their journey, and mourn their tragic deaths. If what Eichar thinks happened really is what happened, it seems the least we can do for those poor kids.

As soon as you turn the last page, though, pop in Devil's Pass so you can end your own journey to Siberia with some serious eye-rolls and snorty giggles. Really, Renny Harlin? Really? That's what you're going with? Of all the possibilities? You cheeseball. Recommended! (1/24/2014) [Buy it]

Again, I'd say that the writing here is not terribly strong -- it could've used some tighter editing, and Lovell has a tendency to tell more than show at times. But it's definitely very readable, and I thoroughly enjoyed the information about whales and the little lesson on the history of whaling in Japan and North America. I also loved the Newport, Oregon setting, as that's a town I'm familiar with (my parents live near there). Definitely a series I'll keep reading, and I recommend it to all fans of light, simple mystery stories as well. (4/11/2006) [read me!]

In between personal stories about the coroners and descriptions of the fascinating cases they encounter, Temple educates us on the difference between coroners and medical examiners, as well as the pros and cons of relying on each type of organization for investigational work. Additionally, he mixes in some history, detailing the evolution of the coroner's office over the last couple of centuries. And though I will say the writing was a bit dry -- Temple definitely writes like a reporter, which is great when you're writing a scholarly piece of non-fiction, but less effective when you're writing a book like this that is clearly meant to appeal to the masses of CSI watchers out there -- overall, I found this book extremely engrossing and very educational. Anyone who's ever been curious about what coroners really do shouldn't hesitate to pick up a copy, and that goes double for readers who have enjoyed books like Jessica Synder Sacks' Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death or Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. (3/22/2006) [read me!]

The ending will make your jaw drop -- it took me completely by surprise. And while I have to say it was both a little hard to swallow and a bit too drawn out, major points to Aubert for coming up with what is, hands down, the most bizarre and creative denouement of a mystery I've ever read. Both her "Death" novels are fantastic -- if you're a fan of the genre, you shouldn't miss them. Elise is a really wonderful character, and Aubert is an excellent writer with just an incredible imagination. Highly recommended!

Unfortunately, as I progressed through "Death," I realized that while Jesse talks and acts just like Spenser (witty, smart, flirtatious), on the inside, I found little to love. First of all, he's an outrageous chauvinist -- every time he looked at a woman and thought, "Oh yeah, SHE'S sexual. . ." I rolled my eyes. And believe me, it happened often enough that by the time I finally gave up on this novel, my eyes were tired.

Additionally, he sleeps with just about every woman he stumbles into, including people related to the case he's investigating. All while simultaneously stressing to us, the readers, that he'd actually do ANYTHING to get his ex-wife Jenn back. Add to this the fact that we're supposed to believe all these smart women are so desperate for attention they can't resist his (rather dubious) charms? I'm so sure! Any woman with half a brain and a modicum of self-esteem would kick his ass -- not take off her pants after he's finished explaining that he's still in love with someone else but would really like to have sex now anyway.

It says a lot that I got so far into this and still quit. I kept hoping the plot would be clever or fun enough to make the rest of it worth it. But by the 2/3rds mark, I could see it was headed in a pretty stock direction. If Spenser had been at the helm, I wouldn't have cared about that -- but Jesse Stone can't carry a weak plot on his own. And none of the supporting characters were strong enough to help him out. Skip this one -- and let's hope Parker gives up on the series like I have. I'd rather he spend that time writing a new Spenser novel for me instead!

Though it's not terribly well-written (and it gets very bogged down in the middle with too many stories of OTHER death-by-grizzly tales), it did contain a lot more information about Timothy's life, including some things that were omitted from the movie (understandably so -- there's only so much you can put in a two hour film, after all). Though Lapinski is even more biased against Timothy than Herzog was (he clearly believed that Timothy was not only nuts, but was actually HARMING the grizzlies by getting so close to them -- incidentally, I agree with both these things), he does a fairly good job of interviewing people on both sides of the fence, as well as close family members, colleagues, and friends. He also dedicates an entire chapter to Amie Huguenard, Timothy's girlfriend, who was killed in the grizzly attack along with him in Katmai National Park in October 2003.

All in all, this was an interesting book with enough supplementary material about Timothy to make it well worth reading for all fans of the documentary. (12/15/2007) [read me]

The even better news is that it was pretty darn good. There are two storylines in this installment -- one is about a serial rapist and the other is about an obese young woman who finally snaps under the pressure and begins to plot the murder of her controlling mother. The two nuns, Sister Mary Helen and Sister Eileen, are in their 70's but are avid mystery fans, reading Dick Francis novels and watching episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" in their spare time. When they catch wind of another murder in their small town, one one involving the horrific rapes and slayings of elderly women, they can't leave well enough alone, despite all the usual discouragements from the local police department. The stories were decently suspenseful, especially the one about the young woman, and I loved the two old ladies. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of the first two in the series (just put 'em on hold at the library), so watch for more reviews soon! And in the meantime, if you too enjoyed the Veronica Black series, definitely put this one on your to-do list! It was a quick read -- it's pretty short and definitely not much of a brain bender -- but that just made it all the more fun. The perfect novel for a stormy night. Recommended! (11/2/2005) [read me!]

Susie was a forensic psychologist assigned to evaluate a serial killer named Andrew Gow. Eventually, Gow successfully appealed his conviction and was released from prison. He and his new wife Donna take off for Scotland, and within three weeks, both are murdered. Susie is the only suspect -- the Crown believes she was having an affair with Gow and was enraged when he left her for Donna. But the more Lachlan learns about his wife, the more twists and turns this tale actually takes, eventually leading him down a path that he never could've predicted.

What I really liked about this novel wasn't so much the story (though it's great too) as it was the psychology of the character of Lachlan. While he's going through his wife's things, for example, he comes across a book about women who fall in love with convicted murderers and marry them in prison. These women are nuts, he thinks. They're so desperate to be loved that they will believe anything the murderers tell them -- that they were framed, that they are innocent, that they killed only in self-defense, e.g. Yet, as Lachlan writes about his disdain for them in his diary, we, the reader, begin to realize he himself suffers from the same delusions. (Or does he?) Eventually, it becomes clear that we can no more trust Lachlan's version of the story than we can trust that of Susie, Andrew, or Donna. And though Lachlan starts out as a completely sympathetic character -- a good husband and father who has lost his wife in an absolutely unfathomable way -- the final "twist" in the story reveals him to be someone quite radically different from what we originally thought.

This is an extremely intriguing and engrossing mystery, well-written and very unique. I definitely recommend it and am excited to have discovered this terrific author. She has several more mystery/thrillers and I've just put two more on hold at the library and can't wait to read them! (8/23/2007) [read me!]

Well, after reading it, I came across the couple of parts that probably led to the banning decision (though as a librarian, I still contend that all school book banning stems from ignorance and agenda, two bogus reasons for trampling on the education of our youth). But I also came across a story that has really held up well over the years. Who knew that over twenty years after it was published, it would still be so readable and universal and authentic? Anyway, if you have grown up without ever having read Judy Blume's more controversial kid-works, make sure you at least hit this one. And if you have a daughter who is 13 or older, you should buy her a copy. The "controversial" part is about masturbation, and it's about two pages long and involves a health class in which the teacher tells the students masturbation is normal and healthy and won't make them deformed or blind or devil-fodder. How is that dangerous information? It's just so stupid. Judy Blume, you're my hero, and I hope some day I have a daughter so I can shower her with every banned book on the list. And watch for more of my old pre-teen favorites to show up here soon! (3/7/2005)

Look, I know it seems ridiculous. FOUR Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston novels in a row? The thing is, I really enjoyed Deep Storm, which is essentially the book version of every good-bad disaster/sci-fi movie I've ever seen. That got me started on the kick, and once you're reading super cheesy science fiction, it's incredibly hard to stop. Man, that was a fun book binge. I might be through it now - but only for now. (8/30/2013)

It's not long after arriving, though, that Peter begins to suspect he's not being told the whole truth. For one thing, the disease is staggeringly widespread, and it doesn't act like any disease he's ever seen before. And for another, he begins to deduce, based on snatches of conversation, that it's not Atlantis they've found under the water, but instead some kind of alien device. The nature of this alien device and the reason why it's down there to begin with ends up being what I thought was a highly original and quite crafty concept. In the hands of a better writer, it could've been one of the best sci-fi novels of the year, in my opinion. Unfortunately, Child screws it all up by throwing in a nonsensical and clichéd sabotage subplot, and an ending that really blew me away with it's complete lack of blowing-me-awayness. A great idea like that, and this is the best you can do with it, Child? No wonder most of your other novels have been written with a partner! Damn. I seriously hate nothing more than I hate seeing a great idea wasted by a subpar writer! Move along, folks; nothing to see here. (7/2/2007) [don't read me!]

When it's all over, Lucinda, in shock, begs Charlie not to go to the police. She's married too and knows her husband will kill her if he finds out about the affair. If she can stand keeping quiet, she says, than so can he. Though he's reluctant, Charlie isn't all that enthusiastic about telling HIS spouse either, so he agrees.

Things get worse, though, as the Hispanic dude, Vasquez, realizes he's robbed the perfect couple. They'll never go to the police because they were caught in a hotel room with each other, so, why not take this opportunity to throw in a little blackmail? First he demands ten thousand dollars from Charlie. But then the stakes go higher. And pretty soon, a desperate Charlie has taken his entire savings account -- the one he's been putting money into for years to help care for his sick daughter -- and handed it over to a criminal.

Right around here comes a twist that took me by surprise, even though in retrospect, it probably shouldn't have. But I was coasting along, engrossed in the fairly breezy suspense, not giving it all that much thought. Though it's not the most brilliantly written novel, I will say I was thoroughly enjoying it. I was on the edge of my seat, even.

Until I hit page 273.

And ohhhh, the crash and burn. On page 273 comes one of the stupidest, most convenient plot "twists" of all time. And things just end up getting lamer and lamer with each passing page from there on out. Did Siegel run out of ideas or time around page 273? Whichever one it was, it's a shame because it turned a relatively decent little thriller into one of the stupidest novels I've ever read. Ludicrously stupid, actually. Laugh-out-loud-with-derision stupid, actually. Utter. Ridiculous. Crap.

Oh well, at least now I know not to spend $4 renting the movie version (starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston), right? Man. Don't bother with this one, folks. Save yourselves! (2/9/2006) [don't read me!]

The writer follows the instructions and winds up unconscious in a hotel room. When he wakes, he finds he's been kidnapped by the killer, who wants to teach him a lesson about murder.

But, unfortunately, the novel gets kind of lame from there. And, while it's at it, it also becomes pretty disturbingly sadistic. I read a lot of mysteries and serial killer novels and none of them has made me as uncomfortable as this one (frankly, I wouldn't want to meet the author of this book in a dark alley). I guess that might have been a compliment, if it weren't for the fact that this novel goes from original to "seen this before -- a million TIMES before" in only 100 pages.

Why did I keep reading? I liked the writer character, for one, and after all those sadistic murder scenes, I kind of needed to get to the part where the killer gets his comeuppance. But I was skimming by the end. And it's too bad, because the beginning of this book gave me the willies -- that IS a compliment -- and had it been able to maintain that intensity throughout, it would've been great. Too bad. (3/26/04)