Alli's Cannonball Read

Book 7 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

2012-01-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

I decided to read this book after reading a post on Pajiba about movies that would have been better with a different ending. I can't seem to find that post or remember the exact title, but in any case it lead me to this book and I enjoyed it very much and I am now looking forward to watching my Director's cut of Bladerunner as I think it has the better ending that Pajiba was referring to. I have never seen any version of Bladerunner but I had vaguely heard of it and knew it was something to do with a bounty hunter and androids .

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the story of a world ravaged by World War Terminus. The planet Earth is mostly abandoned since most have gone off to colonies on Mars where they are all promised their own personal android assistant (slave). Back on earth we meet Rick Deckard who is a bounty hunter working for the San Francisco police. Sometimes the androids tire of slaving for the humans and they kill them and flee back to Earth.

In this world there are very few animals and so owning an animal is a large status symbol and preserving any animal life is paramount. They all follow a mysterious man named Mercer, they hook themselves up to a device called an empathy box in order to visit Mercer and experience his plight. They seem to gain a group consciousness from this experience and it enables them to live in positive and peaceful ways.

When we first meet Rick he is fairly down. His wife is depressed, he is unable to purchase a real animal and has to make do with his electric sheep. He is the low bounty hunter on the totem pole and so his hopes to purchase an animal are few. He is quite obsessed with animals, they have a guidebook with prices and lists of extinct animals and he turns to it quite often. When a superior bounty hunter is severely injured by a new type of android, Rick is asked to take on the task of taking out 6 more androids that are on the loose.

He is first asked to meet with the manufacturers of the androids at their Earth headquarters. The police want to make sure that their test to determine if someone is an android is accurate. He then meets Rachael Rosen who he tests and who does play a substantial role in the rest of the novel.

It is mainly a book about empathy, and survival and what constitutes a life. Androids in this book are almost indistinguishable from humans, and physically can only be detected post mortem with bone marrow tests. The bounty hunters use mainly empathy response tests to determine if someone is an android as that is one thing that they seem to lack.

It was interesting to read a piece of Science Fiction from 1968. It is amusing that the author thought there would still be cathode ray tube TVs and that we would still hang up phones, and that there would be no cell phones either. Also it is referenced in the book itself that on Mars a big source of entertainment is old science fiction novels, they like to laugh at the inaccuracies as well.

All in all a pretty good read. I don't read much science fiction, but this book made me want to possibly reconsider that.

Book 6 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2012-01-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

I read "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by Jean-Dominique Bauby as it was listed as a recommendation at the end of "Girlfriend in a Coma". It is a memoir of sorts written by the French editor of Elle magazine who suffers a stroke and then has a condition called "Locked in Syndrome". He has some movement ability with his head and he is able to communicate using his left eye. In order to communicate people use a chart of letters ordered in frequency of their usage in the French language. He still does have his hearing, although sometimes certain sounds do bombard his hearing.

The memoir itself is a series of vignettes going back and forth between his time in the hospital and his life before. He has a gift for the written word, and he seems to find beauty in his surroundings wherever he goes. He takes great joy in being wheeled up to a patio where he sees himself as a director, summoning clouds and birds.

Overall it is heartbreaking to empathize with this gentleman, to be trapped inside your own body while your mind remains intact. He seems to make the most of it as best he can. He takes great journeys inside his mind, travels back into his memories. He can no longer eat, but he has great banquets in fantasy. He finds that most of his caregivers are very considerate and courteous, but there are always those who turn off his soccer match right in the middle or leave him in an uncomfortable position and ignore his blinking pleas.

It is amazing what people can accomplish. According to wikipedia, this book took around 20,000 blinks to write. Bauby indicates that he would be constantly editing what he would want to write in his mind before the transcriber would arrive so that what landed on the page was perfect. Constantly throughout I kept thinking back to the laborious task that it must have been to get this book written and it was well worth it and it is a wonderful legacy that he has left for us all.

Book 5 - The Long Walk

2012-01-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

I have so much to say about this book it is hard to know where to start. I have a lot of intelligent things to say mulling about in my brain, we will see if any of them actually make it on to this review. First I would like to give a shout out to my buddy youthfulzombie and her "Best reads of 2011" post that first brought my attention to this book. Second I would like to give myself a pat on the back for coming up with an ingenious way to be able to read while stuffing envelopes at work. Gotta love making a monotonous task a bit more fun.

"The Long Walk" is a novel written by Stephen King under the nom de plume Richard Bachman. Although I vaguely remember that he used a pseudonym at one time, I didn't fully realize that he had written so many books under the Bachman name. It seems that he may have done this to prove to himself that people were buying his books for the quality within rather than the brand name of Stephen King. Since the truth was brought to light too quickly he was unable to properly prove this one way or another. I would have liked to been able to read a Bachman book to see if I would have been smart enough to recognize the voice of my favorite author even in hiding.

King offers us an introduction to this book called "The Importance of Being Bachman" in which he indicates that Bachman was also a way for him to offer up a different side of himself, a darker side. That darker side inspired the book "The Dark Half" which is in my to read pile as we speak. I seem to think that I have read all of Kings works but more just keep turning up.

Onto the book itself. "The Long Walk" has a relatively simple premise: on May 1 at 9am of each year 100 teen aged boys start out on a walk. They must maintain a pace of 4 miles per hour and if they slow or stop for more than 30 seconds then they receive a warning and after three warnings your number is up, literally. You can walk the warnings off, but it takes an hour for each one. They are allowed as much water as they want but food concentrates are only given once per day and you are not allowed to stop for bodily functions. The last man standing wins a prize of their choosing. It is unclear exactly why they would participate, but a variety of reasons are hinted at and I am sure that each may have a personal reason as well.

There are soldiers on the sidelines in a halftrack vehicle, responsible for tracking the walkers taking out those who need to be taken out. There are also references to some mysterious "squads" that seem to whisk off non-compliant members of society. The whole walk is presided over by the Major, both worshiped and despised by the walkers. There are many spectators at certain parts of the walk, and they are compared to the audiences of Roman gladiator fights.

Our hero is Ray Garrity, he is native to Maine where the walk starts out so he is a hero to a lot of the onlookers. We do meet many of the 100 Long Walkers, the ones that stood out most to me were McVries, Baker, Barkovich and Stebbins. A few of the walkers form a sort of alliance, they call themselves musketeers while others are more alienated, like Barkovich and Stebbins. Stebbins is aloof and a source of great intrigue for Garrity.

King simply makes the rules, puts the players on the course and lets it all play out. A simple premise, yet very engrossing. It left me with a lot to think about, like how long that some of the walkers continued to help each other out. You would think with death on the line you would want to have the others fail as soon as possible, but I suppose that basic human kindness still exists even in a situation like this, and also what goes around comes around I suppose.

Once again I was sucked into a world designed by Mr King and I did enjoy every dark minute of it. I am even a bit sad that it is over, but I do have many many books waiting for me on my to read shelf so I better get back to reading!

Just one final note, wikipedia has this image as the original cover for the book, the above is my library book. I love this cover!

Book 4 - Big Girl Small

2012-01-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

"Big Girl Small" by Rachel DeWoskin is the tale of a teen aged girl nard Judy who has achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism. She is a very talented singer has just started at Darcy, an elite arts school. Early on she meets and falls hard for the beautiful and brooding Kyle.

When we first meet Judy, she has fled to a sleazy motel to escape an unnamed scandal. She is in hiding, over dramatizing the situation, imagining that reporters in helicopters are waiting to get a photo of her if she even leaves her sanctuary. As the book progresses we get pieces to the puzzle as well find out the details of her first months at her new school and we meet her new good friends Sarah and Molly.

Judy is written with a wonderful sense of humor, and it is interesting to read about a character with dwarfism. Being a teenager is hard enough, but being different in any way compounds it. Judy looks at her average height classmates and wonders what might feel like to have "ostrich legs" like them. Her parents have always made her feel cherished and she feels that they proved how much they loved her by having another child after her. When people stare at Judy, her parents stare right back, but with a friendly look on their faces, just so the others know that they are acting inappropriately.

It is hard for me to write about my feelings on the last quarter of the book without giving away too much. Let's just say that people can be very cruel and also others can be very naive. Also it is a very different world from the one that I experienced as a teenager and that is a mixed blessing.

Overall I was pleased with this book, but it was a bit superficial and a bit more depth would have been better. But it is well written and humorous and a good pass time read.

Book 3 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

2012-01-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

Proud Mama alert! My 10 year old will be playing the White Rabbit in his school production of "Alice in Wonderland". His school puts on pretty elaborate productions and we are both pretty excited about it. He originally got a smaller part then got bumped up when the girl slated to play Alice moved away. This is extra good news because I have been watching that girl play the lead for the past several years and she is pretty one-note so I am glad to see someone else get a chance to shine, and it benefited my son as well.

Anyhoo, this lead me to seek out the original version of this tale, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, first published in 1865. We recently travelled to Big White ski resort and listened to this on audio book on the way home. I was nervous about the road conditions so I wanted a distraction. The roads ended up being not too bad, and the snow tires that I bought last season were a definite asset as well.

But as for the story, we are all familiar with the basic plot: girl is bored with her humdrum life and follows the white rabbit down his hole into "wonderland". She shrinks and grows, meets colourful characters along the way, only to realize that there's no place like home. Wait that's Oz!

Since I listened to the audio book, I didn't get the benefit of the lovely illustrations but the narrative is quite lovely and descriptive all the same. There is one passage where we are introduced to the Griffin and the narrator tells us to look at the picture if we don't know what a Griffin is. Luckily I named my cat Griffin so I did know, although he was named after the "Party of Five" character and not the mythical creature.

Much like this review, the tale of Alice in Wonderland goes off on many tangents, but overall is a quality tale of fantasy and "wonder". I would recommend giving it a read.

Book 2 - Water for Elephants

2012-01-10T16:34:00.000-08:00

Growing up one of my most beloved movies was Toby Tyler (which I just noticed is based on a book written in 1880, sadly it's not available at my library). To me there is something romantic about an old timey circus, even though there is quite a bit that is also quite sad and violent and cruel about them as well. My Dad suggested that I watch the movie version of "Water for Elephants" and I was surprised that I did enjoy it, I normally avoid anything with anyone from the twilight movies in it. Then when I found out that it was a book first, I was excited to read it. I was pretty lucky to get the hold request very quickly from the library and I devoured this book in just over a day.

I wish that I had read Sara Gruen's book version before having seen the movie as the two are quite similar. Gruen has an amazing descriptive voice and I was transported to the world of a depression era circus train quite fully.

For those not familiar, "Water for Elephants" is the tale of Jacob Jankowski a young man about to graduate from the Cornell school of Veterinary medicine when he gets devastating news. After having his life fall apart, in a fit of desperation he hops aboard a train seeking greener pastures only to find himself aboard a circus train. We are told this story in flashback form by an older version of Jacob, he is in his 90s and struggling to adjust to life in a nursing home.

As we move along in the story, Jacob becomes part of the team of the "Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth", he starts out shovelling manure but quickly reveals his education and becomes the show's veterinarian. He is immediately smitten with a performer named Marlena, however she is married to the explosive head animal trainer August. Space is tight on the train so Jacob has to share with a diminutive clown named Walter and his dog Queenie. Walter is fairly hostile at having to share his room with a working man as performers are usually a class above.

The circus travels along, sometimes picking up bits and pieces from other failed circus companies. Most notably the elephant Rosie who initially is nothing but trouble to the circus. This becomes a large problem as "Uncle Al" the ringleader and owner of the circus has sunk all the money into the purchase and care of the elephant and is now unable to pay his staff their wages.

In reading the author's note at the end, Gruen did extensive research on the subject before writing this book. There are classic photographs throughout and the authenticity added to my enjoyment. Not all meet a happy ending, but overall this book made its way into my heart.

Book 1 - Postcards From the Edge

2012-01-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

The copy of "Postcards From the Edge" (PCFTE to make my life easier) that I got from the library was a classic edition. There was even one of those card envelopes on the inside cover. Did we really just write our names on a card and take a book out, how technology changes us. I wish I had taken a picture, but c'est la vie. The picture above is the same design as the one that I got however.

I very much enjoyed "Wishful Drinking" it was my 2nd book in CBR3 and I just noticed in the comments of that review that I was going to read PCFTE at that time but I guess I forgot about it. I was watching the HBO special for Wishful Drinking (which was pretty hilarious) and she mentioned PCFTE and so I requested it from the library and read it up quick.

PCFTE at its simplest is a book about an actress recovering from addiction and struggling to keep it together while being sober in Hollywood. "Suzanne" is meant to be a stand in for Carrie herself and even though she is , is someone that I can relate to. Suzanne starts diets with resolve to do great things, then ends up caving before the end of the day. She meets a man and tries to be good and wait to sleep with him, only to cave and do the deed almost right away.

When we meet Suzanne she is in a rehab facility. The first section of the book is in a journal format. We follow both Suzanne and a fellow patient named Alex. Alex is initially not ready for treatment and ends up running away, with hilarious and quite true to life results. Alex becomes a tad obsessed with Suzanne and sees her as a big part of his salvation. He believes that they will end up together, although he cannot bring himself to actually talk to her.

As the book progresses, Suzanne gets out of rehab and starts to date again, then gets back into her career. Eventually she takes to bed in a dramatic fashion, and she ends up convincing her friend to come and wallow with her. They eventually get sick of being in bed and take off shopping.

It is hard to sum up this book. It is basically rambles and I guess "postcards", snippets of a life. Even when the subject matter verges on darkness, Fisher always brings humor to the table. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.

2012 is the Year!!

2012-01-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

I am very excited about the year to come. In 2011 I read 44 books, which was less than my goal but still a pretty amazing feat if I do say so myself. I am really happy to be a part of Cannonball read and I am very excited about CBR4! This will be the year I make it to 52 books (that is if the world doesn't end sometime before I can finish)

I have already read two books in 2012, and I have a bunch on my shelf that I am itching to read. I am on holidays with my son starting on Thursday, so hopefully I will squeeze some reading in there along with fun in the snow.

Now if only this little guy would give me some peace to read! He likes to chew on the corners while I'm trying to read.

Alli's CBR-III Review #44 - Fame

2011-12-30T09:54:00.000-08:00

I was tricked into reading another short story collection because the title indicated that it was a novel in 9 episodes. However in this case I was pleased with the collection overall. A couple of the stories I skimmed through a bit but most were engaging and the writing was quite outstanding.

This collection was translated from German. I always wonder in these cases how difficult it must be to translate and not make the text too much of your own. Also how much of my enjoyment of the book came from Carol Brown Janeway's influence on the text.

One of the reasons that I enjoyed this collection was because the stories did tie into each other to a certain extent. I don't want to spoil too many of the details, but the first story is of a man who purchases his first cell phone only to find that the number belongs to another person. This person ends up being a movie star, not that this man really knows that. He answers the calls, makes dates for the owner of the phone number and causes general havoc in the other person's life. A few stories down the road in the book and we see the other side of this story.

There is also a rather amusing story that is the other half of a tale of a writer that cancels an appearance in an obscure foreign land. Let's just say that the writer that decided to replace him on a whim very much regrets that choice.

Overall, I would recommend giving this one a go, it was a humorous and fast read.

Alli's CBR-III Review #43 - It Feels So Good When I Stop

2011-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

Apparently Joe Pernice is some kind of musician, but I just happened upon his book in the highlighted section of my library and decided to check it out. There are a lot of musical references throughout the book so I should have clued in, but I didn't notice until about halfway through when I decided to read some of the author recommendations printed on the back of the book. I haven't heard any of Pernice's music that I know of, but after reading "It Feels So Good When I Stop", I am now of the opinion that he is also a respectable fiction writer.

"It Feels So Good When I Stop" is the story of a nameless protagonist who flees his brand new wife and ends up on Cape Cod in his sister's vacated home. His sister is going through a divorce and so both her and her husband have left the home. Her soon to be Ex-husband keeps leaving his 18 month old son with our hero and makes him keep it a secret from his sister. Also our hero meets a woman from the neighbourhood who seems down and out, and they forge a relationship.

The story jumps back and forth from the past to the present, the hero's rocky relationship with the wife/girlfiend he left is explored. The writing is rather good, but the ending came too soon with not nearly enough resolution to the plots that are contained throughout. Had the story came to a better conclusion I would have been much more satisfied. As it is, I was left with the feeling that this was a rather pointless tale.

Alli's CBR-III Review #42 - Stash

2011-12-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

"Stash" by David Klein is a tale about a mother, Gwen Raine, who visits an old boyfriend to pick up a bag of weed and on the way home gets into a car accident and things just go downhill from there. The other driver is killed, but the accident is determined to be his fault. However, because the police find the drugs in her car, they threaten her with major charges and try to force her to turn in her source.

Also Gwen's husband Brian works for a pharmaceutical company that is tyring to profit from an anxiety drug that has a nice benefit of weight loss in higher doses. His company has used questionable practices in promoting this benefit and it seems like things might get messy legally for Brian and his company.

Gwen's source, her ex boyfriend Jude is actually much more involved in the drug trade than he has let on to anyone. He may have gotten over his head. He works with injured veteran Aaron who is his farmer. Jude also runs a restaurant and has a daughter who has just entered college. Hot in pursuit is Detective Keller, a small town detective looking to catch the bad guys to impress his son and increase his own self respect.

In this book we follow all of these characters from each of their points of views in different chapters. It is an interesting story and I very much enjoyed reading it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #41 - What's Your Number

2011-12-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

While cruising my local library I saw this book on the selected picks shelf. I remember reading a review of the movie and since I heard it was very awful, I was surprised that it was a book first. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised though, I guess there are lots of terrible books as well. This book wasn't supremely terrible, but it was predictable and a bit ridiculous. Sometimes the ridiculousness was fun, and overall it was a decent, quick read. It was a bit like baby food or mac and cheese.

The premise however I find a bit interesting, our protagonist Dehilah hunts down all the men on her “list” to see if any of them could be the one that got away. The reason that she is hunting down the men is because she read an article that states that the average number of sexual partners for women is 10.5, and she herself has just hit #20. She feels like a tramp and so she vows not to sleep with any more men, so she drives around the country and stalks all her exes and one night stands to try and rekindle something with one of them. I don’t believe in “the one” and I also think that it is irrelevant how many partners a woman has as long as she was consenting to all of them. But I will admit that as I was reading, my thoughts did drift to the men on my list, and what it would be like to see them again. I suppose that is the appeal of this story.

In addition to the self admittedly crazy antics of Delilah, she is also flirting with her neighbour who is helping her track the men down and getting ready for her sister’s wedding. She also buys a dog along the way and sneaks it into hotels and so forth. Everyone in her family thinks that Delilah is jealous of her sister getting married, and even though she doesn’t admit it, she really must be to go through all this trouble to find a man to settle down with. It is a bit “Bridget Jones” down to the ending where she runs out into the street with no pants on (although I am not sure if that was in the book or just the movie).

If you read this, you will probably figure out the ending pretty much right from the get go, there are no real surprises anywhere along the way. But it is a fairly cute book, if shallow and a bit sexist.

Alli's CBR-III Review #40 - The Descendants

2011-12-08T07:47:00.001-08:00

I'm on a roll again, I just finished reading "The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings. I had seen a trailer for the movie and decided to read the book as the premise seemed interesting. After just reading "Girlfriend in a Coma" it was slightly similar subject matter, but then again it is not really a book about someone in a coma, it is about a family struggling to find their own way.

I may be getting ahead of myself, for those who are not familiar, "The Descendants" is the story of the King family. We meet them as the mother, Joanie is in hospital after falling into a coma resulting from a boating accident. At first things seem optimistic, but eventually they do have to say goodbye and we follow the family through this journey, as they tell their friends and family and deal with other issues that have come to light as well.

In addition to the stress of his wife being in a coma Matt, the father is also trying to make an important decision about selling off a land trust that he has inherited. The King family own a large portion of land in Hawaii and after the death of his father, Matt must decide the fate of the family's land as he happens to have the largest stake in the trust.

As if that isn't enough for one person to have to deal with all at once, Matt is also trying to be an active parent to his two daughters aged 10 and 18. Scottie, the younger one hasn't been told the extent of her mother's situation, so she keeps hoping for the best. She is in that transitional phase between childhood and impending adolescence. Matt worries considerably about his daughter and is constantly shocked by her behaviour, language and friends. He has been a mostly absent parent, he let parenting take a back seat to his law career. Now with their mother incapacitated he is trying to do the best he can to be the parent that his two daughters need.

That being said, Matt is an unconventional parent. One example is when a friend's child insists on being called Spiderman all the time, Matt is the only one that could change his mind. The way he accomplished that is by telling the kid that Spiderman has a vagina and pointing that out on the doll. His daughters swear and talk freely around him, then he is shocked that they don't respect authority, even though he was never really around to impose that authority in the first place.

Obviously one of the main themes is descendants, how Matt treated his elders versus how young people today treat theirs. How young people today could never hope to achieve more than the generation that came before since so much has already been discovered, invented or accomplished. How the children seemed determined to self destruct because of it.

All in all, I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I hope to not be too disappointed when I see the movie. Already from googling the book, I found that they changed the wife's name from Joanie to Elizabeth and that just irks me. Why use a book as your source material then change things like that!

Alli's CBR-III Review #39 - The Guy Not Taken

2011-12-05T13:12:00.001-08:00

It has taken me forever to finish another book, things in my personal life were not the best so I wasn't really able to focus on reading. It seems again that I will be unable to meet my goal of 52 books in a year, but perhaps I can get closer than last year and maybe 2012 will be the year I get it done. Last year I read 41 books in the year so I can be sure to beat that as I only need two more after this. No matter what, I feel that I have acheived something great, as I hardly used to read at all, and now I have read almost 40 books in 11 months.

"The Guy Not Taken" by Jennifer Weiner is a short story collection, which I never seem to really enjoy. This book was a bit of an exception for me as the first three stories focused on the same set of characters. I enjoyed that aspect, although one of the characters needed a good punch in the face.

The rest of the stories were enjoyable enough, they all seem to situate around relationships and I generally like those types of stories. One of the only things I would have preferred is for the stories to have been a bit longer. In any case, it was a nice light read and a good way for me to ease myself back into some reading.

I am already 50 pages into my next book and I am excited to see how it develops.

Alli's CBR-III Review #38 - Girlfriend in a Coma

2011-10-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing buzz about “Girlfriend in a Coma” by Douglas Coupland back around the time it was released back in 1998. I also fairly enjoyed reading “Player One” so when I saw Coma in the library I was excited to pick it up. I had to be at the airport for my flight at 5am and I ended up getting through security quite fast so I had a fair amount of time to read before my flight left. Once I started reading Coma I didn’t want to stop. I was awfully tired, and I tried to take a nap towards the end of my flight, but the pull to keep reading was just too strong.

In Coma, Coupland starts us out by introducing us to the ghost of Jared who died of leukemia near the end of high school. We then meet Richard and Karen, the former is the titular character. We meet the couple as they consummate their relationship at the top of Grouse Mountain. Being from the Vancouver area it was nice to read a book set in the area. I spent a lot of time skiing up at Grouse last year and I can’t wait for the mountain to open again. I know that has nothing to do with the book but I just had to throw that in there.

So besides Richard and Karen, there are also a few other friends in the group of main characters. We have Wendy, Linus, Pamela and Hamilton. They come more into play later in the book, but they are all good friends as we meet them as highschoolers. At the beginning of the story, Karen is feeling distracted and lost and falls into a mysterious coma which lasts 17 years. It is also discovered that she became pregnant that same night and is able to bring the baby to term and her parents take custody of the child. From there, Richard takes over the narration and we see him through the difficult years as he struggles to deal with his comatose girlfriend and being a Dad at such a young age. We also find out where the rest of the cast ends up through their own journeys as well.

Then once Karen wakes up things get crazy. I won’t spoil what happens, but it was just the kind of story that I enjoy. It did get a bit out there towards the end, but I enjoyed the way it was written so I went along for the ride. If I were you I would definitely check this one out.

RIP Murphy :(

2011-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

I got back from Toronto on Sunday but I didn't get much reading done. I read a whole book on the flight over (Girlfriend in a Coma, excellent book, review to come) then I was pretty busy the next couple of days spending time with my friend and doing lots of drinking. On Wednesday however, I got some terrible news that one of my kitty cats was dragging his back legs which as a former veterinary assistant I knew was usually fatal. It's called and Arterial Thromboemoblism.

It was very hard to take as Griffin aka "Murphy" (he made a murphing noise instead of a meow) was the first cat I ever had on my own. He was such a great cat, he was personable to everyone he met and was so easy going that he even let me give him showers to keep him clean. I am very sad that I didn't get to say goodbye, it is very hard when he was totally fine when I left town.

So I was not in the right state of mind to do any reading for the rest of my trip, although I bought a Nick Hornby book right before this all went down so I am sure that will be next in line.

But before I go back to reviews, here is a tribute to Murphy. In the words of my son "There will never be another cat like Murphy".

Alli's CBR-III Review #37 - Games to Play After Dark

2011-10-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot of time to devote to this review, I am headed off to Toronto bright and early tomorrow morning and I wanted to check this off my to do list before I left. I just finished reading "Games to Play After Dark" and it was a race to even finish reading it.

This is a run of the mill troubled relationship story, I seem to read a lot of them. It was well written and speaking as a divorced woman with a child, it is quite true to life. We have Kate and her husband Colin who have two daughters. The relationship trouble seems to stem from boredom and a stay at home mother who feels that her husband feels that simply because he "works" he does not have to do much else when he is at home, including parenting.

It was a passable read, nothing too exciting but enjoyable enough. Gotta run and finish packing! I will be back in a week and a half. I packed lots of books so hopefully I will have lots to review when I return.

Alli's CBR-III Review #36 - Rose Madder

2011-10-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Whenever I read a Stephen King book I always remember how much I love them and I seek out another one. Pretty soon I am going to run out of books of his to read, but I guess then I can just reread my favorites.

Rose Madder is a tale about an abused woman who one day has just had enough and decides just to walk out and never go back. Rose starts out afraid of her own shadow, and rightfully so as she has suffered numerous horrors at the hand of her police detective husband Norman.

After fleeing to a new city, Rose discovers a painting in a local pawn shop. This painting captures her attention right away and it helps give her the confidence she needs to start building her new life. Of course, being a King novel, the painting has powers, and the painting becomes more alive as the novel goes on.

Parts of the book are also told from Norman's point of view (annoyingly all his parts are in italics which I found distracting). Norman is obviously very upset that his wife would have the nerve to leave him, and he uses his detective skills to track her down. He loses a grip on what little sanity he had, and becomes quite the villain.

I found this to be a very gripping tale, lots of suspense and a bit of fantasy thrown in there too. I always like tales of hope, and survival, and that is what this one is for sure.

Alli's CBR-III Review #35 - His Robot Girlfriend

2011-09-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

2 Reviews in one day, I am just motoring through!

I downloaded "His Robot Girlfriend" by Wesley Allison because it was free on iBooks. I have been reading it off and on when I had absolutely nothing else to do. I have to say that I understand why it was free, it was pretty terrible.

It is set in the future, about 20 or so years from now. Our protagonist, Mike decides to buy himself a Daffodil, a robot girlfriend. She comes into his life, helps him to improve it and although she is a robot, to him he falls in love and sees her as his girlfriend.

There is a tiny bit more to the story than that, however I kept waiting for more to happen. She spends a lot of his money, she keeps on shopping and shopping without consulting him. Mike takes all of this in stride. Even Mike's family seems fairly nonchalant about the whole thing, although from the writing it seems that having a robot girlfriend is not totally socially acceptable.

This could have been a really interesting read, in the like of say "Lars and the Real Girl" but with a robot. But sadly it is just a meaningless pile of words.

I think that I am spending too much time thinking about this book. In any case, it is finished now and I can delete it off my phone. I think the main thing that I keep going back to in my mind is that I can't believe the price of the books on iBooks. I haven't gone as far as to invest in a Kindle or something like that, but I think that it would be great to be able to read more on my iPhone as it would be handy for those times when I forget a book, but I don't think it is reasonable to pay pretty much the same price as an actual book for something virtual.

Alli's CBR-III Review #34 - Sweet Valley Confidential

2011-09-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Growing up I read a lot of the "Sweet Valley" books by Francine Pascal so I was pretty excited to see "Sweet Valley Confidential" a new book to accompany the series. It is said to be set ten years later, but the time frame is suspect, as the original books were from the 80s. In any case, it follows twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield in their late 20s.

As we catch up with the twins, they have had an extreme falling out as Jessica stole Todd Willkins from her. Todd was her longtime boyfriend. The details of how this all happened are laid out in the book using flashbacks.

Most of the book is spent getting updates on characters from the book series. I suppose had it been less time since I actually read the books, then it would have meant more to me. As it was, I didn't remember much from the books except for the twins themselves, and that Jessica was always such a bitch, and Elizabeth was such a pushover.

I did enjoy this book, although it was a bit more soap opera than I normally read these days. It did spark a bit of nostalgia in me, and it was a fun read. My only real issue was when Pascal was writing as Jessica, the language and tone was annoying. And at the end there is a scene that was a bit graphic sexually, and it shocked the teenage girl inside me that was reading along. All in all I would recommend it for ladies like myself who grew up reading the Sweet Valley books.

Alli's CBR-III Review #33 - Wild Abandon

2011-09-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished reading "Wild Abandon" by Joe Dunthorne. It promised to be a tale about a commune in England at the time of the end of the world. The tag line on the cover was "The last day on earth is coming, bring your own booze".

I was pretty disappointed in this book, I found it pretty uneventful and I just rushed through the second half just to be done with it. I am pretty fascinated with apocalyptic tales and sadly in this case it was more metaphorical end of the world and that just didn't do it for me.

If it had just been sold to me as a tale of life in a commune, a coming of age tale of two siblings and the adults in the community, then I may have been less disappointed. The writing was decent, but the pace was rather slow, and there wasn't really much plot to speak of. All in all, I am sure that I will forget all about it in a couple weeks.

Alli's CBR-III Review #32 - Dead Reckoning

2011-09-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was planning to wait to read this book since that way the wait for the next edition wouldn't seem as long. However, I was visiting the new Surrey library and they had a copy just sitting there on the shelf waiting for me, how could I resist? I devoured this book up in just over an afternoon, these books are such a guilty pleasure for me. If only all books were this quick to read I would have a way higher number on my count by now.

Dead Reckoning picked up where Dead in the Family left off. Sookie is continuing to get to know more about her mysterious new family members as well as some information from the past is uncovered when cleaning out the attic. There is lots of drama, right from the start there is a Molotov cocktail tossed into Merlotte's bar (not a spoiler, it's on the blurb). Also there are some vampire politics that are causing financial and personal difficulties for Sookie, Eric and the gang.

There are enough resolution to keep the reader satisfied and new plots are also set up for the next edition in the series. I continue to be entertained and addicted to this fun series.

Alli's CBR-III Review #31 - Under The Dome

2011-09-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

OK I’ll admit it, I have an addictive personality. I have been lucky that it has (mostly) affected me in fairly innocent ways, like my Sims addiction or my chocolate addiction. Another addiction I have had for a while is my Stephen King addiction. My latest fix was “Under the Dome”. Yesterday with around 100 pages to go I left the monstrosity on my desk at work, and I almost started crying. I stayed awake late nights reading it, I dreamt about it, I loved it.

I know it is fairly chiché to be into Stephen King and I really don’t care. There is just something about Mr King and his writing that just speaks to me. I may have said that before and I will probably say it again. “Under the Dome” reminded me in some ways of my favorite King book (and possibly all time favorite book) “The Stand”. For those not aware or who cannot guess by the title, “Under the Dome” is about a small town in Maine (of course) that becomes cut off from the outside world when a mysterious and invisible barrier pops up. For a lack of a better term it is called a dome, but it fits precisely around the borders of the town so it is not really a dome as many might think of one.

There is a lot of damage caused by this invisible barrier, both to vehicles, birds and people alike. There are lots of road accidents where people try to zoom past other accidents and end up in the same situation. There is lots of carnage throughout the opening act. The subsequent acts follow the town folks through the adjustment phase. There are clearly two sides to things in this town, there is a clear villain, second selectman “Big Jim” Rennie and a clear hero Dale “Barbie” Barbara. Rennie is the classic used car salesman who gets a bit of power, abuses it and takes things too far. Once the dome comes down, things get hairy in a hurry and he ends up using Barbie as a scapegoat for the town to lynch. Barbie is a bit of a drifter, but it comes to light early in the book that he is a former army man and the army quickly asks him to take control of the town, but of course with a large barrier preventing the outside world from getting in, there is not a lot of motivation for Rennie and his crew to relent.

This book covers a large cast of characters, and at times I did have a bit of trouble keeping track of who was who. But I just did my best to keep track and the more major characters did stand out just fine. I also found it difficult to carry the giant thing around. I think that it would have been much better for the publishers to release it as a two volume set so that it would be easier on my back and also easier to hold while reading. Often when I have read longer books I have felt that the author should have had a better editor to pare it down, but in this case I did feel that the length was fairly appropriate.

The ending was dramatic and emotional, although the final resolution was rather quick and then it ended a bit abruptly. An epilogue would have been nice. If you are a King fan, you have probably already read this, but if you have not I would say don’t be scared off by the length (as I was the last time I tried to read it) and just give it a go.

Alli's CBR-III Review #30 - Bossypants

2011-08-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

So so so so funny. That is all I have to say about Tina Fey's book "Bossypants". Ok fine I will elaborate. I had to wait quite a long time to get this book from the library but it was definitely worth the wait. I read it up in just over a day and laughed like a crazy person. My boyfriend even picked it up and started reading it after reading the back cover.

So basically this book is a collection of tales from Tina Fey's life. I wouldn't go as far as to call it an autobiography although it is pretty close. The timeline jumps around a bit and it is not a complete tale of her history, although it comes pretty close. There are also sarcastic helpful hints and replies to "fan mail". She addresses the challenges of being a women boss and a women in comedy and the lack of respect that they receive. Near the beginning she mentions being asked how she manages to be the boss of all of these people and she states that Donald Trump would never be asked those types of questions and it is pretty apt.

I have never understood the theory that women are not funny. We can be very funny and Tina Fey is living proof of that. Make sure that you take the time to read this book, you won't regret it!

Alli's CBR-III Review #29 - The Perfect Age

2011-08-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

I finished reading "The Perfect Age" by Heather Skyler a week or so ago but I haven't gotten around to writing it up yet. Things have been hectic, and I also don't have a heck of a lot to say about it. I read it in the pool, as seen above, and for a summer read it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't that great either.

One thing that bugs me a bit is that this book takes place over three summers so the title is kind of a misnomer. I guess what it might be trying to say is that any age is the perfect age to fall in love, but that is not really what the book is about. It centers around teenager Helen and her Mother Kathy. It also tells parts of the story from the point of view of Helen's boyfriend and Helen's father.

Early on in the story, Kathy starts an affair with Helen's boss at the Dunes hotel pool in Las Vegas. Infidelity is a large theme in this book overall. What I took away from it is that everybody cheats, not that this is true in real life, but in this book's universe it seems to be the case.

We follow our main characters through the above mentioned three summers, it is a pivotal time in Helen's life, growing up and getting ready to leave the nest. It also explores first love and how big it can seem at the time, but how difficult it is sometimes to move on when your life takes you in different directions.

All in all, it was a good way to pass the time while I floated in the pool, but other than that, I was not terribly impressed.

Alli's CBR-III Review #28 - Dead in the Family

2011-08-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I am pretty excited that my laptop is fixed, my Dad is a wizard sometimes, but there have been times that even he cannot make things come back to life. This now means that I don't have to write my reviews on my breaks at work, so I can put a bit more attention into them. The thing is though, at home I might be under the influence of something or other so it is a crap shoot on whether or not the quality will actually be any better if I am writing here at home.

I finished reading "Dead in the Family" this morning, I was a bit sad because I thought I had 20 pages left and so I found the ending to be abrupt. There is a preview of the next book in the series in those remaining 20 pages, but I have a few library books that I have to read before I can move on to "Dead Reckoning" anyhow. The good news is that I have nothing but time to read since my son is away with his Dad this weekend, and the weather is beautiful and I am ready for some more time in the sun. One thing that might distract me from my reading is that my boyfriend and I just started watching "Breaking Bad" and we just picked up season 2 on DVD today. But the sunshine is calling my name so I will be able to get some reading in today for sure. The problem is choosing which book I want to read!

Back to the review. "Dead in the Family" is the 9th book in the series by Charlaine Harris, I have read and reviewed almost all of the others on this blog at one time or another. I have gotten quite into them, although they are not literature or anything, they are entertaining and fun and sexy. As the title suggests, "Dead in the Family" deals with various family relationships as they relate us to our main characters. Sookie has a cousin move in, Eric has out of town "family" visit as well. Even Bill has his own relative arrive. This causes commotion for some, and healing for others. Someone is also out to frame Sookie for a murder by burying a body on her land.

Also Sookie is teaching a young telepath how to cope with their "condition". I really enjoy the focus that the books put on the realities of life as a telepath. It is mentioned that when looking for a criminal that being able to read minds is not necessarily a foolproof way to catch someone. Even if you happen to bump into that criminal, he most likely will not be thinking about the crime at that time. And the fact about how tedious most peoples thoughts are, I can really understand that it would be so hard to have to listen to that nonsense all the time.

I am pretty excited to move on to the next book in the series, but like I said, I will read some library books first. I don't need to rush it, since the book after that is not going to be released until May 2012.

Alli's CBR-III Review #27 - Dead and Gone

2011-08-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed from the pictures, I did some reading at the beach recently. I was happy to have been able to do a bunch of reading on my trip to the Okanagan. Although I did end up getting sand in the dust jacket, but that is how it goes on the beach.

So I am now getting deep into the Sookie Stackhouse novels (or as they are technically called “The Southern Vampire Mysteries”). I have waivered back and forth on my opinion of these books versus my opinion of the TV show. It is pretty difficult to separate the two in your mind, I am finding it sometimes hard as well to remember what happened in each book as they all seem to blend in to one in my head. I am already well into the next edition and I thought that I might just lump them in together as one review. But that is cheating a bit, I am going to try and come up with something different to say about each one. I am on the second to last book that is available in the series, although I hope that there will be more to come in the future.

Just in case you are not aware, the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris take us into the world of telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. She lives in Bon Temps, in a world where vampires roam among humans. There are also other “supes” everywhere, and more seem to show up every day. Without giving away too much of the plot, this book centers around the growing relationship between Eric and Sookie, along with her continued relationship with her mysterious newly discovered relatives. There is a war, a murder, lots of action and sexytimes.

It was an enjoyable read, I was finished the book before I knew it and I had to run right out to Chapters to buy the next book in the series and I am already halfway finished reading that one.

Alli's CBR-III Review #26 - I'm Sorry You Feel That Way

2011-08-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading “I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog” by Diana Joseph. It came highly recommended on the book cover and jacket so I thought I would check it out. It is a collection of essays or vignettes about different people and experiences in her life.

Even though I don’t generally enjoy short stories, I did enjoy this collection. Diana has a voice that I related to quite easily. Starting off with a tale about her father, I immediately “got it” and her tales about her teen aged son prepared me for what may be to come once my 10 year old hits that barrier. She tells of her ex husband, friends and colleagues. I didn’t notice until I peeked at her blog that all the tales are about the men in her life.

I appreciated the window into her world, the last tale (about her common law husband Al) to be the most moving. I see now on her blog that she has another little boy. I hope that all is going well for her and I would be glad to read more of her work in the future.

Alli's CBR-III Review #25 - From Dead to Worse

2011-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Alright so I have now finished book 8 in the Southern Vampire Mystery series by Charlaine Harris. My last review has all the links to the reviews that I have written for the other books in the series if you are interested. All Together Dead was trying my patience with these books, and as youthfulzombie pointed out in the comments of that review, the TV series is better than the books. That is mostly true, overall I believe that the show is better, but there are certain parts that I prefer in the books, mostly parts of dialogue and certain story lines in the show (hotshot for one) that are so much different on the show and not necessarily better.

Either way, how I look at it is this. I am sort of obsessed with True Blood, I read recaps of episodes and scan the forums when I am bored. To me the books are another way to get a bit of the characters that I have come to love through the HBO series. I will keep on reading them as long as they keep putting them out, same as how I will keep watching the show as long as it is on. Well, unless either one drops in quality by a significant amount.

As for the plot of this book, honestly I can barely remember it. In my mind I have been getting mixed up in which part is the show and which is the book. There were plot advancements, but I won't spoil them for anyone. There was no huge mystery in this one, but lots of fighting and politics between all the different types of "supes". The main purpose of reading these is for some good entertainment and for me it is still being provided. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, I have requested it from the library so I shouldn't have to wait too long.

Farewell to Beer

2011-07-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

This post is on my other blog You've Gotta Have Goals so I am being a promo whore and posting it here as well.

Something scary has been happening to me lately. I have seen the scale creeping back up there and I think I know why. Let's be brutally honest, I know exactly why. I am not blaming one thing for everything but it is a lot of little things that have come together to make my success fall away.

I have had a couple falls, I had one in May off my bike, then I have fallen a couple times this past week on my rollerblades. I haven't been going to the gym because my hip has been hurting, but it is mostly an excuse and I am making myself accountable for it now. I can still go and work out, even if it is not at the level I was doing before, I can still make the effort. I need to be doing my weight training most of all and also I need my cardio. Also when I work out I am more likely to make good choices when eating.

My other nemesis has been BEER. I have become addicted to Granville Island Raspberry Ale. It is so good!!! Me and beer have had a long term relationship but it has never been this good. I have had beers here and there, mostly in the summer time but there is something about raspberry beer that just speaks to me. The local brew pub gave me my first taste.

Read the rest here

Alli's CBR-III Review #24 - Girls in White Dresses

2011-07-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

I was at the grocery store the other day and a magazine caught my eye, it had these home made ice cream sandwiches on the cover which made me drool but which I currently can't eat since I have been veering too far away from my healthy plan lately and the iron fist has come down. I looked at the magazine a bit further and noticed that it came with a free book. There were also some interesting articles so I bought it.

The book itself was "Girls in White Dresses" by Jennifer Close. After I finished reading it I realized that it was only selected stories from the actual book, but I am counting it because it was over 150 pages and I am really not itching to read more.

This book is a collection of short stories, I am generally not a fan of those because I find as soon as I "get to know" the characters involved and get invested in their story then the story is over and we have to start over again with new people. Unless the stories are a bit longer (for example Stephen King has written story collections that I have enjoyed) or if the writer is extremely talented, then I tend to lose interest.

"Girls in White Dresses" was no exception, although I think that Close tried to counter my opinions about getting invested in characters by having them resurface in different stories. This was a good effort, but I still found the stories to be superficial and lacking in depth. It was an okay enough book to read out in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon, but had it not been free I would surely be regretting purchasing it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #23 - High Fidelity

2011-07-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

“High Fidelity” is the third book that I have read by Nick Hornby and it will not be the last. As mentioned in my reviews for “Juliet Naked” and “About a Boy”, I find his writing style comfortable and easily read. His characters are relatable and although not obviously likeable, I find them to be so.

“High Fidelity” was the author’s first novel, and a rather good one in my opinion. I have seen the movie quite a few times as well and was impressed in how the book held up to my memory of the movie. Wikipedia also tells me that it was a musical in 2006, that would have been disasterrific to see. As in the movie, the book centers around Rob Fleming who owns a fairly unsuccessful London record store. As the book opens, his girlfriend Laura has just left him and he proceeds to tell us his top five heartbreaks and how Laura should have gotten to him sooner if she really wanted to make the list.

Making these lists is a habit for Rob and his two buddies that work at his shop with him. It is one way to pass the time since there are not a lot of customers to deal with. They are quite OCD about music and tend to judge each other and others based on their preferences.

Although music factors in quite a lot in this book, it is more about relationships. Rob is having trouble keeping things together after his breakup with Laura. He is in his mid thirties, getting closer to 40 every day and feels that he has not accomplished enough, that his life lacks substance. Does he really love Laura all that much, or the completeness that her presence in his life will offer? The answer depends I guess on how cynical you are.

I really loved something that is said near the beginning of the book and echoed through at the end. Without quoting, it goes along the lines of this: Am I miserable because my life is crap and so I can relate to sad music, or am I miserable because of said music and so I aim to mirror that in my life. Here is part of the quote also: "People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands - literally thousands - of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss." I thought this was apt.

Check out this book if you haven't already, you won't regret it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #22 - About a Boy

2011-07-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Yet another book that has been made into a movie, but I love movies (or I used to, but most seem crappy lately) so it is only natural that I would read these kinds of books. Another reason I chose "About a Boy" is because I really enjoyed "Juliet Naked" so I requested both this book and "High Fidelity". This one came in first but "High Fidelity" is next on my reading list most likely.

Through most of "About a Boy" I was struck at how similar it is to the movie. I haven't even seen the movie in quite some time, but it all rang very familiar. Will is a loner by choice, he's never had to work and takes pride in having no relationships to hold him down. Marcus is a loner by circumstance and lacks the tools to survive as a young person in society. Through Will's trying to seduce single mothers, the two meet and are able to help themselves through their shortcomings.

The book had a much stronger ending than the film. I also appreciated the era that the book was set in and the references to Nirvana. It was published in the late 90s and is set in the early 90s and rings true to my adolescence. Marcus meets a friend who wears a sweatshirt with a man who looks like Jesus on it, and that turns out to be Kurt Cobain. I thought it was a nice touch.

I would most surely recommend reading this book, it is very sweet and funny and I very much enjoyed it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #21 - Election

2011-07-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

First let me say that I did enjoy Tom Perrotta's "Election" however, this is the first case in quite a while where I have found the movie to be superior to the book. Perhaps it is because I am a big fan of the movie, but to me the book almost seemed like a draft version of the movie. The bare bones were there, but the movie took things a step further.

For anyone not familiar with the story, Election follows a campaign for a high school presidency. Right from the start we are told that it does not end well for Mr M, the teacher in charge of the election. We are told the story from the point of view of the candidates, Mr M himself as well as one of the campaign managers.

I was not satisfied with the motivation for Mr M in the novel. In the film version we are made to understand quite well why he does not want Tracey Flick to win, but in the book there is not a lot to go on. Also the character of Flick that I have come to know and love, is so much different in the book. Gone is the brown nosing over achiever that had a secret affair.

It is hard to say how I would feel had I not seen and loved the movie so much. But that is the way I see it and I can't change that. I am looking forward to a re watch of the movie, my boyfriend has never seen it so he is in for a treat!

Alli's CBR-III Review #20 - Little Children

2011-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

After reading Clementine Bojangles' review I immediately requested the book from my local library and devoured it in no time at all. I then got right onto Netflix and watched the movie, which was an interesting experience.

Little Children by Tom Perotta follows the lives of suburban parents, mainly Todd and Sarah but also their partners and other associates. There is also Ronnie, a "pervert" recently out of jail for flashing a girl scout but also suspected in the disappearance of another child.

To me this book is seems to be about is the choices that we make and the repercussions that come from them. Sarah made a choice to marry an older man, most likely for the security but then finds herself unsatisfied with her marriage and the other vacuous and vacant mothers on the playground. She then meets Todd, dubbed "Prom King" by the other Moms. Todd himself is a stay at home Dad, unable or unwilling to pass the bar exam. Together they take refuge from their real lives and create a situation for themselves to make things seem better.

The character of Todd presents an interesting case, he is a stay at home Dad without judgement? His wife has known all along that was something that he was interesting in doing, but somehow she resents it anyhow. Having said that however, Todd seems to have coasted by on his good looks his whole life without ever really having to work for anything. Even getting into law school was a fluke, he took the LSAT with a friend for moral support and ended up doing so well he figured why not become a lawyer even though he doesn't really want to put the work into completing the process. At moments I was touched by his bond with his son, but at others I was displeased at the ease in which he dismissed the women in his life so easily.

Now onto Ronnie and his Mom, I don't even know where to start on this. I never expected to feel the way I felt about these characters. First of all, as a Mother I had to try and put myself in her shoes. What would I do if it was my son. . . I don't even want to think about it. She has good intentions, tries to turn her son into a normal person. They are both persecuted a lot from the "Committee of Concerned Parents" which is mainly a man named Larry with some displaced anger. I am not defending Ronnie for his actions, but the book made me feel a surprising amount of empathy for him. It is a complicated issue, the book makes us see him as human too, and so when him and his mother are being extremely harassed it hurt my heart as well.

The dynamic between Sarah and her husband Richard I found very interesting. Richard is on his second marriage, but has found somehow that he made the same choices each time and he is still unhappy with those choices. I will not spoil his plot line, but I was very amused with the choices that he ends up making. The resolution for the character of Sara was also very satisfying, however I found it to be a bit hastily written, I would have liked to have it fleshed out a bit more.

So about the movie, I also enjoyed the movie quite a lot. It is jarring a bit since there is narration in the movie that mostly is pulled right out of the book. I wasn't sure how I liked it at first, but eventually I found it quaint and an appropriate way to convey the book into film form. I took major issue with changing the name of the Todd to Brad, those kind of things just irk me. It may be because the director's name was Todd, but still I don't think that it should have been changed. There were also major plot changes made, mainly to the ending that really to me were fairly unnecessary as I enjoyed the ending of the book much more. Also the plot for Richard was dropped by about half, which I find added so much to the story in the book. But I guess that is what happens with adaptations most of the time.

I am about to start reading "Election" and I am pretty excited about it. I have seen the movie a few times and it is one of my favorites. I should probably have that one finished by the end of the weekend so I am catching up to my proper reading pace!

Alli's CBR-III Review #19 - Some Girls

2011-07-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am doing a lot better this year with getting books read and reviewed, but apparently I am a few books behind on my pace from last year so I had better get on it!

Some girls by Jillian Lauren is her memoir, focusing mainly on her time as a member of the harem of Prince Jefri of Brunai. Lauren pulls no punches in telling of her beginnings as a peep show worker, stripper, call girl and eventually harem girl. Lauren to me was a relatable narrator, which sounds odd since I have not been any of the items on her list. I started off the book wondering how I would relate to a person like Lauren, but something about the way she writes put me on her side. It also doesn’t hurt that she is unapologetic for her choices, they are what they are.

Lauren takes us with her on her mysterious trip to Brunai, not many details are revealed to these girls that are brought over to “entertain” at parties for the prince and his friends. Lauren was asked to surrender her passport to them, which even she admits seems like a bad idea. I anticipated the worst for her, but seeing as she made it back to write the book, she was obviously okay.

The book is not gratuitous in nature, it seems like the biggest pain that Lauren suffered was boredom and lack of attention. It must be difficult to be a beautiful woman in a room full of beautiful women with few men to dote on them. At least they were paid well to be there, but Lauren wanted more, she wanted to make the prince fall in love with her, she wants the fairy tale ending. We all know how that usually works out.

Parts of this book were very interesting, and as mentioned above, I found Lauren’s writing style appealing and I may seek out other works of hers in the future.

Alli's CBR-III Review #18 - Juliet Naked

2011-06-27T14:25:00.001-07:00

I read this book simply because I have enjoyed the movies were based on Nick Hornby books. I am glad that I took the chance since I most definetly enjoyed “Juliet Naked”. This book follows a couple, Annie and Duncan, who have been together for 15 years but who have really just settled with each other for matters of convenience. At the start of the book they are on a pilgrimage to sights related to reclusive singer songwriter Tucker Crowe. Duncan is obsessed with the singer and spends a lot of his time on a website devoted to analyzing minute details about Crowe. Annie is along for the ride, although she doesn’t share Duncan’s obsessions she has put up with them so long that Crowe has become a fixture in her life as well.

This book follows the couple, and later even Crow himself as we cover themes of complacency, obsession and loss and waste of years and time. Can relationships that have been neglected for years and years ever be repaired? Are we really unhappier now then people were in the past, or have we been brought up expecting too much happiness to ever be satisfied?

There is not a whole lot to say about the plot without spoiling too much, but Hornby’s writing style was very comfortable to sink into and the pages just flew by. I was sad that it ended as fast as it did, even though it was 400 pages. I will be checking out more of his works in the future.

Alli's CBR-III Review #17 - All Together Dead

2011-06-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished book 7 of the Southern Vampire Mystery series by Charlaine Harris. Here are my other reviews from this series: Definitely Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail and Living Dead in Dallas.

There is not really a heck of a lot else to say about these books. There may be spoilers if you haven't read the previous books. Sookie is still a telepath and working for the vampires. This time she has headed out to a vampire summit at a fancy pyramid hotel. She reunites with fellow telepath Barry, they are both working for different vampire royalty to listen in on human minds.

Of course there are murders, and a mystery to be solved. For me it's all about the sexual tension between Sookie and Eric. It must be because of this. Sookie is currently dating the weretiger Quinn, which I guess is pretty good too. Quinn didn't factor much into this book, his company was arranging a lot of the summit so he was always otherwise occupied.

I am already starting on book 8 but I just got a bunch of holds in from the library so I might have to leave this for a while (I bought a few of these books since I got a gift card at Christmas). But I'm hooked and I will see this series through to the end. Plus season 4 of True Blood Starts June 26!!

Alli's CBR-III Review #16 - Breaking out of Bedlam

2011-06-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Breaking out of Bedlam by Leslie Larson was a good quality fluff read. It was really what I needed after taking so long to finish my last book. This book is told from the point of view of Cora, an 82 year old woman who is taken out of her home by her children due to her being incapable of looking after herself. Cora is overweight, depressed, on prescription drugs and her home has become a bit like something that you would see on A&E.

It sounds depressing, but Larson maintains a light tone and the assisted living place that she goes into could be related to a high school or boarding school. I have often thought that this would be the case in places like these as there will always be cliques and bitches and all that, no matter what your age.

Cora feels betrayed by her family, and we are made to relate to her struggle to adjust to her new environment. Soon after her arrival, she meets a man and that gives her the motivation to improve her situation and her health. All is not perfect however, things are getting stolen all over the place and Cora is one of those who is under suspicion. To pass the time, and to extract her revenge upon her children, Cora writes a tell all journal with all her secrets. The novel goes back and forth in flashbacks in this journal and to her current situation.

Overall, this book didn’t change my life, but it was entertaining enough and I would recommend reading it. Cora's tale is relateable. I work in an industry where I have to deal with the elderly quite a bit, this book helped me to relate to my clients more. It must be very difficult to have to leave your home at that age and start all over in a scary new place.

Alli's CBR-III Review #15 - Ender's Game

2011-05-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card came highly recommended by a friend at work, so I gave it a go. I don't normally read science fiction because it has always been something that my brother was really into and we are like oil and vinegar so I always stayed away but I generally enjoyed this book.

Ender's Game is set in "the future" although since it was published in 1985 (and parts of it are from a short story published in 1977) in all reality it could have been intended to be set in our present day. Certain aspects of the book certainly are actually eerily accurate to the way things are now. The characters in the book have "desks" that seem to be like iPads, and there is discussion of "the nets" and discussions on them that are a more intelligent version of the internet.

As for the plot, we start out the book from the point of view of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. He is a third child in a society that has a limit of two children per family. The Wiggins got an exception for Ender since his older brother tested very well to the international fleet, but he was too vicious to qualify for battle school. The fleet is looking for someone to train to command their fleet for the third invasion of the buggers. We follow Ender through battle school, then onto command school. In these schools, they are trained using a variety of games, hence the title. He is tested, pushed and isolated, but ultimately still succeeds.

Parts of the book focus on the other two Wiggin children and their life after Ender goes up to school. Peter is the aforementioned vicious brother, and there is also a sister named Valentine. Ender and Valentine have a close relationship and it helps him survive throughout the book.

Although on it's surface it is a science fiction book, it is really about relationships, manipulation and the mistakes and perils of war. I would recommend checking it out.

Alli's CBR-III Review #14 - Wasted

2011-05-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad, I have barely read anything in the past month and a bit. I did finish the book I am about to review a few weeks ago but I didn't get around to writing about it until now.

After I read Unbearable Lightness, Youthfulzombie recommended reading "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher as a more accurate memoir of someone with an eating disorder. I bought the iBooks version and read it over a couple of days. I could relate to quite a bit of it. I have eating issues that are now mostly resolved, but I am currently on a calorie counting plan and it is sometimes hard to know the difference between being dedicated to my health and being obsessive.

Wasted in some ways offers little hope to eating disordered people. Hornbacher doesn't sugar coat her realities, and it is appreciated. That was one of my main issues with Unbearable Lightness, De Rosi spent 95% of the book detailing her obsessions and 5% saying how magically one day she was all better. Hornbacher also details her processes and the ins and outs of her disorder, but she is clear that there is no magic solution. She also spent the time and did her research, and so it feels that her information is coming from a more authoritative place.

I also appreciated the fact that Hornbacher mentions that pretty much all women suffer from eating disorders. Although not all women have anorexia or bulimia, the majority have an unhealthy images or are constantly dieting. I have a skewed view of this, as I spend a lot of my time on a diet community online. I also read something similar in the book In Defense of Food where it indicated there is a new disorder called "Orthorexia" which is an obsession with eating healthy.

It seems no matter what you do, if you are predisposed to eating disorders then you will find one that fits you. Some of us are just not wired to be able to eat normally. Then again, what is normal? All we can hope for is a balance, to be able to not be self destructive and to try and enjoy all that life has to offer.

Alli's CBR-III Review #13 - Room

2011-03-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

I am trying to wrap my head around "Room" By Emma Donoghue. The book was excellent in a lot of ways, but there were a few things that left me lacking. It is hard to say what those things are without giving too much of the plot away.
The premise of the book is our narrator Jack lives in "Room". Jack and Ma are there together. The first section of the book describes where they live and the routines that they go through in their days. He is a 5 year old and so he has limited understanding of certain things, but thankfully for the reader, he does have a decent vocabulary since Ma spends a lot of time teaching him things.

The reason that they are in this room is that Ma was kidnapped some years ago and she gave birth to Jack in the room which is a converted garden shed. There are parts of the book that are upsetting, but Donoghue manages to maintain a level tone.

I was on the edge of my seat during some parts of this book and the pages just flew by. It is something I recommend reading just for the experience. It has left an impression on me that's for sure.

Alli's CBR-III Review #12 - One Day

2011-03-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. . . I just finished reading "One Day" by David Nicholls and I am frankly just floored. I have been reading this one for the past few days and really loving it, but the ending, wow.

I don't even know what to say about this book. It is the story of two best friends, Dexter and Emma, Dex and Em, Em and Dex. The book gives us a glimpse into their lives on July 15th of each year from 1988 when they meet on the eve of their college graduation, through to the year 2007. They struggle along as we all do, sometimes handling things better than others. Dexter is reckless and parties too hard at times, Emma is perhaps too straight laced, and lacks momentum in certain areas. But most of us can relate to both of those things, or at least I can.

This book was like a comfy pair of jammie pants, I fell in love with the characters and I couldn't wait to read what happened to them next. Nicholls took the concept of telling a story in the unconventional method of one day per year and really made it work. There is really nothing I can write to do it justice. I am perhaps being hokey but that is where it has left me this evening.

I strongly recommend reading this book if you have not yet already, if only so we can talk about it together.

Alli's CBR-III Review #11 - Hector and the Search for Happiness

2011-03-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

"Hector and the Search for Happiness" by Francois Lelord is a parable about a psychiatrist who becomes disillusioned after seeing many people in his practice who are unhappy for no apparent reason. He then travels around the world searching for the secret to finding happiness.

Not to appear ignorant but I had to google parable. I suppose that this book falls under that category. It read like a bit like a fairy tale or a children's book. Hector seems at times simple, yet Lelord tells us that he is very smart since he is a psychiatrist.

The book was enjoyable enough, cute but a bit pointless. I think that I was expecting more out of it, maybe to become inspired or at least feel more emotion from the stories within the story. Hector just travels from country to country, makes a list of what comprises happiness, then comes to the end of his journey without learning much that most of us wouldn’t already know.

Perhaps that is the point and I am missing it? Perhaps I am jaded and can’t appreciate this book for what it is? I am not sure. Either way it only took me a day to read it, and sometimes that is good enough.

Alli's CBR-III Review #10 - Into The Wild

2011-03-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

After finishing Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer I immediately dug into Into the Wild. I have seen the movie and I was moved by the tragic story of Chris McCandless. The book was quite superior to the movie, as is often the case. Krakauer’s book is thorough, and also fills out the story with tales of similar tales lived out by other ill fated travellers and his own close call in Alaska.

For anyone not familiar with the tale of Chris McCandless, he was a complicated soul, a wanderer with strong ideals and a lust for the outdoors. He decided to head out to Alaska and live off the land, and ultimately perished and his body was discovered by hunters. His life during his time as a vagabond is related from those he encountered, he seldom failed to leave an impression on those he encountered on his travels.

His time in the Alaskan country had to be reconstructed from brief journal entries, mostly discussing his diet. A lot is left to speculation, which only heightens the intrigue of the tale. Who among us has not taken a risk, and so McCandless’ serves as both a cautionary tale and as an insight into the part of our self that would like to just burn all our money and go live in the wilderness. Or is that just me?

Alli's CBR-III Review #9 - Into Thin Air

2011-03-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

I read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer on the recommendation of a coworker. I had just finished reading "In the Path of an Avalanche" and while I enjoyed it I wasn't really looking forward to reading another another snowy disaster tale. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself engrossed into this book. Krakaurer's style allowed me to easily imagine myself among the climbers on the ill-fated 1996 Everest expedition.

One of my pet peeves with mountaineering tales lies in that they simply relay the drama and difficulty of the ascent and downplay or ignore the challenges that lie in the descent. This book relays both, but the tragedy strikes during the descent and many lives are lost.

Krakauer was sent to Everest as part of a paid expedition team to report on the growing number of companies taking people up the mountain for a profit and the pros and cons of such practices. I never gave much thought to the reality of this, the environmental damage, and the pressure on the owners of these companies to get their clients to the top, even at every one's risk.

Towards the end, the book relays that one group actually admitted that they walked right past a group that was close to death since they didn't want to jeopardize their summit attempt. I can see both sides to that argument, however I would think that being able to tell the tale of saving lives might be better than living with the guilt of letting someone die that you could have helped rescue.

All in all, "Into Thin Air" was an excellent read, that gave me many things to think about after reading. I am already reading another of Krakauer's works and I look forward to reading more in the future.

Alli's CBR-III Review #8 - In Defense of Food

2011-02-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have never really read a lot of non-fiction books, but I have to say I am becoming quite fond of them. They are not as much fun to read necessarily, but I do enjoy learning and so I think I shall continue on this path. I went to the library last night and found that I had 5 books in that I had requested (one that I had requested only 20 mins before I left to go to the library).

The latest non-fiction that I read was “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan is about nutrition science, government food policy and ends with suggestions on how one should eat. The manifesto is simple “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. It may have been a bit too simple, as the majority of the book focuses on the science, and the failures and misinformation of the past, and not enough on hope for the future. I suppose that people do need to be frightened into change, I am about halfway where I want to be as far as clean and healthy eating so it was a bit of preaching to the choir for me.

I am not going to say that I never eat crap, because that would be a total lie, but I am well aware that I should not be eating those things, and of how bad they are for me. I am making a large effort to eat less processed foods and more fresh foods. Being a vegetarian also helps a lot to avoid certain unwanted chemicals and hormones in my diet.

I did find it interesting how unreliable nutrition science is, as well as how food lobbyists can manipulate the FDA into making claims about their products. Frito-Lay is getting a claim encouraging people to eat chips because the fat they are fried in can be interpreted as good for you. Before fat was vilified as causing multiple heart problems, but people simply replaced the fat with sugar and we are worse off than ever.

Although some parts are a bit dry to read, I would recommend reading this to anyone who is concerned about the current state of food in this world that we live in. We all really do need to take the focus away from quantity and back onto quality. We need to learn to appreciate the food that is on our plates, to savour it and get back to having mealtimes be a time for social activity. This is something I would also need to work on, with a busy schedule I tend to think of mealtimes and the preparation of those meals as something to get through as fast as I can. I need to put the joy back into cooking the meals, and sharing them with my family as well.

Alli's CBR-III Review #7 - Girl Interrupted

2011-02-15T11:01:00.001-08:00

I recently rewatched the movie “Girl Interrupted” on Netfix and noticed that it was based on a book so I decided to read it and I am very glad that I did. The movie is pretty good but personally I found the book by Susanna Kaysen to be superior. Her memoir reads a bit like a diary, and the story is told partly in a non linear fashion with vignettes telling of different people that she met in hospital and experiences that she had there.

For anyone who is not aware, “Girl Interrupted” is about a young woman who enters a mental hospital in the late 1960’s after a suicide attempt. Susanna was 18 at the time of her admission and spent almost two years at McLean hospital. One of the more interesting aspects of the book was the aspect of seixsm that was involved with certain diagnoses at that time, promiscuity for example was one of the symptoms of Susanna’s condition of borderline personality disorder. A lot of the reasons that women were considered to be abnormal were realting to a lack of desire to get married and have babies like they were supposed to at the time.

As I was reading the book, as often is the case when comparing a film version to a book version, little changes that were made really irked me. For example, the character of Lisa as played by Angelina Jolie with that awful fake blonde hair, was a brunette in real life. And the nurse played by Whoopi Goldberg was a white woman with a long blonde braid that she wore in a braid and the patients would beg her to take the braid out and let her hair loose, although she never would. Also I loved the ending of the book so much more, it was more defined and more realistic. And there was a bit of a surprise ending for Lisa as well that I hope worked out for the best for all concerned.

It was a nice fast paced read, and I recommend reading it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #6 - Never Let Me Go

2011-02-11T14:58:00.001-08:00

I haven’t yet had the experience with many books the way I get with certain movies where a lot of friends have reccomended them and then I feel quite let down once I see them. I try to shy away from reviews or plot summaries of books that I want to read as I would rather be surprised by plots and so forth. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro is a book about coming of age, friendships, love and also something a bit more.

The “plot twist” to me was not that interesting the way it was presented. I think that more could have been revealed or discussed to make it more interesting but to me the book felt a bit pointless. The book centers mainly around 3 friends: Kathy, Ruth and Tommy. They live in a “mysterious” boarding school called Halisham. There is a bit of a love triangle, and rivalry in other ways between the two girls. There is also a lot of talk about the students being “special” and whatnot.

I am not going to say much else about it. The writing is pretty good, but the whole book to me felt a bit sedated and slow. I am glad to be done with it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #5 - Player One

2011-02-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Player One is a novel by Douglas Coupland, it was written for a CBC lecture series and was broadcast on the radio as well as through podcasts. It is split up into 5 one hour segments. We follow four main characters and a couple side characters through a global crisis as it unfolds.

My favorite book is “The Stand” and in some ways this book reminded me of that one, but overall it was a bit disappointing. Coupland is quite a famous Canadian author, and this is the first book of his that I have read. I think that perhaps trying to fit it into the time frame of the lecture series may have been responsible for the shortcomings that I perceived.

I think that Coupland set a good scene, created interesting characters to fill it in. One of the main characters suffers from a plethora of medical conditions on the autism/OCD spectrum, which was quite interesting. I think that had Coupland had more time to flesh out the characters and plot the book would have been much stronger.

The ending felt tacked on and too simplistic for the crisis that the book centers around. I would rather not say what that crisis is for fear of giving away too much of the plot. But I will just say that something like that would not have a happy ending.

Alli's CBR-III Review #4 - Unbearable Lightness

2011-02-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

I don't know how to begin my review for Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi. I don't know how personal to get with my experience reading this book. I don't even know how to describe it, it is not a biography, not a novel, it is an unabashed confession of a person with an eating disorder, a person like me.

Portia, like so many of us, struggled with body image and issues of self worth her whole life. Growing up in Australia she never felt quite pretty enough, quite good enough. When competing she felt that she had to be first or why not even try, even winning with a close margin was not good enough.

When she got the part on Ally McBeal she never felt that she deserved it. The adjustment to being a "celebrity" proved too much for her, and being gay and not quite coming to terms with it didn't help matters at all. Portia relates how this all factored into her eating disorder becoming life threatening.

The majority of the book focuses on the details of her disorder, which is relatable to those of us who have been there. I found that she seems so happy now, and seems to have found a way to be healthy and just to listen to her body and not binge, starve or exercise obsessively. I wish that she spent more of the book focusing on the recovery side of things, as that is the hardest part about having an eating disorder. Food can never be avoided, we can just hope to find the reason to be healthy and the love for ourselves to know that we do matter.

Alli's CBR-III Review #3 - In the Path of an Avalanche

2011-02-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend highly recommended this book to me, and I was not disappointed. He has a lifelong background in skiing, while I am just starting to learn. I think that I have more than my fair share of anxiety about the sport without reading about avalanches, but after reading this book I feel more aware and secure about risk versus reward on the whole matter. Vivian Bowers wrote “In the Path of an Avalanche” based on a true tale of tragedy that happened in my province of British Columbia.

In January 1998 six adventurous skiers headed out by helicopter to a remote cabin to enjoy a week of fun in the cold. They considered themselves fortunate as the only way to book that particular cabin was through a lottery system. Unluckily for them, the weather conditions were poor and avalanches were likely. For reasons unknown, the normally fairly cautious group set out and did not return.

The book is extremely thorough, at parts a bit dry due to the amount of scientific type data. I was very interested to learn how avalanches are created, and even the little details about how helicopters work and the logistics of heliskiing. I became quite invested in the story and the portraits that Bowers wrote about the ill fated skiers. Even knowing the outcome from the get go, I found myself tearing up when the inevitable came near the end of the book.

After the avalanche occurs, the last quarter of the book focuses on the search and rescue and recovery efforts. To me though, it seems like a lot of risk was taken, even after the outcome of the skiers was already known. But there was great pressure from the media to get the skiers home, alive or not. This tragedy occurred in a very small town, so the intrusion of the media was not exactly welcomed and they wanted to show themselves in a positive light.

I expected to come out of this book more afraid of back country skiing, but it had the opposite effect. Reading about the safety precautions to take, and the benefits that outweigh the fear inside. After all, I could get hit by a bus on my way home from work. If I am meant to die doing something that I love, then so be it.

Alli's CBR-III Review #2 - Unsweetined

2011-01-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

I have a few trashy biographies on my book list for this year and Jodi Sweetin's unfortunately titled "Unsweetined" was the first on my list. It was a quick pleasant read, even with the darker times in her life, Sweetin (and her writer Jon Warech) keep the tone light and the pace fast.

Sweetin has been in the spotlight since a very young age. She has encountered a lot of addiction in her short time on this earth and recounts it all in a fair amount of detail. There is no real reason for her problems, other than an attempt to explain them as genetic. I can't say that I blame her for living the way that she has, imagine being rich and successful and having it all end at 13 years of age. Then, having never learned to make friends, taking them in any way that you can get them, even if they are just using you for your drugs and partying.

The most shocking part is that she toured colleges promoting her sobriety while still being deep in her addiction. It makes me really wonder if she is being honest about her recovery this time. One hopes that for her daughter's sake that she has it all figured out.

Addiction and recovery are a life long process and I wish Sweetin the best in her recovery efforts.

Alli's CBR-III Review #1 - Definitely Dead

2011-01-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ok so here we go again. I start off a new year with a new count. This year I hope to make my goal of 52 books. I am still working on the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I finished this one on January 1st but I haven't had time to get on here and bang off a review.

Since I have read several of these books, there is really not a heck of a lot else to say about them. Charlaine Harris has created a world full of supernatural creatures that live among us mere mortals. The main character is Sookie Stackhouse, a telepath who may be more than she seems as well. She has ingrained herself into the world of vampires and other "supes" and seems to encounter danger at every turn, and all the better for us to read about.

In this particular book, Sookie has a new boyfriend, and has travelled to New Orleans to clean out the apartment of a deceased relative. And guess what happens, she encounters danger. I don't want to say much more since it is a series and I don't want to spoil the plot.

These books have fast become a guilty pleasure of mine and I have 2 more on my shelf that I picked up from a Chapters gift card given to me by my work for Christmas. I am already halfway through the next novel but I have put it aside for now as a bunch of my library holds came in and I have to dig my way through all of them. I have 4 books at home and 2 more just came in! But they are all books that I am excited to read so I am pretty happy about having too many books on the go at once.

Book Forty Seven - P.S. I Love You

2010-12-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

This was a really long book, over 500 pages and I read it all today, I feel a bit drunk from reading.

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern was a title that I recognized since I have seen the movie that was made from it. The movie took large liberties with the source material, and the book is vastly superior.

This book is about the struggles of a young widow to grieve and move on with her life. Her husband has left her notes for each month following his death, as a way to help her move on. It is difficult to imagine being in her shoes, but writes quite well, and the characters that she creates are extremely relatable. Holly's friends and family are painted in such a way that they are both there for Holly and also are fallible in not knowing just what to do for someone who is hurting so much.

Overall I really enjoyed P.S. I Love You, even if it veered strongly towards the sappy side. Sometimes that is just what you need.

Book Forty Five and Forty Six - Dead to the World - Dead as a Doornail

2010-12-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse novels, I read Dead to the World and Dead as a Doornail in the past couple of days and I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series to arrive on my hold list at the library. I am lumping the two reviews in together just because I can. There is really not a lot more I can say about these books without giving away too much of the plot.

The Sookie Stackhouse novels are set in a world where supernatural creatures live among us. So far Vampires have announced themselves to society, and the rest of the Supes are waiting to see how it all plays out before making themselves known.

In Dead to the World, one of the more powerful (and attractive) vampires, Eric, has an amnesia spell put on him by witches and Sookie must come to his aid. In Dead as a Doornail, she is still dealing with repercussions from events that occurred in the previous book, as well as increased threats to her personal safety.

These books are straight up addictive, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Book Forty Four - Star Island

2010-12-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

I am kind of loving these 7 day superloans from the library, it gives me the motivation to get the books read really fast. I was able to bang this one off in 3 days, and I had a very busy weekend, so it was quite the accomplishment.

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen was quite an enjoyable read. It centers around a train wreck of a celebrity aptly named Cherry Pye. It takes the notion of a Mylie Cryrus type starlet and takes it a bit further. In the first chapter we meet Cherry vicariously through a paparazzo who is waiting to see her loaded into an ambulance. However he is foiled as Cherry is famous for her green eyes, and the gal on the stretcher has brown eyes.

We are then introduced to Ann, Cherry's double, employed by Cherry's parents and PR team to fill in for Cherry when she is having an episode of "gastritis". It is an interesting look into what may very well occur by certain celebrity publicity teams.

There are several more colorful characters introduced through the course of the story, and they all tie in nicely together at the ens. Hiaasen is very adept at creating characters and scenarios to keep the reader entertained. I plan on reading more of his works.

Book Forty Three - Full Dark No Stars

2010-12-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

I hadn't even heard of this one until I saw it in the 7 day superloan rack at the library. I still have "Under the Dome" sitting next to my bed and I will get to it one of these days, but I had to read something shorter right now as I am hoping to finish my 52 books by the end of the year. I only have 9 to go!!

Full Dark No Stars was a collection of long stories. I rather enjoyed them all. King describes them in the afterword as ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Extraordinary situations indeed. I didn't read the blurb on this one so that I could remain surprised as to what the stories were about. For me all I need to see is Mr King's name on the cover and I am guaranteed to read it eventually. I actually didn't realize that it was a collection of stories until I had almost finished the first story and I knew that he couldn't have enough to say about that tale to fill the rest of the book.

There are four stories within the book, three of them I really loved, the shortest one I found cute but a bit pointless. I was expecting it to have a twist ending but it just kind of ended. I don't want to spoil the collection for anyone by summarizing, but I will recommend reading it for fans of good tales.

Book Forty Two - Eating Animals

2010-12-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I heard about "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer on George Stroumboulopoulos tonight, which I find to be a good source to find out about good books and movies etc. It was good timing for me to read this book since I have been transitioning into a vegetarian diet since the spring. Vegetarian or not, everyone should read this book since we all need to be aware of where our food comes from, and the toll that it takes on our planet.

There are sections of this book that are quite upsetting to read. It goes into detail about the ways that different types of animals are slaughtered and also discusses their living conditions. It also discusses the factory farming that has become so prevalent these days.

The book also presents some farmers that are trying hard to do better for the animals, and for the planet, but they are fighting a losing battle it seems. Even those farmers that are able to raise their animals humanely are struggling to find slaughterhouses that will not cause undue suffering to the animals at the end.

If you eat, then you should read this book. One must know all the facts in order to make the most responsible choices. We can no longer turn a blind eye to things that we find unpleasant. Even if a person chooses to eat meat, they can make better choices as to the source of that meat, or the quantity of meat consumed. Cheap meat should not be the ultimate goal, as we will all pay an enormous price for that in the end.

11 Shy

2010-10-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well I tried my best. Well I slacked in the first part of the year and tried to catch up, and I came so close but there is just no reading 11 books by the end of the night. I have to get ready to go out and get candy soon so I thought I would wrap it up for now. I am still going to finish, but I am not sure how long it will take me.

Still, 41 books in a year is not too bad.

Book Forty One - Fight Club

2010-10-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

I had bought this book for my boyfriend last christmas and I finally got around to reading it. I didn't realize that it was a book before a movie and I really wish that I had the chance to read it before seeing the movie. It was also interesting to read it when already knowing the secret within.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is about. . oy what is it about. It is meant to be viewed as a romance, this comes from the afterword by the author in the end. He also indicates that it was a short story that he stretched out by adding in every crazy and rebellious thing that he and his friends had ever done. He mentions that some of his friends were worried that the book would give people bad ideas, but Palahniuk said that there was nothing that they could think of that people are not already doing, and since the book has been written, people have written to him and confirmed that this is true.

I don't know what else to say about it, I guess that is apt since the first rule about fight club, is. . .

Book Forty - Heart of the Matter

2010-10-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

One of the first books I read for this challenge was Love the One You're With and I have also read a few other books by Emily Giffin. I am getting a bit tired of her repeating the same themes and characters over and over again, which is a shame since I very much like her writing style. I suppose there are a lot of women out there with unhappy marriages since people eat her books up like candy and don't demand anything different.

Heart of the Matter is about a married couple, one of whom is a pediatric plastic surgeon who develops an unhealthy relationship with one of his patient's mothers. There is really not much more to it than that. There is also issues of bored housewives and how easily trust can be destroyed in a marriage.

I think that this will be the last book of Giffin's that I read, unless she decides to change themes, since I am bored with her current path.

Book Thirty Nine - Living Dead in Dallas

2010-10-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this one was really fun to read! I read Dead Until Dark last year. It is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series that has since been made into the HBO series, True Blood. Now that I have read the second book I think that I am finding that the books are a bit better than the show.

It is pretty cheesy entertainment, but it is a big step up from Twilight, so I think it is ok that I am going to be reading the rest of the series toute suite. If you are unfamiliar, the series is about a young woman in Louisiana who reads minds and is dating a vampire. They exist in a world where vampires have come out of the coffin, to use their terminology. There is always, trouble and adventure to be found. In this outing, Sookie and her boyfriend Bill travel to Dallas as Sookie's mind reading ability is out on loan from her local vampires. Trouble ensues and they have to figure out how to get themselves out of it.

Also there has been a murder, Layfayette has been murdered (thank goodness they didn't do that on HBO, that actor is amazing!) and they have to find out the answer to that mystery as well. I am not normally a huge mystery fan, but these books just work for me and I am going to keep on readin' 'em.

Book Thirty Eight - Wasted Beauty

2010-10-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, 2 down 2 to go. Wasted Beauty was really a waste of my time. It took me forever to read this one, with all the stress I had at the time, with having to learn a new job and wake up extra early to take the skytrain too. But I think that I would have probably had the same opinion of this book no matter the circumstances.

There is no way to vent my frustrations without giving away the plot, so if you are not interested stop reading here.

Wasted Beauty by Eric Bogosian is about a girl who gets stranded in the city, instantly becomes a successful model, her brother instantly becomes a lunatic and gets locked up, and a Doctor just happens to treat the brother and starts a love affair with the model then we are forced to read all about whether or not he should stay in his boring marriage. It was unrealistic, tedious and didn't go anywhere. There was little plot or anything to keep my interest. I am quite happy I am done with reading it.

Book Thirty Seven - Kiss Me Like a Stranger

2010-10-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

I am a bit of a creature of habit, if I like something an author has written, then I seek them out for more. I guess that is not such a surprise, but I have never read this many books in a year before so this is all fairly new. I think the last time I even came this close was when I was a teenager, reading really is something that I really enjoy and I am going to keep up with the reading after this is over, we will see how many I can get done next year.

So earlier I reported back on The Woman Who Wouldn't by Gene Wilder so I decided to read his autobiographical oeuvre, Kiss Me Like a Stranger. This takes us through the life of Wilder, and it really highlights the golden era that he come of age in and highlights the differences that exist in the craft of acting today.

Wilder is a talented writer and the book flowed very well through its pages. This one was twice the length of the previous novel that I read of his, but it flew by as if it was a good conversation with a new friend. We see how he made his way in the entertainment business and the women he loved and lived with along the way. He has always appealed to me, having grown up watching him in Willy Wonka, and knowing more about him has only confirmed my instincts that he is overall a very good man.

Book Thirty Six - The Wentworths

2010-10-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

This past Monday I started a new job so I have been quite busy, but I am taking public transit so I have time to read, but not so much time to come to blogger and post reviews. I have 4 books to write up today so I will do my best, but

Since I enjoyed Point Dume so much I made a point to seek out The Wentworths by Kate Arnoldi. It didn't affect me as deeply as Point Dume but The Wentworths was still an enjoyable read. The book offers us up a quirky wealthy family and lets us have a glimpse into what their lives are like. It begins with the black sheep being arrested while cross dressing and finishes with a bang.

Although there is not a whole lot of lot involved, the Wentworths are an interesting bunch and it was nice to be a fly on the wall of their world. Arnoldi is a talented writer and I would read other works of hers if I come across them.

Book Thirty Five - Escape From Amsterdam

2010-10-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

When I picked this book up I thought it referred to the actual city of Amsterdam (I often try not to read too much about the book so as not to ruin it for me) but what the title actually refers to is a theme park in Japan. Our protagonist, Aozora is deeply in debt and needs to find his sister to claim an inheritance. This takes him on an adventure involving many colorful characters and Japanese settings.

What I found intriguing is that the author of this book, Barrie Sherwood is (obviously) not Japanese. He is the son of missionaries and grew up in many places, including Japan and even my city, Vancouver and my parents' hometown, Penticton. He captures the Japanese style and the culture very well.

From beginning to end, Escape From Amsterdam is a fairly fast paced, intriguing tale of a brother trying to rescue his sister from a life that is challenging and dangerous. Even though his initial motives are selfish, in the process he does redeem himself to a certain extent. The journey itself is worth the price of admission.

Book Thirty Four - Lucky Man

2010-10-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Book 17 was Always Looking Up and if you double 17 you get 34 and book 34 for me was Lucky Man, also by Michael J Fox. I didn't even plan that one. Silly little coincidences like that please me.

Lucky Man was an enjoyable read, I wish that I had read it prior to reading "Always Looking Up" since one seems to precede the other, but nonetheless it was a pleasurable read.

Lucky Man is an autobiography of sorts, it begins as Fox sees the first signs of Parkinson's disease and flashes back into his past, family history and rise to fame. There are many interesting anecdotes inside and Fox as in "Up" is an amicable narrator. Lucky Man is somewhat more personal, it details the lengths that Fox and Pollan went to in order to have a private wedding, so we feel lucky ourselves to be given a view into the live of the beloved actor.

As I stated in my previous review of Fox's work, he is just a very lovable person, and I would read anything that he writes. Canadian loyalty only goes so far, after that a person needs to have genuine charm to keep the pages turning, and Fox has that for sure.

Disneyworld Here I Come!

2010-10-01T11:27:00.001-07:00

Vacation time is finally here! I fly out tonight overnight and my Dad is always super early for flights so I will have lots of time to read at the airport and some time to read on the flight before I catch some zzzzs. I have packed 4 or 5 books and I hope to get most of them read before the week is out.

I will probably buy myself something new to read during my travels as well if I run short. I am planning to have lots of fun but I really want to finish Cannonball so I am really going to dedicate time to reading too.

See you all in just over a week and hopefully I will have at least 4 new reviews to share!

Book Thirty Three - Push

2010-09-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

So we all know what the novel Push by Sapphire is about. I survived seeing the movie so I decided to give the book a try. The subject matter is quite hard to get through, but it is handled a bit more delicately than in the movie. It is quite well written, although it is written in a style that suggests that it is Precious that is writing the book herself.

I am sure that a lot of people go through hard times like Precious has, but from my research it seems that Sapphire herself has not. It makes you wonder why she would write a book like this, since it is such a horrible thing to imagine happening to someone, it must have been very hard to write as well.

Basically I wouldn't really recommend reading the book since there is so much sadness contained within it. There is not a lot of hope offered at the end. It is a realistic tale about what some people will go through in their life, but there is so much suffering in the world, why subject yourself to a book about it. But if you must, you must.

Book Thirty Two - 32 Candles

2010-09-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well I have made it to book number 32, and I had coincidentally picked up this book at the library, plus I am 32 so I thought it was meant to be.

"32 Candles" by Ernessa T. Carter was an amazingly fun read. It follows the life of Davidia Jones from Mississipi. She has things quite rough, her mother is the town hussy and people will come up to her on the street and insult her as a way of hurting her mother, who doesn't care anyways. She stops speaking in kindergarten and is called "Monkey Night" by her classmates because they think she is as ugly as a monkey and as dark as night.

The one ray of happiness in her life is Molly Ringwald movies, her favorite being "16 Candles". She longs to find her very own Jake Ryan and the perfect Molly Ringwald ending to her life. She finds her potential Jake as James Farrell, new in town and heir to the local Farrell Fine Hair company. Unfortunately he has two sisters and one of them becomes especially mean to her and makes things so unbearable for her that she decides to run away.

Through extreme good fortune she makes a decent life for herself in Los Angeles. She ends up running into James and the Farrells again and I don't want to really say more than that for fear of giving away too much of the plot.

All I will say is that I loved this book a lot, it was well written, offered a fresh perspective on an old favorite story. Davidia is a sympathetic character, and although she suffers a lot, the tone is upbeat and we are given hope for her. Also I have already popped "Sixteen Candles" into my DVD player, yeah!

32 down and 20 more to go, I can do this!!!

Book Thirty One - The Five People You Meet in Heaven

2010-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

A few years back I read "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom and rather enjoyed it, and after reading it I you tubed a lot of the related footage. I was going through a difficult time in my life and it helped me put things in perspective. So I picked up "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" hopeful yet still expecting it to be a ball of cheese. Albom seems to be sort of a "feel good" author and since I am a tad cynical I didn't expect to like the book all that much.

I had low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the read. It was a tad bit cheesy, but overall I am glad that I read it. The book follows the death of the protagonist, an 82 year old Eddie who is the long time maintenance man at an amusement park. He dies trying to save a young girl from being crushed by a falling ride and, you guessed it, meets five people and learns five lessons before moving on into his afterlife.

I am not a religious person, so I don't know why stories like this appeal to me. I very much appreciated that there was no heavy handed religious overtones. The main lessons of the book are that we are all connected, that no life is meaningless and to appreciate what you have. I am now at a place in my life where I feel like I try to appreciate each day and the happiness I have found for myself. I have also long believed that no matter what the circumstance you find yourself in, that there is always hope.

No one knows what greets us upon our passing, but we could do a lot worse than what is imagined in "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". I laughed, I cried, I finished reading it in an evening and an afternoon, so all in all it was a positive experience.

Book Thirty - The Mist

2010-09-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am still shaking off the heebie jeebie spiders after reading this one, but it was a lot of fun. The Mist by Stephen King was originally published as a novella in "The Skeleton Crew", but it works well as a stand alone novel and at 230 pages is long enough to stand alone as well.

Although I enjoyed reading The Mist, I have already seen the movie so the plot left few surprises. It is very well written, and I did find the book to be better than the movie. The ending was changed for the movie, and I would be hard pressed to pick which ending I preferred, although I can see why they went with the more shocking movie ending.

The Mist begins following a terrible storm in a small town in Maine. Our main characters notice a strange mist across the lake then father and son head off to the store to get groceries. Then all hell breaks loose, the mist covers the town, the doomsday whistle blows and people start dying. All kinds of creatures start coming out of the mist and the cast of the book have to figure out how to survive, or at least how to not go crazy.

There are a lot of characters in the book, and if it had been fleshed out into a longer novel it might have been easier to know one from the other. There are a few that stand apart, but some I couldn't keep track of. Also it would have been interesting to hear some more stories of survival from other points of view.

I am going to read the rest of the Skeleton Crew soon, but I was glad to be able to find "The Mist" packaged on its own, it was a nice quick, pleasant yet terrifying read.

Book Twenty Nine - The Woman Who Wouldn't

2010-09-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

I am going to be straight up, with so many books to read and so little time, I have been cruising my local library for shorter books. A girl has to do what a girl has to do. So "The Woman Who Wouldn't" caught my eye since it falls around 160 pages, but also it retained my attention when I saw that the author was Gene Wilder. I have a soft spot for the man since I was a huge Wonka fan as a child. I know that there is more to Wilder than that, and now I can now think of him as an excellent story teller as well.

This novel is a very cute story of a man who ends up in a "spa" in the black forest at the turn of the 20th century. He has a cute madness to him and has been sent to the spa to recover. He is a concert violinist and had a public breakdown that sealed his fate. Upon arriving at the spa he meets a young woman and what follows is a tale of flirting, courtship and love and how love can conquer all. I can't help but think that he rewrote history since he couldn't save his own wife from her fate in his real life, this must have helped him with the never ending grieving process.

It is a simple tale, but a rather beautiful one. It was a pleasure to read and I look forward to reading more of Wilder's work in the future.

Book Twenty Eight - Grace

2010-09-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Grace by Lin Ullman is a novel about death and coming to terms with that transition. It is translated from Norwegian, but it is very easy to read. In the book we follow Johan as he receives his diagnosis of an unspecified disease, most likely cancer, and how he reacts to this and how he plans to finish out his life.

He describes different parts of his life, his first marriage, his childhood and his current wife. It is written very well and it made me picture someday ending up there with my partner. We would all be so lucky to have someone love us enough to take care of us at such a difficult and inevitable time.

The book touches on euthanasia and the attempt to die with dignity. I was interested to learn that it is actually legal in a few European countries. The book takes small moments, just the two of them reading together at their cabin in the woods, it is very relatable and understated but pleasingly so.

Today I witnessed a car accident, I didn't see the actual crash but we turned the corner right after it had happened. The driver was having a seizure and we had no choice but to keep moving (many others were already assisting) it affected me profoundly, put a lot of my little problems in perspective. Then to read this book today, really made me cherish the things that I have and made me realize that I have to appreciate all the good that I have and try to make the best of my life.

Book Twenty Seven - Point Dume

2010-09-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

What an amazing book! I just dove right into this one and barely came up for air. It just flowed from point to point, nice concise chapters with varying narrators, an intriguing story concept and a very satisfying ending too.

Point Dume by Katie Arnoldi is about a California beach town where local surfers are resentful of the influx of rich wine growers with their wives and army of nannies. As well it is about the marijuana being grown in public lands by Mexican drug cartels.

There are 5 narrators in this novel. There is a Mexican farmer brought to California to manage a grow site on his own for the promise of a large payday to support his family that he now heads since the death of his father. A surfer who is also poacher from those same grow sites. There is a female surfer who resents the intrusion of the newcomers into the quiet town she grew up in, and their vineyards that are destroying the local land. There is a vineyard owner himself and his dissatisfied housewife.

The characters interact in ways that flow naturally, and they are all very interesting to follow. And the chapter names are quite clever as well. The description about the grow sites is particularly interesting, one doesn't necessarily think about the environmental damage that these growers cause, some use the worst types of pesticides and just kill every living creature that comes near since they all eat the plants. It is a work of fiction, but the author indicates in the acknowledgements that she spent time working on cleanup efforts, and has done a lot of research into how the sites operate.

Arnoldi took me along for a wonderful ride with this book, and although I wanted to finish the book to cross another off my list, I didn't want it to end. I have already requested another of her books at my library.

Book Twenty Six - A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind

2010-09-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Halfway there!!! I might just make it if I read like a madwoman for the next two months!

The tag line for "A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind" by Karen Scalf Linamen is "Loving your body, accepting yourself and living without regret". This appealed to me quite a bit as I have struggled with my weight since I was quite young. After I had my son I was well over 200 lbs, when he was around 2 years old I lost 50 lbs, most of it due to the fact that my ex husband didn't have a job and I had no money for food. We would watch the Food Network just so we could remember what food looked like, food porn indeed. After my divorce I lost those same lbs again and I have managed to stick to that weight, give or take a few ever since. This spring I decided to get back on the health wagon to lose the rest of the pounds I have been lugging around. I have had success so far and I feel that I have the right attitude.

Even still, most women have issues with their bodies and I am no exception, which is why I picked up this book. A friend recommended a similar book to me and I requested it at the library, but I am 84th in line so I thought this book might offer up similar insights. Parts of the book I found interesting, parts of the book I felt were a bit shallow, and there was far too much heavy handed religion thrown in. So much religion in fact that if I had not already been halfway in and needing to finish some books for this challenge, I would have stopped reading. Take this quote for example "Jesus, I don't understand exactly how this all works, but Karen's telling me that you are the Son of God, that you're reaching for me. . . It goes against reason, and it might even go against how I've been taught, but she's about as transparent as they come and, you know what, I'm going to believe her." Sure, I am going to adopt religion because an author that uses not so clever puns in her book titles told me so.

I am able to take in the good and filter out the bad (I am not calling religion bad, but I am saying that being heavy handed and blatant about these things is bad) and it may help some people to reach out to a higher power to help them achieve peace with their bodies and to lose weight, but that approach does not work for me.

One point that is of interest to me, is the chapter about making peace with success. I am halfway to my goal now, and what happens when I get there? I think that it is tempting, even at a subconscious level to get addicted to the attention of losing weight, so much that some people self sabotage in order to achieve the high of losing weight again. I know that when I get to my goal my weight will still vary and that it will take work even to maintain my success. I think that being self aware is key.

Since I am quite educated in most of the topics covered in this book I didn't find it terrifically educational, but there were some good points raised. The book addresses metabolism, the power of positive (and negative) thinking, creative visualisation and self esteem. It is a good starting point for someone who wants to improve them self from the inside out.

Book Twenty Five - How I Became a Famous Novelist

2010-09-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

I picked up "How I Became a Famous Novelist" by Steve Hely in the new fiction section of my library and I found it to be quite an humorous and entertaining read. Who among us has not imagined showing up an ex, and at their own wedding nonetheless. That is the basic premise of this novel, written by a Letterman staffer (and though I won't hold it against him, he also writes for American Dad).

Our narrator is Pete Tarslaw, a slacker who writes college application essays for wealthy students and aspires to do as little as possible. Upon receiving a mass email informing him of his college girlfriend's upcoming nuptials, Pete decides that the best way to impress people at the wedding and to "win" the breakup is to become a famous novelist.

Pete attempts to achieve this in the easiest way possible, he makes lists of all the things that readers tend to go for and aims to cram all of it into the one book. Pete looks at a few of the famous authors that inhabit the alternate universe of this book and tries to replicate their success. He even goes as far to say that the most difficult part of writing the novel was actually just sitting down and putting all the words down, as he is quite lazy. The way that he overcomes his lack of motivation involves his roommate who works in pharmaceuticals.

Through his contacts he is able to get the novel published, although his friend admits that she can no longer tell a book that is actually good apart from a book that is a piece of crap, but she thinks that Pete's novel will do well. Through some good luck and the fact that no press is bad press, the book does achieve success. However, we all know that empty success does not bring happiness so Pete must deal with these ethical dilemmas with pleasant results.

Who among us has not dreamed of writing that bestseller that would allow us to live in a cabin in the woods typing away while our bank accounts grow and grow. This book gives us a comical glimpse into what that might be like and the sad realities that come along with it.

Tackling Under the Dome Again

2010-08-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

So a while back I took Under the Dome out on a 7 day Superloan from the library. I tried to take it on but I think the deadline intimidated me and I only read a pitiful 200 pages in that time. I returned the book, gave up for a while and mostly forgot about it. Then today while out at the grocery store a beautiful sight came upon me. It was a smooth soft new copy of Under the Dome. I snatched one into my arms and gave it an embrace, now you are mine. Budget, what budget, this is important!

Now that I can take my time I am going to enjoy reading it when I have time to read it. I am also working on a couple more books and I am hoping to at least get close to my quota by Halloween. I have a 7 day holiday in Disneyworld coming up so I am sure I will be able to get some quality reading done while I am there. I am also having surgery mid september (nothing serious, and no it is not a boob job) so when recovering for a few days I will also be sure I have a lot of books beside my bed.

I have been working real hard in other areas of my life, I have lost 17 lbs since May 31 and I have been getting lots of exercise in the summer sun. We have had excellent weather here. Today it is raining a lot but it is a nice break after all the sun. It has given me the time to clean the house since I have been outside so much it was neglected.

Check out my other blog if you are interested

Book Twenty Four - Clown Girl

2010-08-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

I decided to read Clowngirl by Monica Drake since I read that it was being made into a movie and the concept seemed interesting so I thought I would check it out. Overall I was underwhelmed. I think that it was built up too high, there is an introduction by Chuck Palahniuk that hypes the book up to the point where it may have been difficult for anything to deserve such praise. The book was a decent read, but I spent most of the book waiting for something interesting to happen.

Clowngirl follows our protagonist Nita or Sniffles as she is referred to in costume. She lives in Baloneytown (names as such as that is all the inhabitants can afford to eat). She has been separated from her lover who is off trying to get into clown college. When we meet her she is put into the hospital for some kind of heart problem or panic attack. She seems to hit a lot of bumps and difficult situations in her life.

In the world that this novel describes clowns are much more prevalent. There are artistic clowns, clowns sans frontiers, corporate clowns and of course clown hookers. There are a great many clown fetishists around. The life of a clown is a difficult one, many consider themselves to be suffering artists.

It will be interesting to see how this book is turned into a movie. The plot is fairly thin as far I am concerned. I guess at heart it is a love story, the age old struggle between the nice guy and the bad boy. But even that part of the story is not entirely fleshed out. Drake is an excellent writer but I was not a huge fan of this book.

Book Twenty Three - Worst Laid Plans

2010-07-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

I am on a roll! Worst Laid Plans is a compilation of stories of sexual misadventures. Most of them are written by people in the entertainment industry as it is based on a comedy show performance. I found it quite entertaining and I enjoyed the fact that all of the stories were concise and to the point. I was very much glad that most of these scenarios did not happen to me, and I was laughing out loud at many points and reading sections aloud to my boyfriend.

All of the tales are separated into sections such as: virginity nightmares, rebound tales and trying to play for the wrong team, just to name a few. There is also a cute little glossary at the end, complete with a crossword to test your knowledge of new words.

I have a feeling that Worst Laid Plans will be a book I recommend to a lot of friends, I may even lend out my copy to a few of them myself. It was a fun quick read and if you want a smile and some cautionary tales, check it out.

Book Twenty Two - I Wanna be Your Joey Ramone

2010-07-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't finished a book in over a month (BAD!) I decided to read another book by Stephanie Kuehnert. I really loved her second novel, "Ballads of Suburbia" and so I ordered hew debut outing, "I Wanna be Your Joey Ramone" a while back from Chapters.

I dove right into this book, it is a tale about a small town girl haunted by the memory of the mother who left her as an infant. Emily Black was raised on music, and was even told that her mother left to follow the music around the country. Eventually Emily forms a band and achieves success, all the while hoping to attract the attention of her long lost mother.

Along the way we learn a lot about these characters, as well as about the father that was the only family that Emily had left. Through the descriptive voice we are transported to rock shows in an abandoned warehouse in the Midwest. As Emily uses performing to cope with her difficult life, we can imagine what it would feel like to be up there with her.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I will now be watching Kuehnert's website for news of a third novel that I will probably read as fast as I did the first two.

Now let's hope that I can finish a few more books off my shelf before too much time passes. I am starting to lose hope that I will finish all 52, but I will do my best dangit!

I Suck

2010-06-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well I have fallen off the reading wagon. I went to the library and took out "Under the Dome" on a 7 day superloan. Sometimes when I take on an ambitious task I feel defeated too fast and give up entirely. Anyhow, I failed at reading that book in 7 days (I only got a couple hundred pages in) but I will try to read it again when it is available on a 3 week loan.

Right now I am reading a book called "Twinkie, Deconstructed" which is about food additives. It is a humorous take on it and I am looking forward to getting more into it. I am working hard on my health so it should be enlightening to read more about additives and give me the strength to continue to avoid them.

I am also almost halfway through a book called "His Illegal Self" which is also quite good. I was reading it before I picked up "Under the Dome" and I got sucked into the Twinkie book so I want to try and read that one first. I should have some quality reading time tomorrow.

Book Twenty One - Snuff

2010-05-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk is about an attempt to set a world gang bang record. It is told from the point of view of 3 of the dicks and the wrangler. As we get to know these characters, secrets are revealed and it was an entertaining read, if only for the references to fake (I assume) porn flicks. Palahniuk had a fun time coming up with porn titles and stories.

Palahniuk is an excellent descriptor, although some of the things described in this book may turn the stomach. I felt like I was right there in that green room with 600 dudes, smells and all. I wasn't fooled by the plot twists in the book, but I was amused just the same to see how they unfolded.

All in all Snuff was a pleasurable read (no pun intended). There are a lot of interesting facts presented in the book, some of which I am very curious about their authenticity. One is that babies are not kicking in the womb but are actually masturbating. True or not, that is some funny shit!

Book Twenty - Delores Claiborne

2010-05-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Stephen King just has a written voice that I can sink into like my favorite pair of jammy pants. I have been reading his books since I was a teenager. So while at the library recently I thought I would treat myself to one of the older books that I hadn't gotten around to reading yet. I picked Delores Claiborne. I am not sure why I hadn't read it before, but I may have seen part of the movie, but I am notorious for falling asleep during movies, so I was able to read the book mainly unaware of what I would find within, although I had no choice but to picture Kathy Bates as Delores.

In this book, the entire narrative is being read by the titular Delores while giving a report to the police. She is accused of murdering her longtime employer and companion, Vera Donovan, and further to that, she has long been the subject of gossip on the small island she inhabits, for the murder of her husband that she passed off as an accident.

She narrates the entire story in this manner, under the guise of telling the police "everything", but it did work for me as a storytelling device. Although she does talk to the people in the room, we are required to understand their replies by what Delores says, which makes things interesting. The confession that she gives covers many aspects of both her life and her family as well as how that tied into her relationship with the wealthy Vera who is a notorious bitch and difficult to work for. It tells how their relationship changed over the years as Vera became more elderly and dependent, but always she remained the bitch. It is understandable why she is being accused of her murder.

This was by far my favorite King book, but it was an enjoyable fast read and I will keep on ticking those last missing King books off of my "to read" list.

Book Nineteen - Tongue, a Novel

2010-05-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Kyung Ran Jo's novel Tongue is a poetic tale about a woman moving on with her life after her long term boyfriend leaves her for another woman. It is different from other similar stories that I have read. The protagonist is not outwardly angry at her former partner for the betrayal. It is almost as if she has something like Asperger's as she cannot seem to understand some social cues and seems only to be able to relate everything to food and doesn't understand that other people do not necessarily feel the same way as she.

After the relationship ends, Ji-won closes down the cooking school that she was running and goes back to work at the Italian restaurant in Korea that she left to open the school. It is understandable that by going back to work she could continue to live her life in a situation that has her feeling lost.

The descriptions of the food and the cooking practices in the restaurant transported me into the world of gourmet cooking in Korea. I felt something a bit magical in Ran Jo's writing and I wonder who did the translation and how they manage to translate books at all without losing the author's original voice. In this case I feel it was accomplished well, although I guess I can't say what it would have been like to read it in Korean.

The character of Ji-won is an unusual one and in the end everything all ties together in a very satisfying manner. There are some odd choices in the book as far as punctuations and random capitalization, but perhaps this is something to do with translation. Overall I would recommend reading this book, although it did make me hungry.

Book Eighteen - The Day I Shot Cupid

2010-04-29T14:30:00.001-07:00

Alright, I don't know what I was thinking reading this book at all, I think it is the train wreck effect. I saw Jennifer Love Hewitt's The Day I Shot Cupid and I couldn't just leave it there at the library (I would not spend money on this kind of crap).

At first the book seemed kind of cute and harmless, and mostly that is what it is. It is kind of like a marshmallow, sweet and comforting at times, but essentially totally empty. I had some thoughts while reading this book and I wrote them down as I went along:

Some of the book is advice directed at dudes, no way they would be reading this.

Are women really this desperate that they look to JLH to help them?

Picking out rings and giving them as suggestiong before he has asked, are you kidding me?

In the back and forth section between her and Jamie Kennedy, she is writing in italics but announces it is her EACH TIME! even though she is busting in almost each paragraph,

She talks about dressing up as Audrey Hepburn on her birthday, I remember seeing pics of that. she is so ridiculous, and seems mostly unaware of it.

Wear a tiara to work out and every night to take a bath, really???

Too many generalizations about people and men, who is she to know all of these things?

First thing on her list of the things that a man should know is how to pick a diamond, fuck you JLH!!!

Anyhow, I had to just had to leave those things out there just as they were as I was reading the book. There are a ton of ridiculous chapters in the book, and JLH spends little time on any one of them, she just flits from one topic to another with very little substance given to any of them. It is scary to think that there are women out there that think like she does, and also that there are women out there that will treat this book like gospel.

Now there are good ideas in there, self esteem, moving on after a breakup with exercise and positive thinking. It is just that there is more in the book about picking out rings and not scaring away a man. I think that just reading this book is enough to scare away a man. Luckily my boyfriend is not too easy to scare, but he also knows that I am not going to bring any of these tips home to bed.

Overall I found Hewitt's written voice to be just as annoying as I find her generally. I did try and give her the benefit of the doubt, even though it doesn't seem so at all here. I was hoping for more substance than I was given so I was left with nothing to talk about than my annoyance with her book. I did feel more empathy with her though, as there were parts where she discussed being ripped apart in the tabloids and the like. But she is just asking to be mocked with this book, and so what else could I do?

Book Seventeen - Always Looking Up

2010-04-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

After watching and loving the documentary of the same name I was very excited to see this book at my local library and I snatched it up on a one week super loan. I found within it something different than I expected, but nonetheless I enjoyed it quite a lot.

The book is divided into four sections, work, politics, faith and family. Michael has a wonderful voice that translates very well onto the written page. Even in the parts of the book that I found a bit on the dry side, Michael could always be counted on for some sort of insight, quip or anecdote to keep my interest.

The book is basically a memoir of the past 10 years or so of his life, mainly since he quit acting full time and what he has done with his life since then. It is a peek into his family life, and a backstage pass into the ins and outs of starting and continuing a non profit foundation. It goes into his stem cell research ventures into politics, and his pride in being a part of the process.

There is just something undeniably likable about Michael J Fox. Perhaps being from the same place as him I always had a strong positive response to him and his films. Upon finding out about his Parkinson's Disease, it was quite upsetting. But now to see where he has taken his life and the optimism that he lives by and inspires in others, well that is something that I can add to my pile of reasons to have hope.

Book Sixteen - Ballads of Suburbia

2010-04-17T20:29:00.001-07:00

Finally a book that I really loved! Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert really resonated with me. When we start out with this book, we find out that our central charachter, Kara, left town after overdosing on heroin in her junior year. She has now cleaned up and is returning to her home town after being away for four years. After the first chapter we head back to the past and we get to meet lots of intriguing people along the way.

Aside from Kara, the book also has little vignettes, or ballads as the book refers to them. One of the kids kept a notebook that people would write their personal stories in, and those are our windows into the other characters secrets.

The kids that we are following are in a suburban neighborhood called Oak Park, near Chicago. Kara and her family move there when she is in second grade. She is shy and has trouble making friends until she meets Stacey who becomes her best friend until 8th grade when she moves away and they mostly drift apart. After she reconnects with her younger brother, she ends up meeting a new girl in town, Maya and the two of them become good friends. Maya introduces Kara to a local park where all the misfit type of kids hang out and there we find the rest of the characters that fill out our story.

This book is heavily influenced by music, in fact the book is arranged like a ballad, with different sections being labelled verse, chorus, etc. There are many well chosen quotes at the start of different sections as well. I am a big music lover, and I grew up at the same time as Kara so it was great for me to be right back there in my own past through this book. Kara and her brother Liam even went to the same Lollapalooza that I did.

This book made me laugh, cry and smile. Knowing where the story was pretty much going to end from the get go was very effective here. There were still a lot to learn about these characters and the resolution of the stories was very satisfying. I am really wanting to read Kuehnert's other book now (I wanna be your Joey Ramone), but sadly my library does not carry it and the local Chapters stores are all sold out of it. Ah well, I will keep my eyes out for it

Book Fifteen - Dearly Devoted Dexter

2010-04-07T13:59:00.001-07:00

I am a pretty big fan of the Showtime series of Dexter and so I went out and read the first book after season 1. It was a satisfying read and when I happened upon part 2 browsing my local library I wondered why I hadn't read this sooner. Dearly Devoted Dexter was different from what I expected, but after the first couple of chapters I was sucked right in.

Jeff Lindsay transitions us very well into the second book, covering the old business for new readers without boring us veterans. I had forgotten details from the first book as well so it was helpful to have a summation at the beginning.

This novel finds Dexter unable to have his release as he is being trailed nonstop by Sgt Doakes, it is very interesting to see how a killer like Dexter handles not being able to do what he needs to do. Dexter once again gets caught up in a legitimate case to work on, but it is very apt how Dexter keeps asking "Why me?". Why should he be solving these crimes, he is a blood spatter specialist and is often asked to go above and beyond.

The book version of Dexter has much more of a sense of humor and he also wears garish patterned shirts. It makes me smile to think of the character that way. I was able to totally separate the two different versions of the character in my head after the first couple of chapters, so kudos to Lindsay for having such a strong voice. The Deb character is my least favorite so I was glad that she does not play too heavily in the book, although when she does, there is little there that changes my opinion of the character.

The book took a long while to get to where we want to see Dexter, murder and mayhem. I guess when writing a series, an author wants to leave you wanting more. I may pick up the next oeuvre, as reading about my favorite killer is a good way to spend an afternoon.

Book Fourteen - Shopgirl

2010-03-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Shopgirl by Steve Martin is about a bored 20 something woman, Mirabelle, who suffers from depression and works at a mind numbing counter job. It centers around her relationships with two men, one is an older wealthy man and one is a younger man who is still trying to find his way in the world. I was not sure what to expect from Martin, but the buzz was all favorable going in so I was pretty sure that I would enjoy the read. However, I found myself distracted wondering about the film version throughout the book.

I waited to watch the movie unitl after I had read the book, I am still on the fence about which order is best in these circumstances. I think that no matter what you do, it can ruin both the movie and the book. I watched the movie right after finishing the book and I was irritated by minor changes (why change that, it makes no difference) and major changes that I think could have been handled fine within the movie with a bit of effort.

However, this is a review of the book. I really enjoyed Martin's writing tone throughout and I liked the way he addressed communication gaps in relationships. It is very apt that one party can make their needs an limitations very clear, and the other party hears what they want to hear.

Martin has very good insights into realtionships and how things work. At one point he mentions that the Ray, the older boyfriend, is just passing time with Mirabelle and is waiting for the right one to come along. I have seen this happen first hand to friends of mine.

Overall I really loved this book, and I would enjoy reading more of Martin's writing in the future.

Book Thirteen - Last Seen Leaving

2010-03-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last Seen Leaving by Kelly Braffet was quite an enjoyable read. It is a story of a mother searching for her "missing" daughter. In reality the daughter is just a bit of a vagabond, always searching for something different. This is revealed to us right from the start, and the novel is told from both of their perspectives, interspersed with flashbacks to their past.

The past story deals with the father in their family. He was a pilot working for some kind of dodgy government company. He was reported to be dead when the daughter was 8 years old and the mother never recovered from it. She moved across the country and became a new age type. She tried to get answers about her husband's death from the company but they were not forthcoming and so she dealt with things the best way that she could, but the daughter was not really considered properly in her grief.

The two became more and more distant over the years, and after the daughter moves out of the house she often does not return the mother's calls. However, when the daughter moves, she always sends her mother a postcard to let her know of her whereabouts. When we meet them in the beginning of the novel, the daughter has taken off with a stranger that she meets after a car accident, and the mother is trying to reach her daughter and fails to do so.

The mother then goes back across the country to the city that they lived in when the father was still alive. She searches for her daughter, thinking that she has been killed, talking to her friends, coworkers and police. Most of them think that it is not that unusual for her to be missing as she seems to move on quite a lot.

I thought that having the novel being read from both perspectives was a good way of making the story interesting and the author executed it well. You are left wondering if something bad is in fact going to befall the daughter at some point. There is lots revealed within the book and I was only mildly unsatisfied with the ending. But I am difficult to please with endings. This book really sucked me in, I didn't want to put it down and I even would read as I walked around cooking dinner. I would definitely recommend it.

Book Twelve - Lost Girls and Love Hotels

2010-03-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know exactly what I was expecting with this novel, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found within this book. Lost Girls and Love Hotels by Catherine Hanraham was a great book for me and the pages just flew by. I had a great time reading it today. It rekindled my younger self's Japanophilia. Growing up, my mother taught English to Japanese exchange students and I was always fascinated by all things Japanese.

Lost Girls and Love Hotels gives us a glimpse into the life of Margaret, a young woman living in Japan, interspersed with vignettes of various times in her young adulthood back in Canada. Margaret is an English coach at a flight attendant school, and in her spare time she is a bit of a lush and so forth. At one point she meets a Japanese gangster type and they begin a relationship, meeting mostly in love hotels. I had never heard of these before, but the book's description of them is quite interesting. All the theme rooms that you could want, charged by the hour or for the night, or for rest or for stay.

I very much enjoyed the window into the life of a young Canadian woman living in Japan. How tempting it is for us all to think of just leaving it all behind to be anonymous in another part of the world. When asked, Margaret said that she came to Japan to be alone, her counterpart was surprised to hear that such a populated place would be somewhere that she felt alone.

The vignettes into the past are mainly her dealing with various traumatic events, and the descent of her brother into an unnamed mental illness. They were an appropriate length, so as not to take away from the main story, and yet were detailed enough to let us get to know the protagonist better.

It was a great diversion for the day, and the book rekindled my desire to visit Japan. And now that I am older, I have yet another place I want to visit when I go there. Now all I have to worry about is which room to choose (and about the cleaning procedures).

Book Eleven - Joyland

2010-03-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Joyland By Emily Schultz, with illustrations by Nate Powell is a coming of age type novel, set in the end of the arcade days of the 80s. The titular "Joyland" is an arcade in a small Ontario town, the type where teens spend many a day trying to beat high scores, or just to flirt and waste away some time in a town with not a lot else going on.

At the beginning of the novel, Joyland closes down and we follow the aftermath throughout the summer for our two protagonists, identified within the chapters as player one and player two. Player one is the older brother 14 year old Chris, with player two being the younger sister 11 year old Tammy. Having two narrators can be confusing, but the separation into two "players" is both helpful to the reader and clever within the framework of the novel. The chapters are also named after different video games, which is also a nice touch.

There is not a lot in major plot until quite near the end, and I almost wish that the author had left it that way. Schultz is an excellent descriptor, she has a real way with words, and I would have been happy just to have a look into this world, where nothing of note really happens. I think that this novel could just be about growing up and not have to have some kind of big third act tragedy. Said tragedy seemed tacked on towards the end, maybe Schultz was not confident enough to just leave it as it was.

Overall, Joyland was a good novel. I would recommend it for just the descriptive writing alone. It is a good take on a coming of age tale and I enjoyed reading it.

Book Ten - Impossible Motherhood

2010-03-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

I found this book at the library and had to pick it up, it fascinated me that someone would publicly admit to having 15 abortions in 17 years and I wondered how they could possibly sway me to empathize with them.

Impossible Motherhood by Irene Vilar is a biography of sorts, but mainly deals with her "addiction" to abortions. Personally I have not been through that experience myself, but at a certain age I often found myself often being worried about being pregnant and what I would do should that happen. I am pro-choice and I consider myself to be fairly open minded so I tried to understand why someone would undergo this again and again.

It is rather disturbing to think that someone could continually become pregnant as a means of exercising control over their life and body. More disturbing is that she did view the fetuses as possible children, even going as far as putting clothing on layaway for them. She has reasons aplenty for her behavior, but in my opinion they are really not good enough.

Having said all of this, Vilar is a very talented writer and the book was a smooth read. The other parts of her life are easier for me to empathize with, her mother committed suicide when Vilar was 8 years old, she left home at a young age as well and again left for college at 15 years old only to be preyed upon by an older professor that she later married and whom she allowed to control many aspects of her life.

It is easy to sit from afar and judge someone as we have not lived their life. However, it is difficult not to be appalled at her experiences. She is now a mother and admits in the book that she considered a late term abortion for her first daughter, even going as far as describing photos that she has hanging up and that the ultrasound was taken at a point where she could have aborted her daughter. Imagine the grown up daughter someday reading this.

I think that this book is a form of therapy for Vilar, and a cautionary tale for women finding themselves in a similar situation. I came out of it with respect for Vilar as a writer, but an extreme contempt for her as a person. She seems to be to be selfish to the extreme. She describes, late in the book, caring for her dying dog. She seems to think that caring for this animal at the end of her life, is some kind of redemption. But seeing as I have worked as a veterinary assistant, I know that all she did was cause extreme suffering and pain to her animal, and has again been extremely selfish and cannot see past her own needs. Even after her daughter is born, she is more concerned with the separation anxiety than being pleased with the growth and development of her child.

Like it or hate it, this book did inspire a lot of emotion in me. Vilar is a powerful writer and I would enjoy reading more of her writing. I didn't expect to be on her side and that is how I felt after reading it. I have never read a book where I hated the protagonist as much as I did here, biography or not. I would recommend reading it, but only if you can handle feeling quite a bit of emotion, as it will be sure to provoke a lot.

Book Nine - I, Lucifer

2010-02-28T21:40:00.000-08:00

I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan started off as a very humorous and well written novel but lost its way somewhat towards the end in my opinion. The premise is that the devil is offered a deal wherein he is to spend 30 days in the body of a human, at the end of the month he is given a choice; to live out the human life and if he doesn't sin too badly, then he can be admitted to heaven, the alternative is to return to hell.

I very much enjoyed the description of what a fallen angel would think of the human experience. The sights, the textures, the temptation to just let one's trousers hang to expose the flesh to the cool breeze and so forth. It is also amusing to hear how he spends his time, all the pleasures that one could dream up, drugs, sex, food, booze. Lucifer, in his human form is even writing a movie about his side of the story of how it all went down with the big guy upstairs. Also he is writing the book that is being read.

It is very clever and tongue in cheek, and there are parts of this that I greatly enjoyed. However, towards the end it got to be a bit nonsensical. Perhaps this was intentional, and meant to represent Lucifer's declining hold on reality, but I found it tedious. There were minor errors in grammar and loose parentheses as well, but it was not glaring enough to be intentional necessarily and to me just felt awkward and distracting.

Overall it was entertaining but towards the end I just wanted it over and done with, had I not been doing this challenge, I may not have finished reading it at all.

Book Eight - The Anger Solution

2010-02-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

I have never really thought of myself as an angry person, but after reading "The Anger Solution: The Proven Method for Achieving Calm and Developing Healthy, Long-Lasting Relationships" by John Lee, I am starting to recognize patterns of behaviour in myself that I have missed in the past.

I have not read any self help books before, but I do consider personal growth to be very important and I am continuously looking to further my understanding of myself. I think that some may look too much into books like these and look at them as the only way to maintain relationships.

The anger solution has some good suggestions, and it helps point out behaviours in yourself and those around you and gives you communication tools to improve your angry feelings before they turn into rage and get out of hand. This book also addresses setting healthy boundaries and limits, which is something that I need to work on.

I was married to someone who would rage at least once a week, I did everything I could to try and help him, but now I have learned that helping can sometimes be just as bad, especially if in helping someone else, you are failing to look inward and work on your own issues.

A lot of the book is about regression, and how when someone is "raging" they are most often not even raging directly at you, they are stuck in the past, stuck as their former self. This is helpful for me, and it also makes you think of times where that has happened in my personal experience. The book also gives methods to get out of these regressions and in doing so, helps to prevent them from occurring as often.

I will take some of what I have read in this book and apply it to my current life and hopefully it will help me on my everlasting journey to myself.

Book Seven - Heavier Than Heaven

2010-02-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

As a music lover of a certain age, I was indelibly affected by the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994. I was 16 at the time and I remember being very distraught and wounded. The years have gave me some perspective on the situation, but it is still a time that I vividly remember and even listening to recordings of radio coverage and tributes that were played at the time can take me right back there. Reading certain passages of the book moved me to tears, reading that Courtney Love was pregnant and how excited they both were and knowing how it all turned out. Reading about the public memorial and remembering watching the coverage on TV back when it all happened, and how it made us all feel united in our mourning for this rock idol.

At the time, we all put Cobain on a pedestal, I was and still am so moved by his music, that it is difficult to imagine Kurt as just a man. After reading Cross' book, it is easier to picture this man, and he was a very flawed individual indeed. He chose to hide behind drugs, even after Love became pregnant, even though it lead her into temptaion during that critical time in her life. He did nothing but complain about the fame that he worked so hard to achieve, almost instantly after he attained it. Yet he was very conflicted and wanted even more fame, and made choices to make this happen.

Now that I am older, and also a mother, it breaks my heart that someone would take their life and leave their child to someone as unstable as Love. As a teenager, I also felt personally betrayed, as I am sure many did. Who among us has not suffered as a child, having read what Cobain went through, I could personally claim that my childhood trauma was even worse than his. Suicide is such a desperate act, it is very sad that he felt that his daughter would be better off without him, that the world would be better without him.

The most surprising thing about this book for me was that it made me support Courtney Love more than I have previously. I have not seen the documentary "Kurt and Courtney" yet, but I have plans to do so after writing this review. I have, in the past, read some of the conspiracy theories and I must admit that at the time of Kurt's death I thought that it seemed that she was using her position as rock widow to further her career. Love is certainly a very troubled individual to put it mildly, but this book did paint her in a very flattering light. That may have been necessary to obtain certain inside information. It has prompted me to want to do more research into the subject before fully forming my opinion on the situation.

All in all, Heavier than Heaven is a book that I recommend to music lovers and children of the 90s. I now see that Kurt was just a man, just another screwed up individual that made some amazing music, art and also made a lot of bad choices. He has an amazing daughter and hopefully she will prevail and lead a better existence than both her parents.

Getting Back in the Groove of It

2010-02-03T09:59:00.001-08:00

Well I haven't been reading very much as of late, but that is about to change. I finished my math course and I got my A, and then I took a much deserved break from it all. But now my lazy time is over and I am ready to get back on track. I almost finished reading I, Lucifer and it is a good read, but I had to take it back to the library so I will have to check it out again once I get a few others off my list completed.

Heavier Than Heaven is coming along, I had planned to finish reading it today as I should have a little bit of free time, however I could not find it anywhere this morning. I looked all over, and I was just reading it last night, so it must have grown legs and wandered off.

But I have a good one to read and I think that I should be able to read the whole thing today, it is my challenge, let's see how I make out shall we?

Book Six - The Big Love

2010-01-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

The Big Love by Sarah Dunn was another filler book, just a girl loses boy blah blah blah. I read it in a day, and now I am trying to remember enough about it to write an effective review and I am mostly drawing a blank. Dunn is a pleasant writer, and has a good sense of humor, but this book added little to my overfilled brain.

So I will keep it short: this book would be a good beach read (I know that it is January!) or something for a boredom filled rainy day.

The book I am reading now (I, Ludifer)is really good, I will write a better review for that one, and then after that I will finish reading Heavier than Heaven, and I am sure to have some interesting stuff to say about that one. Stay tuned!