Complete and Utter Poppycock

Walking Through Walls Review

2012-02-13T20:22:00.002-05:00

(from the bookjacket)

After a full dayof creating beautiful interiors for the rich and famous, Lew Smith would comehome, take off his tie, and get down to his real work as a physic healer whomiraculously cured thousands of people. For his son, Philip, watching hisfather transform himself, at a moment’s notice, from gracious society decoratorinto a healer with supernatural powers was a bit like living with Clark Kentand Superman.

Walking ThroughWalls is Philip Smith’s astonishing memoir of growing up in a household whereséances, talking spirits, and exorcisms were daily occurrences, andinexplicable psychic healing resulted in visitors suddenly discarding theircrutches and wheelchairs or being cured of fatal diseases.

While there arebenefits to having a miracle man in the house, Philip soon discovers thedownside of living with a father who psychically knows everything he isdoing. Surrounded by invisible spirits who tend to behave like naggingrelatives, Philip looks for ways to escape his mystical home life – includingforays into sex, surfing, and even Scientology.

By turnshilarious and profound, Walking Through Walls recounts Philip Smith’s oftenbizarre but always magical coming of age in a household that felt like a crossbetween Lourdesand the set of Rosemary’s Baby, and shows how he managed to map out his ownidentity in the shadow of a father who, truly, loomed larger than life itself.

I like thematter-of-fact tone that Smith uses in writing his story. He is nottrying to defend anything or trying to convince you of anything. He isnot trying to push anything on you. Heis just telling his story. His story just happens to include physichealers who can heal over the telephone. Whether you believe it is up toyou. And Smith does have an interesting story. Growing up with adesigner father who invented the bead curtain and also happens to be a physichealer (his mother seemed a bit unusual too) gives him a unique perspective onthings. He ends up leading a double life as he tries to be ‘normal’ atschool and then comes home to people queued up to be healed by hisfather. Sometimes, though, I do think the story becomes more of abiography of his father than a memoir of his own life and there are a lot ofanecdotes about who his father knew and all the things his father did. Smith also explains terms like ‘akashic records’ and talks about the differentways that his father worked and different techniques that he used. Someof which was interesting because I know next to nothing about such things butat times he describes things in such detail and at such length (a whole page ofyes/no questions he asks to locate a tumor for example) that it becomes tediousand then boring. Whether you believe in physic healing or dispersing cloudswith your mind or not, Smith still tells an interesting story about an unusuallife. His father was, of course, the important influence in his life andwe needed to know about him but I was more interested in the parts of the storythat focused on Philip himself instead of his father. The parts thatdealt with how he was affected by, and learned to live with and come to termswith his father’s celebrity and unusual vocation that sometimes made his lifedifficult.

Ranchero Review

2012-02-12T00:29:00.000-05:00

Ranchero by Rick Gavin

(from the book jacket)

Repo man Nick Reid had a seemingly simple job to do: Talk toPercy Dwayne Dubois – pronounced “Dew-boys,” front-loaded and hick specific –about the payments he’s behind on for a flat-screen TV, or repossess it. Yet Percy Dwayne wouldn’t give in. Nope, instead he saw fit to go allwhite-trash philosophical and decided that since the world was stacked againsthim anyway, he might as well fight it. He Hit Nick over the head with a fireplace shovel, tied him up with alength of lamp cord, and stole the mint-condition, calypso, coral-colored 1969Ranchero that Nick had borrowed from his landlady – and he took the TV with himon a rowdy ride across the Mississippi Delta.

Nick and his best friend, Desmond, fellow repo man inIndianola, Mississippi, have no choice but to go after him. The fact that the trail eventually leads toGuy, a meth cooker recently set up in the Delta after the Feds ran him out ofNew Orleans, is of no consequence. Nickwill do anything to get the Ranchero back – and it turns out he might have to.

This book is fun to read. It travels all around Mississippi (mostly from Sonic to Sonic) and goesfrom a simple TV repo job to car theft to kidnapping to an all-out war with ameth dealer. And it does it with a senseof humor and is told by a narrator who knows how to turn a phrase. But it is not all that long on plot. There is a story here that you can followfrom beginning to end. It’s not that itdoesn’t have a discernible story line; it’s just that sometimes it felt likethe story line was just a convenient way to introduce us to all the charactersthe author wanted us to meet. Are someof the characters slightly clichéd and lacking in depth? To some degree, yes. But are the characters interesting? I think so, yes. And well worth the time you invest in thisbook to meet them all. There’s a lot ofaction and the story moves quickly from one crazy situation to the next whichsets a good pace and makes for a quick read. I think it is the kind of book that is best enjoyed if you don’t thinktoo much about it. You shouldn’t worryabout where it is all going, don’t try to discern great meaning or figure outsome mystery. Just sit back and enjoythe ride.

Theme Thursday - HEAR

2012-02-09T21:24:00.004-05:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading BetweenPages.

Anyone can participate in it.

The rules are simple:

•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is –HEAR (listen, anything else you can come up with the ear’s action)

Her voice was sour as ripe lemons. I heard her drop an Alka-Seltzer into a glass of liquid.

- Storm Front by Jim Butcher

WWW Wednesdays (Feb 8th)

2012-02-08T23:49:00.001-05:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Innocent by Harlan Coben

A whole lot of secrets and deceit and I have no idea how it will all turn out.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I thought I’d give the Dresden Files a try. So far I’m liking it

What did you recently finish reading?

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

A young adult book that tells the ‘true’ story of Alice in Wonderland.

Role of Honor by John Gardner

James Bond. He beats the bad guys and gets the girl.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I received a review copy of The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye that I think I’ll get started on. It takes place during the potato famine when and the NYPD is just being formed.

Bookin' With Bingo Giveaways

2012-02-05T19:16:00.003-05:00

Bookin' With Bingo has a bunch of giveaways going on.

For If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton go here. Ends February 15th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

For The Summer Garden by Sherryl Woods go here. Ends February 17th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

For Cake on a Hot Tin Roof by Jacklyn Brady go here. Ends February 17th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

For the audio book Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson go here. Ends February 19th. Open to the US and Canada, no PO boxes.

For Ali in Wonderland by Ali Wentworth go here. Ends February 19th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

For Gourmet Gifts by Dinah Corley go here. Ends February 19th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

Bingo always has wonderful and plentiful giveaways. Check out the list here. And keep going back. New ones are added all the time.

Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Reading Challenge

2012-02-04T19:42:00.001-05:00

My Book Retreat is hosting the Non-Fiction Non-Memoir reading challenge.

I'm going to go for the Bachelor's Degree level which is 15 books.

If that is too much or not enough for you there are other levels to choose from. Check them out along with the rest of the rules at My Book Retreat.

And remember NO MEMOIRS!

1. Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman

Books in 2012

2012-02-04T19:11:00.002-05:00

I hope to read at least 100 books this year. Let's see if it works out.

1. We, the Accused by Ernest Raymond

2. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

3. Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman

4. Back to the Stone Age by Edgar Rice Burroughs

5. Ranchero by Rick Gavin

6. Hero by Mike Lupica

7. Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston

8. The Dragon Scroll by I. J. Parker

9. Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them by John Silverwood

10. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

11. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

12. Role of Honor by John Gardner

Eclectic Reader Challenge

2012-02-04T18:54:00.002-05:00

Eclectic Reader is running a challenge this year designed to push readers out of their comfort zone. You have all of 2012 to read and review a book from 12 different genres.

Genres

1. Literary Fiction

2. Crime/Mystery Fiction

3. Romantic Fiction

4. Historical Fiction

5. Young Adult

6. Fantasy

7. Science Fiction

8. Non Fiction

9. Horror

10. Thriller/Suspense

11. Classic

12. Your Favorite Genre

I don't know the titles I'll be reading so I'll fill them in as I go along. Along with the 12th genre. Since my favorite genre is on the list already would it count if I read to from the same genre?

Well, I'll figure it out. If it sounds like something you'd be interested in trying so should pop on over to Eclectic Reader and read the rest of the rules.

The King of Kong Review

2012-01-30T22:02:00.001-05:00

The King of Kong

With Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe

This is a documentary about the world of competitive videogaming. It focuses on two men and theirquest to be the best Donkey Kong player of all time.

I have to admit that I don’t understand what makes thesepeople so driven to conquer this game and go down in the history books forbeing so great at it. It was casualcuriosity that made me watch this. I wassurprised by how interested I became. Billy Mitchell is the reigning Donkey Kong champion, and classic videogame legend, and Steve Wiebe has been chasing the record. You may not understand the obsession but youfind yourself enthralled in the drama and rooting for these guys (well, one ofthem anyway). As the documentary goesalong there develops a good guy and a bad guy. There is the drama of the taint of cheating and the possibility ofconspiracies and the emotions of a lifetime of striving and falling just shortso many times. There is a cast of quirkysupporting characters on one side or the other, some conflicted and some justinterested observers but all woven into the surprisingly complex and intenseworld of competitive gaming.

Win The Way We Fall

2012-01-28T12:32:00.000-05:00

Luxury Reading is giving away a copy of The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe.

The winner will also get a Minimergency Kit.

All you have to do to enter is comment on her post with your email address.

There are extra entries to be had for following, sharing, and entering other contests so make sure you read how and leave a new post for each entry.

Open until February 6th. Open to the US and Canada.

Theme Thursday - Very

2012-01-26T21:41:00.000-05:00

All you have to dois find the word ‘very’.

She is very prettyand has a natural charisma that has always filled the space around her.

- - Black Wave by John and Jean Silverwood

Win Anew by Chelsea Fine

2012-01-26T21:27:00.001-05:00

Popcorn Reads is giving away 2 autographed copied of Anew by Chelsea Fine. It is the first book in the Archers of Avalon series.

The deadline to enter is February 4th at 11:59 PM EST.

It is open to US mailing addresses only.

You must be at least 13 to enter.

Make sure you read the directions on how to use the Rafflecopter form. If you do not fill out the Rafflecopter form you will not be entered.

Good luck.

Sex on the Moon Review

2011-12-31T16:15:00.001-05:00

Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich

(from the back of the book)

Thad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA program, had anidea – a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally.

Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice,both NASA fellows, to break into an impenetrable laboratory at NASA – pastsecurity checkpoints, an electronically locked door with cipher security codes,and camera-lined hallways – and help him steal the most precious objects in theworld: the moon rocks.

But what does one do with items so valuable that they’reillegal even to own? And was ThadRoberts – undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientificposts imaginable, a possible astronaut – really what he seemed?

Based on meticulous research into thousands of pages ofcourt records, FBI transcripts, NASA documents, and interviews with most of theparticipants in the crime, Mezrich – with his signature high-velocity swagger –has reconstructed the madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity, all centered around a heistthat reads like a Hollywood thrill ride.

It’s an interesting story but…I was left a littlepuzzled. Not about how they pulled offthe heist. But about Thad Roberts. I wanted to like this guy, but I didn’t. And if I couldn’t like him I wanted to atleast understand him, but I didn’t. Hisbackstory about his hard life growing up and how he overcame everything to geta job at NASA was inspiring but made what he did even harder for me to understand. His motives remain murky. The book did try to explain them but I wasleft at a loss as to how he made the jump from dedicated employee to thief. I don’t know if you were supposed to feelsorry for Thad or not. But I was left unmoved. I wanted him to get caught for thinking hecould get away with it, for throwing away all that he had worked for and that otherpeople would die to have, for not thinking about who would be hurt by hisactions. I found the idea of the crime interestingand it does read like a crime thriller. Itmanages to have a certain sense of suspense even though you know what is goingto happen. I also liked that you got aninside look at NASA to some extent. ButI found myself frustrated at the characters here so at times reading this bookwas almost aggravating. I wanted toshout at these people and often found myself more interested in the secondarycharacters than I was in Thad. I likeMezrich’s writing, I just wish I liked the story better. But this being non-fiction I really can’tblame Mezrich for the actions of the characters. It reads quickly and is interesting in partsso it is worth reading if you are interested in true crime stories but I don’tthink it is something that will stick with you too long after you finishreading the book.

Theme Thursday - Rhymes

2011-10-20T14:01:00.002-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.

The rules are simple:

•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – RHYMES (Pick 2 snippets that have rhyming words i.e if one sentence has RAIN the other should have CHAIN or VAIN or SPAIN etc.)

Of all the people I knew, which wasn’t very many when you got right down to it, the one I figured I could most likely barge in on at four o’clock on a Wednesday morning was Artie Dexter.

I should have been asleep hours ago.

- The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald Westlake

I guess sleep is secondary when you are running for your life. Although there are times I think I might rather be shot than miss my sleep.

WWW Wednesdays (October 5th)

2011-10-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

What are you currently reading?

Star Guard by Andre Norton

Humans are the mercenaries of the universe. It doesn’t seem all that noble but at leastit looks like we’re good at it.

What did you recently finish reading?

Monday the Rabbi Took Off by Harry Kemelman

Less about the mystery than it is about the people. There are a lot of words in what I assume arein Hebrew and they talk about ceremonies and parts of the Jewish faith that Iam unfamiliar with but that is part of the reason I like it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m thinking of reading either The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti orThe Turnaround by George Pelecanos. Noparticular reason, they have just both been on my shelf for a while now and Ithinking I should get to them.

Books I Finished in August and September

2011-10-03T21:53:00.001-04:00

Well, my reading is picking up a little but it still isn’tup to where is usually is. Maybe this isthe month.

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

I’d heard so much about this trilogy that I was expecting tolike them more than I did. It wasinteresting but I was underwhelmed.

Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne DouglasBarlowe

A little introduction to various aliens from sciencefiction. Fun.

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Second in the trilogy. Much more blatant with the religious allegory than the first one.

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

Third in the trilogy. More of the same.

Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich

An interesting story of true crime. You kind of know what is going to happen fromthe beginning but there is still some suspense. I must admit that I was glad he got caught. (I’m not giving anything away there. You know he does from the very beginning.)

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen

It will take you back in time. But pay attention. There is a lot going on here. Plots and subplots and lots of people. I really liked it though.

The Time Keeper by Barbara Bartholomew

First in a trilogy. Afast read that has some, by now, worn thin plot devices like the angst riddenteenager who doesn’t like her stepmother and it is a little dated. But it is still a nice little science fictionadventure.

Dragonbreath: Lair of the Bat Monster by Ursula Vernon

As I’ve said before I like these books. The stories are quirky and witty and fun andthe illustrations are cute.

Child of Tomorrow by Barbara Bartholomew

Second in the Time Keeper trilogy. Much like the first.

When Dreamers Cease to Dream by Barbara Bartholomew

Third in the Time Keeper trilogy. Much like the first two. You do have to read them in order but theyare short so it won’t take you long.

The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Stone Tevis

So much better than the movie. It is a rather sad story but I liked itenough to look for more of Tevis’ books.

Forbidden Planet Review

2011-09-25T23:11:00.000-04:00

Forbidden Planet

With Walter Pidgeonand Leslie Nielsen

A spaceship is sentout to find out what happen to a colony that was sent out 20 yearsearlier. What they find is a planetempty of everyone but two survivors and a the deadly answer to the question ofwhat happen to the colony and the long dead civilization of the planet.

I thought this movietook a while to get started. It is just a little bit slow in the beginning butpicks up later. Watching it now there is nothing mind blowingly new but it isstill fun to watch. The special effects are good enough and they didn't try togo over the top with them so even now nothing looks incredibly cheesy andlaughable like so many other classic sci-fi movies. The story is pretty goodand it is interesting to recognize so much of the cast. Some of the dialogueand acting is a little stilted and honestly just bad but the movie as a wholeis suspenseful and entertaining. Definitely worth a look.

Theme Thursday - Sound/Music

2011-09-22T21:07:00.001-04:00

Blood Oath & Outlaw Vocab

2011-09-18T20:13:00.001-04:00

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Madrassa: a Muslim school, college, or university that is often part of a mosque

Abreaction: the expression and emotional discharge of unconscious material (as a repressed idea or emotion) by verbalization especially in the presence of a therapist

Creatine: a white crystalline nitrogenous substance C4H9N3O2 found especially in the muscles of vertebrates either free or as phosphocreatine; also : a synthetic usually hydrated form of creatine taken especially as a dietary supplement

Atavism: recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination

Abattoir: slaughterhouse

Outlaw by Angus Donald

Justiciar: the chief political and judicial officer of the Norman and later kings of England until the 13th century

Weasand: throat; gullet

Reive: raid

Vinous: of, relating to, or made with wine

Conroi: A small group of knights who competed in tournaments together from the 12th and 13th centuries

Gralloch: the entrails of a deer

Shrieval: of or relating to a sheriff

The Friday 56 - The Disappearing Spoon

2011-09-16T19:31:00.001-04:00

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is The Disappearing Spoon: and other tales of madness, love and the history of the world from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean.

Mendeleev might as well have predicted cheese on Mars before Lecoq de Boisbaudran found evidence for his table in gallium.

Mendeleev did a lot of early work on putting the Periodic Table together and predicted what some the elements that hadn’t been discovered would look like. Which was just a nice story until someone actually found one.

Theme Thursday - Feeling

2011-09-15T16:51:00.000-04:00

WWW Wednesdays (September 14th)

2011-09-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Child of Tomorrow by Barbara Bartholomew
Second of The Time Keeper trilogy. I read these when I was a kid. I’m sure they seemed more exciting to me then. They aren’t bad. They could be a good way to take a break from heavier reading. I just wouldn’t call them great.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Stories from the periodic table. I haven’t gotten very far yet but I like stories about science and these seem like I will even be able to understand them.

What did you recently finish reading?

Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich
Spurred on by his love of a beautiful girl Thad Roberts decides to steal moon rocks from NASA. It’s an interesting story but I have to say that if a guy wants to impress me an illegal act is not the way to do it.

The Time Keeper by Barbara Bartholomew

What do you think you’ll read next?

When Dreamers Cease to Dream by Barbara Bartholomew
The third in the trilogy so I might as well finish it up.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Review

2011-09-14T11:46:00.001-04:00

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

(from the book jacket)
A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine’s children were more than just peculiar. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive.

This book starts out like it is going to be a sort of coming of age tale. And in some ways it remains one. But it also spins off and becomes much more. It has little pieces of adventure, romance, mystery, fantasy, and even a little historical fiction. So I’m unsure how to characterize this book. Time travel would be science fiction, but it isn’t really, monsters would be fantasy, but I wouldn’t call it that either. There isn’t one genre I could put on it but the mix works well. The characters are fun and interesting. There is one that seems slightly out of place to me. It wasn’t anything glaring or obtrusive to the story but he was unnecessary in a way the others were not. I like how the photos are woven in and become an integral part of the story. The photos by themselves are interesting too and it’s cool that they were not made for the book but are actual antique photographs. They make for a visual appealing book as well as a good story. There is action and danger but there is also good character development and personal growth in the main character and it makes for a nice pace throughout the book. There are a lot of interesting ideas in what makes the kids ‘peculiar’ and where the bad guys have come from that make it differ even more from other books that I’ve read than the photos already had. So even though there are some elements that have been done in many stories before it isn’t old. It is an entertaining story but if you are like me and are tired of all the young adult books coming in trilogies or series and are dying for a book that actually ends on the last page you might want to give this one a pass. The end definitely bodes of more to come.

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs Review

2011-08-28T17:04:00.001-04:00

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon

(from the back of the book)
Danny Dragonbreath finds school rather dull. But when ninja frogs try to kidnap the new foreign exchange student and claim she's their rightful ninja queen, things get a bit more interesting. As Danny wisely says, "We have a ninja problem!" Luckily, Danny has seen a whole lot of kung fu movies and is ready for anything. Well, almost.

Like the first Dragonbreath book this one is a mix of novel and graphic novel. The graphics are cute and expressive. You don’t have to read the first one but there are references to the first book in this one that are more fun if you know what they mean. I also like the continuity between this one and the first one. Not just the same characters but that both start with Danny’s fantasy, that there is a magic bus system that goes anywhere you need it to go (even mythical Japan), and that Danny has a relative for every occasion. The banter between Danny and his friend Wendell is fun and there is a lot of humor. This one might be even better than the first one because there is a bit more of a plot and I think there is also more action. And as cool as sea serpents are ninjas and samurai are hard to compete with. Reincarnation is mentioned and that might take some explanation but it is kind of mentioned and put aside so it might pass without notice by the reader. Once again it is a quick, fun, entertaining read and you might just learn a thing or two about ninjas.

The Friday 56, Before Versailles

2011-08-26T22:22:00.001-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is Before Versailles by Karleen Koen. It’s a good book. Which makes me wonder why I can’t seem to get anywhere with it. I’m going to finish though. I’m determined.

Guy bowed, and there was a chorus of giggles from the maids of honor, even a low laugh from the dreaded Catherine.

Theme Thursday -- Trees

2011-08-25T13:33:00.001-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – TREES (Plants/Greenery)

This week I didn’t have any trouble finding something to fit the theme. The problem was deciding which part to use. It is a long conversation and I couldn’t put the whole thing here so I had to pick just a piece.

“Why one or two? At present, I allow, we must have forests, for the atmosphere. Presently we find a chemical substitute. And then, why any natural trees? I foresee nothing but the art tree all over the earth. In fact, we clean the planet.”

“Do you mean,” put in a man called Gould, “that we are to have no vegetation at all?”

“Exactly. You shave your face: even in the English fashion, you shave him every day. One day we shave the planet.”

“I wonder what the birds will make of it?”

-- That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

Theme Thursday -- Recreation

2011-08-18T23:40:00.002-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – RECREATION (Any spot that you would go for a break – Parks, resorts, even a library)

I had some trouble with this one. I had to browse through a couple of books just to find something I thought might fit. And it is not a perfect fit but I’m going to post it anyway. The guy is in a park. Fenway in Boston to be exact.

Locusts still proclaimed the day to be as it really was; dozing leaves drooped like limp Dali watches; iridescent dragonflies hovered effortlessly in the torpid air; dust kicked up by the kids settled back slowly and directly to its origin.

-- No Place for Gods by Gerald W. Mills

No Place For Gods Review

2011-08-13T22:08:00.002-04:00

No Place for Gods by Gerald W. Mills
(Aka Then is the Power)

All technology in Las Vegas has been destroyed and the city is in chaos. The president of the United States is at a loss as to the cause until he is told Russia is responsible and if he does not agree to the annexation America there will be more cities destroyed.

It’s an interesting concept. All of the United States is held hostage by the threat of some unknown, unstoppable power. Mills does a good job of showing the president’s difficult situation as he is under the pressure of a deadline and he must make unpopular decisions and rely on unusual ideas to try to come up with a solution to an impossible problem. There is a real sense of suspense here. There are some interesting characters, some romance, some action, and intrigue which make it a compelling story. It is a very busy plot though. There are a myriad of groups running around here and sometimes it is hard to remember where all the individual characters belong. As everything and everyone starts to come together and names get thrown out I got a little confused about whose side everyone was on. The hero of the piece is not exactly warm but he is likeable enough and you can root for him as tries to do the right thing but still fights for his right to live his own life and to not become a victim of either side. I like the story and enjoyed how most of the plot strings concluded, especially since some of them were unexpected. It is an entertaining read but I think sometimes there was just a little too much going on with too many people involved and it could become muddled.

I want to thank Gerald Mills for providing a free copy for review.

The Friday 56 (August 11th)

2011-08-12T14:13:00.002-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. It’s the third in his trilogy. So far I’m left a little underwhelmed. From all I’ve heard about them I expected to be more impressed than I am. And I’m afraid that page 56 is not very interesting.

He was a bustling sort of man who was eating quickly and talking at the same time to his neighbor on the other side.

Theme Thursday -- Pathways

2011-08-11T13:17:00.001-04:00

WWW Wednesday (August 10th)

2011-08-10T23:41:00.003-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
Second in a trilogy. And I’m still not sure how I feel about them. Maybe I can figure it out by the third book.

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen
I really like it so far. Unfortunately I started reading it right before I went into one of my moods where I don’t read anything, So I have been reading it for a long time and haven’t gotten very far. Which doesn’t do the book justice.

What did you recently finish reading?

Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne Barlowe
A catalog of various aliens from various books with a picture of what they would look like. Just something fun and light.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich
I got this book for review so I need to get going on it.

Books I Finished in June and July

2011-08-07T22:03:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I’ve been gone for a while. I took an unexpected and unplanned break from things this summer. Not from work. I still had to go to work. But from reading, blogging, writing reviews and just about everything but vegging out on the sofa watching TV and playing with Facebook apps. I’ve starting reading again so I think I am over my funk or whatever it was. I’m going to start my blog back up with a list of books that I finished in June and July. I’m afraid it will be a short list.

The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy
I should have known better. I should have known from the title and the cover that this was not my kind of book. It became a sure thing the first time the word yummy was used to describe a guy. It wasn’t a bad book. Just not my thing.

What on Earth Have I Done? By Robert Fulghum
Anecdotal stories. Short little things best read one or two at a time.

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano
I’m not sure what it was about this book that I liked. The main character was a self-pitying type that I usually hate to read about but for some reason she didn’t bother me. A girl hiding from the killers she was a witness against is not a new idea but Cristofano but an interesting turn on it.

Let’s Bring Back by Lesley M.M. Blume
A list of things (words, places, foods, etc.) that have disappeared or gone out of style that the author thinks should be brought back. Some interesting stuff here. Some things I’ve never even heard of before. It’s another book best read a little at a time.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
It’s fun. I like that it makes it all sounds so serious but manages to have a lot of humor too. Besides, it never hurts to be prepared.

Blazin’ Barrels Vol. 2 by Min-Seo Park
It’s a fun silly manga. I think I’ll try to find the rest.

O Pioneers! By Willa Cather
I like the main character which is always a big part of liking the book for me. It spans a lot of time and so skips over chunks of years but you never feel as if you’ve missed anything. You get a nice feel for her struggles, hardships and triumphs.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Read my review here.

Tarzan and the Lion Man by Edgar Rice Burroughs
This is not one of my favorite Tarzan books. I don’t know if I wasn’t in the right mood for it or if the plot really wasn’t as good as some of the others. But whatever the reason I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I expected to.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

2011-06-23T13:08:00.002-04:00

Bookin' With Bingo is giving away 3 copies of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch. It sounds like a wonderful book for any book lover so you should run right over and enter.

To enter just tell Bingo what you thought about the review and book description and why you want to win the book.

For more entries:

Blog or Tweet the giveaway
Comment on something you found interesting on Nina's website
Leave a comment telling Bingo how you follow

It ends at 6PM EST on July 5th.
Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

Forbidden Kingdom Review

2011-06-21T22:10:00.001-04:00

The Forbidden Kingdom
With Jackie Chan and Jet Li

A 21st century boy finds himself transported back to ancient China where he learns he must go on a quest to save the Monkey King with the help of two kung-fu masters.

It’s entertaining. The kung-fu is fun but not realistic. The plot is not anything profound. The underdog kid turns out to be the chosen one, the only one who can perform an important task. You have to be willing to accept the movie for what it is. The boy has to fight the bad guys with a ridiculously short time to train. The rivalry/friendship between his two teachers is predictable. The Monkey King is goofy. There is a fight between good and evil, some humor, kung-fu and even some more serious sad moments. But this movie is definitely light and fluffy. A movie with some action that you don’t have to think about too much.

WWW Wednesday (June 15)

2011-06-15T22:51:00.003-04:00

Madame Tussaud Review

2011-06-14T20:31:00.002-04:00

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

(From the book flap)
Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dreams is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse – even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie gets to know her pupil, Princess Elisabeth, she also becomes acquainted with the king and queen, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafes across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution… Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more important, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Moran does a wonderful job of bringing the time and place to life. There is a cast of wonderfully rounded, interesting, and complex characters. You become involved in the lives of these people. There is a lot of historical detail and you certainly can learn a lot about the French Revolution here and it comes from an interesting perspective. You watch as Marie and her friends and family try to continue to live their lives as the world is in turmoil all around them. Even though you know what is going to happen there is still a sense of tension as you watch the events unfold. The fear and terror as the Revolution becomes bloodier and bloodier can be felt. Moran manages to show a sympathetic side to the royal family’s plight as they, like the citizens, are caught in something that goes beyond all control. There is a sense of suspense as Marie tries to walk the line between the two sides and every move, even the slightest one, could be the one that sends her whole life and the lives of all those she loves to destruction. It is an exciting story that the reader can become immersed in and will end up following these people on the harrowing and emotional journey.

I want to thank Michelle Moran for providing a free copy for review.

Blood and Chocolate Movie vs. Book

2011-06-09T21:02:00.001-04:00

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Blood and Chocolate with Agnes Bruckner and Hugh Dancy

The book is about a family of werewolves. They have been forced to flee from their home and find a new one. Vivian, our hero, is trying to find her own way in a pack dynamic that expects certain things from her that she is not sure she wants for herself. She has a softer side that she does not see in the pack and looks to the humans to find. The pack looks for leadership and safety while trying to leave behind a bloody mistake.

The movie is not about that at all. Vivian does fall in love with a human but there is not much the same after that. She is not even the one to initiate the contact with him or pursue the relationship. Some of the things that she liked about him in the book are missing in him in the movie, his sense of ‘pack’ with his friends, the fact that he is not as rough as the guys in her pack. He has no friends in the movie and he is tougher in a running and fighting sort of way. The relationship between them is less sexually driven in the movie so in some ways seems sweeter but in the process it changes their relationship. The rules of the pack are completely different. There is a leader already and he is a bit of a jerk. And the whole outcome is completely different. So different they are almost opposites. It’s impossible to point out all the things that are different in the movie. They are just not the same story.

For that reason it is hard to say which one I liked better. I think the book is more about Vivian and her personal struggle than it is a straight werewolf story. There is more action in the movie, more fights and chases. The movie is more a physical battle for Vivian than the emotional one that she has in the book. So it depends on what you are looking for. I thought both of them were worth a look, but if you read and love the book don’t expect the same from the movie or you will be disappointed.

Theme Thursday -- Numbers

2011-06-09T20:47:00.001-04:00

Black and White Review

2011-06-06T20:47:00.001-04:00

Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge

(from the back of the book)
They were best friends at an elite academy for superheroes in training, but now Callie Bradford, code name Iridium, and Joannie Greene, code name Jet, are mortal enemies. Jet is a by-the-book hero, using her Shadow power to protect the citizens of New Chicago. Iridium, with her mastery of light, runs the city’s underworld. For the past five years the two have played an elaborate, and frustrating, game of cat and mouse.
But now playtime’s over. Separately Jet and Iridium uncover clues that point to a looming evil, one that is entwined within the Academy. As Jet works with Bruce Hunter – a normal man with an extraordinary ability to make her weak in the knees – she becomes convinced that Iridium is involved in a scheme that will level the power structure of America itself. And Iridium, teaming with the mysterious vigilante called Taser, uncovers an insidious plot that’s been a decade in the making… a plot in which Jet is key.

I like books about superheroes. I like the cool powers and gadgets and the fight of good versus evil. And this book has those things. But if you are not into those things it also has an exploration of the bonds of friendship and how strong and fragile they can be. It has betrayal, redemption and people trying to deal with all their assumptions and beliefs being challenged. It goes back and forth between the two main characters and between the present and the past. As you see the events unfold in the present you get to see how these two women became friends and then enemies. You get the point of view of both the by the book ‘good guy’ and the rogue ‘bad guy’. It is interesting to see how these two people who had similar backgrounds, training and experiences took such different paths in life. You can see both view points and the line between good and bad starts to get confused. Parts of it are predictable and some points seem obvious but I don’t think that ruins the story since it has a comic book feel to it. And there is a lot of comic book to the story, with the superpowers, the good versus evil, and it even has a plot to take over the world but I don’t think you have to be a comic book lover to like this story. There is a real feeling to the relationships between the characters and the conflicts within themselves that they have to face. And it is exciting and fun.

Theme Thursday -- Color

2011-06-04T20:52:00.002-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – COLORS

Okay I don’t know where the time is going. The days are flying by. So it is Saturday already and I haven’t done the Theme Thursday yet. But better late than never. Right?

Lavender was soooooo not in her color wheel anymore. Not looking like this, anyway.

It clashed with her hair and made her skin look sallow.

Marty Andrews was now an autumn. Thus, fall colors would best suit her new pallor. Greens, gold, and a couple of shades of yellow were presently her complexion’s new friends.

But the color lavender?

Not so much.

--The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy

WWW Wednesdays (June 1st)

2011-06-01T13:27:00.001-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy
I want to like this. And honestly, I’m only on page 16 so maybe I’m jumping the gun a bit here, but I don’t think this is going to be my kind of book. I’ll finish it anyway though. I always do for some reason.

What did you recently finish reading?

Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic
Parallel universes and mysterious government agencies controlling information and ideas. It’s a fun rather fast read with a hapless, likeable hero who just wanted to go on vacation and meet his double but ended up involved in so much more.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Well, I have several things checked out from the library that I should read but I’ll probably end up reading The Loving Spirit by Daphne Du Maurier.

Books I Finished in May

2011-06-01T13:13:00.001-04:00

Okay, so May did not turn out to be the month I got my blogging back on track. Maybe it will be June. Or July. Possibly August. Soon anyway, I’m sure. Anyhow, I may not have done much blogging but I did manage to read some stuff.

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
Moran can make her characters and settings come to life. This made me interested in the French Revolution even though I never really was before.

Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley
Basis for the movie Freejack. The stories are the same only in a very broad way. I think they are both worth a look.

Draconian New York by Robert Sheckley
Second in the series that I now want to find the first one of.

We Kill Monsters by Christopher Leone
Graphic novel about, you guessed it, killing monsters. But it isn’t all just monster killing action the characters are well written too.

How to Build a Robot Army by Daniel H. Wilson
Wilson’s books are fun and don’t require much thinking. I think I liked How to Survive a Robot Uprising better than this one but that might be because I read it first. Reading the two around the same time tended to make the second one sound somewhat redundant.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
There is a lot of information about snails here. And that is interesting. But it is also very interesting to see how Bailey becomes attached to and almost dependant upon the snail.

Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemies by Michael Avon Oeming
Graphic novel about Thor and Loki and Odin and them.

Werewolf Versus Dragon by David Sinden
Nice little story with dragons and werewolves and monsters of all kinds.

Killing Girl: A Sister’s Love by Glen Brunswick
Graphic novel about an assassin. It is a dark story and I really didn’t like the art so this one was not for me.

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
I like the voice that this book is told in and the quirky characters. I think I’ll read more by Clarke.

Then is the Power by Gerald Mills
I like the story here but Mills sometimes walks a very thin line with some of the characters. They almost go over the top into the unbelievable.

Marvel Zombies by Robert Kirkman
Graphic novel where all your favorite Marvel heroes are now zombies. It’s a bit gory and gruesome but all the best zombie stories are, aren’t they?

Rapunzel’s Revenge by Dean Hale
Another graphic novel. This one has a little lighter feel than most of the others I’ve been reading. It is fun and even silly at times.

Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslokovic
I have to admit that most of the reason that I read this was that I liked the title. But it turned out to be a good book too.

The Friday 56 (May 20th)

2011-05-20T15:45:00.001-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

This week the book is Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills. Some of the characters are very close to being over the top but the story is pretty good so far.

The sentence:

Careful not to get any of the vial’s white powder on his shaking hands, he dusted all the remaining doughnuts, then flushed the empty vial down the men’s room commode.

Hey, no fair messing with a man’s doughnuts. That just doesn’t seem right.

Theme Thursday -- Male Person

2011-05-19T20:46:00.002-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – Male Person (description of a man or boy)

Lyunov was a thin man, tall, with dark hollows in his cheeks and a wild shock of graying hair above cold brittle eyes. He wore neither uniform nor insignia. Other than a weak nod of stolid acknowledgement, he’d said nothing. By contrast, her once-skinny, insolent third cousin Boris had matured to become a stocky bull-of-a-man with bushy, dark reddish hair and a dominant forehead that gave him an evil profile. A man who was but one step from the top of the world’s largest intelligence organization, his manner could have been threatening…but it wasn’t. He, too, wore civilian clothes and was open-collared. In a certain way he still had the boyish look she remembered from the single time they’d met so long ago, but he was now a powerful man in a powerful organization that was itself the brains of a powerful army, in spite of his manner.

--Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills

Journey to Promethea Review

2011-05-16T23:49:00.002-04:00

Journey to Promethea
With Billy Zane

There is a tyrant on the throne and the people wait for the fulfillment of the prophecy that will bring back the spirit of an old hero in a young boy, who with the help of a special sword will bring about a time of peace.

It was rather amazing how bad this was. It starts with a little set up of the prophecy and then you watch three groups of people wander around in the forest badly delivering poorly written and sometime completely nonsensical lines and then getting into poorly choreographed and boring swordfights. Add to that a thin unoriginal plot, some really bad affects and costumes that look like they were cobbled together from what they could find in their closets and you have something not worth watching. The quality of the acting, writing and film itself suggest that a bunch of friends walked into the local woods with a video camera. Billy Zane tried but he had nothing at all to work with.

Theme Thursday -- Woman Relationships

2011-05-14T00:48:00.002-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – Woman Relationships (relation that one can have with a woman like mother, aunt, grandmother, sister, girlfriend, etc.)

“You could go anywhere,” my mother said. Back then I thought she was the harder parent of the two and had had high hopes for me, so the disappointment weighed on her more heavily. I remember that my mother was a dry well at my trial when the jury brought back the verdict, although my father had wept loudly and wetly, and he was starting to cry now, too.

-- An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

WWW Wednesdays (May 11)

2011-05-11T22:56:00.000-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
I’m liking it so far.

Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills
Well, that’s what is on the cover of my book but I think he changed the title to No Place for Gods.

What did you recently finish reading?

Killing Girl Vol. 1: A Sister’s Love by Glen Brunswick
A graphic novel, the story is alright but I don’t like the artwork.

Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemies by Michael Avon Oeming
Another graphic novel, this one about Odin and Thor and such. I liked the artwork better in this one.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy

Mockingjay Review

2011-05-10T23:14:00.001-04:00

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

(from the book jacket)
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans – except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay – no matter what the personal cost.

I think once again Collins does a great job of giving you characters you can care about. You worry about them. Their anguish, mental and physical, makes you upset. You are sad when they die. And there are, of course, the people you don’t like too but even they evoke a strong reaction. And these strong characters get you emotionally involved in the story. And once again Collins explores some big issues. Katniss and the others have to deal with the horrors of war and the damage that it does to those who survive. They are faced with choices about how far they are willing to go to win a just war. Can they justify using the enemies tactics themselves? Katniss is overwhelmed by the war, the loss of her home, the fear for those she loves and the expectations of those around her. You are thrown into turmoil with her as she is pushed into a role that she never wanted but no longer knows how to avoid. I had a little harder time feeling for Katniss this time but that was only because the trauma she goes through, the trauma that makes you hide in the corner, that makes you apathetic and unresponsive is harder for me to relate to or envision than the fight for her life that she has been in in the past. And because this is the struggle she is going through in the beginning of the book it has a slower start than the other two. Mockingjay gives you a sense of hope because finally the people are fighting back but it is still a dark and scary world. Collins never gives her heroine and cure-all answer to the woes of the world. All of her plans and actions do not miraculously make everything better. Her choices are not at all clear nor are they without consequences. It is a compelling story but I’m slightly ambivalent about the ending. I’m glad that Collins does not pretty it up into something that is unreal and unbelievable. But there was a point when it seemed like the story just stopped for a moment and then continued after jumping over some important parts. It was good to take a look into the future a little bit but still leave the possibility open for anything to happen so you get a sense that the effects of the war will not fade quickly. But part of me feels like certain things were glossed over and left oddly vague.

The Friday 56, The Accidental Werewolf

2011-05-06T22:53:00.001-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy. My sister gave this for my birthday recently but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

The sentence:

If she told them the truth, they’d tar her with a crazy brush and call for the men with butterfly nets.

Theme Thursday -- Female Person

2011-05-05T21:17:00.003-04:00

WWW Wednesday (May 4th)

2011-05-04T20:33:00.003-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
It is interesting how attached to a snail someone can become.

Fafnir by Bernard Evslin

What did you recently finish reading?

How to Build A Robot Army by Daniel H. Wilson
After you build your robot army you will have to read his book How to Survive a Robot Uprising.

Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley
The basis for the movie Freejack. Although the two are not anything alike. Both interesting stories just not really the same story.

What do you think you’ll read next?

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

Books I Finished in April

2011-05-02T22:58:00.003-04:00

It’s May 2nd. I meant to do this yesterday. Of course I also meant to do The Friday 56, the Theme Thursday, and the WWW Wednesday. And none of that happened either. Hopefully I’ll get back on track this month. Although it’s a bad sign that I’m already a day late.

Outlaw by Angus Donald
See my review here.

ExHeroes by Peter Clines
I wanted this to be better. I just didn’t find any of the characters all that interesting.

Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden
Nothing special. I can see why kids might like them but I don’t think I’ll be reading anymore.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
This is so sad. I loved it though.

How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson
Something everyone should know. A surprising amount of real information.

Blazin’ Barrels Vol. 1 by Min-seo Park
Part of my new Manga obsession.

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor
A graphic novel about Zeus. That’s good stuff.

Plastic Man on the Lam by Kyle Baker
Another graphic novel but this one was not my cup of tea.

The Tain by Thomas Kinsella
An Irish epic. And a lot of names I can’t pronounce.

Clatter Bash! Review

2011-04-26T00:01:00.001-04:00

Clatter Bash! by Richard Keep

Graveyard skeletons shake, rattle, and roll in this spirited Day of the Dead celebration!

The illustrations are bold, colorful, fun and, even though they are skeletons, cheerful too. A lot of the words are sounds like ‘honk-whiz’ and ‘whoosh-sploosh’ that make it fun to read. And the addition of the Spanish words is nice too. There is a very good explanation of the Day of the Dead holiday that tells you why and how it is celebrated that is easily understandable to all ages. It is a fun and informative book.

The Friday 56, Let's Bring Back

2011-04-22T23:17:00.001-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is Let’s Bring Back by Lesley M. M. Blume. It is basically a list of things (words, customs, people, etc.) that have gone out of fashion that the author thinks should have a comeback. I’m only in the Bs but it’s interesting so far and I’ve even learned a thing or two.

The sentence:

She used to own Hollywood, and these days, all people can remember about her is the vague phrase “Bette Davis eyes” – the title of a grating song written in the 1980s that wasn’t even about Bette Davis.

It does seem unfair.

Theme Thursday -- Weather

2011-04-21T22:48:00.002-04:00

Outlaw Review

2011-04-16T23:58:00.003-04:00

Outlaw by Angus Donald

(from the back of the book)
In the bloody underworld of 12th century England, one man reigns supreme. Robin Hood steals from the Church and gives protection to the poor – but at a price. And the price is silence. Informers are mutilated, traitors are murdered, and all must submit to Robin’s justice. As Alan Dale, a young thief running from the law, is thrown into this violent world, he finds that to survive he must exploit his quick reflexes, light fingers and unique musical talent. Robin, a mentor and father-figure to Alan, teaches him how to fight and more importantly, how to win. But in the England of Henry II, dangerous forces are allied against Robin and his men and it will take more than luck, more than skill, if they are to survive the savage assaults by the Norman rulers and the treachery and betrayal from some of their own.

This tale of Robin Hood is dark, bloody and completely unromantic. This is not a story about a hero for the oppressed. Robin rules the forest and the people with an iron fist and is quick to dispense bloody punishment for transgressions. It could be an interesting concept but I had trouble seeing it. Robin has the loyalty of the people and Alan, the narrator of the story, loves him as does Friar Tuck but I don’t know why. The indefinable qualities that made him a leader of men, someone who draws people to him didn’t really come through. Alan was sympathetic at first but the more I got to know him the less I liked him and the less I wanted to see him succeed. I wanted to be able to root for someone in this story and I couldn’t. I wanted to want to know these people, and I didn’t. There is a lot of action. Sword fights, recues, betrayals, battles and lots and lots of killing. I like that Tuck was conflicted about his loyalty to Robin and there were some things he would not take part in. It gave a sense that Robin’s actions were not being totally excused. Donald does a good job of bringing the setting to life and by putting the meaning of some of the words right in the text (i.e. ‘he swung a heavy falchion, a thick bladed sword’) manages to keep it authentic without sending you to the dictionary. It is a harsh, grim, sometimes even vulgar story so don’t go looking for fairy tales here. There is enough fighting and blood to satisfy any action lover but it is the action that drives and carries the story and not the characters. And though I liked to book well enough I would have liked to see a little more balance between the two.

The Friday 56, Madame Tussaud

2011-04-15T22:28:00.003-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

This week the book is Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran.

The sentence:

“What should it matter who hands the queen her underwear so long as she’s wearing some?”

I quite agree but apparently it made quite a big deal to quite a few people. If it’s done wrong it starts all over. I can’t imagine having to get dressed like that.

Theme Thursday -- Emotion

2011-04-14T20:35:00.004-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – EMOTION

“I did not know what she was until now,” he said. “But I knew the first time I saw her that she was something more than I could see. Unicorn, mermaid, lamia, sorceress, Gorgon – no name you give her would surprise me, or frighten me. I love whom I love.”

“That’s a very nice sentiment,” Schmendrick said. “But when I change her back into her true self, so that she may do battle with the Red Bull and free her people –“

“I love whom I love,” Prince Lir repeated firmly. “You have no power over anything that matters.”

-- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

WWW Wednesdays (April 13)

2011-04-13T21:40:00.005-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran I finally started it for real. I like it so far. I think Moran writes great characters.

What did you recently finish reading?

Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
Um… I like superheroes and I like zombies and there are a lot of both in this book and a lot of action but I didn’t find the characters very interesting.

Edgar and Ellen: Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden Okay. Fast and kind of fun but nothing spectacular.

What do you think you’ll read next?

How to Survive a Robot Uprising : Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson.
I hope it’s as much fun as it sounds.

A History of Food Vocab

2011-04-12T22:00:00.004-04:00

A History of Food by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat

Pogrom: an organized massacre of helpless people; such a massacre of Jews

Awn: one of the slender bristles that terminate the glumes of the spikelet in some cereal and other grasses

Rachides: the elongated axis of an inflorescence (2) : an extension of the petiole of a compound leaf that bears the leaflets

(aside)Inflorescence: the mode of development and arrangement of FLOWERS on an axis

Ruminant: an animal (such as a cow or sheep) that has more than one stomach and that swallows food and then brings it back up again to continue chewing it

Potation: a usually alcoholic drink or brew

Panicle: a pyramidal loosely branched flower cluster

Pergola: a structure usually consisting of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of girders and cross rafters

Spatchcock: To prepare (a dressed chicken) for grilling by splitting open

Escalope: scallop

Flageolet: a small fipple flute resembling the treble recorder

Umbelliferous: of or relating to the carrot family

Coprophagous: feeding on dung

Bastinado: a blow with a stick or cudgel

Seraglio: a palace of a sultan

Batrachian: amphibian

Espalier: a plant (as a fruit TREE) trained to grow flat against a support (as a wall)

Febrifuge: an agent that reduces fever

Garum: a type of fermented fish sauce condiment that was an essential flavour in Ancient Roman cooking

Parthenogenesis: reproduction by development of an unfertilized usually female gamete that occurs especially among lower plants and invertebrate animals

Metonymy: a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (as “crown” in “lands belonging to the crown”)

Win The Queen's Rival

2011-04-09T20:29:00.003-04:00

P.S. I Love Books is giving away 2 copies of The Queen's Rival by Diane Haeger.

Fill out a simple form to enter.

Are you a GFC follower of P.S. I Love Books? That's an extra entry or two.

You can get more entries by commenting on the interview, review and the guest post.

The giveaway ends April 21st. Open to the US only.

The Friday 56, Rare Beasts

2011-04-08T21:40:00.002-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Edgar & Ellen: Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden. I’m still reading Ex-Heroes but I used that last week so I picked something else that was handy. I’ll get to it eventually. Just like all the other books in my ‘to be read’ pile. Really, I will.

The sentence: “Ten dollars?” repeated Ellen. “I say ten dollars is an awful lot less than fifteen hundred!”

Well, you can’t deny the logic of that.

Theme Thursday -- Beauty

2011-04-07T21:42:00.003-04:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading •Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – BEAUTY

I had trouble with this one. A superhero/zombie story doesn’t have a lot of ‘beauty’ going on. I did the best I could. See what you think.

The woman on the roof, her outfit was that tight and showed off that much. And she had a lot to show off. I say this as someone who deals with some of the hottest women on Earth every week as part of my day job. Black straps and belts crisscrossed her body, accenting her curves, a lot like the utility harness I wore. But mine was store-bought and I don’t think there was a quarter-inch of material in hers that didn’t need to be there.

-- Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

Coraline Movie vs. Book

2011-04-05T21:54:00.003-04:00

Coraline by Neil Gaimen
Coraline with Dakota Fanning

Coraline is a story about a bored girl who discovers a secret door and on the other side finds a twisted copy of her own family and world.

The movie and the book have very similar storylines. There is the door that is sometimes open and sometimes not. There is the skewed version of Coraline’s world on the other side. There is the slow realization that it is not a good place to be. And then there is the battle to save herself and her parents. And everything in both is creepy and eerie. But although the book was a full, complete story with plenty of depth of its own the movie felt compelled to add elements to it. They were not bad exactly, but they were unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the story so I don’t see the point. The movie adds a boy neighbor and a doll that looks like Coraline. They are both rather important to the movie but not in the book at all. There were a couple of scenes that were made bigger, more theatrical that worked in a movie that could not have been described well in a book. There are other things that got added as well that don’t detract from the story but I would have liked to see the movie stick more closely to the book. The characters are slightly different too. The mother is less just preoccupied and more angry all the time. The man upstairs has been turned into an eccentric gymnast always jumping and swinging instead of just the man upstairs with a mouse circus act. And Coraline doesn’t seem as clever in the movie. She has help she didn’t have in the book and she doesn’t figure certain things out that she does in the book. So I liked some of the characters more in the book. But not by a lot. They were both fun and creepy. The book edges out the movie in my opinion but the movie is good too.

Win, Win, Win

2011-04-02T10:48:00.003-04:00

Luxury Reading wants to give you books. Some of the giveaways end soon so you better hurry!

For Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli go here. Open until April 8th to the US only.

For Nutrition Diva's Secrets for a Healthy Diet by Monica Reinagel go here. Open until April 8th to the US only.

For Pops: Sweets on a Stick go here. Open until April 8th to the US only.

For The Four Ms. Bradwells by Meg Waite Clayton go here. Open until April 8th to the US and Canada.

For Day of Honey by Annia Ciezadlo go here. Open until April 8th to the US only.

For The Baby Planner by Josie Brown go here. Open until April 15th to the US only.

For The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming go here. Open until April 15th to the US only.

The Friday 56, Ex-Heroes

2011-04-01T21:25:00.002-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines. I like superhero stories and zombie stories too so I have high hopes for this one.

The sentence:

Lady Bee slammed her pistol into the back of its skull. She fired three rounds and it flopped on the carpet.

I haven’t started this book yet. I plan to read it next. I can’t wait to find out what ‘it’ is. I hope it's a zombie.

Books I Finished in March

2011-04-01T12:50:00.002-04:00

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O’Connor
A graphic novel about Athena and since I like both graphic novels and Greek mythology I liked it. If you aren’t a fan of both though I wouldn’t bother.

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
Rather dark and violent but I liked this.

The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham by Norvell Page
Pulp fiction complete with a robot army. How much more fun can a story get?

The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This has absolutely no words but it has no trouble telling a wonderful story.

God of Beer by Garret Keizer About underage drinking and its effects and consequences, civil disobedience, peer pressure, and friendship. And somehow manages not to be overbearing and also gives you interesting characters you can care about.

Skellig by David Almond
Even though it is fantasy it is more about love and family.

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake
I love Dortmunder.

Chicken a la King and the Buffalo Wing by Steven Gilbar
I think my expectations were too high. I wanted unique and original stories about how food or dishes got their name. And I did get some of that but so many things are named after the location where they were first made or grown that it started to get dull after a while.

All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
A vampire fighting on the side of good without actually being a good guy. I’ll be reading the second one for sure.

Bleach Chapters 1 - 443 by Tite Kubo
Manga I was reading online. A friend got me hooked on it even though I had never been a fan of manga before. I thought I would never catch up to the current ones but now that I have I’m upset because I have to wait for the next part of the story.

Dragonbreath Review

2011-03-31T22:50:00.002-04:00

Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon

(from the back of the book)
Danny Dragonbreath is the only mythical creature at a school filled with reptiles and amphibians. He can’t breathe fire like a normal dragon. The school bully keeps stealing his lunch. And now Danny has to rewrite his report about the ocean and use, ahem, actual research. His loyal but nerdy best friend Wendell suggests the library, but Danny has a way better plan.

This book is sort of like but not quite a graphic novel. There are pages of text but there are also pages of illustrations where the only text is the word bubbles. The illustrations are cute and deceptively simple with just green tones but they are very expressive. Danny and his longsuffering friend are both very relatable with the banter between them and the regular growing up and going to school issues. The parents, the bully, and even the potato salad are interesting characters even though they have smaller parts. There is a lot of humor throughout the book and I like the relationship between the two friends. Danny does learn some things about the ocean but it is rather mixed up with some mythical things as well so I wouldn’t say it was educational. It’s a quick and fun read.

Theme Thursday -- Animal

2011-03-31T22:34:00.005-04:00

WWW Wednesdays (March 30th)

2011-03-30T11:03:00.003-04:00

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Outlaw by Angus Donald
I’m still working on this one. I like it but for some reason it seems to be taking me a long time to get through it.

What did you recently finish reading?

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
I was ambivalent about this book for the first 20 – 30 pages or so and then I really got into it and enjoyed it a lot.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Well, Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran is still on the list but I had thought I would have started it already and now I have Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines that I ordered from the library and has come in so it might be that instead.

Check out these giveaways!

2011-03-29T14:52:00.003-04:00

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer is giving away books! I love when I get a book in the mail, especially when it was free. You should enter some of these wonderful giveaways and see if you can get a free book in the mail.

For How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen go here. Open to the US and Canada.

For Welcome to Last Chance by Hope Ramsay go here. Ends April 18th. Open to the US and Canada, no PO boxes.

For Twisted by the Wind by Tom Hays go here. Ends April 19th. Open to the US and Canada.

For Haunted by Joy Preble go here. Ends April 19th. Open to the US and Canada.

For Gifted by Karey White go here. Ends April 20th. Open internationally.

For Fern Valley by Aileen Stewart go here. Ends April 20th. Open to the US and Canada.

For One Bird's Choice by Iain Reid go here. Ends April 20th. Open to the US and Canada.

For 12.21.12 by Killian McRae go here. Ends April 21st. Open to the US only.

The Friday 56, Outlaw

2011-03-25T19:46:00.002-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Outlaw by Angus Donald. A tale of Robin Hood, but it is not a romantic, sweet story. Robin is a hard man and his rule of the forest is filled with blood and violence.

The sentence:

But above all that, above the pain and death and horror and filth, I felt a great swooping, skylarking joy at merely being alive, joy that the enemy was beaten, and that we were victorious.

Theme Thursday -- Building

2011-03-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

WWW Wednesdays (March 23rd)

2011-03-23T21:57:00.003-04:00

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
A vampire working for the president? I hope it’s as good as it sounds.

Outlaw by Angus Donald
Robin Hood is always a good story.

What did you recently finish reading?

Chicken a la King and the Buffalo Wing by Steven Gilbar
A lot of this is interesting but then there is a whole lot of things that are named after the city or place they are grown or were first made and after a while that grows less interesting.

All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Not one of my favorite of his plays.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
Michelle Moran was kind enough to send me a copy of her new book so I’m looking forward to getting into it.

Colony Review

2011-03-21T22:58:00.003-04:00

Colony by Scott Reeves

(from the back of the book)
On New Earth, it’s the same old, same old…
In the 30th century, a group of colonists arrives on a far-off planet to begin new lives free from the taints of old Earth’s corrupt civilization.
But they’ve unwittingly brought a snake with them into their Garden: a ruthless, violent thug plans to seize power and bring the entire galaxy into his bloody hands.
Only one man stands in his way…

Earth is over populated so they send people into space. It’s not an original idea and at first it doesn’t seem like this story is going to be anything new. But as you go along and the story starts to take shape little pieces and ideas all begin to add up to an original spin. Some of the characters are slightly one dimensional but they still manage to be interesting. The aliens are interesting and original as well. There is action, suspense and a little bit of romance. The danger of the terrain and of the struggle within the group keeps you wondering who will survive and who will win. There are small twists along the way that keep you from figuring out how the whole thing will turn out so the story keeps your interest until the end. I like that Reeves gives the colonists the hope of the new life that they can make for themselves but at the same time doesn’t let them just escape all the troubles of Earth but has some of those troubles follow them. Unfortunately there are typos that are distracting at times and interrupt the story slightly. But as a whole it’s a solid and entertaining story.

The Friday 56, Get Real

2011-03-18T19:36:00.002-04:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Get Real by Donald Westlake. It’s from his Dortmunder series. Some of them are better than others but I haven’t found one yet I haven’t liked.

The sentence:

You heist somebody already committing a crime, he doesn’t call the cops.

Now that’s thinking. Besides if you’re going to steal it might as well be from crooks.

Theme Thursday -- Crockery/Utensil

2011-03-17T23:06:00.002-04:00

WWW Wednesdays (March 16th)

2011-03-16T14:25:00.001-04:00

Special Movie Review

2011-03-15T20:45:00.001-04:00

Special
With Michael Rapaport

(from the DVD case)
Les Franken is a kind-hearted and soft-spoken man who loves reading comic books. He’s the type of guy who most people walk by on the street without even noticing. However, everything changes for Les the day he is accepted into an experimental drug study. As he begins to take the drugs, an unexpected side effect occurs – he develops special powers. In an effort to use his new talents for protecting others, Les finds himself in a predicament to save himself.

This movie has its comic moments but it is more often tense and dark and sometimes brutal. Les is a sad figure but he is a likeable guy and you want things to turn out for him in the end. He tries to do something good with the gifts that he is given and his life starts to fall apart. It is a sometimes heartbreaking story as you watch Les try to figure out what is going on and what to do about it. I like the ambiguity of being able to see through Les’ eyes and the eyes of those around him without it leaving the audience completely lost as to what is going on. It does have a low quality feel to it like it didn’t have much of a budget and there are some slow moments and even though the ending wasn’t as much of a wrap up as I usually like my endings to be I still think it is worth a look.

Like to Sew?

2011-03-13T12:19:00.002-04:00

There are a couple of places you can win Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing and Waking Up in the Land of Glitter by Kathy Cano-Murillo.

You can go to Books and Needlepoint. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes. Ends at midnight March 28th CST.

Or you can go to A Bookworm's World. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes. Ends April 2nd at 6pm EST.

Theme Thursday -- Vehicle

2011-03-12T12:10:00.001-05:00

The Friday 56, God of Beer

2011-03-11T22:19:00.003-05:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

This week the book is God of Beer by Garret Keizer.

The sentence:

I could have managed to take a leak about then, right off the deck, but I was in pretty clear sight.

I’m glad he managed to contain himself.

Silver Review

2011-03-08T22:44:00.001-05:00

Silver by Edward Chupack

(from the book jacket)
This being the last testament of the infamous pirate Long John Silver, you would do well not to trust a word in its pages. Held captive aboard his own ship, the Linda Maria, he is to be taken to England, where he will hang at the king’s pleasure. But he has another plan: to tell a tale of treason, murder, lost treasure that would rival King George’s own riches, and what really happened on Treasure Island… if Silver is to be believed.

But is he?

His beginnings as a pickpocket on the streets of Bristol are as dark as the rest of his deliciously devious life. Taken to sea by the pirate captain Black John, Silver soon learns the arts of the sword, saber, and pistol. He makes his trade in plundering, cheating, ransacking, and murder – more murders than he can bother to count. British, Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Portuguese all fall before him. He takes exceptional pleasure in murder, but never such pleasure as he finds in his search for a most uncommon treasure. To find that treasure he must heed the words of a dead man, solve the ciphers in a well-worn Bible, forgo the love of an extraordinary woman, and climb over the corpses of friend and foe alike to arrive at Treasure Island and find his fortune.

Silver’s tricks are never done. Before he greets the hangman at Newgate Square, he will have one last secret to reveal. Hidden in these pages are clues that lead to his remarkable treasure. And although King George’s bounty for this notorious scourge may be handsome indeed, the captain who has captain Silver would not mind adding the pirate’s riches to his own purse. He will let Silver tell his tale in the hope of learning clues to the treasure’s location. And if you were to mark his words as well, you might discover the whereabouts of that fortune yourself.

So we shall, for now, allow Long John Silver to spin his stories, tales of adventure and betrayal, gold and jewels, love and murder.

And he will never leave out the murder. Not Long John Silver.

The book took a while for me to get into. Silver is captive on his own ship and he isn’t happy about it, nor is he happy with the man that has him there. And he rants about that for a while. And he keeps going on about the clues he had to follow to find the treasure. He tells them over and over and then goes over all the things the clues could mean. And this was all before we even knew what clues he was talking about. It grew tedious. And his narrative was constantly interrupted by his conversations with the boy who brought him his food. I was having trouble getting into the story and just when I felt like it was starting to really get going he would stop his tale to throw insults at the boy and the man who held him captive and it made getting into the book even harder for me. I do like the tone of Silver’s narrative. He has a wit and is often funny even though he is talking about murder and mayhem. He is proud of his less than honest living and you can hear the satisfaction with his misdeeds in his story. It was fun to hear how Silver got his name, became a pirate and a captain; to find out how the treasure got on Treasure Island in the first place. It isn’t exactly a swashbuckling story but there are fights and killing and treasure and that makes for some excitement. Silver is telling his own story and tells it like he is talking to the man who holds him captive but who that man is is not revealed until the end of the tale. I think you can probably figure it out but I thought it was a nice touch of mystery. Getting more information about the characters that you know from Treasure Island is fun but I was disappointed when the stories began to overlap because I could not fit Silver’s tale into the story I knew. It was completely different. Overall I think it is an entertaining story but there are parts that drag and if you want to give it a shot I think you have to be willing to push through a slow start.

The Friday 56, The Spider

2011-03-04T22:34:00.002-05:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham by Norvell Page. I have a weakness for pulp fiction.

The sentence:

He was gazing at the glimmering steel helmets of an entire squad of robots.

An army of robots? Can’t beat that.

Theme Thursday -- Furniture

2011-03-03T20:50:00.004-05:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – FURNITURE

I thought it would be an easy theme but I had two books to work with and I still had trouble finding something.

What I came up with is this:

There were still a few tables dotted around, and one or two dusty chairs, but apart from that, the room was as empty as everything else around here – the cigarette machine behind the door, the reception desk at the end of the corridor, the leaflet rack on the wall. All empty.

- The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks

Books I Finished in February

2011-03-02T23:45:00.002-05:00

A lot of kids books (again) this month. There was a while there where I felt like I was picking up the books every day and reading but getting nowhere. I hope I’m over that now.

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
I like the Zorro feeling this book had but for some reason I expected it to be more Zorro-like than it was. Ended very openly with lots of room for a sequel.

Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener by Ursula Vernon
I really like these books. They are funny and the pictures are cute.

Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
It was okay but I wasn’t bowled over by it.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
I like werewolves. But… I wanted more werewolf stuff and less listening to her trying to get her boyfriend into bed.

The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine
Caine is an interesting man and knew a bunch of interesting people. And I think that he has a good perspective on his life and career.

Outrun the Dark by Cecilia Bartholomew
I liked this book but it is not really the mystery I expected. You kind of know what happened early on so it becomes more about the physiological aspects of how everyone deals with it.

The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo
A noir mystery in a middle school. Sometimes it went a little too far and the characters don’t sound like kids any more but most of it works well and is fun.

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
A story about Alice trying to live in social circles that she doesn’t have the money to support. You do feel sorry for her at times but other times you are not sure you like her. I like how he ended it though.

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell
A lot of history here. Which leads to a lot of names. Pay attention or you might lose track of who is doing what.

Colony by Scott Reeves
People are sent out from Earth to start a colony on another planet. It starts out not sounding too original but it does pick up.

Collected Alison Dare Vols. 1& 2 by J. Torres
Simple little stories that are fun and fast.

WWW Wednesdays (March 2nd)

2011-03-02T17:15:00.002-05:00

Princess Bride Movie vs. Book

2011-02-28T20:42:00.002-05:00

Princess Bride by William Goldman
Princess Bride with Cary Elwes and Robin Wright

I saw the movie first and absolutely loved it. Doesn't everyone? The wonderful characters, the sword fights, the wit and all the things that the grandfather promises too.

And then I read the book. I liked the book. But I didn't love it like I thought I would.

Now I'm going to warn you right now that I'm going to assume that everyone has seen the movie so if you haven't there might be some spoilers in here that you won't want to read. And if you haven't seen the movie I suggest that you do. I, as I mentioned, love it and I haven't run into anyone yet who didn't.

It's obvious that I liked the movie better so I don't see any reason not to mention that right off but I do see how the book could have more appeal to some.

The characters are basically the same. Westly is dashing, Inigo is a great swordsman out for revenge, Fezzik is nice but not so bright, and Vizzinii is out to make a profit and enamored of his own genius. You get more background on all of the characters in the book. They give a brief history of Inigo and Fezzik and how they came to hook up with Fenzini. You get to see Buttercup's home life too. In the book she has parents and you get to see more of a family life for her. So all of the characters don't just show up out of the blue. But everyone is just slightly different. Westly is more condescending to Buttercup, Buttercup is not very smart and seems less devoted to Westly when she gives her reasons for leaving him at the fireswamp. Fezzik was never very smart but it is more evident in the book and he becomes a little less personable. Inigo and Vizzini are very close though.

There are scenes that come word for word from the book. The inconceivable conversation, the iocane powder scene, and some others that were just as much fun in the book as they were in the movie. A lot more happens in characters heads in the book though. When Fezzik is trying to figure out why he can't beat Westly or when Inigo is going on about the Capo Ferro defense and all of that during the duel it is all internal monologue. But I think the dialogue between the characters in these scenes makes them funnier and I missed it in the book.

The friendship between Fezzik and Inigo is explored more in the book and there are more scenes with just the two of them. And I liked those two together.

The ending of the movie is much more fairy-tale than the book. But I think the movie was much more fairy-tale all the way through. I think the movie is funnier and more light hearted than the book. But the book does provide some more information about the characters and doesn't just start with two people in middle of nowhere with no explanation or reason. And I liked Westly and Buttercup in the movie better. But it depends on what you are looking for I guess. I probably would have liked the book more if I had not already seen and loved the movie.

The Friday 56, Why Don't Students Like School?

2011-02-25T19:14:00.004-05:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel T. Willingham. My sister is a teacher and this is her book. I think she’s hoping it not only tells why kids don’t like school but also what to do about it.

The sentence:

Hypnosis doesn’t help. It does make you more confident that your memory is right, but it doesn’t actually make your memory more accurate.

Ah, well I guess students are just going to have to keep studying. Or not. As is often the case from what I gather from the stories my sister tells.

Theme Thursday -- Touch

2011-02-24T21:11:00.002-05:00

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X Review

2011-02-23T23:05:00.001-05:00

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

(Amazon.com product description)
The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells--the greatest power is the power to create.
Daniel X has that power.

Daniel's secret abilities -- like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses -- have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone's imagining.

From the day that his parents were brutally murdered before of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer.

Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission--and to take vengeance in the process.

This is geared toward a young audience, even younger than I had been expecting. There is a very young hero and some of it is just goofy and corny. There is nothing wrong with goofy or corny but it was put beside these frightening scenes and times that are fraught with unspeakable danger and they just didn’t sit well together. They never really blended into one narrative tone. When the hero goes after what are supposed to be the top ten listed bad guys in the universe and they start using words like pukemeister it is hard to take any of it seriously or to have any real sense of danger even though worlds are at risk and very bad things are happening. And I found the juxtaposition of the two confusing. And there were points in the story that I had issues with. At the beginning of the story Daniel says he thinks he is an alien and then later he is telling us facts about his home planet, although some attempt is made to explain how he gets around living all by himself where the money comes from is never mentioned, and it seemed at times that a new power would pop up just at the time he needed it. There was just too much to take on faith and it asked you to stretch your credulity too far. There is some light hearted fun to the book if you don’t look too hard or expect too much in the way of tight plotting and I did like some of the dialog, both between the characters and when Daniel is talking to the reader. He did sound very much like a teenage boy. But I was disappointed with the book over all. I’m sure there is an audience for this book, probably young children, mostly boys, but it is not the kind of book that spans all age groups.

WWW Wednesdays (February 23rd)

2011-02-23T15:48:00.001-05:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Colony by Scott Reeves
Earth is overpopulated so they are sending people off to colonize other worlds whether they want to or not. So far it’s okay. There have been a few distracting editing errors and there hasn’t been anything terribly original yet but it’s not bad.

What did you recently finish reading?

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
I liked it but didn’t love it. Although it is much better than the movie which I didn’t really care for.

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell
There are a whole bunch of people in two different time periods all connected to a vast Shakespeare plot. I had to pay attention because I was often on the verge of losing track of what was going on.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Pass…
Honestly my answer is exactly the same as last week. I have an Alison Dare graphic novel that I borrowed from the library that I should read soon and I keep looking at Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage. Both of them have to happen sooner or later. Maybe this is the week.

Peeking Between the Pages

2011-02-20T11:44:00.002-05:00

Peeking Between the Pages has some giveaways!!

For The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry go here. Ends March 4th. Open to the US, Canada, UK and Europe. No PO boxes

For Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker go here. Ends March 4th. Open to the US and Canada. No PO boxes.

For The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen go here. Ends March 11th. Open to the US and Canada. No PO boxes.

Theme Thursday -- Love

2011-02-19T19:21:00.005-05:00

Yes, I know it isn't Thursday. But, well, this is open for a week so even though I didn't get it in on Thursday I'm going to do it anyway.

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. It is hosted by Reading Between the Pages. Anyone can participate in it.

The rules are simple:

•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week the theme is: LOVE

I know I am not any poet and the one I tried to write about you the day of the picnic was fearful but the way I think about you is a poem.

-- Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington

The Friday 56, Colony

2011-02-18T18:22:00.003-05:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Colony by Scott Reeves. I haven’t started reading this yet because I just got it in the mail yesterday. It’s about a group of people who leave Earth to start a colony on another planet.

The sentence:

The sun had been no more than a rumor to her, a luxury reserved for the rich who lived on the upper levels, where the bottom-dwellers like her hadn’t been allowed.

That might be enough to get me to blast off into the unknowns of space too. It doesn’t sound like a happy time.

Treats From the Oven

2011-02-18T10:58:00.002-05:00

Like to bake? Well, Bookin' With Bingo is giving away 2 cookbooks to give you some wonderful new ideas.

For 750 Best Muffin Recipes by Camilla Saulsbury go here. Ends at 6PM EST on February 22nd. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

For Sweet Treats by Linda Collister go here. Ends at 6PM EST on March 5th. Open to the US only, no PO boxes.

WWW Wednesdays, February 16th

2011-02-16T16:53:00.002-05:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrel
So far so good. There’s running for your life, mysterious clues, mayhem and Shakespeare.

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
This has failed to engage me so far. Maybe it will pick up though. There is always hope.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo
A kind of noir mystery set in a middle school with candy habits instead of drug habits and kids are taken out with water guns. It works to a point but sometimes they just don’t sound like kids anymore.

What do you think you’ll read next?

At the rate I’ve been reading lately I don’t think I’ll have to worry about this for a while. But I have an Alison Dare graphic novel that I will probably read soon and I’ve been thinking of rereading Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage since I got the second book in the series for Christmas. I haven’t gotten to it yet but maybe it’s finally time.

Journals of Lewis and Clark Review

2011-02-12T15:10:00.001-05:00

The Journals of Lewis and Clark with intro by John Bakeless

The journey of Lewis and Clark is always an exciting tale but it is even better when you get to hear about it from the people who were actually there. It takes a little while to get used to the way that they write but you soon get the hang of it and it doesn’t pose a problem. At the beginning it is a little slow as you hear that they passed this on the starboard side and this on the larboard side but the story soon picks up. It is interesting to see the attitudes of Lewis and Clark towards the men they traveled with as well as towards the people that they meet along the way. The footnotes by Bakeless are interesting as well. They help to clear up a few things but they also, at times, express his personal feelings about the people and events. They are obviously the comments of a man who did research into the journey and the personal comments are stated in such a way that you would not confuse them with facts. It is a book for any history or exploration fan.

The Friday 56, Outrun the Dark

2011-02-11T22:57:00.001-05:00

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

Wow! I almost didn’t get this done because I forgot it was Friday. How do you forget it’s Friday? Well, anyway, the book this week is Outrun the Dark by Cecilia Bartholomew.

The sentence:

All the blinds on the front of the house were closed tight.

After being in a mental institution for 13 years that doesn’t seem like the warmest of homecomings.

WWW Wednesdays (February 9th)

2011-02-09T15:40:00.001-05:00