So Freakin' Cute

Not too long ago, I read a review by Angie on Jennifer Echols' Going Too Far. She suggested that it'd be a good fit for fans of Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry. Seeing as I adored Perfect Chemistry, I immediately added Going Too Far to my TBR list.

Well, she was right--I loved Going Too Far as well. I couldn't put it down. I started reading it around 9:45 p.m. last night (big mistake). An hour later, I had to force myself to put it down so I could go to bed. Today I thought about it on and off all day, excited to finish it.

The plot is fairly simple: bad teen girl gets in trouble and as punishment, is forced to spend her spring break with a cop during his night shift, driving around their small town and doing police-y work. And they just might end up falling for each other...

But what takes the work above the standard plot is the writing and the characters themselves. I literally laughed out loud at some parts and smiled out of sheer enjoyment at others. Meg and the police officer both have their own issues to work through, but they do and don't let a Big Misunderstanding keep them apart. And did I mention that the book is so freakin' cute? The characters aren't cutesy in themselves but the writing makes the story adorable. Sometimes all you want is a happy, funny story and this fit the bill perfectly.

Rating: 10/10

Fluff

Every now and then I need a fluffy read--one that doesn't stretch my mind but is instead pure enjoyment. Hester Browne's The Finishing Touches is just that--enjoyable, light-hearted fluff.

Lovely cover! Browne does seem to luck out in her covers--they've been classy so far. Anyway, the story: Betsy was abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of a posh finishing school in London. (Quick side note: I really like the word posh--and of course, I'm a fan of Posh from Spice Girls--so I think I'm going to try and use that word in my vocabulary more.) It just happens that the couple that run the finishing couple don't have any children and are thrilled to adopt her. Betsy is very happy growing up at the finishing school, but after the death of her adopted mother, Betsy is asked to help run the school.

The school needs quite a bit of updating, so Betsy's got her work cut out for her. There may also be a bit of romance and who's-my-real-mother-searchin sprinkled in, too. There's also quite a few cute little tips on being a lady spread in throughout the book, which made it a charming read.

All in all, it was a light read and didn't make me mad like her last book.

Rating: 7.5/10

More Like Art Lectures

I didn't go into The Art Thief by Noah Charney with any sort of great expectation other than it'd be about art. And it certainly was.


The book is about three main works of art (I think? I've already forgotten)--all of which get stolen. It is also a story FULL of characters. So many that I was lost nearly immediately. The book is also full of theft. Several pieces of art are stolen in Europe; people work separately to find the art and at the end, everything pulls together--and actually in a way that rather surprised me. Looking back, I still don't really get how it all worked but whatever.

My first bit of advice, if you're going to read this book, is to not expect to read a "novel." Think of it as more like people lecturing about art. I enjoyed learning more about art but really, this isn't a true story. Characters aren't fleshed out at all and stuff just seems to happen to further along the plot. And the ending is so sudden, with no lead up to it, that I was taken aback and almost didn't want to accept it. In my mind, the title (The Art Thief) was more about art thieves in general and not a specific person. Any ending can be believable and acceptable to the reader--if there is enough preparation. Charney failed on that front.

The reviewers on Amazon hated this book--out of 54 reviews, 26 of them are one star. Reviewers talked about ripping up the book after reading. Many mentioned laughing out loud at parts that weren't even supposed to be funny. While I don't think it was quite a one star read, it was actually pretty bad for a novel. But I did enjoy reading more about art!

Rating: 5/10

Thin Slices

I haven't been able to get into a good book all the past week. For now, I've been reading Billy Collins' Sailing Alone Around the Room. Lovely poetry in it, although I think I like the first book I read by him better. In this one, he seems a bit obsessed with death.

It's a gloomy, fall-ish day here in my town...just the sort of day to enjoy a poem or two. So here's two of my favorites from Sailing. "Marginalia" and "Victoria's Secret." Witty, twisty and lovely word imagery.

No Mountains, Ever!

Well, Jon Krakauer, I already had a fear of mountains. (I'm a Midwest girl. I like flat land and water. Mountains scare me. Even the hills of Pennsylvania, where I went to college, frightened me a little bit.) But thanks to your Into Thin Air, I will never climb a mountain. EVER.

Into Thin Air is Krakauer's account of a deadly storm that hit Mt. Everest in May 1996. He barely survived but others climbing with him didn't.

Before I read this book, I never realized how dangerous climbing truly was (or how cold!). It raises interesting thoughts on what compels people to try something so deadly.

The read was intense, organized and didn't dwell too long on "afterwards." I highly recommend it.

Rating: 10/10

Remembering who is the central character

A few summers ago I had an Elinor Lipman summer. I read everything she wrote (except her short stories). She just published her latest book, The Family Man, so of course I had to read it.

Here's a summary from the cover copy:

"A hysterical phone call from Henry Archer's ex-wife and a familiar face in a photograph upend his well-ordered life and bring him back into contact with the child he adored, a short-term stepdaughter from a misbegotten marriage long ago. Henry is a lawyer, an old-fashioned man, gay, successful, lonely. Thalia is now 28, an actress-hopeful, estranged from her newly widowed crackpot mother -- Denise, Henry's ex. Hoping it will lead to better things for her career, Thalia agrees to pose as the girlfriend of a former child star and current horror-movie luminary who is down on his romantic luck. When Thalia and her complicated social life move into the basement of Henry's Upper West Side townhouse, she finds a champion in her long-lost father, and he finds new life -- and maybe even new love -- in the commotion."

Yep, that sums up the book. I enjoyed it, although it was almost a bit slap-happy for me. I don't remember her other books being that way....although it fit with the whole showmanship aspects of Thalia and the "horror-movie luminary."

I had trouble remembering that Henry is the central character and that Thalia wasn't the main focus. If I had, I would've been more content in her story being more of a periphery one.

Rating: 7.5/10

Not so tasty after all

Confession: I've tried to read Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (by Julie Powell) twice--a few years apart, too--and just could not make it through either time.

I wanted to see the movie (actually just saw it last night and Meryl Streep was amazing in it; Amy Adams' haircut was awful) and of course, wanted to read the book first. But I just couldn't force myself beyond page 50.

Powell swears up a storm--I can handle a few words sprinkled in but her usage was sooo unnecessary and constant. And she keeps on bashing Republicans constantly. I'm pretty darn non-political but I'm not a Democrat, so her continual blame on that political party got old quickly.

Probably my biggest issue is the simple fact that the book is more of a memoir about her life and not really about her cooking. I don't care about your crappy apartment, Julie, or the fact that you're not-really-ok-maybe-slightly interested in guys other than your husband. It's marketed as a food book; I want it to be about food.

Rating: 2/10

Scandinavian Thriller

Dang. Stieg Larsson knocked me over with The Girl Who Played With Fire.

The book left me in awe. Larsson tied his last book into this one and yet diverged it in a fabulous way. So good.

Lisbeth Salander ("the girl") is accused of murdering three people. Mikael Blomkvist doesn't believe she did it and starts investigating to find the truth. What actually happened--and what is being hidden--is much deeper and darker than he could know...

The pace starts out slower, with police procedural work becoming part of the story, yet Larsson manages to make it interesting and then bumps up the story to compelling. His commentary on Sweden's society is subtle yet condemning. The twists and turns in the plot were completely unexpected and surprising and made perfect sense. And Lisbeth Salander is one of the most interesting characters I've ever read about.

I dreamed about the first one and yes, dreamed about this one, too. Now I want to re-read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. And thank the Lord there's a third book, coming out sometime soon (I hope!).

Rating: 10/10

A Roman Book I Like

Years and years ago I read A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. I loved it. Generally I don't care for books set in Rome, but this one was so well-done and fascinating that I actually liked it. After talking about the book with a friend, I realized I couldn't remember most of it and decided to re-read it.

Voice is about a Jewish (and Christian) slave girl who is captured during the fall of Jerusalem and ends up a slave for a Roman family. She ends up caring deeply for the family (especially the son!) but faces dire consequences for her faith. Tied in with her story is another slave-forced-to-be-a-gladiator. Rivers weaves numerous storylines together so well--it's definitely an epic story.

Rivers is a great writer....for proof of this, my younger sister, who didn't like reading (how are we even related???), read Rivers' Redeeming Love and suddenly discovered she liked reading!

This series is from the early 1990s but it's remained in print since then--clearly people like it. It's book one in a trilogy, so I'll post reviews about books two and three in the months to come.

Rating: 9.5/10

Another week goes by...

Last week I re-read one of my all-time favorites: The Stars for a Light, book one in the Cheney Duvall, M.D. series by Lynn Morris and Gilbert Morris. I love this series....so good. It's about a female doctor in the 1860s.

Rating: 10/10

Also, thanks to Angie's recommendation, I also read Emily Gee's The Laurentine Spy. It's a nicely-done piece of fantasy work...more serious than I prefer, but still enjoyable. Go read her lovely review if you want more details about it...

Rating: 7.5/10

Swedish time, baby

My copy of The Girl Who Played With Fire came into the library today. YESSSSSSSS.

Now to finish what I'm currently reading as quickly as possible.

Pie time

I just finished reading Alan Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. It's sunny and warm and I can combine reading with tanning. Yay for weekends.

Fun cover, huh? And it's a perfect representation of what happens in the first chapter.

Here's Amazon's description:
It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities.

With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with their own pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys respectively—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch a murderer. In Alan Bradley's critically acclaimed debut mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, adult readers will be totally charmed by this fearless, funny, and unflappable kid sleuth. But don't be fooled: this carefully plotted detective novel (the first in a new series) features plenty of unexpected twists and turns and loads of tasty period detail.

Yep, that review sums up my feelings. Lovely period setting, good plotting, detailed characters, amusing, etc. I guess the sun took away my desire to write any more details. Oh well.

Rating: 8/10

I think I need to stop reading about child detectives, though....first Harriet, then Flavia. I'm in the mood to read something totally different.

In which I make a mess of the series

I adore Susan Howatch's writing. Okay, so I haven't read any of her early works but from her Starbridge series on, I've been a fan.

Back in January 2008, I read The Wonder Worker (which utterly horrifies me; I literally thought I had just read within the last six or eight months....not 17 months ago). It is the first book in a three-part series about Nicholas Darrow's healing center, but back in 2006, I read the third book in the series, The Heart Breaker. So I guess it's fitting that I finally read the second book, The High Flyer. And dang, I wish I had read them in order. I'm going to have to re-read Heart Breaker to fully get the entire story because characters from the first two books have subplots in it.

So for this book, the plot is this: Carter Graham is a "high flyer" aka big business woman. She marries a guy named Kim (I think his real name is Joachim) and then is hit with a series of revelations from him. Basically, he's a liar and involved in some baaaaad stuff. But Carter gets involved with Nicholas Darrow and good things come about...

I enjoyed The High Flyer but it was certainly filled with dialogue and analyzing situations, people, etc. While it was good, it didn't blow me away like other of her works. All in all, not bad but I like some of her other writing better.

Rating: 7/10

Why, Donna, WHY?

I'm not going to post the cover of The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. It's CREEPY. So creepy that after I bought the book at a library book sale, I couldn't bring myself to read it for months because of the cover: all black, with a cutout of a baby doll's eyes. And there isn't even really a doll mentioned in the book! When I finally did read it, I kept it face down at all times when I wasn't reading it.

The Little Friend is a Southern gothic novel that takes place over a summer. (In that respect, I was thrilled to read it; I love reading books set in the same season.) I have to admire how completely Tartt switched from the New England/ivy league college setting of her first book, The Secret History, to the completely rural, class-conscious atmosphere of a small town in Mississippi. And her narrators switched gender, age and worldviews.

So the basic plot is this: 9-year-old Robin was found hung in his backyard; no one knows who did it. Twelve years later, Robin's sister Harriet decides she's going to find his murderer. And then she becomes involved with a certain trashy family and snakes and wow, Harriet's life is crazy and odd and gothic.

Tartt is a detailed writer and this book is certainly character-driven. (In my opinion, too character-driven. You get to know SOOO many people far too well.) Harriet is a fascinating character that's not entirely sympathetic. But that's okay, because otherwise she wouldn't have accomplished what she did. As for plot, well, random things happen. Like poisonous snakes nearly killing people. Looking back on it all, my main problem is that I didn't end the book feeling resolved on anything.

Here's my main issue and it's a bit of a spoiler: THE ENDING IS AWFUL. There's no resolution. None. Every single plot line is left open: Harriet's parents, what will happen to Danny and Harriet, the murder.....GAHHHH. Donna, you strung me along for 600+ pages; I WANT ANSWERS. I know, I know; life isn't pretty and full of answers but fiction isn't real life.

I just want to talk to someone else who read this book. Help me move on and resolve my issues...

Rating: 6/10 (more like a 8.5 for writing but a 5 for plot because I'm still so bitter)

Fun Fun

Ally Carter's Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover is sheer fun. I'm always up for the Gallagher Girls and their adventures.

Here's the gist of the series: there's a super-secret school, Gallagher Academy, that trains girl spies (they're not spies now; just learning everything they'll need to know). Cammie Morgan is a pavement artist--skilled at following people, seeing what others don't. She'll need those skills to help protect one of her best friends, whose father is running for vice president.

The story ties in nicely to the previous books in the series, so you should really read those first. (On that note, who reads just one book in a series or skips around? And as I typed that sentence, I realized that I DO. Currently, I'm reading the second book in a loose series where I read book three first, followed by book one and now I'm on book two. Shame on me. But more on that later...)

Cammie is growing as a character and overall maturing, so that's nice to see. And yay for a certain character from book two making a few surprise appearances.

Anything, I like this series....it's fun, full of spies and is still somehow believable.

Rating: 8/10

You're not better than the pros!

I don't remember why I wanted to read Fake I.D. by Walter Sorrells, other than it featured a mom and a daughter living on the run. It seemed like an intriguing YA story.

And it could've been a good story, except for so many gaping plotlines and holes. Chasity Pureheart doesn't know her real name; her current name was plucked from a romance novel. Her and her mom have been running for 16 years but "Chass" doesn't know why. Her mom goes missing and then Chass' life falls apart....or finally comes together? Well, thanks to the preview of book two at the end, you learn neither happens. It's Sorrells decided he wanted to write more about the series, so he totally writes off what happened in book one.

But here's my biggest issue with the book: the secret could've easily been turned over to the police. It should've been immediately turned over! I truly do not understand why Chass' mom has decided to keep them on the run, other than she says something like she's been working on finding solid evidence on this one bad guy for the last 16 years. Honey, clearly you suck at it. Let the pros do their job. Oh! Here's another thing--spoiler alert--at the end, you get a preview of the next book and even though they revealed the secret, the same people are still after them. I DON'T GET IT. The secret should've been in police custody, etc.

There's a few issues, too, with continuity. Chass leaves a guitar and all her clothing in a certain car, which she has to ditch, leaving it all behind. Yet somehow later she still has it. What? Aah, and so much gets resolved in a page or two, it killed me. Really, this book just killed me. (And you think a few other characters, but nope, book two brings them back.)

It certainly was action-packed and an engrossing read but the reason for it all annoyed me so much, as did little continuity issues.

Rating: 6/10

Weekend/Monday Reads

I wasn't really in the mood to read much this weekend (a rare event for me). Still, I managed to finish off Mad About the Boy? by Dolores Gordon-Smith and Edna Lewis' The Taste of Country Cooking.

I love the cover on this one; it's actually what drew me into the series. The cover is evocative of the atmosphere of the novel--very 1920s.

The series feature Jack Haldean, a former Royal Flying Corps pilot turned mystery writer. While Jack is visiting relatives at their grand estate, a guest kills himself--but Jack isn't convinced. As he delves into the mystery, new complications keep on popping up, involving everyone in the family.

Gordon-Smith, as I've said before, is a good writer; it's easy to read and engrossing. I'll be reading book three, As If By Magic (and again, beautiful cover!).

Rating: 8.5/10

Another book I've been reading in bits and pieces is The Taste of Country Cooking (30th anniversary edition). I wouldn't call it a cookbook for general use but rather a look at what cooking used to be like--and I am SO GLAD that I don't have to butcher my meals. It's fascinating how much food preparation has changed in less than 100 years but also in what remains the same. Also, I was intrigued by how Lewis is a strong champion for local and organic eating--30+ years before it became a major movement.

Overall, it reminded me of Little House on the Prairie and how so much of those books involved gathering/preparing/eating food. And I loved them for that fact. But, as in those books, I don't love Edna's descriptions of slaughtered pigs with "glistening" white skin. Eww. I'm not a vegetarian nor will I ever be, but let's not test how deep my love for meat goes, okay?

Still, slaughtering descriptions aside, it was an excellent read and I do recommend it for any fan of cooking.

Wandering with maps aplenty

Reif Larsen's The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet is certainly ambitious and in some ways, charming.

The book is about 12-year-old T. S. Spivet, a genius cartographer. T. S. maps everything--from the corn he and his sister husk to bugs to yeah, everything.

T. S. lives with his rancher father, his scientist mother and his normal pop-obsessed sister. In this family, no one quite fits. T. S. is certainly no cowboy but instead more of a scientist like his mother. Anyway, a professor friend nominates T. S. for a Smithsonian award, which he wins--but the committee doesn't know he's only 12. Too scared to tell his family about the award, T. S. runs away to Washington, D.C. and has many adventures, etc. (Just a side note on that: in Chicago, T. S. has a rather, um, surprising/violent encounter. It threw off the book for me; it was realistic but just didn't fit with the rest of the novel.)

The book rather meandered. Unless there's a sequel in the works, then we're left with so many open-ended questions: Does his mother discover her species of beetle? What happens to the book his mom is writing? Is T. S. and his father's relationship repaired--but his parents' relationship is now ruined? There's also a bit of magic realism thrown in, which again, is a bit odd for a book so solidly founded on science.

My one big complaint was the lack of resolution on so many fronts. It was one of those endings where I involuntarily spoke out loud "Are you kidding me? THAT'S the end? GAHHH."

Selected Works is different--a bit of a plodding work--definitely not a beach read. But it is beautifully illustrated with maps and sketches, which add to the writing but slow it down. It's worth taking a peek at to see if you'd want to read it. Just be prepared for some randomness scattered in.

Rating: 7/10

Happy July

So my three best friends came up for a loooong "weekend" visit. It was incredibly fun and fabulous and I'm sad they're gone. Sometimes I really miss college--mainly the social aspects.

Anyway, that means I did practically no reading--instead we watched movies, like Step Up 2. I LOVE that movie (ok, well, really just the lead guy, actor Robert Hoffman, and all the dancing). So good!

I'm about to finish up a book that's taken me all week to plow through, so I'm looking forward to finishing it and moving onto something new.

Plants galore

First of all, I really like Franz Ferdinand. Their latest CD makes me want to have a party--or workout (seriously, they make working out and running so much better).

Anyway, I've been reading everywhere about Margot Berwin's Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire. Is the hype justified?

Hmm, well, isn't that a pretty cover? No, just kidding, the book was interesting and I really enjoyed the focus on tropical plants, along with their mystical qualities. It's probably just so different (a bit of magic realism combined with plant lore) that it stands out.

Here's the plot: Lila is a recently divorced, youngish, NY advertising executive. She meets a hottttttt plant man who sells her a tropical plant. She discovers that she loves plants, which leads her to this random laundromat filled with plants--including the nine plants of desire. A few mistakes later, the plants are stolen and Lila must make it up to the laundromat owner, Armand. So they travel to Mexico to locate replacements and Lila learns more about the plants and realizes how full her life can be.

I liked the book; however, I think you can see where plotting and symbols tighter. Still, Berwin shows a lot of promise and definitely offered up a unique twist with her focus on tropical plants.

On a side note, it's been pretty darn hot here and I don't have air conditioning (by choice--I love being warm!), so I could really feel her descriptions of the jungle and heat.

Rating: 6.5/10

Delicioussssss

For my birthday, I requested Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I peruse through numerous food blogs and Baking always seems to pop up. And since I love baking, well, I figured I should own this classic.

Um, yeah, isn't that cover reason enough to buy this book? After paging through it, I settled upon her Coffee-Break Muffins, which use A LOT of coffee (fine by me!). I brought them into work, where reviews were mixed. The girls seemed to like them; the guys, not so much. Let's just say if you don't like coffee, you'll hate these muffins.

Anyway, I'm excited to try more out of her book--especially the chocolate recipes.

Ah, Poe

Ah, Tap & Gown, with you comes the end of the adventures of Amy and Poe. It's a necessary end, as it'd be hard to continue writing about a college secret society after the main character has graduated, but still, no more Poe is a sad thing. (That being said, Poe did continue on as a patriach, right? Still two patriachs hanging out would be a bit sad.)

Tap mainly deals with the Diggers' trouble rounding up suitable candidates for class D178--and, as it's class D177 doing the picking, of course there's major trouble ahead...and reality hits for Amy and Poe--and everyone else who's graduating.

Rites of Spring (Break) is obviously the gold standard (Poe!!!!), but still I enjoyed this one. Diana Peterfreund has definitely developed as a writer and it's been nice to see how the quality of her writing has progressed. It was a quick read and I'm looking forward to Peterfreund's Rampant. Maybe I'll enjoy killer unicorns as much as I enjoyed Poe?

Rating: 8/10

A rather '20s weekend

This has been a rather 1920s-esque week for me. First, I read Paul Murray's An Evening of Long Goodbyes, which isn't actually set in the '20s. However, the main character seemed to want to live in that era and I honestly had a hard time remembering that the book was set in modern day Ireland. It was interesting in that aspect--Murray did a good job of creating a Roaring '20s feel to his modern work.

I don't think I'd recommend the book to anyone; it was a bit boring in parts and turned oddly serious at the end. Charles, the main character, lives in the old family manor, acting the part of a country gentleman. When he learns his family (just a younger sister and mother away at rehab) has lost all their money, he's forced to leave his home and--gasp--get a job. Throw in some interesting secondary characters and you've got yourself a romp...kind of. Oddly enough, there was a fair amount on immigration in Ireland and all the unrest that's caused. (Glad to see America's not alone in dealing with those issues.) But the ending...ok, here's the thing: part of the ending revolves around a play on words. However, I think the joke only works if you say the words in a British/Irish accent. Whatever; it was a different sort of read...not sure if I'd read it again if I knew what it was going to be like.

Rating: 7/10

So a friend and I went to the movies but our movie had been cancelled. As it was a local theater, they were sooo nice about it and gave us free pass into Easy Virtue instead. Here's my thoughts on that movie set in the '20s:

1. Jessica Biel is a bad actress. I'm a bit prejudiced against her since she's been whining about how hard it is to be beautiful and be taken seriously as an actress. Honey, that's because you're not a good actress. If you were, your beauty would only be an additional aspect (cf. Kate Winslet, Audrey Hepburn, etc.)
2. Colin Firth is wonderful. Too bad he wasn't in the movie that much.
3. The movie was boring and tortuous. Within the first five minutes, both my friend and I knew we had a long road ahead of us.
4. So, at one point, I was joking around about what the ending was going to be. I was kind of serious, but not really. BUT IT HAPPENED EXACTLY HOW I PREDICTED. (If you really want to know, it's this: Jessica Biel's character leaves her wimpy husband for her father-in-law (played by Colin Firth) and yeah, that's the ending. Wow.
5. I just can't get over how much I didn't enjoy this movie.

So there's my roaring weekend for you!

Get Your Burr On

If you've read much historical romance, then you've most likely heard of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Somehow, I hadn't read it but my (future) brother-in-law bought it for my birthday, so now I can say I've experienced Jamie and Claire.

Here's the description via Amazon: English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she's somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank's evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack. Eventually Claire finds a chance to return to 1945, and must choose between Frank and Jamie.

I think the whole two men in her life thing threw me off from reading the series but it truly was an interesting, good read. It was long and full of adventure--and I was actually distraught, thinking there wouldn't be a good ending. It's easy to see why this series is a classic.

Rating: 9/10

Actually a biography

In college, I read Kathleen Norris' Cloister Walk and thoroughly enjoyed her writing. So when I saw her Virgin of Bennington at a library book sale for $1, it was an easy buy decision.

From reading the cover copy, I thought it was going to be about her college years and the time afterward--how she led a wild life in NYC to developing faith and moving to one of the Dakotas. But really, the book was about her mentor and employer, Betty Kray, whom she met in NYC.

While Kray's life was interesting and important, particularly for American poetry, a mini-biography wasn't what I was expecting. It seemed as if Norris started out writing about herself but found Kray to be more fascinating.

The book itself wasn't that bad; it was just so wrongly marketed and has such a misleading cover copy that I think most people will be a bit puzzled and then annoyed that Virgin isn't at all what they thought it would be.

Ah well, at least it was my nonfiction read for the month. And it was an appropriate follow-up to Billy Collins, too.

Rating: 6/10

Simply lovely

I don't remember when I first heard of Billy Collins; it was probably through my friend Kim, who has excellent taste. So when Angie posted Collins' poem Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, it was an excellent reminder that I've always meant to read an actual book of his poetry. I picked Ballistics, which is a fine example of modern poetry.

First up, I love the cover. It's gorgeous in person. Secondly, I enjoy modern poetry. I even interned for a small publishing house that was putting out a book of modern poetry (that was a glorious summer; sitting outside, drinking iced coffee, reading poetry all day long...sigh). So it's pretty natural that I thoroughly enjoyed Collins' work. His writing is simple yet fraught with twists and bits of humor. I want to read more.

Rating: 9.5/10

Zombies

Much to the disgust of my brother, I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. I think my brother's disgust lay in the fact that Grahame-Smith is blatantly adding in a shock factor to drum up sales...which, yes, is true, but obviously caught my attention (and many people's).

First up, the cover. It's gross. So gross that I kept it face down when I wasn't reading it.

The book itself...well, yes, it's a gimmick. It was sometimes amusing, sometimes weird and other times, well, bizarre.

I did notice that Grahame-Smith made Elizabeth an anti-Christian character, which wasn't necessary. The reader's guide questions at the end of the book made the author's opinions toward Christianity and the church made it clear that Grahame-Smith wanted to add mockery about that faith. That sort of tainted the book for me. I mean, it's one thing to enjoy the addition of zombies and all that silliness but to add his own worldview and opinions to a classic novel that doesn't say anything on the topic is another matter.

So read it for the gimmick but don't expect much more.

Rating: 5/10

It provoked my thoughts

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother invaded my subconscious. I suppose what really got me about this book is that Doctorow's privacy-invading future is feasible.

Little Brother is a look at America's not-too-distant future, one where its citizens are monitored closely with cameras, chips, etc. Seventeen-year-old Marcus and his friends are happy to simply get around their school's technology to play games and hang out. But when a terrorist attack kills 4,000 people in San Francisco and his group is in the wrong spot at the wrong time, Marcus learns the hard way about freedom, rights and torture. But he believes in a free America, so he starts to fight back using awesome, hacker-inspired methods.

Here's where the story seeps in my subconscious:
I read a few chapters of Little Brother before read. At 2 a.m. I wake up to sirens---really loud sirens close by. And I'm terrified because I think the cops are coming for me. I was honestly expecting them to knock on my door and take me in because I'm part of Marcus' hacking group. I even got out of bed to check to see if the cops were in my parking lot. It took me another minute or so to calm down and realize that I was still kind of in dreamland. How bizarre, huh?

I do recommend reading this YA novel because it does inspire thought. I'm pretty conservative (but honestly apathetic--although I do vote!) politically speaking and while I could see the liberal bias the book takes, I think it's out of legitimate fear of where our nation could head. Intriguing (and dream/nightmare-inspiring) stuff....

Rating: 8.5/10

(Spoiler alert as to why I rated it an 8.5: The end wasn't super believable; I just don't believe a state's police force could overturn national security. That's not legal, is it? Good does prevail in the end but is it sad that I don't believe it actually would?)

Much Better

Maria V. Snyder, you did a much better job with Storm Glass than with Fire Study.

A gorgeous cover like this is a good start, eh? Seriously, I love it--and it's an excellent cover for the book, too. There were lots of glass orbs in this novel and it's nice to have a clear image in your head when you start reading about them.

Storm Glass ties in Opal from Fire Study. She has a gift with magic and glass....but isn't sure what her powers exactly are. Because I'm feeling lazy, here's an edited description from Amazon:

As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. With lives hanging in the balance—including her own—Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known.

Throw in a little loooooove interest(s) and you've got yourself a good tale. The book does tie in nicely with Yelena's story, too.

I'm being generous giving it an 8, mainly because I was able to guess what was partially going to happen. (I don't like guessing---surprise me, authors!) However, it managed to wipe away the horror of Fire Study so that's a plus.

Rating: 8/10

Quite a wait

Back in January, I added Kristen Heitzmann's Rules of Contact to my Amazon wishlist. I happened to check on it today and see that Amazon says it's going to be released on "December 31, 2035." Obviously that's an error but an amusing one, nonetheless. Guess it's going to have to spend 24 years on my wishlist....