Dead Run

Dead Run by P.J. Tracy is book three in the Monkeewrench series. I started the book late Saturday night and finished it early in the afternoon Sunday. I couldn't stop. I couldn't read fast enough. What a wild ride. It was just fabulous. I can't even begin to tell you how much I have fallen in love with the characters. The story is fast paced and exciting. You won't be able to put it down. My mother in law tells me that #4 - Snow Blind is even better. How can it get even better? I'm almost afraid to find out. I had promised myself that I would space these books out, that I didn't want to run out of them so quickly. But dang it, like a heroin addict I couldn't' stay away. I just couldn't. The book called to me. It called...................

The Memory Keepers Daughter

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards was a really good read. It is beautifully written and has wonderful character development. I think I most enjoyed the twins - the two children the story focuses around. For me their story was the most interesting and important. I almost wish the story had focused more on them and less on the parents.

I also found some plot changes to be a bit abrupt. Momentous things happened to main characters and it is just sort of thrown at you. I'm not sure how the author could have done any better but I just felt a little cheated for lack of a better way to describe it.

Kind of like coming home one day and haing our mom yell from the laundry room that the dog died. Just a little too abrupt and matter of fact. You would think you would get a little more "feed in" before the actual news is dropped into your lap.

But aside from some abrupt plot turns I really did enjoy this story. Part of me hopes that she writes a follow-up novel. I would love to spend more time with the twins.

Electric Michelangelo

Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall tells the story of Cy from his youth and through the rest of his life. Cy is a talented artist who is befriended by a tattoo artist. The artist takes Cy on as an apprentice and this story follows Cy's career. From the shores of England to Coney Island and back. This story spans from the turn of the century through 2 world wars. It's a good read. I don't regret it, but it was slow and some what repetitive. The author has some beautiful prose in this book. And that made it well worth the read.

Live Bait

Live Bait by PJ Tracy is book two in their Monkeewrench mysteries. PJ Tracy is a mother and daughter writing team. I loved this book as much as the first. And I was on the edge of my seat till the very last page. This was a stupendous story. And it poses the most interesting moral questions.

I loved it. It made me laugh and it made me cry. It REALLY made me cry. I wasn't expecting to get so emotionally involved in the characters. But I'm in it for the long run. I can't wait to read the next one.

Monkeewrench

Monkeewrench by PJ Tracy is mystery writing at it's best. This was absolutely a wonderful read. I fell in love with the characters, the story, everything. It was just marvelous. And it was everything we hope for when we read a mystery. Actually it was everything we hope for in a book period. I recommend this to everyone!

You are Not a Stranger Here

You are not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett is a marvelous collection of short stories. I loved every single story in this book and found myself wishing to hear more about each character.

I thought I could pick a favorite story or two in the book but I can't. I found each and every one of them fascinating.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a remarkable book set in 19th century China. Told through the eyes of Lily we learn what life was like for women in the remote villages. From foot binding, to 10 day wedding fasts, mother-in-laws, to sacred friendships, this is an amazing and very educational story.

I loved every word in this book. The story is beautifully told. And I was enthralled by the characters and their lives.

Shadows Fall

Shadows Fall by Simon R. Green is another fabulous story from a wonderfully creative author. I loved this story. Absolutely loved it. But I have loved everything he has written. The ONLY thing that surprised me a tad in this book is how much more graphic his violence was. Normally he leaves a great deal to your imagination. But in this book he spells it out for you in black and white. There was no guessing how gruesome a scene was.

This story is about the town where legends and hero's go once people stop believing in them. The town is magical and amazing. Green mentions Shadow's Fall several times in his Nightside series and this story goes into detail about life within it's ever changing boundaries.

I, Mona Lisa

I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis was simply a wonderful read. The story tells the tale of the woman behind the famous painting. And it does so in a rich and captivating way. If I could go back in time I would want to go to Florence in the time of DaVinci, Michelangelo, and the Medici. So when I saw this book on the store shelf I had to get it. It was a chance to live, if even for 500 pages, in the world I so admire.

Now, I know this is fiction based on historical fact. So I realize that what takes place in the story is far from an accurate historical count but if there is a story behind the Mona Lisa it might as well be this one.

I passed this story on to my father to read. It's the kind of tale that you don't want to keep to yourself. It paints too beautiful a story to keep to oneself.

Haunted

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is hands down the strangest and most disturbing book I have ever read. This man makes Stephen King look like a romance writer.

I don't know if there are even words to adequetly discribe how freak'n weird this book is.

The plot is basically this: a group of rag tag authors all sign up to go away on a three month writers retreat. All their needs are to be provided for. The only thing they have to do is write.

Made up of short stories, poems, and chapters about what is happening at the writer's retreat this book reads more like an episode of "Survivor" on crack, meth, LCD, and pcp all at once. This is one seriously demented book. And of course no matter how queezy I got, no matter how badly I wanted to shake off the images it put in my head I coudn't stop reading. This book is a train wreck in print.

This is the stuff that nightmares are made of. And I can't wait to pick up another book by this author. He's seriously a demented man.

Oxygen

Oxygen by Andrew Miller tells the tale of three men. Two are brother's and one is a Hungarian author living in Paris. One of the brother's is translating the work of the author but they never meet. The story focuses around the brother's and their mother who is dying of lung cancer. The third character, the author, in a separate story is approached by a group of people struggling for political freedoms. They need his help moving a package into Hungry.

I was a little less than half way through this story when I almost gave up on it. The reviews for this story are excellent. Except one review saw the entire focus of the story to be about cancer and the slow and painful death from it. Because I didn't necessarily want to read a book that heavy and probably depressing I put it down. But something niggled at me and I picked it back up.

I'm glad I did. This story didn't necessarily have a huge point. There was no grand moment, no dawning of any ages, but it was a good story. Very well written and quite interesting.

The Love-Artist

The Love-Artist by Jane Alison was a really interesting book to read. Set in ancient Rome and centering around the story of Ovid this is a fascinating fictional look at a portion of his life. The story was inspired by the few remaining lines from one of his works, Madea:

"I gave you your life. Now you're wondering, will I take it, too?"

The author built a marvelous story around the person that inspired those lines as well as the entire work.

This is a fast and wonderful read. For historical fiction it captures your interest and your imagination from the first page.

Changing Planes

Changing Planes by Ursula K. LeGuin was a fun and fascinating read. The book is a "travel guide" about 15 different planes or worlds that you can visit while you wait at an airport for your actual plane. The flying machine kind.

Each chapter describes a different world. The people that inhabit the worlds are not all humanoid. They are at different levels of advancement/technology. They have varying beliefs, languages, religions, etc.

Overall this was a very fun story and I enjoyed the light-hearted humor. I also enjoyed the ideas expressed in each plane and how they compare to our world, it's practices and it's beliefs. This would actually be a very fun book to read on a trip. On a plane to be more precise. An escape from the "rushed" waiting of air travel. After all, it's the monotony of air travel that started the whole thing..............

Monkey Hunting

Monkey Hunting by Gabriel Garcia – This was an interesting story that spanned 100 years and 5 generations. This is the story of a Chinese man who went to Cuba on promises of riches only to find himself on a slave ship bound for the sugar fields of Cuba.
His life and those of his descendants follows.

I enjoyed this story. It was not life changing but it was life reflective. And life appreciative. I found myself realizing how lucky I have been in terms of when and where I was born.

This is a fast and easy read. And I’m glad I ordered it.

A Feast For Crows

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin – This is the fourth installment of his Fire and Ice Series. This VERY long awaited book got to be too long and was as yet unfinished so the book is being published in two releases. When this decision was made they chose to have half the stories told in Crows, and then the other stories would be completed in the yet to be released Dance of Dragons.

To clarify, in this series each chapter is told through the eyes of different characters. And these characters live in different areas of 7 Kingdoms. So in Crows he only covered half the characters in half the kingdoms. Dance of Dragons will complete the stories during a certain time line.

Unlike the previous three novels I found myself getting a little aggravated with Crows. The writing style is as beautiful as ever. But the stories progressed a little slower. And I know that going into Dragons we will be forced to figure out where in the time line the characters are. Whereas the previous three books flowed nicely because you were finding out what was happening during a specific time to different characters. It was easier to follow because as you finished a chapter your picture of the kingdom grew larger and larger as well as more complete.

I think the fact that he divided #4 is going to make for less continuous story. Especially if his current trends continue we won’t see Dragons for several more years.

Unfortunately the story got longer and his need for perfection has become an obsession. Even the most hard core of his readers will find themselves loosing their dedication. A great story shouldn’t be work to read.

I trust for now he will get Dragons out as soon as humanely possible. And it will be written in a style that will help us to keep the time line in story order. Judging from reviews I read by readers I was not the only one that struggled through Crows. Of course the last chapter for each character was exciting and ended in cliff hangers. But it didn’t make for the pleasurable reading that the previous three did. Unlike my normal routine I did go back and read the first three books again. But I did that 4 years ago when they first announced the release date for Crows. But every month the release date pushed back. By the time Crows did come out I struggled a bit to remember where #3 had left off. Again, I wasn’t the only one that did this. Other fans re-read the series, other fans found themselves having re-read for “no reason”.

And Crows was such a disappointment that I almost dread having to re-read it just before Dance of Dragons is released. If it is released………………….

I do want to clarify “disappointment”. Honestly I enjoyed the story. I really did. And I couldn’t wait to curl up and read it. But with the absence of some characters, and with the relative “uneventfulness” of much of the story, I just didn’t LOVE the book the way I did the previous three. And I LOVED the first three so much that anything shy of their perfection seems to be a disappointment.

The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - As most readers know you have to read a lot of books to find those few gems out there that take your breath away. My father and I trade book info on a regular basis. He had been very anxious for me to keep reading the John Dunning series. Which is exactly what I was doing when he called to tell me about The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. He then called me approximately twice each day to see if I had started the book. Which for my dad is a little odd. Previous to this book he had really really really wanted me to read The Bookman's Promise. So I was completely amazed that he wanted me to give up one book he really wanted me to read in exchange for a different book. So, I read late into the night to finish Bookman's Promise and began the Thirteenth Tale over coffee in the morning. And HOLY COW! This is an amazing book. This is a warm and rich tale that pulls you into the story so deeply that I often felt like I had fallen into a dream. It's not often that I get so deeply sucked into a story that I forget about my surroundings. This is not a story to change your life. This is not a story that will change you necessarily in any way, but it is a story that is deeply engrossing. This is a story that really makes you feel like you are a part of the adventure. A fly on the wall so to speak. A voyeur. A story written so well that the characters became individual faces and voices in my head. This type of experience is why we read. Why we read mediocre story after mediocre story. Because every once in a while we find a brilliant gem.

The Bookman's Promise

What a ride. The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning.

This is the third in a wonderful series. I love these books and it seems like each one I read is better than the last. Dunning has created a marvelous world revolving around the life of a cop turned book dealer. The Bookman's Promise is about just that. A promise the main character makes to a dying woman. I love these books and I can devour them in a day or so. I have book #4 sitting on my shelf but I hesitate to read it just yet. I want to savor the experience. Opening a book by Dunning is a reward I give myself every so often. I like to spread out my bliss.

Baudolino

Life's too short to waste on a bad book. But what about a book that isn't so much bad as it is tedious. Or maybe the word is slow. Or maybe the word is "Just not grabbing me" but yet the back of my lil ol' brain sorta wants to keep going. The story is Baudolino by Umberto Eco. And I decided this morning after 150 some pages to put it down for a while. I'm used to reading a book or two a week and this story seems to be bogging me down from my usual pace.

The Big Over Easy

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde is the first book in his second series. I have read his first series which is based on the character Thursday Next. He is a wonderfully creative artist. Reading one of his books is always a joyous adventure.

This new series did not disapoint. It's centers around the Nursery Crime Division and it's chief detective Jack Spratt along with his partner Detective Mary Mary. Yes, you guessed it. The characters are all from nursery rhymes.

The first book in the Thursday Next Series is the Eyre Affair. Pick up either one and you are in for a wonderous treat!

The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists

The Pirates In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe is a funny fast read. By fast I mean 1/2 day. By fun, I mean a half day of reading with the image of Captain Jack Sparrow in my head. This is not related in any way to the Pirates of the Carribean, but hey, the story is about pirates. So, DUH!

Funny and fast. This would be the perfect book to take to the beach, on a plane, what have you. No deep thoughts here. Just fun.