Month: December 2008

Foul Play, by Tori Carrington

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Cover ImageFinished 12-13-08, rating 4/5, mystery, pub.2007

Book 3 in the Sophie Metropolis series

Greek-American Sophie Metropolis is back as Astoria, Queen’s newest private investigator.  As a new PI Sophie has yet to prove herself as a the real deal, but when the wife of the Mets star pitcher approaches her Sophie knows this could catapult her into the major leagues.  Sophie pushes the missing pets cases aside and follows Reni Venezuela becoming more and more convinced something is off even as he leads the Mets to the World Series.

Sophie’s wonderful Greek family is as warm and welcoming and pushy as ever.  Sophie hasn’t seen sexy Jake Porter in a month, so when a handsome Greek banker her mother has chosen for her younger sister shows up on Sophie’s doorstep, she cannot resist temptation.  And there is also her ex-fiance making a nuisance of himself by suing her grandfather. 

Sophie Metropolis has been compared to Stephanie Plum (series by Janet Evanovich), and while I love both this is my favorite.  It has the same quirks and colorful characters, but tells the story with more heart.  I care about Sophie and though she is a zany mess now I have hope that one day she’ll pull herself together and get everything she wants.

Something that attracted me to this series in the first place is that fact that Tori Carrington is a husband-wife writing team from Ohio.  The have a great website and contests and if you are on their email list they send fun updates with recipes and polls and lots of extras.  http://www.toricarrington.net/

I recommend this series to anyone who likes Janet Evanovich, who is interested in the Greek-American culture, or who is looking for quick, light-hearted read.

Stephanie Plum cast

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As I was surfing around last night I came across videos and websites devoted to choosing the perfect cast for Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.  I’ve read all of the books and had a fun time looking at everyone’s choices.  I thought I’d make my own picks.

Stephanie Plum- Sandra Bullock and Lauren Graham would also have been good, but both may be 5 years too late, so I’m going with Anne Hathaway or Jamie Lynn Siglar.

Joe Morelli is a tough one, but I’d be happy with Josh Duhamel or Bobby Cannavale.

Ranger is a tougher choice, but both Adam Rodriquez and Shamar Moore have potential.

As for Lula, it is MoNique all the way.

As for the rest of the cast of misfits…

Connie- Debi Mazur

Tank – Dwayne Johnson (the Rock)

Mrs. Plum – Joy Behar

Mr. Plum – James Gandolfini

Grandma – Cloris Leachman

Valerie – Rachel McAdams

Sally Sweet – Russel Brand

Cousin Vinnie – Steve Buscemi

Have you read the series?  Who would you choose?  And if you haven’t read the series, what are you waiting for?

Jane Eyre, 1944 movie

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Jane Eyre****

After watching the 1996 iterpretation of Jane Eyre (review here) and reading the comments I thought I’d try another version.  I watched the 1944 movie with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine and loved it!  It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was a vast improvement over the last. 

This movie contained more of the story and details in less time than the 1996 version.  There wasn’t a wasted moment and I surprised at how much they were able to show in the 96 minutes.  Her time at the school was well done; I wouldn’t want to attend the strict school.  I thought it did a good job at showing the growing relationship between Rochester and Jane.

The cast was wonderful.  Orson Welles did a good job as Mr. Rochester.  He was dark, menacing, and a commanding presence.  He may not have been old enough, but if that is my main complaint, that’s not bad.  I thought Joan Fontaine captured the spirit of Jane, if not the personality.  I was enchanted by young Jane, Peggy Ann Garner, and Adele, Margaret O’Brien.  And I was surprised to see a young Elizabeth Taylor as young Jane’s friend, Helen.  She was beautiful even at such a young age!

I also have the BBC miniseries checked out of the library and am looking forward to watching it soon.  Maybe after I’ve watched all of the different versions I can choose my dream cast!

Happiness Sold Separately, by Lolly Winston

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Cover ImageFinished 12-9-08, rating 4/5, fiction pub. 2006

“Choices.”  Elinor finally says, repeating her mother.  “That’s kind of a fairy tale, you know?”  She leans her head on Beatrice’s bony shoulder.  Elinor has always been pro-choice, but it never occurred to her that one day she’d have no choice.  There are many things you can do later in life, but having a baby isn’t necessarily one of them.”      -Chapter 3

Ted and Elinor have been married for five years, trying to have a child for half of that time.  Their struggle has taken its toll on their marriage and Ted begins an affair with his trainer at the gym.  When Elinor finds out she is devastated.  The two try counseling, but Elinor needs space.  This space leads Ted to continue sleeping with his trainer, Gina. 

This book has a wonderful cast of characters and enough surprises to keep you reading.  I thought all three of the main characters had their moments of too much self-pity, but that’s what made them real.  I was rooting for Elinor and Ted and had sympathy for Gina. 

This book felt honest and true until close to the end.  There was a silly scene that didn’t feel like the rest of the book, but other than that I enjoyed it very much.  It’s hard to tackle infertility, infidelity, a troubled marriage, and single parenting and make it entertaining. 

I read a review at Book Addiction that made me want to read this book and I’m glad I did.  It was a worthwhile read.  I plan on checking out Winston’s first book, Gook Grief.

More reviews-

Heather @ Book Addiction

The Handmaid and the Carpenter, by Elizabeth Berg

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Cover ImageFinished listening to 12-8-08, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2006

This is the love story of Mary and Joseph.  We meet them as they meet each other and declare their intentions toward one other.  Mary is a brazen 13 year old girl who is visited by an angel and Joseph is an uncompromising 16 year old who lacks the faith to believe in the miracle of Mary’s Christ child.  This is their story and although it obviously includes Jesus the story ends with Joseph’s passing.

I listened to this on cd read by the author and thought it was a nice story for the season.  I think Berg took great liberties with the story, but for a short holiday read it was enjoyable.  It would be a nice gift for the sometime reader who doesn’t mind that Mary and Joseph might seem a but too human.

Ishmael:An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit, by Daniel Quinn

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Cover ImageFinished 12-6-08, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 1992

“TEACHER seeks pupil.  Must have an earnest desire to save the world.  Apply in person.”   -Chapter 1

The narrator of this book answers this ad in the local paper and finds a full-grown gorilla, Ishmael, waiting for him in an office.  Ishmael and the narrator can talk to each other and Ishmael shares the truth about the history of the world and mankind.  The narrator is a willing, if somewhat daft, student and becomes convinced that everything the gorilla says is true, from his take on overpopulation and how it relates to feeding starving people to the destructive things Mother Culture teaches us that are ruining the planet.

Jason and I read this together and it took us over 6 months and not because it was long!  This book is an overly repetitive philosophy lesson.  It has some really interesting and thought-provoking ideas, but went out of the way to repeat each idea ten different ways so that it made me feel like I was back in school with a bad teacher.  There was no plot or storyline to follow, just a guy listening to a gorilla tell him what was wrong with the world and how to fix it. 

Okay, so if I disliked it so much why did I give it 3 stars?  The ideas themselves were good.  It didn’t necessarily change my view of the world, but it did reinforce some of what I already believed about man’s need to conquer the world at any cost.  Jason’s favorite part was the retelling of the Cain & Abel story to fit the philosophies of Ishmael. 

If you are looking for a good story, skip it.  If you want to be exposed to different ideas about the our society and the world I think you’ll probably get a lot out the book.  It won the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship , a half million dollar prize, when it was published.

Books = Gifts

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This year I had decided to make books the theme of my Christmas gift giving.  We have an independent bookstore that I will support by shopping there and I’m compiling my list of ideas before I go.  Last night I found the website, http://www.booksequalgifts.com/, and was excited to see a site with links to good gift ideas, a book sweepstakes, and this fun video
America’s book publishers are proud to debut a holiday video featuring Elmo, Martha Stewart, Jon Stewart, Barbara Walters, Dean Koontz, Maya Angelou, Mary Higgins Clark, Kathie Lee Gifford, Bill O’Reilly, Christopher Paolini, Frank McCourt, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Julie Andrews, Cesar Milan, Carol Higgins Clark, Alec Baldwin, Deidre Imus, Jim Cramer, Nora Ephron, Dan Brown, Judy Blume, Jonathan Lethem, Scott Westerfeld, Rachael Ray, and John Lithgow sharing their reasons why books make great gifts.
I hope you will all join me this year in supporting authors, booksellers, and publishers by buying books for gifts 🙂

Queen Vernita’s Visitors by Dawn Menge, an Aunt Betty review

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Queen Vernita's VisitorsAuthor, Dawn Menge – Illustrator Bobbi Switzer

Reviewed by Aunt Betty

It was a fun read for me.  I would like to have been one of Queen Vernita’s visitors!  The story is such a great learning tool especially for Kindergarten – 2nd grade.  A child could pick up a lot of spin off ideas furthering their knowledge of the seasons, days and months.

Queen Vernita related a lot of cool everyday fun ideas for young children.  Being a ‘queen” I was impressed with the fun activities that included things she could do with her friends inside the walls of the castle, out on the grounds, or in the village.

The illustrator gave great insight with the drawings as to the characters personalities and the world around the oceaneer.  I was only disappointed there were no roses around the castle as was mentioned in the story, although the ivy was shown.

I was pleased to know Queen Vernita and her friend, Debbie, read books together.  It warms a librarians heart.

The counting of days in each month, I liked.  It encourages the child to learn them for his/her own self.  A teacher, librarian or parent could follow up on some of what was brought out in this fine story.

I liked the ending when each of her friends let Queen Vernita know how anxious they were to come for another visit when their month came around again.  The sparks of friendship glowed in this story.

My Aunt Betty has been an elementary school librarian for 24 years.  This is not surprising because she loves kids and kids appreciate her enthusiasm.  It is because of her that I enjoy a close relationship with my 7 cousins (later, 9).  She always had all of us over for sleepovers and other outings.  All 9 of us would cram into her Rabbit for trips around town.  You never see that anymore

I asked around for words to describe Aunt Betty and these are the words that came back the most…Happy, Caring, and Thoughtful.  As for me, my top three choices are Fun, Kind, and Full of Life.

Sundays at Tiffany’s, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

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Cover ImageFinished 12-1-08, fiction, rating 3.5/5, pub. 2008

“Please don’t leave me, Michael.  I’m begging you.  You can’t – not now, not ever!  You don’t know how important you are to me!”

“You’ll see, Jane,” he promised her.  “You’ll forget me, and it won’t hurt tomorrow.  Besides, you said it yourself: Love means you can never be apart.  So we’ll never be apart, Jane, because Iove you so much.  I’ll always, always love you.”

And with those words, Michael began to fade out of the room, in imaginary friend-style…”     -Chapter 7

Jane was a lonely child with a successful but neglectful mother.  Jane’s imaginary friend, Michael, gave her friendship and love before he had to leave her on her 9th birthday.  Fast forward 23 years and Jane has never forgotten Michael, achieving her own success by putting their story on the Broadway stage.  Even with this success she is still a lonely girl who never feels good enough.  Michael is between assignments and sees Jane on the New York streets and decides to follow her.  Michael is shocked to find out that Jane remembers him, something that has never happened before.

This is a fast read (I finished it in a day) and one that will open your imagination.  Who doesn’t want to have an imaginary friend whose sole purpose is to make them happy?  I was prepared to put my disbelief out in the snow while I cozied up to a lighthearted read.  It did tickle my imagination in a light, if not superficial way.  Michael was the perfect man and Jane was a normal girl who had never stopped loving him.  I even got past the fact that somehow Michael never aged, so when he was friends with an 8 year old girl he was the same age as when he fell in love with the same girl 23 years later.

The ending ruined much of the magic, for me at least.  I won’t ruin it for you, but I was disappointed because it felt lazy.  It could have been powerful or poignant, but it was…boring and short on explanation.  I liked the book and maybe not everyone will have a problem with the ending.  Total romantics will love it.  I consider myself more of a romantic realist, so I was a bit disappointed.  Overall it was a fun read with lots of potential, but one I’ve already rewritten in my head a half dozen ways and liked better!

 

Free books for December

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Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book wins.

Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want. 

1. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice writing as A.N. Roquelaure – brand new hardcover book club copy for Bobbie

2. Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller – trade paperback read once

3. Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware – paperback read a few times

4. Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman – paperback read once for Satish

5. 1st To Die by James Patterson– like new paperback for Debby

Thanks for helping me clear my shelves!  Happy Reading 🙂