Shameless, by Tori Carrington

1 Comment

Book CoverFinished 9-5-08, rating 1/5, romance?,  pub. 2008

“In this day and age, is it bad for a woman to yearn for some good, hot, anonymous sex?”  –opening line of the book

Um…I picked this Harlequin Blaze #377 up because I love the Sophie Metropolis series by this husband/wife writing team and was curious about their romances, they’ve written over 35.  So, as you can see from the opening line, the plot is thin.  Nina has two hot partners who also happen to be friends.  Nina has a problem confusing sex with love, so one of the guys suggests a night of anonymous sex with one of them.  She won’t know which because she will be blindfolded.

I’ve already given this more time than it deserves.  I’m sure people read the Harlequin Blaze series because they want sex, but I felt gross reading it.  But I do recommend the Sophie Metropolis series, it’s quite good.

Sweet Caroline, by Rachel Hauck

3 Comments

Sweet CarolineFinished 9-4-08, rating 4/5, inspirational fiction, pub. 2008

This is the first inspirational fiction book that I’ve read.  I’m not sure what my expectations were, but I’d have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  I guess I thought that inspirational fiction would offer a sanitized view of the world, but instead of that being a bad thing I found it to be a sweet look at the world, even if that sweetness was unbelievable at times.

Caroline is in her late 20’s, single, and floating through life by helping other people with their lives instead of making one of her own.  The owner of the cafe where she works has died and left the cafe to her.  The place is a money pit and Caroline struggles with whether to stay and save the cafe or to take a plum job in Spain.  Her life is further complicated by her dating a reformed ladies man while her first true loves comes back to town.  And it is during this time that she attends church and feels the presence of God in her life.

This is a nice story that feels like the South Carolina low country it is set in.  The writing was good and kept me reading into the night.  There were many storylines woven together with real skill.  The finding God storyline was one that I found moving without being preachy.  That being said, some things were a little too good.  I’ve never had a car dealer make a deal with me and then throw in an extra $1000 because he thinks I’m a good person and I know there are many virgins in their late 20’s, but they and their dates have issues with it that never really came up in this book.  So there were a few things that didn’t ring quite true for me.

I would recommend this book.  I think you’ll really like Caroline and her story.  Essentially, it’s one woman’s quest to make her way in the world on her own terms.  I will gladly read more inspirational fiction, especially when I need to be reassured that the world is not always the cynical place it’s made out to be.

Pride & Prejudice, BBC 5 hour miniseries

Leave a comment

Cover ImageI should start by confessing that I have never read a Jane Austen novel.  I have a stack of her titles waiting to be read and I think I’ve seen all of the movie adaptations, but I have never sat down and read one.  I have no excuse.  I’ll make it my goal to get one read before the end of the year. 

I saw the most recent Pride & Prejudice with Kiera Knightly and liked it very much, but I had heard and read from many that the BBC miniseries was the very best adaptation to date.  So, as my husband has been out of town for a few days, I thought there would be no better time to check out the dvd set from the library.

It was wonderful and I highly recommend it.  I have a soft spot for Colin Firth (not sure why, but it can’t be helped) and I thought he was a perfect Mr. Darcy.  I thought a few of the dancing scenes in the beginning were a little too long, but that is my only slight complaint.  If you have only seen the 2 hour movie you really should rent this version.  I understand the story so much better after having seen it.  The characters that were only mildly annoying in the film became only more stridently so in the miniseries, but in a mostly entertaining way.  The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy  became much more clear.  The actors were great and it was a much less ‘hollywood-ish’ movie. 

Great miniseries, but don’t expect your husband or boyfriend to sit through it, unless he really, really loves you.  But, beware, you never know what he may expect you to watch.

FREE BOOKS for September

5 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  They are all in good shape and have been read once or twice.

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. Ricochet by Sandra Brown (hardcover book club copy) Brown is always reliable for a fast paced thriller  for Yessenia

2. When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman (paperback) the first of the Alex Delaware mystery series for Donstuff

3. Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg (paperback) Berg is one of my favorites for womens fiction for bermudaonion

4. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (paperback) If you like romances you must read Phillips.  She’s one of my favorites.

Thanks for helping me make room for new books on my bookshelves.  Happy Reading!

Inside Out Girl, by Tish Cohen

3 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 8-31-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2008

“Wasn’t that one of the cardinal rules of the road?  If someone needed help and you weren’t prepared to offer any, glance away and feign ignorance.”      Chapter 4

Rachel Berman is head of a Perfect Parentmagazine and single mother of a 12 year old boy and a 14 year old girl.  Len Bean is a widower and father to a ten year old daughter, Olivia, who suffers from NLD, nonverbal learning disorder.  Rachel and Len meet and suddenly their lives and the lives of their children are blending into a family, if not a dysfunctional one.  Olivia is a joke at school and Rachel’s kids, Janie and Dustin, are not  inclined to make her life any easier.  Janie is dealing with her own hormonal and sexual issues that take center stage.

There are a few surprises here and there, but I don’t want to give any away.  This was a very enjoyable book about issues that most families are dealing with.  I loved her writing style and the story moved at a fast pace.  I think you will enjoy getting to know Olivia, as I did, and becoming a little more informed about a disorder that is closely linked to autism (but not the same).  And Janie’s story will bring back the early teen years when whatever someone said about you at school one day had the ability to ruin your whole life.  My only complaint is that some things were a little too convenient.  As readers, we are agreeing to suspend our disbelief, but that only goes so far. 

I received this book for free to review and it exceeded my expectations.  I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good family-oriented story, or someone interested in reading about a child with special needs.  Olivia is a wonderful character and you will fall in love with her.  Tish Cohen’s first book, Town House, is being made into a movie.   www.tishcohen.com

Ohio State opening football game

3 Comments
Yesterday, Jason and I watched in dread as Beanie Wells went down in the 3rd quarter of the OSU/Youngstown State football game.  As alumni I get two tickets a year and sometimes we give our tickets away, but this year we went.  It was a beautiful day and I LOVE the first home game of the season because the band alumni come back to make one massive pack of marching music.  And at halftime they did FOUR Script Ohio’s, which is always a highlight.  We were four rows back on the upper deck of the Horseshoe and the sun gave us both a nice pink face (and a red nose for me) and the game was good.  We got to see our new freshman quarterback, who is going to be awesome, and were enjoying some hot dogs and Coke when Beanie went down by the goal line and did not get up…for a long time.  It was pretty tense in the stadium.  He is a Heisman hopeful and we Buckeyes take our football very seriously.  We are traveling to USC in a few weeks and we need Beanie.  We won the game 43-0 and we all hope for Beanie’s speedy recovery.  When I heard the injury was turf toe, I thought, great, he stubbed his toe and he’ll be fine.  Then I was told that it could be serious.  If the injury can be serious they really need to come up with a more scary name.  Any ideas?

How Not To Write A Novel, by Mittelmark & Newman

1 Comment

How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep GuideHow Not to Write a Novel. Finished 8-26-08, rating 4.5/5, how-to/writing, pub. 2008

“As a writer you have only one job:to make the reader turn the page.”    page 1

If there is one thing this How-Not-To book does it is to make you turn the page.  You won’t want to stop, really.  This hilarious book focuses on the 200 most common mistakes that unpublished authors make and offers solutions.  It provides examples of the bad writing that it is offering up for ridicule, followed by an explanation and how to fix it (if you want to be published).  Let me provide a couple of examples…

“While it is your job to know a great deal about your characters, it is seldom necessary to share it all with the reader, and by ‘seldom,’ we mean ‘never.’ ”      page 10

“…you should think twice before using an exclamation mark.  If you have thought twice and the exclamation mark is still there, think about it three times, or however many times it takes until you delete it.”      page 111

The book covers all points of your novel from plot and style to dealing with the publishing world.  This is a must have for anyone writing, or even just thinking about writing, a novel.  Every fiction writer will gain insight from this book and be completely entertained along the way.  I found myself laughing out loud more than once, shaking my head at the poor writer being scorned until I came to the next mistake and realized that the poor writer was me.  Highly recommended for all writers of fiction.

“However, if you have perversely refused to use the lessons offered in this book as we intended, and instead avoided each of the mistakes we describe, perhaps you now find yourself a published author.  In that case, our follow-up book, How Not to Make a Living Wage, will be indispensable.”    -the last page

Who Am I?

8 Comments

Lots of authors use a pen name or pseudonym.  Do you think you would recognize famous authors by their real names?

Here’s how to play…Identify the famous authors by their real names.  Leave a comment with the # and the pen name for the author and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! If you know them all, please don’t guess every one, maybe five max?

Example- A. Samuel Clemens           Answer-His pen name was Mark Twain

1. Charles Lutwig Dodgson  Lewis Carroll, thanks to the adventurous Jason

2. William Sidney Porter (Gifts are sometimes hard to choose) O. Henry

3. Evan Hunter (The 87th Precinct is the place to be) Ed McBain, no mystery to donstuff

4. Eric Arthur Blair  George Orwell, big brother would be proud of Donstuff

5. Mary Westmacott (I goofed up on this one.  This is actually her pen name when this best selling mystery writer wrote romances.)  Agatha Christie, no mystery to Elena Margo

6. Howard Allen O’Brien (My name seems masculine, but by vampires seem feminine)  Anne Rice, thanks to Jason for not leaving bite marks

7. Alisa Rosenbaum (She shrugged her way into a movement)  Ayn Rand, Roarke sends his congrats to bermudaonion

8. Mary Anne Evans  George Eliot, hats off to bermudaonion

9. James Oliver Rigney Jr. (The wheels continue after all this time) Robert Jordan

The Coffin Dancer, by Jeffery Deaver

5 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 8-23-08, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 1998

I am surprised after I loved the first in this series, The Bone Collector, so much that I like the sequel even better.  Quadriplegic forensic specialist, Lincoln Rhymes, is back with his protege crime scene specialist, Amelia Sachs, in an all new and more personal race against the clock to catch a killer.  There is no down time.  From the opening pages where a federal witness is blown to bits while landing his plane to the shocking conclusion I was riveted.

The Coffin Dancer is a hired assassin that has fooled Lincoln before.  A few years earlier the Coffin Dancer, named that because of a tatoo on his arm, had killed two of Lincoln’s techs and Lincoln was still incensed that he had gotten away.  One of the two witnesses that Lincoln must protect is Percey, a woman pilot who has a lot in common with Lincoln.  This closeness sparks Amelia’s jealousy and there is tension between Lincoln and Amelia as they race to catch a killer.

Lincoln is such a great character because he shows his strength through his intellect and not physical power.  In this second book Lincoln has more electrical gadgets and is able to do more with what he has than he did in the first book.  This is a top rate page turner that does not disappoint.  The twists and turns are many and the writing is taut.  I think this is a don’t miss for thriller fans.  My only recommendation…don’t read this on a plane 🙂

How the States Got Their Shapes on CSPAN2

1 Comment

I don’t know how many people watch cspan2 on the weekends, but if the tv is on and I’m aimlessly clicking I always see what’s on.  For those who aren’t familiar, it is Book TV on the weekends and has a series of  one hour book talks with various non-fiction authors.  The hour takes place in a bookstore and the author talks about his book and then takes questions from the small audience.  Many of them are political and if they lean too much either way I usually skip them, but sometimes you’ll find an hour of fun learning, like l did today. 

Mark Stein wrote How the States Got Their Shapes and it was published in May.  I’ve always looked at the map and accepted the way the states were shaped because I assumed there was a good reason for it and now that I’ve heard from Stein I find that there are a multitude of reasons behind the funny shapes.  Some of the larger influences were water, mountains, railroads, and slavery.  There was also the time tested power of bribery (Montana, Missouri), some religious mistrust (Utah), and voluntary ceding of land for political purpose (Kansas) involved in the decisions.  It really was fascinating.

Stein said that he wrote the book for a family on vacation and not a true scholar and that is the appeal I think.  I have a new way of looking at a US map and although I have not read the book I have to recommend at least watching the cspan segment.  There is a Watch Now option on this cspan2 link and also a schedule of upcoming book talks. 

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9604&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No

I really enjoyed the hour (except for 5 minutes one man in the audience wasted with his question) and plan on checking out the book to learn a little more about the lines of Ohio, which he barely touched on at all during this hour.  If you’ve read the book let me know what you thought.