My shattered goal

4 Comments

My goal for starting this blog in January was to keep a running tally of the books I read for the year with a review.  Every year it is my intention to read a book a week, but I never quite make it and I thought the blog would keep me honest.  I decided to count my books so far for the year and I’ve already read 59!  I can’t believe it.  This blog has been a great motivator.

As I looked through my list I picked my five favorites so far this year.  On Writing by Stephen King is my favorite this year, hands down.  I also really liked Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr, Fear & Trembling by Amelie Nothomb, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore, and The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver.

Anyone else have a favorite for the year so far?

Suffering Fools, by Ed Gaffney

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished 7-22-08, rating 3/5, suspense, pub. 2006

“You know sometimes big problems get smaller when you talk about them.”  Chapter 25

This is the second book with attorneys Zack and Terry, but I didn’t realize that or I would have started with the first one.  But, no worries, this was completely a stand alone novel.  Zack and Terry, friends since college, take the case of ‘Babe’ for free and find themselves trying to defend a man who can barely put a complex sentence together.  At the same time, there is a kidnapped woman who cannot remember who she is and an Assistant District Attorney more concerned with the truth than a conviction, much to the consternation of his boss.

I liked it, but there were a lot of story lines going on at the same time that took place at different times.  In one chapter you could be reading an long ago written email, a future trial transcript, present time and two months ago.  It seemed unnecessarily confusing.  The mystery and the writing were good enough that I really didn’t really need to wait until the middle of the book to get a handle on who was who.  Even with that complaint the book kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.  I’ll have to read the the first book about these attorneys.

Hey, I won!

1 Comment

I visit www.writerspace.com regularly.  It’s a place where you can access the biggest names in romance.  The participating authors have monthly contests and the site itself has a web ‘party’ a few times a year where you can chat with your favorites.  On Sunday they had a Beach Party and by signing up once I was entered to win from hundreds of prizes.  I won a book by Maryrose Wood.  http://writerspace.com/beach/winners.html 

If you are a fan of romance or romantic suspense I hope you’ll check out the site.    This is the third book I’ve won here in the last 3 or 4 years.  Happy Reading!

Famous Last Words Quiz

3 Comments

Great job, Miss Bermudaonion!

Here’s how to play…Identify the last lines of these famous novels by telling me what book it’s from. Leave a comment with the # of the last line and the title of the book 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? Mid week I’ll offer hints if needed.

1 .”It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” (Dickens) A TALE OF TWO CITIES

2.  “With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.” (Austen)  Bermudaonion, Pride and Prejudice by Austen

3.  “It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” (Salinger) Bermudaonion, Catcher in the Rye by Salinger

4.  “Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The land is not to be sold.’ But over the old man’s head they looked at each other and smiled.” (Buck) THE GOOD EARTH

5.  “But I don’t think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt.” (Walker)  THE COLOR PURPLE

6.  “Oh, my girls, however long you live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this.” Bermudaonion, Little Women by Alcott

7.  “Up out of the lampshade, startled by the overhead light, flew a large nocturnal butterfly that began circling the room. The strains of the piano and violin rose up weakly from below.” (Kundera)  THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

8.  “He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.”  Bermudaonion, To Kill A Mockingbird by Lee

9.  “After all, tomorrow is another day.”  Bermudaonion, Gone With the Wind by Mitchell

10.  “She’s never found peace since she left his arms, and never will again till she’s as he is now!” (Hardy) JUDE THE OBSCURE

11.  “The sun is but a morning star.” (Thoreau)  Jason, Walden by Thoreau

12.  “April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.” (Joyce)  A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

Dear John, by Norma Betz

Leave a comment

Finished 7-18-08, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 2008

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this free reviewer copy with the understanding that I would review it here.  I agreed because the story sounded interesting.  Susanna must go and take care of her deceased aunt’s estate and in the process learns a lot about herself through the letters she finds written by her ancestor, Abigail Adams.  She is joined on this journey by her best companion, her dog Quincy.  I love dogs and genealogy and thought this book would be right up my alley.  It was not.

I loved the idea of the story, but the execution wasn’t good.  My first problem came early on when I found the first notation to refer to the chapter notes at the end of the book.  There were many and they stopped the story and were totally unnecessary.  I’ve never seen it in fiction and there is a good reason why.  The clunky language was the main problem of the book.  The language was stilted and although the characters were fine, their language made them pretty boring. 

There were a few bright spots.  I loved Quincy and his relationship with Susanna.  Also, if you are interested in Abigail Adams you will probably like this better than I did.  It is filled with Abigail letters that I found myself skimming, but someone else may find very interesting.

This is her first book and she used an alternative publishing source, Authorhouse.  If you are interested in self-publishing your own book and would like me to send you this copy so that you can see the quality, leave and comment and I’ll get it to you.

Fearless Fourteen, by Janet Evanovich

2 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 7-17-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

Stephanie Plum is back with her crazy assortment of cohorts.  Ranger needs Stephanie for a bodyguard gig and Morelli needs her for mother duty.  Ranger’s job introduces her to an aging singer way past her prime and the singer’s stalker who follows Stephanie home.  Morelli is stuck with Zook, who may or may not be his son and needs Stephanie’s help until they can find his mother.  Everyone is town thinks that 9 million dollars is buried at Morelli’s house and the town crazies (including Grandma Mazur) show up with a shovel.  Lula proposes to herself and Tank faints, while Morelli might mention marriage to Stephanie.

I have been disappointed with the series for more than a few books now, but this book made me happy to have Stephanie back.  It was good to see some character growth.  Although I missed Ranger and the chemistry between them I thought Stephanie’s relationship with Morelli was sweet and sexy.  And I loved the storyline of Lula and Tank’s engagement, priceless.  This book was the best one in awhile and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Entertainment Weekly new classics

2 Comments

Entertainment Weekly compiled a list of ‘classic’ books written since 1983.  This link is to the top 25.  http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20211702,00.html 

From there you can access the top 100.  I have read 4 of the top 25- On Writing by Stephen King, Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling.   After that I’ve only read 4 of the last 75!

I’m not sure I think many of these will be considered classics in the future, but what do I know I’ve only read 8 of the 100.  What do you think of the list?

Bittersweet Rain, by Sandra Brown

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished 7-13-08, rating 3/5, romance, pub. 1984

Caroline grew up as the daughter of the town drunk.  She was the poor girl who would never amount to anything.  Rink was the significantly older, rich son of the town patriarch.  He met Caroline when she was only 15 and fell in love.  They hid their relationship until one day Rink decided to tell his father, regardless of the consequences.

Fast forward 12 years and you’ll find Caroline married to Roscoe, Rink’s dad.  Roscoe is dying and Rink is forced to come home.  Rink and Caroline are forced together by the circumstances, but find their attraction has the same powerful pull it had before. 

As silly as this may sound, and I thought it sounded silly too, it was an enjoyable romance.  There were a few things that I thought would be hard to get over, a college graduate in love with a 15 year old and a woman marrying an old man for the comforts he could provide, but somehow it worked.  It was a good romance and I would recommend it.  Sandra Brown knows how to tell a good story.

You Learn by Living, by Eleanor Roosevelt

1 Comment

You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling LifeYou Learn by Living:Eleven Keys for a More Fulfulling Life

Finished 7-12-08, rating 4/5, non-fiction, pub. 1960

“It is a brave thing to have courage to be an individual; it is also, perhaps, a lonely thing.  But it is better than not being an individual, which is to be nobody at all.”                  Chapter 7

“What counts, in the long run, is not what you read; it is what you sift through your own mind; it is the ideas and impressions that are aroused in you by your reading.  It is the ideas stirred in your own mind, the ideas which are a reflection of your own thinking, which make you an interesting person.”         Chapter 1

I knew and still, in many ways, know very little about Eleanor Roosevelt.  She wrote this book only a few years before she died and in it she chronicles what the many years of her life taught her.  She covers a variety of topics: learning, fear, using your time, maturity, readjustments, usefulness, individuality, getting the best out of people, responsibility, politics participation, and being a public servant.  This book holds up remarkably well and many of the affairs of the world are eeerily relevant today.

Eleanor was born to priveledge and the book makes that evident.  Some of the advice, while coming from a good place, seems somewhat elitist.  On the other hand, she is a woman who has seen the people of the world at their best and worst and has come away with a passion for life and making the world a better place.  Her antedotes about some of the important men of the day, her lunch with Calvin Coolidge and conversation with Mr. Krushchev are two that come to mind, make the book that much more interesting.  I found the book enlightening, inspiring, and educational.

She talks a lot about raising children and I think this would be a wonderful gift for a mom-to-be or new mother who has an interest in history or even the empowerment of women.  I think you’ll be better off for having read this book.