Tag: Books

The Rival, by Brenda Joyce

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Cover ImageFinished 3-6-09, rating 3/5, historical romance, pub. 1998

“Lionel was fourteen when he died.  It is impossible to say how he might look now, at the age of twenty-eight,” Garrick said

“Did Lionel die?”  The earl whirled from where he stood at a window.  It was raining yet again outside, and the gardens were shrouded in a wet mist.  “He vanished.  Without a trace.  Into thin air.  Or so you claimed.”

Chapter 12

It is 1760, West Sussex and Garrick De Vere  is a man set to become heir to his father, the earl of Stanhope.  As a child his older brother vanished and was long presumed dead.  After ten long years of banishment to Barbados, Garrick is summoned home to take his rightful place in society.  But society, and his fiance, view him as a murderer.

Lady Olivia Gray is married to hateful man and lives in seclusion at their country estate with her blind daughter.  They both have the gift of sight, able to see the future, see ghosts.  Olivia knows Garrick is innocent and the minute the two meet sparks fly.

After ten years, Garrick’s older brother and rightful heir, Lionel, returns home to take what is his.  But is it really Lionel?  Garrick doesn’t trust him although both of his parents welcome the prodigal son with open arms.

This is a different kind of romance.  First, the heroine is a married woman and the husband, although abusive, is still in the picture.  The typical sexual tension and falling in love pretty much takes place in the first third of the book.  The rest is about Lionel and finding a way to be together.  There are many subplots and characters that keep the story moving forward and they somewhat overshadow the love affair.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but unexpected.

I love Brenda Joyce, but this book fell a little short of her standard.  For me, the love story ended too soon and Garrick was not the greatest hero.  Also, there are many characters to dislike in this book, and none of them really get their due in the end.  I was excited to see who this Lionel really was and I really wanted Olivia’s husband and sister-in-law to be exposed for the awful people that they were. 

Overall, it was an interesting story, but not one I’d recommend.  Brenda Joyce has written so many books, but this may have been my least favorite so far.  But, to be fair,  I hold her to a higher standard.

Billy Budd, by Herman Melville

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Cover ImageFinished 3-4-09, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 1924

Now there can exist no irritating juxtaposition of dissimilar personalities comparable to that which is possible aboard a great warship fully manned and at sea.  There, every day among all ranks, almost every man comes into more or less of contact with almost every other man.  Wholly there to avoid even the sight of an aggravating object one must needs give it Jonah’s toss or jump overboard himself.  Imagine how all this might eventually operate on some peculiar human creature the direct reverse of a saint!

Chapter 11

Billy Budd, called the Handsome Sailor because of his unmatched good looks, is an innocent soul on a warship full of hard men in the late 1790’s.  Through his genial and sunny disposition he wins them over, except for one.  John Claggart, the master-at-arms, showed Billy his smile, but secretly hated him.  This hate, born out of jealousy, would lead him to do an unthinkable thing to Billy and therefore seal his own fate.  Captain Vere, for his part in the story, tried to be fair, but even he was outsmarted by circumstance.

The story itself was good, but it was wrapped up in 114 pages of a hard to read draft.  This book was not published during Melville’s lifetime, and it did not see print until he had been dead for over 30 years.  The only other Melville work I’ve read is the short story Bartleby the Scrivener and I remember enjoying it.  Maybe I would have enjoyed this if it had been shortened.  Or maybe I just don’t appreciate Melville.  I almost gave up around page 10, but thought I could suffer through 114 pages.  I will remember the story itself, but do not plan on reading  more of Melville.

Ultra-Longevity:The Seven-Step Program for a Younger, Healthier You, by Mark Liponis, MD

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Cover ImageFinished 3-1-09, rating 3.5/5, health, pub. 2007

Aging is an autoimmune disease.  It is caused by your own immune system attacking you.Yes, that’s correct.  Aging is not a natural result of living too many years…

page 23

This book starts with a quiz.  Twenty-one questions determine how fast you are aging.  There are the expected questions about weight, smoking, and exercise, but then there are the unexpected questions about siblings, sex, jokes, and even about the time of year you were born.  Once I saw my score I immediately started reading the book. 

Just as our country’s defense system would be sorely tested if several invaders attacked simultaneously, so, too, when your body has to deal with many potential terrorists, the opportunities for breakdowns multiply.  This confusion leads to malfunction of the immune system, and that malfunction leads to bodily damage.

pages 55-56

The first section deals with your immune system and the many organs and cells involved in making it work.  This section is somewhat interesting and very detailed.  I don’t need that much information, but it is nice to have it explained in a relatively simple way.  This is also where he explains the CRP Test.  Essentially, this tests how active your immune system is and the less active the better.

The second section of the book discusses the seven steps you need to take to maintain a healthy immune system.  They are: breathing, eating, sleeping, dancing, loving, soothing, and enhancing.  I think it is interesting that he puts all of these areas side by side, with eating being equal to the others, not more important .  I thought this section was fun to read and easy to understand.  Who doesn’t like reading that a good sex life, singing every day, and massages can prolong your life? 

Many of these things aren’t new, but the immune system activation is a new way of looking at it.  I learned a lot and because some of these seven areas are easier than others you can start working right away on preserving your health.  It is a very holistic approach.

My main complaint is that is sometimes there is too much information.  I don’t need two pages about B-cells.  After a few paragraphs my attention starts to drift.  And while it’s nice to include studies to prove a point, they, too, can become  easy to skip over when there are too many.

Overall, I thought this was worthwhile and I took away lots of good information.  As for the quiz, I went back and decided what I needed to do to age at a slower pace, but because I live in Cleveland, am an only child, and was born in the fall, there are a  small number of things I can change.  But I’ll do what I can 🙂

Author Mark Liponis, MD, is the medical director of the Canyon Ranch Spa

Teaser Tuesday – Shantaram

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teasertuesdays3TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

  • Grab your current read.
    Let the book fall open to a random page.
    Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
    You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given    !
    Please avoid spoilers!

I told myself, as I watched the beating, that it was all too fast, that I was just dazed, and there was no time to react.  What we call cowardice is often just another name for being taken by surprise, and courage is seldom any better than simply being well prepared.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Chapter 3

This is a big book and it will take me awhile to finish.  This isn’t the last time you’ll see it on a Tuesday 🙂

Cover Image

Free Books for March

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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.  These paperbacks have all been read a time or two, but are in very good shape.

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. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe – old 1981 edition. great shape.  It’s a classic.  Especially great for the men in your life.  for Katie

2. Trail of Tears by Eileen Goudge – good women’s fiction. Review here.  for Renee

3. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips – great romance with lots of humor.  Review here.  for Bridget

4. Chill Factor by Sandra Brown – she is a master of suspense.  Review here.  for Sharon

5. Left Behind by LaHaye & Jenkins – first of the series.  Review here.  for Drey

Thanks for helping me clear my shelves.  Happy reading 🙂

9 in ’09 with LaConnie Taylor-Jones

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This Friday romance writer, LaConnie Taylor-Jones, joins me for 9 questions.  Last year I reviewed When a Man Loves a Woman, here.    You can visit her website at http://www.laconnietaylorjones.com/index.htm

LaConnie is a wife, mother of four, health educator, and author.  Somehow she found the time to fit in these 9 questions 🙂  Thank you, LaConnie!

1. When you wrote your first book, When I’m With You, did you know you would continue to write about the Baptiste family? Did you have future stories in mind for these characters?

Yes, I actually knew from the beginning that there would be at least four stories from the Baptiste Family. Since I’ve introduced them to readers, they’ve been well received and many readers have requested stories from some of the secondary characters. Only time will tell if this will happen.

2. I love a great romance, but sometimes the genre gets a bad rap. What is the most memorable reaction you have received when you told someone you are a romance writer?

First let me say, I ditto your sentiments. I love romance, too, both as a reader and a writer. A romance novel has the same characteristics as any other novel, except it centers on the love between two people, and provides an optimistic ending. The read is fresh, smart, and diverse.

The most memorable reaction occurred in late 2007 when I stood face-to-face with a person I’d recently met at a small gathering. After a few moments of polite introductory exchange, I casually mentioned that I’d recently published my debut novel.

“Oooh, so how exciting,” the person exclaimed.

With a smile, I nodded and said, “Yes, it certainly is.”

“So, tell me, what do you write?”

“Contemporary romance.”

There are no words in the English language to truly describe the flabbergasted expression on that individual’s face the moment I uttered those last two words.

3. I think it is hard to walk the fine line between too little and too much sex in a romance, but you did a great job in When a Man Loves a Woman. How difficult is it to know how much to put in and when to stop?

The answer to that question comes with an author truly understanding the genre they are writing in. If for example, an author is writing erotic, then it would include more sex scenes than a traditional romance. Most of my books hover between 300-310 pages and I usually include no more than three love scenes.

4. What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

The best writing advice came from my author mentor, Beverly Jenkins. She wisely said, “The only control you have is the story you write, so write the best darn story you can.”

5. What was your favorite childhood book?

Actually, there are two: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger.

6. I love quotes. Do you have a favorite quote or motto?

“Reach beyond the break.”

7. What are you reading right now?

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

8. If you got stuck in the life of one fictional character, who would you choose?

Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With The Wind. Despite her faults, this character showed a tenacity to succeed and perseverance to overcome the most difficult of situations.

9. And finally, what are you working on right now?

Currently, I’m working on the plot for an upcoming romantic suspense series.

Books by LaConnie- When I’m With You, When a Man Loves a Woman

God on a Harley, by Joan Brady

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Cover ImageFinished 2-25-09, rating 3.5/5 , fiction, pub. 1995

How had I become so unhappy with myself and the way my life had turned out?  Why couldn’t I find solutions to the problems that were holding me back from a joyous life?  I know for a fact that I am at least a fairly intelligent person and I’ve even known stupid people who are a whole lot happier than me.  Why couldn’t I find a way to fill the emptiness in my life?

Chapter 2

Christine Moore was a 37 year old nurse who had just moved back to New Jersey and was fighting the apathy and bitterness she felt about life.  Then she meets Joe, or God if you are old school, and she begins a path to a less complicated, more fulfilled life.  He starts popping up in her life in the flesh and sometimes on his Harley.  Unfortunately, at some point she feels that she is in love with Joe/God.

“It’s simple,” he said.  “I’m getting you ready to live.  I mean really live.  Meaningfully.”

Chapter 3

This is a slim new age fable that may help you see your life in a new light.  At its core it is about learning to love yourself and making changes in your life.  After reading this yesterday all I wanted to do was purge old stuff out of my closets and live with less stuff  (and it is still a work in progress today).  It is a charming and hopeful book and a nice gift for any woman who has ever had her heart stomped on and has lost faith in herself or God.

It’s probably not for everyone and for most it is not going  to change your life, but it may make you look at your choices from a different perspective.  I thought it was a little hokey, but Christine felt real enough to make it a nice read.

Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown

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Cover ImageFinished 2-24-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2000

“…Faith is universal.  Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary.  Some of us pray to Jesus, some go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles.  In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than oursselves.”

Langdon wished his students could expreess themselves so clearly.  Hell, he wished he could express himself so clearly.  “And God?” he asked. “Do you believe in God?”

Vittoria was silent for a long time.  “Science tells me God must exist.  My mind tells me I will never understand God.  And my heart tells me I am not meant to.”

Chapter 31

This is the book where we meet respected Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon for the first time.  (You may have also heard of him in a little book called The DaVinci Code)  Langdon is called to Switzerland to investigate the brutal murder of a physicist that appears to be the work of the mysterious and defunct group, the Illuminati.  Here he finds out about a new energy source that is being used for the first time as a weapon.  Langdon and the dead physicist’s daughter, Vittoria, head to Rome where they have very little time to find the hidden anti-matter that could take out all of Vatican City.

Vatican City is preparing for the enclave to elect a new Pope.  The camerlingo, head of the Catholic Church until the new Pope is elected, welcomes Langdon and Vittoria and opens the tunnels and secret documents of the Vatican to them so that they can save the city and the Cardinals kidnapped by the Illuminati.

This book is essentially a treasure hunt, with clues and hints, that leads the reader through Vatican City and Rome.  At its core it is a book trying to bring together the two opposing forces of science and religion.  But most importantly it is a page-turner.  A 700+ page edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.  

I liked it.  I finished it it one day (obviously I did very little else!) and think it is going to make a fun movie.  Maybe a better movie than the DaVinci Code because it has a more revered and known setting.  But, it did have a problem.  It was a good 100 pages too long.  It’s like Brown tried to cram as many twists and turns into the book as possible when it really wasn’t necessary.  There was a point in those last hundred pages when it just went too far in trying to shock and everything after that was a little tainted to me. 

I do recommend it.  It’s fun and fast and interesting.  My husband liked it better than the DaVinci Code.  Except for the backdrop of Italy I didn’t, but it was still worth it.

Most Notable Black Writers Quiz

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Here’s how to play…Identify the author and leave a comment with the # and the name and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! 

1. She was born Marguerite Johnson and became the first woman San Francisco streetcar conductor, but she is well known for her poetry and especially the first volume in her autobiography about caged birds.  Maya Angelou, Mark

2. After his 20 year career in the Coast Guard he wrote a book about Roots and also an autobiography about someone else, let’s call him X.  Alex Haley, Kathy

3. He published only one novel during his lifetime (about a man who wasn’t there) and it won the National Book Award in 1953.  Ralph Ellison, Jason

4. He has written a series of best-selling mysteries featuring detective Easy Rawlins- played by Denzel Washington in the movie.  Walter Mosley

5. In 1937 she published her most famous book (about watching God), but because of money problems she was buried in an unmarked grave in Florida.  Zora Neale Hurston

6. He was the grandson of the first black American elected to public office in 1855 and his first published poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ was also his most famous.  Langston Hughes

7. When she was eight she lost the sight in one eye when one of her brothers shot her with a bb gun, but that didn’t stop her from winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for a book about a color.  Alice Walker

8. He was a Pentecostal preacher when he was still a teen, but left the church when his writing began exploring sexuality; his novel about telling it on the mountain was semi-autobiographical.  James Baldwin

9. She was the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 and her novel  about a loved one won the Pulitzer in 1988.  Toni Morrison

10. He just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004 in novel about a world we all know.  Edward P Jones

What I Did for Love, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

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Cover ImageFinished 2-20-09, rating 3.5/5, romance, pub. 2009

She dropped the tabloid and turned to flee, but they’d trapped her.  She tried to back up, but they were behind her, in front of her, surrounding her with their hot strobes and heartless shouts.  Their smell clogged her nostrils – sweat, cigarettes, acrid cologne.  Someone stepped on her foot.  An elbow caught her in the side.  They pressed closer, stealing her air, suffocating her… (Chapter 1)

Georgie York grew up in front of the camera becoming the darling of sitcom tv.  Her life in the eight years since has become a circus.  She married Lance, a hugely successful action star, and he left her for the icy do-gooder, Jade.  He spread lies after their break-up, but his betrayal only cemented Georgie’s title of America’s sweetheart.  But her movies have tanked and she has become a paparazzi magnet, making her life a game of cat and mouse.

Bram had spent eight miserable years rescuing Georgie from thorny situations, but his days of playing gallant Skip Scofield to Georgie’s spunky Scooter Brown were long behind him.  This time Scooter Brown could save her own ass – or, more likely, wait around for Daddy to do it. (Chapter 1)

Bram Shepard was wildly popular when he and Georgie played Skip and Scooter, but he had ruined that opportunity with drinking, drugs, and a sex tape.  Now, he received only small offers in B movies and he was trying to find a way to reform himself in the eyes of studio execs who didn’t trust him.

Georgie and Bram hated each other, but a few drugged drinks, a marriage certificate, and a sleazy paparazzi forced them to come to terms with each other, literally.  Georgie could not endure another scandalous marriage so soon after Lance, so she made a deal with the devil.  Bram would stay married  to Georgie for a hefty fee and use her to gain respectability.

There are great secondary characters in this book.  Georgie’s father, Paul, appears heartless and his slow thaw was a wonderful story.  I loved Bram’s young cook, Chaz, and Georgie’s confidence lacking assistant, Aaron.  The only problem may have been that at times they, especially Chaz, overshadowed Georgie and Bram.

Anyone who knows the Brad, Jen, Angelina story will recognize it here.  And if you need last names you may not be interested in this celebrity culture story.  I think the story is very current in that that tabloid reporters are taking greater and more dangerous steps to get the money shot, and it was interesting to see it from the other side. 

I have read every one of Phillips’ books and while I really liked this one it was not my favorite.  Bram and Georgie had chemistry and sass, but the end became sentimental mush.  I think she’s great, but if you have never read her, this is not the book to start with.