Los Alamos, by Joseph Kanon

February 4, 2008January 19, 2009Leave a comment

Finished 2-2-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1998

It’s 1945 and Los Alamos is the the heart of scientific discovery. The Manhattan Project has been working on the atomic bomb that will end the war when the murder of a security officer worries those in charge of the project’s secrecy. Michael o is called in to find out what happened and make sure there are no leaks at Los Alamos. His investigation takes him to neighboring Santa Fe and the lonely areas surrounding it.

This book is a murder mystery, but because of it’s setting it is much more. Kanon delves into the ethics of making the bomb, paranoia, homophobia in the military, and communism, while still keeping the story a mystery at heart. There is also a surprising love affair and I enjoyed the realistic grit of it.

Some of the characters, Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves and others, are based on the actual people working on the project. This is a wonderful blending of reality and fiction. This is Kanon’s first novel and I was impressed. This is a great read for mystery lovers or those interested in the Manhattan Project.

January notes

February 1, 2008July 13, 2008Leave a comment

“I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go to the other room and read a book.” -Groucho Marx

The current writer’s strike made it easy to curl up with a book this month. I read three books I would recommend; Tourist Season, The Painted Veil, and On Writing. I will be back tomorrow with my new free books for February. Happy reading!

Hey, Good Looking, by Fern Michaels

January 26, 2008January 28, 2009Leave a comment

Finshed 1-24-08, rating 2.5/5, romance, pub. 2006

Darby had a best friend, Russell, who we met in the first chapter and was dead by chapter two. Darby grieves and with the help of her aunts and Russell’s brother, Ben, she copes. The villainous stepmom, Bella, provides much needed tension and there is a weird storyline involving organ donation. Michaels made it a plotline, but never really delved into it with any real depth. There is a conclusion of the plot near the end of the book, but it didn’t make much sense to me.

I read this because my Mom gave it to me and I wanted something light and fun. It was light, but too light for my tastes and Michaels tells too much instead of letting me use my own imagination. And poor Ben had a bad habit of “puffing his chest out” whenever Darby gave him a compliment. For some reason by the third time this happened I really wanted to just stop reading, but for all my complaints once I reached the halfway point I was interested in the story, if not the writing. There is an interesting cast of characters and it is a fun read, but not a memorable one.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

January 23, 2008June 11, 20258 Comments

Finished on 1-22-08, rating 5/5, non-fiction, pub. 2000

My knowledge of Stephen King’s novels is limited. I’ve read a few, listened to a few more on road trips with my husband, and seen some of the movies. I usually enjoy them, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. So, I was justifiably surprised when I was totally charmed by this book and its author.

The first half of this book is memoir full of stories of his youth and early writing successes. There were stories of his first sale, for 25 cents to his mother, and his busy adolescence making a statement with his writing. King moves onto adulthood, marriage, kids, a job he doesn’t enjoy and he doesn’t pull any punches. This book is told with such honesty that you are drawn into King’s world. His drug and alcohol abuse could have led to self-pity or delusions of grandeur, but it didn’t. All of these snapshots of his life are told with rich detail, but with an understanding of just how much to tell.

The second half is devoted to the craft of writing. Having read much advice from established authors I know there as many ways to write a book as limbs on a tree (King loves simile and metaphor), and King gives his best, unapologetic nuggets of wisdom. He doesn’t mince words, but they are told with humor and real-life experiences from his own prosperous writing career. He also delves into what happened when he was hit by a van and was close to death. The book comes full circle with his telling of the accident.

I loved this book. I loved the mix of humor, truth, detail, and brevity. I have been charmed by a horror writer and I’m not ashamed to admit it. 🙂

This is on my Top 100 Nonfiction Books. See the full list here.

Plum Lucky, by Janet Evanovich

January 20, 2008January 28, 2009Leave a comment

Finished 1-19-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

I’m not sure why I continue to read the Stephanie Plum novels, especially these missives she calls “Between-the Numbers.” This one is a mere 166 pages. I fell in love with bounty hunter Stephanie in her first novel, One For the Money, and followed her through many zany adventures. Somewhere around the sixth book the novels became a cartoon of their earlier versions.

Okay, Plum Lucky. Stephanie receives a visit from her Between-the Novels pal, Diesel, and her Grandmother finds over a million dollars that she claims as her own. There is also a leprechaun, a horse, ex-hooker Lula, and a shootout with a rocket launcher. This book is almost all dialogue and very little little heart.

So, why did I bother if I am no longer enjoying the Plum novels? Because yesterday when I stopped by the library they gave it to me. And I read it because it was too short not to.

Best Bookstores

January 18, 2008September 19, 2008Leave a comment

CNN Travel did a story on the country’s best bookstores. I’ve only been to one. The Strand in NYC is one of my favorites and every time we are in the city I make sure to carve out a few hours to lose myself in the store. It’s worth a look if you are in New York.

Check out their other favorites.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/01/17/destination.bookstores.ap/index.html

Mad River Road, by Joy Fielding

January 18, 2008January 28, 2009Leave a comment

Finished audio 1-17-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction. pub. 2006

“Brad” was released from prison on a technicality and wasted no time in planning revenge against those who wronged him. His first step was finding a woman with a car to warm his bed. Enter Jamie, who had just found out her boyfriend was married, and you have a scary combination of recklessness and danger. They begin their trek from Florida to Ohio to find his ex-wife and his son.

The book had potential, but never really pulled me in. There was only one sympathetic character of the bunch. And I kept waiting for something to happen, but had to wait until the last part of the book.

A good reader can make a good book better or a bad one worse. The reader used different voices for the many characters, but a few of the characters sounded so silly. So, I’ll allow for the possibility that it may have been better if I’d read it, but I still wouldn’t recommend this book.

Fun Book Websites

January 15, 2008July 13, 20082 Comments

A few of my favorite websites devoted to books…

www.bookideas.com — I wrote book reviews for this site for years. If you check it out you can see my wedding photo 🙂

www.writerspace.com — This is a great site for romance lovers. It has monthly contests where you can win free books from authors. I have actually won a few times so it works!

www.bookcrossing.com — A site dedicated to book lovers. You have a book you want to share? Check out the site. I’m stacybuckeye there too. More on that later when I release my first book into the wild!

http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/bookedforbreakfast/ — Sign up to receive the first few chapters from a book. You’ll receive a few pages a day to read and at the end of one week you’ll have read the first few chapters and you decide if you like it. Each week it’s a new book.

Tourist Season, by Carl Hiaasen

January 14, 2008January 19, 20093 Comments

Finished on 1-13-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 1986

This comedy was published in 1987, but it is based on a modern day premise of over-development. Popular Miami journalist Skip Wiley has formed his own band of terrorists to take back South Florida from the rich developers and Yankee tourists. He has an elderly Native American, an ex-pro football player, and a Cuban revolutionary with faulty bomb making skills to help him fight his cause. There is no one safe from their special brand of terror.

Brian Keyes is a journalist turned private detective who has been asked to find Skip before he kills anyone else. Brian has a few well placed allies and is able to locate Skip, if not stop him. Skip and his band of misfits leads Brian and the rest of Miami on a twisted ride toward chaos.

This all sounds so very serious, but told with Hiaasen’s light touch and slick humor it turns into a page turning caper that even a high body count cannot stall. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I was a little surprised at the relationship between 32 year-old Keyes and a 19 year old beauty queen. I guess the unexpected is what keeps me reading 🙂

In 1997 at a Barnes & Noble manager’s conference Hiaasen came to speak and sign books for us. I still have the personalized signed copy of Lucky You on my shelf. I think I’ll have to finally read it!

The Painted Veil, W.Somerset Maugham

January 9, 2008January 19, 2009Leave a comment

Finished the audio on 1-8-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1925

I really enjoyed this book. It is set in the 1920’s and is the story of pampered Kitty who marries a man to please her mother. Kitty was beautiful and spoiled and Walter loved her. She agreed to marry the bacteriologist and they were off to Shanghai where Kitty began an affair with the ambitious and married Charles.

When Walter finds out he is heartbroken and forces Kitty to face an uncertain future in a cholera infested Chinese village. There Kitty must face her own worth and take stock of her life. Walter dies before true restoration can be made in their realtionship. Kitty must travel back to Shanghai a pregnant widow.

She must face Charles again and I was really rooting for her to show her spunk. She did show her spunk, but she also showed her vulnerabilty. The pages after she gave in to Charles once again were the most moving to me. It was a heartwrenching look into a flawed woman who was desparately trying to overcome her faults. She travels home to the one parent she has left and is met by a distant father who is facing his own freedom just as Kitty is facing the end of hers.

This was a wonderful novel. I thought the reader. Kate Reading, was excellent and I am looking forward to checking out the latest movie version of this book. I think Naomi Watts will make a great Kitty.

Stacy's Books

books, movies, and boy

Tag: Books