BTT: Fluffy Reading

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

Well, it's summertime which means that I've been reading things that can easily be enjoyed while either sitting up at the lake or on my back porch sipping an ice cold drink. This means LOTS of fluff! Most recently was the seventh book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris, All Together Dead.

I haven't even reviewed it on here because after reading the last 6 Sookie books, there isn't a whole lot that changes. Sookie's living her life partially in the real world where she's a waitress, but mostly in the supernatural world where she's used for her telepathic abilities by the vampires and were-animals. She of course gets herself into some big-time trouble but manages to escape. Such is the main storyline throughout these books, with mostly just the main love interest (that Sookie sure does get around!) and the deadly situation changing . But, they are fun, quick little reads and their mass market paperback size makes for convenient toting around. Perfect for summertime!

What was the last "fluffy" book you read?

Book Reviews: a couple of Mass Market PB's

Okay, so, I've been a very bad book blogger. It's been busy around my household (wedding-related events, family gatherings, painting rooms, water leaks in basements...) and around work (stuff not working right and having to be completely redone, ah, such is life in a lab) so I haven't been able to post in a while. Luckily, I have had some time to read! So you all will be getting a handful of reviews this week, starting with a couple of fun, summertime mass market paperbacks.




Angels and Demons
by Dan Brown
569 pages


I've been wanting to read this (and The DaVinci Code) for a while now and finally picked it when I realized that the movie was coming out soon. Since A&D is technically the prequel, I decided to read it first fully expecting not very much from the book. I seem to hear a lot of good reviews from a more non-literary crowd and a lot of bad "but it's not literature" kind of reviews elsewhere. I get both sides now that I've read it but I thought, for summer and wanting something action packed and not too difficult to read, this was perfect and I really enjoyed it.

So Robert Langdon is a religious symbology professor from Harvard. He's called in to help investigate a super-top-secret murder at a research science place (CERN) in Geneva. (PS they had a crazy fast airplane pick him up and take him from the US to Switzerland in an HOUR! how awesome would that be?!) Anyways, the murder is kept secret because there's a brand on the victim's chest that says "Illuminati" which was a group of scientists that were against the catholic church because well, science and religion don't normally mix well. But they're suppose to be EXTINCT! Since Langdon is an expert on the Illuminati legends and can't believe that they could be back, he sets out to find out who did this exactly, if the Illuminati are back and what their plan is because oh yea, they stole something that could seriously destroy a whole city.

The rest of the book is full of action, people being murdered, a secret scavenger hunt, and a guessing game of Who is the Bad Guy? but it's exciting and as long as you can get past some of the not-so-great writing style, it's worth a read. Just be prepared to be told that you will need to remember something later as in, "so-and-so says that X amount of wind resistance will slow your body enough to reduce the force of impact by X amount. Little did I know that I (Langdon) would find this information useful within the next 24 hours" or something like that. I mean does Dan Brown seriously think that I don't comprehend what I am reading on page 100 enough to remember it when I'm on page 400? I hate when authors give away what's going to happen like that. I mean, couldn't he have just waited until the big fall, have Langdon remember that info and then say something like "man, I'll have to remember to thank so-and-so for telling me about wind resistance!"

So, 7 out of 10. I really like the blend of science and religion and it was action packed but the writing was eeehhhh....






The Mist
by Stephen King
230 pages



I'm not a big Stephen King reader. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure the only other book of his that I've read is The Green Mile, but I had to read something because it's worth a whopping 25 points for the Spring Book Challenge. My best friend just happened to have this one on her shelf so I stole, er borrowed, it when I returned her copy of The Historian to her (which I had had for at least two years...)

Anyways, on to the story complete with scary-movie-style commentary in italics. There's a big storm one night and the next morning an eerie looking mist is coming across the lake. "Oh, it'll just burn off later with the sun," says the main guy. Uh huh, yeah right. A few hours later, the mist is still coming. Main guy and his son (who's like 8?) head to the store while wife stays behind. Bad move, wife. Once in the store, the mist comes faster and soon you can't see more than a few feet in front of the store windows. Some people decide to leave but never come back and their screams are heard so everyone else is terrified. At one point a bag boy opens a loading dock door and gets taken by something huge with tentacles. good one, dude. Then a few more people decide sitting around is ridiculous and they decide to leave. Because it worked out so well for the last people... Anyways, they all die and the crazy lady in the store keeps spouting off about how it's the end of the world. There always has to be a crazy lady doesn't there? Main guy finally develops a plan to get out but doesn't know how far the mist goes or if anyone else is alive out there. The ending is one of those non-ending endings, where nothing is resolved and you don't really know what's out there but ya know, there's hope still. But, you're probably going to run out of gas before you get out of the mist, buddy.

5 out of 10 stars. I like my endings to actually explain something. But I might see the movie because Marky Mark = Yum.

Review times two: Dexter and Choke

Yes, today is yet another two-fer. It's just been so busy in my world, it's hard to keep on track with the reviews! Hopefully June will be a little less busy for me so I can catch up on some extra reading! Anyways, on to the reviews!

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

by Jeff Lindsay

288 pages

My husband is actually the one who brought this little gem of a book into our house. We have been watching Dexter for a while now (and anxiously awaiting the next season to start!) and he wanted to compare the book to the show. Needless to say, he only got maybe halfway through it before he said "It's pretty much just like the show" and moved on to the next MMA-UFC related non-fiction book he could get his hands on. So, I picked it up.

It really is a lot like the show. And, I could really picture Michael C. Hall as Dexter. He really is perfect for that role.

It's full of witty, kind of dry, yet creepy humor and you really want to not like Dexter because, well, he's a MURDERER. But, since he only kills the bad guys...you just can't help but like him. Despite the look of the shiny-knife-with-bloody-happy-face cover, it's really not all that gory. Definitely nothing that will enter into your dreams and make you not be able to sleep or anything.

Oh, and the ending? Not really at all like the show. It's kind of a combination of the first two seasons of the show in this one book, but it's not really the same. For this reason, I'm really interested in reading the next two books of the series that are out because they are bound to be incredibly different from the show!

9 out of 10 stars. I love me some Dexter.

Choke

by Chuck Palahniuk

293 pages

I followed the oddly lovable Dexter book with another book featuring an odd, yet kind of likable main character. Of course, when you pick up a Palahniuk book, you KNOW that it's going to be kind of odd. "Kind of" maybe being an understatement...

So, in Choke, we follow Victor Mancini who has dropped out from medical school and is working at a colonial town setup circa 1734. He seeks sex from women at sex addicts' meeting and, to pay for his mother's assisted living facility bills, he pretends to choke at a restaurant every night so someone will save him then feel somehow obligated to send him money to help with bills (that he makes up). He keeps a detailed list of everyone who has saved him, their name, address, where, etc. All the while, his mother's health is deteriorating and he can't seem to find the reasons to care.

While the book follows Victor's present day life, there are also flashbacks of his childhood, his mother being deemed unfit to care for him and spending her time in and out of jail. Each time he ends up in a foster home, only to have his mother get out of jail and come back to kidnap him. Then she goes on about all sorts of conspiracy theories that she has. No wonder he turned out so messed up!

Everyone in the novel seemed to have really lost touch with reality, but by the end, they all kind of accept the hand they've been dealt. The whole book is centered on Victor going out, choking, then making someone feel like they're a hero, like they have something in their life to be proud of, while he's been lacking that his entire life.

8 out of 10 stars. If you like Palahniuk, I think that this is one of his better novels. And, it's on the 1001 list.

Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

by John Boyne

216 pages

This book wasn't really what I anticipated. Okay, I'm kind of speechless about this right now so I suppose I'll start with the overview.

Bruno is a nine year old boy whose father is a Nazi officer. He is forced to move with his family from Berlin to Poland, next to a concentration camp. Bruno doesn't understand why the fence is there, who is behind it, or why. He does notice that everyone he can see beyond the fence is male and wearing the same striped pajamas. One day, Bruno goes exploring near the fence and meets another nine year old boy named Schmuel. They become friends and begin meeting every day at the fence to talk to one another. Bruno can never quite understand why his new friend has to be separated from him by a fence, why he's so thin and pale, and why they can't play together.

This book was just sad and oh-so-frustrating. How did Bruno not understand what was going on?? How could he not know that these people were behind the fence because they were Jewish? I mean, you would think that he would have been explained these things by his father, since his father was a Nazi officer. Although, there's argument to be made that Bruno and his sister weren't allowed to hear about it because of their mother since neither one of them were part of the Hitler Youth... AND THE ENDING! Oh my GAWD! I never ever saw it coming. I was horrified and appalled and somewhere I think that I was sort of happy thinking that it could have really happened so maybe some Nazi officer out there was able to realize what he was doing to those people and children....

I think that one of the most frustrating parts of this book is that it's not a children's book...and it's not an adult book....but it's a little too simplistic language-wise for it to be Young Adult even...so it really just doesn't fit anywhere neatly. Which I suppose is true because the Holocaust wasn't a "neat and tidy" event, but I do think that this story could have benefited from some more mature language and style. I suppose that John Boyne was trying to write it with the innocent view of a nine year boy to make the point that not everyone, even those with parents in the thick of it, knew what was happening or why.

Overall, I liked it. It was a very moving story and I think that it could be easily added to the standard Holocaust/WWII curriculum of The Diary of Anne Frank. Although, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if this book ends up on the Frequently Banned/Challenged Book List next year. I think I may have to rent the movie...

8.5 out of 10. Quick enough of a read with a good story line (and ending!) that there's no excuse not to read it. Definitely should be shared with older children interested in Holocaust history, but be around to discuss it with them. (there were even discussion questions in the back of my copy of this book)

book reviews: a Two-fer

I'm being a big blog slacker as of late, so I have a couple of quick reviews today!

Definitely Dead

by Charlaine Harris

#6 in Sookie Stackhouse series

324 pages

Well, I took a nice long break from Sookie (almost 3 months) and I was a little disappointed that I waited so long to read this one. First, I had forgotten some of the things that had occurred at the end of the 5th book which were big parts of this book, so I was a little confused at some points. And second, I really liked this one! It was probably one of my favorites.

Sookie and Bill aren't together any longer and something really awful is revealed about his true reason for meeting her. Having Bill out of the picture opens the book up for new characters to be included. Quinn is a were-tiger that we met briefly in the 5th book and he gets a more starring role in Definitely Dead (as evident by the cover). I really like Quinn so I'm a little anxious to read the next book and see what happens between Sookie and Quinn after all the usual "Sookie almost gets killed a few times" drama that occurs in this book (and every other Sookie book, really.)

Anyways, 8.5 out of 10. One of the best Sookies, in my opinion.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

by David Sedaris

257 pages

This was my first journey into the world of David Sedaris. I really didn't know what to expect because the back cover gives you nothing, but I'm glad I gave it a shot! This book is full of stories from David's childhood to adulthood. His family sounds like something out of a cheesy comedic movie and had me going, "really? this can NOT be real!" but it's all too humorous/dumb/sad to not be true. This book was all that I needed it to be. Light, fun, witty, and at some points it was laugh-out-loud funny. My favorite story is probably the one where he talks about how he asks people in places he has never been before about their gun laws (who knew it was legal in Michigan to hunt if you are blind without the aide of a seeing companion??) and the story of St. Nicholas in Denmark (which is SO much better than American Santa!)

Fun and enjoyable. I'd pick up another of his books for sure. another 8.5 out of 10 stars.

PS I read Sedaris for the SpringBookChallenge, LBGT author or character category.

Book Review: The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War

by Robert Comier

253 pages

One of the 15 point tasks for the Winter Book Challenge was to read a frequently banned or challenged book. I really wanted to read something that I hadn't read yet, or hadn't even heard of before. Looking through the lists, I found The Chocolate War and decided to read it because I wanted to know why people got so worried about exposing our youth to this book. It turns up as #2 on the most challenged books of 2007 list. I like to think that challenging books is a thing from the past, like people today have GOT to have enough sense to know that first, removing a book from a school library isn't going to stop interested kids in reading it, and second that just because someone reads a book doesn't mean they are going to get "bad ideas" from it. But no, people still challenge and try to remove books from libraries today. I have this crazy idea that all previously challenged books should be on school curriculum because then, as the student is reading it, they can discuss what the controversial parts are and how they are feeling about the book. But maybe that's just me...

Anyways, on to the book. The Chocolate War is about a kid named Jerry Renault who is a freshman at Trinity Catholic High School. Every year, the school puts on a chocolate sale to raise money for the school (so tuition rates don't increase, etc.). This year, the students are "asked" to sell twice as many boxes as the year before (50 instead of 25) at double the price ($2 instead of $1). Brother Leon, who is filling in at the headmaster position while the actual headmaster is ill, is heading up the sale and asked the school's secret society, The Vigils, to back the sale. The Vigils aren't publicly talked about throughout the school. They are a small group of students who make "assignments" for other students that include ridiculous pranks, such as loosening every screw in a classroom so that every desk, chair, and even the chalk board falls apart when touched. The Vigils are basically untouchable. No teacher speaks their name, no student defies them, and no one gets caught.

One day, Jerry gets a message for an assignment from The Vigils. He's suppose to say "no" to selling the chocolates for 10 days. For some reason, which Jerry himself can't even put into words, he continues to say "no" to the chocolate sale. He is defying Brother Leon (who is kind of terrifying), The Vigils, and, by the end, the whole school. All the while, the poster in the back of Jerry's locker is asking "Do we dare disturb the universe?"

This novel was fantastic. It was tough, and real, and kind of gritty. Nothing was perfect for any of the characters so they were all very realistic. Was there violence, strong language, and sexual references? Well, yea, in some parts. But there were also some strong, important messages. Any teenager in high school now would have already been exposed to all that there is in this book, whether the parents choose to acknowledge it or not. I think that someone struggling to fit in at their high school could get a lot out of a novel about someone who defies the crowd.

9 out of 10 stars.

Book Review: Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

105 pages






This book fell under the "read a book you read in high school" category of the Winter Book Challenge. I feel like I remember surprisingly few books that I read in High School. To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men are all that really come to mind. I know that there are more, but I just can't think of them! Anyways, I picked Of Mice and Men because it's the one that I remember the least about even though I remember the class that I read it for very well since the teacher, Mr. Bailey, was one of my favorites! He was a laid back, free thinking, varsity baseball coaching, former (?) hippie kind of teacher who every one thought was awesome. Unfortunately, the themes of this book got lost in my memory of that class in exchange for Mr. Bailey's stories of hitch hiking across the US in the seventies. (Don't worry, he always told us that this was a poor decision on his part and hitch hiking is dangerous! haha).

Anyways, this book is about two men, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, who are traveling together and working on ranches during the Great Depression in California. George has promised to take care of Lennie since he is "not too bright" and it is evident that Lennie has some mental handicaps. George has a plan to make some money and buy a piece of land so him and Lennie can live off their own land and Lennie will be safe. Lennie just seems to get in trouble because he doesn't understand rules, social conduct, or his own strength.

As George and Lennie begin working at a new ranch, their dream of owning their own place seems to be becoming more of a reality until Lennie accidentally kills the ranch owner's son's wife while trying to stroke her hair (he likes to pet soft things). A lynch mob is formed to go get Lennie but George finds him first and takes his friend's life himself to save him from a painful death.

I definitely got more out of this book this time around. There are several themes running through this short novella that I didn't remember from reading it the first time such as loneliness, love, dreams, and friendship. All through the book, George is questioned for traveling with Lennie since most migrant ranch workers travel alone and for having a dream of owning his own place when few men actually achieve it. And in the end, with Lennie gone, George just becomes another lone migrant worker with a far fetched dream that will probably never happen.

8 out of 10 stars. Definitely a good read, especially for the hour and a half or so it would take to finish.

Review: The Chicago Way

The Chicago Way

by Michael Harvey

303 pages

My mom and I picked up this book off the "buy two get a third free" table at Barnes and Noble a couple weeks ago. We each picked one book then needed a third. As we were browsing we picked this one up, read the back (which looked intriguing), saw that John Grisham pimped it on the front, and I needed a book with a city, country, or continent in the title for WBC so we got it. And I got to read it first.

This book is about Michael Kelly, an ex-cop turned Private Investigator in downtown Chicago. His former partner, John Gibbons, who he hasn't seen in years, shows up at his office on day to get his help on a attempted murder/rape case that occurred years before and was somehow "lost" and never solved. The girl who had been the victim had come to John recently since he was the one who had found her and originally arrested the suspect (who was released for some unknown reason). Later that night, Gibbons was found murdered. Michael Kelly began investigating the murder of Gibbons, the attempted murder/rape cold case, and serveral other murders that seem to somehow all be connected.

I got so into this book! The writing style was very fitting for a Chicago, Irish P.I. so I fell right in with the character. And the ending, oh I didn't see this one coming at all! It was a great example of the "good guys" not always being good and "bad guys" not always being so bad, and I kind of love that. I've already told my mom that this book was definitely worth reading, told my husband that he should read it (he's not really much of a reader so it's tough finding things that he might like!), and I put Michael Harvey's second book on my PaperBackSwap wishlist! And maybe I'll even start watching Michael Harvey's show Cold Case Files on A&E, which he hilariously plugged in the book. Hey, can't blame a guy for getting new people to watch his show!

9 out of 10 stars.

Recommended by Hubs

Title: Bleachers

Author: John Grisham

number of pages: 192

I picked up this book because I needed a fiction (or nonfiction) book about football, basketball, or hockey for the Winter Book Challenge. Originally, I was going to read Tony Dungee's (former coach of the Indy Colts) autobiography, but when my husband saw the list he said that I should read Bleachers. I'm glad I listened to him!

Bleachers is about a man named Neely Crenshaw who returns to his small hometown of Messina when he finds out that their "beloved" head football coach is set to die of cancer any day now. Neely was the star quarterback in high school 15 years ago and looking like he was going to win the Heisman when he blew out his knee during his sophomore year of college and never played again. He never wanted to return to Messina since football was the way of life there and he would never play again, and he never wanted to see his coach again because of an altercation during the state finals game his senior year. During his 4 day stay in Messina, Neely reconnects with old friends, remembers why he loved football in the first place, and realizes whether he loved or hated his former coach.

This book was one that had a lot more to it than just football stories. It talked about different kinds of love and loss, and realizing how things in your past shape you to be who you are at the present. I was definitely crying at the end! Oh, and it only took me maybe 4-5 hours to read.

7 out of 10 stars.