Spring Book Challenge Wrap Up

So the Spring Book Challenge has officially ended. I didn't feel like I did as well with this challenge as I did for the winter one. I read a couple of books that didn't fit in anywhere and some books took longer for me to finish than I anticipated. But I still managed to read 7,4, and 8 books in April, May, and June, respectively. Not too shabby! Although, May was a little rough. With those numbers, I'm officially on my 40th book of the year! So I've upped my Total Books In 2009 challenge up to 75. Hopefully I can keep going at this pace, or even up it for the rest of the year.

So my favorites from the past three months? Hmm...I guess I'll go with a top 3:

1. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak
2. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Interesting that my three favorites were all from extremely different genres. I also really enjoyed Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay but didn't finish the nonfiction book on the Vel d'Hiv in time for the end of the challenge in order to count it. I will hopefully finish it soon and post of review of Sarah's Key and the nonfiction book within the next week or two!

My goals for the next challenge (Summer Book Challenge, which I'll be posting next) are to be able to fit more of my books on the TBR pile in and to keep up with the book bloggin' a little better! My poor blog has been a little neglected the past couple months.

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: Someone Like You audio book

Someone Like You

by Sarah Dessen

272 pages (paperback)

or

6 hours and 10 minutes on 6 CDs (audio)

I was scoping out the selection of audio books at my local library (which was not as large as I expected) and I came across this Sarah Dessen book. Since I had never before listened to an audio book (*GASP!*) I decided that I didn't want something really long because I didn't know if I would really like it and I don't have a very long commute or rides in the car in general. I decided this one would be perfect. I've been hearing good things about Sarah Dessen from the YA readers I know plus, at just over 6 hours, it wouldn't take me weeks to finish.

The book is about a girl named Halley who is an angst-filled, not so good with the self-esteem teenager who is *shocker* not getting along with her therapist mother. On top of all these 'growing into a young woman' changes and family issues, her best friend Scarlett's summer boyfriend slash love-of-her-life dies in a motorcycle accident. A few weeks later, Scarlett discovers that she's pregnant with said love-of-her-life's baby. Yikes. While helping her friend deal, Halley meets bad-boy Macon Faulkner who begins to corrupt her into sneaking out, skipping school, etc. He's pretty much every guy I dated in high school when I wanted to upset my parents all rolled into one. Yikes again. So, throughout the book, Halley has to figure out who she really is and wants to be, how to help her friend through this hard time in her life, and how to get along with her mother again.

When I started this audio book, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. Then, I realized that I was thinking about the storyline throughout the day so it wasn't that I didn't like the characters and plot, I just didn't really like the reader! Her voice was just kind of annoying. She would try to change it for the male characters, but she had such a feminine voice, that it would just end up sounding like Urkle, you know...kind of nasal-y and high pitched for a guy? Not exactly pleasant to listen too. Also, I had to look up what Macon's name was online because at first I thought she was saying 'Nathan' and then I thought it was 'Mathan' and then I thought maybe 'Macon'? but what a weird name! so I had to look it up to be sure. That was annoying. And really, the only thing that really bothered me in the book itself was that one of Halley's pet peeves was how SO many people messed up her name, but I don't see Halley as that odd of a name? I mean, Halley's comet. I get it, so I guess I didn't understand why everyone in the book had such a hard time with it and thought that it was SUCH a strange name. Macon is definitely a lot stranger!

I think that I could really like audio books, as long as I find ones with good readers. Also, I went through this book a lot quicker than a thought I would. I guess the 30-40 minutes round trip to work plus time spent running errands, plus a weekend trip to Kalamazoo (just over an hour) really adds up more than I thought that it would.

Okay, now for the points:

8 out of 10 for the book. Entertaining storyline, fun characters, pretty realistic view of high school drama.

3 out of 10 for the reader. She put forth the effort in trying to do other voices, but it just didn't work for me.

9 out of 10 for audio books in general. I think that I will be trying out another one! Any recommendations??

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.

Book Review and a Song: The Host

The Host
by Stephanie Meyer

613 pages


I would never have picked up this book if Stephanie Meyer hadn't written the Twilight books. It wouldn't normally be my cup of tea...but I kind of enjoyed it.

The Host takes place in generic-time (probably sometime in the 21st century) USA. Aliens, known as souls, have pretty much taken over the Earth by inserting themselves into humans which are their host creatures. Souls are silver, plasma-like ribbon creatures which are inserted into the back of a human's neck (along the spinal cord) and they make connections into their host's brain. They retain all of their host's memories and some even keep their host's name, but the person who was there before is gone...usually. Since souls have taken over the Earth, it's become a more peaceful place. Souls don't want there to be violence, are incapable of lying, and are actually pretty boring. Most normal humans have been taken over by a soul, while some renegades still hide out, trying to avoid getting caught and being taken over by a "parasite."

In The Host, we follow a very particular soul named Wanderer (since she's lived 8 different life-times on 8 different planets while most souls only live one or two then stay in one place), gets inserted into a human who was discovered by Seekers (souls whose calling is to basically be a bounty hunter) and attempted to kill herself rather than be caught. Since this human, Melanie, had been surviving so long and was so against being taken over by a soul, she did not give in once Wanderer had been placed in her. Wanderer has to deal with having another voice in her head and soon realizes that she sympathizes with Melanie and that she cares about Melanie's family as if they were her own.

Once Wanderer figures out that she likes and trusts Melanie (and that the feeling is mutual), she finds a way to lose her seeker and treks out to find Melanie's love, Jared, and brother, Jamie, by clues given by Melanie's crazy uncle Jeb. Jeb finds her in the desert and takes her back to their renegade headquarters inside a mountain filled with lava tubes where 36 humans live. Of course, no one trusts Wanderer and some try to kill her and Jared hates her and much drama ensues....but then people begin to change their minds because Wanderer is just so NICE. One of the humans, Ian, falls in love with her. Jamie loves both Wanderer and his sister because he knows they are both in there. And Jared is just torn because it's his true love's body, and while the person in control is nice and everything, he wants Mel back.

In the end, Wanderer has to decide whether she wants to continue inhabiting Mel's body or sacrifice herself so Mel can return to her family. When I got to the end of the last chapter, wow, it was just this wonderfully perfect bittersweet ending. I was happy for some and oh-so-sad for others, but it was really how this story needed to end. Then Stephanie Meyer, in her true fashion, has to go and add on an epilogue which easily could have had "and they all lived happily ever after" as the last line. Why!!??! Why does Stephanie Meyer feel the need to make every ending so freakin' happy? Don't get me wrong, I like some warm fuzzies every once in a while but seriously, the book would have been GREAT without the epilogue! oh well. I'm docking a star for that cheese ball epilogue.

7.5 out of 10. It was an interesting read for sure, I just wish I would have stopped before the epilogue.


Now, in order to receive 25 points toward the Nest Book Club Spring Book Challenge, I have to think of a song that this book reminded me of, revise the lyrics, and come up with a Haiku. This part was easy because I couldn't get OAR's song The Wanderer out of my head throughout the WHOLE book! Maybe because I had just had that CD in the week before? I dunno. But literally, all day...In.My.Head. So here it is with some revised lyrics:

Down the road there was a girl walking, walking

Knapsack round her back the soul’s talking, talking

And her rental car has run out of gas, but it no matter cause the girl’s on the run

Needs sunglasses for her shining eyes, girl never had nowhere to run when they were found, now found

So she walked along to lava tubes, wanted to find Mel’s long lost love

But no

She's the wanderer looking for her long lost home

She's only got one place to go

She's wandering and wondering when to go home

She's not alone, not alone, not alone

Soul’s been hosted for a thousand years, trying to drive away those fears, but no

Well then she picked up and then she went down south

Jared said nothing and Jamie shut his mouth

Well, she never thought too much, just thought she could bring them around

For Mel needed help and Ian love

And when love came around I heard the sound

Wanderers wandering all round the town

But no, they go

She's the wanderer looking for her long lost home

She's only got one place to go

She's wandering and wondering when to go home

She's not alone, not alone, not alone

Hey, she's the wanderer looking for her long lost home

She's only got one fine place to go

She's wandering wondering when to go home

She's not alone, not alone, not alone

She wan wan wandered along, made new friends and she helped them along

She won won won the war, helped out her friends and they found there were more

And now, a Haiku:

Mel and Wanderer
In the same body both love
Jared and Ian.

And thus commences the longest post ever! *curtsy*

Bad Blogger Reading Recap

Hey! I'm alive!!! I haven't posted reviews in SO long and have been a bad, bad book blogger, but I hope to get back on track this week with these two catch-up reviews today, a catch-up Musing Mondays in a few minutes, and another review (and giveaway!) later this week! So, watch out for that, since it's my first. :) ooooh, I'm a giveaway virgin! Anyways, on to the reviewin'.




A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
203 pages
Juvenile Fiction

I first read this book when I was in 6th grade and I HATED it. Ugh, I can still remember the angst of having to talk about this book and right a report on it when I just loathed it. I don't remember what I was interested in reading at that time in my life, but this book definitely wasn't it. So, when the challenge category of reading a book with The Nest Book Club and participate in the monthly discussion came up, and this was the chosen April book, I for some reason decided that it would be a good idea to read it again because there's a chance that I was just an angst-filled 6th grader who didn't see the wonderful qualities in this book...but then again, it really could just not be my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, it ended up being the latter. I guess that I didn't really hate it as much as my 6th grade self did, but I definitely didn't enjoy it. And, if I would have remembered the ending more clearly, I probably wouldn't have finished it this time around. But, I stuck with it, and was still pretty unimpressed.

The story begins with Meg, a typical, awkward 14 year old girl whose parents are scientists and little brother is "weird" but really is some ahead-of-our-time genius. Meg does poorly in school, even though she's really quite bright, and basically complains a lot about how she's a misfit, awkward, etc. Meg's father has been gone for a few years now doing some top-secret science thing and Meg complains about missing him a lot too. One night, her little brother meets a weird lady named Mrs. Whatsit, and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. The three Mrs. tesser (AKA travel through physical space very quickly) Meg and her brother to another planet which is being overrun with evil (a dark cloud around the planet) to find and save her father. Evil-ness occurs, Meg whines, Father is saved, and everyone arrives back at home without making a very big impact on the huge evil.

The one good part about reading this as an adult would be that now I know why I don't care for it. First, I just wasn't interested in Meg figuring things out and defeating evil. I was annoyed by her character's seemingly constant whining and complaining about things that she could change if she just put a little work and effort into it. The other thing that kind of bothered me was that this was a very sci-fi themed book with references to mind reading and control, time and space warping, and rearranging particles yet there were several references to God not just by the Earth people, but by the creatures from other planets. To me, this just didn't really fit because it was basically insinuating that everyone has the same God, when even solely here on Earth, that isn't necessarily the case. The religious God references just didn't quite seem to fit into the theme of the book, in my opinion. I would read a line mentioning religion or God and just think to myself, "huh, that seemed a little out of left field..."

So, I have to give A Wrinkle in Time redo a 4 out of 10. I didn't like it (again) but I'm pretty sure that my sixth grade self would have given it a 0 or 1, so it's a slight improvement over that. I just hope that my someday children won't have to read it...there's definitely better things out there.







Voyager
Book 3 of the Outlander Series
by Diana Gabaldon
870 pages



Ahhhhh, now THIS is more like it!!! After dragging myself through A Wrinkle in Time, a bit of time with Claire and Jamie was JUST what I needed. Voyager picks up where Dragonfly In Amber leaves off. Claire is in Scotland with her daughter, Brianna, and has just discovered that Jamie did not die in the battle at Culloden. She decides that she will find where he ended up with the help of Bree and Roger, and may be able to return to him. The first part of the book alternates between Claire talking about their research to find Jamie's whereabouts after the battle and Jamie actually getting away from the battle alive and what all he is going through. I loved this part because I just ACHED for the both of them. I mean, Jamie knew that Claire was gone and really, he wanted to die at that battle, he really was planning on dying! So they are both just going through life knowing that they will never see their true love again. So. Sad.

Anyways, Claire finally finds where Jamie is at approximately 1768 (since the rocks took her back almost 200 years exactly) and decides to go and find him. I stayed up until well past my bedtime reading this section because I just had to see them reunited!!! And, I almost squee'd out loud when Claire walked into his printing shop and he FAINTED at the sight of her (and I would have squee'd had my husband not been next to me sleeping). Ah, true love! Reunited! And it feels SO good! but of course, the good cannot last because Jamie is always into something not-quite-legal...and this causes Claire to accept Jamie as the man he is now, for the sake of the man she once knew and they embark on a crazy adventure from Scotland all the way to West Indies.

Throughout it all there's love, passion, adventure, and a bit of humor and I just can't get enough! 10 out of 10 stars. Better than Dragonfly in Amber by a smidgen since the newlywed type passion was back.

Review: The Road

The Road

by Cormac McCarthy

287 pages

This book was kind of creepy. Like the part in the beginning of 28 Days Later, before the infected people come out, where the guy is wandering around and there is NO ONE there and everything is deserted and just CREEPY. Yup, it's like that.

So a man and his son (young-ish...maybe 8 or 9? the age is never disclosed) are traveling through the now deserted and covered with ash remnants of America. There's little food, no government, very few people of which most are BAD, and you have no idea what happened. The whole story is just the man and his son trying to find food, shelter, and warmth while avoiding the bad people (who happen to be cannibals because ya know, cows are extinct).

I don't really have a ton to say about this book. I suppose that I kind of liked it. The writing was good (really good actually) and I felt for the man and his son because their situation was just so sad, but it was just so darn CREEPY! Maybe I feel this way because I don't think that it completely out of the realm of possibility that America may some day, with all its ego and pride, burn itself down to a bunch of empty abandoned houses and ash over everything? hmmm...maybe....either way, still just creeps me out! But, I'd probably recommend it to someone who didn't mind if a story had a very sad with a little teeny tiny glimmer of hope ending.

7 out of 10 stars. I wouldn't read it again necessarily, but it was worth the one read.

P.S. I heard that this is going to be made into a movie. BLECH. what a dumb idea! The movie would either have to make up things that weren't in the book to explain what happened to America (because in a book you can be all shrouded in mystery, but not so much in a movie) or it's just going to be a really boring, dark movie of a man and his son traveling down a road and seeing depressing, sad things.

P.P.S. Yes, I need a thesaurus to find a different word for CREEPY. ah well. That's just what it is!

Book Review: They Poured Fire...

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The true story of three Lost Boys from Sudan

by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak

311 pages

You!!! Yes, You! Go read this now. It's amazing and moving and oh-so-profound. and I loved every minute of it.

Benson, Alepho, and Benjamin are three boys (Benson and Alepho are brothers, Benjamin is their cousin) that were born in Sudan. In 1987, when they were very young, ages 5 to 7, the Civil War arising in Sudan reached their village and they were forced apart from their parents, other family, and each other. They were forced to cross deserts with only the rags on their backs, no shoes, and no food or water for months. Most of the time, they were starving or injured or sick with no food or medical treatment. They lost friends and family members along their journey but never gave up hope of being reunited with their family.

Each chapter is written by one of the boys, who are all in their mid twenties at the time the book was published. The chapters go in roughly chronological order from their times in the village before war struck their lives, up until they landed in America in 2001. That's fourteen years of traveling thousands of miles on foot, of having little to no food, and living in refugee camps. The writing is simple yet eloquent and the stories really make you realize how much you had growing up, and now. I have a feeling that I'm going to be recommending this one to a lot of people. It's just a very touching story and would be SUCH a great upper high school or college classroom discussion book, so teachers definitely check this one out!!! If you want more info on this book and the authors check out http://www.theypouredfire.com/

10 out of 10 stars. Just loved it. Oh, and there's some Michigan State University love on the website since it was last year's One Book, One Community book!

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.