Isle of View

I have been reading Isle of View-A history of South Manitou Island by Charles M. Anderson. It gives a personal history of the South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. It tells of life on an island in a different era. There are stories about how life was both from historical, practical day to day and personal point of view. It is from an era when people lived on the island instead of it being a part of the national park system. Some of the personal stories are very funny like when the author's sister's soup exploded at the one room school house they went to. For those of you who love local history, this is a 5 out of 5 Pith helmets.

Playing With Fire by Katie MacAlister

(Katie MacAlister is also known as Katie Maxwell)

Playing With Fire opens up as May Northcott is attempting to steal an artifact from a powerful Mage. She has a particular aptitude for this since she is a Doppelganger, a being created when another being decides to forfeit one of their character traits to a Demon Lord. (in May's case it's her "twin sister's" common sense) Gabriel Tauhou is the Silver Wyvern, the leader of the Silver sept of Dragons. I think I'll leave the rest for y'all to find out. :o)

This is the first book in a new series by Ms. MacAlister and it promises to be good fun. There is some sex in the book and it's explicit but it's FAR less so than say LKH. MacAlister doesn't shy from calling a penis a penis either and I was SO very glad that I didn't have to giggle over phrases like "throbbing rod of love" or "his pulsing love spear".

The book is billed as a Paranormal Romance but, although there is romance in the book, the story is far more than just that. I'm really enjoying how Ms. MacAlister is fleshing out her Otherworld creation and Playing With Fire got me to be interested in another series of hers, The Aisling Grey, Guardian books. (I'd recommend reading those first if you don't want to be spoiled for the ending of the first book. And possibly others in the series as well.) Aisling and her crowd make more than just an appearance in this book.

As I said, this book is more than just a Para-Romance. It has intrigue, comedy and some fantastic Urban Fantasy elements as well. Fans of Ms. MacAlister's "Goth Faire" books (written as Katie Maxwell) would find these to be a grown up version...minus the faire. (sadly minus the faire.)

Besides, where else can you find a 3000 year old demon cum Newfie named Jim that is a canine version of Bob the Skull? (see Jim Butcher) (Jim first appears in You Slay Me, the first Aisling Grey, Guardian novel and he has some FANTASTICALLY hillarious lines in that!)

Recommend these books for anyone wanting a fun light fast read who doesn't mind reading the word "penis" during a sex scene.

4.5 berries for this one folks!

Dangerous Book for Boys

This book has been out for a while and even though I am a bit old for it, I was curious about the book. It is an interesting book and a fantastic idea book for boys and girls. I put in both since I think ther is stuff in it that would interest boys and girls even though it is aimed at boys. It is a combination of information abd activites for boys. It covers a lot of area and would serve as a way to get boys interested in the world around them. I was impressed with the reading list, the activites and the whole book. I was also impressed that it dared have the ten commandments in it when they have lost some of their popularity.

5 out of 5 Pith Helmits.
Read it with a boy that is in your life.

"Fables" Graphic Novel Series

The "Fables" Graphic Novel Series by Bill Willingham are fantastic. The first book, "Fables : legends in Exile" starts out with a murder mystery, and quickly pulls the reader in. (No, I won't tell you whodunit, either.)
Eventually the reader learns that all the "fables", from a thousand different fairytale worlds, have moved to modern-day New York City (or a Farm in Upstate New York for the non-human Fables) and are living there, while their non-fable neighbors (called "Mundys", presumably for "mundanes") are in complete ignorance.
The scripts are excellent, but you really DO need to read ALL the books in the Fables series (currently Fables 1-11, plus "1001 Nights of Snowfall") to get the full story and understand why certain things happen the way they do.

Quite a few liberties are taken with various characters and their backstories (including the "compression" of Snow White from "Snow White & Rose Red" and the Snow White from "...and the Seven Dwarfs" into one character), but the stories are written in such a way that it works.

There's a good story, quite a bit of humor, and good illustrations. Excellent series.
4.5 out of 5 bones.