WildDog's Book Reviews

Goblin Trilogy, by Jim C. Hines

2011-11-03T09:33:00.002-04:00

The Goblin Trilogy, Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, and Goblin War tell the story of Jig the Goblin and his pet fire spider Smudge. It's a humorous look at the Goblins of Middle-Earth and the world from their perspective.
Hines is an excellent storyteller, and you'll find many sly references to other Goblin / Middle Earth / Ogre / etc. stories, including Shrek and (of course) Lord of the Rings.
Jig is a reluctant adventurer, hero, and warrior who appears to more or less get dragged along by events -- and later, by expectations -- who really doesn't want to do anything except be comfortable and at home. Along the way he decides to select a mostly-forgotten god to worship (for the benefits) and somehow manages to blunder to victory.

This trilogy was an excellent read, well-told and the storyline keeps moving along. 5 of 5 bones.

River Marked, by Patricia Briggs

2011-11-01T09:35:00.003-04:00

The latest installment in the Mercedes Thompson series, this is another excellent book by Ms. Briggs. Mercedes and Adam finally get married (and how that happens is an entertaining romp, which I absolutely won't spoil.)

For their honeymoon, they take a huge RV (borrowed from...Uncle Mike...eeps) and go someplace recommended by another one of the fae. Huh. Of course their honeymoon doesn't go quite as planned, and they wind up taking care of another "Mythical" monster.

Along the way we get to see a lot more of Mercedes' heritage and background, which is also very interesting - and explains some things.

The thing I most liked about it -- and about this series in general -- is that Ms. Briggs continues to write interesting stories about Mercedes doing a lot of Monster Fighting without making her "Level Up" every book. It's not a treatise in "gee, what scary new power will she get this time", it's not showing us how she defeats New Scary Monster by developing New Scary Power -- she defeats them by being herself, using her brains and courage and doing her very best. Ms. Briggs is having Mercedes "Level Out" by developing a network of friends and acquaintances (yes, some of whom do have Scary Powers) that help her, but not even they are always available, and not always certain that their Scary Powers will work.

Excellent job. 5 of 5 bones.

Where There's a Witch, by Madelyn Alt

2011-10-06T16:15:00.003-04:00

Summary: This book is #5 in Ms. Alt's "Bewitching Mystery" series. The series protagonist is "Maggie" who is a Sensitive (apparently she can sense supernatural beings, as well as being Empathic). The series is set in a small town in Indiana, called Stony Mill. This book takes place in the summer, and Stony Mill's local Baptist Church is having a carnival to celebrate their expansion. The Groundbreaking ceremony is brought to a halt when a hidden room is discovered. A ghost that was in the room also escapes. The next day or so, the body of a young woman is found in the location of the groundbreaking. One of the construction workers, her (former?) boyfriend, is immediately suspected. The rest of the book revolves around Maggie and her fellow Sensitives trying to Solve the Mystery of The Murdered Woman as well as the Mystery of the Hidden Room.

Review: I picked this up mainly for the mystery, but also because it looked whimsical. It failed, unfortunately, on both counts. The Mystery takes a far, far distant second to the Main Issue - which is essentially Witchery. How the local Witches / Sensitives / Psychics / Whatever get along with the rest of the locals. Obviously the locals in Small-Town Indiana aren't real happy about Witches, etc. in their town. The mystery itself is given bare lip service and definitely takes a back seat to the Spooky Stuff. Oh, and Maggie's personal life.
Given the way the mystery was treated, (and since i knew from reading the back that someone would be murdered somewhere in the book) I had a pretty good idea who was the murderer even before there was a murder. Within a chapter of the murder I'd figured out who was the murderer, what was up with the Mystery Room, who the Ghost was, and why the Ghost Existed - along with What The Ghost Was Trying To Tell Them. I finished the book hoping there would be a twist at the end, but alas, no twist. I'd really figured it out halfway through the book. Had this been Ms. Alt's first or second attempt, it would've been forgiveable and I would've tried again, but since it's #5 in the series, I'm going to give it a miss. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book because it's got good characterization, and I was interested in the characters, but for me, that's not enough to carry a really weak, half-baked mystery.

If you like characterization and storyline and don't care whether the mystery is weak or not, then this is the book and series for you. For me, I give it 2.5 out of 5 bones.

Knot Gneiss, by Piers Anthony

2010-12-09T16:00:00.002-05:00

I saw the latest Xanth offering at the Library and I didn't have very many other books to take home so I figured, "meh, why not". At least I wasn't paying for it, right?

The book is done in the standard formula: Querent goes to Magician Humfrey, Querent gets assigned a Task that is far too hard and complicated for their simple stupid Answer, they take it anyway because of course they're the Only One That Can Accomplish This Vitally Necessary Task, they collect a bunch of people along the way and finish their task with no time to spare.
In this case, it's a knot of Petrified Reverse Wood that must be moved / removed from the Gap Chasm and delivered to Humfrey.

This book dumps our subjects into Ida's Alternate Worlds a few times, but thankfully does not, for the first time in a LONG time, end with "good thing you did the Task because this was all another Demon Contest and if you'd failed the Land of Xanth would have no magic / belong to another Demon / fall apart / etc."

The ending was odd, to say the very least, and made me go, "wait...what just happened?"

I did think that the books have been getting more "stereotypical" in their handling of the gender relationships. This one was bordering on offensive - all men, bar none, are mindless one-dimensional boors, obsessed with one thing and one thing only - sex. This is of course unless they are friends of the protagonist and are required to be multi-dimensional. But husbands? Are always, always, always interested in one thing from their wives. While the concept of "a man still finding his wife to be HAWT" is very nice, the idea that that is all they think their wife is good for is obnoxious. The only thing that changes a man from Obnoxious One Dimensional Boor Husband into Loving Wonderful Multi-Dimensional Husband With Many And Varied Interests (really, what turns him into a human being) is HAVING CHILDREN. Because of course everyone knows this is the only thing that gives life meaning or higher purpose.

Women, on the other hand, are portrayed as HAWT, flirtatious, and only interested in giving their husbands What They Want so the women can get on with their interesting, multi-dimensional lives. Interaction of an intellectual, friend-to-friend sort must of necessity take place outside the marriage because the husband is a sex-crazed idiot. To this end, they are manipulative and scheming, and all too willing to leave their husbands behind - except of course for the obligatory Nightly Conjugal Visit (10 minutes or less "should be enough", right?) And, of course, any woman that makes it past age 20 or so without Having A Man is completely Washed Up And Useless. All women, naturally therefore, want only to Get A Man, and then Have Children - because only by Having A Man and then Having Children will her life have any meaning.

While these attitudes have been expressed in the Xanth series before, generally they were merely alluded to, or expressed in a more sarcastic or "jokey" manner. However, in this book, they were obviously more "intended", so to speak, and that's what I found offensive. They're getting more and more obvious, and more and more blatant.

In sum: Latest Xanth book is "meh" for the plot (what there is of it), offensive for the misandry and misogyny, the ending is arbitrary but thankfully does not have any Demon Contest inclusions, so I give it a "whatever" out of 5. 1.5 bones I suppose.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

2010-11-17T13:31:00.003-05:00

The Hunger Games trilogy consists of:

Book 1 - The Hunger Games
Book 2 - Catching Fire
Book 3 - Mockingjay

These books are riveting. Brutal at times but absolutely amazing.

In a future where the United States has fallen and a new country, called Panem, has risen, Katness Everdeen steps into the place of her little sister to participate in The Hunger Games, a reality show where the contestants, 1 male and 1 female from each of the 12 districts of Panem, go to compete - to the death.

Chosen to go with her (via lottery) is Peeta, a boy from District 12's town. His family are bakers by trade and Peeta really has no skills to survive in The Arena (where the Hunger Games takes place). Katness, however, has been "training" most of her life by illegally hunting and gathering in the forest to support herself, her mother and younger sister, Prim. (and Prim's cat, Buttercup)

The story, over the three books, tells of the discontent of the districts against the Capital's rule. No Capital children are ever selected for the Hunger Games, which grew up as a way to remind the Districts of the folly in revolt against the Capital.

Very powerful, often tear inducing, these books will continue to give me food for thought for a very long time.

5 out of 5 berries for all three books.

In the Company of Vampires by Katie MacAlister

2010-11-03T10:15:00.003-04:00

I have been waiting for this book for YEARS. Yes, literally, years.

In the Company of Vampires is the third book in Ms. MacAlister's Ben and Fran Dark Ones (slash)Goth Faire books which started with Got Fangs? and Circus of the Darned. Can't find them because they're out of print? Never fear, Katie Mac is here! She recently received the rights to the books back and her new publisher, Signet, has reprinted them in a handy omnibus edition under the title Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend. My well worn original copies can now be retired to my "well loved and most favorite" book shelf. Hooray.

Okay, the review...

Ms. MacAlister has delivered another winner with this book. She made me laugh, she made me cry. I gasped, I sighed and when it was all over, I turned it over and restarted it. I'm currently half way through my second reading and it's still wonderful. I can tell that this will become, like the first two, a comfort read for me. Something I can pick up and delve into just to be with beloved friends.

The book opens with Fran, now 22, living with a roommate in Oregon where she is working for a web development company. She and Ben have broken up and she is miserable but adamant that she wants to make her own decisions about who she should be with, not be a "pawn of fate".

There is much hilarity in this book and, because Fran is officially an adult, much more naughtiness as well. Which is good and actually really clean. (One reason I like Ms. MacAlister's books so much is that there is rarely any cursing or taking the Lord's name in vain. It's refreshing!) Fran ends up going back to Europe to the Goth Faire to retrieve the Vikingaharta from Imogene. Eirik, Finnvid and Isleif are also in on the retrieval having been sent by Freya to help Fran send Loki to the Akashic Plane.

The reunion scene with Ben made me weep. My heart broke, was healed and broke again. The misery that both Fran and Ben endured over the 5 years Fran had been gone from Europe, the utter despondency that engulfed them during the year of their complete breakup, made me ache with loneliness. Then the joy began but was shattered only to give birth to hope.

And that hope was not in vain.

Needless to say, I loved this book. I ached for this book for so long, I was afraid I had built it up too much in my mind but I was wrong. This book is, if not quite a perfect conclusion, a very satisfying semi-conclusion to Ben and Fran's love story. There are many threads hanging at the end but, as Ms. MacAlister has promised that this is the begining of a new series, I'm very hopeful that there just MIGHT be another B&F centric book among them.

We do learn what Loki took from Fran ("I will take that which you value most") in Circus of the Darned and it actually was close to my hypothesis that Fran lost her feeling of acceptance, her feeling of belonging, that I was well satisfied with Loki's denouement.

5 of 5 berries for this one. Read it! You'll fall in love with Ben and Fran as well!

Elemental Masters books, Timeline

2010-10-15T12:52:00.003-04:00

The Elemental Masters books by Mercedes Lackey are an interesting series of books. They are written with the assumption that magic works in our world, and that the wielders of said magic are hiding it from "normal" people. Well, that makes sense.
These Magic-wielders are able to manipulate magic in one of the four "elements": Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Each has their own abilities and Elementals to command, and each can be used for good (Light Path) or evil (Dark Path, usually blood magic). All of these books are actually retellings of Fairy Tales, and take place around the turn of the 20th Century.

I was reading them and started wondering about the timeline for these books, and how they fit together. Here's what I came up with, in chronological order:

Wizard of London, Elemental Masters book 5.
Fairy Tale: The Snow Queen.
Takes place sometime between 1861 and 1880 (or so).
Clues: Queen Victoria is mentioned as "mourning her husband", so obviously it's after Albert's death in 1861. A fraudulent medium is mentioned as well, and that her punishment may be "being sent to Australia". The final shipment of prisoners to Australia took place in 1868, but it's conceivable that this would still be in the minds of people as "something that happens to criminals" much later than that, so I lengthened the timeline. It's conceivable, actually, that it takes place anywhere up to 1901, since that's when Victoria died.

The Fire Rose, Elemental Masters book 1.
Fairy Tale: Beauty and the Beast.
Takes place in 1901 - 1902, as is evidenced by the San Francisco Earthquake near the end of the book.

Reserved for the Cat, Elemental Masters book 6.
Fairy Tale: Puss in Boots.
Takes place between 1907 and 1914.
Clues: The Ziegfeld Follies, started in 1907, is mentioned as the up-and-coming form of entertainment. The protagonist is said to be fleeing Russia and "won't be missed unless she's a favorite of the Empress". The Imperial Family was executed in 1917. However, Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, and certainly the main Mages in the story would have been called up by 1915. Also, there is no mention whatsoever of the war, and at least one character has no problem traveling across Europe by train. Therefore, it must be before 1914.

The Serpent's Shadow, Elemental Masters book 2.
Fairy Tale: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
The text itself states it starts in 1909. May take place either slightly before or simultaneously with Reserved for the Cat.

The Gates of Sleep, Elemental Masters book 3.
Fairy Tale: Sleeping Beauty.
This one is the most uncertain. The text does mention Dr. Maya (from The Serpent's Shadow), and one of the characters here, Dr. Andrew Pike, is mentioned in Phoenix and Ashes. So I put it between the two.

Phoenix and Ashes, Elemental Masters book 4.
Fairy Tale: Cinderella.
Dates in the book place it starting at 1914, and the action takes place between 1914 - 1918.

They're an interesting series of books, fascinating retellings of the "classic" fairy tales, and they're an enjoyable read. They are internally consistent, as well - they reference action that has taken place in previous books and it all hangs together nicely.

The Stepsister Scheme - Jim C. Hines

2009-09-10T23:29:00.004-04:00

Absolutely a fantastic book! There are few books that I can't put down and must burn the midnight, early dawn and into daytime oil to finish in one sitting. This was one of them. The Princess' stories are straight out of Grimm and NOT Disney. If you're looking for sweet and light, look elsewhere. If you're looking for good plot, good writing and good character development, look no further, The Stepsister Scheme has it all. Light humor and Dark delights, this book will draw you in and won't spit you back out until you're finished. 5 of 5 berries for this one. You DON'T want to miss it!

Isle of View

2009-05-26T19:10:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-11T00:50:00.005-04:00

(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

2009-05-10T15:51:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-04T14:08:00.003-04:00

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.

Accidental Sorcerer by K.E. Mills (Karen Miller) Book 1 of the Rogue Wizard Trilogy

2009-04-30T11:03:00.002-04:00

Accidental Sorcerer starts of a little heavy, ponderous, wordy. However, after the first couple of chapters are over, the book fairly soars with fun, intrigue and danger.

Gerald Dunwoody, a Third grade level wizard, isn't having a good day at his current job. In fact, it's such a BAD day, Gerald gets fired...

And then the adventure begins.

Accidental Sorcerer is a sort of cross between Harry Dresden and light epic fantasy. Not quite as "dark" as the Dresden Files, there's still enough intrigue, danger and laughs to capture any Harry fan.

I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Mills (Miller) has started a new trilogy with a bang (and a pop!) that has left me hungering for the next book, Witches Incorporated. (due out June 30th!)

4 out of 5 berries for this one!

Wisconsin Lore and Legend I & II

2009-04-06T18:27:00.002-04:00

I was combing through the shelves of one of my favorite local used bookstores and I found two neat books- Wisconsin Lore and Legends Volume I &II. They are a collection of newspaper comics done very much in the same genre of Ripley Believe it or Not! but focused on Wisconsin. A very enjoyable and quick read. Too quick. They are a bit on the thin side but otherwise very enjoyable read. Try them out if you can find them.

4 out of 5 pith helmets.

The Convienent Marriage by Georgette Heyer

2009-02-02T12:08:00.002-05:00

I liked this book even though it felt a bit disjointed at times. Horry wasn't the lovable heroine you come to expect from Heyer's oeuvre, but she was very likable. Rule was less obviously "masterful" than other Heyer heroes, but you never got the sense that he couldn't BE masterful if he wanted to be so. I found him to be extremely likable and I think he might be one of my all time favorite romantic heroes. I wish he'd have had even more "page time".

I can't express just WHY I liked this book. In fact, I really feel like I shouldn't have liked it because it WAS so very disjointed. The reader sometimes gets lost as conversations wind around things that have nothing to do with the plot and events happen that leave you wondering "what??"

But that might be just why I like it. All in all I'd say, if you're a fan of Heyer and you haven't read The Convenient Marriage, do so. If you're just getting into Heyer's works, save this one for later. Start with Frederika or Cotillion.

4 berries out of 5.

Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich

2009-01-29T11:57:00.004-05:00

A delightful book filled with the author's experiences in creating her own homemade life and details on how YOU can create your own, Made from Scratch is probably one of the better books I've read in a long time. (not including the rereads I've been doing because I haven't been able to find something NEW that interests me!)

Ms. Woginrich takes us along on her journey in discovering the joys of raising chickens, keeping bees, dog sledding, creating music and vegetable gardening among other things. The chapters are short and end with information on how you can get started as well.

The book is well put together, funny and at times a bit sad as well. The author can be a bit..."granola" at times but this wasn't as off putting as it could have been. A fact for which I am MOST grateful and I am hoping that Ms. Woginrich will be putting out another book with more of her reminisces about her homesteading efforts. Her words are truly inspiring.

You can visit her farm at www.coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com

Giving this 4 out of 5 berries.

DragonHarper, by Anne & Todd McCaffrey

2008-12-23T06:21:00.003-05:00

The Pern books are generally fun little bits of fluff, so I decided to give one of the mother-and-son collaboration books about Pern a try. I was..."disappointed", I guess is the best word.

I know that Anne McCaffrey doesn't so much as have a nodding acquaintance with "Continuity" or "Consistency" in her books (the "Crystal Singer" and brainship books are especially horrible at this - she's got entire plot points being contradicted at times. Other times it's just "timeline" issues or other minor items, but still...) I have, however, come to expect that a story will, if not be internally consistent, at least be an entertaining read with a good storyline and story flow.

This book, however - the first half or so was entertaining. It's set 12 years before a Thread Pass, sometime between Moreta's Ride and "modern-day" Pern. It tells the story of "Kindan", a Harper apprentice, who originally worked in a mine, as a bondmate to a watch-wher. He then moved to the Harper hall, then was taken in a Search for a potential dragonrider, and when he didn't Impress a dragon, he went back to the Harper hall. He has a duel, makes friends, Impresses a fire-lizard, falls in love, and generally lives his life.
About the time of the fire-lizard Impression and the falling in love, however, the story starts to fall apart. Things happen that just don't make sense - or aren't explained well. However, the story still flowed fairly decently, and I was willing to overlook the inconsistencies for the sake of the story.

But the last 1/3 of the book or so is "suddenly, a PLAGUE appears!" This pandemic is very similar to the Influenza Epidemic of 1919 - the healthiest, strongest people (and the very weakest) are the ones who die, while the old, infirm, and very young are the ones who survive. And, naturally, it's deadly, spreads like wildfire, takes out entire holds, doesn't affect dragonriders...sound familiar? It should - it's Moreta's Story all over again with a different plague. It's as though they couldn't allow Kindan to just live his life and tell the story - no, instead they felt compelled to suddenly reprise Moreta's Story (complete with "timing it", although Kindan obviously isn't the one timing it, and the "timers" survive it, rather than getting lost between).
I get it: Plagues and epidemics aren't predictable, they don't happen just once and then no other disease hits like that, but honestly. It read like they suddenly realized "hey, we've got no real conflict now...I know, let's throw in a half-disguised Moreta Story! Yeah, that's it..."
It didn't work. I don't think I'll be reading any more Todd-and-Anne books; this one just wasn't as cohesive as some of her other collaborations, and I don't have the patience for books like that.
2 bones.

Looking for a book to read?

2008-11-10T14:30:00.001-05:00

Try some of my favorites for this Holiday season. Remember, books make GREAT gifts too!

If you want to try something good and noir-ish with a bunch of good urban fantasy, go to The Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. First one is Storm Front and second is Fool Moon. SERIOUSLY excellent books. So far there are 10 in the series and Butcher has said that he's planning on at least 20. Book 11 is due out in April.

Another couple of good series...

House of Night series by PC and Kristin Cast. First one is Marked and second is Betrayed. About a different kind of Vampyre where you are "marked" and your dna changes. Paganism does figure in these books and there's mild sex and language. There are currently 4 out and a 5th is due next year in hardback.

Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. Mercy is a VW Mechanic in these Urban Fantasy novels. She's also a Walker, a coyote to be exact. There are werewolves and vampires and even fae in these books. First is Moon Called, second is Blood Bound and third is Iron Kissed. Fourth is coming out early next year and it's called Bone Crossed.

There is another series set in the same "world" that deals with the Marrok (you'll learn about him) and his younger son Charles. First story is in the Anthology On the Prowl and the first book is called Cry Wolf. The series is called the Alpha and Omega series.

The Kitty Norville books by Carrie Vaughn. Kitty Norville is a disc jockey who is also a werewolf. First book is Kitty and the Midnight Hour, second is Kitty Goes to Washington. There are 4 currently out and 2 due out in Jan and Feb of next year.

I know I've talked about these before but the Rachel Morgan books by Kim Harrison are so so so excellent. First is Dead Witch Walking and second is The Good, the Bad and the Undead. There are 6 books out currently and book 7 is due early next year. I adore Rachel and hey...it's set in Cincinnati. How much better can that get? *G*

Sisters of the Moon series is by Yasmine Galenorn. They involve 3 sisters who are half human, half fey and are "secret agents" of the Fey crown. Witchling is first, Changeling is second, and Darkling is third. Dragon Wytch is the forth and the fifth book is due out either later this year or early next.

The Werecats books by Rachel Vincent are okay. I've only read the first, Stray, but have the second, Rogue, on my TBR pile. The third is due out early next year.

Many people like the Weather Warden books by Rachael Caine. Sort of an elementals meets the djinn and weather is involved type of book. I've only read the first couple and they were pretty good. I just got tired of waiting for the next and went on to something else and forgot about these. Ill Wind is the first and Heat Stroke is the second. There are 7 books in the series so far and all are out. No word on book 8 that I know of but I haven't really looked. *G*

Rachel Caine also has a Vampire series called the Morganville Vampires. I haven't read these but am told they're more of a YA book than an "adult" novel. Which is okay with me. So's Twilight. *G* First is Glass Houses.

The Vampire Acadamy books by Richelle Mead are great. So far there are 2 books in print and the third is due out this month. Vampire Acadamy is first, Frostbite is second and Shadow Kiss is the third. Totally engrossing. Has vampires and magic and dhampires.

The Noble Dead novels are more along the lines of Epic Fantasy and involve vampires, fey and dhampir. First book is called Dhampir, second is Thief of Lies and third is Sister of the Dead. There are 6 books currently in print in this series and the 7th is due out in Jan of 09.

More Epic Fantasy with Jim Butcher's other series, The Codex Alera. The Furies of Calderon is the first book, and in it we follow Tavi, a furyless boy of 15, as he begins on a journey to help save the world he knows. EXCELLENT books, in fact, I'm reading them right now to get ready for the 5th book's release later this month. Second book is Acadam's Fury and Third is Cursor's Fury. I love these books and wish I'd have bought them in hardback since they're now OOP in hardback and are very very hard to find. Don't let the "epic fantasy" scare you. These are not tedious books. They're fast and rousing and oh so addictive.

And last but very very much NOT least...

The Katie Chandler books by Shanna Swendson are very highly imaginative books where magic is all too real but most people have no clue that the person sitting next to them could be a fairy or a sprite or even that the gargoyle peering down at them is REAL and not just a stone figure. Katie Chandler sees all of this and more when she starts working in New York City...because Katie is a rarity in the world. A person so devoid of magic that she's a true mundane. But her life is FAR from mundane when she takes a job with Magic, Spells and Illusion, Inc. (MSI) as a "verifier", someone who can see through the magic to what really lies beneath. Enchanted Inc is the first book in this wonderful series. There's 4 books out so far and from reading her FAQ section, her current publisher isn't sure there will BE a book 5 unless sales of books 3 and 4 get stronger. The series is excellent and I highly recommend it. And I KNOW you'll want it on your keeper shelf! (there's also the possibility of a movie!)

Stray by Rachel Vincent

2008-10-04T18:21:00.005-04:00

Yep, another "paranormal" book review.

Stray, by newcomer Rachel Vincent, is the story of Faythe Sanders, a college student and werecat.

I bought this because of the cat theme (I love cats) and because a favorite writer, Kim Harrison, recommended it. I'm not sorry, it was a good story overall but...as Publisher's Weekly put it:

"Vincent's debut, an urban werecat fantasy, is a good story that suffers from about 200 pages of bloat"

and

"Unfortunately, they [Marc and Faythe the lead characters] both have frustrating character tics that are only exacerbated by the novel's length: Faythe is more often too-stubborn-to-live than kick-ass, and all the tears Marc wells up over Faythe don't forgive his insufferable jealousy."

I would recommend catching a copy of this at the library so you can decide for yourself if you want to go further with the series (next up is Rogue and then Pride coming in '09) although Ms. Vincent DOES create a unique and very very interesting world.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Rogue has to offer, but I'm hoping that Marc gets over his "bad" self and Faythe remembers that she does, indeed, have a brain.

3 out of 5 berries because the ending was pretty fast paced and kept me reading far into the night.

Evernight by Claudia Gray

2008-10-04T18:05:00.001-04:00

While browsing Amazon.com, looking for something to wash the *blech* out of my brain from reading half of Breaking Dawn (Twilight series), I came across a listing for Evernight.

Billed as a "must read for fans of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight" this is indeed a book about vampire romance. But as you begin the story, you have to wonder...just who is the vampire here?

Bianca is a new gal at Evernight Academy. Her parents took jobs as teachers so that Bianca could "learn more about life than [her] small town friends could show her." All the kids at Evernight seem to be either the "snobby rich" or the "look down upon ya" losers. With Bianca in the middle of both cliques. Having parents at the school...and cool teachers that they are...makes the rich kids grudgingly accept her while the "losers" look at her with unease. Is she just like the "richies" or is she like them?

And then there's Lucas. Also new at Evernight, Lucas is the first person in his family to attend since the family was "blackballed" in the 1700s. Universally disliked by the rich kids and semi feared by the "losers", Lucas becomes enamored by Bianca, who (of course) returns the interest.

What follows is a Romeo and Juliet type "love affair" with waring ancient supernatural societies stepping in for the Capulets and Montegues. The "twist" in the story comes about half way and, if you don't spot it loooong before that, you're just not paying attention.

It was a fast and, for the most part, a fun read. I was a little bored by the first half of the book but pushed on and was rewarded by some good chuckles and a great belly laugh. The ending was pretty typical but, for a first time writer, Ms. Gray has done a good job. I'm looking forward to reading more about Bianca and Lucas.

All in all, I'll give this a 3.5 out of 5 berries. Good enough to read again, but not enough to buy it new for the shelf.

Barrack Obama is Your New Bicycle.

2008-09-13T10:06:00.003-04:00

I read the book Barack OBama is your new bi.cycle by Mathew Honan. It is subtitled 366 ways he really cares. It was started by the author's desire to make his wife laugh. While she was campaigning for Senator Obama, he set up the website, barckobamaisyournewbicycle.com. From there, came the book. I t is a humorous look at how Barrack Obama cares for you and why he is a good candidate. I will give you a few examples from the book but hopefully not too many so I don't go beyond fair use.

Barack Obama gave you a puppy.
Barack Obama mapped out a new dungeon and rolled up a totally bad ass paladin for your first game of D&D.
Barack Obama called your mom on mother's day just to say hi.

It was trite and yet very funny. It was an incredibly fast read and worth the time to read it.

3 out 0f 5 Pith Helmets.

Young Man Luther by Erik Erikson

2008-07-30T14:23:00.002-04:00

Young Man Luther by Erik Erikson is a book with an interesting premise but littl else. The premise was do to a psychoanalysis of Martin Luther. The big and central problem is that his analysis was with a person who was absent. Luther was so absent that he had been dead for centuries and no one around to even a first hand account of things. Besides this, there was a cultural biased that was not deal with in the book. Erikson was writting this while living in the 1950's America while looking at Martin Luther who was living in the 1500's Germany. This, at least for me, left the book's theories foundationless. I give this one 1 out of 5 Pith helmits and this solely for how much Erikson's biased amused me.

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy

2008-07-23T08:44:00.004-04:00

This book was actually featured in the Unshelved Book Club Sunday Strip for June 22. When I saw it on the "recommended" table at the library, I remembered the strip and picked the book up. Was I ever glad I did!

The age rating says "ages 10 and up". It really is, too - it's got enough action and wisecracking to make it appeal to kids, teens, and adults, without being overly graphic or resorting to "adult" material.

SYNOPSIS: Stephanie is a normal 12-year-old girl with a rather not-normal uncle. The book starts with his funeral, and the reading of his will - in which he leaves the majority of his vast estate to Stephanie! Also present is an unusual character named "Skullduggery Pleasant", apparently a friend of Stephanie's uncle.
He rapidly becomes a friend of sorts to Stephanie, as well. She stays the night at her uncle's (now her) house, and gets attacked by a man asking for a "key". Skullduggery comes to the rescue and is revealed to be a walking, talking, magic-using skeleton! The rest of the book deals with Stephanie's introduction to the world of magic and sorcery, and of course, the battles against the Bad Guys.
The Bad Guys are after the Scepter of the Ancients, an amazingly powerful (and indestructible) weapon made by (duh) the Ancients. With the Scepter, they plan to take over the world, call up an ancient race of gods, and get the gods to rid the world of humanity. I never quite did figure out how they thought they would be exempt from this purging-of-humanity, but apparently being a Bad Guy necessarily means that you have major holes in your logic. :D

Skullduggery has an impossibly large ego, a healthy sense of self-worth, and is incredibly sarcastic. His interactions with Stephanie, no slouch in those areas herself, are really funny. If you're a devotee of the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher, you'll understand when I say that Skullduggery is rather a combination of Harry and Bob when it comes to wisecracking and sarcastic comments.

Overall, it's a fun read, and, dare I say, a "Pleasant" book. Check out the website at http://www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us

4.5 out of 5 bones.

Egyptian Book fo the Dead.

2008-07-21T17:09:00.002-04:00

The Edition of the Egyptian Book of the Dead I will be reviewing has been translated by Raymond O. Faulkner and has an introduction by James P. Allen. It was copyrighted in 2003 and published by Barnes and Noble. This edition is a beautiful and well done coffee table edition full of pictures of both original texts but also artifacts from the era. Both text and pictures shed light on the ancient Egyptian culture and religion. It was an enjoyable read and a book i would leave out for people to look through. Due to its vignette nature. This book is best read in short snippets.

5 out of 5 pith helmets

The Black Mountain, a Nero Wolfe novel

2008-07-02T12:34:00.002-04:00

By Rex Stout.

Synopsis: Marko Vukcic, Nero Wolfe's oldest friend, is murdered in New York. Wolfe actually leaves not only his brownstone, but the country to go to Montenegro (at the time it was Yugoslavia) and find the murderer.

Review: I normally thoroughly approve of an author trying something new with their characters, and taking them in a new direction. And, while this was definitely in Wolfe's character, I just didn't enjoy this book very much at all. Yes, the mystery was there, but it was more of a MacGuffin than the point of the book. The point seemed to be "get Wolfe completely out of his element. A lot." The mystery was dealt with only tangentially, and the "adventure" of Wolfe and Archie in Montenegro dominated the book. It was "solved" as an afterthought, and required no mental effort whatsoever on Wolfe's part. As a Wolfe novel, it was disappointing. There was none of the usual banter, none of the "Archie hassles Wolfe", and in general, none of their usual behaviours. Since I read, and re-read the books for the people, rather than the MacGuffin / mystery, I wasn't impressed with this one.

It really didn't read like a Wolfe novel at all, but rather like another "adventure" novel in a different series Stout may have been working on - with Wolfe and Archie shoehorned in at the last minute.

1.5 out of 5 bones.

Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton

2008-07-01T15:26:00.003-04:00

Oh gee. Where do I begin with this travesty of a "book"?

I made it to about page 20 (chapter 7 or so) of Blood Noir. Then something shiny caught my eye and I just couldn't be fussed to pick up BN again to read another 20 chapters (6 pages or so.) Heck, I couldn't even be fussed to pick it up and fling it across the room to bang into the wall.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic (sort of) about the chapter length but really, I'm begining to hate the 2 paragraph chapters. It's irritating beyond belief, especially since the first 5 chapters were about Nathan, Jason and Anita having sex. But it's not about sex. No no really! At least, that's what Anita would have us believe.

Thank goodness in the 20 eye blindingly horrid pages I managed to wade through, Anita never once "screamed [her] pleasure into [his] mouth" as she was pretty much guaranteed to do at least twice for each sexual encounter she's had in the last 3 books.

Ms. Hamilton, I like Anita. I like that she's kick ass and super supernatural. I enjoy the PLOTS of the earlier books. I like the necromancy, the vampire stuff, the Were stuff. Even when it's eyerollingly absurd. It's still fun. This...this...VOMIT that you've spewed onto precious tree pulp is just...well...gorge rising.

Go back to what worked, Ms. Hamilton. Please. Either that or dump Anita for awhile and go on with the other ideas you've had.

0 out of 5 berries for this one. Unless you like badly written graphic sex scenes with no eroticism whatsoever, give this one a miss. Even if you normally check 'em out of the library. Wasn't worth the 20 cents I had in late fees.

Laurell K. Hamilton's books

2008-05-13T08:29:00.002-04:00

This isn't a book review, per se, but it is a commentary or "review" about an author, so I'm putting it here anyhow.
I was listening to a bunch of Fear The Boot podcasts over the weekend (and if you're a Role Playing Gamer, you really need to check them out. GREAT programs. Skip 'casts 1 & 2, at least, though - they're not at all typical of their style and format. Listen to some later ones, then later on go do 1 & 2) and they mentioned something about Card Games (like Magic the Gathering) that struck a chord with me.

Their biggest complaint about Magic was that it built interest by "building up" rather than "building out". Explanation: every new expansion pack got BIGGER! BETTER! COOLER! MORE POWERFUL! instead of building interest in the game by developing a richer, more complex game or world.

And this brings me to LKH's books.
I think, after reading many not-so-positive reviews of Laurell K. Hamilton's latest books, and especially the Anita series, that this is the problem people are seeing with her material, as well.
Anita's getting more and more powerful, but unfortunately not really more mature. LKH is "building up". It's almost as though she's saying "what can I add to Anita to make people come back and check it out again?" instead of saying "how can I make Anita and her world richer and more interesting? How can I get people to care about Anita and her friends even more, so they feel they must come back?"

I don't really care about Anita-the-Superfreak anymore. Ho hum, she's got another Were animal. Whoopee. Y'know who I care about now? Nathaniel. Why? Because he's not a Super. He doesn't have superpowers, he's not a SuperPowerful Necromancer Vampire Human Servant Triumvirate Maker With A Vampire Servant To Call His Own and The One Who Will Go Up Against Belle Morte And Win And Probably Also Put The Mother Of All Vamps To Sleep Again - Maybe Permanently. Nope, he's just Nathaniel, who's doing the best he can with what he's got. A "normal" Were (as normal as anyone gets in these stories), doing normal Were things, and being the very best Nathaniel he can be.

I don't care about Anita anymore. Why bother? She'll get out of whatever situation she's in because she'll Develop Another Superpower or her current ones will get her out of it somehow. Again. Yawn.

LKH, please, we - your fans; remember us? - are begging you to please please please "build out". Make Anita more interesting, more vulnerable, more human, rather than just a SuperFreak with Really Powerful Enemies.

Jennifer Scales and the Silver Elm

2008-03-18T13:42:00.003-04:00

This is the third book in the "Jennifer Scales" series by MaryJanice Davidson. On the whole, it's not bad - it's an interesting story, well-written, and it's engaging. Plus, since it's written for a Young Adult audience, it's short. For all the shortness, however, it does resolve its crisis; there isn't anything left hanging as a "tune in next time", which made me happy.

*SPOILERS for the series. Possibly. Just FYI.*
Jennifer is back in form as a were-dragon. Her adventures take her to a lot of weird places, including a parallel time-line and a place known only to, and sacred to, the dragons.
They also take her into a realm of not only self-sufficiency, but (almost paradoxically) the realization that she isn't the only one affected by her decisions, she doesn't always know what's right, and maybe she should just shut up and pay attention once in a while to people that very likely do know more than she does, and very probably do have good, valid reasons for what they do. I'm not going to give away more than that; you'll have to read it.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. There were a couple things I wasn't thrilled with, though. The first was the opening scene. The "telling the end of the story first then doing a flashback to the rest of the story" schtick is getting old. Everyone is doing it these days, and I'm getting really tired of it. It was totally unnecessary, and I thought it was rather jarring. It didn't serve to get me interested in the story, it just annoyed me. Maybe it'll go over better with the YA readers.

Parts of the story seemed to be rather disconnected, jumping around from scene to scene with little to no real "segue" - or kludged in at the last second, almost like the authors said, "oh crud, we forgot that we had to resolve that...uh....cram it in there."

Other than those two things, though, I thought it was a good book. And really, the overall story arc and writing almost made up for those.
4 out of 5.
Other than that, though, I did enjoy it.

The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

2008-03-05T12:13:00.003-05:00

I just finished this last night and I'm still blinking my eyes over it.

Let me say off the bat, it's a GOOD book. It isn't one that you just can't put down, but it's a very good book.

Actually, that I COULD put it down made it a better book for me. I was able to digest some of the action and dialog that was going on throughout the book.

The plot was engaging and you learn quite a bit about Rachel, her Mom and even her brother in the course of the story. Ivy and Rachel start coming to terms with their relationship and even Ceri has a surprise in store for you. Rachel makes a new friend as well but...alas...we don't get to know much about them in this book.

The parts I had problems with were the reintroduction of Marshall, a bunch of the Demon stuff and the ending revelation that Rachel has. For me, it sort of smacks of Anita Blake...starts out as a normal everyday whatever and over the course of the books becomes SUPER ANITA! *G* I do have to say, it makes SENSE, but...I can't help wishing that it hadn't come about...yet.

But I do like Rachel much more and the way Ms. Harrison is bringing the changes about is MUCH better than Ms. Hamilton's never ending sexcapades.

All in all, I'm giving this book a 3.75 out of 5 berries. It is a 4 in most places but the problems I had with it made me want to give a 3.5. So I'm compromising. *G*

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aiden

2008-02-27T15:44:00.005-05:00

This is actually a trilogy consisting of An Assembly Such as This Duty and Desire and These Three Remain

If anyone was ever wondering just what was going on in Mr. Darcy's head during Pride and Prejudice, Pamela Aiden gives us a wonderful look inside that august man's head.

Starting off the night of the Assembly where Mr. Darcy and the Bingleys and Hursts descend on Meryton society, Ms Aiden takes us through the journey of Darcy's growing love for Elizabeth and the warring emotions of duty and desire that follow until his final realization of his love and the resulting rejection and rebuilding of his character.

Achingly lovely at times as well as frustratingly beautiful (you want to kick Darcy sometimes but you can't because the book is just so well crafted. *G*) this trilogy is a wonderful testament to the enduring Jane Austen. Ms. Aiden does a spectacular job of making the characters real as well as invoking the spirit of Ms. Austen so that you feel you actually ARE reading a true account of what Darcy was thinking in Jane's head as she was writing.

5 of 5 berries. I can't wait to have my very own copies of these.

Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

2008-02-27T15:11:00.002-05:00

Eve Dallas is back. Literally. In the last few "In Death" novels, it felt like Roarke was shouldering more of the burden of cop work than actually being Roarke.

But no more.

Ms Roberts is back in good form with Strangers in Death. No longer is Roarke in every little detail of the investigation. No longer do you have the strange (heh) asides into the killer's "mind". No longer do you have the disjointedness of the last few novels. (All of which were good...but...)

Eve is called in on the homicide of a prominent figure in society. The murder has been set up to look like a sex interlude gone wrong. Eve doesn't buy it as several things don't jell up for her.

Early on in the book, you find out that Eve has a bead on just who the killer is. The rest of the book is spent watching as Eve and Peabody (gotta love Peabody!) find the evidence that will bring the killer to justice.

Plenty of dark moments. Plenty of steaming hot moments. And even plenty of fun laugh out loud moments.

Yes, Eve is back. And she proves once again just who is the "top bitch cop" in mystery fiction these days.

4.5 out of 5 berries.

Marked: House of Night #1 by P C Cast and Kristen Cast

2008-02-18T16:36:00.002-05:00

Lovely haunting novel by the author of Divine by Mistake and her daughter, Kristen.

Marked starts out with Zoey Redbird being marked by a Vampyre "tracker" while she's standing at her locker with her best friend. Immediately, the mark appears and Zoey is already condemned to being a freak by those who were, seconds ago, the closest friends she had.

Being marked means that Zoey will have to go to the House of Night, a vampyre school where fledglings are taught vampyre history (and sociology) and also where the young fledglings either take to the change or die.

You see, in Marked, when you are chosen by the Goddess Nyx (Goddess of the night) to become a vampyre, your DNA begins to change. If you aren't in the company of elder Vampyers, you will sicken and die. And even in the presence of those Adult vampyers, some still sicken and die.

Zoey fears the change at first and runs to her Cherokee Grandmother's Lavender farm where she, Zoey, comes face to face with the Goddess Nyx and receives more than just the outline of the crescent, she receives a full mark. Unheard of in a new fledgling and a sign that her powers are strong, Zoey becomes a curiosity for the new students which makes her apart from the crowd while bringing her close to those who will help her most in her journey.

The story really moves quickly and, at times, feels a bit rushed. You want the story to linger because the world that the Misses Cast have created feels familiar, comforting even while it feels alien.

All in all, a great start to what I hope will be a VERY long series. I really enjoyed this one.

Giving it 4.5 out of 5 berries.

The Tao Te Ching

2008-01-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

This is a review of The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and translated by John H. McDonald. The unique thing about this read was that it was on my Palm Zire 31 PDA. I read it using palm reader. It was reading it as a doc file. I was able to download it for free from memoware.com. You can check the website out here.

It was an interesting read. I have read this classic piece of literature and enjoyed this translation. The experience of reading on a pda was novel. There were some distinct advantages and disadvantages. One of the big advantages is that you can carry quite a large library with you at all times. It is even easier than carrying even one book. Palm reader was easy to use and took littler to get use to. Some of down sides were small print and getting use to an e-version versus using a book. Another advantage is that since the pad screen is back lit, you can read this in low light.

The reading material itself was enjoyable. It has wisdom in it that is still relevant today. It's proverb format made it ideal for a PDA read. I often read small sections of it during downtime during the day. Over all a neat experience.

4 out of 5 pith helmets for the reading experience.
5 out of 5 for convience of format.

Summer Knight-Audio Book

2008-01-21T14:18:00.000-05:00

Summer Knight is the fourth book in the Dresden files series by Jim Butcher. The version I just finished was the mp3 on cd by Buzzy Multi-Media and read by James Marster.

The story picks up where book three left off and leaves Harry Dresden to deal with the fall out from the last book. The White Council and the Red Court of the vampires are about to go to war and everyone blames Harry. Harry also finds himself trying to solve the murder of the summer knight, one of the fairy court. Jim Butcher uses this book well to add even more detail of the universe he has created. The first three was to focus more on Harry and his magic, and now it is his universe at large that is being explored.

James Marster's reading of this story is more enjoyable than his earlier readings. All of his readings are excellent but it is evident that he is polishing his craft with each project. His performance with this story does not leave your ears tired.

Best line in the story was: In the Name of the Pizza Lord!
Biggest complaint: not enough of Bob the skull. There is never enough of Bob the skull. Probably just my bias so keep that in mind.
4.5 for the writing and the reading of this story.

Ender's Game

2008-01-15T06:57:00.001-05:00

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, is a very well-written book. It's a good science-fiction novel, and a fun ride. Card is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors: he crafts well-constructed characters, puts them into a consistent world, and makes them come to life. Even in a setting that I normally wouldn't be captured by, I was totally lost in the story and really enjoyed seeing how it all came together.

Ender's Game is about a boy named Ender who has anything but a normal childhood. He's born on Earth in an era of strict population control: every family is allowed two children, tops. Except in certain circumstances, such as Ender's. Ender, you see, is really Andrew Wiggin, and he's a "Third". Thirdborn in his family, completely out of place and knowing it.
He is also, apparently, an off-the-charts genius and master strategist, even at age 6.
At age 6, the government comes for him and takes him to Battle School, where he learns how to first be a soldier, then a platoon leader, then a commander, and on up the chain of command. Ultimately he becomes the strategist and commander for the entire army as they go up against "the buggers" - an alien race that would annihilate the Earth (and had tried twice already).
Ender winds up commanding the fleet to destroy the Buggers at their homeworld, and there is Much Rejoicing. I have no real problem giving away the ending, because the book really isn't about the ending - it's about Ender and his journey to the ending of the story.

The thing I had the biggest problem with was Ender's age. At age 6 he is taken to Battle School and trains to become a soldier. By the time he's commanding the entire space Fleet he's the ripe old age of eleven. Come on. Nobody in that army has any genius? Nobody has any strategic capabilities? Nobody can command? With all the adults that were perfectly capable of outwitting, outsmarting, and manipulating Ender throughout the entire book, I would think that they'd also be able to aim their strategizing, their smarts, their wits, and their manipulations toward the Fleet.
Watching the story unfold the way it did was a bit...unbelievable. The adults were necessarily both incredibly stupid (because an entire world of them couldn't produce one capable military commander, so they had to resort to an eleven-year-old) and incredibly intelligent and crafty at the same time (because they also had to be able to manipulate said eleven-year-old into doing what they wanted). I just couldn't quite believe that.
However, in the end, of course, everyone gets what they want. Except, of course, for the buggers.
The book has a couple chapters of post-bugger narration, as well. Amusingly, it reads almost as though Card thought at the last minute that he should put some sort of "Postlude" in the book, and hastily wrote something. After a book that carefully, meticulously narrates every highlight, every important event in Ender's life for 5 years, suddenly we get the next fifty years or so in a chapter. Sort of a fleshed-out version of "and they lived happily ever after."

Card does something very few authors can easily get away with. He breaks the "fourth wall" of storytelling, but it's in a very subtle manner. References to Ender's age are dropped in very frequently. I believe it was done deliberately, to keep the reader from getting comfortable with "Ender-the-soldier" as just "Ender the soldier". As long as it's just "Ender-the-soldier", we can pretend that Ender's already Of Age; that he's really 18, or 20, or 50. And it's not like it's a huge pretense. It's an assumption that we naturally make: that 6-year-olds aren't soldiers, they're not master strategists - they're children. Card keeps mentioning Ender's age, not because the story or the characters require it (and they don't), but because I think he wants to keep the reader a little bit on edge; a little bit uncomfortable. Once you're off-balance a little bit, it's easier to slip in more unbelievability (such as the entire "adults are incredibly stupid and incredibly clever at the same time" mentioned above). I don't believe that's the only reason he did it, though. Card just seems to enjoy looking at things in a slightly different manner, and at a slightly different angle, and he wants the reader to do so as well. He's an excellent writer who succeeds very well at keeping the reader off-balance, and at forcing our perspective to a different angle.

Well done. 4 out of 5 bones.

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

2008-01-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

3^rd in the Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson books, Iron Kissed takes you on another wild ride with everyone’s favorite Walker.

The book starts out with Mercy, Kyle and Warren having a movie night. Mercy gets a phone call from her mentor and friend, Zee, asking her to come out to the reservation. (Or Fairyland as it’s called.) Mercy goes and meets Zee who informs her that there have been numerous fey killings and he needs her help, in her coyote form, to try and find the killer. However, Zee warns her, she needs to keep her eyes on the job so that the greater fey don’t suspect her of knowing more than she does…or should.

Thorough out all of the intrigue is the decisions Mercy has to make regarding Samuel and Adam. She does finally make her choice…And of course Mercy gets into trouble and the fey target her for execution. She eventually figures out…or stumbles upon…the killer and falls into his trap.

What happens next is hard to read. Suffice it to say, I cried through the last 3 chapters of the book. But the ending is NOT sad. It’s very uplifting and very Mercy. You leave the book with a smile on your face and a longing for the fourth to come out tomorrow.

I adore this series and the books keep getting better. I did have some trouble following the fey storyline but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment I received from reading this installment.

4.5 Berries out of 5

Regie Gets a New Friend

2008-01-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

This book was both written and illustrated by Anthony J. Emberton and published by Nation Wide Publishing, Inc. . It was interesting to see how Tony used the interaction of two dogs he knew and turned it into a story that children would enjoy. With both word and drawn line, he was able to get the dogs personalities and interactions down. Very well done. Keep the creative juices flowing Tony.

5 out of 5 Pith Helmets.

5 out of 5 Pith Helmets

Captain's Fury

2008-01-07T07:32:00.000-05:00

SPOILERS AHOY, so if you haven't read the book yet, and you'd like to remain spoiler-free, just kinda wait on this till you're done. This is book 4 of the "Codex Alera" series by Jim Butcher. The entire series thus far:

Furies of Calderon
Academ's Fury
Cursor's Fury
Captain's Fury

REVIEW:
Now this is how to write an ongoing series! Each book has a setup, a crisis, and a resolution. ALL of these contribute to the ongoing story, without either hijacking it or being hijacked by it. We don't have to wait till the next book or two or three to see how Tavi's going to handle the Canim - we see it here, in this book. Lots of development of the ongoing plot, as well: Tavi discovers who he really is, who his parents are, and decides to own his heritage. Isana and Rari finally declare their love openly...and Bernard and Amalda do too. Lots of surprise twists in this book as well! Who ever heard of a Marat having furies? Interestingly, Kitai has them - and nobody can quite believe it (well, except her. The Marat pretty much accept everything, don't they?)

SYNOPSIS: Tavi gets involved in politics in this one - and not just "politics", but POLITICS. He fends off political attacks as well as assassination attempts, while trying to be the Captain of the Legionnaires he's been entrusted with. The Knights Pisces and the Battlecrows get some good workouts as they work to save lives with the rest of Tavi's Troops.

Isana is told by Rari that Tavi needs to know the truth. She tries to tell him, she really does, but ultimately she can't. She doesn't want him to hate and mistrust her. Rari eventually realizes that she didn't tell Tavi his heritage, so he does. Tavi is understandably upset that Isana's been lying to him (and suppressing his talents!) for his entire life, but eventually comes to accept her reasons.
He's still having problems with his talents' manifestation, though. He still can't call any Furies, although he can call the abilities of furycraft - enhanced strength, healing, precision, etc. However, until he can manifest Furies, he won't be accepted.
The conflict with the Canim comes to a head, and Tavi once again sees what needs to be done, and goes and does it. He smuggles Varg out of his incarceration, and gets him back to the Canim main force. The deal: if he returns Varg to the Canim, they'll build boats and go back home to fight the Vord. (One of the best lines of the book occurs during this operation. They're on board a ship for a couple weeks. Varg expresses his relief to finally be off the ship, saying, "it smells like wet human." *snicker*)
During the jail-break, Isana notices Kitai using Fury-power, and realizes that Kitai's "bonding" with Tavi has resulted in Kitai's ability to "share" his abilities. Kitai is the first, and only, Marat to ever have furycraft.
Unfortunately, one of the Lords of Alera has other ideas, and launches an attack that the Canim interpret as a betrayal. Now Tavi has to deliver the traitor to them, and anyone else that was involved. Tavi does so in inimitable style: he openly declares his heritage, challenges the traitor-Lord to the juris macta, and (of course) succeeds against the Champion that was sent to defeat him. Not with Furies, but with his brains.
His brains come to his aid shortly thereafter, as well, as he confronts Gaius Sextus after all is said and done. He suggests that a mass amnesty be declared for anyone that helped rid the country of the Canim, and that his name be slid in with the rest of the group, rather than a single amnesty being declared simply for him. He also suggests he go to the Canim homeland and help them defeat the Vord, to give himself time to further practice his furycraft and to give people a chance to "forget" him as he was and for Sextus to rally support for him in absentia. Sextus agrees this is a good idea and thus the stage is set for the next book.

COMMENTS: Excellent book. This is definitely a series that I want to own rather than just borrow from the library. That way, not only am I personally supporting the author and his work, but I can read them again and again, whenever I want to. (I recommend buying the hardcover, though - that way they'll last through more readings. I can see the paperbacks needing to be replaced within a couple years.) I want to read the next one, and the next, and so on - not because the book ends with a "tune in next time for the next exciting chapter in this plot!" but because Butcher writes in such a way as to make me care about what happens next. Each of the books is a single story in itself, and can easily stand alone. However, the elements of a Story Arc are definitely there, and I want to see how it ends! Not only that, but I want to see how the "stuff I've already guessed" gets handled by the characters.
VERY well done.
5 bones for this one! CRUNCH!

Acorna's Children Trilogy

2008-01-04T08:13:00.000-05:00

The Acorna's Children Trilogy is made up of "First Warning", "Second Wave" and "Third Watch" and, as you'd expect, involves the offspring of Acorna, the linyaari heroine of the "Acorna" series.

A few notes before I get into the synopsis. First, if you've never read the "Acorna" series, you likely won't understand these books. It assumes you've read the Acorna books and are already knowledgeable of the "culture". Second, I'm reviewing all three of these books at once because they're essentially one gigantic book, broken into thirds.

SYNOPSIS: An extremely rapid-moving plague breaks out, killing in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. Later it is discovered that the plague attacks those of childbearing age, and only those people. Khorii, Acorna's daughter, is able to see the "plague dots" - apparently the virus itself. The Linyarii are able to heal people and decontaminate the plague-affected areas, but in overworking themselves, Acorna and Aari (Khorii's parents) become infected with a mutated version of the plague that cannot be cured by the Linyarii. They are carriers of the mutant strain, and do not get sick, but they are in isolation for everyone else's sake.
Khorii looks for a way to cure them, and for the source of the plague, hoping the originators can eradicate it.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, kidnapped from the womb of Acorna, by Greymalkin, at the end of the Acorna series, has been raised these past 6 years by the "Friends" in an attempt (by them) to understand how they merged their race with the Ancestors (unicorns) to make the Linyaari. Her sister escapes from the Friends by stealing a crono, and meets up with Acorna, Aari and eventually Khorii, and together the twins (with Greymalkin's assistance) work together to solve the mystery of the plague.
The plague mutates again...they think...except that it's not a mutation. It's the next generation of development.
Through their time-travels, they discover that the "plague" is really a life-form that mutated when it was attacked by the Khleevi, and is now being spread throughout the galaxy by the last few "Friends". All the threads are tied up at the end, the plague is stopped, and Greymalkin falls in love with one of the Others / Ancestors in his time and goes back to be with her, neatly explaining (by inference) how the Linyaari people were started.

REVIEW: Uh-huh. I do not, as a rule, like books that have no resolution. I was unimpressed with "First Warning" when it came out, because it didn't resolve anything. "Here's all the problems, now wait a year or two for the next installment. Then another year or two for the conclusion...or maybe just another installment. You'll see when it comes out." My opinion: if I like the book / author / series enough to keep reading, I'm going to do so. You don't have to play little Hardy-boys-style cliffhanger games to get me to read the books. If they're not good enough to each stand on their own, then nothing you do is going to induce me to finish the series. In fact, that game has turned me off some perfectly good series before, including this one. The only reason I picked them up was because the library had all three books available.

I was disappointed, frankly. I usually expect better from Ms. McCaffrey. I really enjoyed the "Acorna" series, and was hoping for more. Unfortunately, these read rather like she was "pushing" the appeal and trying to get more mileage out of the series, rather than writing them because she had more story to tell. The ending was weak, the resolution was very deus-ex-machina, and felt rushed, as though she realized she needed an ending and wanted to tie everything up, so she just threw a solution at it and hoped it'd work.

As far as the Linyaari Origin Story...complete disappointment. These "Friends" wanted to figure out how they "combined" with the Ancestors to make the Linyaari and not once did they try it the time-tested old-fashioned way? Come on. I don't believe that for a second. Greymalkin was the only one to try it? Puh-leez.

It started out as a good story, but I think she pushed the franchise too far, and tried to get too many elements into the story. It was an entertaining ride, but a disappointing finish.
2.5 of 5.

Nancy Clue / Hardly Boys / Cherry Aimless books

2008-01-03T14:16:00.000-05:00

There are 3 books in this "series": The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse, the Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend, and the Ghost in the Closet. They're obviously a parody / pastiche of the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Cherry Ames series of books. As such, they're incredibly campy, overdone, and, quite frankly, rather annoying. Nancy, Cherry, Frank and Joe are impossibly naive and really quite stupid. Just like the originals, you may say. Well, yes, except that these are patently written for a more adult audience.

All the characters in these books are either homosexual, want to be homosexual, or are heterosexual solely for the purpose of generating the main characters. All of them. They exist in a bizarre world where it's perfectly normal to be homosexual, and where everyone is homosexual, only it's also not OK or normal and it's not talked about or admitted. Two of the main characters get married, for example, except one is pretending to be a man and everyone knows it. They're apparently legally married...or...not...I'm not really sure, actually.

In any case, even though I read all three of them, they didn't really work for me. The mysteries were OK, but were pretty much Hardy Boys level. The mixture of adult themes, adult behavior, and 8-year-old dialogue, "campiness" and writing were jarring, and got really annoying very fast. I didn't care for them.
2 out of 5.

Grave Peril-Audio Book

2007-12-20T14:12:00.000-05:00

Grave Peril is written by Jim Butcher and read by James Marsters. The audio book is put out by Buzzy Multimedia Publishing. I will be reviewing both the story and the reading performance.

The story is a great piece of mind candy. It is not a great piece of literature but you don't need great literature to be a fun ride in reading. The universe of Harry Dresden is an interesting, fun place to visit. There are rules to his magic are consistent or at least not jarring you out of the moment. One of the great things is that what happens in one book follows through the rest of the books. There are too many series where you can read them in any order because although things happen, they have no long term effects in most cases. With the Dresden Universe there is.

I also found it interesting how it was developed about Harry"s relationship with his God Mother. There was also progress with him and his love. I also enjoyed the fleshing out of the universe of how the wizards deal with the vampires.

About my only complaint with this one is that it had a little bit of a feel of reading a Hardy boys book, in the sense that Harry was getting either knocked out or pushed to the very limit just to be pulled back in the nick of time. Guess what, it is still a fun ride. I also can never get enough of Bob. Bob the Skull for president.

James Marsters does a great job of reading this book. He has a good voice and reading style for presenting books on audio. He sounds like Harry Dresden which helps with the performance. I think he also looks like Harry Dresden except I imagine Harry as being either dark brown or black hair rather than the blond the Mr. Marsters is. That really does not affect the performance but it does make for a comment.

The audio book itself can be gotten in MP3 format which is really nice. The whole book on one CD. From a clutter around the house factor, that is nice. It also makes it easier if you like taking things to listen to on the go. You can take a lot more on the road to listen to when it takes less space.

Final review
The story itself is a 4.
Reading Perfomance is a 5. You could not get a better reader for this series.
MP3 format is also a 5.

The Professor's Daughter, a Graphic Novel

2007-12-19T13:03:00.000-05:00

The Professor's Daughter, by Joanne Sfar, is a graphic novel. It's quite an easy read, really, but...it's confusing.
The premise, apparently: Imhotep IV is a mummy in modern-day society. He's alive and evidently he and "The Professor's Daughter" have fallen in love. Various hijinks result from this.
I think. Eventually his father, Imhotep III gets involved and...yeah. It's weird.

Really, the book reads like the middle of the story. It starts with Imhotep IV and the Professor's Daughter walking around the City. Wherever they are.
A Mummy...in a suit and hat...walking around. This garners no unusual looks, no attention whatsoever.
Eventually he unwraps himself, for reasons explained in the book, and he looks like...well, like anyone else, really.

It's a weird book. I didn't get it, I guess. I was more confused than entertained. It was cute, though.

2 out of 5, because it was cute. And when you think about it, that's pretty sad that a confusing book that I didn't get still gets a higher rating than the latest Xanth novel.

Masquerade, Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series

2007-12-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

Yup, it's Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz.
The series starts out with an interesting premise - that there are vampires on earth, and that they are the "Fallen Angels" that rebelled against God at the beginning of creation, and followed Lucifer. They are then condemned to wander the earth, constantly reincarnating, and trying to redeem themselves and regain their places in Heaven. These are the Blue Bloods. And yes, all the aristocrats and royalty throughout history are the Vampire Blue Bloods.

Well....most of 'em are trying to redeem themselves. Some don't care, and want instead to rule the earth...or...something. Anyway, they don't drink human blood - they drink BLUE BLOOD, and they drink 'em dry. Since apparently some of the Blue Blood's blood must be preserved for them to reincarnate, when the "renegades" (or "Silver Bloods", as they're called) drain a Blue Blood dry, then that Blue Blood is lost forever, never to reincarnate.

It's an interesting premise, with a decent grasp of the "angelic" mythos. The author makes liberal use of the existing mythological hierarchy of angels, and introduces such beings as Abbadon, Azrael, Metraton, Michael and Gabriel to us. Lest you be disappointed by her treatment of Michael and Gabriel, though, I hasten to say that Michael and Gabriel left Heaven voluntarily in order to try to "guide" their fellow angels back to heaven. The first liberty that's taken with the mythos is that "Gabriel" isn't really "Gabriel", it's "Gabrielle", and she was supposedly the "eternal mate" of Michael. Angh.

So...setting that aside. This book suffers from "Second Book In A Series Syndrome", better known as "Two Towers-itis". The book makes no sense whatsoever as a standalone book - you absolutely must read the first book to understand it. It has no "book plotline" that crops up at the beginning of the book and is at least semi-resolved at the end - it exists solely to further push the overall story arc of "who are the Silver Bloods and how can the Blue Bloods win the fight against them". Which, I might add, it leaves entirely unresolved. It makes progress, much like Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes, but at the end, we're still somewhere on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, waiting to see what the Silver Bloods will throw at us next.

The treatment of the "fallen" is a bit...odd...as well. de la Cruz is flirting with the topics of incest as two of the "lifemated" angels, Azrael and Abbadon (angels of Death and Destruction, respectively), are reincarnated as twin brother and sister - and children of Michael. Eurgh. The ick-factor goes pretty high on some of the interactions between them. Metraton is presented as the father of all the other angels - or at least of Michael.
Azrael / Mimi isn't acting very much like she wants redemption, by the way. Therefore, I'm sure that her stint as a Red Herring / Silver Blood cover in Masquerade won't be her last flirtation with Doom. I expect she'll get accused at least once more as a Silver Blood before Redeeming Herself - either that or she'll get accused, her accuser will be brushed off with a "you accused her of that last time, too, and she wasn't then, stop persecuting her" and then she'll turn out to have thrown her lot in with the Silver Bloods after all.

And...sorry, but the Big Reveal at the end of the book wasn't exactly a surprise.
Overall, a bit of a disappointment after the promise of Book 1. Hoping that Book 3 will be better and be more than just a Plot Pusher.
2.5 / 5 bones for this one.

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

2007-12-18T13:06:00.000-05:00

I bought this last night, got home around 8:30 and headed to bed around 9 to start reading. I was finished by 3 am. Could NOT put it down.

New Moon picks up on Bella's birthday. She's not happy about turning a year "older" than Edward but agrees to go to a birthday party that Alice has planned for her out at the Cullen's house. She promises Edward that she'll "behave" (read: won't be grumpy and sarcastic) because this is the first real birthday the Cullen family has been able to celebrate for 70 some years and they're all excited.

Of course, being the klutzy Bella, while she is opening her presents she gets a paper cut. The family, reluctant "vegetarians" that they are, go nuts over the smell of just a little drop of blood. Uproar takes place and, in the end, the Cullen family decides to leave the tiny town of Forks. Edward breaks it off with Bella, believing that she'll be better off without him, stating that it's been fun but...yeah...and tells her "it'll be as if I were never here" and leaves her taking all memorabilia from their time together so she has nothing but her memories...

Bella spends the next few months in emotional withdrawal from everything she loves. She pulls away from everyone, her father, her mother who has flown up from Florida, her school friends. She finally begins to recover when she renews her friendship with Jacob Black, an American Indian living on the reservation outside of Forks.

Then, just as everything starts to come alive for Bella, Jacob gets sucked into a "cult" and begins to change.

The themes in the book might seem trite and over done but Ms. Meyer has once again taken the familiar and made them hauntingly new.

I ached for Bella as I read this book. I cried when Edward and the Cullen family left her. I wanted desperately to be there, to hold Bella while she cried, while she was having the never ending nightmares that stalked her through the months of her absolute desolation. The end of the book...again starting around the last 1/3...gave me hope, made me happy and sad again.

Once I finished this book, I cried. Not because it was over, although I did want it to continue forever, but because it was beautifully done. Hope was not in vain and the book continues to weave itself into my thoughts and even my dreams.

I'm giving this one 5 of 5 berries as well.

Swimming Without a Net (Fred the Mermaid book 2) by MaryJanice Davidson

2007-12-17T15:40:00.000-05:00

I think I've said before that I adore Ms. Davidson. She has a way with wit that makes me come back for more...and more...and more. Her Fred the mermaid series (oh please let it be a long series, Ms. Davidson! Please! Much longer than the Royals!! Please?) kicks off with Sleeping with the Fishes where Fred Bimm (the LEAST likable mermaid ever portrayed in fiction...from the book description from book one "Fred is not your ordinary mermaid. She's not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue.") is introduced along with her mother, Moon Bimm, best friend Jonas, Mer-Prince (er excuse me, Prince of the Undersea Folk I mean) Artur and Dr. (PhD AND MD) Thomas Pearson.

In this sequel, they're all (thankfully!) back along with a Deadwood loving Mer-King and many many Undersea Folk. However, the plot comes along and you find that the Undersea Folk are of 2 minds. Some (the "Air Breathers") want to "come out of the water closet" and others (the "Traditionals") want to be...well, traditional about it and stay hidden. Fred, being a child of both worlds, is invited to the resulting meeting, a "Pelagic" to discuss the pro's and con's of each decision.

Along the way, we get another glimpse into the romance of Jonas and Dr. Barb, Thomas' fascination with Mermaids (and his invention the "Underwater Recreation Vehicle or URV, pronounced irv) more of Fred's background and Fred FINALLY makes a choice between Thomas and Artur.

The resulting book is a fun, fluffy piece of mind candy that you'll want to return to time and again. It's going to be one of those "comfort reads" for me. You know the ones...where you don't know WHAT you want to read, you just know you HAVE to read SOMETHING and you turn to the same books time and again for this because they're so darn entertaining.

How can anyone not love an author like MaryJanice Davidson who dedicates Swimming Without a Net to "Everyone who has ever been irritated at a Disney Princess...Detox with Fred and rejoyce!" Her turn of phrase is hilarious as well. I almost wet the bed when Fred talked about her mother discovering her one night stand lover (Fred's father) was a merman when Moon's newborn baby "popped a tail" while being bathed for the first time. Ms. Davidson may not be the deepest writer out there but that's okay with me. I adore her and hope she'll be writing for many many decades to come.

Giving this book 4 out of 5 berries.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2007-12-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

I bought this book 6 months ago because everyone was telling me how wonderful it was and of course, my library had book 2 and 3 of the series but not book 1. Then, when it came from Amazon, I set it aside. I'm not sure if I was afraid that it wouldn't be as good as everyone assured me it was, or if I wanted to savor the discovery of a new author or what, but I'm very glad I did wait.

Because the wait was so worth it.

Twilight starts out with17 year old High School Junior, Isabella "Bella" Swann moving from sunny Scottsdale,AZ to Forks, WA where it rains pretty much 362 days of the year. Her first day at school she meets Edward, a beautiful mysterious "boy" who seems to hate her. Intensely bothered by his apparent hatred, Bella tries to ignore him. But it's already too late. She's attracted to him and he to her. The revelation that Edward is a vampire (of the "vegetarian" variety...they dine on animals instead of humans) is almost anticlimactic, Bella's apparent nonchalance is more compelling given Edward's insistence that they not become friends. Again it's too late. They fall in love and Bella is introduced to the vampiric world by Edward.

Ms. Meyer has beautifully recreated the vampire mythos in this book. While it is a book aimed at the YA crowd, it is surprisingly sensual in its delivery. I've read much smuttier (much much smuttier) books than this and have been "meh" about them. With Twilight, I found myself a bit aroused by the tender love story between Bella and Edward. This is not to say that the book is unsuitable for the younger audience, (although I probably wouldn't give it to anyone under the age of 15) and I also wouldn't say that it is a "romance" novel either. There is action, almost terrifyingly so, toward the last 1/3 of the book.

I will be going out and buying the next two novels in the series (in hardback!) and will report on them here. I truly fell in love with this book. It gets, and deserves, 5 out of 5 berries.

Crazy Little Thing Called Death: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery by Nancy Martin

2007-12-17T14:18:00.000-05:00

If you've never read a Blackbird Sisters mystery by Nancy Martin, you are missing something fun.

Impoverished heiress, Nora Blackbird and her sisters, the horse crazy recovering alcoholic, Emma and the estrogen driven earth mother, Libby, are back for another snoop among the snooty. This time, Nora takes it upon herself to find out if America's Sweetheart actress, Sweet Penny Devine (a sort of Shirley Templesque figure) is REALLY dead this time. Seems Sweet Penny has a thing for disappearing and then reappearing at just the right time...for example, at her funeral. Just for kicks mind you.

Weaved within the mystery is the romance between Nora and mobster son Michael "Mick" Abruzzo, the terrifying antics of Libby's twin ~~homicidal maniacs~~ sons, and some other colorful characters.

The mystery was solved rather easily...but when aren't they? *G* The ending of the book was gaspingly shocking and the epilogue left you hanging until the very very very end.

This sixth volume of the Blackbird Sisters mysteries is a great, fun, fluffy quick read. It's not the best in the series so I'll be giving it 3.5 berries out of 5.

Tales of the Komets

2007-12-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Tales of the Komets is by Blake Sebring and is copyright 2007 and printed by AuthorHouse.

You don't need to be a Komets' or hockey fan or from the Fort Wayne Area to enjoy enjoy this book. The vignettes are funny enough and well enough written for universal appeal. However, it's main audience will be Komets and Hockey fans. If gives a history of the Komets that focus both on ice and behind the scenes. You do not need to know the game of hockey to be able to follow it. It deals with both the funny times and the struggles of a minor league team and the players that played for the team. The most impressive story was the story of how one of the players faith life showed through the illness of one of his children.

It is a great read especially when you have time to only read little snippets. There is a big section on statistics for those who love to number crunch.

4.5 out of 5 pith helmets if you like hockey and a 4 out of 5 Pith helmets if you do not. Either way, it is worth the read.

The Royal Mess

2007-12-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

The latest in MaryJanice Davidson's series about the Alaskan Royal Family. This one revolves around a previously unknown Royal - a woman who was the result of a liaison between the King of Alaska and a "fling" a few weeks before his marriage to the Queen of Alaska.
The usual irreverence, humor, and inevitable sex is contained in this far-too-short book. I've read novellas longer than this, and I regretted the humor and irreverence didn't last longer. I never have been much of a fan of sex scenes in books, so I can't speak to that one way or the other. However, these books are always a fun read, sex scenes or not, and I do enjoy them as brain-candy.

4 bones.

Questions for the movie answer man

2007-12-10T16:30:00.000-05:00

Another good book by Roger Ebert. He answers questions that have been sent to him regarding his reviews, and movies in general. They're organized alphabetically by topic. Some answers are funny, some are serious, and they make for another easy-to-pick-up read. I didn't think it was quite as entertaining as the movie reviews, but that could be because a lot of the subject matter is rather specific to the industry, and I had no frame of reference for it.

3.5 bones for this one.

I hated, hated, hated, HATED this movie

2007-12-10T16:25:00.000-05:00

This book is a compendium of several of Roger Ebert's movie reviews. They're all of movies he gave 2 stars or fewer - so reading his reviews is like watching a slow-moving trainwreck. He's acerbic, witty, and pointed in his reviews. He never loses sight of the fact that they're HIS reviews, and HIS impressions of the movie. He doesn't recommend a movie, or say "you'll hate it" or otherwise insult our intelligence. And, of course, the worse the rating, the more entertaining the review.
However, the book is very entertaining, and is an easy "drop-in-and-out" book.

I loved, loved, loved LOVED this book.
4.5 bones for it. Well done, Mr. Ebert.

Change One Diet by Reader's Digest

2007-12-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

So, I've started reading the "diet" books that I've checked out from the library. The first one is the Change One Diet from Readers Digest. It's a good concept. Basically, you change one thing at a time begining with breakfast. For a week (or so) you just eat breakfast in a healthy way. The diet advocates eating whole grains, a small amount of protien and a fruit for breakfast everyday. It continues with lunch and then with dinner, each step bringing you closer to "dieting". Then the program has you work on things like eating out and celebrations and finally maintenance. After mastering all of these, the plan then (finally) works in fitness.

The thing I like about this plan is that they totally advocate changing things slowly. The human body isn't geared toward making and maintaining huge changes all at one time. I can get behind something like this.

What I don't like about the book is that they leave fitness for the very end. Everyone knows that the actual easiest way to lose weight is Calories in < Calories out. Right? What is the easiest way to get those calories "out"? Exercise. (yes, I hate it too but there it is.)

All in all, the book is a good read. I'm still reading parts of it but for now, the very basic idea of the book is "change just one thing at a time". Good advice.

Pretty much, from what I've read so far, I'll give the book 3 out of 5 berries.

Reading The Psalms with Luther

2007-11-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

This book was originally published as Psalms with Introductions by Luther in 1993 by Concordia Publishing House. The translation of the Psalms used is the English Standard version. The edition I am reviewing is the 2007 printing by Concordia Publishing House by the name of Reading The Psalms with Luther.

This book has several helpful features. It has a section on how to sing the Psalms so that can become a part of your daily devotions. There is a power to singing scripture especially the psalms which were written to be sung. There is both an explanation and prayer with each psalm to help dig further into the psalms. There is also a list that categories the psalms as well as two different reading schedules for going through the psalms. You are not limited to using the schedules suggested.

At least for my style of devotions, this is a great aid in my devotional life. It is aid for personal worship as well as learning God's Word. Definitely a great way to deepen your devotional life.

4 out of 5 Pith Helmets

The Royal Mess: by MaryJanice Davidson

2007-11-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

Synopsis: A reluctant princess and a determined Royal bodyguard are about to discover that, when it comes to powerful love, there are no defenses... (from the back flap)

So. Another Royal book. What more is there to say than it was one of the funniest things I've read in quite sometime. Of course, it IS a MaryJanice Davidson book so that really goes without saying.

Being a MJD book, and a "Royal" book no less, you have all the things you've come to expect. A sassy tell it like it is heroine, a "I love her but she's ROYAL and I'm so not but I just have to have her..." hero and the lovable, sarcastic royal family of Alaska.

It's not a deep book. In fact, it's a very easy book to read in an evening. Light and fun, I had my first chuckle on the 'quotes' page and really didn't stop chuckling until the book was over. (most of the reading time was spent in the bathtub. It's just that kind of book)

Of course, being a MJD Royal book, there's plenty of hot 'n steamy action but none of it graphic enough to make you want to lose your dinner. You know exactly how the book is going to end but there are a couple of twists along the way and you find yourself wishing that the book wouldn't end but sadly, it does. And the Author's note makes the parting even more bittersweet by letting the readers know that she's not planning on writing anymore Royal books. *deep sigh* So enjoy this one while you can.

I give it 4 out of 5 berries

I {heart} My in-laws, by Dina Poch

2007-11-19T10:06:00.001-05:00

I saw this book on the shelf at the library under New Releases, Non-Fiction, and I thought, "hey, that looks like a good book." So I picked it up. After all, I {heart} my in-laws, so why not.

It's not exactly a diary about how much the author loves her in-laws. It's more how to get along with your in-laws, with advice and vignettes from people who have Been There, so to speak. How to get along with the seriously weird, annoying, overbearing, insert-bad-character-trait-here people you've managed to inherit along with a new spouse.

My personal opinion: Remember you marry the family, not just the PERSON, when you're considering marriage. If his family is a problem NOW, while you're still DATING, getting a ring and putting a deposit on a reception hall isn't going to improve matters. It's a fun read, though. Full of humor, and guaranteed to give you at least one instance of "wow...now that's bad."

Some good advice, if you've never thought to get any or think of things quite that way before. I suppose as "general relationship" advice it might work, and there may be some suggestions in there you've not thought of before. However, don't expect it to magically change anything. Most of it's generic self-help stuff, and obviously they can't cover every single problem (although they do, at times, appear to try). It's presented better than most, though - good use of humor and examples.

3.5 out of 5 bones.

A Lick Of Frost

2007-11-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

WARNING, WARNING, WILL ROBINSON! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Seriously. If you don't want to know what happens in the latest Merry Gentry book, don't read any farther. I'm gonna reveal a LOT about the book, and make some commentary.

OK, if you've read this far, it's your own darn fault if the outcome is spoiled for you.

SYNOPSIS: Starts out in a lawyer's office. Taranis has accused 3 of Merry's Men of raping one of the Seelie Court. Merry & her Men spend some time discussing it, and revealing some of Taranis' dirty laundry as well. Taranis shows up via mirror and glamourizes...well...pretty much everyone. Then he tries to kill Doyle and Abeloec. They survive, but they're horribly burned.
Taranis' own court turns against him, and votes him out of office, so to speak. They want Merry to be their next Queen!
Back in Unseelie Land, Andais does not take kindly to this news. She thinks Merry has been treating with the Seelie Court for quite some time, and is absolutely furious. Merry finally convinces her that the offer was as much of a surprise to her as it was to Andais, and Andais...sorta...forgives her. Sorta. As much as Andais does, really.
Merry's feeling run-down and fears she has a cold or the flu. VERY tired, feeling "off", that sort of thing. She fears that even IF the "Golden Court" elected her Queen, she wouldn't be "immortal" or Seelie enough for them, and they'd shortly change their mind and kill her.

We get introduced to the Faerie Hounds. Several Faerie have dogs now. They're the result of the Wild Hunt being released at the end of "Mistral's Kiss". They were all the large black Wild Hunt dogs until the fae touched them, then some stayed large black dogs (Doyle's), some became greyhound type dogs, including Merry's, and some became terrier-types, like Rhys's.

Some backing-and-forthing goes on with the goblins and more with Andais. Merry and her Men do what Merry and her Men are supposed to do, and they have a lot of fun doing it. Ash and Holly, the 2 goblin-sidhe she's agreed to "service", show up for their Night Of Fun, along with all the RedCaps. Merry talks to them a bit, and suddenly faerie is "created". Maeve Reed's house, where they are staying, pretty much turns into another sithen. Sort of. We find out that Merry's female hound is pregnant. And so is Merry, with twins - and she has been for a month. And the twins have six fathers: Doyle, Rhys, Galen, Frost, Mistral and Sholto. Anyone that had a dog or twelve were "anchored" so they weren't as affected. The ones that didn't...
Ash and Holly were brought into their powers. Holly is happy, because he now has more power to be a goblin. Ash is not, because he wanted a shot at being King of the Unseelie Court, and he found out they're a month too late to even try to be in the running. The RedCaps are changed. It's not certain TO what, but they're still RedCaps. And, unfortunately, Frost is affected as well.
He didn't have any dogs, and feared that he wasn't sidhe enough to "make" them. When faerie came, he didn't have anything to anchor him to "how he was", so he was Changed. He changed into the White Stag, and ran off. He may or may not ever come back, and may or may not ever see his child. Merry is devastated, and goes outside to get away from everyone.

Amatheon shows up, and tries to...um..."press his suit". Only it's not Amatheon - it's Taranis in disguise, who knocks Merry unconscious and kidnaps her. She wakes up in his bedroom, and is rescued by the Seelie Court, who essentially arrest him and take her out to meet the press and get medical attention.

COMMENTARY: It's a fun ride, as usual with the Merry Gentry books. However, there were some completely bad things about the book. For one thing, the composition is terrible. There were chapter breaks in the middle of the action, which would pick up in the next chapter right where it left off. News flash: if it's not a thought break, don't make it a chapter break! That kind of "cliffhanger" writing is fine for the Hardy Boys, but these are supposed to be grown-up books. We don't need a "tune in next chapter for the exciting conclusion" every other page. Really.
I liked that there was more plot / action / character development than sex in this one. Mistral's Kiss seemed to have the non-sex scenes in there SOLELY to drive us to another sex-scene; it's nice that this one actually has plot and the sex scenes are a part of the plot instead of the replacement for it.
However.
The biggest, most unbelievable part of the entire book was that Merry was feeling run-down and tired, and never ever once thought, "hey, I wonder if I'm pregnant." We find out early in the book that she'd been feeling tired for a couple days, and everyone, including her, assumed that she was coming down with a cold! She fears that she's not immortal now, as she thought she was.
Erm.
The entire point of Merry's Men is to get her pregnant. The focus of the entire series so far has been "get Merry Pregnant". And with all of these people participating in the activities, not one of them said, "Hey, you're feeling tired and out of sorts, like you're getting a cold or the flu, let's stop at Walgreen's and pick up an EPT"???? Come on. That plot device just did not work. Do they not have pregnancy tests in Merry's world? The only way to ever ever tell you're pregnant is if you Miss Your Period? Puh-leeze. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that. By page three, I was thinking, "she's not got a cold, you morons, she's pregnant. Duh."
And the "I've got a cold" theme came up way, way too often for me to just suspend disbelief and set it aside to enjoy the rest of the book. I'm forced to conclude that it's a good thing sidhe don't breed that often, because apparently they're all dumber than a box of hair.
Of course, it did have one positive effect. Because pretty much all my disbelief was occupied with "I can't believe it took a freaking VISION to tell her she's pregnant", I didn't have too much trouble believing the whole "six fathers for two babies" thing. It probably helps that I have read enough mythology to buy it, but really. That's a stretch. I think Hamilton painted herself into a corner, here - she made way too many likable characters, and then couldn't choose which would be Merry's King-Consort. So she didn't. (My personal opinion: she didn't want to alienate any of her fanbase by "eliminating" their favorite from the Father List.) You'll notice any of Merry's Men that have received more than 5 pages of action & dialog wound up on the Father List. The throwaways, the "red-shirts", if you will, didn't.

Not a bad book, certainly not the worst in the Merry Gentry series, but not exactly the greatest, either.
3.5 out of 5 bones for this one.

COMMENTARY ON OTHER SPECULATION: I've read a lot of other people's speculation about it, too. Here's some of my thoughts on that. The biggest lot of comments regarding this book expressed disappointment that Cel has been built up into a big threat "for nothing". Er...excuse me? Just because Merry's finally pregnant doesn't actually mean that Andais is going to give up her throne, and it's far from certain that it'll be to Merry in any case. She already said that! She's deeply offended that Merry was offered the Seelie throne, and has said that Merry is "too Seelie" to rule the Unseelie.
She knows that as soon as Merry takes the Unseelie Throne, Cel is dead dead dead. She's already demonstrated a significant soft spot for her son, and she absolutely hates Merry. No, I'm not seeing this transfer of power from Andais to Merry happening any time soon, if at all, and certainly not easily.
Cel's not eliminated as a threat, people, and it's stupid to think he is.

The Woman Who Swallowed A Toothbrush, and Other Bizarre Medical Cases, by Rob Myers, M.D.

2007-11-08T13:36:00.001-05:00

Long title, isn't it? And it pretty much sums up the contents of the book. I can't really give you a "synopsis", per se, because it's not real long on plot. It's a series of short vignettes about Weird Medical Stuff, and their reasons.

For example, the title case was a gal who was admitted to the emergency room with a sore throat and problems swallowing. Turns out she had a toothbrush lodged in there. Yup, she said she was brushing her teeth and slipped and fell and *WHAMMO*, toothbrush in the throat.
Only the toothbrush was lodged in there handle-side first.
Turns out she was bulimic, and was using it to induce vomiting, and stuck it in juuuuuuuust a little too far.

There's a story about a teen who came in with priapism, too. I'll leave it to you to think about how they solved that one. Oh, and the guy who showed up with mysterious symptoms that turned out to be lead poisoning. No, he wasn't eating Chinese-made toys - but he was chewing on electrical wire. That was his substitute for smoking. He decided after his chelation treatments (to remove the lead from his system) that he'd go back to smoking instead.

The book is a fascinating look at the human condition, really. I quite enjoyed it, although I will have to say it's not for everyone. If you're rather weak-stomached, I wouldn't recommend reading it while eating, for example. Especially not the one about the woman who had insects in her scalp. Really. Ew.

This book reads rather like a collection of stories from Jan Harold Brunvand's doctor. It's a lot of fun to read, well-written, and not too overlong on medical jargon, except where necessary (and then it's explained). You may think that it's actually a collection of Urban Legends, but the blurb in the back does say the cases are all based on fact, and most come from medical journals and professional publications. Some did come from personal anecdotes, however, and it may be that Dr. Myers was taken in occasionally by a "friend-of-a-friend" story, where someone told him that they knew someone who swears they know someone this happened to. There were a few times reading through it that I thought, "wow, I could swear I just read something similar on Snopes recently." I think, though, that most of that feeling is because the cases of necessity must be anonymized. Urban legends always happen to "someone in the emergency room", or "a guy walking down the road" - so these stories, by their nature, are going to 'feel' like Urban Legends.

But overall, it's an entertaining read, and well worth the time.

Even if it is kind of icky sometimes.

4 out of 5 bones. Crunch!

Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel by Kim Harrison. From the anthology Holidays are Hell

2007-11-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Synopsis: A younger Rachel Morgan is confronted by her older brother about her decision to join the I.S. (Inderland Security) Her brother wants her to come west to be with him and to study advanced Earth Magic and gives her a test…if she can stir a spell and bring her father back as a ghost and her father says yes, her brother will sign the paper for her to join the I.S. But of course, things go wrong…

Thoughts: It’s wonderful to see a younger Rachel before she’s the tough chick running for, and from, the I.S. We get to meet her older brother, Robbie, and her first “crush”. To keep from being moved out to the West Coast with Robbie, Rachel stirs a “level 800” spell to bring her father’s ghost back so he can tell Robbie that Rachel should join the I.S. even though that’s what, apparently, killed him.

Other than the fact that the novella was too short, there wasn’t much to complain about. I enjoyed getting to know Pierce (Rachel’s first crush that was alluded to in a previous novel) and especially enjoyed seeing Rachel before she became “kick ass”. She’s still very weak from Rosewood Syndrome that almost killed her but she’s gaining strength, graduating from a 2 year magic degree program at the University of Cincinnati, and already showing the kind of grit it will take to get her into the I.S. and eventually kicked out of the I.S.

All in all, I give this one 4 out of 5 berries. Just 'cause it wasn't long enough to suit me. :o)

"Air Apparent", by Piers Anthony (Xanth Novel)

2007-11-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

SYNOPSIS: Hugo (Humfrey and the Gorgon's son) has disappeared. A mysterious body is found in the cellar of the Good Magician's Castle in his place. The Book of Answers is completely scrambled - and it's up to Wira, Hugo's wife (who is blind) to fix it all.

THOUGHTS: Convenient plot device, the scrambling of the Book of Answers. That was the best explanation for the complete absence of any cohesion or consistency in this book - nobody had any idea what they were doing. Unfortunately, the book also read as though the author was included in that group.

It started out fine - laying out the problem of Hugo's disappearance and Wira's reaction. However, it went rapidly downhill. Several elements were introduced that hadn't even been hinted at before. Hugo and Wira have had a spell on them preventing the storks from receiving any signals from them? Really? Who set it? Why? None of that's explained. It's just introduced as a handy MacGuffin to get Hugo into the basement for some Rhed Whine (to celebrate the Good Magician lifting the anti-stork-geas).
Hugo's problems with conjuring bad fruit are explained too. He couldn't possibly be just "not quite bright", oh, no, he's the victim of a seed of a mediocritree, which has been lodged in his ear for his entire life. Wait, what? How did that get there? No, no, no...on second thought I don't want to know. Really. His history indicates he's pretty much always been a little...slow...so I really don't want to know how that seed got into his ear.
I must say, though, that the bathing rituals in Xanth seem to be a little lacking, if he's managed to get through over 40 years of life with a seed in his ear, and nobody has even noticed (including him).

The Point-of-view cuts from Wira's Story to Hugo's are terribly abrupt and completely interrupt the flow of the story. Every single time the story jumped from POV to POV, I got jolted out of the story and had to take a few paragraphs to try to figure out what the heck was going on. Not a good thing if you're trying to enjoy the book. I found it more irritating than enjoyable, overall.

I did, however, quite enjoy seeing more of Happy Bottom and Fray, as they took strong supporting roles in this book. Their adventures were quite enjoyable to read.

The ending...oh my gosh, the ending. Do yourself a favor. Don't bother. Really. The ending winds up linking all of Ida's moons into an endless loop, and breaking the Earth / Xanth interface link forever. Sort of. Except through the moons. Yeah, it makes no sense.

And -WHAT a shock- the whole story is just another Demon contest. Wow, that plot device hasn't been used for every single book in the Xanth series lately. Seriously, when was the last time a Demon contest wasn't involved somehow???

Overall, I obviously didn't enjoy this one very much, and I may be giving the Xanth books a miss from now on.

BOOK RATING: 1.5 bones out of 5. And that's just because of the bits with Happy Bottom & Fray.