Currently I’m out of town, so this review will be rougher than I’d normally post. It will also be the fastest written ever. Yes, very, very bad of me... you will start to think that I’m not taking this seriously. Yeah... like you are just starting to get that notion in your head... forget I said anything...
The Weight of Water is another in the series of books borrowed from the women at work. This one wasn't that bad though. I'm starting to think that I can trust the books I borrow from one person as we seem to have similar tastes when it comes to the normal fiction stuff. I doubt that I can get her into my weird stuff but that is okay. I'm not expecting miracles.
The main character, Jean, has been assigned to take pictures of the island Smuttynose, the scene of a horrible double murder that took place in the 1800's. Her marriage isn't the happiest at the moment and she suspects that her husband has or will cheat on her. As she researches what happened on that island so long ago, we see what can happen to someone who is pushed too far.
As for this book, it was quite compelling. It jumps back and forth from the present to the past which helped keep me on my toes. Anita Shreve writes in such a way as to very easily picture everything that is happening in a scene, as if I was watching a movie instead of a reading a book. What I'm trying to say is that the story is very visual and not a difficult book to pick up.
It is rather intense in places but not all that graphic, as it doesn't have to be since your brain can fill in everything that isn't explicitly written out. It is also very tragic but I didn't get that sense of loss that should be apparent. I would really like to discuss this point more but I don’t want to give the ending away. It is a good read but I’m not sure if I'd read anything else of her work. Might have to if we choose something of her's for the book club.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Forever Fifteen by Kimberly Steele
I am a weak, weak person. There are a million things I should be doing at this very moment, the clock is ticking down, but instead, I sit here and spend the afternoon and evening listening to an audio book… Oh how did I get sucked in?
I’m not even the audio book type of person. I like the feel of the paper and the smell of the pages. Book stores are my most favorite places in the world and sometimes I think that the only reason I go to work everyday is to finance my book collection. My living room feels somewhat like a library. But thanks to my MP3 player, it has lead to the discovery that I can somewhat safely walk and read at the same time. Quite tempting and consequently, I got sucked into this story.
Forever Fifteen is about a girl who was turned into a vampire many, many moons ago at the age of, you guessed it, fifteen. At the time, she was considered an adult, old enough to be married. But nowadays, she isn’t old enough to buy cigarettes and that must really suck. Reminds me of an old Buffy episode where Anya, a many century old demon but newly turned human, was trying to order a beer in a bar. Bartender asks for ID, she spouts off about how old she really is, undaunted he asks for the ID again, she accepts her fate and orders a coke. Just the memory of that scene makes me laugh.
But back to this story. Lucy had entered the foster care system and has spent the last many years ridding the world of lecherous foster parents, child molesters, and other bad people. She had been living with the Beck’s for awhile now and they are good people. No matter how old she really is, she looks fifteen and that means, going to high school, with all the drama that is included. A boy named John likes her and no matter what age you really are, that still brings on the angst. The story jumps back and forth, from current time to the past, where we learn of Lucy’s beginnings as a human, her turning into a vampire, and her life with Sebastian, her vampire sire/lover.
The story is explicit and nicely detailed in parts. It was read by the author, Kimberly Steele, and she does a good job. She kept the characters’ voices distinctive and kept it flowing nicely. I haven’t looked into why she has posted her story in this way but glad that she did. The only problem I had is that I thought that Lucy should have been written as more jaded or cynical. For hundreds of years, she has lived the life of a predator, living on the lowest of humans to survive. She has seen how horrible humans can be to each other but she came off as rather meek and mild. She would make Rory Gilmore look like a foul mouthed trucker. Not that there is anything wrong with being a foul mouthed trucker.
Anyway, the story did suck me in and I had to find out how it ended. Not that the ending was all that surprising or satisfying, but I really did need to know what happened to these characters. I did love the premise and for that alone, it deserves a read or in this case, a listen. Forever Fifteen can be found via the iTunes music store as a free download.
I’m not even the audio book type of person. I like the feel of the paper and the smell of the pages. Book stores are my most favorite places in the world and sometimes I think that the only reason I go to work everyday is to finance my book collection. My living room feels somewhat like a library. But thanks to my MP3 player, it has lead to the discovery that I can somewhat safely walk and read at the same time. Quite tempting and consequently, I got sucked into this story.
Forever Fifteen is about a girl who was turned into a vampire many, many moons ago at the age of, you guessed it, fifteen. At the time, she was considered an adult, old enough to be married. But nowadays, she isn’t old enough to buy cigarettes and that must really suck. Reminds me of an old Buffy episode where Anya, a many century old demon but newly turned human, was trying to order a beer in a bar. Bartender asks for ID, she spouts off about how old she really is, undaunted he asks for the ID again, she accepts her fate and orders a coke. Just the memory of that scene makes me laugh.
But back to this story. Lucy had entered the foster care system and has spent the last many years ridding the world of lecherous foster parents, child molesters, and other bad people. She had been living with the Beck’s for awhile now and they are good people. No matter how old she really is, she looks fifteen and that means, going to high school, with all the drama that is included. A boy named John likes her and no matter what age you really are, that still brings on the angst. The story jumps back and forth, from current time to the past, where we learn of Lucy’s beginnings as a human, her turning into a vampire, and her life with Sebastian, her vampire sire/lover.
The story is explicit and nicely detailed in parts. It was read by the author, Kimberly Steele, and she does a good job. She kept the characters’ voices distinctive and kept it flowing nicely. I haven’t looked into why she has posted her story in this way but glad that she did. The only problem I had is that I thought that Lucy should have been written as more jaded or cynical. For hundreds of years, she has lived the life of a predator, living on the lowest of humans to survive. She has seen how horrible humans can be to each other but she came off as rather meek and mild. She would make Rory Gilmore look like a foul mouthed trucker. Not that there is anything wrong with being a foul mouthed trucker.
Anyway, the story did suck me in and I had to find out how it ended. Not that the ending was all that surprising or satisfying, but I really did need to know what happened to these characters. I did love the premise and for that alone, it deserves a read or in this case, a listen. Forever Fifteen can be found via the iTunes music store as a free download.
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Anonymous
I’ve been busy, busy, busy, but had no problem finishing this one. This is one I’ve wanted to read for awhile now. Another friend of ours told us all about it and it sounded good in a dirty sort of way. Not to mention, there was a hilarious story of a campaign by her sister to hide this book from her mother and then lie about it. An intro like that can not be ignored. Also, I couldn’t seem to find it in any bookstores so the lack of availability lead to even more want... sort of like that economic supply and demand thing.
Belle is a university educated and unemployed and living in London. Imagine Bridget Jones if she didn’t have that job at the book publishing house and instead decided to work as a high priced prostitute. They both write in the journal format and they both have caring parents. Both are looking for love. We should end the comparisons here. Unlike Bridget, Belle does not try looking for love from the workplace. She has a boyfriend and he knows about her profession and seems okay with it.
She is broke and job prospects are scarce. She contacts an agency to handle the business side of things. Yes, this is where the voice of reason should come in. This isn’t a very good career choice for anyone as I’m pretty sure my guidance counselor didn’t have that pamphlet in her collection of possible futures. But I opted to ignore that voice of reason and just treat this as an interesting character study. She is not in this line of work to support a drug habit, did not have a horrible childhood, and nor is she trying to live with a horrific trauma in her past. She is just a working girl who soon finds out that she can get paid a lot more for one night with a client than most of her other jobs combined.
Most of the entries are about her personal life and her friends. I was really hoping for more on the call girl side of things. There was a lot of that too but those were the parts I looked forward to the most. Not ‘cause I was looking for porn as everyone knows that the good porn is on the internet. And to be honest, I’ve read more explicit stuff elsewhere, just not often in chicklit book form. My favorite client story was the one where she talks about the guys who just want to cuddle. Or about the practical side of the job like how she would buy the regular products at one drug store and then buy all the “job” products (like condoms, lube, etc.) at another.
This was a definitely an interesting book and should be read by everyone who doesn’t have a problem with those type of things. Just fun.
Belle is a university educated and unemployed and living in London. Imagine Bridget Jones if she didn’t have that job at the book publishing house and instead decided to work as a high priced prostitute. They both write in the journal format and they both have caring parents. Both are looking for love. We should end the comparisons here. Unlike Bridget, Belle does not try looking for love from the workplace. She has a boyfriend and he knows about her profession and seems okay with it.
She is broke and job prospects are scarce. She contacts an agency to handle the business side of things. Yes, this is where the voice of reason should come in. This isn’t a very good career choice for anyone as I’m pretty sure my guidance counselor didn’t have that pamphlet in her collection of possible futures. But I opted to ignore that voice of reason and just treat this as an interesting character study. She is not in this line of work to support a drug habit, did not have a horrible childhood, and nor is she trying to live with a horrific trauma in her past. She is just a working girl who soon finds out that she can get paid a lot more for one night with a client than most of her other jobs combined.
Most of the entries are about her personal life and her friends. I was really hoping for more on the call girl side of things. There was a lot of that too but those were the parts I looked forward to the most. Not ‘cause I was looking for porn as everyone knows that the good porn is on the internet. And to be honest, I’ve read more explicit stuff elsewhere, just not often in chicklit book form. My favorite client story was the one where she talks about the guys who just want to cuddle. Or about the practical side of the job like how she would buy the regular products at one drug store and then buy all the “job” products (like condoms, lube, etc.) at another.
This was a definitely an interesting book and should be read by everyone who doesn’t have a problem with those type of things. Just fun.
Monday, February 6, 2006
The Pact by Jennifer Sturman
I really should have written this one up days ago but a friend gave me a book that is so nicely sordid that it hard to put down. More about that in the next review. Besides, I have a new cat and Simon prefers that I read than use the computer because it makes my lap more comfortable to sleep in. Oh, if only I had the life of my cat...
Well, since nothing of that has anything to do with the book I'm currently reviewing, this will be a very crude transition. The Pact is yet another in the series of borrowed books from the women at work. Just a couple more to go and I'll be free. We can only hope.
This one is chicklit goes Nancy Drew. It is a murder mystery and typically I don't do murder mysteries. They are okay 'n all but I get way too wound up trying to figure out who did it and I can't sit back and just enjoy it. As much as I love engaging literature, extra stress in my life is not what I'm looking for. Granted, this one doesn't rate higher than the Mickey Mouse Mystery Club so the valium prescription isn't required.
This book's Velma/Daphne is Rachel. Her old college roommate is getting married and she is playing the role of the maid of honor even though she hates the groom. So when Richard is found floating in the family swimming pool on the day of the wedding, she isn't all that grief-stricken. While the police are giving their all investigating the crime, the family and wedding party have been asked to stay at the house until they have it all figured out. As we soon learn, everyone has a motive to want him dead, even the best man whom Rachel has her sights on as prime boyfriend material. She plays Miss Marple and works to solve who did the dirty deed.
Anyway, it was an okay book. It felt very Murder She Wrote with a bit of “Voted Most Likely to Be Cancelled after Three Episodes” type of writing. Not necessarily horrible but I don't think I'll be admitting to anyone that I'd read this one. It would have been easier to live with if the characters had been stronger and not so caricature. You never get a scene with the vile Richard to see how vile he really is. We just have to trust this is the case via story recounts from the other characters. Even the detectives, who could have been interesting, were booted so very far into the background. They are almost non-entities and were really only a plot device. Oh well. If you like chicklit and some lite mystery, you might like this... I not so much.
Well, since nothing of that has anything to do with the book I'm currently reviewing, this will be a very crude transition. The Pact is yet another in the series of borrowed books from the women at work. Just a couple more to go and I'll be free. We can only hope.
This one is chicklit goes Nancy Drew. It is a murder mystery and typically I don't do murder mysteries. They are okay 'n all but I get way too wound up trying to figure out who did it and I can't sit back and just enjoy it. As much as I love engaging literature, extra stress in my life is not what I'm looking for. Granted, this one doesn't rate higher than the Mickey Mouse Mystery Club so the valium prescription isn't required.
This book's Velma/Daphne is Rachel. Her old college roommate is getting married and she is playing the role of the maid of honor even though she hates the groom. So when Richard is found floating in the family swimming pool on the day of the wedding, she isn't all that grief-stricken. While the police are giving their all investigating the crime, the family and wedding party have been asked to stay at the house until they have it all figured out. As we soon learn, everyone has a motive to want him dead, even the best man whom Rachel has her sights on as prime boyfriend material. She plays Miss Marple and works to solve who did the dirty deed.
Anyway, it was an okay book. It felt very Murder She Wrote with a bit of “Voted Most Likely to Be Cancelled after Three Episodes” type of writing. Not necessarily horrible but I don't think I'll be admitting to anyone that I'd read this one. It would have been easier to live with if the characters had been stronger and not so caricature. You never get a scene with the vile Richard to see how vile he really is. We just have to trust this is the case via story recounts from the other characters. Even the detectives, who could have been interesting, were booted so very far into the background. They are almost non-entities and were really only a plot device. Oh well. If you like chicklit and some lite mystery, you might like this... I not so much.
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