Strangers in Paradise Volumes 1-6 by Terry Moore

This is a review two to three years in the making.




I'm not sure when I started reading Strangers in Paradise but I loved them so much, I had to take a break before reading the last in the series. Once I finished volume 6, it would be all over. I knew Terry closed off the series at the end of volume six. I didn't want to live in a world where there was no more SiP left to read. Perhaps it was a holdover from the shock of no more Harry Potter but still, it would have been a sad state.

Strangers in Paradise was a long running comic book brought together in graphic novel form. Mostly it is about love and loss and all our crazy issues that keep ourselves from finding our true happiness. Katchoo is secretly in love with her best friend Francine who is with a horrible guy named Freddie. Katchoo meets art fan, David, and he seems to have a thing for Katchoo to give us a lovely love triangle. Then we find out that Katchoo has a mafia past and in the next six volumes, it all plays out in so many different and surprising ways. It felt a little soap opera in parts but it was written at a time when the mere idea of these complications of love would never have dared been breathed on national television. Not to mention, the story was told in a semi-nonlinear fashion that really appeals to me.

Moore trusts his audience to have a brain and isn't afraid to craft his story around that notion. He drew all the art himself and I love how much he mixes up styles to match the scene. Frantic, intense moments are drawn with a quick lack of detail that hurry you to the next panel. Quiet moments make you want to pause and take in all the detail that he has provided on that single page before moving on. I realize that is likely graphic artist 101 but it never gets tired.  He mixes light and dark and never wastes either to make his statement. The scariest part is his ability to write women so well that everyone should be able to find a character they identify with or wished they were.

So now my beloved SiP is all over. Surprisingly, you can choose to hold onto the last volume for three years and jump right back in as if you read the previous five just last week. As much as I liked having that one volume left to read and hold onto, a person has to move on. I'm sure I'll find something else to love just as much and I can always revisit my books any time I need a Katchoo fix.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyers

You’ll have to forgive me; it has been forever since I’ve written up a review of a book. But then, it has been awhile since I’ve read something I thought others might find even slightly interesting. Not that Twilight and the notion of interesting should be combined in the same sentence.

Basic story: girl moves to town to live with her father. Girl goes to school and she seems to be the best thing to hit town since the push-up bra ... She’s like catnip to all the boys. But there is one boy who doesn’t seem to like her at all and of course, he is the one she is most fascinated with. He’s different, his family is different, but she is not afraid of his otherworldly ways. He saves her life from an out-of-control car and thus begins the greatest teen romance of all time.

Sigh! I know that isn’t true. Romeo & Juliet was the greatest teen romance of all time. But there is something about this book that just makes me want to make outlandish statements and think I can get away with it. Granted, that notion is somewhat liberating but still, props to the master, Shakespeare. He knew teen angst like nobody’s business.

Twilight was so girly it freaked me out. Normally I like girly, it usually makes for good brain candy but warning: you will never get those brain cells back. I can forgive it for being girly. What I can’t forgive it for is being boring.

Once those two start having a relationship, it is as if the clock has stopped. I swear to god, there was a meadow scene where they were just sitting and it just went on and on and on. I have a friend that doesn’t like the shopping montage in movies, I personally hate the meadow scenes… I have no idea what they are supposed to represent. The spend forever getting to that damn meadow, you would have thought there would be something cool at the end of the journey… Nope, just vampire show and tell. We get to see Edward’s true nature and he has to be the most boring vampire ever put to print. He can kill grisly bears with his bare hands but we never get a sense of that fierceness. He has to be the safest bad-boy ever.

And Bella, I don’t know where to start with her. One, she is the most perfect teenage daughter of all time. She cooks, she cleans, she does the grocery shopping, and all the while maintaining top grades. If Stepford made children, they would be just like Bella. Two, her reaction to fear is non-reaction. Edward shouldn’t be mad about that, he should fear that his girlfriend has a neurological disorder. And three, she really needs to be less self-sacrificing. That death wish thing she has going on is very disturbing.

Ultimately, these books should not be read by anyone whose age is not ending in the word “teen”. As for everyone else, just don’t go there and pick up some Shakespeare instead.

Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin

This is a double review. Something Borrowed is one book and Something Blue is the second and both by the same author. I borrowed both from a friend at work and read them both back to back. Seemed silly to do two reviews when they are both so intertwined.

Something Borrowed, the first book, tells the story of Rachel, a lawyer in New York who discovers she is in love with her best friend’s fiancé. Rachel is the type who is smart, bookish, and has always played by the rules. In a lot of ways, she has always played second fiddle to her best friend Darcy who is beautiful and has always had guys falling over themselves to be with her. So she finds her world turned upside down when on the night of her 30th birthday party, she starts having an affair with Dex. Dex is a fellow lawyer, they went to school together and she was the one to introduce Dex to Darcy. The big question becomes, does she follow her heart and risk losing her oldest friend in the process? It is a bit more complicated than that.

Something Blue, the other book, tells the story of Darcy, a PR Rep who has just had to cancel her wedding to Dex and finds out that she is pregnant with another man’s baby. Yep, not only was Rachel and Dex having an affrair but Darcy and Marcus, Dex’s college roommate and groomsman from the ill-fated wedding, were getting a little on the side as well. Darcy has always traded on her looks to get what she wants and can’t understand how her world has been turned upside down by finding herself alone for the first time ever and with a baby on the way. She decides to travel to London and move in with an old childhood friend to get her life back on track. But what she valued in the past doesn’t seem to be working for her anymore. Is it possible for her to make a change or will she fall back on old patterns that focused on image and material things over substance?

Personally, I found Something Blue more interesting to read over Something Borrowed. Something Borrowed was more about fretting about what was going on than anything actually going on. And to be honest, when Rachel goes to London to visit Ethan, I didn’t really understand why she didn’t stay and hook up with him. He was the most appealing male character in the series and was glad to see him return for a second time around. Darcy, as a character, was a little more fascinating to read as I had so little in common with her.

As fluff books go, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever read but still fun.

The Renegade by Margaret St. George

As with pretty much every book I review, there seems to be a story attached as to why I have decided that of all the books on my shelf, this is the reason why I picked this one up to finish. I don’t have a hugely good reason why this time around.

The office I work in had a silent auction of things people had around the house that they don’t want anymore. Basically, it was a spring-cleaning motivator and instead of chucking those old appliances, crafts, figurines or books into the trash, people donated them to us to help raise money for the United Way. Someone donated a box of old Harlequins, and since I wasn’t interested in anything else, I bid a dollar on five different bundles of four each. I wanted to bid on something and if I ended up getting one or two, I figured they would make a pretty good gift to an aunt who I know loves those books. I ended up getting the winning bid on all five. So now I have a pile of them by my coffee table and who knows when I’ll see my aunt next. Feeling nostalgic for the old days, I grabbed one for a nice quick read.

This was the one on top and it seemed to have a slightly more original storyline than most. You see, Sam is an avenging angel and he has been assigned to Brett’s case. It turns out that someone has killed her soon-to-be ex-husband and she is the prime suspect. If Sam doesn’t find the real killer, Brett faces life in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. And to make it more interesting, in this day and age, avenging angels can’t just perform miracles and make it all better. They have to find clues and create a case so that the evidence can hold up in a court of law for the guilty. They are like private detectives with wings.

So premise wise, it was top notch. It was the type of story I could imagine someone developing into a weekly serial for television. Each week: a new case, quirky avenging angel detectives, righting wrongs and saving the innocent. Sort of a little bit like Quantum Leap and Touched by An Angel meets The A-Team. Sort of.

The mystery part of the book wasn’t bad either. It kept the action going and it made up for the rest that was pretty mushy. The sparks between Sam and Brett wasn’t all that explosive and you couldn’t really figure out why they ended up in love with each other, especially in such a short period of time. (Other than it was in the author’s contract with Harlequin to get the two protagonists together by the end of the story.) So, character-wise, it was pretty bland. But if you can forgive it for that sin, it wasn’t bad as a light mystery novel.

As for the rest of the charity auction books, I predict a new home for them in the not-to-distant future.

Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones by Erica Jong

Review by Red Bonney

Oh, it’s so hard to be subtle while walking out of a bookstore with book explicitly displaying the exposed leg of a woman sporting a red silk garter. One must grit one’s teeth and dare society to look down on one for reading something that clearly possesses smutty subjects. I’m here to say, however that this book is more than your typical romance where girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love (she met many more than just one boy), overcome some piddling adversity and live happily ever after. It’s a tale of epic proportions of one woman’s adventures and struggles in the wide world, who merely wants her fair share of happiness and means to get it. It’s a book of instruction and hard learned lessons.

The story was set in the eighteenth century and penned loosely in the language of the era, which was not as difficult to read as I thought it would, written as it was by a twentieth century woman not unsympathetic to her readers. Once I got into the flow of the story, the language and archaic spelling was easier to overcome. It was handy in a way, as it set it apart from the other books I was reading at the same time.

The tale was narrated by Fanny herself, (based loosely on the character from Cleland’s Fanny) to her daughter whom she wishes to impart her life lessons to prevent her from falling into the same traps life sets. ‘Tis folly, I say, to try and instruct someone when only personal experience will do, but it doesn’t hurt to try, I suppose. Anyway, the heroine, Fanny, was an orphan adopted by the Lord and Lady Bellars, spending her childhood years in relative comfort and ease in the country and isolation from the outside world with her step-brother and step-sister. She grew up without want for anything, a large house, fine clothes and an education, which as the story unfolds, becomes her most valuable possession. Forced to flee her childhood home of comforts, she makes her way to London to seek her fortune. Along the way, she encounters many colourful and memorable characters who influence her future and her fortune which ebbs and flows throughout the book.

The most annoying aspect of this book is that Fanny is a modern woman set in the past. She is a modern feminist in a time when even women generally thought themselves inferior. (I’m currently reading a book about the history of Misogyny - my next book to review- and it’s going to ooze into everything I write from now on). I kept mistaking the book to be a true history of the time, except for this one modern sort of woman. Oh, she had her moments where I just thought ‘what the hell are you thinking?’, but for the most part, I thought she was a very brave, daring girl and I wish I were more like her. Not the part where she was a prostitute for a year, but the rest wasn’t too bad.

This book surprised me, not that I was expecting it to be a crappy book or anything. It was easy to get sucked in just by reading the chapter titles, which were long and descriptive of the chapters they preceded. I hated to put it down because when I saw it sitting there on the table, it looked daunting and heavy, but I couldn’t just stop at the end of the page, I had to keep reading it and it’s one I’ll definitely read again in the future.

Hot Stuff by By Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks

Quick review. This story was complete fluff and not that much to talk about. It had a plot that tried to be complicated but it felt much more suited in a novel for teenagers.

Basically, girl is working her butt off going to school and working nights in a bar. Boy comes in and is a cutie but is acting awfully mysterious. Girl’s drag queen roommate takes off and leaves her to look after his rather large and new bullmastiff dog named Beast. Girl knows nothing about dogs and in walks handsome stranger to lend her a hand. But why is tall, dark, and yummy hanging around so much? Can girl trust him? You will have to read the book to find out.

There were some laugh out loud moments and some of the friend scenes reminded me a lot of my friends. So it was a fun read. Sort of like ice cream: I really know that I shouldn’t but darn it, it was tasty eating even if I feel a little guilty afterwards.

The Pleasure Slave by Gena Showalter

I can’t believe that the first book I review for 2007 is this one. In some ways, I think I should feel a little embarrassed about it but alas, I don’t… you wanna know why? Cause this was the most awesome book in the world. I have never read something that gave me such joy… Let me explain why.

The story starts out with our hero, Tristan, and his mistress, Zirra. They have just had a rather long session of sex and they are in the lounging about phase. Tristan is a warrior and he has just gotten a call that his kingdom needs him to go fight. This upsets Zirra because she is one insatiable little minx and wants to have a go at round twenty or thirty or whatever. Tristan laughs at her and tells her that he loves his kingdom more than her and that they had just been using each other. You see, he is a mortal and will die, whereas she is Druinn, immortal, with magical powers. Zirra, not taking rejection well, casts a spell on him. He will remain a pleasure slave, trapped in a jewelled box, forced to obey his master for all time or for as long as that master owns the box. He can only be released from the bonds of slavery by his one true love. It is soon discovered what Zirra has done and she is punished for her crime against the mortal (can’t destroy the peace treaty. Yay politics!) The box is thrown into the universe and she is stripped of her powers.

Welcome to present day and we meet Julia, someone's one true love. An antique dealer, she finds an old jewelled box at a flea market and decides to take it home. Much to her surprise, she discovers that she also gets a love slave out of the deal. You know, I've been to a dozen flea markets and never have I come home with anything like that. Not much happens in the way of plot, a lot of talking, shopping montage, porn, porn, porn, and then the end.

Now you must be asking yourself, why? How is all of that all that great? Well, it is all about Tristan. Not only is he a hunk of burning love, expert in the ways of carnal delights, elite warrior, gorgeous specimen of all things male, barely wearing a stitch of clothes but the absolute ultimate note on his resume: he is an alien. Alien! From another planet alien! I mean, OMG! WTF! (Fill in your own freaked out netspeak here)! It is that little detail that makes it perfect.

Also, when you pick up a book with the title The Pleasure Slave it has some expectations it has to live up to. And oh boy, this book lives up to those expectations; it was a couple steps away from porn. But not super graphic so I wouldn’t feel that weird giving it to my aunt to read. The main character Julia wasn’t bad as characters go and she develops as expected. My favourite character had to be Gary, the gay personal shopper, who practically turned into a puddle at Tristan’s feet. Now that was fun.

Anyway, it wasn’t exactly the best genie in a bottle scenario I’ve ever read but it was a lot of fun. Perfect for an afternoon of pure fluff.

My rating: :-D :-D :-D

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

It has been awhile since I’ve written one of these up for general consumption. Not that I haven’t been reading, just some of my reading materials are a little subjective. But no time like the present to get back onto that horse, so to speak. Hopefully this won’t suck too badly. And let’s forget about the movie, shall we? I haven’t seen it yet and I figure I might go next week. Not that I have high expectations but figure this might go easier if we just focus on the book.

Did you ever have one of those never pleased type of bosses? The type who wasn’t happy unless they were causing some type of misery onto someone else? Who was so miserable and vile that they would engineer ways to belittle and humiliate just to make their self feel better? Personally, I haven’t. I had really annoying bosses who wanted to be your friend but you knew you couldn’t trust them as far as you could throw them. Or the type that would freak out about little things but would have no clue about the things that really matter. So I figure I’ve been pretty lucky after this book.

Lauren, straight out of college, is looking for a job. She is a writer and wants to work for a magazine, any magazine that will help her on her way to The New Yorker. Not that she is super ambitious, she just wants to be able to move out of her parent’s house and start her own life. In walks the job opportunity of a lifetime, work for one year as the personal assistant to the editor for the fashion magazine and you can walk your way into any magazine you want to go. The problem, your boss is a real bitch. In every way, shape, and form.

The most interesting part of the book was reading about how evil this woman could be. She would request things but not give enough information to allow you to be able to know what she wanted and when you couldn’t give her what she wanted, she would call you stupid for not being able to read her mind. You were on call 24 hours a day and if anything was needed, you were called, no matter what it was. There was hell to pay if things were not perfect. You may be allowed to see the glamorous side of life but that is from the perspective of following behind after it to clean up. And it makes you wonder how far you can be pushed, what you would be willing to give up for a year, if the price was right.

All that being said, it was an entertaining read for something light and fluffy. Fun reading about how evil someone can be and lucky enough to do so from such a safe distance.

Bah, it was an okay book. Not a great American classic to make it through the ages but fun.

Undead and Unappreciated by Mary Janice Davidson

Back again with a quick read and hopefully a quick review. This one was read in a day so I don’t think this one should take all that long in writing.

Betsy is back and this time, nothing all that much happens. Yeah, I know. I really shouldn’t be all that surprised considering the location you would find this book. This is not all that difficult of a read but it is funny on occasions. In this book, Betsy is not having the most fun in the world, her nightclub is in the red and her employees don’t like the change in management. Not to mention, it gets slipped that she has a long lost sister that she never knew about and it turns out little sis is the spawn of Satan and destined to rule the world.

The only uncomfortable part in this book is the fact that this is another book with a main character’s name as Elizabeth. I’m finding it a little weird, especially when whispered by her dark and handsome consort, Eric Sinclair. The other weird part is that I realized that her name is Elizabeth and her best friend since Junior High’s name is Jessica. This made me think of the Sweet Valley High twins and how this couldn’t be a coincidence. Perhaps it really is but it seemed very weird. I think I’ll have to send a friendly little email to the author and see if I get an answer back. I’ll keep you informed if something comes of it.

I really shouldn’t judge this book on the fact that it isn’t all that deep and difficult or complex. It does have its funny moments and that is all I bought it for. Sometimes you just need a brain break.

The Boy Next Door by Meggin Cabot

This just may be the fastest, sparsest, review ever written.

It sucked.

Stupid book club. The end.

Okay, perhaps I should write more... nope, can’t do it. I fear that it might encourage you to read this book, even if I pan it. We can’t have that.

My rating: :-(

Wanderlust by Chris Dryer

Hopefully, this will be the quickest review ever written… here goes… I’m going to keep track of the time. (Start time 1:44am)

Wanderlust is a book about a travel writer who has a love for travel and is lucky enough to be able to make a living at it. Luckily, she is able to have friends and family at home to keep her grounded back into reality. You see, she, the protagonist, Kate Bogart, doesn’t like to be tied down and can rarely stay in the same hotel room for more than two nights in a row. Although that is quite useful as it allows her to review a number of different hotels for her job… but then, we are getting into reality that rarely fits into her world. You see, (and I’ll try to say this with as little jealousy as possible,) she has men falling in love with her no matter where she turns. First is a fellow travel journalist that she meets at the first of the book. This right after her affair with the Spanish bull fighter at the opening of the story. Not to mention her ex-husband that still has a torch burning for her and perhaps their marriage isn’t over after all. Of course they are all gorgeous. Nope, I’m not bitter…

The real problem I had with this book is that is written all in emails; emails back and forth between her friends, mother, boss, men, etc. Nothing is written or explained or detailed like you would get from a book written by a real literary author. It is just emails. I deal with emails all day. I hate them. And it took me forever to get through this book. Mostly because every time I picked it up to read before going to bed, it would put me to sleep. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like chick-lit as much as the next person. This one, was just too much. Perhaps it just could have used more work to make it a tighter story with sharper wit.

Oh well, that’s life. There is always next time. (Stop time: 1:56…. Wow, twelve minutes, that has to be a personal best.)

My rating: :-P

Haunted by Heather Graham

Review by Red Bonney

This was a ghost story, something I don't see much of anymore, which was why I picked it up. Actually, I picked it up because I saw the author's name and wondered if she was the same woman who was in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". I don't mind saying I was a little disappointed when it wasn't, but by the time I realized that, I'd read the back cover and the first chapter, and already planned on buying it.

I found it in the romance section, and who knew it would turn out to be a cheap romance? To its credit, it has an excellent premise: An old southern plantation haunted by dozens of ghosts owned by Matt, the down-to-earth, non-believer county Sheriff, who is totally unimpressed by the occult and does not believe the problem has anything to do with a revenging spirit. Then, enter Darcy, the 'ghost hunter'. A buxom, redheaded ex-model who communicates with ghosts. Naturally, they have an innate attraction to each other they can't resist, though they do try.

The thing I liked best about this book was the ghost talk between the ghost investigators. There was a sense of frustration for Darcy who had this strange ability to know things and having to pass it off as simple investigation to everyone who either didn't believe in her or who wanted to exaggerate it for purposes of popularizing the idea of the haunted house. But this frustration only increased the tension between Darcy and Matt. Hence making it the cheap romance novel of Harlequin proportions. (Note: When I say cheap romance, it is a term of endearment, I mean no disrespect to the Harlequin establishment.)

The other side of this story is the mystery, which was the whole point to invite ghost hunters. The ghosts are creating a disturbance for some reason. Plus, it seems someone is trying to harm Darcy, though it's unclear why. Which makes it a good mystery. The Sheriff is concerned for her safety and where is the safest place he can put her? If you answered: In his own bed, you win a kewpie dawl. (Void where prohibited, what's a kewpie dawl?)

So, up to this point, I consider the book a good read and would recommend it to those who fall into the mystery, ghost story and romance novel categories. I won't comment on how it ends, except to say that it was left lacking. There seemed to be a lot of loose ends, and for some reason, the dialogue seemed to slip in quality. Like Heather's little sister tried to write the final three chapters. Still, the ending wasn't bad enough to make me hate the book. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn

This has been a lazy on-my-butt weekend. So it was an excellent time to finish a Shinn book and this one kept me up until 5am last night because I couldn’t put it down and had to find out how it ended. Haven’t done this in ages.

It has been forever since I’ve read on of Shinn’s Archangel books. At one time, I’d have to reread her trilogy at least once a year. Then I get a pile of unread books and you get busy and you get into other stuff (aka Harry Potter fandom). Not to mention this one was first published in trade paperback size and I decided to wait for the mass market paperback. So all my fault really.

But I want to talk about Angel-Seeker. In the land of Samaria, there are humans and angels. The angels pray to Jovah on behalf of the humans for help in the weather or medicine, etc. The angels need the humans to reproduce. Angel-Seekers are women who entice angels to sleep with them, hoping to conceive an angel baby. If that happens, the Angel-Seeker gets to move, as a beloved member, into the Angelhold (the communities where the angels live. For a woman with no family or prospects, this seems like a good deal. The problem is, angel babies are quite rare and this can lead to a number of unwanted babies.

This story is told from the point of view of three characters. The first one is Elizabeth, a servant girl, who moves to the new Cedar Hills in the hopes of falling in love with an angel or conceive an angel baby. The second is Rebekah, who gives us our first inside look into the harsh world of the Jansai. She finds an injured angel in the desert, Obadiah (the third character) and this meeting springs their lives into a completely different direction.

I had been so worried that this book might have been a bad idea, sort of one of those staying too long at the party type of scenarios (Cough!StarWarsCough!). I loved the Archangel books and this is the first to break away from that setup. These books have a world I’d love to visit. Experience the Gloria (which is a yearly Woodstock) or walk through Luminaux or just people watch with a drink at a café in Cedar Hills. It is the world you fall in love with, but the stories keep it interesting.

Another fun game is to compare it to Lord of the Rings. I’m figuring that the Edori are very Hobbit like except they really like to travel. The Oracles could be considered the Wizards as they are good to go to for counsel and know lots of stuff. The angels have an ethereal or mystical quality that is rather elf like. The Jansai are not exactly as scary as an Orc but they are not nice people either. And I’m still trying to figure out the dwarf connection. … This is what happens when you read this book way too late at night.

But it is fun and I enjoyed walking in that world again. It also made me want to pick the old ones up again which is a good sign that Shinn didn’t ruin it for me. That was all I was asking for.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

Review by Red Bonney

This was a fun little read. I'm not sure how much of it I missed because it was actually in a Readers Digest condensed book with three others that I probably won't get to or even think about ever again (one of them was a memoir of Bob Dole and I have to say how just the thought of reading that makes me sleepy.) Anyway, whatever it was that was cut out, it didn't seem integral to the main theme of the story.

It begins with Samantha Sweeting, a high powered big City Lawyer trying to "relax" at a day spa, though she's hidden her cell phone and her blackberry under her robe, unbeknownst to her masseur ... until she tries to send a clandestine e-mail. This does not open Samantha's eyes to the fact that she may be spending too much time working, though it does give the reader a bit of insight into the mental processes of our heroine. She's a hopeless workaholic.

Then, through a twist of fate, and on the very day she's about to make partner at a very powerful and prestigious law firm, she is thrown into a tailspin and finds herself miles away from the City and in a small country village where she unwittingly takes a job as a housekeeper. Earlier in the book, it had been proven that Samantha couldn't sew a button on a shirt. Shameful. I had to keep laughing at her thought processes, it almost seemed that she had always lived outside the real world and this was her first trip into it. Her employers also seem a little blind to her ineptitude. Only Nathaniel sees her for what she really is.

The romantic sub-plot, really more than a sub-plot (maybe this is what I missed by reading the condensed version), added to the hilarity, because everyone acts foolish when they first meet someone they're going to fall in love with later. I actually think this story is a morality tale on the dangers of lying and then exaggerating those lies later on when you're too afraid to tell the truth. The truth come will out, and it has the potential to explode in your face. Or throw a cream pie in your face if you're reading comedy.

It's a sweet story, and I say 'sweet' with it's old-fashioned meaning, as in light and slightly honeyed, but I felt the end came too soon. Again, the condensed book syndrome. Then again, it may be the sign of a good book if you don't want it to end. It's the books you can't wait for the end to come that you might want to shelve in an out of the way box in the basement, or sell to your local used bookstore, or release into the wild.

In case I haven't made it clear, I did like this book, and recommend it. I'm quite discerning with the books I rave about, and I don't think I'm raving here. It's a nice light read ... read it with a coffee crisp and you'll be floating home.

Outbreak by Marianne Ruuth

Review by Red Bonney

I blame LoisAbductions Inc and InCoHerEnt for this. I can't read a book now without reviewing it. Any little slip of a book. The copious amounts of rum help too. (Host here... hehehe, my work here is done.)

First thing I have to say is that this book was written in 1977. Which might explain what I thought was basically a B-movie in print. It was about a Utopian society that was foolishly run by men. I mean by foolish power men. Everyone in the society was a blue eyed, blond haired specimen of human being, labeling themselves a "Primaries". Everyone else, presumably the dark eyed, dark haired people, were, as a result, called "Secondaries". The secondaries were servants, or to put it another way, slaves to the Primaries and thought to be other than human. It was illegal for a secondary to mate a primary. Not only illegal, but immoral.

It's meant to be a metaphor, the whole book, for racism, but it's very generalized, very black and white, not to put too find a point on it. It's supposed to shock the readers with it's immorality. I was shocked, but at the many typos and bad grammar. The dialogue was overly simplified, but I was able to think my way through, rewrite it in my head, so to speak. Still, it was almost embarrassing.

But getting past all the technicalities, the story takes you through some intense bigotry, from both sides. It's a fine piece of societal commentary. It's a warning against the dangers of technology and a reminder to look at history and learn the hard lessons. A glimpse at one possible future.

Then, there's the romantic subplot. Oona, a "Primary" woman tries to escape the coils of her perfect society, because perfection doesn't sit very well with her. Perfection consists of a drugged, semi-conscious existence, where most people are pliable and easily controlled by the all knowing, all powerful Father. In her bid for freedom, she meets Garth, a tough, worldly-wise Secondary man. From the very start, she feels an attraction to him, but she is confused by her feelings, having only ever been taught that such a relationship is an abomination, that he isn't really human the way she is.

Of course, it's not always black and white, sometimes it's hard to tell who to root for. That's what makes it a fun story. It's a little tattered around the edges, metaphorically speaking, but I think it's worth wading through. If you like early futuristic sci-fi ... well, it's not a great book, but if you're a die hard, it won't take you long to get through it.

Violin by Anne Rice

Review by Red Bonney

They say that writing about music is like interpreting architecture through dance. Well, Anne Rice has given it a shot. The writing about music, not the dancing about architecture, but wouldn't that have been interesting too? Anybody want to start a petition (either for or against) please contact my host. (Host here... yeah, please don't.)

The book, Violin, was another ghost story. Stefan, a Russian prince and a gifted violinist from the eighteenth century wanders the spectral world, looking for people to haunt and drive insane with his music. He seems to be driven solely by his angst and self-suffering. Then he meets Triana, a fifty something, frumpy sort of woman, from 1997, whose angst leaves Stefan's miles behind. She feels personally responsible for the deaths of her mother, father, daughter and her husband, and revisits their deathbeds repeatedly throughout the whole book. Angst.

Stefan plays for Triana in her grief for her husband, enthralling her with his gift and they develop some weird sort of relationship bordering on lust. They argue with each other like an old married couple and then Triana steals his Stradivarius when his guard is down and poor Stefan is unable to take it back from her. He takes her instead to his past and shows her how he died for his very fine violin.

The story is so jam packed full of angst, I can't say the word enough, angst, that it hardly seems likely there will be a happy ending to it. The two of them compare and contrast their evil doings in life, how they betrayed their parents etc. They battle each other, fighting for the prize of the Stradivarius. Then they embrace like seasoned lovers, and it's hard to say which of them is the more insane.

As I was reading, I kept picturing Anne Rice as Triana, the main character and I get the impression she did too. And come on, snuggling with a young, handsome rockstar. Who wouldn't want that? It was kind of a frustrating book, with few action scenes and more reminiscences than I care to recount. As I said, she revisited the four great deaths in her life frequently, and got off on it too. Also, much of the descriptions went toward music and if a violin is played in a book, does anyone hear it? She described Beethoven's Ninth and I wished I was listening to Beethoven, it might have affected the way I felt about the book.

Maybe I would have understood it a little better. It's definitely something I have to read again, after I find a disk with Beethoven's Ninth to play in the background. I also think you should read it. It's a vivid, haunting (mind the pun), ghost story with a hint of unrequited romance. And so full of angst you'll think a teenager exploded onto the pages.

Cheers.

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.

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.

Amanda's Wedding by Jenny Colgan

My new goal for 2006 is to read at least one book a week. So far, I have finished two books which means I'm on schedule so far. The first finished book of 2006 was Pride and Prejudice and I decided that it was too good to get the InCoHerEnt treatment. Plus, it was a book I had read before so it wasn't as if it was something I was going in fresh with. Not to mention, I had seen the movie... and before that, the BBC mini-series like a million times... and committed to memory Bridget Jone's Diary (the book and the movie...) it has all been said before.

Amanda's Wedding, by Jenny Colgan, is yet another blasted book borrowed from one of the women from work. Geez, at this rate, I will never have to visit the library again.... but then, the unread book pile in my living room is starting to look like some unorganized library stack. I swear, the next book I read is going to be one of mine.

Anyway, back to what I had come here to discuss... Amanda's Wedding is about ... Amanda's wedding. Basically, main character Melanie, who is your typical late 90's twenty-something person out and about London, gets a call from her old friend Amanda. Turns out she is marrying a guy Melanie used to have a crush on but he had no clue. Amanda is not a nice person. She is all about social climbing and looking for the guy to fill the role of husband to take part in the biggest wedding event to hit London society. Melanie and her friends band together to try and put a stop to this travesty.

Fun stuff does happen, and there were some laugh out loud moments. The author, Jenny Colgan, worked as a stand-up comedian to perfect the material for this book (as per the dustcover) and that does come through. Not to mention, there were a few times I wasn't sure what was going to happen. That does not often happen with this type of book. My only gripe is that she didn't end up with the guy I thought she should have. I'll leave it at that because I don't want to ruin that surprise ending for you. But then, I'm sure you can figure it out without any problem. Good luck with that. My only second gripe is that it didn't feel very UKish. You know how you can see something on tv or a movie or read a book and just know it is Canadian or British or whatever just by instinct. I didn't feel that vibe with this book. But then, I believe the author is Scottish so that might have thrown me off a bit.

Sleep Tight by Laura Marie Altom

I’m not really sure why I do this to myself. I called my friend who works in a used bookshop and asked her to pick me out a couple of books. She asked what I wanted and the only thing I could tell her was that I wanted something evil. One should never leave an opening that big for trouble. Especially since one of the two books she picked for me was a romance novel.

Sleep Tight by Laura Marie Altom… Bah! What an evil book. Occasionally I like to read a Harlequin, get it out of my system which is a throw back to the days when I lived at home. My mother had a closet full of those books and I never had to pay for a single one of them. My aunts provided the crack and for some reason, my mother collected them, even though she didn’t read them all that much. And me, who will read anything with words on it, read a bunch of them. I really don’t think that was a very good idea to expose a young mind to such questionable material.

Anyhow, back to the evil book. First we have a down-on-her-luck Tooth Fairy who pretends to be a hired Bugoslavian princess to make some extra cash. Next, we have a budding Boogeyman who thinks his mother is being conned by this faux-princess and kidnaps her to his in-the-middle-of-nowhere rustic family farm. The farm is so rustic, it doesn’t have indoor plumbing. (I am so not making any of this up.) The first half of the book is spent with them bickering and fighting and of course, the fighting of the sexual tension. Not to mention, she is an exceptional homemaker and completely turns the little rundown home into something nice and homey while he is out plowing the fields the old fashioned way. (Metaphor? Who’s to say.) So basically, the first half of the book causes a little bit of eye rolling but it is holding pretty close to the general formula. (And for the record, I have no problems with the formula. It is loved by millions for a reason.)

And then wham, I was completely taken by surprise when it turns into an interesting fantasy novel. Yeah, I know, stupid me. Tooth fairy, boogeyman; you would think that would be enough to tip me off. As our hero is being taken over more and more by his dark side, he forces himself to pull away from his innocent angel, the symbol of goodness and light in the world. He cannot allow the bad voice in his head to hurt her. The angst dripping off these pages is enough to give Angel pause and gawd, how I love angst. (Not really sure why cause I can’t imagine putting up with it in real life.)

And then secrets are revealed about him and then about her and you are not really sure what is going to happen and the world could come to an end because of the evil lord of the Underworld and... And what does the author do? Wave a magic wand so I freaking hate the ending. She killed it. Why couldn’t she write a real fantasy novel that allowed her have a messy ending? That allowed her to create something with real meaning? Nope. That is why this book is evil and my friend had no idea when she passed it off to me. It looked innocent but it was so very, very deceiving.

The second book holding to the theme of evil was Adultery for Adults and yep, I bought that one too. Not that I have any plans to go in that direction but I’m exceedingly interested in finding out what advice someone might have for the adulterer in the 1960’s.