Fiction

A weird foodie book

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Stanley Park was one strange foodie book. I liked the foodie part but the whole storyline about the homeless people and the “children” in Stanley Park was just weird. Though I do understand the underlying theme and I realize that without the homeless storyline, the twist that occurred on “opening night” wouldn’t have happened. And that was pretty brilliant. No I’m not telling you what happened, read it for yourself and see.

I’ve been to Stanley Park, have you?

A weird foodie book Read More »

Miss Garnet’s Angel

1 Comment / 2007, A to Z Challenge, Art, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Miss Garnet’s Angel started out as a disappointment but improved as the story went along… Much like Miss Garnet herself.

Julia Garnet starts out as a pretty unlikeable retired, spinster, British school teacher. Heck she’s not even a dyke to give her some interesting quality. She’s a stick in the mud, a little too high and mighty and just plain boring. Until she goes to Venice. Until she discovers the Angel, Raphael.

The parallel story about Tobit helped move Miss Garnet’s story along. Not a bad book, if you give it time to develop.

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Miss Garnet’s Angel Read More »

Again with the Traveling Pants

1 Comment / 2007, A to Z Challenge, Books in Bed, Fiction, Young Adult /

The fourth, and what I assume, the final summer of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was good. Better than summer three, certainly. But – it was troubling. Not only have the girls really grown up, they really had issues. How can all four girls have SO MANY ISSUES? I mean, really, couldn’t just one of them have her stuff together? Wouldn’t that have been a nice thing to show to young girls? A girl who goes to college and doesn’t fear pregnancy? Who doesn’t find herself gaining a gazillion pounds and losing her confidence? A girl who isn’t having a fling with an older professor or pining away for a lost love? Just a girl who gets the job done and isn’t in trouble?

Oh well, that’s what happens in young adult novels. Problems, problems and more problems. Even the traveling pants couldn’t save these girls. Other than that, good ending to the series.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Again with the Traveling Pants Read More »

Yankee Doodle Dead

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery /

I had a tough time getting interested in Yankee Doodle Dead – a Death on Demand mystery.  I think maybe I’m not a big enough mystery fan to really enjoy all of the mystery book references, which really slowed the story down for me.  About halfway through it – when the murder occurred, I was more interested and sat down and finished it right away.  But the first 100 pages, slow going.   Not a bad book for a vacation, though.  Light mystery.  Great female characters.  Nice lowcountry setting.

Yankee Doodle Dead Read More »

The Deception of the Emerald Ring

2007, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

The third in this little series was not quite as good as the first two. Something was missing from The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Maybe it was the lack of interaction between Elise and Colin? I’m not sure what the problem was because I certainly liked Letty better than I did Amy. And I loved Miss Gwen in this one.

It was rather amusing to read this while in London.  That in itself added a little twist of interest that I didn’t have when I read the first two.

The Deception of the Emerald Ring Read More »

Choke

2 Comments / 2007, A to Z Challenge, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I finally finished Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk. Finally. For such a short book, it sure took me a long time to finish. That’s not a reflection of the story or the writing – it’s a reflection of my crazy life!

It was a good book, as expected, but it was uhhh sort of disgusting at times. Sex addicts are a little scary and a lot messy. And the fact that the “hero” makes his money “choking” in restaurants just adds more queasiness to the mix. I loved the entire “Jesus Christ” storyline, that was fabulous.

I’ve decided that I need a Palahniuk break so don’t expect to see anymore of his books appear on the blog for awhile. As genius as he is, a girl can only take so much.

Choke Read More »

Night Vision

2007, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery, Queer /

Yes, another Jane Lawless mystery. I know, I haven’t left really stellar reviews of her books but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them in a mindless, fluff sort of way. What better type of book to read after Garbage Land than silly dyke drama with dumb gay boys tossed in for good measure?

Night Vision was surprisingly good. I had high hopes that Jane was going to grow just a wee bit more backbone in this one, and I suppose she has, but she’s still just a bit too wishy washy for a detective – particularly a dyke detective. Ellen Hart needs to toughen her up a little, make her just a bit more Cordelia like. You’d think after more than a dozen of these, she’d have improved the character a bit.

Speaking of Cordelia. Poor thing. I hated that ending, obviously. Do you think the next one will be set in the UK as they work on fixing Cordelia’s problem?

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Night Vision Read More »

Break No Bones

2007, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery, Women /

I had high hopes for Break No Bones. Lots of my friends watch that Bones tv show that is based on this series of books (loosely based as sassymonkey explained to me). I am guessing the tv show is better than the book(s).

Maybe it was the fact that this one was set in Charleston – my home town – that caused me some issues. I should be glad that the author got so much RIGHT about Charleston. Often books set in my hometown don’t give an accurate picture, they put streets where they don’t belong, screw up names of businesses or famous places – just weird stuff that isn’t “right”. But there was so much, well, name dropping that it felt like overkill to me.

By the time we got to the point where Tempe solved the mystery, I was done. And then the solution – sheesh. We try to debunk these sorts of myths everyday at work and here we have some silly author writing about _______. (I won’t blow the ending for those who want to read it.)

Anyway. It wasn’t horrid. But it wasn’t anywhere close to making it to my favorites list.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

Break No Bones Read More »

Restless

2007, Fiction /

Restless is a very good spy story. British spy, female, WW2. The story jumps back and forth between the ’30s-’40s and the late ’70s. Manipulating the press in order to manipulate the US into joining the fight against Germany. Intrigue, twists and turns. I liked it very much and I’m really not big on spy novels, usually.

Restless Read More »