Revelations; Wasteland; Ten Big Ones

"Revelations" by Melissa de la Cruz was her third in the Blue Bloods series, about the rich teenage immortals living in New York. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention because I'm not really sure what's going on, but it's still fun to read. I might reread it someday. We'll see.
"Wasteland" by Francesca Lia Block was kind of disappointing. I've been in the mood to reread "Flowers in the Attic" by V.C. Andrews, so I was in the mood for some good brother/sister incest. Supposedly, according to Novelist, "Wasteland" was similar. Not too sure how. I wouldn't have even known the brother and sister had sex if the damn Novelist site hadn't told me they did. Block didn't go into description. The whole book seemed more like an outline: nothing was really fleshed out as much as I would have liked. It would have been really good, if there had been more to it. I liked how she depicted the Valley, and set the book in the early '80s, but other than that there wasn't much else to it. I definitely won't ever read it again.
"Ten Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich was a reread. Steph is hiding out at Ranger's apartment because the local gang, the Slayers, are after her. It was pretty hilarious, and I'll definitely read it again someday.

Hot Six; Three to Get Deadly; Hard Eight

Three more rereads from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum the bounty hunter series. "Hot Six" has Steph trying to catch Ranger (good luck!!), who's FTA on a concealed weapons charge and wanted for questing in the murder of a drug kingpin's son. "Three to Get Deadly" has Steph chasing Uncle Mo, beloved candy store owner in the Burg who's wanted for questing in the murders of several prominent drug dealers. There's a really hilarious scene when Lula and Steph have a dead body fall out onto their car on the freeway and they stuff it in the trunk and deliver it to Morelli's house. "Hard Eight" has Steph being chased by a really bad guy named Abruzzi, who's hired goons include a bunny and a bear. All hilarious stuff. And I'll definitely reread all of them again, someday.

Stop in the Name of Pants; Love is a Many Trousered Thing; Startled by His Furry Shorts...

For some reason this time of year I always want to reread some old favorites. Last December it was Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. The year before, it was the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This year, it's going to be Janet Evanovich and Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicolson series. Over the last week I reread 8 of the 9 books (just skipping the first one: I've reread them in reverse order, don't ask me why). It's such a funny, funny series, and I hope that Rennison has more of Dave the Laugh and Georgia together in book 10. I'm looking forward to it! Obviously I will reread all of these again; I think I did in July when the latest one came out. My favorite one is "Away Laughing on a Fast Camel", when Dave duffs up Mark Big Gob for insulting Georgia. Although the camping scene at the end of "Love is a Many Trousered Thing" is absolutely hilarious. I made the mistake of reading "On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God" at the dentist's office this morning and couldn't control my laughter. The other people in the waiting room no doubt thought I was insane. I dare anyone to read them and not laugh out loud.
#9 "Stop in the Name of Pants"
#8 "Love is a Many Trousered Thing"
#7 "Startled By His Furry Shorts"
#6 "Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers"
#5 "Away Laughing on a Fast Camel"
#4 "Dancing in My Nuddy Pants"
#3 "Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas"
#2 "On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God"

Smart Women Finish Rich; High Five; Seven Up

"Smart Women Finish Rich" by David Bach wasn't nearly as helpful as I'd hoped it would be. All of the advice he gives for investing and saving I already do. Maybe I'm already smart, so I'll finish rich :-) Somehow I doubt it: I've never felt smart a minute in my life. We'll see when I get to the end, I guess. I definitely won't ever read it again, although it only took, like, two hours, so at least it wasn't a total waste of precious time.
In the mood for some hilarity, so I reread two Janet Evanovichs's "High Five" and "Seven Up". Both were pretty funny, and I enjoyed the much needed laughs. In "High Five" Stephanie is looking for her Uncle Fred, who has disappeared, and Benito Ramirez, the crazy guy from the first book, has been paroled and keeps showing up. She also somehow manages to screw up not one but two cars Ranger lends her: his Porsche gets blown up and his BMW gets stolen. I'll definitely reread it; I've read it, like, six times now. "Seven Up" involves Steph's problems trying to catch an elderly FTA, her grandma getting kidnapped, and her sister, Valerie, moving back to Jersey after being deserted by her husband. The best parts are when things heat up with Ranger. Oooh! I'll definitely reread this one again, too.

Runaway Dolls; Masquerade

"The Runaway Dolls" by Ann M. Martin is the third in her children's series on the dolls that are alive and have lots of adventures when the humans aren't looking. They're pretty cute, and this one was fun, if a bit long. If I were ten I would have loved it. I'll probably read it again someday; once in awhile I'm in the mood for nostalgia.
"Masquerade" by Melissa de la Cruz is her second in the Blue Bloods series, about the snobby teen vampires in New York. It was pretty good; I enjoyed it. To be honest, all I really want to do is reread "Twilight", but since I just reread it two weeks ago, I'm using all my strength not to do it again and so I thought it might help if I read something somewhat similiar. It didn't, but I tried. I'll probably read this one again.

What Would Kinky Do?

Kinky Friedman's latest, "What Would Kinky Do?" was disappointing. Normally his nonfiction humor makes me laugh, but this one seemed like he just recycled a whole bunch of his old essays into a book. There was no cohesion, and he repeated himself a lot. Very sad. I really wanted to laugh. I probably won't ever read it again.

The Hour I First Believed; Twilight; New Moon; Eclipse; Breaking Dawn

I've been eagerly anticipating Wally Lamb's latest (took 9 years!) "The Hour I First Believed". I was sadly disappointed. He threw every miserable thing that could possibly happen to one person at this guy, and just kept going. It dealt with Columbine, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, etc. There were so many little side stories going on that I had a hard time figuring out what story he was trying to tell. Just way too much. Plus, I hate to say it, but I'm just not entertained by authors who have nothing better to do in their fiction than complain about the President. I wish more authors would lay off already. We get it, we get it. Make me laugh, make me cry, but don't make me feel like I'm at the Democratic National Convention (or the Republican National Convention, either, for that matter. Although I haven't really run across a fiction author that does that). I probably won't ever read this one again, which is too bad, 'cause I went and bought the hardcover. Shoulda borrowed it from the library!
So then, before I went to see the movie "Twilight" (which was pretty awesome, BTW. I just wish they would have included some of the more humorous exchanges from the book in the movie, but all and all they did a good job and I thought the casting was fabulous. Since they'll have more of a budget for "New Moon" maybe they can make it longer and include more) I wanted to reread the book, and I ended up spending several days rereading the whole series, which was great. I picked up on all the stuff I missed the first time around because I was so anxious to get to what happened next! I think "Eclipse" is still my favorite. The scene when Bella, Edward, and Jacob are camping in the woods before the big vampire fight, and Edward and Jacob are sniping at each other is priceless. I know I'll definitely read all of these again, probably in six more months or so.

Just After Sunset; Ring of Truth; Your Heart Belongs to Me

A couple of really good ones over the last few days. First, Stephen King's latest collection of short stories, "Just After Sunset". Quite a few really good ones in here, and I'm not usually the biggest fan of short stories. But SK's are usually good. My fave was "A Very Tight Place", involving revenge between ultra-wealthy neighbors and a reinforced port a potty. 'Nough said. It was so deliciously gross, it reminded me of some of King's early great works, like "IT". I will definitely be reading this one again.
"Ring of Truth" by Nancy Pickard was the second in her series about true crime writer Marie. I liked this one better than the first one. Marie has written about a minister who is on death row for murdering his wife. He is a strong anti-death penalty advocate, and before his arrest was working hard to secure a release or reduction of sentence of a man named Steve, who was convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl. Turns out Steve was innocent, and so was Bob, the minister. Bob was willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. He wanted to be executed and afterwards have it discovered that he was innocent all along, so people would be horrified over the death penalty. I know it sounds strange and convoluted, but it was actually pretty logical in the end. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was worth it the first time.
Dean Koontz's latest, "Your Heart Belongs to Me" really surprised me. I thought I had it all figured out and knew where he was going with it, but I was wrong (which happens all the time, so I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised). I liked it: wealthy Ryan Perry discovers he needs a heart transplant due to a rare genetic heart condition. His severe paranoia leads him to see things that don't really exist and suspect the people closest to him of terrible things. He does get a transplant, and afterwards a woman who looks suspiciously like the donor shows up, tormenting him, saying she wants her heart back. It was creepy and his message was well taken. I'll probably read it again someday. It was a fun quick read.

Boys Will Be Boys; The Story of Edgar Sawtelle; The Whole Truth

"Boys Will Be Boys" by Jeff Pearlman was an expose on the Dallas Cowboys dynasty of the 90s. Let me say this up front: I hate the Cowboys. Always have. They're arrogant. That being said, they were an extremely interesting team back then. Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll doesn't even begin to cover their exploits. Pearlman told of players taking limos to practice, transporting hookers to the Super Bowl, and of one player who had the audacity to show up to court ordered rehab with an entourage. Yikes. It was pretty good. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was pretty interesting.
"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski has been getting good buzz over the last few months since it was published, so I was eager to read it. It had a good plot: Edgar was born without the power of speech although he hears just fine. His parents breed and train dogs, and Edgar has a special talent with them, as well as a close connection to Almondine, who has been with him since birth. Critics have called it a modern day "Hamlet", since at the heart of the story is the murder of Edgar's father by his uncle, who then moves into his mother's affections. Edgar knows his uncle is guilty, he just has to find a way to prove it. The characters were interesting and the writing was good, I just didn't like the book. I can't put my finger on why I don't, I just didn't. I probably won't ever read it again.
"The Whole Truth" by Nancy Pickard was a fairly decent mystery set in Florida. Marie is a true crime writer who is covering the case of Ray Raintree, who murdered a little deaf girl. Raintree manages to escape after being found guilty in court, and Marie learns that he was actually abducted as a child himself and meets his family, who has been wondering for 22 years what had happened to him. It was pretty good, but I probably won't ever read it again. The suspense just wasn't there.
On a sad note, Michael Crichton passed away a few days ago. I was a fan of his. It just saddens me to see everyone online arguing about how he lost them as fans because of his controversial book refuting global warming "State of Fear". My question is this: what is wrong with questioning the status quo? How are we ever supposed to foster intelligent debate on a subject if anyone who believes differently is dismissed out of hand as a crackpot or a nut? I thought America was all about respecting other people's opinions, even if you don't agree with them. I try to do that everyday. I wish other people would try to as well. If you didn't like his writing, then fine, but don't attack his personal beliefs, or mine either, for that matter. I won't attack yours. Okay, I said my piece, and I feel better :-)

Gossip Girl; Somebody Owes Me Money; Uncertain Endings

After Shriver's "We Need to Talk about Kevin", I was craving something light and fluffy, so I read Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl", the first in the series about a bunch of Upper East Side spoiled kids who attend private school but all they ever seem to do is drink and have sex. I wasn't very impressed. It was too silly and pretentious, and the whole omnipotent gossipgirl.net voice over thing was annoying. I suppose I was supposed to care who was writing the site, but really, I don't. I probably won't ever read it again.
"Somebody Owes Me Money" by Donald Westlake was a hard case true crime book about a New York taxi driver named Chet who makes a bet on a horse and when he goes to collect the money from his bookie he finds the bookie dead. The cops think Chet did it, McKay's sister thinks Chet did it, and two rival gangs think Chet did it. Chet's in a big mess. It was pretty good, although the ending was so convoluted I'm not 100% sure who the killer was. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was kind of fun.
"Uncertain Endings" was a book of mystery short stories with ambiguous endings edited by Otto Penzler. I'm not normally a short story person, but this one was pretty good. Most of the stories were satisfyingly frustrating. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was worth it the first time.

My Life in and Out of the Rough; Bubbles Unbound; We Need to Talk About Kevin

"My Life In and Out of the Rough" by John Daly is the golfer's own account of his life. While only a slim 200 pages, he manages to pack a lot into it, never shying away from admitting the uglier details of his life, including his 54 million dollar gambling debts over the years. Holy Jesus!! I probably won't ever read it again, but it was good for the first go round.
"Bubbles Unbound" by Sarah Strohmeyer is her first Bubbles book. I've heard the Bubbles series compared to the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, and so I figured since I loved Evanovich's books so much, I would check these out. Bubbles is a hairstylist and part-time journalist who is determined to expose a rich woman and her arrogant husband as murderers. It wasn't very good: the zaniness seemed forced and unfunny. I won't ever read it again, and I highly doubt I'll read any of the other Bubbles book. It was a good premise, but not very well executed.
"We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver more than made up for the disappointment of Bubbles. Shriver's book is told in letters from Eva, to her estranged husband, Franklin. Right from the beginning we know their son, Kevin, killed several classmates and a teacher in a Columbine like attack a year and a half earlier. Eva recounts their marriage and Kevin's life in these letters, wondering if her indifference and sometimes downright hatred of Kevin made him the way he was. Right from the start, Kevin seems evil. His babysitters sense it, his teachers sense it, parents of other children sense it. The only one who doesn't seem to realize it is Franklin. This was an amazing book, well written and gripping. It raises questions as to why these kids do what they do, and if anything could have been done to stop them. Of course, like all good fiction, it answers none of these questions, just asks so the reader ponders them. The last 40 pages are absolutely shocking. I would definitely read this one again, as well as recommend it to anyone looking for a great book.

Ella Minnow Pea; Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime; Where are the Children?

"Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn was really cute, about a group of people living on Nollop Island who consider the creator of the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" to be their literary guru and have erected a statue to him containing that sentence. When letters start falling off the statue, the council decides that Nollop is speaking from the grave and wants the citizens of his island to stop using those letters. At first most of the islanders are up to the challenge, but eventually, as more tiles fall and they have fewer and fewer letters of the alphabet to choose from, more and more islanders are banished for breaking the rules by speaking or writing with those now forbidden letters. It is up to a couple of determined people to come up with a sentence that uses all 26 letters of the alphabet with only 32 letters. It was interesting to see how the islanders coped with the restrictions placed on them (the whole book is told in letter form). I would read it again.
"Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime" by Robert J. Randisi is a mystery featuring the Rat Pack. Frank, Dean, Sammy, and the rest of the gang are in Vegas shooting "Ocean's 11" when Dean starts getting threatening letters. Frank asks the Sands' pit boss, Eddie G., who has Vegas wired, to check around and see who is behind the threats. Eddie, in the course of fulfilling this favor to Frank, accidentally stumbles into a couple of murders and is almost killed himself. It was a really good book; the mystery was well written and kept me guessing, and the voices of the Rat Pack seemed authentic. I'd read it again. Randisi has another Rat Pack mystery I'm eager to read now.
"Where are the Children?" by Mary Higgins Clark was one I read because I'm trying to read things I normally wouldn't, so I can better understand why people enjoy them. Clark is so popular, I figured her books must be spectacular. Maybe it was just this one, but it seemed really contrived. Of course, it was written in 1975, so many others have basically done the same thing she does (only better), so I don't know for sure if she did it first. In this book Nancy has two young children and on the seven year anniversary of the murder of her first two children her two new children are kidnapped. Nancy had been convicted of murdering the first two, but the verdict was thrown out after members of the jury were discovered to have been discussing the case in the middle of it. The prosecution couldn't retry because his star witness disappeared. Now of course everyone in the small Cape Cod town she's living in thinks she killed her new kids, too. It was easy to tell who the bad guy was and what was going to happen in the end. The only way I can describe why I didn't like this book is to say this: if Stephen King had written it, it would have been 600 pages long instead of 280. He would have fleshed it out, and added some flashback courtroom scenes, some unexpected twists, and the characters really would have popped. I don't know, I just didn't feel like it was worth investing my time in these people, they were so one dimensional. I won't read this one again, and I probably won't read anymore by Clark. I can see why people read her, because she is quick and easy, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Life with My Sister Madonna; Stori Telling

I know, I know: two trashier books don't exist, right? Well, while both were very dishy, I kinda liked them. It's awful, but I'm in the mood for fluff right now.
First, "Life with My Sister Madonna" by her brother, Christopher Ciccone. I hope he wasn't expecting Madonna to forgive him after reading this nasty little tell all. Admittedly, there isn't a lot of surprising dirt on Madonna: she doesn't drink or do drugs or anything crazy like that. She just treated her dear brother like crap (or so he claims, I'm inclined to take everything with a grain of salt. However, that being said, he did seem like a really fun, likeable guy). It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was worth it the first time.
"Stori Telling" by Tori Spelling did what I thought would be impossible: it actually made me feel sorry for her. I know! Who feels sorry for Tori freakin' Spelling?! But I did, and she too seems really likeable and friendly. I'm really glad she has finally found true happiness with her husband, Dean. I hope it lasts for her. She seems to really have worked hard to deserve it. And as a huge "90210" fan (boy, I'm admitting a lot of guilty pleasures here!) I always liked her character, and never thought she only got the job because of her dad. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was good for laughs the first time around.

Wild Thing: John Daly; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; Mother Warriors; The First Quarry

"Wild Thing: John Daly" by William Wartman is a biography about golf's most outrageous athlete, John Daly, who won the 1991 PGA tour on his first time out. It was lots of fun; he seems like a wild and crazy guy. I totally would love to watch him play. I'll probably never read this one again (I don't usually, with biographies) but it was worth the time the first time.
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows was very cute. "Charming" was how my co-worker described it, and she summed it up well with that word. It takes place right after World War II on Guernsey Island, and is told entirely through letters. It was sweet and sad and I'd definitely read it again.
"Mother Warriors" by Jenny McCarthy blew me away. I picked it up at the library last night and even though I was dead tired after work and just wanted to go to sleep, I stayed up, reading it. Jenny's son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism, which utterly fascinates me and I don't know why. It scares the bejesus out of me that 1 out of every 150 kids get this and we aren't doing more about it. Jenny and other families with autistic kids have found treatments that work, like the gluten free diet, and the medical community is just ignoring their amazing results, saying that you can't possibly cure autism. Jenny talks alot about her frustration and I totally understand. It's insane! It makes me so angry, and I don't have an autistic kid. She is such an amazing lady, and a real champion. I hope soon that the mainstream medical community smartens up real soon, for the sake of all those poor kids. I would definitely read this one again, as heartbreaking as it is.
And finally, "The First Quarry" by Max Allan Collins was a hard case crime book and I really liked it. It was full of graphic, gross death and sex but totally fun. Quarry has just returned from Vietnam (the book is set in 1970) and has become a gun for hire. His first hit is a college professor who is sleeping with a big mob boss's daughter in order to get info out of her for his new book. There were a lot of neat twists in this one I didn't see coming. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was worth the time the first time around.

In the Trenches

Reggie White, former Eagle, Packer, and Carolina Panther, wrote "In the Trenches" back in 1996, before the Packers went on the win the Super Bowl in January of '97. White became a minister at the age of 17, and played pro ball for years, retiring twice, once after his run with the Packers was over in 1998, and then he played for Carolina for a year before retiring again in 2002. Sadly, he died suddenly in 2004 of a rare heart disease compounded by sleep apnea. In his book he was trying to get across messages of unity and peace between blacks and whites, and how having a good relationship with God can improve all areas of your life. I enjoyed reading about his time with the Packers, and how impressed he was to be playing with Brett Favre, the exciting new gunslinger quarterback (Brett was a pall bearer at his funeral). It was so sad, though, because he talked about how much he loved his two kids and how he was looking forward to seeing them grow up. To know he died just 8 years later, when his kids were still teenagers, made it hard to read. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was good to read a football related book again!
On a somewhat related note, I saw Brett and the Jets play live last Monday in San Diego, against the Chargers. Even though the Jets lost (they still put up 29 points, and Brett threw 3 touchdown passes!!) it was absolutely thrilling to get to see him play live and in person. It was an opportunity I never thought I'd get last March when he retired. I feel very, very lucky that I got to see him in action. It was amazing.

Brother Odd; Dewey: the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

"Brother Odd" is Dean Koontz's third Odd Thomas book, and I didn't like it as much as the first two. In those, Odd is dealing with realistic (sort of, after all, how realistic is a guy who sees the ghost of Elvis?) evils, like Satanists and kidnappers. In this one, Odd is living in a monastery, trying to gain back some peace in his life. There is a mad scientist living there as well, who has managed to create life just by wishing it into existence. He has unleashed these weird, uberskeletons who kill on the monastery, and Odd has to try to stop them. It was totally weird and unbelievable, and just strange, like the fourth one, which I read a few months ago. I'm kind of nervous now about what 5-7 are going to be like. I probably won't read it again.
"Dewey" by Vicki Myron was absolutely amazing. It reminds me of "Marley and Me", which, when I finished reading it, grabbed my dog and held her for hours, weeping, while the poor confused dog just looked at me. I felt the same way about Dewey, and I don't even like cats! Dewey lived in the Spencer Iowa Public Library for 19 years, changing lives and bringing joy to others, especially the library director, Vicki, whose life had not been simple. It was very sweet, and I really enjoyed it. I get the ALA newsletter every week in my email, and this week they were saying there is talk of making a movie out of this book, which would be very good, I think, if they could find a cat who cat act. Cats are willful little beasts. I would definitely read this one again.

What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage; Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; Odd Thomas

I actually listened to Amy Sutherland's book "What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage" on audio book, but I figured it counted, because if anyone wanted to know about the book, I know what it's about. Besides, my blog, my rules :-) Anyway, it was actually a little redundant; she kept repeating the same things over and over again about behaviors and why both animals and people do things that annoy others. While the advice she offers seems very "duh", I bet a lot of us don't do it. I know I don't always, even though I know better. While it had some cute animal stories, I probably won't read (or listen) to it again.
I read "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan because I saw trailers for the upcoming movie based on the book and wanted to see the movie, so I figured I should read the book first. If it had been published 15 years ago when I was still in my teenage angst "no one understands me" period, I would have loved this book. I still liked it; it seemed authentic and real and made me wish I could go back and do 16 all over again (yikes!) but as an adult with a job and responsibilities, it mostly just made me feel sad and old. It's about a guy named Nick who recently got dumped by his girlfriend, Tris. When he sees her at a club that his band is performing at, he asks Norah (who he doesn't know) if she'll pretend to be his girlfriend for five minutes so he won't feel like a total loser in front of Tris and her new guy. Norah agrees, and they spend the rest of the night running around Manhattan together, getting to know each other, falling in and out of love, all while talking about music that is way over my head. I probably won't ever read it again, but it was worth it just the once.
"Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz is the first Odd book, so now I finally know what happened to Odd's beloved Stormy. Even though I knew she died in the end, because I have read books 2 and 4, when she did die I still cried, which is the mark of a good writer in my book. Odd's hometown of Pico Mundo is turned upside down when Satanists bent on destruction arrive. They target the town's mall for their ultimate heinous act of evil, wounding many and killing 19. Thanks to Odd's unusual gifts, he is able to save hundreds, but not his beloved Stormy. I'll probably read it again someday, Koontz's books are usually good for a reread.

The Case of the Beautiful Beggar; Jeeves and the Ties that Bind; Forever Odd

"The Beautiful Beggar" by Erle Stanley Gardner was an older Perry Mason (1965), but really good. An elderly man has some greedy relatives who try to put him away in a nursing home so they can steal his cash to pay off their bookie. Boy, sounds like my relatives! Perry got to play fast and loose with some evidence when the police fouled things up, and there was a great courtroom scene with a surprise witness. Probably will read again.
"Jeeves and the Ties that Bind" by P. G. Wodehouse was very funny. I've always wanted to read one because I've heard how good they are, and now I want to read more. The series is about Bertie Wooster and his butler, Jeeves. Set in post World War II England, Wooster and Jeeves (who is of course much more intelligent and well read than his boss) trade banter that made me laugh out loud. In this book, Wooster is trying to help an old buddy, Ginger, who is running for political office. Ginger is also engaged to Wooster's cousin, Florence, but he's in love with another woman and so is trying to get out of being elected and his engagement. Probably will read again.
"Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz is the second in the Odd Thomas series. I thought I had got the first one, but I messed up. Oh, well, I read the fourth one first. The more I read about Odd, the more I like him. He's geniunely likeable and a nice guy with a great attitude on life. In this volume (according to Dean Koontz, at ALA, there will be 7 Odd novels total) Odd rescues his best friend Danny after he is kidnapped by this woman obsessed with the paranormal and wants Odd to produce ghosts for her, since Danny has told her he can see dead people. It all works out in the end. Probably will read again.

Mists of Avalon; The Case of the Caretaker's Cat; the Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece

"The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a definite will read again. It was a fantastic epic adventure of King Arthur told from the women's points of view, mostly his half-sister and high priestess of Avalon, Morgaine, whom I really liked. I didn't like his wife Gwenhyfer at all, she was so stiff necked and pious it was annoying. A lot of reviews I read on Amazon said that the book was anti-Christian but I didn't see it as such. I saw it more as a plea for tolerance among all religions. Queen Elizabeth I said that she would not dictate religion to her subjects, that she would not be a window into their souls, and I agree with that philosophy, and I think Bradley does too.
A couple of fun Perry Mason's I hadn't read yet. First was the "Caretaker's Cat", from 1935. There were some really fun moments in this one, with Della and Perry posing first as a couple looking to elope and then later as a couple on their honeymoon. Probably will read again, in another decade, when I decide I need to reread all my Perry Masons again.
"The Sleepwalker's Niece" was also pretty good, even though it had the unbelievable premise of not only the uncle walking in his sleep but the niece as well, usually with a carving knife in hand. Yikes! Remind me not to spend the night there! Probably will read again, too.

American Wife

"American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld has gotten a lot of pre-publication buzz in the professional journals, entertainment magazines, and blogs I read. They promised it would be controversial because it is based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush. I enjoyed the book and thought Sittenfeld's writing was great: the descriptions were clear and added to the story rather than bogging it down, and her characters were superbly drawn, lifelike, and very likeable. Charlie Blackwell (based on President Bush) came across as a really great guy, and even though Sittenfeld has made no secret of the fact that she hasn't agreed with him on his policies as president, she made him out to be a complex, three dimensional person. Through the eyes of his wife, Alice, we understand his motivations and see why he believes the way he does. The only part of the book that bothered me was when she projected her own feelings onto Alice (for instance, she has Alice vote for Blackwell's opponent in the 2000 election because she believes he is better qualified than her own husband; somehow I sincerely doubt Laura Bush would do that), so Alice comes across as wishy washy and too goody goody. I might read it again someday; it was worth the time.

Crypt 33: the Saga of Marilyn Monroe

First of all, I thought how nice it would have been if I had implemented a ratings system for the books I read, so I can go back and decide, without having to read the entire post, if I liked a book or not. So from now on there will be four levels for each book, and of course I reserve the right to change this at any time if I feel like it. After all, it's my blog! They will be (rather than stars): Definitely read again, maybe read again, probably not read again, definitely not read again.
"Crypt 33" by Adela Gregory and Milo Speriglio is the type of bio I almost never read, because it's trashy. They took every rumor and conspiracy theory surrounding Monroe and tossed it out like it's gospel truth. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, who's to say for sure? All I know is, it was kind of fun. They go the whole nine yards with the Kennedys having Marilyn killed (I could believe that), as well as suggest who her real father was. I give it a Probably Not Read Again.

Devil Bones

Kathy Reich's latest, "Devil Bones", is her 11th Temperance Brennan novel, and like all the others, was complex but very good. You need to take notes (or be paying very close attention!) while reading these ones. This one finds Tempe investigating what looks like Satanism when human remains are found displayed in a ritualistic manner in a basement. Of course it's not really Satanists; the ending is of course much more shocking than that. Best part: possible new boyfriend as well as possible rekindling of romance with Ryan!

Cotillion; Black River Falls; The Grin of the Dark

"Cotillion" by Georgette Heyer was my attempt to read something light and fluffy. A lot of people compare her to Jane Austen. While I see the resemblance, I actually liked Heyer's book more. At first I couldn't get into it, but by the end I was enjoying it and it made me laugh. Kitty, a young orphan girl, has been promised her guardian's large fortune if she marries one of his grand-nephews. Turns out none of the grand-nephews really want her or the fortune (?), but Kitty is desperate to get out from under her guardian's tightwad thumb for a bit, so she convinces Freddy to pretend to be engaged to her so she can go spend some time with his folks in London. Freddy goes along with it because he feels sorry for her, and takes Kitty to London, where she has a wonderful time, making new friends, getting new clothes, and playing matchmaker. It was full of old time British slang that was a bit hard to decipher at first, but eventually I think I understood it enough so I wasn't totally lost.
"Black River Falls" by Ed Gorman takes place in a sleepy little town. It was supposed to be horror-ish, but it didn't really disturb me. Lynn Tyler is raising her two sons in a town where her father was known as a murderer. Michael is charming and athletic and well liked, Ben is shy and gentle and loves animals. He and his girlfriend, Alison, are expecting a baby. I'll give away the ending here, because Gorman does very quickly in the book: Michael is a killer. He killed Alison's friend Dana, then the private investigator Alison hired, and then Alison once she found out the truth. Ben, for some bizarre reason, almost instantly assumes his brother killed his fiancee (ah...brotherly love) and when he threatens Michael, he almost gets killed as well. I didn't really like it. It kind of reminded me of some of Bentley Little's books (the bad ones), and I'm not sure why.
"The Grin of the Dark" by Ramsey Campbell was even worse. I've tried to like Ramsey; as a horror fan he's one of the big ones. I read "The Overnight" and didn't care for it, and I didn't like this one, either. I don't know why, they just don't seem to make a lot of sense. I know some critics think that all horror is silly and doesn't make sense, but I don't think this is true at all. Stephen King makes sense (most of the time). Dean Koontz makes sense (most of the time). Anyway, this book was about a film critic named Simon who is researching a long lost silent film star named Tubby. Tubby's works have largely been forgotten, and for good reason: they have been known to incite riots. People have died laughing, watching them. Campbell's sentences and chapters somehow seem incomplete. Of course, the deeper Simon digs stranger things start happening to him. I don't even know what happens to him in the end, I couldn't puzzle it out.

Outside Valetine; Marilyn Monroe

"Outside Valentine" by Liza Ward came out several years ago, and I was really excited to read it, because it was about the serial killer Charlie Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. About 14 years ago there was a made for TV movie about them called "Murder in the Heartland" that I really liked and ever since I have tried to read more about them. I had forgotten about this book and ran across it the other day looking for another book. I must admit, I was a little disappointed. Ward is actually the granddaughter of two of the real life murder victims (which I learned online and not from this book, she doesn't mention it). She fictionalized a lot of things that are common knowledge, like the names of Starkweather's victims, which seemed pointless to me. She wove in the story of two of the murder victims' son (her father) and how he met his wife (her mother?) because of the murders. I don't know, I just didn't feel like the characters were all that believable, even the ones that I knew for sure were real. I suppose it's a very difficult thing to write about something so close to you."Marilyn Monroe" by Barbara Leaming was a book I had bought years ago and hadn't got around to reading yet. After reading "Blonde" by Joyce Carol Oates, I wanted to see how much of her book was fiction and how much was fact. While this book was very well written and easy to read, and very well researched, I liked "Blonde" better. Oates's book was more sympathetic. Leaming writes about how truly self-destructive Monroe really was, and it was frustrating for me. You have a woman, who had such potential, and she threw it all away. And for what? I hate that.I realize that the last half dozen books I've read I haven't liked that well. I need to read something really good, soon!

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea; Golf My Own Damn Way; Oxford Exit

Chelsea Handler's second book detailing the humorous events of her life, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" was very funny and I enjoyed reading about her adventures, such as babysitting a 14 year old when she was 12, going to a 30th birthday party for a woman she hardly knows with a "re-gift", and the best of all, taking her dad to Costa Rica for vacation after her mother dies and her dad telling the airline that he and Chelsea are on their honeymoon so they can get bumped up to first class. Funny, funny stuff"Golf My Own Damn Way" by John Daly was mostly over my head, since I don't play golf. I've always wanted to learn, and Daly's book looked funny. It was, and the parts I understood I liked. Serious golfers (or people who want to be) would probably really like it."Oxford Exit" by Veronica Stallwood was disappointing. The premise sounded good: an author and amateur sleuth poses as a library assistant in a big university system to catch a thief who is stealing rare books and deleting the records to cover his tracks. One library trainee has already been murdered for uncovering his dark secret. But the plot wasn't very well fleshed out and there were a lot of parts that were clearly contrived and seemed silly.

Blonde; Three Cups of Tea

"Blonde" by Joyce Carol Oates took forever to read but was worth it. It's her fictionalized account of the life of the tragic Marilyn Monroe. Oates was able to show her fragility and vulnerability. It was very nicely written, one of the best adult fiction books I've read in a long time. I can't believe I've never read anything by Oates before! She might become a new favorite.
"Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson was another good one. Back in 1993 Greg, a nurse and mountain climber, went to Pakistan to scale the world's second largest peak, the K2. He unfortunately didn't make it to the top, but the small village that took care of him on his descent down touched him so much by their shining brilliance despite their crushing poverty that he vowed to go back and build them a school after seeing the students trying to learn outdoors with sticks. After returning to the United States, Greg had no idea how to go about raising the $12,000 needed to build the school (can you even imagine? Without all the bureaucratic red tape how much money would be saved?) but he persisted and today he has helped build schools all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. As a librarian, I totally agree with his assessment that the way to win wars is with knowledge and the eradication of ignorance. He showed, humbly, without asking for praise, what one man with determination who refuses to take "no" for an answer really can do. The next time someone says that one person can't make a difference, steer them to Mortenson.

Invisible Man

"The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells was another one of those books I always felt guilty about not reading but actually enjoyed more than I thought I would. It was very short, only about 150 pages. A man of science, Griffin (his name isn't actually revealed until nearly the end of the book; he is referred throughout as "the stranger") has found a way to make himself invisible, but can't figure out how to reverse the process. Once his secret is found out, he is hounded and chased by the frightened townspeople who consider him a monster. Griffin, either because of what he has done to himself or because he's always been that way (I'm leaning towards the latter) decides to use his new found invisibility as an excuse to steal, murder, and intimidate his fellow countrymen. He sees being invisible as being powerful, and intends to use it to his advantage, with no thought whatsoever of how it might affect anyone else. He created a monster, all right, without meaning to.

Baby Moll

"Baby Moll" by John Farris is one of those Hard Case Crime novels that reprint (or print new) hard boiled crime noir novels, mostly from the heyday of the genre. This one focused on a former mobster named Pete who has left the life and is living happily and about to get married when his old boss summons him back home because someone is trying to kill him and he needs Pete help to strike back. Why does Pete go? Because his old boss threatens to tell his fiancee. So Pete goes. And almost gets killed. A lot. And chases around some clues as to who is trying to kill his boss. It was actually very boring and I stopped paying attention less than halfway through, therefore, I don't know who was trying to kill the boss. I'm sure it was mentioned, but I missed it.

Beautiful Boy

"Beautiful Boy" by David Sheff was his heart wrenching account of his teenage son's meth addiction. This one was hard to read, but very good. Sheff tells of the anger, pain, frustration, and hopelessness of watching someone you love keep turning over and over again to drugs. While I don't agree with him that it's a disease the same way cancer is, it was still very powerful and moving. His son, Nic, also wrote a memoir called "Tweak" about his own addiction, and I'm going to try to get a hold of a copy of it so I can see what he has to say for himself. I'm sure it will be a lot of whining and blaming and dodging of responsibility, like all tweakers, who seem to blame everyone but themselves for their addictions. We'll see.

Vertical Run; Breaking Dawn

"Vertical Run" by Joseph R. Garber was amazingly good. It was taunt and suspenseful. Dave Elliot is just a normal guy who shows up for work one morning and his boss tries to kill him. Dave manages to get away, only to discover two hired hit men in the hallway who also try to kill him. Dave spends the rest of the day not only avoiding being killed by a large number of people, but also trying to find out why they are all suddenly after him. The tension doesn't mount in this book: it is ratcheted up from the beginning and never lets down.
And of course, Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn", the last of the "Twilight" Saga. Wow. Wow. Wow. What an amazing way to end the series. After I read "Eclipse" I thought what I wanted to happen in the last book, and she actually went and did it. I honestly didn't think she would. I'm so used to authors like Stephen King (God love him) who do the exact opposite of what I want him to do in his stories. "No, don't kill that guy, I like that guy...aw, you killed him!!". Meyer seems to be reading my mind. Awesome. Or maybe I'm reading hers :-) Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. It was just a lot of fun. And it reminds me of how lucky I am to be me. So many people out there have the potential to be happy, and nothing brings them happiness. Last July, when "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" came out, and I spent all day Saturday out back by the pool in the sun, eagerly devouring my new copy, I thought that I could never be happier than I was at that moment. I'm amazed by how much a joy a new book brings me. And I've always been that way. As long as authors keep writing, I'll keep being happy. Lucky me!

On a Pale Horse; It's Only a Game

I'm trying to read more sci-fi for work, because I really haven't read much. One of the patrons recommended "On a Pale Horse" by Piers Anthony to me, and it was really good. I was surprised at how much I liked it. It was really sci-fi lite--a little blend of fantasy. Zane is really in the dumps: he's broke, has no food, and is about to be evicted from his apartment. Contemplating suicide, he ends up killing Death instead and discovers that whoever kills Death must then assume his job. As Zane learns how to be a compassionate Death, he falls in love with Luna. Luna is predestined to thwart Satan in the future, if Death and the rest of the Immortals Incarnate can keep her safe from him. There was just enough realistic elements to balance out the magical ones.
"It's Only a Game" by Terry Bradshaw did exactly what he said he set out to do: entertain. He said he hoped the reader would laugh, and boy did I. He's a very funny guy. It wasn't so much about his football career as just general thoughts on life. I enjoyed it.
LESS THAN THREE HOURS UNTIL "BREAKING DAWN"!!!!

The Case of the Blonde Bonanza; The Memory Keeper's Daughter

"The Case of the Blonde Bonanza" by Erle Stanley Gardner features Perry trying to figure out why his client, a voluptuous blonde, has been asked by a modeling agency representative to gain twenty pounds. Perry suspects something fishy, and of course he's right. There were a lot of really good red herrings in this one and a surprise ending.
"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards was actually really disappointing. I saw the movie on TV, so I already sort of knew what would happen (if the movie followed the book; which it mostly did), but usually books are better than movies, so I was hopeful, since I liked the movie. The book was much too descriptive and bogged down in little details for my taste. For instance, every time she described a baby's hand, she compared it to a starfish. Endlessly. Like a hundred times. It got real old real quick. It wasn't a bad book by any means, just not my cup of tea.

The Case of the Deadly Toy; Blood and Chocolate; Under the Beetle's Cellar

"The Case of the Deadly Toy" by Erle Stanley Gardner finds Perry with a client who actually tells the whole truth right from the start. I think it's a first. Norda, the client, called off her engagement to the wealthy Mervin when she saw first hand how cruel he was. Mervin's ex-wife, Lorraine, asks Norda to help her win sole custody of their son, Robert. While Norda is staying with Lorraine and her new husband, Barton, Mervin is killed...and little Robert is the one holding the gun. There were some interesting twists in this one, and a great scene where Perry and Della pose as a married couple with a baby to trick a babysitter into spilling her secrets.
"Blood and Chocolate" by Annette Curtis Klause was written 11 years ago, but has been reissued and is being made into a movie, I understand. No doubt trying to cash in on "Twilight". I don't blame them; I would be, too. This one was about a teenage werewolf named Vivian who falls in love with a human boy, Aiden. She makes the mistake of telling him her secret, thinking that he would love her enough to understand. Wrong! It was pretty good, but it was no "Twilight". I find it hard not to compare, even though I know I shouldn't.
"Under the Beetle's Cellar" by Mary Willis Walker was great. For work I'm trying to read more books that people haven't necessarily heard about or read before, so I can use them in booktalks and reader's advisory recommendations. Walter, a Vietnam vet and a part time school bus driver, is kidnapped, along with 11 kids, by a crazy cult in Texas. While he and the kids struggle to survive while buried underground, on the outside Molly, a reporter who is the only person to have interviewed Samuel Mordecai, the cult leader, is working with law enforcement and negotiators to try to get the children out alive. It was taunt and suspenseful, and emotionally gripping. The ending did not disappoint.

The Star of Lancaster; Queen Isabella; Keys to Lolita

I know it looks like I'm reading a lot, but two of those books I was almost done with and just finished yesterday, and the third book was only 120 pages.
"The Star of Lancaster" by Jean Plaidy was her eleventh Plantagenet book (I'm almost done with the series! Yeah). I'm getting really bored with these books, actually, but I'm persevering. I mean, they really are all starting to sound the same. This one was about Henry IV, who took the crown from Richard II, and his son, Henry V, who was an excellent soldier who almost conquered France for England, but died before he could get his hands on it, leaving behind a nine month old Henry VI as his heir. We're getting closer to Henry VIII...
"Queen Isabella" by Alison Weir was a look at that notorious Queen of Edward II who had her husband set aside so her son could take over. After reading Plaidy's fictional account, I wanted to see how much truth was in it. Normally Weir's histories are very engaging, but this one bored me to tears. I guess there's not a lot of reliable evidence and firsthand accounts of that time period (700 years ago), so she rounded out the story with household accounts, etc. I don't care how much Isabella paid for cloth goods in 1317 or whatever. Really, I don't. While it was meticulously researched, it didn't have any story behind it. It was just lists of dry, dull facts. Weir did try to put forth the theory that Edward II didn't die but escaped from the castle where he was being held prisoner and lived out the rest of his years as a monk. There is of course no real evidence to back this theory up, but it's still an interesting thought. History is full of unsolvable mysteries.
"Keys to Lolita" by Carl Proffer was really great, and one I wouldn't mind owning. He gently analyzed "Lolita" by Nabokov, and made me fall in love with the book all over again (I think I judged it too harshly the last time I reread it...). He discussed the beautiful language and the literary allusions. I read a lot of books like these, mostly on Faulkner's works, and sometimes I get so sick of analyzing a book to death. Can't a story just be a story? But this one enhanced "Lolita" rather than tearing it apart. This is how literary analysis should be done. He also mentions that a lot of readers who read carefully think that Lolita will be killed by Humbert, and points to all the evidence in the book that Nabokov planted to lead readers on a false trail. I didn't even see it the first time I read it, but I understand why one might think that. I wonder if Proffer wrote anything about Faulkner? I'll have to do some research.

Books: A Memoir; Hit and Run; I Me Mine; The Bell Jar

I was looking forward to four books this summer: "Fearless Fourteen", "Stop in the Name of Pants", "Books: A Memoir", and "Breaking Dawn". "Books: A Memoir" is Larry McMurtry's latest. He tells about his adventures as a book scout and used bookstore owner. I found it interesting, but only because, like Stephen King, he could write out his grocery list and I would buy it. Well, that and I love anything to do with books :-)
"Hit and Run" is Lawrence Block's latest (and I think, sadly, last) Keller the Hit Man book. This one was very different from the previous Keller books. The others were a loosely joined collection of stories of what happens when Keller goes on his jobs and the crazy things that happen to him. This one starts out with Keller going on a job, his last job, as a matter of fact. Keller is ready to retire and devote his remaining years to collecting stamps. Only on this job he gets set up to take the fall for an assassination of a governor, and he's forced to go on the run with only a stolen car and the small amount of cash in his pocket. He makes it to New Orleans, where he rescues a woman who is being attacked in a park. She offers to put him up for the night, and it goes from there. I really liked this one, and was very glad it didn't end the way I was afraid it was going to. I will, however, be very sorry to see Keller go. I enjoyed his stories.
"I Me Mine" was George Harrison's autobiography, actually written in 1980. I figured I knew Pattie and Eric's sides of the stories, now I should know what George has to say. Unfortunately, this really wasn't a straightforward memoir sort of book; it was more just general musings and ramblings and explanations of how he wrote his songs. Frankly, I thought it was a huge waste of time for anyone except the most die-hard George fan (which I'm not). It reminded me of John Lennon's two books, only more coherent.
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath is another one of those classics you always feel guilty for not having read. Unlike "Deliverance", however, I really liked this one. The language was beautiful, like Nabokov almost, and the story moved crisply along (the only books of long description with no story I can stand are Faulkner, go figure). It's about a young woman named Esther who tries to kill herself and ends up in an asylum. One of the reviews in the back that I read called it "Catcher in the Rye" from a female perspective (or something along those lines). I love "Catcher in the Rye", first of all. When I was 15 or so, a friend of mine read it and wrote to me (in those long ago days before e-mail) that I needed to read this book because I was Holden. I got the book, read it, agreed with her, and then wasn't sure if I should be insulted or flattered. I decided to be flattered. The difference I see here is that Holden wasn't crazy. He didn't do anything to be put in a hospital. He bucked the system, that's all, and refused to toe the phony line. Esther, however, really did need help, since she tried to off herself. They seemed like two completely different kinds of books to me. Plath just makes it so realistic and easy to understand why she wanted to commit suicide. Considering how Plath herself died not long after the publication of this book, it's easy to see why it was so convincing and real.

The Case of the Fabulous Fake; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

First, a Perry Mason Mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner. It was actually kinda blah: there was a courtroom scene that was totally devoid of theatrics, there were no cloak and dagger hanky panky with evidence, and Della barely budged from her desk (although Perry flew to San Francisco and back a few times). I think I'm just so excited about Stephenie Meyer's new book that I'm not really into anything else right now. I was like this last year before the last Harry Potter, too. So, since I caught "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on HBO again yesterday, I decided to reread J. K. Rowling's "The Half Blood Prince" rather than try and focus on something new. It was a good decision; I enjoyed rereading it (it's been about 18 months since I read it last). I always seem to do this: I go backward. Next I'll reread number 5, then 4, and so on. Oh, well! It was nice to remember all the hoopla and excitement that happened when those books came out. I was working at Barnes & Noble when 5 and 6 were released, and it was so exciting to see how many people of all ages were so anxious for a book! It did my booklover's heart good.

Booktalker's Bible; Blue Bloods; Deliverance

First, a work related book called the "Booktalker's Bible" by Chapple Langemark. It was pretty good and gave me some great ideas that I can use to hopefully create some successful programs for my new library.
"Blue Bloods" by Melissa de la Cruz was a recommendation from Shelly, and it was pretty good. I'm desperate for "Breaking Dawn", the last of the "Twilight" sage, by Stephenie Meyer (just three more weeks!!!), and I was hoping this would tide me over, but really, it didn't. I did like the story and the characters: a group of wealthy, snobby, incredibly gorgeous teenagers in New York turn out to be vampires, or blue bloods, as they call themselves, because their blood never dies. They just keep being reincarnated, and can remember their past lives. I liked the way she wove in the true story of Roanoke and the disappearance of the colony there. Hey, we'll probably never really know what happened to that group of people, so why not believe they were vampires that got attacked by a stronger vampire (known as silver bloods)?
"Deliverance" by James Dickey is one of those classic novels you always think you should read. I didn't like it. There was too much description for my taste, which bogged down what I thought was supposed to be a fast paced action book. Four city guys go white water rafting down a river in backwards country. Two of them are attacked and molested by two local boys. When one of the city guys kills one of the country boys, the other one runs off, but he starts hunting them. They are vulnerable, alone in the wild, and must turn to their most primal hunting skills to survive.

Clapton

So, after reading Pattie Boyd's "Wonderful Tonight", I decided to be fair and give Eric Clapton the chance to redeem himself by reading his autobiography. He came across as pompous and unlikeable, and in the end said he felt no shame for his past life. Really? The whole drinking, drugs, ruining family and friend's lives, fathering two illegitimate children with two different women while married to Pattie--none of this makes you feel ashamed? I'm very big on not judging people, but seriously. Feel some remorse. Be humble. Apologize. I guess he thinks he doesn't need to. As far as the story itself goes, I was never a big fan of Clapton's music (still not, not likely to be, either, now) so his story wasn't very interesting to me. But fans of Clapton who would like a whitewashed account of his exploits might enjoy it.

Passage to Pontefract; Forty Whacks

"Passage to Pontefract" by Jean Plaidy was her tenth book in the Plantagenet series. Frankly, they're all starting to sound alike and bore me, but I persist. This one takes place after Edward III has died. His eldest son, also Edward, died before him, and Edward names his grandson, young Richard, as his heir, even though he has three other living sons. Now, I thought that was wrong. I thought the crown should have gone to the next eldest son, which would have been Prince Lionel, but it didn't. Richard became king at the age of 10, causing some bad feelings amongst his uncles (understandably so!), especially John. Richard is a rather wishy-washy king who spends a lot of money on clothes and creature comforts, and is constantly quelling revolts. Finally, Henry, John's son, manages to depose Richard and take the throne as Henry IV.
"Forty Whacks" by David Kent was a great, straightforward account of the Lizzie Borden murder trial in Fall River, back in 1892. He presented the facts without bias, and showed just how weak and pathetic the prosecution's case against her really was. It was very nicely done.

Stop in the Name of Pants

Louise Rennison's ninth Georgia Nicolson book, was, as usual, freakin' hilarious, but way too short. It picks up where the eighth one left off: Georgia and her friends are camping and she has just snogged Dave the Laugh, even though she's dating Masimo, who is waiting for her in Rome. She never gets to go, though, because her parents are on the verge of divorce and then Angus, her cat, is hit by a car. A little bit of tradgnosity among the hilarity. The ending, of course, blew me away: Dave and Masimo get into it at a club and are about to duke it out when Georgia puts a stop to it. Why, I don't know. I would personally love to see two guys fight over me, but hey, whatever. Robbie is back with Lindsay, sadly. I think Georgia's actually really over him. Too bad she doesn't realize she's supposed to be with Dave! Ah, well, another year of waiting. Damn.

Brett Favre: The Tribute; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

On Tuesday I read Sports Illustrated's new tribute book to Brett Favre. When he announced his retirement in March, I was so sad. Not terribly surprised, because he was voted to go the pro bowl, but declined. I thought then that he wasn't having fun anymore, so his retirement news didn't come as quite the shock it otherwise would have. The book was basically SI's past articles on Brett (some of which I already read when I bought the issues of the magazine) as well as great pictures. The NFL will miss him.
I reread J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" yesterday. It's been almost a year since the last Harry Potter book came out, and after watching "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on TV yesterday morning, I was in the mood for the books. While it's sad that there won't be any new books, what's awesome about the series is that they're so good, you can keep rereading them. Even though I had already read this one twice, I still felt anxious at the suspenseful parts, and cried at the sad parts. I feel sorry for kids whose parents are so ignorant as to not let them read these books. Harry and his friends are such a wonderful example of how to be loyal and brave and courageous and selfless. They're so not about witchcraft; they're about the timeless struggle between good and evil.

Reader's Advisory Service in the Public Library; Death of a King; Suicide Notes

"Reader's Advisory Service in the Public Library" by Joyce G. Saricks was another book for work, but it was pretty good and had a lot of great ideas for creating "readalikes" for when people come in and ask for books like the ones their favorite authors write. I remember being 17 or 18, and finishing all of the books Stephen King had written up to that point, and wondering what I was going to do now. A readalike would have helped me find some new authors, which I did eventually on my own, anyway.
"The Death of a King" was a mystery by P.C. Doherty about King Edward II. There are some scholars who believe Isabella and Mortimer did not have Edward murdered at Berkeley Castle, but rather he escaped and lived in hiding. Doherty has a clerk hired at the behest of King Edward III investigating the murder of his father. The clerk determines the truth and chases Edward II down to his hiding place, an Italian priory. It was an okay book; I felt he could have fleshed it out a little more. It was very short and felt bare bones.
Okay, so I've spent the last two days at the American Libraries Association's Annual Conference in Anaheim, and I've had the best time! Today I got to meet DEAN KOONTZ!!! It was amazing. He was so witty and funny and charming and just all around super nice, and he autographed "Odd Thomas" for me. It was fantastic. I also got to pick up some advance readers' copies of books to be published this fall. When I worked at Barnes & Noble, we used to get these advance copies, but ever since I migrated over to the library world I've missed these. So I got a few today and read one of the teen ones this afternoon while I was waiting for Dean Koontz's speech to start (I got there early; I wanted to make sure I had a good seat). This book is due out in October, and it's called "Suicide Notes" by Michael Thomas Ford. It's about a teenage boy who wakes up and finds himself in the psychiatric ward of the hospital after a suicide attempt. He won't admit, even to himself, why he tried to commit suicide. The author drops some hints along the way, mostly trying to lead the reader off track. The book describes sex very frankly, and had some disturbing scenes. I don't know if it's something I would have wanted to read as a teenager. I was rather depressed and suicidal myself when I was younger, and reading about other people who had similar problems didn't make me feel better. In fact, it ticked me off because I (and I don't think I'm alone on this) felt that my problems were totally unique and no one else could ever understand. So, I don't know about this book. It made me feel sad, and I don't think any teen, whether they have a healthy mental outlook or not, really needs that.

The Vow on the Heron; The Case of the Lucky Legs; Free for All; Adult Programs in the Library

"Vow on the Heron" is the ninth book in the Plantagenet series by Jean Plaidy. Edward II is dead and his son, Edward III, is on the throne, with his mother, Isabella, and her lover, Mortimer, acting as regents since Edward is underage. As soon as he reaches his majority, however, he banishes his mother to a little used castle and executes Mortimer for masterminding the murder of his father. Edward marries the girl he fell in love with at the age of fourteen, Phillipa, and they go on to have a long, happy marriage full of children. This book was actually a little boring, because nothing scandalous happened.
"The Case of the Lucky Legs" by Erle Stanley Gardner finds Perry solving the mystery by chasing (literally) down clues. He doesn't even make an appearance in court in this one (it was an early one). There were some unhappy, tense moments where he and Paul Drake disagreed (I didn't like that at all), but there was one hilarious moment where Perry barges in a young woman's room to question her, and she insists she needs to call her attorney first. Not knowing who Perry is, since she's never met him, while he stands there she dials the phone and pretends to talk to Perry Mason. Perry watches her, amused. When she gets off the phone and tells him that Mr. Mason has advised her against speaking to him, Perry wryly remarks: "I tried to get in touch with Mr. Mason earlier, and his office told me he was unavailable today." The girl responds smugly: "Well, Mr. Mason isn't in for just anyone."
"Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library" by Don Borchet was freakin' hilarious. He's worked as a library assistant for a dozen years, and seen and heard it all. Drug dealers operating out of the bathroom, people running up fines of astronomical amounts, very strange things being left in the book return, etc. I just wished it were twice as long. With any luck he'll write another one.
"Adult Programs in the Library" by Brett W. Lear was a really great guide to starting or expanding adult programs in the public library. It was full of helpful hints and was very easy to read. Even if it was for work, I enjoyed it.

The Case of the Haunted Husband; Fearless Fourteen; The Case of the Calendar Girl

First, the Erle Stanley Gardner's. "The Case of the Haunted Husband" was a new one. It was long, and there was a lot going on, but I understood what was happening and didn't feel lost at the end, like I have with some of his other more complicated ones. Perry defends a woman against a reckless driving charge and ends up solving two murders in the process. There were some surreal scenes in this one, with Perry, Drake, Della, and Tragg (the police officer who is usually loathe to work with Perry for fear of him pulling a fast one) eating dinner and dancing together. In the end, rather than have to try and defend a guilty client, Perry gives her the idea of committing suicide before she's arrested. That was an ending I certainly wasn't expecting.
"The Case of the Calendar Girl" was a reread, but a good one. A strange car accident leaves Perry to defend a man by pinning the rap on a girl. Perry then turns around and defends the girl for the crime. Amazing what that man can do with evidence.
"Fearless Fourteen" was the latest by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter extraordinaire, has to deal with a preteen who is vaguely related to her on again off again boyfriend, Joe, whose mom is being held hostage by a psychopath who wants the boy's uncle Dom to cough up the nine million he stole years earlier from a bank. Dom buried the keys to the van in Aunt Rose's basement. The same Aunt Rose who Joe inherited the house from. And them cemented the basement over. Hilarity ensues when half of Trenton starts digging in Joe's yard, looking for buried treasure, and the guy holding Mario's mom hostage starts sending body parts in the mail. There were a few variations from norm in this one, which was nice. For once, Stephanie's car didn't blow up, nor was she actually really in too much danger and had to be rescued by Ranger. As usual, it was hilarious.

Lolita; The Case of the Sulky Girl; The Case of the Careless Kitten; The Case of the Fiery Fingers

"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is a reread. I watched the movie a few weeks ago, and then wanted to reread the book. I've always loved this book; it's such a beautifully written love story. After I read it for the first time at the age of 19, I started imitating Nabokov's style in my own diary. Anyway, this time I noticed for the first time how sad and helpless little Dolores is. It kind of made me not like the book as much, sadly. It's so beautifully written. If you've never read it, it's not an easy book to read. It's about a middle aged man named Humbert who falls in love with a twelve year old girl. I know; I know: in real life, it would be sick. In fiction it's really not. I can't explain it.
"The Case of the Sulky Girl" by Erle Stanley Gardner was the second Perry Mason book, and his first appearance in court. Sadly, Della didn't have much of a role in this one. I actually guessed the right murderer before the end, even though I'm 99% sure I haven't read it before. Either Gardner hadn't perfected his technique yet, or I've read so many of them that now I'm starting to pick up on his style. I'm guessing the former.
"The Case of the Careless Kitten" has Perry defending Della. The D.A. has, as usual, trumped up charges against Della: this time for hiding a witness and interfering in a police investigation. Turns out the suspect Della was accusing of hiding had, in reality, been dead for ten years, and one of the murderers was in the hospital when the crime was committed. Perry figures out who murdered whom because of the acts of one careless kitten who almost loses all of his nine lives.
"The Case of the Fiery Fingers" featured two courtroom scenes, and so far, my favorite. Perry rips a witness up one side and down the other in both trials. In the first trial he was defending a nurse who took care of the man's injured wife of theft. In the second trial, the wife has been murdered, and her sister is accused of the murder.

Follies of the King

"Follies of the King" is the eighth book in Jean Plaidy's Plantagenet series. I know, I know: what happened to six and seven? No one has them, that's what happened. Oh, well, so I'm missing big chunks of history here...King Edward II has taken the throne after his father, Edward I, dies. He marries Isabella of France, but really, he prefers handsome young boys to his wife. This makes Isabella, daughter to the king of France and a very beautiful young woman, extremely jealous. She manages to have four children by Edward, and when the oldest boy is old enough to take the throne she stages a coup and sweeps the crown away from her husband. Like they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...

1215: the Year of the Magna Carta

After all that fiction I thought I should feed my brain some more nonfiction, so I read "1215: the Year of the Magna Carta" by Danny Danziger and John Gillingham. It was about King John and how he was so horrendous his barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta, guaranteeing them certain rights. It should have been interesting, but frankly it bored me. I don't know if it was the authors' writing styles or what. The subject matter was certainly interesting: it went into pretty good detail about what England was like in the early 1200s. I think I'm just anxious because of all the books coming out this summer that I'm waiting for: next Tuesday is Janet Evanovich's 14! Yeah!

The Case of the Waylaid Wolf; Wonderful Tonight

"The Case of the Waylaid Wolf" by Erle Stanley Gardner had Perry defending a woman who is accused of murder after she complains that her boss tried to force himself on her. Perry's courtroom skills are so good he gets the real killer to stand up out of the middle of the audience and confess.
"Wonderful Tonight" by Pattie Boyd was a pretty good autobiography. She was married to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and she inspired such songs as "Something", "Layla", and "Wonderful Tonight". She was very, very classy about writing this and laid blame at no one's feet and didn't drag dirt in. That being said, it was also very bare bones. When she leaves George for Eric, I wondered why. I didn't feel she explained that very well. And why she stayed with Eric, or married him, I didn't understand, either. Eric Clapton was horrible to her, not like she'd admit it, but you could understand. He may play guitar like nobody's business, but he certainly doesn't know how to treat other people, especially other people he supposedly loves.

The Case of the Glamorous Ghost

This was the longest Perry Mason mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner that I'd ever read. There was quite a bit going on, but it was really good, easy enough to follow, and the ending didn't seem too far-fetched, which is unusual for Gardner (see Screaming Woman post below). A beautiful young heiress is faking amnesia after the man she ran off with to elope in Arizona is found dead, killed with her gun. Perry learns that the man was an informant for the U.S. government regarding smuggled gems, and then finds gems buried in his client's luggage. In the end the real killer is found, but not until Perry actually has to put on a defense in court, something I haven't read him doing before. In all the previous books, he was able to foil the prosecution during their case.

The Case of the Screaming Woman

Well, back to Perry Mason by Erle Stanley Gardner. This one was actually pretty hilarious. A doctor is attacked in his home around eleven o' clock one evening. Not only were there, like, 100 people in this poor doctor's house this late at night, hiding in various rooms, but all his neighbors were at home, sitting by their windows, some with binoculars. What a nosy neighborhood! I'm glad I don't live there.

Eclipse

The last Twilight book until August, "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer, did not disappoint. Edward has agreed to make Bella a vampire if she'll marry him. But, of course, before that can happen, there is drama. Victoria, the vampire mate of James, who was after Bella in "Twilight" and who Edward killed, is after Bella to avenge James. She creates a team of newborn vampires to serve as her army. After they wreck havoc on Seattle, they come after Bella. Edward's family, the Cullenses, team up with Jacob's werewolf pack to kill Victoria and her army. There are some hilarious scenes with Jacob and Edward sparring, both verbally and physically, for Bella.
Most of the time it doesn't bother me that I'm not the type of woman men immortalize in song or poetry, or fight over, but sometimes, after reading books like these, I'm jealous.

The Queen's Handmaiden; Twilight; New Moon

On Saturday I finished Jennifer Ashley's "The Queen's Handmaiden", yet another fictionalized account of Queen Elizabeth I, as told through the eyes of her personal seamstress, Eloise, niece of her governess, Kat Ashley. It was good; the only difference between this one and most of the many others I've read is that Ashley (the author, not the governess) imagines that Elizabeth was in on the many plots to overthrow her sister, Mary, from the throne, and Eloise was a spy who smuggled communications in and out of Elizabeth's household. It doesn't seem likely to me that Elizabeth condoned the conspirators or was in cahoots with them, but then again, I wasn't there, so we'll never know for sure.
Okay, onto the good stuff. And I mean the really good stuff. "Twilight" and "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. I've been wanting to read these books for a while now, ever since practically everyone I know has read them and gushed. I was a little wary; while I enjoy 99% of the books I read, I rarely gush. For these, I will gush. I totally understand everyone's obsession with them and have joined the ranks of the obsessed most willingly. My friend Shelly lent me "Twilight" (a thousand thank yous!!) and I started reading it Saturday after I finished "The Queen's Handmaiden". I literally could not put it down. It was midnight, and I kept saying just one more chapter and I'll go to bed, just one more chapter. I couldn't even keep my eyes open any longer, but I kept reading. I finally fell asleep and finished it Sunday morning, then raced to Barnes & Noble to buy the second and third one. I spent most of Sunday reading "New Moon", then finished it and dove into "Eclipse". It was very difficult to put it down this morning and come to work.
But enough about me! Let me tell you about Meyer's incredible characters, stories, imagination, insight, etc. She has imagined what every young woman wants (at least, I always have, ever since reading Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" lo those many years ago): to meet an incredibly gorgeous vampire, fall in love, and beg him to make you immortal, too. Alas, Lestat never came for me like I'd hoped. But young Bella meets Edward, and they fall in love. He is a vampire, and she wants to be one as well, only he won't do it. He doesn't want to make her lose her soul. In the sequel, "New Moon", Edward leaves, thinking it will be best for Bella to forget about him and move on with her life (like she could ever forget!). She does grow closer to her old friend, Jacob, who, as it turns out, is a werewolf (this girl can sure pick 'em). Turns out the ancient enemy of the werewolf is...the vampire! Of course. Talk about your jealous boyfriends. In the end Edward comes back, and he and Bella vow never to part again. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, if you haven't read it. And if you haven't...do so! Now! Quickly! :-)
Meyer's characters are amazingly well written and so real. I'm curious to see how the Hollywood version will come out, since last I heard there was a movie in the works. She adds her own special touches to traditional vampire lore (shining like diamonds in the sun rather than burning to a crisp...I like that much better, sun goddess that I am) and really makes you care about what happens to them. Fortunately I don't have too long of a wait before book 4 lands in August, but it will be long enough. I haven't been this excited about a series since Harry Potter, and that's saying something!

A few hours later: well, I checked out the movie on the Internet Movie Database website, and it looks like it will be pretty good. They got the guy who played Cedric in Harry Potter to play Edward, which I think is pretty good casting. I read that Stephenie Meyer wanted Henry Cavill to play Edward, but by the time they got to filming, he looked too old. All I can say is Meyer is a brilliant woman with a good eye for men! Cavill is on Showtime's "The Tudors" series, which I don't love--it's too inaccurate, historically, but I do love the casting. I thought Cavill was in his late twenties until I found out a few weeks ago on the Tudors website that he's only 24! Yikes! He does look much older, though, so I can understand why they chose not to cast him for this role. It calls for a younger looking guy. They better hurry up and make the next two before the leads all get too old and you have the same controversy swirling around these movies as you do with Harry Potter (which I think is silly, but whatever!).

Odd Hours and In Search for King Arthur

"Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz is his fourth Odd Thomas book. I thought I had read the first three, but as I started reading this one, I realized that no, I had not. Apparently Odd Thomas (and it seems that is his real name) is a young fry cook who finds himself in the most improbable situations being a hero. He seems like a very like able character, and a decent guy. I just get the feeling that Koontz is messing with my head with books like this. In this one, Odd foils terrorists attempts to bring nuclear weapons onto U.S. soil using a corrupt police and harbor patrol in a small coastal California town. Odd foils them with the help of some flighty good Samaritans, a golden retriever, and the ghost of Frank Sinatra. I think you see my point.
"In Search for King Arthur" by David Day (and I don't know what it is about that title, I want to say "In search of King Arthur", who knows why) was a very good book that attempts to separate fact from fiction, not an easy thing to do, since the legend of King Arthur is so prevalent in our culture, not to mention that if he did live, it was 1500 years ago. Day does a good job of not making history boring and dry, but rather matter of fact while still being interesting. It makes me want to reread Tennyson's "Idylls of the King". And finish Malory's "Morte d'Arthur". I will someday, I swear!

The Case of the Buried Clock; The Case of the Drowning Duck; The Case of the Borrowed Brunette

Three more Perry Mason's by Erle Stanley Gardner. "Buried Clock" focuses around a clock that is buried in the forest near some cabins in Kern County that apparently keeps sidereal, or star time. I had no idea what this meant, but apparently the stars gain about four minutes every day on sun time. What does this have to do with murder, you ask? Oh, quite a bit, actually, once you realize that all the people in this remote mountain community wander around at night, taking pictures. The clock actually comes in for a faked alibi. I was wondering right until the end how he was going to finagle that one in!
"Drowning Duck" was really good. A wealthy man hires Perry to investigate an 18 year old murder case. It turns out that the son of the man who was found guilty and hanged is trying to marry his daughter, and the man wants Perry to prove the father's innocence before he'll give permission. The man wants to avoid having a scandal in the family, see. Of course, it's a worse scandal when he's arrested and charged with murdering his house guest.
"Borrowed Brunette" had the craziest premise in the world, but was one of the more understandable and easy to follow Mason mysteries I've read so far. A woman looking to divorce her wealthy husband so she can marry another man learns her husband has hired detectives to shadow her to learn the identity of her boyfriend, so she has a friend hire a girl who looks like her to live in her apartment to throw the detectives off track. All is going splendidly until the friend turns up dead in the apartment, and the woman hired to impersonate her, along with her chaperone, are charged with the crime. The D.A. tries to get Perry in trouble with the Grand Jury for perjury, but of course the Grand Jury is to smart for that! Silly D.A., thinking he could get Perry in trouble! In the end it was actually a very logical suspect who was guilty: the woman's husband, who thought that the friend was actually the boyfriend.

Battle of the Queens; The Case of the Counterfeit Eye; The Case of the Rolling Bones; The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink; The Case of the Burning Bequest

Okay, so I've been reading a lot and just been too lazy to log in and blog about it. My bad. I'll get caught up, and pinkie swear it will never happen again.
"Battle of the Queens" by Jean Plaidy was the fifth book in her Plantagenet series. Queen Isabella of England (John's widow) is delighted to be mentor to her young son, King Henry III. She marries her first lost love, Hugh, and has many children with him. Meanwhile, in France, Queen Blanche guides first her husband as king, and then, after his untimely death, her young son, Louis. Both of these women are strong willed and determined to get their way, and are often working at opposing sides. It was interesting to hear (even if it is fiction) that there were strong willed, forceful women, even in the 1200s.
Now the Perry Mason's by Erle Stanley Gardner. "Counterfeit Eye" has Perry skating on really thin ice, planting fake eyes as evidence at murder scenes. There are not one but two characters in this book with fake eyes. I'm assuming it was more common in the 1940s than it is today. There were some hilarious scenes in this one, including Perry and Paul running around a hotel dressed as window washers. I've also noticed that whenever Perry is called to a hotel by a client, he will inevitably find a dead body in the hotel room. Frankly, I'm surprised the D.A. never arrested him for suspicion of murder. Well, he probably has and I just haven't gotten to that particular book yet!
"Rolling Bones" confused the heck out of me. I reread scenes as I went along, hoping to better understand it, but it didn't help. The corpse (I think--see, this is how confused I am) used so many different aliases I'm not sure what his real identity was. Perry successfully uses one corpse to solve two murders in the end--I think. Exactly.
"Moth-Eaten Mink" was better. The police are hot to catch a man suspected of killing one of their own. The suspect has returned to town after a year of hiding, and Perry is defending his half-brother and girlfriend. D.A. Burger calls Perry as a witness for the prosecution, and there is an amazing surprise ending.
"Burning Bequest" was written by Thomas Chastain 20 years after Gardner's death. It was pretty good; he got Gardner's style down fairly well. The mystery wasn't all that clever: I had the right suspect nailed halfway through the book, and I can't do that with Gardner's books. The only other major problem was that Della really has a very minor role in this book; there's none of the wonderful word play and sly looks that I love in Gardner's books. It was still pretty good, and it had a nice, happy ending.

The Wolf at the Table

Another autobiography by Augusten Burroughs, much less funny than "Running with Scissors", like he finally realized how horrific his childhood really was and it's not funny. It was still very readable; I couldn't put it down. This one focused mainly on his relationship with his sadistic, evil father, before his parent's divorce and his subsequent moving in with crazy Dr. Finch. He talks more about his older brother, John Elder, actually using his real name now since he published his own memoir I guess the cat's out of the bag. To me, it was very clear that his father was a person who was just not meant to have children. As much as Augusten tries to love him, and believe that some part of his father loved him back, the sad reality is that his father was an individual not worth loving. Anyone who could be that cruel to small children and helpless animals deserves to rot in hell, as far as I'm concerned. I also understand Augusten's complex relationship with his father: it's hard to love someone so much and yet hate them so much all at the same time. I know; I've been there.

Queen Katherine Parr; The Case of the Mischevious Doll; The Case of the Howling Dog

"Queen Katherine Parr" by Anthony Martienssen was an excellent biography of King Henry VIII's last and most intelligent queen. She used her charm, grace, wits, and common sense to keep this ogre of a man happy in his final years, when he really wanted a nurse more than a wife. Unlike Anne Boleyn, she did not gloat when her enemies were down, and unlike Katherine of Aragon, she was willing to bend her principles to save her life. I've always admired Katherine of Aragon for her willingness to stand up for what was right, no matter how difficult it made her life, but Katherine Parr was able to use such grace and wit that it never seemed like she was giving up her ideals. Very well told story of an exceptional woman.
Two more Perry Masons by Erle Stanley Gardner. "Mischievous Doll" was very complex. Perry really has his hands full when two women who look very much alike both retain his services for different reasons. The first woman, Dorrie, thinks the second one, Minerva, is trying to set her up to take a fall for something Minerva did. Minerva, a wealthy heiress, thinks Dorrie is trying to blackmail her to get some of Minerva's millions. Then one of them turns up dead, and Perry is defending the other. This book had a shocking ending that I didn't see a mile away. But then I never do!
"Howling Dog" was disturbing. This was the first and only Perry Mason book I've read where it seems like his client very well might have been guilty, and he knew it, and pulled some shady strings to get her off the hook. I kept waiting for his brilliant reasoning to show me that his client didn't kill her husband, but he never did. He moved witnesses out of state so the police would never find out about them, he pulled tricks with the prosecution's witnesses, and then, when the prosecution wanted to dismiss the case in light of new evidence, Perry insisted the case go to jury so, as he explained to Della (but I had already figured out) that his client couldn't ever be tried for the crime again. Double jeopardy, you see. Like I said, very disturbing. It was only the fourth one, so maybe Gardner was just testing different ideas to see which ones flew. I think he realized this wasn't the way to go with the Mason books, since all of the other ones I've read have gone to great painstaking lengths to explain away his client's guilt.

The Case of the Substitute Face and the Case of the Perjured Parrot

Two new Perry Masons by Erle Stanley Gardner. Both were really great.
"Substitute Face" has Perry and Della on a cruise ship returning from Hawaii when a woman comes to Perry for advice: she thinks her husband has embezzled money from his company. That night, the man is murdered and his body tossed overboard--with Della as a witness to Perry's client supposedly doing the deed!
In "Perjured Parrot" a wealthy man is murdered and his parrot apparently knows the name of the killer, only the parrot wasn't in the room when he was killed, and both the man's soon to be ex-wife and his current new wife share the same first name. Perry does a brilliant job of cross examining Sargent Holcomb on the stand, first to show how faulty his interpretation of the evidence is, and then to get the real killer so scared of being caught he flees. This one had a really happy ending.

The Lady Elizabeth and The Prince of Darkness

"The Lady Elizabeth" by Alison Weir was a very good fictionalized account of the life of Queen Elizabeth I from the age of two up until 25, when she becomes Queen. Since I have read so many nonfiction and fiction tales of this story, they all start to blend together and sound alike. I already know the facts of what happens: how she is in the Tower during her sister's reign, how she studied with some of the most brilliant minds of her time, etc. But I like Weir; she has a real gift for storytelling, and both her fiction and nonfiction books are easy to read and entertaining. We disagree on Richard III, but we both feel the same about Elizabeth: quite easily the best monarch England has ever had, and a brilliant woman to boot.
"The Prince of Darkness" by Jean Plaidy was the fourth book in the Plantagenet series. I know, you're thinking, what happened to the third? Turns out my new favorite library doesn't own it :-( Nor does my library, or any others close by. So I read the fourth one, and I'll have to buy the third one online or something. In the meantime, I'll read them out of order. This one takes place after King Richard I has died, and the last of Henry II's sons, John, becomes king. Legend has it that Henry II had a painting made of an eagle with three eaglets tearing away at it while the fourth looks on. He said that painting represented himself and his four sons: the fourth was waiting for the first three to lay him low so he could come along and finish him off, and that's exactly what John did. He was truly the worst of the bunch. He was a horrible king who made many powerful enemies and then wondered why fate always seemed to be against him. Hmm, I don't know--maybe because you're pure evil? He is forced by his barons to sign the Magna Carta, guaranteeing the people of England certain rights. He loses most of William the Conqueror's hard fought lands to the French. He even has to bare himself low to the Pope. No one is sorry when he dies, especially his wife.

The Case of the Curious Bride; The Case of the Bigamous Spouse; The Case of the Fugitive Nurse

A couple of more Erle Stanley Gardner's. "Curious Bride" was a reread. I really liked this one. A newlywed woman suddenly discovers that her first husband, whom she believed to be dead, is actually alive and is now trying to blackmail her rich new husband. The first husband turns up dead--here's the kicker: the new husband was the one who killed him (or so Perry suspects), but he decides to try to pin it on his wife. He goes to the police to turn her in. He tries to get an annulment so he can testify against her in court. What a charmer! Since the bride is his client, Perry blocks the annulment and then tries to get the wife to divorce the new husband, so he can take his deposition in the divorce suit and sweat a confession out of him. The bride is so in love with her louse of a husband that she refuses at first, but eventually Perry persuades her and the truth comes out. I really like the courtroom scenes in this one: Perry pulls some fancy footwork with doorbells and alarm clocks.
"Bigamous Spouse" was also a reread. A young lady living with her friend and her friend's husband accidentally discovers that the husband has another wife just down the road. The husband actually tries to poison her, and she goes to Perry for advice (and his advice is the same as mine: get the hell out of the house!, which of course she ignores). The next day the husband turns up murdered. There are so many suspects in this case that it is easy to overlook the obvious one: the second wife.
"Fugitive Nurse" I hadn't read before (I don't think, anyway). A doctor is presumed dead when his plane crashes and a charcoaled beyond recognition body is found inside. His less than distraught widow comes to Perry and that's when things start to get complicated. The IRS was investigating the good doctor for embezzling $100,000. Then his nurse and presumed love interest goes missing, along with his best friend, his chauffeur...so if the body in the plane wasn't the doctor's (and the murder case against the wife is so preposterous--she spiked his whiskey with drugs so he would crash the plane), who was it? Who stole the money? Who was running the illegal drug cartel using the doctor's plane? There was a whole lot going on in this book.

The Case of the Velvet Claws; Sleep in Heavenly Peace

First off, another Erle Stanley Gardner reread. "Velvet Claws" was the first Perry Mason, written back in 1933 (I'd forgotten they went back that far). In this one, a married woman comes to Perry because she has been caught out on the town with a prominent politician, and she's afraid a local gossip magazine will report the nasty details. Perry works to uncover the real head of the magazine and pays him an unexpected visit at his house. And who should be there but his client? And guess who she's married to? Um-hmmm. Well, then the husband turns up murdered and the wife tries to say she heard Perry arguing with him before the gun went off. Pin a murder on Mason? I don't think so!
"Sleep in Heavenly Peace" by M. William Phelps was a true crime book about a woman who murdered three of her children at birth and then made a series of really stupid mistakes leading to her arrest and conviction. First of all, she was pregnant with these children in the early 1980s, after abortion was legalized. Why, if she didn't want to give birth to these kids, did she not have an abortion? Why wait until birth to kill them? It's a mystery to me, especially since she already had three normal, healthy little girls when she killed these three. Then, instead of getting rid of the bodies, she put them in boxes and toted them around with her across the country for the next ten years. Ew....She left them in a storage unit in Arizona and when she moved back East (all the babies were born in New York) she stopped paying the storage unit bill. Smart move. So of course it's auctioned off and some poor fool looking for buried treasure finds the skeletal remains of these poor kids and calls the cops. I can't even imagine, opening up a box...anyway, so the police have no trouble tracking this woman down. Her first story (and the one she should have stuck to) was that the kiddies were born dead. Then she says no, she heard them cry but because she didn't get to the hospital in time to deliver them, she was all alone and blacked out during delivery, and woke up to find them dead. Um, okay? And then, after the jury convicts her of killing her kids, she tries to lie to this book author and play up that her mom was such a horrible woman she killed the kids after they were born. Mom was conveniently dead, so she couldn't refute this. It was a very well written and very sad book that just shows how dumb some criminals can be.

The Case of the Daring Decoy and the Case of the Lazy Lover

I tell you, this almost-being-done-with-school-thing rocks! I can read again without feeling guilty.
Two more Perry Mason's by Erle Stanley Gardner. "The Daring Decoy" was one I own but haven't read before. Two businessmen are in a proxy battle for control of a company when one is framed for murder. But who framed him?
"The Lazy Lover" I had read before, but it was so long ago I didn't remember it very well (until about 30 pages to the end, when I realized I knew the ending. That only happens when I've read them before). Perry receives two checks in the mail from a woman with no explanation as to what they are for, and he can't find her. Her husband claims she ran off with a boyfriend, and her daughter is missing as well. Once Perry does find her, she is arrested and accused of murdering her husband. All the evidence points to her guilt, unless you're Perry Mason. This has one of the most improbable endings ever, with Perry proving that some woman used a pole vault to create fake footprints. I just laughed. Really? You couldn't come up with anything a little more plausible? Oh, well, it's all good fun anyway.

Look Me in the Eye, Running with Scissors, The Case of the Angry Mourner, and The Case of the Gilded Lily

Now that school is nearly done, I have so much more time to read! Yeah!
First up, on Friday I finished John Elder Robison's memoir, "Look Me in the Eye". Robison grew up in an extremely dysfunctional household and wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's (a milder form of Autism) until he was in his 40s. This memoir was a great peek into the mind of someone with Asperger's, how he thinks and processes things. He is very happy and successful: happily married, with a teenage son and his own business restoring classic luxury cars. The coolest thing of all: he spent years with the rock band KISS, designing Ace's guitars. How cool is that?
So after reading that, on Saturday I had to read his younger brother, Augusten Burrough's memoir, "Running with Scissors". Augusten was born Christopher, but changed his name at 18. While John ran off and escaped from home before their parents got too insane, poor Augusten was stuck with them, and boy were they lunatics. After his parents divorced, his mother sent him to live with her even crazier psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, and his household where there were no rules, no boundaries, and everything went, including child rape. It was a very hard book to read, because he was trying to convey the hilarity of the situations, and if it had been fiction, like McMurtry's "Texasville" or something, then it would have been hilarious. But remembering that it's true, all this stuff really did happen to this poor screwed up kid...well, it was just hard to laugh at it then. It was good, though, very well written, and I enjoyed it.
I got two Perry Mason mysteries by Erle Stanley Gardner at my new favorite library that I actually hadn't read yet! It's been so long since I read any Mason books that they all sounded familiar to me, so I took a shot and grabbed two. The one I read yesterday was "The Case of the Angry Mourner", which has Perry on vacation at Bear Mountain when a wealthy young playboy with a bad reputation for being a wolf with women (these are set in the '40s and '50s, keep in mind) is found dead, shot, and of course the young lady he was dining with that evening is the logical suspect, only all the clues lead to her mother, Perry's client. Since Perry's clients are never, ever guilty, you knew right off it wasn't her.
Today's was "The Case of the Gilded Lily". A wealthy (lots of wealthy people in these books--I guess they're more interesting than poor people) businessman is threatened when a blackmailer comes to him with incriminating evidence against his lovely new and much younger socialite wife. The businessman gets drugged during the payoff and wakes up in a motel room with a dead body. Never a good thing. And it wasn't the new wife, either! I love Gardner's red herrings, they're all over the place.