If I could ever live someone else's life for a day, it would be former MTV VJ Kennedy. In her book "The Kennedy Chronicles", she talks about how she had the most awesome job in the world. I loved watching "Alternative Nation", and I'm jealous as hell that she made out with Dave Navarro and Trent Reznor. My 16 year old self is super pissed :) Her book was funny and nostalgic. I miss good music.
"Book of Hollywood Extravagance" by James Robert Parish was a fun collection of short tales about Hollywood excess, from multiple marriages to fortunes squandered. It was interesting.
"The Bride Wore Size 12" by Meg Cabot is her latest Heather Wells mystery. Heather and Cooper are getting married in a month, her long estranged mother shows up on her doorstep wanting to make amends, her boss is pregnant, there's a prince living in Fischer Hall so security's been tightened, and a RA dies after attending a wild party thrown by the prince. Heather is a bit overwhelmed by everything, to say the least, but she is determined to solve the crime and concentrate on her wedding.
"Coreyography" by Corey Feldman was just heartbreaking. What he and Corey Haim went through in Hollywood...so sad. The drugs, the pedophiles. He has nice things to say about Michael Jackson, which makes me happy. I just feel so bad for him and Corey. It was heartbreaking in one other way, too: St. Martin's Press obviously decided not to waste money on a proofreader. The whole book was littered with spelling and grammar errors, the most egregious was misspelling Stephen King's name on p. 215. Good grief. I tried not to let that detract from his heart felt storytelling but man, it was tough.
And finally, I read an advanced reader copy of Robert Hilburn's "Johnny Cash: the Life" and wept like a baby. What an amazing, powerful story. Hilburn does an excellent job of telling it like it is. It's a must read for any Johnny Cash fan. I hope someday to find love like Johnny and June had. What an amazing life.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Hark! A Vagrant; The Girl; Ludwig Conspiracy; White Princess; Obituary Writer; King's Grave; Whole
"Hark! A Vagrant" by Kate Beaton was a fun collection of hilarious and snarky comics based on historical figures. It was sarcastic and witty, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
When she was 13, Samantha Geimer was raped by noted film director Roman Polanski. Ever since, she has dreaded hearing about Polanski in the news because then the whole sordid story comes out all over again. In "The Girl" she tells her side of it, and why she wishes it would all just go away. She doesn't think Polanski should be persecuted and pursued any longer, in fact, back when it happened she thought the judge was being overly punitive. I can understand where she's coming from, and I can understand the justice system wanting to punish the guilty. When you start drawing lines in the sand as to what is a really awful crime and what's not so bad, things get ugly and contentious real quick. It was honest and forthright.
Oliver Potzsch steps away from his historical hangman's daughter series to write a contemporary mystery. "The Ludwig Conspiracy" finds bookseller Steven Lukas unhappily and most unwillingly drawn into a murder mystery when a mysterious stranger leaves a book at his shop and then is murdered the next day. Thugs are after the book, and Steven is going to protect it until he finds out what is going on. It was clever and interesting and I enjoyed it. Boy can this guy write!
"White Princess" by Phillipa Gregory is about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII's mother. Gregory and I have the same view when it comes to Richard III, so I enjoyed this fictionalized account of Elizabeth struggling after Richard's death, forced into marrying Henry VII.
"Obituary Writer" by Ann Hood was a good quick read. It was sweet and sad. Claire cheats on her husband because she is bored with her suburban existence. Forty years earlier in San Francisco, Vivien is devastated when her lover, David, goes missing after the big earthquake in 1906. She ends up becoming famous for her beautifully written obituaries and spends the next 13 years searching for David, mourning him, and putting her own happiness on hold. How Claire and Vivien's stories intertwine is predictable but still enjoyable.
"The King's Grave" by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones is an interesting look at how Richard III's body was found last year. Like Langley, I hope this discovery will lead to a reexamining of his much maligned life.
"Whole" by T. Colin Campbell is his follow up to "The China Study". It was pretty technical and a lot over my head at times, but it was worth the slog through it. Campbell discusses the importance of looking at humans as a whole and not parts, and how nutrition is so vital in the form of whole foods rather than supplements and pills. He's fighting the good fight, that's for sure. Keep it up, sir.
When she was 13, Samantha Geimer was raped by noted film director Roman Polanski. Ever since, she has dreaded hearing about Polanski in the news because then the whole sordid story comes out all over again. In "The Girl" she tells her side of it, and why she wishes it would all just go away. She doesn't think Polanski should be persecuted and pursued any longer, in fact, back when it happened she thought the judge was being overly punitive. I can understand where she's coming from, and I can understand the justice system wanting to punish the guilty. When you start drawing lines in the sand as to what is a really awful crime and what's not so bad, things get ugly and contentious real quick. It was honest and forthright.
Oliver Potzsch steps away from his historical hangman's daughter series to write a contemporary mystery. "The Ludwig Conspiracy" finds bookseller Steven Lukas unhappily and most unwillingly drawn into a murder mystery when a mysterious stranger leaves a book at his shop and then is murdered the next day. Thugs are after the book, and Steven is going to protect it until he finds out what is going on. It was clever and interesting and I enjoyed it. Boy can this guy write!
"White Princess" by Phillipa Gregory is about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII's mother. Gregory and I have the same view when it comes to Richard III, so I enjoyed this fictionalized account of Elizabeth struggling after Richard's death, forced into marrying Henry VII.
"Obituary Writer" by Ann Hood was a good quick read. It was sweet and sad. Claire cheats on her husband because she is bored with her suburban existence. Forty years earlier in San Francisco, Vivien is devastated when her lover, David, goes missing after the big earthquake in 1906. She ends up becoming famous for her beautifully written obituaries and spends the next 13 years searching for David, mourning him, and putting her own happiness on hold. How Claire and Vivien's stories intertwine is predictable but still enjoyable.
"The King's Grave" by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones is an interesting look at how Richard III's body was found last year. Like Langley, I hope this discovery will lead to a reexamining of his much maligned life.
"Whole" by T. Colin Campbell is his follow up to "The China Study". It was pretty technical and a lot over my head at times, but it was worth the slog through it. Campbell discusses the importance of looking at humans as a whole and not parts, and how nutrition is so vital in the form of whole foods rather than supplements and pills. He's fighting the good fight, that's for sure. Keep it up, sir.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
First Love; Difficult Men
"First Love" by Joyce Carol Oates was a regrettably forgettable novella about a young girl being sexually abused by her uncle. I was in the mood for some gothic-y horror after reading the Susan Hill novella, but this wasn't really what I was after.
"Difficult Men" by Brett Martin was a fun look at the so-called "third golden age of television", starting with the "Sopranos" in the late 1990s, that spawned such great shows like "Mad Men", "Breaking Bad", and "The Wire". It was interesting to see the different writing styles of the different creators of these shows and how they came into being.
"Difficult Men" by Brett Martin was a fun look at the so-called "third golden age of television", starting with the "Sopranos" in the late 1990s, that spawned such great shows like "Mad Men", "Breaking Bad", and "The Wire". It was interesting to see the different writing styles of the different creators of these shows and how they came into being.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Woman in Black; Strider; Doctor Sleep; Monster High; The Silver Star; Cast of Killers
"The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill is a creepy, gothic-y novella about a young lawyer who goes to a remote house that is only accessible when the tide is low to settle the estate of an elderly client who passes away with no kin. The house is haunted by the ghost of a woman whose little boy was killed in an accident there years earlier. Every time the woman shows up, a child in the town dies. It was pretty spooky and I enjoyed it, it was very Poe-esque (I'm just making up words left and right today!).
As I kid I loved "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Clearly. I was reading online a few weeks ago about some forgotten childhood favorites, and one of the people commenting on the story mentioned how they loved "Dear Mr. Henshaw" and the sequel and I went WUT? There's a sequel?? I found out that "Strider" is the sequel, featuring Leigh and his mom and his dad, and his new dog. What can I say, it was very nostalgic and I'm glad I found out about it and got to read it.
When Stephen King is good he's good. And then there are times when he is phenomenal, ass-kickingly great, and "Doctor Sleep" was one of those times. Danny Torrance from "The Shining" is all grown up, battling alcoholism. Drinking allows him to tamp down the shine. He ends up in a small town in New Hampshire, where he gets himself together, quits drinking, and becomes a beloved member of the local hospice's team, where he is known as Doctor Sleep for his ability to help the dying pass on. About 30 miles away, a little girl named Abra is born, and her parents figure out pretty quickly that she's special. Dan Torrance could tell them: she has the shining. Abra is actually able to communicate with Dan, so he knows about her long before he meets her in person. Unfortunately, Dan isn't the only one taking notice of little Abra. There is a group of people who feed off special people like Abra who call themselves the True Knot. Once they figure out how powerful Abra is, they come after her. It was really incredible and I got a kick out of how he incorporated Charlie Manx from Joe's book "NOS4A2". Very clever :)
After finishing the Lying Game series, I was looking for something new and fluffy. I read "Monster High" by Lisi Harrison. It was cute, but I won't be in a rush to read the rest. In a town in Oregon, a group of teenagers disguise themselves so they can go to school with the "normies": there's Frankie, who is Frankenstein's Monster's granddaughter; Cleo, descended from Egyptian mummies; Jackson, the grandson of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, etc., etc. Frankie argues to reveal their true nature to the world, believing the normies will be willing to accept them for who they really are, but the rest of the monsters (or RADs, as they refer to themselves) disagree. One of the things that really struck me about this book was how confident and secure with herself Frankie is until she's told otherwise. It makes me feel sad for teenage girls (and grown women) who have their fragile confidence stripped away so easily sometimes.
"The Silver Star" by Jeannette Walls was really good. Sad, but good. In 1970 Liz and Bean are pretty self-sufficient. Their mother runs off and leaves them to fend for themselves quite a bit. But when their mom has a major meltdown and disappears, and the authorities come snooping around, Liz and Bean decide they'd better go to their mother's ancestral home in Virginia and stay with their Uncle Tinsley until their mom is up to taking care of them again. Uncle Tinsley takes them in and the girls start adapting to small town life. They get jobs with a man named Jerry Maddox, who got their uncle kicked out of his own factory. Bean doesn't like working for Maddox and soon quits, but Liz is determined to earn her own way. When she confronts Maddox about taking money he owes her, he assaults her and tried to rape her. Uncle Tinsley doesn't want to make a scene by going to the authorities, but Bean talks Liz into reporting Maddox and the whole mess goes to trial. There was a good message about bullying and I loved the ending.
And finally, Sidney D. Kirkpatrick's "Cast of Killers". Mr. Kirkpatrick set out originally to write a biography about legendary director King Vidor. While going through Vidor's papers, he discovered Vidor was investigating the murder of William Desmond Taylor, another Hollywood actor, back in the 1920s. Vidor believes he solves the forty year old mystery, but doesn't publish his findings while he's still alive because too many others who were alive would be hurt. By the 80s, when Kirkpatrick published this book, there was no such worries and he reveals Vidor's findings. It was an interesting look at how Hollywood worked in the 1920s, and how the studios literally controlled everything.
As I kid I loved "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Clearly. I was reading online a few weeks ago about some forgotten childhood favorites, and one of the people commenting on the story mentioned how they loved "Dear Mr. Henshaw" and the sequel and I went WUT? There's a sequel?? I found out that "Strider" is the sequel, featuring Leigh and his mom and his dad, and his new dog. What can I say, it was very nostalgic and I'm glad I found out about it and got to read it.
When Stephen King is good he's good. And then there are times when he is phenomenal, ass-kickingly great, and "Doctor Sleep" was one of those times. Danny Torrance from "The Shining" is all grown up, battling alcoholism. Drinking allows him to tamp down the shine. He ends up in a small town in New Hampshire, where he gets himself together, quits drinking, and becomes a beloved member of the local hospice's team, where he is known as Doctor Sleep for his ability to help the dying pass on. About 30 miles away, a little girl named Abra is born, and her parents figure out pretty quickly that she's special. Dan Torrance could tell them: she has the shining. Abra is actually able to communicate with Dan, so he knows about her long before he meets her in person. Unfortunately, Dan isn't the only one taking notice of little Abra. There is a group of people who feed off special people like Abra who call themselves the True Knot. Once they figure out how powerful Abra is, they come after her. It was really incredible and I got a kick out of how he incorporated Charlie Manx from Joe's book "NOS4A2". Very clever :)
After finishing the Lying Game series, I was looking for something new and fluffy. I read "Monster High" by Lisi Harrison. It was cute, but I won't be in a rush to read the rest. In a town in Oregon, a group of teenagers disguise themselves so they can go to school with the "normies": there's Frankie, who is Frankenstein's Monster's granddaughter; Cleo, descended from Egyptian mummies; Jackson, the grandson of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, etc., etc. Frankie argues to reveal their true nature to the world, believing the normies will be willing to accept them for who they really are, but the rest of the monsters (or RADs, as they refer to themselves) disagree. One of the things that really struck me about this book was how confident and secure with herself Frankie is until she's told otherwise. It makes me feel sad for teenage girls (and grown women) who have their fragile confidence stripped away so easily sometimes.
"The Silver Star" by Jeannette Walls was really good. Sad, but good. In 1970 Liz and Bean are pretty self-sufficient. Their mother runs off and leaves them to fend for themselves quite a bit. But when their mom has a major meltdown and disappears, and the authorities come snooping around, Liz and Bean decide they'd better go to their mother's ancestral home in Virginia and stay with their Uncle Tinsley until their mom is up to taking care of them again. Uncle Tinsley takes them in and the girls start adapting to small town life. They get jobs with a man named Jerry Maddox, who got their uncle kicked out of his own factory. Bean doesn't like working for Maddox and soon quits, but Liz is determined to earn her own way. When she confronts Maddox about taking money he owes her, he assaults her and tried to rape her. Uncle Tinsley doesn't want to make a scene by going to the authorities, but Bean talks Liz into reporting Maddox and the whole mess goes to trial. There was a good message about bullying and I loved the ending.
And finally, Sidney D. Kirkpatrick's "Cast of Killers". Mr. Kirkpatrick set out originally to write a biography about legendary director King Vidor. While going through Vidor's papers, he discovered Vidor was investigating the murder of William Desmond Taylor, another Hollywood actor, back in the 1920s. Vidor believes he solves the forty year old mystery, but doesn't publish his findings while he's still alive because too many others who were alive would be hurt. By the 80s, when Kirkpatrick published this book, there was no such worries and he reveals Vidor's findings. It was an interesting look at how Hollywood worked in the 1920s, and how the studios literally controlled everything.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
The Accursed; Crushed
"The Accursed" by Joyce Carol Oates was amazing but complex and a dense read. In Princeton, in the early 1900s, a curse is sweeping through town, affecting the elite members, including Princeton president Woodrow Winslow. People are killing each other, going crazy, kids are disappearing, all kinds of nutty stuff. It was written like it was a historical nonfiction, complete with footnotes, and I really enjoyed that.
"Crushed" by Sara Shepard is her latest PLL book. Sara, you're killing me!! Can we pretty please just find out who A is? Ah, but then the books will be over and I'll be sad. It was great, the girls think Aria's boyfriend, Noel, is in cahoots with A, only he's not. But A does admit she has a partner in crime. Now we have to figure out *two* suspects? ARGGG....
"Crushed" by Sara Shepard is her latest PLL book. Sara, you're killing me!! Can we pretty please just find out who A is? Ah, but then the books will be over and I'll be sad. It was great, the girls think Aria's boyfriend, Noel, is in cahoots with A, only he's not. But A does admit she has a partner in crime. Now we have to figure out *two* suspects? ARGGG....
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Bones of the Lost; Poisoned Pilgrim
I read an ARC of Kathy Reich's "Bones of the Lost" a few months ago, and it was published last month and I forgot about it. Oops. But it was really good, I enjoyed it. Tempe is investigating a hit and run murder of a young unidentified girl, a smugglers importing stolen artifacts, and a U.S. Marine accused of killing two Afghanistan locals in cold blood. Believe it or not, all the cases were connected and made sense, and I was able to keep track of everything that was going on. Solid win for me.
"Poisoned Pilgrim" by Oliver Potzsch is his fourth hangman book. Man, this guy writes a lot! Like the first three, I really enjoyed it. Magdalena and Simon are on a pilgrimage to a monastery in Andecho. There are of course a lot of mysterious things going on. When one of the monks is arrested for murder, Magdalena learns he is an old friend of her father's and she sends for his help. So of course Jakob comes to help clear his old friend's name. The ending on this one was really sad, but I liked it.
And on a totally unrelated note: today marks the anniversary of when the wonderful William Faulkner entered the world! Damn, I wish I had time to reread some of his books right now. Why do I always have a huge pile of books to catch up on? I guess there are much worse problems to have :)
"Poisoned Pilgrim" by Oliver Potzsch is his fourth hangman book. Man, this guy writes a lot! Like the first three, I really enjoyed it. Magdalena and Simon are on a pilgrimage to a monastery in Andecho. There are of course a lot of mysterious things going on. When one of the monks is arrested for murder, Magdalena learns he is an old friend of her father's and she sends for his help. So of course Jakob comes to help clear his old friend's name. The ending on this one was really sad, but I liked it.
And on a totally unrelated note: today marks the anniversary of when the wonderful William Faulkner entered the world! Damn, I wish I had time to reread some of his books right now. Why do I always have a huge pile of books to catch up on? I guess there are much worse problems to have :)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Transmetropolitan V. 2; Richard and Elizabeth; Sassy Belles; Dexter's Last Cut
"Transmetropolitan V. 2" by Warren Ellis was great fun. The further depraved adventures of journalist Spider Jerusalem and his assistant. Someone has put a hit out on Spider, it was great to see him on the run.
"Richard and Elizabeth" by Lester David and Jhan Robbins was a delightful look at my all time favorite celebrity couple. Their decade together set the gold standard for true love and it's such a shame they couldn't have managed to stay together longer. But who knows if the world could have stood it :)
"Sassy Belles" by Beth Albright was a waste of time. Thank god it was short and quick. So boring and very, very cliched.
And finally, Jeff Lindsay's "Dexter's Final Cut". The show ends tomorrow night (cue hysterical weeping). Is this the last Dexter book? It seems as if it might be. Dexter and Deb are helping a film crew working in Miami shooting a TV pilot. Robert Chase, a well known actor, is supposed to shadow Dexter and learn how to be a forensics geek, while the beautiful Jackie Forrest is supposed to learn how to be a hard nosed detective from Deb. When a murder victim who resembles Jackie turns up and is linked to two other murders, one in New York and one in Las Vegas, and all the victims resemble Jackie, Deb and Dexter figure Jackie is in danger from a stalker. The ending totally blew me away, and makes me think this is the final book. I don't want to spoil it, but oh my god. Didn't see it coming. I'll be sad to see the books go away, I've enjoyed them.
And on a totally unrelated note: happy birthday Stephen King! Can't wait for "Doctor Sleep" next week!
"Richard and Elizabeth" by Lester David and Jhan Robbins was a delightful look at my all time favorite celebrity couple. Their decade together set the gold standard for true love and it's such a shame they couldn't have managed to stay together longer. But who knows if the world could have stood it :)
"Sassy Belles" by Beth Albright was a waste of time. Thank god it was short and quick. So boring and very, very cliched.
And finally, Jeff Lindsay's "Dexter's Final Cut". The show ends tomorrow night (cue hysterical weeping). Is this the last Dexter book? It seems as if it might be. Dexter and Deb are helping a film crew working in Miami shooting a TV pilot. Robert Chase, a well known actor, is supposed to shadow Dexter and learn how to be a forensics geek, while the beautiful Jackie Forrest is supposed to learn how to be a hard nosed detective from Deb. When a murder victim who resembles Jackie turns up and is linked to two other murders, one in New York and one in Las Vegas, and all the victims resemble Jackie, Deb and Dexter figure Jackie is in danger from a stalker. The ending totally blew me away, and makes me think this is the final book. I don't want to spoil it, but oh my god. Didn't see it coming. I'll be sad to see the books go away, I've enjoyed them.
And on a totally unrelated note: happy birthday Stephen King! Can't wait for "Doctor Sleep" next week!
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