Thursday, November 12, 2009
Silk and Secrets
**** Silk and Secrets by Mary Jo Putney. Historical romance.
Unfortunately, in my hit-or-miss approach to collecting Putney's backlist, I've once again found myself in the middle of a trilogy. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have been a problem in enjoying the story.
Lord Ross Carlisle, the Marquess of Kilburn, has been married to Juliet Cameron since he was 21 and she was 17. The only thing is, he hasn't seen her for twelve years, since she inexplicably abandoned him after six months of marriage.
They're reunited in Persia, of all places, when his mother-in-law sends him to find out what happened to his brother-in-law (Juliet's mother and brother), a British army officer who disappeared in Bokhara.
It was a fascinating setting, and there was high adventure aplenty, the kind of story that you'd expect to see in an old movie. And watching Ross and Juliet fall in love again was fun. My only problem was that I didn't really buy the reason Juliet left him in the first place.
Definitely worth reading, and I'm looking forward to seeing the beginning and end of this trilogy eventually.
Categories: Books, 4stars, HistoricalRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, HistoricalRomance
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Tristan Betrayal
**** The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum. Action/adventure.
This is another of those authors whose books I generally enjoy, but I haven't gone out of my way to look for.
Stephen Metcalfe is a spy-turned-ambassador, and he's called on to help stop a coup--communist hardliners threatening to overthrow Gorbachev's new government. Along with the present day story, we get flashbacks of Metcalfe's life as a spy during the 1940s, with quite a few hair-raising adventures and near disasters.
The flashbacks were exciting, and made Metcalfe a more interesting and sympathetic character, even if he was a bit luckier than was easy to believe. Experiencing his past, though, gave the present story more depth. Plus, you don't often get to battle Nazis and communists in the same book.
Categories: Books, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, books
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Spring Reading Challenge
The Reading Challenge for Spring ('08!) was to read one of the 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century (or one of the runners-up). You can find a list here: http://www.bpl.org/research/AdultBooklists/influential.htm Let us know what you read, what you thought of it, and whether you'd be inclined to read another book from this list in the future. I chose:
**** The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir. Non-fiction.
This is a classic of feminist thought. And rightly so. If nothing else, The Second Sex is extremely thought-provoking. Of course, you have to realize that it was written over 50 years ago, so some things are dated, but it's heartbreaking to see how much hasn't changed in the intervening years.
The most intriguing idea I brought away from the book is how we're conditioned and/or trained to be female. I'm not sure I agree completely, but there are still quite a few ways in which it holds true. For example, we made a conscious effort when Dagny was very small to be gender-neutral, yet she resisted our efforts toward things like balls and trucks and vastly preferred more imaginary play. The same effort worked in reverse on Curran. Were there other influences that were stronger than ours even though they were rarer (neither was in day care until well after these preferences were established)?
I also bristled at the notion that marriage always equals slavery for a woman, though that probably had more validity half a century ago in France, when women didn't have a lot of choices.
Then there was the fact that she believed the male myth that gynecological problems were always psychosomatic, which is really sad for women who read The Second Sex fifty years ago looking for validation and being told they're hypochondriacs.
In fact, I got the distinct impression that De Beauvior herself had a very low opinion of women in general, and like the men she complained about, that she also considered herself apart from them.
One other thing that annoyed me was the existentialist jargon. It felt to me like a logical fallacy--proof by intimidation, perhaps. That by using a lot of jargon and complex arguments, she wasn't actually proving anything, just throwing a lot of words around. Of course, that could have been due to what's apparently a poor translation from French, so maybe that's the fault of the translator rather than the author, but it's still a complaint about the book I read.
However, I think it's an important book to read, and despite my reservations, I still got a lot out of it and I'm glad I read it.
Categories: ReadingChallenge, Books, 4stars, Nonfiction
**** The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir. Non-fiction.
This is a classic of feminist thought. And rightly so. If nothing else, The Second Sex is extremely thought-provoking. Of course, you have to realize that it was written over 50 years ago, so some things are dated, but it's heartbreaking to see how much hasn't changed in the intervening years.
The most intriguing idea I brought away from the book is how we're conditioned and/or trained to be female. I'm not sure I agree completely, but there are still quite a few ways in which it holds true. For example, we made a conscious effort when Dagny was very small to be gender-neutral, yet she resisted our efforts toward things like balls and trucks and vastly preferred more imaginary play. The same effort worked in reverse on Curran. Were there other influences that were stronger than ours even though they were rarer (neither was in day care until well after these preferences were established)?
I also bristled at the notion that marriage always equals slavery for a woman, though that probably had more validity half a century ago in France, when women didn't have a lot of choices.
Then there was the fact that she believed the male myth that gynecological problems were always psychosomatic, which is really sad for women who read The Second Sex fifty years ago looking for validation and being told they're hypochondriacs.
In fact, I got the distinct impression that De Beauvior herself had a very low opinion of women in general, and like the men she complained about, that she also considered herself apart from them.
One other thing that annoyed me was the existentialist jargon. It felt to me like a logical fallacy--proof by intimidation, perhaps. That by using a lot of jargon and complex arguments, she wasn't actually proving anything, just throwing a lot of words around. Of course, that could have been due to what's apparently a poor translation from French, so maybe that's the fault of the translator rather than the author, but it's still a complaint about the book I read.
However, I think it's an important book to read, and despite my reservations, I still got a lot out of it and I'm glad I read it.
Categories: ReadingChallenge, Books, 4stars, Nonfiction
Labels: 4 stars, books, nonfiction, reading challenge
Monday, September 14, 2009
Duel of Dragons
**** Duel of Dragons by Gael Baudino. Fantasy.
This is the second book in the Dragonsword series, following Dragonsword (#26). One of the reviews on Amazon called it the best in the series, but I didn't like it quite as well as the first. I think the first, where Suzanne Helling is trying to figure out the new world, is more compelling. Obviously, YMMV.
In Duel of Dragons, Suzanne is now the one in charge, and she has to face the fact that she's also responsible for the negative things in Gryylth. The ex-wife of Sol, the professor who originally created the world, shows up, and as in the previous book, there's some heavy-handed social commentary. Only this time, the story wasn't quite compelling enough for me to ignore it.
Or maybe it's that the social commentary in this one was more skewed toward the anti-male version of feminism. Still, it was an entertaining read, and I enjoyed how Suzanne's psyche ended up putting modern-day weapons in what had been a medieval setting. And the psychology of characters who know they've been created by someone's imagination was nicely thought-provoking.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Fantasy
Labels: 4 stars, books, fantasy
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Stroke of Midnight
Stroke of Midnight. Paranormal romance.
- **** "Winter Born" by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I have to laugh at the negative reviews on Amazon for this first story--those who have read Kenyon's Dark Hunters series complain that it introduces were-panthers to the series; and those who haven't read the series complain that it's too much a part of the series to stand alone.
Basically, male were-panthers are bound for life when they meet their mate, but female were-panthers aren't. So when Dante meets Pandora, that's it for him, but not for her. And she's in heat, and they're at a convention where there are other possible mates around.
Adding to the problem is that the pack Pandora escaped from (something to do with her being born in winter--hence the title) is trying to recapture her.
This story was about par for my experiences with Kenyon's work--I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. - ***½ "Born of the Night" by Amanda Ashley.
This is a medieval werewolf revenge story. Lady Shanara and Lord Reyes's families are bitter enemies: Shanara's father killed Reyes's father and wears his pelt (he was a werewolf, as is his son). So Lord Reyes takes lady Shanara hostage, and to further punish his enemy, he's going to marry her.
I'm not a big fan of revenge marriage stories--seems like you'd be hurting yourself a lot more than your enemy. And I'm not a big fan of stories about paranormal creatures who bemoan their fate--in this case, they're cursed with being werewolves. I don't think it's simply because I'm used to vamps and wolves who like being what they are (Spike!), though that probably has a little to do with it. Mostly, I think it's because I'm definitely a make-the-best-of-what-you've-got kind of person.
So taking that into account, this was a nice, well-written story, just not my cup of tea. - ***** "Make it Last Forever" by L. A. Banks.
Wow. I loved this one, but a surprising number of reviewers on Amazon absolutely loathed it, most of them citing the fact that it started out in 1979. Um. Yeah. I loathe several books because the hero wears a blue shirt. It makes as much sense. What was wrong with 1979? I admit I have a soft spot for the year--it's when I graduated high school. Anyway. The story.
What surprises me is that it's part of a series, but I haven't read the series. In fact, I've only read one other story by L. A. Banks, and I didn't really like it. - ****½ "Red Moon Rising" by Lori Handeland.
The last story is about a writer, Maya, living in an isolated cabin while she's battling writer's block. She has bigger problems, though--she's being stalked by a skinwalker.
Enter Clay, a Jager-Sucher--that is, a werewolf hunter, who's there to protect her, but (of course--this is a romance, after all) their attraction to each other gets in the way.
I'm guessing this is part of a series as well, and one I think I'd like to read more of. The touches of humor in this story set it apart for me.
Categories: Books, 5stars, 4.5stars, 4stars, 3.5stars, ParanormalRomance
Labels: 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 4.5 stars, 5 stars, books, ParanormalRomance
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories
**** The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain. General fiction.
This is one of the free classics I got with my e-reader. And since it's a classic, and on my e-reader, I read it in bits and pieces over a long period of time. (My e-reader stays in my purse, for those times when I'm out somewhere and waiting, like at the dentist or something.)
I'd originally intended to comment on each story in the anthology, but there are a lot of them, and I didn't take notes, so it's been a very long time since I read the first ones. So just some general comments instead.
I'm not a short story reader, any more than I'm a poetry reader. Something about the forms just doesn't appeal to me. But Mark Twain made a difference. His humor and insight made most of the stories entertaining for me. Like the story in the title--how a $30,000 bequest changed people's lives--and not in the ways you (or they) would have expected. Or the stories about Adam and Eve from each of their points of view. Very funny, and human nature hasn't changed all that much since Twain wrote these.
Some of the stories were too dated for me to truly enjoy them--like "Post-Mortem Poetry", since we don't have similar obituaries now. But a little imagination kept them from being incomprehensible, and even gave a bit of insight into the time period.
Categories: Books, 4stars, GeneralFiction
Labels: 4 stars, books, GeneralFiction
No True Gentleman
**** No True Gentleman by Liz Carlyle. Historical romance.
This book came free with my e-reader, so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised.
It's a historical romance, but it's also a murder mystery.
Lady Catherine Wodeway is a widow. She meets Maximilian de Rohan, a former Bow Street runner and police detective who now works for the Home Office when he kisses her to preserve his cover. It's a cliche--the kiss to make the bad guy think the detective is wrapped up in a love rather than spying on him. If I were a bad guy, I'd be really suspicious of kissing couples.
Despite the cliched meet, No True Gentleman was an engaging story. So often in romantic suspense, the mystery gets short shrift. No so, here. The mystery was as fully developed and logical as the romance.
I've since bought more books by Liz Carlyle. I have high hopes for them.
Categories: Books, 4stars, HistoricalRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, HistoricalRomance
Friday, May 29, 2009
Angels and Demons
**** Angels and Demons. Mystery, action/adventure.
Directed by: Ron Howard.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl
I read the book years ago, but I remembered absolutely nothing, so it was like coming to the movie cold. I love convoluted plots like this, though--centuries-old clues, conspiracies, secret societies, and plenty of twists.
Briefly, despite the events in The DaVinci Code, the Vatican turns to scholar Robert Langdon when it appears the Illuminati have resurfaced and are bent on retribution. They've stolen a canister of antimatter and are threatening to use it to destroy Vatican City--after they execute the four cardinals most likely to be chosen as the next pope (the previous pope has just died).
Tom Hanks was, once again, just right for the character of Robert Langdon, and Ewan McGregor was perfect as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna. Stellan Skarsgard as Commander Richter of the Swiss Guard was convincing yet frustrating, since he quite obviously doesn't trust Langdon. And it's always good to see Armin Mueller-Stahl, here portraying Cardinal Strauss, a senior cardinal, but not one of the favorites.
It's a good thing I didn't remember the book, because the twists had me going. I had whodunit pegged fairly early on, but I kept changing my mind, as certain characters started looking more or less likely.
It wasn't perfect--I thought the Vatican turning to Langdon was insufficiently explained, though it may have been clearer in the book. Likewise with the scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), whose purpose in the movie was.... to replace the batteries on the antimatter canister? She worked on the project that produced the antimatter, and discovered the theft and the murder of her colleague. But there was no reason at all for her to be tagging along on Langdon's researching. She wasn't a historian, and didn't have any expertise to offer in the archives. Again, maybe it was better explained in the book, but I got the distinct impression that she was solely there for a female presence--eye candy. And maybe for a slight red herring, though I'm annoyed enough that I'm tempted to put down her guilty looks as bad acting. The young Swiss guard (Thure Lindhart) made a much better sidekick. Oh, well. At least they didn't try to turn her into a romantic interest.
All in all, a fun and exciting way to spend a couple of hours, and a good excuse to eat popcorn.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Lady of Scandal
**** A Lady of Scandal by Nicole Byrd. Historical romance.
This is connected to Nicole Byrd's other books about the Sinclair family, though it does stand alone.
Twin sisters Ophelia and Cordelia Applegate are going to London, but not in the usual way of Regency romances--Ophelia is determined to become an actress, and Cordelia is equally determined to protect her.
They get into trouble almost immediately, and are rescued by a possible thief, Ransom Sheffield, who takes them to his cousin Giles, a vicar.
It's a lively, entertaining story with a lot of comical mishaps, and two romances. There's some nice conflict with Ophelia worrying that an actress isn't a good match for a vicar; and a mildly suspenseful subplot about an item Ransom is determined to retrieve from the theater manager.
Nicole Byrd's books are always a good read, and A Lady of Scandal is no exception.
Categories: Books, 4stars, HistoricalRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, HistoricalRomance
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fast & Furious
**** Fast & Furious. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Justin Lin.
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordanna Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez
We saw this Saturday night at the theater on post. It was threatening to rain, but we walked to the theater anyway, since when Fast & Furious showed there on Friday night, the parking lot was packed. We lucked out--it didn't rain, and it was less crowded than it had been on Friday.
This is the fourth movie in the series, but it's the second with Vin Diesel in it. Once again, criminal Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) pairs up with Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), who's now an FBI agent. Dom's girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) has been killed, and Dom's quest for revenge coincides with Brian's investigation of a drug lord.
There's some emotional content, with Dom guilty and grieving for Letty, whom he'd sent away because he was afraid it was too dangerous for her to be around him; and with Brian and Dom's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) being reunited after Brian's betrayal of her in The Fast and the Furious.
But the main point of the movie isn't the plot. It's the cars and the driving. Well, and Vin Diesel--which is why I didn't watch the middle two movies of the series. Fast & Furious starts out with a high-speed hijacking of a fuel tank truck in the Dominican Republic and continues on through a street race, and a high-speed drug-smuggling trip across the US/Mexico border. The action doesn't stop, and it's filmed really well. No confusing shots or those quick cuts everyone seems to be doing lately.
It's just as well we walked to the theater--it would have been really tempting to peel out of the parking lot and see just how fast the Mercedes would accelerate.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies
Monday, April 20, 2009
Speed
**** Speed. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Jan de Bont
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels
Carl was gone last week (to Garmisch for a conference), so Camden and I did our usual movie-watching, trying to find ones I like that he's never seen. The first one we watched was Speed, because it's such a classic. After watching this, he enjoyed this Robot Chicken sketch even more.
Although even Camden, who's 14 and hadn't seen Speed before, knew the basic plot, here it is if you need it:
A bus has been rigged with a bomb that will blow it up if it goes below 50 miles per hour. It's up to police officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) and passenger Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) to keep the bus going and keep everyone safe.
Dennis Hopper is the terrorist demanding money in return for not blowing up the bus. Jeff Daniels plays Jack's partner, who handles the investigation back at headquarters while Jack's on the bus.
It remains a fun and exciting movie, even fifteen years later. The suspense is all physical--we're not trying to find out whodunit, or even why, really--just whether or not they're going to make it without blowing themselves up. It's like riding a rollercoaster. You're not really going anywhere, but boy, is it a lot of fun.
Neither Camden nor I was very impressed with Keanu Reeves, but that was okay--he didn't really have a lot of acting to do here anyway. And I did wonder why the heck there was so much debris on the airport runways. Having driven on Ramstein, where you have to stop, get out of your car, and check your tires for pebbles stuck in the tread before you're allowed to drive across a runway, I was really surprised by the large chunks of debris on a commercial runway.
But again, this isn't a movie that you analyze too much. You just go along for the ride (heh) and enjoy.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies
The Collector
**** The Collector. Adult.
Directed by: Brad Armstrong.
Starring: Jessica Drake, Aria, Mike Horner, Randy Spears, Tommy Gunn
No video preview for this one--you'll have to look it up yourself.
This was a gorgeous film, which won four Adult Video News Awards, including best art direction, best non-sex performance (Mike Horner), and best screenplay (Brad Armstrong). The awards were well-deserved.
Jessica Drake plays Cynthia, the assistant to Malcolm, a wealthy collector played by Mike Horner. Malcolm collects anything and everything, until one day Cynthia breaks a hand mirror he'd collected, and that seems to be the catalyst for him to collect something new: sexual experiences. But as a true collector, he only wants to observe his collection, not be part of it himself.
So Cynthia is tasked with providing him with those experiences, finding others to perform for his enjoyment, sometimes joining in, and sometimes simply keeping Malcolm company while he watches.
There's a nice variety of sex scenes and mostly attractive actors. Even a couple of muscular men, which you don't always see in porn movies.
There is a story--though it's fairly thin, it's still quite a lot more than an excuse for sex scenes. There's actually character development and change, as we see Malcolm becoming more jaded, and the effect of her job of Cynthia.
But the best thing about The Collector is the impressive balance between sensual cinematography and hardcore porn. The sex scenes are explicit--nothing's left to the imagination--but the feel of the scenes is erotic rather than dirty. That feel is enhanced by the first-person voiceover narration by Cynthia, who gives her own feelings and opinions as the story unfolds. It's a higher budget film, and it shows in the beautiful sets and the artistic shots. Don't get me wrong--sex is definitely the point of the film. And it's not one of those like The Widow that sticks in unusual camera angles just to be artsy. The Collector uses camera angles and closeups in a way that enhances the story and the mood.
I definitely recommend this one, particularly for couples.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, Adult
Labels: 4 stars, adult, Movies
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
TBR Challenge for August
Once again, I'm ludicrously behind. I did read the book during August--I just hadn't gotten around to posting about it yet.
The TBR Challenge for August 2008 was to read a book by an author with 3 names.
Examples from my shelves:
Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Another Scandal in Bohemia by Carole Nelson Douglas
True Colors by Jayne Ann Krentz (#16)
I chose:
**** Trading Places by Ruth Jean Dale. Contemporary romance.
I have no idea why this 2001 book was in my TBR pile. Usually, category romances only get in my TBR pile for three reason: 1) if they're by an author I already read, 2) if someone's recommended them, or 3) the author wrote for Berkley/Jove or NAL (I went through a streak of buying a bunch of earlier books by the B/J and NAL authors to familiarize myself with them). I can't find evidence that any of these was the case. So, it's a mystery. Good thing I had the TBR challenge, because otherwise, this book might have languished even longer in the TBR pile.
Alice Wynn works for glamorous celebrity Sharlayne Kenyon (I don't know about you, but boy, did I have trouble not reading this as "Sherrilyn Kenyon"!), and her job has just become stranger... and more dangerous. Seems Sharlayne has decided to write her memoirs, and there are a lot of people out there who object to what she might write. Since she and Alice share a certain resemblance, she makes Alice a too-good-to-be-true offer: enough money to pay off her debts from her grandmother's hospital bills and then some, in exchange for Alice masquerading as Sharlayne so that Sharlayne can write her memoirs in peace.
There's danger from the aforementioned people who object to the memoirs, and danger of a quite different kind from Sharlayne's bodyguard Jed Kelby. And there's Tabitha Thomas, the strangely bitter dragon-lady of an assistant to Sharlayne.
It's a story that's been done before, but it was engaging nonetheless. Even though the plot was unsurprising, the characters rang true, and I enjoyed watching Alice struggle with living Sharlayne's life, and Jed figuring out her identity. Tabitha, too, was an interesting character--I went from thoroughly disliking her to a grudging admiration.
I see that Ruth Jean Dale now writes as Lee Duran. I'll have to keep an eye open for books by either pseudonym.
If you participate in the TBR challenge, leave a comment to let us know what you read, the author's name, how you liked it, and how long it had been in your TBR pile.
Categories: TBRChallenge, Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
The TBR Challenge for August 2008 was to read a book by an author with 3 names.
Examples from my shelves:
Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Another Scandal in Bohemia by Carole Nelson Douglas
True Colors by Jayne Ann Krentz (#16)
I chose:
**** Trading Places by Ruth Jean Dale. Contemporary romance.
I have no idea why this 2001 book was in my TBR pile. Usually, category romances only get in my TBR pile for three reason: 1) if they're by an author I already read, 2) if someone's recommended them, or 3) the author wrote for Berkley/Jove or NAL (I went through a streak of buying a bunch of earlier books by the B/J and NAL authors to familiarize myself with them). I can't find evidence that any of these was the case. So, it's a mystery. Good thing I had the TBR challenge, because otherwise, this book might have languished even longer in the TBR pile.
Alice Wynn works for glamorous celebrity Sharlayne Kenyon (I don't know about you, but boy, did I have trouble not reading this as "Sherrilyn Kenyon"!), and her job has just become stranger... and more dangerous. Seems Sharlayne has decided to write her memoirs, and there are a lot of people out there who object to what she might write. Since she and Alice share a certain resemblance, she makes Alice a too-good-to-be-true offer: enough money to pay off her debts from her grandmother's hospital bills and then some, in exchange for Alice masquerading as Sharlayne so that Sharlayne can write her memoirs in peace.
There's danger from the aforementioned people who object to the memoirs, and danger of a quite different kind from Sharlayne's bodyguard Jed Kelby. And there's Tabitha Thomas, the strangely bitter dragon-lady of an assistant to Sharlayne.
It's a story that's been done before, but it was engaging nonetheless. Even though the plot was unsurprising, the characters rang true, and I enjoyed watching Alice struggle with living Sharlayne's life, and Jed figuring out her identity. Tabitha, too, was an interesting character--I went from thoroughly disliking her to a grudging admiration.
I see that Ruth Jean Dale now writes as Lee Duran. I'll have to keep an eye open for books by either pseudonym.
If you participate in the TBR challenge, leave a comment to let us know what you read, the author's name, how you liked it, and how long it had been in your TBR pile.
Categories: TBRChallenge, Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance, tbr challenge
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tribute
**** Tribute by Nora Roberts. Romantic suspense.
*sigh* This is the problem with being ridiculously behind on reviews. I can remember the gist of my reaction to the book, and the basic plot, but I've forgotten the details. It's a good thing I recorded my rating immediately after reading, otherwise I'd have no clue what to give it.
Tribute is about ex-child star Cilla McGowan who's tired of the limelight and trying to make a quiet life for herself rehabbing and reselling ("flipping"--though for some reason, that term irritates the heck out of me) houses. But this house is for her: the "little farm" where her famous grandmother lived and died.
The official word is that her grandmother committed suicide, but not everyone believes that. When Cilla finds letters in the attic and it appears that someone is trying to make her leave, she becomes more and more convinced that it was murder.
So Cilla ends up trying to solve the mystery while building a life for herself and falling in love with her neighbor, graphic novelist Ford Sawyer.
My memories from several months ago are of a fairly bland, predictable story with far too many details about the house rehab--rather than being blended into the story naturally, they're just stuck in there like segments from a how-to book.
Aside: I don't like to compare books--I prefer to judge each book on its own merits, how well it accomplishes what I think it set out to do--but to show you what I mean about the details, compare the details in Tribute with the details about Maggie Concannon's glass blowing in Born in Fire. In the earlier book, the glass blowing is described so well that you'd swear Nora had a glass workshop in her backyard and made glass art in her spare time, and yet it's never, ever intrusive. That's not the case in Tribute. Here, the details are intrusive, and they detract from the story. I'm not sure how better to describe it.
Anyway, my first impression was four stars, so I'm sticking with that. I just wish I could remember what I liked about it as well as I can what I disliked. Sorry about that.
Categories: Books, 4stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 4 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
Friday, March 27, 2009
TBR Challenge for July
Yes, this is extremely late. I did read it on time, however.
For the ultimate in lazy summer reading, read a book whose title reminds you of a nursery rhyme, fairy tale, myth, or legend.
Examples from my shelves:
George and the Virgin by Lisa Cach (#18)-- the legend of St. George and the Dragon
Goddess of Love by P. C. Cast -- the myth of Venus
Over the Moon anthology -- from the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle
I chose:
The Cupid Connection. Paranormal romance.
The Cupid Connection is an omnibus of three previously published novels--as opposed to an anthology of novellas.
To participate in the challenge, let us know what you read; what fairy tale, nursery rhyme, myth, or legend the title made you think of (make one up if you have to!); how you liked it; and how long it had been in your TBR pile, and leave a comment here linking to your post.
Categories: TBRChallenge, Books, 3stars, 4stars, 5stars, ParanormalRomance
For the ultimate in lazy summer reading, read a book whose title reminds you of a nursery rhyme, fairy tale, myth, or legend.
Examples from my shelves:
George and the Virgin by Lisa Cach (#18)-- the legend of St. George and the Dragon
Goddess of Love by P. C. Cast -- the myth of Venus
Over the Moon anthology -- from the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle
I chose:
The Cupid Connection. Paranormal romance.
The Cupid Connection is an omnibus of three previously published novels--as opposed to an anthology of novellas.
- ***** One More Valentine by Anne Stuart.
Leave it to Anne Stuart to make a romance out of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The seven victims have been coming back to life once a year for 48 hours--the 13th and 14th of February. One by one, they've found someone to love, and when that happens, they escape the 2-days-a-year cycle.
Jamey Rafferty is the last one. This year, he's spending his two days trying to help his recently married buddy. Billy is in trouble: he's under arrest for participating in a robbery with Ricky Dragos, another of the seven. Dragos had seemed to turn around when he married, but his wife died, and now Dragos is back to his old evil ways, and he blames Helen Emerson, an associate district attorney, for her death.
It's an eventful two days, to say the least. And there's so much emotion packed into them.
Jamey is one of Stuart's trademark tortured heroes, and he was utterly realistic as someone from the 1920s who's now in the 90s, but has only experienced the intervening time as two days a year. He knows a lot about the current time, but only the big developments; the smaller details are missing. - **** Be Mine, Valentine by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
Roxie Lowell has been told by St. Valentine (or at least by Charlie Hartman, an eccentric old man she's taken under her wing, who claims to be St. Valentine) that the first man she met on Valentine's Day would be her husband within a year. The problem is (if she believed it, that is) that the first man she met on Valentine's Day isn't her fiance Doug; it's Hank Craddock, a widowed father of two.
Even after Roxie and Hank fall in love, it's not all smooth sailing. Roxie desperately wants a child; Hank absolutely refuses to have another one. And there's a lovesick llama to add comic relief.
The llama was a little too cute for my taste, and I'm not fond of either the desperate-for-a-baby plot or characters who refuse to discuss their problems or consider compromise. But it's a sweet story anyway. - *** Baby on the Doorstep by Cathy Gillen Thacker.
Just from the title, you could probably have guessed that this would be my least favorite novel in the volume. I really dislike baby romances. Ick.
Also as you can tell from the title, a baby is left on Alec Roman's doorstep. So he looks for the baby's mother, and finds her sister, Jade Kincaid.
How much is wrong with this? The scenario is even ickier than usual. Alec Roman is a slut. He's apparently slept with one woman and gotten her pregnant, and now he's all cozy with her sister and the baby that's his son and her nephew. And they don't seem all that concerned about finding the mother, or her motives in dumping her baby on this irresponsible guy's doorstep.
If you can get past all that (obviously, I couldn't), it's a cute, light read.
To participate in the challenge, let us know what you read; what fairy tale, nursery rhyme, myth, or legend the title made you think of (make one up if you have to!); how you liked it; and how long it had been in your TBR pile, and leave a comment here linking to your post.
Categories: TBRChallenge, Books, 3stars, 4stars, 5stars, ParanormalRomance
Labels: 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, books, ParanormalRomance, tbr challenge
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Star Warped
**** Star Warped by A3R Roberts. Science fiction/humor.
| (note: this video is not related to the book, but it's a similar sort of parody, including the British slant to the humor) |
I bought this for someone--probably Carl--for Christmas a couple of years ago. Eventually, all books in the house end up in my TBR pile. This one landed there after our move.
I really had no idea what to expect from this parody of the Star Wars series. I've seen all the movies, and I know that Han shot first, but I'm not up on all the minutiae that actual Star Wars fans know. So I expected to be a little bit lost. I wasn't. Since all six movies are covered in 384 smallish pages, there's not a lot of room for esoteric detail. And I think I expected it to be less respectful of the fans, because I was surprised that it wasn't, but on reflection, it wouldn't make any sense to be too critical of the movies or the fans--otherwise, who'd buy the book?
Some of the gags made mountains from molehills--it took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that the reason Luke Seespotrun and his aunt and uncle were nudists comes from the Episode 4 title: A New (nude) Hope. *groan* That's typical of the humor, by the way, so if you have little tolerance for puns, I'd suggest skipping this.
Other gags were pretty predictable--Princess Leper's hair, for example. I don't think it's possible to spoof the original Star Wars without reference to her hair.
But the majority of the gags were fresh, relevant, and very, very funny. I even found myself laughing aloud as Hand Someman stuffed a frozen, snow-blind Luke Seespotrun into a dead piggibakka, with the result that now Luke is not just cold, but also slimy, smelly, and squashed. And there's the bit musing on why Pizza the Hutt (it's impossible for a parodist to re-name Jabba anything else) dressed Princess Leper in a metal bikini, reasoning that for his species, she'd be about as alluring as a lump of dough would be to us.
The biggest gag, of course, is the use of the Farce rather than the Force. Pratfalls are a big part of any fight.
Star Warped is obviously not great literature. And it doesn't really give you any new insight into the movie series. It does point out some of the illogic or inconsistencies that a casual fan, such as myself, might not have noticed before, but that's not really the point of the book.
It's just for fun. And it succeeds.
Categories: Books, 4stars, ScienceFiction, Humor
Labels: 4 stars, books, humor, ScienceFiction
Now You See Him, Now You Don't
**** Now You See Him, Now You Don't. Comedy.
Directed by: Robert Butler.
Starring: Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn, Michael McGreevy, Ed Begley, Jr.
No trailer, or even clips for this one on YouTube, sad to say. You'll just have to take my word for it that this is a fun, fun movie.
Carl's in Geneva for the week, so Camden and I continued our tradition of watching something we normally wouldn't watch. We got this from Netflix.
I'd first seen this back when it first came out, in 1972, and loved it. Of course, I was only 11 then, so what did I know? Quite a bit, apparently. At least in this case.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is the second movie starring Kurt Russell is Dexter Reilly (the spelling of whose name changes on the IMDB across the three movies in the series), a student at Medford College. The first was The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. (click to read my review)
In this one, he's working on an invisibility project in the science lab, and with the help of a lightning storm, it works. As in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Medford College's mortgage is due--$50,000--and "businessman" A. J. Arno (Cesar Romero) has plans to turn the situation to his own profit, this time by foreclosing and turning the college campus into a gambling mecca. Their only hope is the Forsythe Science Award, which just happens to be $50,000.
Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) has his hopes set on Druffle's (Ed Begley, Jr.) bee experiments, but Druffle turns out to be allergic to bees and out of commission. Dexter Reilly swears his research is a shoe-in to win, but Dexter's a bit of a trouble maker and Dean Higgins really doesn't trust him.
There are lots of hijinks, though not nearly as many as you might expect, given the possibilities inherent in the subject of invisibility. The golf game when Dean Higgins has to impress Forsythe enough on the course to get Forsythe to allow tiny Medford College to enter the science contest is a definite highlight. And when the crooks get hold of the formula and use it to rob a bank, the resulting car chase--with the crooks and their car invisible--is a riot.
Since this was made in 1972, and furthermore, was originally made for TV, the special effects are not particularly impressive. But that doesn't seem to matter. While Now You See Him, Now You Don't is just as unrealistic as its predecessor, it doesn't suffer from the same degree of ridiculousness. That is, if there could be a liquid that would turn things invisible by spraying them, and that could simply be rinsed off with water, then the rest of the movie makes sense.
Camden was originally very resistant to the idea of watching an oldie. But even he enjoyed it, and I laughed aloud several times. Part of that was due, no doubt, to being really tired, but it was genuinely funny. I've noticed that the humor in movies of that era is less... frantic, maybe, than similar comedies today, and that's true for this movie as well.
It's always risky to revisit something you loved as a child--if it's not as good as you remember, then not only have you had a less-than-entertaining time, but you've spoiled those good memories. That didn't happen this time.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, Comedy
Labels: 4 stars, comedy, Movies
Friday, January 09, 2009
Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too
**** Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too by Nancy Martin. Mystery.
This is the 5th book in the Blackbird Sisters mystery series.
Ex-heiress and social reporter Nora Blackbird is pregnant, and is supposed to take it easy. But she's called it quits with her mobster boyfriend Mick Abruzzo, and is dating reporter Richard D'eath, who's talking marriage. Then she finds a dead body at the estate of childhood friends, and things get progressively worse.
Her friend Delilah is the prime suspect for the murder; Mick appears to be returning to the "family business;" Richard is pursuing a story exposing Mick; and her sister Libby is nagging Nora and their sister Emma to pose nude with her for a fund-raising calendar, and is scrutinizing Nora's diet to ensure she looks good for the photos. There's no end of suspects, either. The deceased was pretty universally disliked: Zell Orcutt was the quintessential dirty old man.
The cast of characters is zany and larger-than-life, and they provide some laughs as well as painting a vivid picture. Libby and Emma's ongoing efforts to create new niches for themselves after the loss of their financial status continues to be entertaining, and Nora's love life gets a few more twists.
In fact, the mystery seemed to take a back seat to Nora's private life this time, since she was preoccupied with the pregnancy--which would be understandable even if she weren't experiencing ruthless morning sickness. (Speaking of which, here's one of my favorite quotes of the book: "If the school nurse had simply told us the truth about morning sickness, she could have skipped the lectures on birth control." Hee. So true.)
Which is not to say that the solution to the mystery isn't logical and satisfying, simply that it's not the whole point of the book.
I have the 6th book in my TBR pile.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Demon's Delight
Demon's Delight. Contemporary paranormal romance.
- **** "Witch Way" by Maryjanice Davidson.
Rhea Goodman and Chris Mere aren't just from feuding families; they're fated to kill each other because of a curse that's affected their families for generations. Or rather Rhea is fated to kill Chris and die in the process.
Only MJD could pull this off, I swear. The story is laugh-aloud funny, and it's actually a pretty good conflict, if you suspend disbelief. Rhea is convinced she has no choice, and Chris is determined to end the curse, and of course adding falling in love to the mix, not to mention wacky relatives, just makes everything that much more complicated. - ***½ "Street Corners and Halos" by Catherine Spangler.
Rachel is a vampire hooker--which actually makes pretty good sense: she feeds on the men and then leaves them thinking they had sex. But she's depressed and feels terrible about herself. Enter Gabriel, an angel on a mission--to show her her true worth.
It's not a bad story, but it's pretty predictable, and a little sappy. Still, it was an interesting premise. - ****½ "The Demon's Angel" by Emma Holly.
This story is part of Holly's "demon" series about the Yama (called demons by humans, but they're more like aliens) in Victorian England. Khira is a Yama genetic scientist; Harry is the human abducted for her to experiment on.
Since this is Emma Holly, the story is very steamy, and as always, it's not just tacked-on sex scenes: they're integral to the plot. Khira and Harry are definitely star-crossed lovers (which is what this anthology seems to be about, rather than demons, despite the title): of different races, and completely different lives.
- *** "Angel and the Hellraiser" by Vickie Taylor.
Rosemary and Zane are the angel and the hellraiser from the title. Zane is a professional daredevil; Rosemary is an angel who takes human form. She's on a mission to collect his soul.
Rosemary's adjustment to being human is fun, and it's clever the things she's surprised by--not always what you'd expect. But this story is a bit too predictable and sappy for my taste. Similar, in fact, to "Street Corners and Halos," but not as dark.
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, 4stars, 3.5stars, 3stars, ParanormalRomance
Labels: 3 stars, 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 4.5 stars, books, ParanormalRomance
Monday, January 05, 2009
When You Were Mine
**** When You Were Mine by Adrianne Byrd. Contemporary romance.
This book was the result of one of my find-new-authors buying sprees. Unfortunately, it's the second in a series or trilogy, which accounts for perhaps half a star of my rating.
Joey Adams is an aspiring screenwriter who thinks Laurence, her cosmetic surgeon boyfriend, is about to propose because she's found a receipt from a jewelry store. Well, we all know what that means: he breaks up with her on Valentine's Day and shortly thereafter announces his engagement to Hollywood's hottest starlet.
Joey's not one to give up without a fight, though, so she decides to confront him. Denied access to the exclusive club, she breaks in through the men's room window, and in the process meets director Ryan Donovan, who finds her intriguing. And, more interestingly from his point of view: she's the first woman to get a sexual response from him in months.
They all end up in Milan where Ryan's directing Laurence's new fiancee in a movie, and after a few disasters, Ryan offers to help Joey win Laurence back by making him jealous by pretending that they're engaged. Well, we all know where that's going, too. News flash to the Amazon reviewer: French Kiss isn't the first place this plot showed up, either.
Despite the predictable plot, When You Were Mine is a lot of fun. Joey is from a big, meddling family (the source of the series), and her sisters' attempts to "help" her (especially in a wonderful scene of revenge) and the problems in their own lives and the life of their only brother account for quite a bit of the humor and emotional content of the story.
Joey herself is responsible for a lot of laughs, too, beginning with her first meeting with Ryan. Though there's a lot of humor, it's still believable, as is the emotion. When the charade becomes too real, her emotional reaction makes perfect sense. She doesn't have the usual knee-jerk negative reaction, but she doesn't react naively, either.
The same thing goes for Ryan: he's one of the most realistic romance heroes I've read. He's not perfect, by any means, and he's not the too-noble-to-be-true gentleman any seasoned romance reader will expect. Instead, he's refreshingly realistic: quick with the unapologetic come-ons and sincerely appreciative of Joey's physical charms, and not above pressing the attraction between them when she's had a little wine--all of which Joey objects to: more realism. Still, it's very clear that he's genuinely falling in love with her, which, in my opinion, is vastly more romantic than some preternaturally perfect Romance Hero™ declares undying love-at-first-sight.
I was a little thrown by the plethora of characters, not least because Joey and her sisters all have masculine names: Joseph, Michael, Peyton, and Francis. Their brother is apparently named "Flex." Making it even more confusing, they all have nicknames, and significant others. By the end of the book, I think I had it straight, but I suspect it would have helped a lot if I'd read the first book in the series, Measure of a Man, first. I've put it on my to-look-for list.
Categories: Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
