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"!!!!