IT

Despite the fact that I have stacks and stacks of books that I haven't read yet, and I'm sure some of them are really wonderful, I had to reread Stephen King's "IT". I've wanted to reread it for awhile now, ever since before Halloween, when I was trying to convince a coworker how much better the book is than that travesty of a movie they made based so very, very loosely on SK's brilliance. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed rereading it. I love his storytelling technique: he's not telling, he's showing. Reading "IT" makes me feel like I'm right there, in the middle of the action with the seven kids and six adults that make up the Loser's Club in the Barrens. And the book's evil monster is so much scarier than just a clown: that was only one of ITs many faces. Every little detail adds so much to the story and I think that's why SK is so popular. No one else tells a story quite as well as he does.

Walking Dead Vol. 2

Continuing the series by Robert Kirkman, book 2 finds the survivors in a prison, which seems an ideal place to start their new life: there is a stockpile of canned foods, there are gates to keep the zombies out, and plenty of other things, like a few surviving inmates. This book dealt less with how to deal with surviving the zombies and more on how to survive each other as trust becomes an issue and people start to turn on one other. This seems to be a common theme in a lot of the fiction I've read lately, and as such this cannot compare with such brilliance as "Under the Dome" by Stephen King, but then again, it would be unfair to compare it to SK. It's not that I didn't like it, I did, but it did have some elements I didn't care for. There's a lot of sex, which seems unnecessary until I remembered the target audience is adolescent boys. I'm sure I'll get around to finishing the series, since I never stop in the middle, but all these zombie apocalypse books are starting to feel very similar.

I'm No Monster

Stefanie Marsh's look at the horrifying case that gripped the world last year when it was discovered that Josef Fritzl had kept his daughter, Elisabeth, locked up in an underground dungeon for twenty-four years and fathered 7 children off of her. While Marsh wasn't able to actually interview any of the principles in the case (Fritzl is writing his own memoirs--that should be interesting to say the least) she was still able to write an interesting and understandable account of the events. I read a lot of nasty stuff and usually it doesn't get to me, but this one did. The crimes that he committed were so atrocious, the average normal human mind can't even begin to fathom what could drive an individual to such evil. My dad was pretty horrified by the accusations in Mackenzie Phillip's book, "High on Arrival", and I'll be curious to hear what he has to say about this one. Fritzl makes John Phillips look like a saint.

Under the Dome

We all know I love Stephen King. Even when his writing isn't all that awesome (Can anyone else remember "From a Buick 8", 'cause I can't, and I know I read it). When he is awesome, however, my god, he is mind blowingly awesome. That is how I felt last night after finishing his 1,000 page latest, "Under the Dome" (and yes, I shelled out for a signed limited edition copy, and it was one of the best things I ever did for myself). Not since 1996's "Green Mile" have I enjoyed one of SK's books this much. The characters were brilliant, reminding me very much of my all time SK favorite "IT". The story is typical SK: the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine, is suddenly thrust into the national spotlight when an invisible dome clamps down over it, leaving the town at the mercy of its crooked town selectmen and the renegade police force of power loving recruits. The horrific part isn't the origin of the dome (which was kind of nonsensical, but that's SK for you). No, that wasn't the scary part: the scary part is how quickly the good people of this small town turn on each other, and all the nasty secrets that come out. Like most small towns, Chester's Mill has a lot of skeletons in the closet (literally as well as figuratively). And perhaps most shocking of all: there is a happy ending! Well, as happy as SK gets :-)
All in all, I really loved it and those 1,000 pages just flew by. It's totally put me in the mood to reread some of my old faves, like "IT", "Christine" and "The Stand".

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?

It's heartbreaking, the end of an era. This is Louise Rennison's tenth and final Georgia Nicolson book. Why, Louise, why? I'm very, very sad about this. I love Georgia and her lighthearted antics. I laugh myself silly with each book, and have looked forward to each installment yearly. And now, no more. Well, at least she ended the series in a wonderful if not completely predictable way--while agonizing over whether to continue dating Masimo or go for Dave the Laugh (DAVE! As I've said a million times before!), the decision is made for her when Masimo moves to London and Dave dumps his girlfriend Emma to go with Georgia. Hurray! I wish she would have written a little about the two of them together. That would have been tops. Well, ciao Georgia. You will be missed.

The Butcher; Living Dead in Dallas; High Society

Philip Carlo's "The Butcher" took a look at mafia hitman Tommy Pitero, who was a real bad man. Like all of Carlo's true crime books, it was light on details but long on gruesome adjectives. Not that I didn't enjoy it, of course, although I was disappointed by the photos, which warranted a disclaimer. I did not find them at all disturbing.
"Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris catches me up with Sookie (I think). She and Bill travel to Dallas to help out a nest of vampires who are missing one of their own and Sookie unearths a traitor in their midst. It was pretty good, light hearted fun after the mafia butcher.
"High Society" by Donald Spoto is his latest bio, about the luminous Grace Kelly. I love Spoto's bios and have read quite a few of them. Combine his writing style, which is easy and pleasant, with the life of one of my all time favorite actresses and it's a winner. I love Grace Kelly. I think she was one of the most beautiful women in all of Hollywood, and the epitome of charm, class, and style. Her tragic early death really robbed the world of a wonderful person, but Spoto's treatment of her did her memory justice.