Sara Shepard's latest Lying Game novel "Hide and Seek" has Emma thinking that Mr. Mercer is Sutton's killer when she discovers he was out in Sabino Canyon the night Thayer was hit by the car and Sutton died. By the end of the book, he is of course cleared and a big twist I didn't see coming is revealed: Becky, the twin's birth mother, is actually Mr. Mercer's daughter, making the twins his grandchildren. Guess who Mr. Mercer was visiting in Sabino Canyon that night? That's right--Becky. Things are getting really interesting!
"Belles on Their Toes" by Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth is a reread, a sequel to "Cheaper By the Dozen", focusing on the wonderful Gilbreth's after their beloved father dies. I love big families.
"Texasville" by Larry McMurtry is another reread, it's one of my go to favorites when I need cheering up. The first time I read this one, I think I was 17 or 18, and I stayed up all night, laughing so hard I was afraid I was going to wake my whole family up. It still makes me laugh.
The last Artemis Fowl book by Eoin Colfer "Artemis Fowl: the Last Guardian" has Opal Koboi and Artemis locked in a final showdown. After Opal manages to escape she unlocks a gate at Fowl Manor, unleashing the souls of the Berserkers, who have been buried there for a thousand years. The souls inhabit human and animal bodies and go after Artemis, Holly, and Butler, who manage to avoid the soul takeover. Opal is working on unlocking a second gate which will unleash a force that will destroy all of humanity, but Artemis has one final, desperate last ditch plan to save the world. Sigh. I'll miss the boy genius. It's been fun.
And finally, another Larry McMurtry reread, the third in the "Last Picture Show" series, and the one that should have been last "Duane's Depressed". Duane certainly does have a lot do be depressed about. It's not funny like "Texasville", but it's still good. I wish he would have ended the series here. Oh well.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Irene At Large; Marilyn; Bad Doings and Big Ideas; Hot Six; My Friend Dahmer; The Score; Walking Dead Book 16; The Hunter; Hello Darlin'
"Irene At Large" by Carole Nelson Douglas is the third Irene Adler mystery, which now brings me up to speed since I read the fourth one first. Nell is amazed when a strange man seems to recognize her on the streets of Paris before fainting dead away. Irene and Godfrey insist on bringing him back to their house so he can recover and Irene can discover who he is. Turns out he is the uncle of one of Nell's charges from her governess days, gone off to war 10 years earlier and never heard from again. He was a spy, and a bad guy is after him. Douglas tied it in very nicely with Conan Doyle's story of the Naval Treaty. Great stuff.
"Marilyn" by Lois Banner is a new biography out about Marilyn Monroe. It was kind of different, but I didn't really care for it. She makes a lot of accusations about Marilyn's supposed lesbianism without any real proof to back it up. One thing that really bothered me was how she went on and on in the book about how much Marilyn loved to be in the nude and never wore underwear, and then in the end of the book, talking about how Marilyn died and was found naked in her bed, she accuses whoever set up the scene (because of course it wasn't a suicide, or even an accidental overdose on Marilyn's part) screwed up because Marilyn always wore a bra to bed. Huh? So, she never wore underwear during the day? Just at night? Sure, that makes sense. Anyway, the book was full of things like this that just made me scratch my head.
"Bad Doings and Big Ideas" by Bill Willingham was a beautiful and fun collection of his comic odds and ends. There were lots of entertaining reads in here, and some really great artwork.
"Hot Six" by Janet Evanovitch was a reread and one of my favorite Stephanie books. Ranger is wanted for questioning by everyone from the police to the mob when Homer Ramos turns up dead and Ranger was the last one seen with him. Ranger has disappeared but everyone assumes Steph is still in contact with him, so everywhere she goes she has several different people tailing her, hoping to catch Ranger.
"The Score" by Richard Stark is a Parker novel I got quite a while ago and never got around to reading it, but it looked interesting, and it was, I liked it a lot. It reminded me of Mickey Spillane, that same sort of hard-boiled genre. Anyway, Parker is a criminal and he agrees to pull off a big heist involving 12 guys who are planning on knocking over a small town called Copper Canyon. Little does Parker know that the mastermind behind the heist, Edgars, holds a personal grudge against the town and is out for revenge because he was the former chief of police and was involved in a big scandal and run out of town. The whole thing is going down beautifully until Edgars starts blowing things up.
"Walking Dead Book 16" by Robert Kirkman continues our survivors' story. A man who calls himself Jesus shows up, claiming to be part of a larger network of survivors who want to arrange supply trades with Rick's group. Rick is naturally suspicious of Jesus, but eventually trusts him enough to take him back to his group so he can see how they function and talk to their man in charge. What Rick sees is amazing: these people are actually living, and not just surviving. They have hope for the future, and for the first time in a long time, so does Rick. I wonder if Kirkman is getting ready to wind the series down? I figured it was inevitable. They've been on the run for 2 years now. It seems like it might be time to finally settle down for good.
"The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke is a graphic novel adaption of the first Stark Parker novel. Parker is screwed out of a lot of money by a crook named Mal, who convinced Parker's wife Lynn to try to kill him. Lynn fails, and Parker escapes, forges a new identity, has plastic surgery to give him a new face, and shows up bent on revenge. I'm really digging Parker. I can't wait to read more.
"Hello Darlin'" by Larry Hagman is his autobiography he wrote about 10 years ago. He talks about his wild Dallas days and his liver transplant. Larry Hagman is very different from his TV villain counterpart. He seems like a nice guy who loves life.
"Marilyn" by Lois Banner is a new biography out about Marilyn Monroe. It was kind of different, but I didn't really care for it. She makes a lot of accusations about Marilyn's supposed lesbianism without any real proof to back it up. One thing that really bothered me was how she went on and on in the book about how much Marilyn loved to be in the nude and never wore underwear, and then in the end of the book, talking about how Marilyn died and was found naked in her bed, she accuses whoever set up the scene (because of course it wasn't a suicide, or even an accidental overdose on Marilyn's part) screwed up because Marilyn always wore a bra to bed. Huh? So, she never wore underwear during the day? Just at night? Sure, that makes sense. Anyway, the book was full of things like this that just made me scratch my head.
"Bad Doings and Big Ideas" by Bill Willingham was a beautiful and fun collection of his comic odds and ends. There were lots of entertaining reads in here, and some really great artwork.
"Hot Six" by Janet Evanovitch was a reread and one of my favorite Stephanie books. Ranger is wanted for questioning by everyone from the police to the mob when Homer Ramos turns up dead and Ranger was the last one seen with him. Ranger has disappeared but everyone assumes Steph is still in contact with him, so everywhere she goes she has several different people tailing her, hoping to catch Ranger.
"The Score" by Richard Stark is a Parker novel I got quite a while ago and never got around to reading it, but it looked interesting, and it was, I liked it a lot. It reminded me of Mickey Spillane, that same sort of hard-boiled genre. Anyway, Parker is a criminal and he agrees to pull off a big heist involving 12 guys who are planning on knocking over a small town called Copper Canyon. Little does Parker know that the mastermind behind the heist, Edgars, holds a personal grudge against the town and is out for revenge because he was the former chief of police and was involved in a big scandal and run out of town. The whole thing is going down beautifully until Edgars starts blowing things up.
"Walking Dead Book 16" by Robert Kirkman continues our survivors' story. A man who calls himself Jesus shows up, claiming to be part of a larger network of survivors who want to arrange supply trades with Rick's group. Rick is naturally suspicious of Jesus, but eventually trusts him enough to take him back to his group so he can see how they function and talk to their man in charge. What Rick sees is amazing: these people are actually living, and not just surviving. They have hope for the future, and for the first time in a long time, so does Rick. I wonder if Kirkman is getting ready to wind the series down? I figured it was inevitable. They've been on the run for 2 years now. It seems like it might be time to finally settle down for good.
"The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke is a graphic novel adaption of the first Stark Parker novel. Parker is screwed out of a lot of money by a crook named Mal, who convinced Parker's wife Lynn to try to kill him. Lynn fails, and Parker escapes, forges a new identity, has plastic surgery to give him a new face, and shows up bent on revenge. I'm really digging Parker. I can't wait to read more.
"Hello Darlin'" by Larry Hagman is his autobiography he wrote about 10 years ago. He talks about his wild Dallas days and his liver transplant. Larry Hagman is very different from his TV villain counterpart. He seems like a nice guy who loves life.
Friday, August 10, 2012
White Bread; Cheaper By the Dozen; Time Out for Happiness; Storms; Queen's Vow
"White Bread" by Aaron Bobrow-Strain was a short but interesting social history of how white bread came to dominate in America by playing on people's fears about cleanliness and then how, 100 years later, it has now fallen out of vogue for more "rustic" bread.
I watched the movie "Cheaper By the Dozen" a few weeks ago (the original with Myrna Low and Clifton Webb, of course) and it put me in the mood to reread Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth's happy memoirs of their youth. I actually (much to my surprise) own "Cheaper By the Dozen", so I was able to pull it off the shelf and reread it. Alas, I don't own the sequel, so I'll have to get it from work. But if you've never read their books, they are good fun. Frank and Lillie Gilbreth married and had 12 children. Frank was a time management engineer, and Lillie was a psychologist. Together, they combined their amazing talents and ideas into making businesses and families more efficient. Some of their methods are still being used today. I weep like a baby every time I get to the point in the book (and the movie) when Frank Sr. dies.
"Time Out for Happiness" by Frank Gilbreth Jr. was a book I didn't know existed but my library had. Awesome :) He apparently wrote a few other books after "Belles on Their Toes" with his sister. This book was a loving tribute to his parents, detailing how they met and married and started their family. After their father's untimely death, he tells of how his amazing mother carried on their work single-handedly while finishing to raise their brood, how she amassed honors and degrees the world over for her tireless efforts, and how she was still going strong at 80. Frank clearly saw his mother as an amazing, fearless woman and it was a lovely book.
Carol Ann Harris, Lindsey Buckingham's ex-girlfriend, dishes the dirt about Fleetwood Mac during the "Rumours" and "Tusk" years in "Storms". Now this was what I wanted to read about when I read Ken's book on making Rumours. She talks about the partying and the craziness and how Lindsey's physical abuse finally forced her to leave after being with him for 8 years. It was definitely interesting.
"The Queen's Vow" by C. W. Gortner was very dense. It took me awhile to get through it. It's a novel about Queen Isabella of Castile, someone I know very little about, other than being Queen Catherine of Aragon's mother. Isabella certainly doesn't come off looking very good, since she expelled the Jews from her kingdom in 1492 (the same year she financed Christopher Columbus's expedition to the Americas) after centuries of peaceful co-existence (oh, and after she borrowed money from them to finance her costly crusades to expel the Moors). Not cool, Isabella. Just not cool. I know, I can't judge someone based on the mores of our day, but still, it's hard not to.
I watched the movie "Cheaper By the Dozen" a few weeks ago (the original with Myrna Low and Clifton Webb, of course) and it put me in the mood to reread Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth's happy memoirs of their youth. I actually (much to my surprise) own "Cheaper By the Dozen", so I was able to pull it off the shelf and reread it. Alas, I don't own the sequel, so I'll have to get it from work. But if you've never read their books, they are good fun. Frank and Lillie Gilbreth married and had 12 children. Frank was a time management engineer, and Lillie was a psychologist. Together, they combined their amazing talents and ideas into making businesses and families more efficient. Some of their methods are still being used today. I weep like a baby every time I get to the point in the book (and the movie) when Frank Sr. dies.
"Time Out for Happiness" by Frank Gilbreth Jr. was a book I didn't know existed but my library had. Awesome :) He apparently wrote a few other books after "Belles on Their Toes" with his sister. This book was a loving tribute to his parents, detailing how they met and married and started their family. After their father's untimely death, he tells of how his amazing mother carried on their work single-handedly while finishing to raise their brood, how she amassed honors and degrees the world over for her tireless efforts, and how she was still going strong at 80. Frank clearly saw his mother as an amazing, fearless woman and it was a lovely book.
Carol Ann Harris, Lindsey Buckingham's ex-girlfriend, dishes the dirt about Fleetwood Mac during the "Rumours" and "Tusk" years in "Storms". Now this was what I wanted to read about when I read Ken's book on making Rumours. She talks about the partying and the craziness and how Lindsey's physical abuse finally forced her to leave after being with him for 8 years. It was definitely interesting.
"The Queen's Vow" by C. W. Gortner was very dense. It took me awhile to get through it. It's a novel about Queen Isabella of Castile, someone I know very little about, other than being Queen Catherine of Aragon's mother. Isabella certainly doesn't come off looking very good, since she expelled the Jews from her kingdom in 1492 (the same year she financed Christopher Columbus's expedition to the Americas) after centuries of peaceful co-existence (oh, and after she borrowed money from them to finance her costly crusades to expel the Moors). Not cool, Isabella. Just not cool. I know, I can't judge someone based on the mores of our day, but still, it's hard not to.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Killing Mr. Griffin; Eat and Run; The Other Side of Suffering; Fat, Drunk, and Stupid; Night Watch; Sandcastle Girls
"Killing Mr. Griffin" by Lois Duncan is one of those old YA books I've always meant to read and never got around to, so I finally did. It was pretty good, about a group of high school kids who are tired of how mean and unfair their English teacher, Mr. Griffin, is so they decide to kidnap him and scare him, thinking he'll be nicer once they let him go. Unfortunately, Mr. Griffin has a heart condition and he dies. The kids manage to cover up their crime for a little bit, but in the end the truth comes out.
"Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek was very informative and inspirational. Jurek is an ultramarathoner--he frequently runs (and wins) races that exceed 100 miles. I'd settle for being able to run a 5k in under 45 minutes :) Jurek is also a vegan, and a defender of the lifestyle and diet that so many see as being in direct opposition to a healthy athlete. He has some good recipes in there, too!
I cried the whole time I was reading John Ramsey's "The Other Side of Suffering". For 12 long years he and his late wife, Patsy, were vilified in the press and court of public opinion for having something to do with the horrific murder of their little girl, JonBenet, in 1996. Patsy, sadly, died in 2006 before the Boulder DA's office officially cleared the Ramsey's of any wrongdoing. John has been through so much, and yet he maintains his hope and his faith in God. It was very moving and very emotional.
So something a little lighter after all these heavy books! "Fat, Drunk, and Stupid" by Matty Simmons is the story of how the movie "Animal House" came to be. It's such a great film, I crack up every time I watch it, and I've see it dozens of times. It launched so many careers and made stars out of a lot of the people involved. Plus it sounds like they had a hell of a good time while making it.
"Night Watch" is Linda Fairstein's latest Alex Cooper book. I was trying to pay very close attention, because there is usually so much going on in her books that I get utterly lost. This time I think I got it, though, and it was very good. Alex's boyfriend from France, Luc (I can't use the word "lover" like Fairstein does. That just seems so cold and impersonal to me. Everytime I read it I just shudder) seems to be a prime suspect for murder when two people turn up murdered with the business cards to his new restaurant on them. Meanwhile, Alex has to cut her vacation to short to deal with a high profile rape case involving the head of an international economic organization. It was tight and taunt and very suspensful, I really enjoyed it.
Several months ago I got an advanced reader copy of "Sandcastle Girls" by Chris Bohjalian. The book came out last month, and I've been meaning to write about how much I enjoyed it ever since. It was heartbreaking, about the Turkish slaughter of Armenians during the first world war. Elizabeth, a recent Mt. Holyoke grad, has traveled to the desert with an American aid mission. She sees atrocities she didn't even imagine existed. She also meets Armen, whose wife and infant daughter were slaughtered. Armen leaves to join the British Army so he can fight the Turks. Elizabeth despairs of ever seeing him again, but he does return and they marry and raise a family. The story goes back and forth between Armen and Elizabeth in 1915 and their granddaughter in the present, as she's discovering her heritage. It was a beautifully written book with a lot of heart wrenching moments.
"Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek was very informative and inspirational. Jurek is an ultramarathoner--he frequently runs (and wins) races that exceed 100 miles. I'd settle for being able to run a 5k in under 45 minutes :) Jurek is also a vegan, and a defender of the lifestyle and diet that so many see as being in direct opposition to a healthy athlete. He has some good recipes in there, too!
I cried the whole time I was reading John Ramsey's "The Other Side of Suffering". For 12 long years he and his late wife, Patsy, were vilified in the press and court of public opinion for having something to do with the horrific murder of their little girl, JonBenet, in 1996. Patsy, sadly, died in 2006 before the Boulder DA's office officially cleared the Ramsey's of any wrongdoing. John has been through so much, and yet he maintains his hope and his faith in God. It was very moving and very emotional.
So something a little lighter after all these heavy books! "Fat, Drunk, and Stupid" by Matty Simmons is the story of how the movie "Animal House" came to be. It's such a great film, I crack up every time I watch it, and I've see it dozens of times. It launched so many careers and made stars out of a lot of the people involved. Plus it sounds like they had a hell of a good time while making it.
"Night Watch" is Linda Fairstein's latest Alex Cooper book. I was trying to pay very close attention, because there is usually so much going on in her books that I get utterly lost. This time I think I got it, though, and it was very good. Alex's boyfriend from France, Luc (I can't use the word "lover" like Fairstein does. That just seems so cold and impersonal to me. Everytime I read it I just shudder) seems to be a prime suspect for murder when two people turn up murdered with the business cards to his new restaurant on them. Meanwhile, Alex has to cut her vacation to short to deal with a high profile rape case involving the head of an international economic organization. It was tight and taunt and very suspensful, I really enjoyed it.
Several months ago I got an advanced reader copy of "Sandcastle Girls" by Chris Bohjalian. The book came out last month, and I've been meaning to write about how much I enjoyed it ever since. It was heartbreaking, about the Turkish slaughter of Armenians during the first world war. Elizabeth, a recent Mt. Holyoke grad, has traveled to the desert with an American aid mission. She sees atrocities she didn't even imagine existed. She also meets Armen, whose wife and infant daughter were slaughtered. Armen leaves to join the British Army so he can fight the Turks. Elizabeth despairs of ever seeing him again, but he does return and they marry and raise a family. The story goes back and forth between Armen and Elizabeth in 1915 and their granddaughter in the present, as she's discovering her heritage. It was a beautifully written book with a lot of heart wrenching moments.
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