Book Updates

Well, I'm taking the lazy route again. I haven't updated on the last few books I've read, so I'm just going to lump them together.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - I love me some Stephen King. This wasn't my favorite story of his, but it was exactly what I expected - typical Stephen King. Actually, there were a couple of things in this book that surprised me a bit (that I can't really mentioned without spoiling it). It was a "comfort" read for me. Three stars.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - I'm pretty sure I saw this movie way back in the day, because some of the story seemed familiar, but I really didn't remember much of it. It was a good novel, but I had a hard time following it sometimes. I wasn't fully concentrating when I first started reading, and kept getting confused when it would jump times (past and present). Three stars.

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory - I think this is the only book of Gregory's that I hadn't read yet. I was mainly pissed that the back of the book gave so much away - I literally spent the entire book waiting for Amy Dudley to die, since the back of the book says "When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival." Yeah, this happens with about 20 pages left in the 400-some page book. Granted the book his historical fiction, so maybe I was supposed to know more about the story, but the back of the book is pretty deceiving, since the story really isn't about their struggle for survival, it's more about what led up to Amy's death. Anyway, besides that annoyance, the book was just too long and drawn out in general. Not my favorite of Gregory's by far. Three stars.

The Appeal by John Grisham - Ok, a small confession. Remember this post? Refer to number #6 and my books all being the same. Well, this time around, I broke tradition. All of my Grisham books are in paperback - I always wait for it in paperback so I can be consistent. However, I was browsing the clearance section of Half Price Books recently and found the hardcover of this book for only $1! This book was just released in hardcover earlier this year, and paperback probably won't be out for another few months. I'm assuming it was a mistake that the book was marked to a dollar, since it was in fabulous condition, so I had to snatch it up. Of course, a year from now I'll probably replace it with a the paperback version, but in the mean time, it was a sweet find.

Anyway, this book was typical Grisham. I felt like it was moving really slowly at times - it wasn't quite as action-packed as some of his other novels. I also felt like the twists and turns were a little more subtle than the usually are. Still, it was a decent read - more "comfort reading" for me. Three stars.

Hannah's Dream by Diane Hammond - I'm just going to come right out and say it - this book was a huge disappointment. I believe the cover says something along the lines of "If you liked Water for Elephants, you'll love Hannah's Dream." Of course, that should have been my first clue, since I didn't love Water for Elephants, but this was an even bigger disappointment. The characters felt too one-sided, like the author was trying to fit each one into a particular mold, and some of the characters were absolutely pointless and really contributed nothing to the story except to make it longer. Two stars.

Blood Memory by Greg Iles

Blood Memory by Greg Iles
800 pages
Finished 8/25/08














Iles writes pretty good mystery/suspense novels - he's an author that I've added to my mental list of authors I tend to like, so I look for his books more when I go to the book store.

I feel like it would take a novel just to give a synopsis of what this book is about (mainly due to the twists and turns), but this book is about a forensic expert named Cat that has had an incredibly messed-up life, beginning when she was 8 years old and her father was murdered. She is an alcoholic and has a married lover, and after having some black-outs at the scene of the crime of multiple homicides that are the work of a serial killer, returns to her hometown to escape. Of course, once there she only finds more mystery, and the story then follows both the mystery of her father and her childhood, along with the serial killings that are going on.

The story itself is pretty interesting (heck, I think I just made it sound a little more interesting than it was!). Unfortunately, the main character is one of the least sympathetic characters I've read in awhile. It just seemed like she had little redeeming qualities, and if I had a nickel for every time she blacked out or almost blacked out, I'd have...a handful of nickels. :)

The plot did wrap up nicely after a zillion different twists and turns, and it wasn't the most predictable read, so that was nice.

Three stars.

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter
608 pages
Finished August 1, 2008














This book is the sixth book in a series about Georgia pediatrician and medical examiner name Sara and the police chief, Jeffrey. The books can probably be read separately, but I really recommend reading them in order. They are decent mystery/thriller books, although for the strong characters (Sara), the books do have their share of weak characters (Lena, another police officer).

This book centers around Lena and something that happens to her while she is visiting her home town. Sara and Jeffrey rush to her rescue, and have a mystery to unravel.

I will say - I knew a MAJOR spoiler of the book before I read it, and I was still excited to read the book. The ending was fairly shocking, but well worth it.

I definitely recommend checking out the series (starting with Blindsighted).

Three stars.

Deception Point by Dan Brown

Deception Point by Dan Brown
752 pages
Finished 7/18/08















Oh, Dan Brown and your simple novels that seem so smart. The only other Dan Brown book I've finished is the much-hyped The Da Vinci Code. I really liked that book the first time I read it, and the second time...not quite as much.

Deception Point would probably have the same affect on me. I didn't really like the book, but I liked it enough. It was interesting and well-researched (either that, or the author is such a good bullshitter that I can't tell the difference. Either way!). It's a very easy read, and even though it is mammoth (752 pages!) I was able to get through it pretty quickly.

My biggest complaint is that the book read a bit like a movie. It was a bit like the author was thinking "Ok, what can I do now to include another action sequence? I know, snipers on an iceberg!" Combine that with a love story that doesn't totally make sense (I have no idea what is actually attracting the two main characters to each other) and you have all of the fixens for a Dan Brown blockbuster movie!

Three stars. But don't make me re-read it, or they will probably drop!

Anonymous Tip by Michael Farris

Anonymous Tip by Michael Farris
470 pages
Finished 5/23/08










I found this book on a fabulous shopping trip to Savers - I ended up getting a total of 7 books (3 of them Baby-Sitters Club) for under $6! Who knew Savers was so cheap? Anyway, I just skimmed the back of the book, and it sounded really interesting - a bitter ex-husband calls in a (very false) anonymous tip to an abuse hotline that his ex-wife is abusing his daughter. It results in some extremely over-zealous child protective agents filing false reports of abuse against the mother, and the book follows what happens after that.

The thing that I really liked about the book is that it moved really quickly - I was surprised at how fast some things happened, which was nice. It really helped to move the story along. However, it was also very predictable, right down to the ending, which really had me rolling my eyes.

The thing that really drove me nuts, though, is that I discovered a little way into the book that I had bought yet another Christian legal thriller. Turns out it said it was on the back of the book, and I just hadn't read it. I really need to start paying better attention - I had a hard time with a lot of the book, including one of the main characters because of the Christian factor. It was entirely too preachy, even for a book, for me.

Two stars.

Keri Arthur Novels

Last month I updated on two of four books in a Vampire/Werewolf series by Keri Arthur. On 5/13/08, I finished the third novel, Tempting Evil, and on 5/16/08 I finished the fourth, Dangerous Games. I'm not going to lie - the books got progressively worse and worse. In some cases, it just seemed like she was throwing in random characters to keep the storyline moving (or to give the book an actual storyline).

The worse thing, though, was that everything was not wrapped up at the end of the four-part series (as it was originally billed). Turns out there are at least two more books out there now, which annoys me because I just it all to be done. I probably wouldn't have read all four books if I had realized that there were actually more. Bitches.

I won't be reading the rest of the books. I gave the last two books two stars.

Six Book Updates

I know I typically put books into their own separate posts, but I'm so far behind and I just don't have the energy to type up six different reviews on books. Sorry. The good news is that I will give one recently read book it's own post. The bad news is, as mentioned, six are combined in this post. Here's a shortened version, and hopefully I'll be back on track.

Insomnia by Stephen King (finished 4/26/08) - Meh. Unfortunately, there is not much to say other than it is a typically Stephen King book. Quirky characters and out there ideas. Because not much can diminish my SK love, I still give it three stars. It started off slow, but got better in the last half of the book.

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (finished 4/27/08) - A pretty fast read about a women who is half werewolf, half vampire. The book is also supposed to be erotic and sexy, but it was definitely lacking in that department. Still, the book is the first in a series of four, and it definitely leaves more questions than answers (meaning that I now feel compelled to finish the series. I am currently on book three). Three stars.

L.A. Connections by Jackie Collins (finished 4/29/08) - A HPB dollar bin find that lived up to it's expectations - very fluffy and trashy, and quite the fast read. (I think the book was originally published as four separate stories). I will say I was curiously unsatisfied with the ending, because it didn't end the way most books of this type do (and usually, I like books that go against the grain. Oh well). I still gave it three stars, although I really don't remember why.

The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen (finished 4/30/08) - How sad is it that I barely remember this book, and I finished it what? two weeks ago? I do know that the whole time I was reading it, I had a sense of deja vu - I'd either read the book a long time ago and couldn't remember the details, or it was so generic it felt like a book I've already read. Either way, it was just an ok read. Three stars.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (finished 5/9/08) - Yay! Finally, a really good book. I loved it. I found this book in a box of books my mom gave me and decided to check it out because the name was familiar, and it wasn't a book I'd typically read (as you can tell by the 4 books mentioned above, I have been in a bit of a book rut). I ended up loving it, it was really good. Set in Australia from 1915-1970 (or therebout, I don't remember the exact date), the story follows on family. It was a really good book - a little long-winded in places, but still a great story. I'm really glad I picked it up, I feel like it got me reading again (there's something else that got me out of my rut, I'll follow up more below). Anyway, I give this book four and a half stars.

Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur (finished 5/11/08) - The second book in the Riley Jenson series (mentioned above). Not quite as good as the first in storyline, although a little bit better in the erotic parts. Still has me hooked, and like I said, I'm currently reading the third book. I give this one three stars.

Whew. I just have one more book to update, and then I will finally be back on track. Yay! One thing I realized over the weekend - one, that I miss reading really good books, and two, that there is nothing like being able to share your love of books with a good friend. I met my best friend from middle school/high school for a bagel Saturday morning, and it was so nice to be able to talk about great books that we've read lately (and some all time favorites). The whole conversation made me want to read a ton (in fact, I went to HPB that night and picked up a bunch)! Of course, while I still miss reading quality novels, I have still somehow dedicated myself to finishing a series on a vampire/werewolf.

I guess you can take the girl out of the trailer, but not the trailer out of the girl. :)

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
496 pages
Finished 3/31/08













On the day Jimmy Tock is born, his grandfather predicts that he will have five dates in his life that will contain terrible events. His grandfather even predicts the dates of the said events. After detailing the incidents surrounding Jimmy's birth and his grandfather's predictions, the book basically follows these five days (all falling between ages 20 and 30).

To be honest, I thought the book started out really good. The circumstances around his birth, along with other things that happened at the hospital, made me really get into the book. Unfortunately, the book pretty much fell off there. I think the main characters (including Jimmy, his parents, his grandmother, and wife) were supposed to come off as quirky and funny, but they just came off to me ridiculous and annoying.

The five events were present in a weird manner as well. The first two were incredibly drawn out. There was a car chase that seemed like it was 23 chapters - I had to start scanning because it wouldn't end. It seemed like the last 3 were thrown in there in the last few chapters. It seemed really disproportionate.

It was too bad the book went downhill, because it had started out so good.

Two stars.

True Evil by Greg Iles

True Evil by Greg Iles
640 pages
Finished 3/1/08













Every time I read a book by Greg Iles, I think to myself, "That was pretty good. I should read his books more often." Then I promptly forget about him until the next time I am browsing the clearance section at Half Price Books (or, actually, in this case, when I am browsing the books at Goodwill - so cheap!).

True Evil is about an FBI agent named Alex who is haunted by her past and the recent death of not only her father, but her sister. Right before her sister dies, she tells Alex that her husband is the reason for her death. This leads Alex to do some research and find a divorce attorney who seems to be connected through business transactions to a number of clients whose spouses have all died. Alex reaches out to Chris Shepard, a doctor whose wife has just visited the divorce attorney - Alex fears Chris is the next target.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it read almost like a sequel. As I started reading, I wasn't sure if there had been a previous book that featured Alex, the way they were alluding to an accident that she had. It turns out that the author just wasn't great at revealing a story piece by piece - the writing is just a little too awkward.

I still liked the mystery behind the story, and there was a slight twist that I hadn't seen coming at the end, which always makes me happy.

Four stars.

Nightshade by John Saul

Nightshade by John Saul
399 pages
Finished 2/18/08










So, you probably don't know this, but John Saul's Suffer the Children is one of my most favoritest (yeah, I said it) books of all time. I first read it when I was young - probably around 5th grade or so, and the only reason I really remember it is because it is one of the first books that truly terrified me (um, maybe because I was way to young to be reading this crap?). Anyway, since I adored that book so much, every once and awhile I'll pick up another John Saul book to see if it will get me the way that first one did.

The answer? Not so much. It's hard to describe what this book is about, so go to the amazon.c0m link above and read about it. Yes, I'm feeling lazy tonight. Especially because I have another book to talk about that is WAY more interesting than this one.

Bottom line - I skimmed most of this book, just to get to the ending and feel a little dirty for reading it. It was no Suffer the Children, that's for sure.

Two stars.

Needful Things by Stephen King

Needful Things by Stephen King
736 pages
Finished 2/16/08













Needful Things is subtitled The Last Castle Rock Story. It's set in Castle Rock (clearly), the same town where a number of other Stephen King books have taken place - The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Tommyknockers, and The Dark Half. You don't absolutely have to read those books before reading this one, but Needful Things does give away the endings to a couple of those books (although you might not realize it at the time).

Needful Things is the name of a new store in Castle Rock that everyone checks out - and almost everyone purchases something. The store has something for everyone - baseball cards, vases, sunglasses. And the prices are pretty cheap - the proprietor will sell the items for a dollar amount that you can afford, plus he will require you to play a "prank" on someone else in town. However, these pranks aren't as innocent as they seem, and they set off a huge chain reaction in the town.

There isn't much that I can't say about this book that I don't say about King's other work - it's consistent, it's reliable, and it's so familiar it is comforting to read (at least for me).

Three stars.

Thinner by Stephen King

Thinner by Stephen King
318 pages
Finished 2/7/08






Still on my quest to read all Stephen King books. This book started out a little slow for me. The story is about an overweight lawyer that accidentally hits and kills a Gypsy that crosses the street in front of him while he's in his car. After getting off very lightly due to connections with the judge presiding over the case, Billy (the main character), runs into another Gypsy, who touches him on the cheek and says "Thinner." Billy is soon drastically losing weight.

The novel really gets going about a third of the way in, when Billy starts to look for the Gypsy that cursed him. It's a great story - face paced with a lot of things happening. The best part of the book was the ending - I didn't see it coming. There was a feeling of horror as I read the last few pages...it was sort-of like, "No way!" I was liking the book quite a bit, but the ending actually brought it up a notch for me.

Four stars.

Icebound by Dean Koontz

Icebound by Dean Koontz
408 pages
Finished 2/1/08






This book is quite different from typical Koontz books. There I think it was one of the first books he published (although I could be wrong). It was originally published in the '70s under a different title (and under a pen name), and was brought back in the '90s with some updates.

Icebound doesn't have the creepy, horror feeling that most Koontz books have. This book was about some scientists trapped on an iceberg that is set to explode in less than 12 hours. To be quite honest, I was pretty bored by the book, and skimmed most of it. This book is probably my least favorite out of all of his books.

Two stars.

The Regulators by Stephen King

The Regulators by Stephen King
512 pages
Finished 1/29/08













In case you can't tell, I am on a bit of a Stephen King tear. I'm trying to build up my collection - I've always been a King fan, but haven't read much of it lately. Thanks to Half Price Books, I'm now all over it.

Anyway, at one of my last trips I picked up Desperation, and I liked it quite a bit. I had seen on the book that there was another book (The Regulators) that I thought was a sequel of sorts. Turns out the books are more "companions" of each other. You can read them completely separately, and really aren't missing anything. I got David to take me to HPB again this past weekend, and decided to check out the Stephen King section again for funsies (even though I had picked up a couple of King's books already from the dollar section). I saw The Regulators and snatched it up right away, even though I honestly had forgotten about the book.

The coolest thing about these two books are the characters - simply because the characters names, and a number of their main traits, are recycled between the two books. I didn't realize this when I first started reading Regulators, and I actually had David go grab Desperation for me out of the office so I could compare names (and yep, they matched). It was a little confusing at first, and then I realized that I had to separate the two stories - just because someone was a bad guy in one book, didn't necessarily mean he/she was a bad guy in the other.

I really liked Regulators - more than I liked Desperation, even. I was reading some other reviews, and it sounds like most people think Desperation is the better of the two, but I'd have to beg to differ on this one.

Four stars.

The Alibi by Sandra Brown

I'm not going to say much about The Alibi by Sandra Brown - I pulled it off of the dollar shelf at HPB because it looked kinda interesting. I realized about five pages into it that 1) I had read this book before, and 2) that it is a horribly written book. I was not a fan.

Two stars.

Desperation by Stephen King

Desperation by Stephen King
547 pages
Finished 1/21/08













A week or so ago, David and I were going to run into town and do some errands. Since we are had to go to Home Depot, the common compromise is to go to Half Price Books (yay!). I decided to take a look at my Stephen King collection, and pick up another book of his that I haven't read. I ended up writing about 6-8 books down before we left.

Turns out Desperation wasn't even on that list, but I knew right away I hadn't read the book. I really liked it - in typical Stephen King fashion, the story revolves around a ton of characters that all end up being pulled over and abducted by a crazy weird cop in Desperation, NV. The coolest thing about the book is that it looks like there is a bit of a sequel called The Regulators that was written by King's alter-ego, Richard Bachman. I can't wait to read that one, too.

Three stars.

Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane

Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane
412 pages
Finished 1/4/08













I was about 5 pages into the book before I realized that the two main characters in the book (Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro) are the main characters in a series of other books - and I was, essentially, reading the fourth in the series. I almost put the book down then (because I really hate reading books out of sequence), but decided to go on anyway.

Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. Great mystery with a lot of twists and turns, and there were a few that I didn't see coming. I didn't love the characters of Patrick and Angie, though - I was actually annoyed with how "soft" they were in a few places. I guess I like my detectives gritty. :)

I liked the book and the characters enough that I would consider reading more books that feature them, although I most likely won't read the first few books in the series, since the outcomes are referred to a number of times.

Three stars.

The Unholy by Michael Falconer Anderson

The Unholy by Michael Falconer Anderson
223 pages
Finished 12/30/07






I found this book in a box of my old books that I got from my mom - the box had some of my Baby-Sitter Club books, a bunch of teen angst books, a few romance book...and then there was this one. The book is in horrible shape - bent, sun faded, and it looks like part of it had gotten wet, but I was desperate for something to read a week or so ago (before I went to the bookstore and ordered from Amazon).

The back of the book makes the story sound really freaky and disturbing, but the story was actually a bit of a disappointment for me - I didn't get the chills I was expecting when reading it. It seemed a little rushed in places, and a little drawn out in others, and sometimes details were mentioned that just didn't fit with the storyline, and had me going "Huh?". Ug, plus, the other thing that annoyed me was that the f-bombs were edited. Really? Why have your character speak them if you are just going to type it "F..."?

Two stars.

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
752 pages
Finished 12/28/07













Considering I've read most of Stephen King's books, I'm not sure how I missed this one, but I did. I had a hard time getting through the first 200 pages or so - it was pretty slow going there for awhile, with all of the back story on Bobbi and Gard. Once it picked up, though, I really enjoyed the book. I liked King's writing style in this novel, and I loved how the storylines were all intertwined. It was cool to see the story from on angle in one chapter, and then see it from another view the next.

Overall, I'd say the book could have been better if it was about 200 pages less, but I still liked it.

Three stars.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Hmm, I probably shouldn't take so long to write up reviews on books (or maybe I should not only not take so long to write reviews, but also read 4 more books in the mean time)...I'm already having some troubles remembering this book. Yikes!


Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
288 pages
Finished 10/21/07













This is another one of those books that I put on my Amazon.com wishlist ages ago (in 2005!) but kept skipping over for some reason (probably because it had been so long since I added it, I didn't remember what it was about). I just realized a couple of weeks ago that this book was the basis for the Showtime TV show Dexter. I don't know much about the show, except for the very basic premise (serial killer that kills other serial killers), but it looks interesting. Too bad we are too cheap for premiums (oh, how I'd love to know you Entourage, Weeds, and Dexter)...

Anyway, like I said, I am having a hard time really remembering a lot about the book. It was pretty fast paced, which was nice. It was a pretty quick read. I was a little annoyed by one thing in the book - Dexter would talk about how he doesn't have feelings for other people, but then would mention how the girlfriend's kids are getting to him, or how his adoptive father got to him - it was totally contradicting what he kept saying about himself. (Or maybe that was the point? He thinks of himself as so coolly detached when he really isn't?).

Overall, I liked the book, and will definitely consider reading the sequels. And possibly picking up the TV show DVD. :)

I give it three stars.