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Friday, December 18, 2009

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

Galen Beckett
Fantasy
Grade: B, B-


Be warned, the Magicians and Mrs. Quent is a novel only for those who like classic English literature. If you are otherwise inclined, as in wanting action and hair raising adventure in your books, you will wind up despising this novel.

The first half of this book is a what if novel. Specifically, it asks the questions:

What if in Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth's father was indisposed and Mr. Darcy's still alive?

What if Magic existed side by side with genteel society?

In that case Elizabeth would be Ivy Lockwell, a lovely, practical young women whose father was made ill by a spell gone wrong and whose mother is slowly bankrupting the family by insisting upon living in the house she inherited, which the family can in no way afford. As Ivy tries to make payments on the home and do what she can to keep the family together a most unexpected surprise falls into their midst. Her cousin, Mr. Wyble, meets Mr. Rafferdy at a party and invites him to join him on a visit to the house he will someday inherit. Mr. Wyble is in raptures when Mr. Rafferdy assents (he is half asleep listening to Wybles fawning and agrees before he can stop himself)and so Mr. Rafferdy (and a friend he enlists as backup) find themselves spending an enrapturing afternoon tea with the lovely Lockwell sisters. Mr. Rafferdy finds himself going quite out of his way to run into the lovely Ivy thereafter and the two strike an unlikely friendship in which her mother begins to pin her hopes.

In the meantime, Altania, the land in which they live is facing a growing rebellion within and a magical problem of some magnitude, though no one seems to pay attention but a select few. The ancient and original trees of Altania are alive and much like Tolkien's Fangorn Forest they are alive with a menace which bodes no good for the humans who tangle with them.

I have told you only the barest beginning of the book. Ivy, Mr. Rafferdy, Mr. Quent and the others all begin a journey to save Altania which I trust will take many books to reach fruition. That fact and the rather long winded why in which the tale is told made it a B for me.

Tea: A nice cup of Earl Grey for this Regency England meets magic tale.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Hunger, A Gone Novel

Author: Michael Grant
Genre: Sci-Fi, YA
Grade: C, C-

In the first book, Gone, we meet the kids (15 and under) of Perdido Beach, CA. They have a unique problem: in the blink of an eye every person over 15 vanished from their little town. This was big enough but then other problems began -- kids started developing powers like telekinesis, teleportation, hands that shot blasting bolts of light -- and the list went on. Then the animals around them began to mutate -- snakes that could fly (ick!), coyotes much smarter than they should be. . . .

In book two we are about to meet part of what is causing all the problems. It doesn't solve things in the FAYZE, as the kids call their new world, but it will clarify some things for us. Also in this issue we will deal with the troubles kids have with setting up their own government and running things on their own.

It is this second point in which the book really failed for me. I was disturbed at how the kids seemed to arrange themselves. My own son is pretty helpless in a lot of ways (I have to constantly remind him of basics.) But he can cook, he can read, he would have some common sense when it came to taking care of himself. And politics literally bore me and much of the book was about establishing a government not in the form of running things but with an underlying hint of politics (something they did at the end of the last book but felt the need to reiterate.)

One major squabble I had was that the author insisted on two basic ideas: 1) that humans don't work without money 2) that if you don't establish a monetary system the lazy will live off the hardworking. Finally, he went to pains to say being "rich" is more than OK, it is human nature to want the best for ourselves and the best way to deal with humans is to accept the idea that some are going to work to be rich. I had all kinds of problems with this. First, even children know that the rich aren't always the hardest working among us. I am "rich" compared to my ancestors but those people worked ten times harder for what they had. Someone in Africa could work like a fiend and not reach what I have. This is like the idea that bad things only happen to bad people, it's what many people feel should be but it isn't. If it were, CEO's would often live in card board boxes while missionaries handed boxes of food out the front door of their mansion.

But what really got me was that these kids weren't establishing a survival government. They were establishing a government more like a political government that runs a nation than a "we're a group and we're gonna survive this" type government. That second option is what I thought kids would do in this situation. Just my .02 but it didn't seem to me that a 15 yr. old who had suddenly lost every adult in the world who had ever cared for him would be all concerned with how he could earn more but would rather be concerned with how he could survive. I am probably doing a bad job of describing it all but I just felt that there was an underlying tone of propaganda that was inappropriate to the whole issue of survival.

That tone jarred enough that it didn't turn into a great read for me.

Tea: I am all about Celestial Seasonings "Candy Cane Lane" right now. Very Christmassy!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Yankee Wife

Genre: Historical Romance, Shortly after Civil War
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Grade: F


Lydia McQuire, a nurse for the Union in the Civil War, has just enough money in her pockets for either food or board (but definitely not both) when she spots a sign advertising for a wife. She would never do anything so demeaning as sign on to being a wife to some stranger when piano playing at saloon's is going so lucratively for her but she figures that since it is breakfast time she might get her interview with a meal. So she rouses Devon Quade from bed, asks for an interview and sure enough gets breakfast with it. But he is so handsome! So mannerly! Lydia decides to marry him when she is offered the opportunity.

Once aboard ship Lydia is surprised to see Devon walking towards her with another woman on his arm. His sister? Daughter? Alas no, it is his wife. Devon had not contracted Lydia to marry him but his older brother Brigham. Brigham of course knows nothing about it and doesn't want to marry. Lydia begins her conversation with him by assuring him she doesn't want to marry him either.

This book is a mess of standard romance subplots. Lydia lusts after Brigham, eventually sleeps with him, but won't marry him till he says he loves her. Devon's wife Polly turns out to be a soiled lady in search of a better life and hasn't really married him (She would use a fake preacher, "marry" men and then steal from them). Since Polly is pregnant and Devon deserts her Brigham starts to marry her but then Lydia and Devon interrupt the ceremony to get their respective partners back. Now that everyone is legally married to who they want to be there is a big fight and life goes pretty much back to lusting, fighting and living separately while the ladies pine for the men to say those three magic words. Everyone eventually does of course, because this is a romance novel.

I didn't like any of the characters. When they weren't being TSTL they were being hateful or stubborn. I bought two Millers at the used book store and am debating if the second one is even worth reading at this point.

Tea: Brew a pot and pour it over this clunker.

A Bride Most Begrudging

Author: Deanne Gist
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Grade: A

I have to admit to a bit of a prejudice against inspirational romance. Over the years I have read some that are just plain awful, some that abound with such a judgmental attitude that I feel I am being smacked in the face every time I pick the book up and some that have so much preaching I want to skip that weeks visit to church. For the most part I avoid the books. While I can manage to pick up a clunker in any genre I seem to have a special knack for it with this one.

Fortunately, this book quickly banished those past experiences; Surprising since it begins with a bit of a TSTL (too stupid to live) moment. Lady Constance Morrow is horrified when she finds out that her beloved Uncle Skelly is being deported to America for speaking against the King and slips away from the protection of family and servants to say a final goodbye to him on the ship taking him to the Colonies. The captain, seeing a young woman without protection, quickly adds her to the group of female felons he has changed down below who will serve as brides for the colonists. Travel in 1634 is no picnic and Constance finds herself hungry, dirty and devastated as her uncle dies and she lands in the Colonies with no way to prove who she is. Enter Drew O'Connor, a man not looking for a wife but who, with a few twists of fate, finds himself attached to Lady Constance.

Watching these two fall in love was a ton of fun. There were some truly hilarious moments between the two of them as they adapted to life seen through each others eyes. One memorable moment involving a shared trencher and two very hungry people had me laughing out loud but many others had me snickering, giggling and smiling my way through the book. I loved that Constance wasn't a doormat/Sunday school teacher type heroine but an honest to God woman who got cranky, could be selfish, liked to use her mind and was strong willed without (for the most part) using that will for TSTL'ness. Drew seems like one of those men turned bitter by the hardness of life (and he has a tough one) at first but pretty quickly we are shown the gentle heart beneath the tough exterior. His struggle at one point to determine if lust was an acceptable emotion or if his love was supposed to be something pure and he was somehow tainting everything was funny and touching, rather than heavy handed or preachy. There wasn't an assumption of what constituted good, Christian behavior from either of them and that made them seem very life like to me, very much like christian people I know in the real world. They didn't spout bible verses at every problem, nor did they indulge in judging their neighbors constantly. If I am harping on this issue I apologize but many an inspirational romance has lost me over just such things.

The book is sweet rather than hot and towards the end I felt the author was tacking on a bit to stretch things but the epilogue is great and the feel of the book overall brought a smile to my face. If you have been interested in giving an inspirational a try this might be the one to do it with.

Tea: How about something truly American? Here is a link to a recipe for Pumpkin Tea Bread! Seasonal, unique to our country (at least at first) and colonial (not sure about the bread but the pumpkin itself assuredly was!) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Tea-Bread/Detail.aspx

Invisible Lives

Author: Anjali Banerjee
Genre: Chick Lit/Contemp Romance
Grade: A


Lakshmi Sen was visited by the goddess before her birth. She was promised gorgeous hair (on which she was advised to use only herbal shampoos) and a special gift. Laksmi's special gift is her ability to see the perfect sari, the sari that will help her customer solve problems, win hearts and find happiness and she uses that ability day in and day out as a partner in her mother's sari shop.

She knows there is something special about the day her gift shows her pink bubbles of happiness surrounding her mother so she isn't surprised when their shop lands a huge customer and she simultaneously finds out her mother has begun arranging her marriage to a handsome Indian doctor. But she is surprised when her gift begins to fail around the important Bollywood client's chauffeur. More, she is surprised to find out just how much she has in common with the charming, very American Nick.

This book has a delicious touch of magic much like Sarah Addison Allen's "Garden Spells". It was fun watching Laksmi use that magical gift to help others reach their full potential. It was also great to learn a very little bit about sari's -- the story of their origin, how they are worn, what colors are worn when. While the book is firmly set in America it also highlights just how Indian American's are thoroughly tied to their community both through the small taste of home they have here and their frequent trips back to the mother country. It was fascinating reading about Laksmi's tie to her roots and her own internal struggle on fitting in in the much freer American culture while staying true to her past. I love books with a sweet sense of humor and this one abounded with that quality.

Lakshmi is a wonderful, well drawn out character. It is easy to understand what motivates her throughout the book and while she is a complete sweetheart she is no doormat. She stands up for people when she needs to including giving aid to a young woman who wants to escape an arranged marriage. She has her choice of two potential heroes and while I was thrilled with the one she chose I liked the other guy enough to wish he had had a love story too. The secondary romances and what Lakshmi learns about her own parents love story make a good background for Lakshmi's own tale, really giving the book a feel of being full of romance.

Ms. Banerjee is writing children's books right now, which is a shame. I felt like this book was so great, so fun I could definitely have done with many more works like it from her.

Tea: Here is a link to a recipe for Indian Milk Tea, which is mentioned in the book. http://www.chai-tea.org/rec/rec103.html

Lucy Gets Her Life Back

Author: Stef Ann Holm
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Grade: C


Moving from Boise to the small town of Red Duck, Idaho may seem counter intuitive for a personal chef like Lucy Carpenter but Red Duck has the two things Lucy most needs: celebrity clientele and a down home atmosphere in which to raise her two "lost" boys. Both Jason and Mattie have been struggling since their father walked out on them two years ago and Lucy is happy to find them a fresh start in a small town.

Former pro baseball player Drew Tolman has gone from playing in the Bigs to coaching the Little League but he loves it. He never feels as alive anywhere else as he does on the diamond. So why is it that this year he finds himself watching the stands,looking for one of his star players mothers, rather than the pitcher's mound.

One of the tough things about reading books about single parents when you are a parent is that you tend to question their every parenting decision. Lucy is a good, caring parent but some of the things she did made me want to ask her what the heck she was thinking. The initial move was one of those things and it took me awhile to get over that.

I also had a tough time picturing Lucy and Drew together. At one point he says that the Laker Girls he has over for a party have no substance while Lucy has substance because she is more "real". That seemed pretty darn silly to me -- those girls would have plenty of substance to go with their looks and ambition. Try outs for jobs like that are relentless and difficult. Individual ones might be selfish but really, insubstantial? I didn't buy it. Additionally, Lucy was an "every woman" who simply didn't catch my heart. She was very much like the women I hang out with every day but she lacked their individuality and spark. To do a compare/contrast Goldy the Caterer from The Goldy Culinary Mysteries is an every woman but as a caterer (kinda like Lucy) she describes food in rich, lush detail. She describes her friends, the weather, tooling around town. All that gives Goldy a sense of the unique I don't get from Lucy. I think that might be writing style though. I didn't get a strong picture of Lucy or Drew but I think the author's style is all about what the characters are thinking. In some ways that imparts insight but in a lot of ways it leaves you grasping for details. In this case, I just felt that I might understand what the characters were thinking and feeling to an extent but I didn't get the why. It was like their emotions were all internal and nothing happened that changed or affected them.

My other quibble was with the kids. Being the mother of two boys I have had the chance to observe boy behavior first hand. These kids did not ring true at all. There was an imbalance between their behaviors, attitudes and language that would yank me out of the story on a regular basis. In particular one characters use of the phrase "bang a lang" rang especially untrue. I don't know a single kid with the guts to do that unless they were using it as some kind of signature phrase. It sounded fifties and silly and caused pictures of "Leave it to Beaver" to flash through my mind.

There is a sweet secondary friendship that leads to another character finding romance which I liked but that wasn't enough to save the book.

I struggled to finish but it wasn't a bad book. Just also not a good one.

Tea: Nothing fancy. Maybe a Lipton tea bag with a bit of splenda.

The English Wife

The English Wife
Doreen Roberts
Grade: C/C-



I picked this book up because it was a cover contest winner and part of my 9 in 09 challenge. The back blurb sounded intriguing and in line with my usual tastes. The story is about Marjorie Maitland, a staid, predictable women who finds herself at loose ends when her domineering husband dies. Still, she expects life to go on pretty much as before until she sits down for the reading of the will. This one act turns her life completely upside down. Not only is her financial situation difficult but there is a property she didn't know she even owned -- in the South of England of all places -- that is being "rented" by a woman paying zero rent. As Marjorie tries to solve the riddle of why her husband kept this property a secret from her she learns a lot about the husband she never knew and becomes the women he had never really let her become but that she was always meant to be.

My problems with this book are myriad. The whole premise made no sense to me. If a man wants to buy his mistress/former lover a house, why not put the deed in her name? Why keep hold of the property and then leave it to your wife? When Marjorie gets to England and finds out her husband had a whole other family of which she knew nothing I could understand her righteous anger. What I couldn't understand was everyone around her insisting that the people in that cottage were family to her and that the reason Donald left the cottage to her was that he wanted her to get to know his daughter (from a previous liaison) and the daughter's children. I was stunned that Marjorie ran with this idea, insisting on helping the girl and then turning herself into a grandma to the girl's children. Call me mean and evil but that just wouldn't happen with me. I think what was disturbing about it though was the idea that seemed to permeate the book that this was the only right choice. That a woman who had gone in there and said, "Look, sorry but your Dad didn't leave you the house and I am currently broke. As a gesture of charity I'll go halfsies with you -- we can either sell and split the money or you can buy me out." would have been considered selfish. And as we all know, a romance novel heroine can never, ever be selfish.

To add to my disgust it is clear that Donald, the former husband and father, was a nasty character. Not nasty in the sense of a gun toting villain but nasty in small, cruel ways with both families. I was stunned that this didn't affect Marjorie more. Gillian, the daughter, at least had a proper sense of bitterness ;-) but Marjorie was so quick to forgive, with so little internal wrestling over the issue it just felt wrong to me..

There is a romance which I think was meant to be sweet but in light of everything that was happening it didn't really make an impression on me.

Overall, a disappointing read.

Tea: Unworthy of a cuppa.

Imaginary Men

author: Anjali Banerjee
Grade: A/B


Lina is an Indian-American woman, proud of her heritage but in love with all the conveniences, freedoms, and wonders of her San Francisco home. She works as a match maker and takes no small amount of teasing -- and not so teasing -- hints that she needs to find her own man soon. Desperate to escape her aunt's plans to have her engaged while she is on a visit to Kolkata she makes up the perfect man and claims an engagement to him. But what is she to do in the face of her family's happiness? She enters a round of whirlwind, comical dates searching for Mr. Right. But what if Mr. Right is actually the man she thought was Mr. Wrong when she first met him?
What if a rather staid Prince looking for a traditional girl is actually falling for a rather hip, liberated American woman?

I enjoyed this book a lot. It had a good mix of humor and romance. The feel is more chick lit but story is all about Lina finding Mr. Right. I loved the setting and the feel of the blending of the two cultures. It was hard to grade because while it had some of the mistakes that are common in a first book it had a lot of charm and fun too. Lina, as the main character, can be a bit annoying but she is also warm hearted and charming. Rajah is all a prince should be in terms of looks and manners but he can be a bit overbearing too. I wish we had spent more time with them as a couple but that is my one quibble.

Tea:
Chai. Chai all the way.

Gone

Author: Michael Grant
Genre: YA Sci Fi
Grade: A-/B+


In an instant life in Perdido Beach, CA takes a bizarre and dangerous turn. All people over 15 years of age vanish in the blink of an eye -- while they are driving, teaching, farming -- all of them literally disappear right before the eyes of the children around them. Initially the kids hope for rescue -- since internet and phone services are also gone they reason that someone, somewhere has realized that Perdido Beach has fallen off the map quite suddenly. But their hope for help from the outside dwindles as night and day pass with no help. And then they start to realize that the animals have mutated. And worse, they start to realize that not just the animals are mutating. When your oldest citizen is only fourteen, what kind of society can you build? Who will be in charge? And will kids listen when it is just another kid talking?

I loved the lead characters in this book. Sam seemed very real to me. A likable, responsible kid, not a genius, with a quiet leadership style that was both appealing and appropriate. Astrid as his sidekick was great as well -- smart but not at all know it all. Both of them showed a proper lack of knowledge that fit with their age while at the same time showing a willingness to learn which really fit with their situation. Their interactions seemed natural too.

Little Pete, Astrid's autistic little brother, is the first autistic character I've encountered in a book who actually reads like he has autism. I like him and I love the way Astrid is with him. She reminded me of many, many older siblings I have known of children with autism.

The book was a little long but I was curious enough to see what would happen to keep going through the rough spots. The premise was intriguing and I liked the "Lord of the Flies" vibe which seemed to resonate throughout the novel. I really appreciated how the book dealt with the idea of good and evil -- it did not show the kids being perfect but nor were they evil or immune to guilt. I thought the author balanced everything well and showed a real knowledge of human nature. Not as strong as "The Hunger Games" but riveting nonetheless.

Tea: Black tea, no flavors.

Death Wore White

Genre: British Crime Novel
Author: Jim Kelly
Grade: B+

The cover is what pulled me into this one -- a lone man walking towards a car in a snow storm. I've lived in the far north and live in what most would consider a "Northern" area now so I know the scene is nowhere as innocent or peaceful as it looks. Anyone who has ever lived in serious snow conditions knows that weather that looks Christmassy can actually be quite deadly. But I digress. . .

DI Peter Shaw and DS George Valentine are on a somewhat routine mission of retrieving a barrel of toxic waste -- hazardous enough -- when they come across a body in the sea. With snow coming and the tide changing the scene of their crime -- not to add that the barrel of toxic gunk they were tipped about is bobbing along somewhere in the water they are standing in -- the two men work fast to secure their scene. And then they stumble across another. . . . Does their proximity mean a relationship? And why does the body count on a crime they are getting nowhere solving seem to keep rising?

What I loved about this novel is NO SERIAL KILLERS. Yes, odd though it may seem many people are killed for gain or revenge or just plain cruelty without any hint of a psycho in sight. (Well, technically all killers are a tad psycho but again, digression!) The build up is slow but escalates as the novel goes on. And I loved how it built up, piece by piece, layer by layer. Peter Shaw is a great character, a meticulous policeman who makes modern police work intriguing. I loved the fact that this character was routine and by the book, with very few maverick tendencies. And I liked his ability to wait patiently for all the pieces of a puzzle to fall into place -- he used his "gut" but wasn't ruled by it.

Shaw and Valentine have an unusual history and that is delicately explored as well. It involves a case and I loved seeing them bring the same balance from the past that they did to the present. This is one of the few books I have seen that celebrates the modern, PC policeman and shows just what science has brought to the table of crime solving in the last few years. Even though I swore to myself I WOULD NOT BE READING MORE SERIES BOOKS I am of course looking forward to book two in this series. Sigh. Someday I will run across a non series book. Honestly. It's gonna happen any day now.

Tea: English Breakfast Tea.

Curing the Blues with a New Pair of Shoes

Author: Dixie Carter
Genre: Contemp Romance?
Grade: C


This is one of those "sort of" books. Its sort of a mystery. Sort of a romance and sort of chick lit. That can work but in this case my end response is that as a result of that the book is only "sort of" good Wink

Judd Hogg's big plan to put Hogg's Drive In back in the black is to exploit their Elvis connection and throw a big celebration for the King's birthday. He has even borrowed a pair of Elvis's blue suede shoes from a museum in Vegas to display at $5.00 per viewing. The only problem? Elvis's shoes go missing before anyone even gets a look.

The Domesitc Equalizers, Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin, are among the first Judd calls. He knows that Billy Don, the sheriff, won't be worth a dang and wants to get some real help. Debbie Sue, anxious to solve the case herself, convinces Judd they can handle it and encourages him not to get any other police involved. They stick an old pair of gray slippers in the display case, assure everyone they really look like blue suede and head off to their day job at the Styling Station, a gas station Debbie Sue converted into a beauty parlor.

As the town fills up with people ready to celebrate Elvis's big day, Debbie Sue and Ed find themselves helping star crossed lovers, running a beauty parlor and town festival, and looking for a pair of blue suede shoes in a crowd of Elvis fans.

This book was thin on plot and heavy on Texas cliches. In fact, you were reminded you were in Texas just about every ten minutes. I felt the two heroines stumbled across the answer as opposed to actually solving anything but in fairness, they didn't really have time. They also felt "off". I think they were supposed to be late 30's early 40's but they felt older than that by about a decade or so. The book also had a thing for overweight people -- in one scene they were actually kind of mean to a couple of chubby kids.

It's not a bad read, I was able to finish it and it had some cute moments, but unless you love Texas or Elvis (or both) I would give it a miss.

Tea: Iced tea all the way. Go with the real southern experience and add a mint leaf!

Sworn to Silence

Author: Linda Castillo
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B


Kate Burkholder is sheriff of a quiet rural community that includes a small population of Amish. In fact, she was once Amish before her life was marred by tragedy and she chose to leave the church. Back home after a few years of wild living (and then the requisite police training) she is able to bridge the gap between the peacefully coexisting "English" and Amish. Most of the time her hardest job is dealing with traffic fatalities or stopping someone's cows from causing said fatalities. So when one of her deputies on a routine cattle roundup comes across a body everyone's initial speculation is car accident. But pretty quickly that changes . . . .

John Tomesati has lived through a horrific tragedy of his own and is now just coasting through his life waiting for BCI (The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation) to fire him. When he is placed on a screw-up-and-you-are-gone-without-a-pension assignment to Kate's small town of Painters Mill he is surprised to find himself coming back to life.

Together the two of them have to face a horrific ghost from Kate's past. A ghost that is killing towns people at a rather alarming rate. . .

This is a good but not exceptional thriller. I liked the idea of an Amish raised police chief but aside from the fact that Kate knows the language and customs that factor is never explored. On a personal level, I was rather stunned by how John and Kate's pasts didn't even cause my eyebrows to raise. Guess I felt the whole thing was so foreshadowed that I felt like there was just no real surprise when it finally happened.

Last, but for sure not least, I was disappointed with the end. One of the secondary characters in the book has just found out something huge, the whole town should have been shaken by the reveal of the who the killer was but none of that was dealt with. I've read that Castillo plans to make a series of this (sigh, does no one just write a book anymore?) but really, I felt that the resolution of those issues deserved to be dealt with in this book.

Overall a good mystery read though.

Tea: Much as the Amish hate the English ;-) I have to recommend a pot of London Fruit & Herb Tea. Since it is fall let's go with Apple and Cinnamon Twist. But my REAL recommendations are what accompany it. I am addicted to Essenhaus extra wide noodles which can be boiled in chicken broth and taste like fat dumplings. Utterly yummy!

maggie b.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls
Author: Lisa See
Writing Style: B/3
Plot:B-/C+/2.5
Characterization: D1
Overall Grade: 6.5 out of 12 possible points, so about a C+




One thing I love about first person POV is that it allows the character to explain selfishness or ignorance in a way that keeps them sympathetic. For example, in "What I Saw and How I Lied" by Judy Blundell the main character doesn't understand something the reader does but her ignorance does not appear TSTL because you see her ascribing the best possible motives to people. It is her inherent desire to believe good of the people around her that keeps her from seeing something that the reader (or at least this reader) knows from the getgo is an incriminating act and it is that innocent desire and our knowledge of it that keep her from being TSTL. That unfortunately is not the case in this novel.

PLOT: It is 1937. Pearl and her sister May are two very fortunate young women. They are the educated, wealthy daughters of a merchant in Shanghai, a city that for their class is modern and "Western" in its thinking and culture. Additionally, they work as "beautiful girls" models, posing for paintings that are put on calendars and sold all over the city. Then tragedy strikes as they simultaneously find themselves impoverished, married to strangers and living in a city under attack from the Japanese. They escape from Shanghai and head off towards new lives always knowing that together they can face anything.

Characterization:
Pearl was a college educated young women in a time when not many had that opportunity, especially in her culture. She vacillates between moments when she uses her intelligence and times when she is so TSTL it will leave you speechless. May is another conundrum, seemingly rather silly and selfish but at other times stronger and brighter than Pearl. I am sure all human beings are like this to an extent but in most novels we get an understanding of the characters behaviors that isn't given here. All we really see of May is the selfish, spoiled TSTL woman and then we hear of her doing incredible things -- saving lives, plotting her way through political minefields and running a successful company. What makes it even harder to accept is that May will one day plot her way through a minefield (politically speaking) and the next throw someone into deep trouble through a TSTL mistake. Was this just May's incredible selfishness winning out? Did she land the other person in hot water from malice? Or was it her incredible stupidity? I never got a clear feel for that. Pearl has a TSTL moment that is so huge both she and I spend the rest of the book reeling in shock from it.

Writing Style:
Easy to read and at times very eloquent. The plotting and inexplicable actions of many of the characters keep it from being great though.

I can't recommend or condemn this book. I found the characters really difficult to like but I was interested in what was happening to them. The author really researched how the Chinese were treated in that time, what they were living through both here and in China and that aspect was interesting. But the story wasn't strong or feel good in any way. The other issue is that the ending is a cliff hanger, leaving several characters futures unknown. I don't know if I will be picking up the sequel or not. If you like the novels of Amy Tan this might work as a very poor substitute, I guess.

Tea: Chinese green tea of course!

maggie b.

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Eyre Affair

Author: Jasper Fforde
Genre: Surrealism/Science Fiction/Alternate Reality
Grade: A


A surrealistic journey into a world where literature is king, cloning is a possibility and time travel is making a mish mash of quite a bit, this charming book gives us a new take on old favorites and opens a door to a truly interesting, if sometimes befuddling, world.

The novel begins with Thursday Next encountering her father, a time traveler out running French Revisionists (the pests keep trying to rewrite history in their favor) and accelerates from there. Thursday, a detective with the literary division, is recruited to investigate the theft of the original manuscript of Charles Dickens's "Martin Chuzzlewit" because she is one of the few people able to identify the thief, Acheron Hades. Acheron is an amazing criminal -- able to appear and disappear seemingly at will, doesn't get captured on video, and can completely disguise himself at a moments notice-- he has proved unstopable, unkillable, uncapturable. Thursday comes as close to capturing him during a stakeout as anyone ever has but is badly injured, saved only by a copy of Jane Eyre that stops Hades' bullet and by a mysterious stranger staunching the blood flow from her wound until the paramedics arrive.

Thursday then sees herself in the hospital and is told by said self to go to Swindon. She does and this is where she continues her adventures with Acheron, the mysterious stranger and Landen Parke-Laine, Thursday's former fiancee -- though her heart still has trouble with the former nature of the relationship.

Thursday is a fantastic heroine. She is exactly the kind of action oriented character I love -- she has training to explain her skills and the wit to go with it. She is compassionate but not a bleeding heart, righteous but not self-righteous. She grows and learns throughout the book.

The mysterious stranger is also a pretty cool character (Wink).

My one regret is that we don't get more of Landen. And did I miss an explanation of what Acheron actually is?

I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who doesn't like classic British literature and doesn't have at least a passing knowledge of Jane Eyre. I have to say the Wall Street Journal said it well in their jacket blurb:

Filled with clever wordplay, literary allusion and bibliowit, The Eyre Affair combines elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But its quirky charm is all its own."

I look forward to my next Next novel.

Black Hills

Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: C


Have I ever given Nora Roberts a C before? I don't honestly know but I have my doubts. This book, however, I feel merits a C if not lower.

The book begins with our hero and heroine meeting as children. Eleven year old Cooper Sullivan was supposed to spend the summer at baseball camp but instead has been dumped upon Grandparents he barely knows while his parents try to salvage their marriage. He and the grandparents are invited for dinner at Lilly's house -- her mom and dad and his grandparents are hoping the kids get along. It proves to be a momentous evening -- Lilly is a darn good ball player with a batting cage of her own (her dad played ball for awhile and has taught her quite a bit) and to add to the excitement the kids run into a cougar. It gives Coop his first real happy evening in awhile.

Lil and Cooper form a lasting friendship that survives the span of many miles and years. When Coop comes back the summer Lil graduates from high school Lil makes sure they take the relationship up a notch, going from friends to lovers on a weekend camping trip she has mapped out almost as carefully as she has mapped out her future career. Lil is nothing if not a meticulous planner, from birth control pills to single tent. The cougar makes a second appearance, seeming to give an eerie kind of blessing to their union but what really marks the trip is their finding of a dead body. Doggedly, Lil ensures that the dead hiker is not the final word on their relationship and the two begin a sporadic and difficult long distance relationship.

If by now you are not getting a picture of Lil as the driving force of this union, what have I done wrong? Lil has PLANS for her future and has carefully mapped them out to include Coop. She is puzzled why the huge distances and sporadic meetings don't suffice for him and is actually stunned by their breakup. She can't forgive Coop for what he has done to her and the two drop to the level of acquaintances -- an acquaintanceship where Lil is careful that the two don't run into each other when Coop's visit to his grandparents coincide with Lil being home.

Then the two find themselves back together in Montana. Coop has come home to help his injured grandfather run the farm and Lil has built a big cat refuge next to her parents place. But Coop and Lil are not the only people who have come back . . . . .

I never really got a clear image of Coop -- he seemed very two dimensional through out the book, as though he were simply a prop for Lil. Lil is one of the few Robert's heroines I have not loved. She was so planned and meticulous, which was admirable, but she seemed unforgiving when people didn't fall in line with those plans. I found her very controlling and while that was good in her work I sure didn't like the way she applied it to her personal life.

The mystery was confusing, not in a blow your mind away conclusion style but in a lackluster, no real motive style. The killer enjoyed killing and had many unique characteristics but I was left with an impressionist style image of him, not a clear snapshot. That doesn't really fit with Robert's writing style so it added a bit of a jarring note.

There is a sweet secondary romance, which I enjoyed and the information on the big cats was interesting if not riveting. Overall not a great read but not a terrible one either.

Talk Nerdy to Me

Talk Nerdy to Me
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Vicki Lewis Thompson
C-/D+


If I were with the marketing department for this publisher I would probably be trying to sell this as a silly, sexy fun read. The author certainly nailed the silly aspect but falls short on the other two.

Charlie Shepherd, an electrical engineer, is driving to the Rack and Balls to play some pool when he is waylaid by an explosion in a closed garage. Rushing in to make sure the occupants of the house are OK Charlie is surprised to have his offer of aid soundly rebuffed (and himself denied any kind of entry) by the home owner, fashion model Eve Dupree. Charlie doesn't want to leave till he is sure she is OK but he reluctantly agrees to a compromise and agrees to meet her at the pool hall. If she shows and looks fine, he won't get 911 involved. Charlie knows that Eve is a fashion model turned mid-western small town gal and doesn't want to push his point and intrude on what little privacy she probably has. When she meets him at the pool hall, wallops him at a game, and then drops the bomb she is building a hovercraft in her garage and the explosion was her bio fuel going wrong Charlie knows he has found the girl for him. But has he? Can a small town boy and a beautiful, genius model really be right for each other?

I had trouble with Eve and Charlie from the get go. Charlie wasn't all that nerdy for starters -- just because you hold a degree in engineering doesn't qualify you for the status. And he actually sounded pretty hot from Eve's description of him. The fact that he had what sounded like a pretty active past sex life didn't add to the image either. While we are on the subject, I hate to break the news to Ms. Thompson but many people wear glasses because of poor vision and not liking the feel of contacts -- not just cause their nerds.

Eve was even more unrealistic -- a super model who shoots great pool, eats pizza and cinnamon rolls and is so smart she couldn't graduate high school cause it bored her/imposed too much structure on her.

I played along though, cringing through some lust thought and unbelievable dialogue until we got to the X-rated bakery. First, I frankly don't like the thought of calling my glazed donuts c_ck rings. Second, I don't want my cinnamon roll called a booby bun. That isn't sexy -- it brings to mind twelve year olds giggling over a copy of Playboy or something. Last but not least, I don't find middle aged bank presidents who go to Yale to watch the college girls walk around campus funny. Sorry but even if the women are over 18 that doesn't make standing in a corner just to watch co-eds walk about any less stalkerish or creepy. That and the unfortunate resolution to the mystery portion of the story earned this book a below average grade from me. I will probably give this author another shot -- I love nerds and hope I can find a good novel featuring one -- but this book sure wasn't it.

Tea: I didn't pull anything special out for this -- just a bag of Lipton Decaf and some cream.
Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA/Science Fiction
Grade: B


This is book two of the hunger games series. I adored the first book in this series and really wanted to give this one an A. Many of the elements that made the first book an A were still there -- crisp characterization, excellent prose, good plot continuity, page turning action BUT -- I felt a few things were forced. Without giving any of the plot away it is difficult to discuss but I would say my complaints are the same as those I had for "New Moon". The addition of a third character where none was needed annoyed me. The character himself bothered me because I thought he continually saw Katniss not as a whole person but as a means to an end -- initially that end was that she was the kind of person who would be an asset to his own life, moving the family forward through hard work or after Hunger Games, money. Then he saw her as a flame and symbol who could help the districts catch fire and revolt. I wondered if he ever looked at her and saw her -- a woman who needed help and guidance sometimes, who needed to be held during nightmares. I could easily see him getting impatient after missing a few nights sleep, unlike Peeta with his absolutely selfless love. In the end, like "New Moon", the triangle added just derailed the story a bit for me. Can't wait to get to book three and hopefully find the books back on track.

Tea: Stick with Blackcherry Berry by Celestial Seasonings. The natural flavor and sweetness match the nature of this book. And really, get them from the library. These and "What I Saw and How I Lied" are looking to be my favorite books of the year.

Taking a Break From Paranormals (and a review of Magic Mourns, Ilona Andrews)

Magic Mourns
Ilona Andrews
Paranormal
Grade: C+
Setting: Set immediately after the events of "Magic Strikes" and sometime before Kate and Curran's "big meal".

I've been reading a lot of paranormal books lately. After the most recent, Patricia Briggs outstanding "Hunting Ground", I found myself in a loop. I reread Brigg's Mercy Thompsons. Then I reread her Alpha and Omega's. Desperate to break my rereading loop I picked up "Must Love Hellhounds" which had an Ilona Andrews story, a writer whose style I find quite a bit like Brigg's. Let's talk about "Magic Mourns" for a minute.

This is the story of Andrea, Kate's friend, fellow knight and current only holder of her "secret". Andrea is in the office when she receives a report of a large dog chasing a shapeshifter. She takes her second best gun from the safe (the best gun would be overkill and besides, it requires too much paperwork) and drives to the rescue. When she sees that the shapeshifter turns out to be none other than Rafael, a werehyena that is courting her and annoying her simultaneously, she has second thoughts of a rescue. And then she sees the dog -- a huge, house sized Hellhound. This is a short story and I don't want to get too much more involved in plot reveals. I will add that Andrea, of course, has a big secret of her own and doesn't really want to get involved with Rafael but as they battle the bad guys and deal with the dog they find themselves wondering if they can't somehow come to a happy conclusion about their relationship issues. Andrea is a solid, kick butt style heroine and Rafael is really pretty engaging. So why did these two drive me to taking a month long break from paranormals? They didn't -- but the addition of greek gods to a universe crowded with vampires, shapeshifters and magic waves did. It just felt like so much kitchen sink overkill, like the author was trying to throw me off the scent of possible plot errors by pulling out all the stops. So I decided that my crankiness is probably due to over reading the genre (heck, maybe even over reading in general) and I have wisely decided to take a break of at least a month. Naturally, I already have two killer novels waiting for me for after my 30 days is up. ;-) But expect to see a lot of romance and mystery reading over the course of the next few days.

The tea: Stick with something warm and comfy for the next little while.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Status: Library Book
Grade: A
Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Katniss lives in a postapocalyptic world where everyone lives in fenced in districts and is essentially forced to forage, hunt, and steal for survival. Well, almost everyone. For those few fortunate enough to live in the Capitol there is plenty to eat, drink and be merry about. And the merriest thing of all for the Capitol Dwellers are The Hunger Games, a gladiator/survivor style fight to the death where the contestants are children (12-18) from each of the 12 fenced in districts. When the lottery style drawing takes place to determine who will go to the games this year Katniss finds herself drawn reluctantly forward in place of another. As she goes into the games preparing for the fight of her life she must ultimately ask herself the question-- will her will to survive defeat every shred of humanity she has? Or will being a decent person cost her her very life?

I found myself sucked into this story from the very first page. It is not just that I was drawn in by Katniss's fight to survive but that I was drawn in by the whole tale-- her battle, the people she meets, what has brought her world to this, and the question that Katniss herself asks -- can a decent person actually win these games?

Collins writing style is effortless and pleasant. She can paint a very complex picture with very few words, sucking you in quickly and easily to an alternate universe. I loved the way that she presented the whole story with no unnecessary scenes or verbage, allowing the tale to be told in an almost conversational style that let the tale really shine through. The story is anything but simple though -- there are many layers here, they are just expertly presented.

I loved her characterizations as well. It is easy to immediately hate the Capitol people who are all part of this vicious system but she gives them more depth than that, making them complex and layered without ever resorting to using people as mouth pieces. Katniss is easy to love almost instantly -- a fighter and survivor who still has heart and compassion. We know she is one in a million even before the Capitol audience does. Haymitch, Peeta, Rue and the rest of the supporting cast are also expertly drawn, enhancing the tale in just the right way to keep you invested in them while focused on Katniss.

I loved the subtle, underlying question of the "wholesomeness" of reality television. When you live in a world where voyeurism and watching people make fools of themselves for their 15 minutes of fame is a regular occurrence, is it really such a stretch to think of a time when we will be willing to do what the ancient Romans did and watch people kill each other for our entertainment? I also couldn't help comparing their world to ours, where there are societies that seem to flow with milk and honey while the very people we get much of our merchandise from struggle to make ends meet. In that sense the read was a bit uncomfortable. My family is by no means rolling in the dough but to read of moments where these people talk about not having gloves for a brutal winter makes one really take stock of just how much the majority of us do have.

Honestly, I would love to throw some qualifiers out there but I found the book great. It's the kind of tale where if I tell too much I take away from the experience of reading it (and I don't want to do that to you!) I strongly recommend it.

Tea: Black Cherry herbal tea with splenda is my fave right now. Loving it!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

So a quick catch up

Picture me with my eyes a bit blood shot and dazed. In a frantic attempt to get through everything I have in the house to read I have been over reading. I am in a fog. Confuzzled. So I am just going to list a few books and then hopefully be able to write some decent commentary at a later date.

Hunting Ground -- Patricia Briggs -- A. This is a continuation of the "Alpha and Omega" series that began in "On the Prowl" and continued with "Cry Wolf". I always find myself reading a Briggs book and then rereading it almost right away. I loved this one. Charles and Anna find themselves in Seattle, battling bad guys as the werewolves debate on coming "out" to the public.

I Can See You -- Karen Rose B -- A serial killer picks his victims from an on-line game. I liked it as I read it but now I am struggling to remember what even happened. It was a good read, above average but it is not something I will be going back to anytime soon.

Dream Fever -- Karen Marie Moning -- A -- I have a love/hate relationship with the fever series. I love the intricate world building going on. Hate the wait to see what unveils. It will be good to get to next August and finally have answers.

Acts of Mercy -- Mariah Stewart-- C I love these little mysteries centered around the Mercy Street Foundation but am willing to admit they are not brilliant. They are a solid read though and if you are into romantic suspense I would recommend going for it!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Stolen

author: Kelly Armstrong
genre: Paranormal
grade: B-
status: library book

A personal pet peeve for me is a heroine who thinks she is all that and then tends to require endless rescuing by others. That seemed to me to be a theme in Armstrong's debut novel "Bitten" and to me it continued here.

In book one we learned that Elena Michaels was turned werewolf without permission. It complicated her relationship with fiancee at the time Clayton, who did the turning, and "Bitten" deals with many of the issues between them. At the beginning of book two Elena is back with Clayton and living with him and Jeremy his father (who is also pack alpha) in the Pack's estate in New York. Elena has resumed her original position with the Pack of checking out werewolf sightings to determine if they are a) legitimate and b)a danger to the Pack and werewolves in general. Werewolves are deep in the closet in these novels and woe betide the "mutt" (non-pack, independent wolf) that risks their hidden status. Naturally, Elena's tool of choice is the World Wide Web and through believe.com she makes contact with a Paige Winterbourne who sounds as though she has some legit intel to sell. The Pack can't allow that intel to fall into the wrong hands and Elena is off to make sure it doesn't.

When Paige and Elena meet the encounter seems to go wrong from the start. The girly tea shoppe chosen as their trysting place has acoustics which allow people to dip in to your conversation at any time. Since this is not good for their secret agent style meet Paige brightly offers her hotel room as an alternate setting and since Elena is confident her werewolf nature will protect her (cause, you know, that didn't go wrong last book)she traipses right in to a trap. Get used to this, I don't think Elena knows how else to do things. The trap is actually rather benign and yields the startling information that the wolves aren't alone in the supernatural world ;-). In rapid order Elena meets with witches, half-demons, and vampires. It is as the Pack reluctantly becomes involved in this world that the real adventure takes off for it seems that someone is hunting the supernaturals . . . .

Armstrong is a powerful story weaver and I found myself sucked into the tale despite my misgivings. One of the great things about her is that she pulls no punches with her villains -- they tend to be people who not only deserve being eliminated but frankly, are sometimes begging for it. She doesn't bog down the tale in useless information but she does sketch quickly and competently just what you need to know on every page. Her characterizations are clear, concise and consistent, adding a good depth to the story telling that makes it just that much more compelling.

There is a touch of romance here but the relationship was established in "Bitten" and Armstrong is not a romance writer per se. She captures the nature of a relationship that is intense but not new very well though, imo. I especially enjoyed seeing Clay handle a comeon from a new character. Interesting to see his handling of it and even better to watch Elena's reaction to it.

The book is not a light, fun read but certainly if you have read Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs or Moning's Fever series (and if you haven't, what are you waiting for???) you aren't going to pass out from the action here.

What dropped the book to a B- for me is that the wolves did not seem to learn from their experiences in the last book. Elena's overconfidence, especially when she waltzed right into the initial trap, began to rub me wrong. Mistakes are natural, we all make them but while many characters in my favorite books make them and learn from them this is something the characters in this series find beyond them. I find Jeremy an exceptionally incompetent Pack leader and know that all that is keeping him alive is the fierce loyalty of Clay and Elena, his two warriors. That drops my opinion of them though because he is so clearly unfit to lead.

I will probably continue to read this series. The really nice thing about it is that unlike other series, where I am rabid to tear into book after book, this is one where I am like "Well, I'll put it on my pile and when I get there I get there." It's a nice feeling to have a good but not great book waiting for you.

Tea: How about a bit of Raspberry Zinger? Sweet enough to get you through the tough bits and soothing enough to carry you through the scary bits.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Dreamcatcher Series

By: Lisa McMann
Books so far: Wake, Fade
Grade: B+
Status: Library books

Janie is just 8 yrs. old when she first gets sucked into the dream of a stranger on a train. By the time she is 17 she is quite thoroughly sick of it. She has seen them all -- dreams where she falls endlessly, dreams where she joins classmates who are standing in front of the class/at an assembly/on a football field naked. And the endless sex fantasy dreams that she does NOT want to know go on in her friends' heads. But it is as she is driving down a street to school that she truly learns how freaky and dangerous her dreams can be. For right in broad daylight she is pulled in to a nightmare so powerful she almost wrecks her car.

Meeting the dreamer changes Janie's life in many ways. She gets a new job, a new friend, and begins to discover just what she is and what she can do to effect the world with her powers.

Janie is a very engaging character. Although she has life hard -- her mother should have been caught by social services years ago -- she is upbeat and determined. She is someone who grapples with what life throws at her, who gives it her best bat every single pitch. I liked the aura of mystery to the stories and the way the impending sense of doom creeps up on you. I also like how the author really looked at what Janie does as having real difficulties attached to it-- if Janie is not seated when someones dream sucks her in, she falls. If she is doing something, such as driving, she wrecks. And many dreams are just darn unpleasant for her to be in. She learns things about people she would just as soon not know and she realizes it affects how she treats them in real life -- and that is a touch unfair.

And Janie is not universally popular -- she has friends but not everyone loves her. She is a good student but she has to work at it.

My complaints with the books is that they are short and therefore not as in depth as I would wish and that the author tries hard to be PC, including every thing that can possibly happen in a big city high school. I found those bits jarring.

Still, overall a recommend it read for those into the whole paranormal scene.

Tea: Hot and sweet, take your pick!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Nacissim Epidemic

Author: Jean M. Twenger, Ph.D.
W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D.
Grade:B
Status: Library Book

The subtitle to this book is "Living in the Age of Entitlement" and that pretty well describes what it is about. Today in America, like never before, we encounter people who really do live their lives with the idea that it is all about them. The authors show, through a massive amount of research, just how that has lead to a generation that has poor work ethics, low morals and a growing love of materialism and celebrity. Is America's failing economy directly linked to the "I deserve it all" mentality of the people currently living here? The authors point out that could very well be.

Taking us step by step through the way self-esteem can give way to narcissism and showing us detailed evidence of just what narcissism is the authors show how this growing trend is changing the very reality in which we live. They address all the things which they feel are fueling the epidemic == from cute t-shirts declaring "I'm a little princess" to parents paying for plastic surgery as a high school graduation present; naked or airbrushed pictures on myspace and the reality that much of what we do to stay connected has turned into an opportunity to show off our materialism -- from flashy phones to flashier web pages.

The final chapter deals with what we can do to reverse this trend -- by spending more time teaching community and charity and less time teaching people how to help themselves.

The credibility of this book is very high because of the meticulous research standards utilized. What kept it from being a perfect A for me is that in some ways I felt there was too alarmist a reaction to some what we are doing. I don't think teachers and parents trying to make children feel special and loved is what is behind this so much as the fact that parents often spend more money than time with kids. I also disliked how the current 20-somethings get blamed for their behaviors. If young women are receiving breast implants or nose jobs as graduation gifts (a specific example from the book) is it their fault or their parents? If kids are wanting to work fewer hours for less pay who did they receive the idea to do that from? Much of the behavior complained of can be traced back several generations. I also would have liked to have seen the authors talk more of what has happened as a result of women in the work place. Much of the greed they spoke of has occurred since families discovered two working professionals can own more than one. The subject was hinted at but the authors (one of whom is a working mom) carefully didn't cover it. Much can be said about bad stay at home moms -- growing up I knew several who had their kids outside from 8-5 who handed lunch out the back door-- but I think it is important to look at what exactly affected the changes we see in parenting. Simply blaming it on the kids doesn't work for me.

Overall I would recommend the book. It could help all of us to look at ourselves and ask the question "just how much am I living only for me?"

Tea: I always think of black tea as a serious tea. My favorite advise for making a good pot of tea was from a Scottish lady who ran a tea shop -- a teaspoon per cup plus an extra for the pot.

Enjoy !

Friday, August 21, 2009

Why Doesn't Anybody Like Me?

Author: Hara E. Marano
Status:Library Book
Genre: Nonfiction
Grade: F

No, I have not become totally insecure. This is the actual title of a book with a subtitle "A Guide to Raising Socially Confident Children".

Like most Moms, I want my kids to have the best of everything. When I saw this book in the library it intrigued me. Being the mom of a preteen I know what it is like to live with someone who is not socially confident and I figured any tips I could pick up to help would be welcome.

Unfortunately, this book is a bit of a joke. Ms. Marano is not a teacher, psychologist, doctor or other specialist. She is the editor of Psychology Today magazine but that is as far as her credentials go. That would have been all right if she had written the book as a mom's guide, doing a mother to mother exchange of information. She didn't. Instead she makes sweeping "factual" statements (Being nice makes you popular!) and pulls out nothing to back them with. She will admit that "Although I am witness to only small scenes from a playground and know nothing of the rest of these children's lives" she will go on to say ""I have learned to see what is going on in these seemingly trivial transactions." This would have been a good segue in to where she learned this but she doesn't go there.

She does site research in several chapters of the book but it was not relative to what her subject matter was supposed to be.
The research dealt with the dangers of lack of socialization but really didn't go into depth as to how "to raise a socially confident child". The advice she did give -- don't call your kid a loser sticks out in my mind -- was a bit ridiculous. I couldn't believe any parent interested enough in a subject matter like this ever would do such a thing.

In the end I found the book unhelpful and not as well laid out as I am used to in a self-help style book.

Tea: Don't waste a good cuppa on this stinker.

Monday, August 17, 2009

The Doomsday Key

Author: James Rollins
Genre: Thriller
Status: Library Book
Grade: Tough to say, let's give it an A


Three murders on three continents occur in rapid succession leaving behind only one clue-- all the victims are branded with a Druidic pagan cross. The horrific murders thrust Sigma Force -- an ultra clandestine unit working for the US Government -- into a battle of wits and wills with an organization determined to unleash a centuries old horror on mankind. As Director Painter Crow and Commander Gray Pierce attempt to put the pieces of the puzzles together before it is too late they find themselves jumping continents, raiding ancient relics and watching everyone around them to determine just who is friend or foe. Because they know someone on the inside of their little group has leaked information to the enemy. But just who is that traitor? And will this betrayal prevent them from ultimately discovering The Doomsday Key?

TDK is book 6 in the Sigma Series that Rollin's began with "Sand Storm". In the tradition of thriller writers like Alistair MacLean, Tom Clancy,Dan Brown and George Lucas (the mastermind behind Indiana Jones ;-) Rollins combines fast paced action and ancient mysteries to create a suspenseful, edge of your seat style read. One thing that puts Rollins at the top of the game is the absolute excellence of his research. The books are worth reading for the author's note alone. He also has the perfect writing style for this type of work -- being able to include his information into the text that doesn't result in an info dump that readers simply skip over. Good thing cause we need the info to solve the mystery.

And the mystery is what makes these books. I mentioned Indiana Jones specifically because that is what this series is most like. The mysteries being solved go all the way back to very ancient times. Much time is spent in crypts, in caves, going to restricted areas in museums -- you get the picture. It is not just people with guns but smart people with guns. There is almost always a professor involved -- normally two or three. In this case they are trying to solve the riddle of a modern day food farm massacre, an ancient plague, mysterious saints and their journals and how all that ties in to the Druidic cross.

We are introduced to a couple of new characters in this book, though not any that really impact the plot. One of them is clearly thrown in just for the PC aspect but again, no real impact on the plot. Somebody needs to wear a red shirt to keep things real, right? ;-) Old favorites like Painter, Gray, Kat, Monk, Rachel, Seichen are all there. This novel was less of a character growth book than those in the past, though. The characters pretty much kick butt, take names and have time for nothing else. Makes sense although he has been able to pull off both in the past before but maybe this book just got away from him.

One of the problems with reading a series book in which you have read all the preceding books is that you don't really know if it would work as a stand alone. I am going to say both yes and no. Yes, it would work but really you wouldn't get the full experience. And the preceding books are so good why deny yourself the pleasure?

Preceding Books:

Sandstorm
Map of Bones (personal fave)
Black Order
The Judas Strain
The Last Oracle

The Tea: Using tea leaves: A friend in Scotland told me a trick that has always resulted in a good pot of tea -- add one for the kettle. So when making your pot, add a teaspoon of leaves for each cup of water and then add an extra teaspoon for the pot.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Red's Hot Honky Tonk Bar

Author: Pamela Morsi
Genre: Women's Fiction
Status: Library Book
Grade: B

One phone call can change your entire life. Before Red Cullen took the call that was to change hers she was a red hot honky tonk owner, a 40 something with a toned, tattooed bod and a fiddle playing boy toy. After the call she was a grandma with 9 yr old Olivia and six year old Daniel in tow, shocked at the news that her daughter Bridge is in Iraq with the army, Abuela who normally cares for the kids while she is overseas has had a stroke and no longer can and that Red is actually listed as the next of kin on Bridges notification forms. Right from the beginning Red shows just how unprepared she is for the way her life is about to change when she goes to pick the children up in a two seater sports car without a seat belt -- or even seat-- for the youngest child -- and the base security guard refuses to let her off base till she has both. As she sits and waits for Cam, her boy toy, to come help her out she wonders just what else about her life will prove to be totally incompatible to two young children -- and will Cam be one of those things when he finds out she not only has a kid but grandkids?

I love Pam Morsi's writing and the way she focuses her work on "regular folk" who are unique individuals. Red, a bar owner in San Antonio, TX may be a tad different than most people but she is very grounded in today's world. She has to worry about bills, she has to work, she has relationship problems and trust issues -- in short, she is unique but also "just folk". Morsi captures Red beautifully, slowly introducing us to the many layers that are Red and bringing nuance to a character who (because of her career and background) would have been very easy to have be all show and no substance. She does this with each character in turn, painting Olivia (Livvy) and Daniel vividly enough that they aren't just central casting kids but again, alive, unique individuals who are the type of people you expect to meet at your local playground. In fact, Morsi cuts no corners in creating any character, making them all step off the page even if they are only on it for a moment or two.

This is Red's story and we get it almost exclusively from her point of view. It would be easy to call it "women's fiction" with all that entails but in many ways it is a very untraditional coming of age story. As the story unfolds Red learns all the lessons of coming of age -- that no one truly stands on their own but that learning to live within family and community as a full functioning member are what adulthood is all about, that love leaves you vulnerable and that in the end life isn't about how little help you need but about how much help you give. She learns that little about the future can be set in stone, no matter how hard we work to make that the case and that life affects us all this way -- rich, poor, young or old it offers none of us guarantees. It would be easy to think that Red's not knowing these things mean we meet an immature woman at the beginning of the book but we don't. Red had a tough road to traverse with many obstacles on it and she has traversed it and conquered it. But she traveled so hard and so fast that this is the first moment she has ever really been forced to look at who all was traveling that road with her. She doesn't waste that opportunity.

So why isn't this book an A? Does it have a perfect, happy ending? No. The whole point of the book is that life can come at us sideways and Red at the end of the book has the shadow of several of those "sideways" looming over the future. My complaint was with how very smoothly the problems that crop up are handled. All the things that Red needs to bridge her lifestyle to that of the kids appear. The children themselves might initially treat her with some well earned disrespect and skepticism (she is clueless as to what is expected from the modern parent) but they quickly settle into being model school children. They excel at school -- no learning disabilities or adjustments for the fact that they have been in numerous schools in their young lives are needed. More, Red is easily accepted into a community that you wouldn't expect her to be embraced by. When altercations occur with significant players -- even physical ones -- they are forgiven. Even Red's past is brought to a point where there is some closure and some small (far too late and far too little) rectification is made. Don't get me wrong, in many ways that was great. No downers or pesky, unhappy realities to deal with. But it also made me question a bit why the author went down this path to begin with. It seemed unrealistic to take us to the edge of a cliff only for us to find that it was only a two foot drop -- and we didn't even twist an ankle on the way down. Yes, the future is uncertain but that is the reality all of us face. Most of us face it without warning so even in that sense Red has one over on the rest of us.

I would recommend this book still. It is a great read, just a bit on the sugary side. And hey, who doesn't need sugar every once in a while.

The tea: Anything sweet will work but sweet iced tea is the best for dealing with that San Antonio sunshine!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Darkborn

Darkborn Alison Sinclair

Characters C-
Originality C
World Building A
Readability/Writing Style A
Overall Grade comes out to a B/B-

With something like this I fall back on the old GPA system, adding the grades together and then coming up with the overall grade by using the average. I posted everything because this is one of those uneven books that is almost impossible to recommend or NOT recommend.

Here is the blurb about the book from Amazon.com:From Publishers Weekly
Quote:
A mysterious curse puts unusual limitations on the cast of Sinclair's slow-moving but intriguing paranormal romance, the first of a trilogy. The blind Darkborn of Minhorne can't survive in the light, while the Lightborn will perish without it. The peaceful lives of Dr. Balthasar Hearne and Lady Telmaine Hearne, magically gifted Darkborn, are disrupted when Tercelle Amberley, once betrothed to Bal's long-missing brother and now engaged to duke-to-be Ferdenzil Mycene, shows up to ask Bal's help in delivering her illegitimate—and Lightborn-fathered—twin boys. She promptly deserts the infants, and an assassin seeking them takes the Hearnes' daughter hostage as further complications ensue. Sinclair (Cavalcade) raises too many unanswered questions, mostly regarding the origins of the curse and the characters' Regency-style manners, but the political intrigue is mostly enough to sustain readers' interest. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Alison Sinclair is an accomplished writer with a smooth style and knows just how much info to dole out at a time. The book is very, very readable.

But it did have flaws. The main problems came with the characters -- I would have to get into spoiler territory to fully describe them but they tend to be huge contradictions -- traditional but completely unconventional, mild mannered but not etc., etc.. Where in Gardner's "The Neighbor" I was awed by the complexity, in this one it was more contradiction than complexity. The characters behavior and actions simply didn't flow out of who they were. One critical scene that involved the rescue of a kidnap victim was first delayed unnaturally and then handled unnaturally. I didn't like the love quadrangle that sprang up either -- it added a confusion to characters already confusing enough.

In terms of originality, one piece of it was VERY familiar to me from previous fantasy series. I realize the writer was giving her own spin on a classic tale but my complaint was that she didn't dress it up enough for me not to recognize the tale. On the other hand, Lost the TV series and Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" both did dress it up enough for me to be awed by their handling.


But the world building was AWESOME. The light and dark born were really intriguing and I didn't trip over any contradictory facts, etc.

Overall, if you like fantasy novels I recommend getting this one from the library. It is well worth a read and I am looking forward to following the series.

Tea: Lemon Zinger, a bit otherworldly but also capable of being sweet when you add sugar, tart without.

Bewitching Season

Author: Marissa Doyle
Status: Library Book
Grade: I'm giving it a C -- but I'm not firm on that decision, LOL!
Tea: There are books that call for Earl Grey. This is one of them.

Persephone and Penelope Leland, Pen and Perse to friends, are the young daughters of Viscount Lord Asherton. It is the year of their "coming out" and the two girls have been hard at work learning all they need to know for the season -- dance, conversation, etiquette and magic? Even though being a witch or wizard is still a burning offense in the Kingdom, young witches and wizards are tracked and trained quietly by existing wizards and witches. It is all very hush, hush but the training ensures that young, untrained magical folk don't accidentally give the existence of magic away to the general public.

Miss Allardyce, governess extraordinaire, who has been training the girls in magic as well as decorum goes ahead of the Leland family to their London townhouse to get it ready for the Season. While there she is to begin ordering the girls gowns and accessories, as well as visit her own family who owns a very special bookshop. The girls are fond of "Ally" as they call her and when they learn she has gone missing after visiting her family they involve themselves in trying to find her as well as carrying out their own duties as members of Society during the Season.

The book had a bit of a feel of "Sorcery and Ceceila" by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. The world building was the same, although this one takes place in the early Victorian Era. While "S & C" is an extraordinary work by two talented authors this work is much sketchier than that effort.

The book is mostly about Perse, the shyer sister who really just wishes she was a boy who could retire to the country and study magic and Greek. She has little clever conversation and so is surprised when her ability to smile and simply say yes! and how interesting! make her extremely popular with the young men of the Season who are actually more anxious to talk at her than with her. Soon she is juggling several beaux as well as desperately working to gain the attention of the handsome Lochinvar and find her missing governess.

Several times I almost didn't finish the book. Perse could act very young and it was more than a little disconcerting to think she would be married soon. She just didn't have a clue what that meant. She was also more than a bit careless with others feelings. Not to add careless with using her magic in a climate that was supposedly hostile to it. It's not that I disliked her so much as she came across as just very, very immature. There were plot twists that made little sense and I felt the author tried to include a bit too much. While I really appreciated that the history was far more than just back ground noise I wish she would have found a way to include it that could have been more naturally wrapped into the plot.

Overall the book just felt a bit too youthful and foolish for me to really enjoy it.

What I Saw and How I Lied

Genre: Teen, general fiction
Status: Library Book
author: Judy Blundell
Grade: A, with reservations

"He might have been a thief, a liar and a cheat but he was a good person."


When I think of the 1940's I think of women in high heels, swanky suits and that bright red lipstick. I think of men in suits and ties and stylish hats. I think black and white, big band and film noir. "What I saw and How I Lied" perfectly evokes every one of those images to give us a sleek, stylish thriller told in a quick but intense 280 pages.

Evie Spooner is 15 yrs. old when her step-father comes home from the war. She is thrilled to have him home but she feels all the awkwardness of that age where she is starting to notice boys but they are not really noticing her. It is not made easier by the fact that her mother is "a dish" -- a gorgeous, curvaceous blond who makes Evie look even drabber in comparison. But all that gets pushed from Evie's head when after getting a call from a man looking for someone else Evie's step-dad suddenly decides to take his little family on a whirlwind trip to Florida.

The book is told in the first person, which frankly is the only way it would have worked. As we move inexorably toward the moment when Evie will have to lie we, the reader, pick up all the clues telling us why her world is about to do a complete 180. In a third person tale missing these hints would have made Evie look like a complete idiot but because we see them all through Evie's eyes we know why she was misinterpreting them, what she was thinking and feeling as she did so and that saves the book. It also gives it its air of mystery and doubt, giving it that unique noir feel that is so impossible to catch in a third person story.

My reservations come in under two points -- one is that this is marked a teen novel but the subject matter feels very adult to me. One of the biggest points of the novel is that moment when we all realize that the adults in our lives aren't saints or perfect but all too human. Many teen books have this but this goes far beyond the norm and introduces a world so cynical even a long time Law and Order veteran watcher like myself had to shake her head a bit at it all. This is a testament to Blundell -- she makes her characters very real, very much regular people in a seemingly regular situation which quite suddenly turns on them. Her timing and the sense of the growing of the mystery is exquisite, it was a perfect noir pace. But that also makes it a book which really doesn't read "teen" and more, I'm not sure many modern teens would be able to relate to it.

The second reservation dealt with one of the characters. She acted very much out of character or at least, according to Evie, what we knew of her character and a great deal of the plot hinged on that. I would have liked to have seen the author explain it a bit more, show us if Evie had misjudged her previous character of if a change of location is what caused the change in behavior.

Overall this is a fantastic read. It is a "National Book Award Winner" and most assuredly deserved that. I recommend it -- but maybe mom's will want to read it before passing it on to teens.

The Tea: The strongest black tea you have or cheat a bit and make it coffee. Drink it straight or with a strong dose of sugar and regular cream (no flavoring!). It will go perfectly with the spirit of the book.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Aliens, baby! Yeah!!!!

The Hidden Worlds
The Cold Minds
The Dark Reaches by Kristin Landon
Status: Library Books
Grade: C

Tagline: After the Earth was destroyed by ruthless machine intelligences known as the Cold Minds, the remnants of the human race sought refuge on the Hidden Worlds.


I miss science fiction. Sure, I love fantasy but watching the new Star Trek movie this year reminded me of how much I love S/F and how little I've been getting of it lately. Movies are doing a good job of getting the message out -- Transformers, Iron Man, Escape from Witch Mountain, Aliens in the Attic -- but there's nothing like sinking your teeth into a good s/f novel. Unfortunately, this experience isn't quite that.

Now, before I start tearing these books apart and telling you where the author went wrong I want to emphasize that C means average. It means the author may have made mistakes that keep things from being an A but she did enough right that I am not trashing her work. It means she kept me reading in spite of flaws. It means there is good in these books along with the bad and that they aren't a total waste of time. Just saying.

Plot: Linnea Kiaho is nineteen and looking at a really bad future if she can't find a way to fix things. Her home world is a backwater, hostile planet that barely ekes out an existence for its inhabitants when things are going well. And right now, things ain't going well. To save her family Linnea breaks the greatest taboo of her people and accepts an indenture on the godless, decadent planet of the Pilot Masters hoping she will be able to blackmail one of them with an old family secret. This secret is apparently worth a great deal of money. The only problem? She doesn't have a clue what the secret is -- just what the container it is in looks like. She has to hope that information will be enough to trigger fear in the man she is about to tell it to.

The man to whom she is about to tell it to, Ian van Paolo, has problems of his own -- one of them being that he never agreed to take on an indentured servant and another being that he is in danger of losing his position. Not to add that he has no clue what the container she is talking about holds! Knowing that Linnea can only be a trap set by his enemies, Ian ignores advice from all sides and tries to find out how Linnea got there and just what it is that she doesn't know that could hurt him.

But this is hardly the time for any of this because after six centuries of hiding the cold minds have finally found them . . . . . .

Solving the riddle of the secret and working to save their world will take Linnea and Ian to places they never expected to go and give them a love that can cross galaxies.

The Nitpicking: I am probably hampered from understanding the following because I am a woman but here it is: Why do people assume that women will get to outer space and decide that freedom isn't for us and we want to give up every right we have ever earned? I mean, really? I won't want to vote, own property, or have the right to work to feed myself? Is the air out there too thin or something???? What really amazes is that this tends to come from the pens of women sci-fi writers-- men expect us to be able to do everything and look hot doing it; women seem to expect that we will want to redo the work of Ms. Anthony. The world Linnea comes from has women as very sub-standard citizens which just struck me as . . a touch stupid. I could understand if it had been explained that these people were the Amish, still sticking to their traditions even out there in space after several hundred years (and good for them if that is the ever the case) but they aren't. They are religious (I would guess some form of Anglican from what I read)but it makes no sense as to why the women would have no rights. To add to that I am confused as to why they landed on this world and then promptly threw in the towel. It did not sound like they tried to make the best of the place at all.

Another point which is not isolated to this particular series is the assumption that mankind will get to outer space and cease to be innovative. I don't buy that for a minute. Our technology is replaced every five years right now -- I think the more techno dependent we become the more we will crave better and better machines. It's just our nature. I buy that whole situation turning on us but I don't buy the idea that we won't be innovative.

I don't like "other space" or whatever people name it. The idea that we somehow have to mentally navigate some form of non-existence to travel the outer reaches of space hasn't worked for me since Dune and didn't work for me here. (Now see Dune made sense -- those people worked hard to make something of that planet but I digress.)

I also don't get humanity setting up a colony on a world where there are no resources and death is inevitable without outside help. A colony indicates a decision and I would think that decision would be more thought out.

In later books when we get to find out just who and what "The Cold Minds" are the revelation seems rushed and almost swept over like it is of no significance. It also carries on an ongoing theme, in a sense, of these books which is that survival trumps problem resolution. One of the themes I love in s/f is that problem resolution equals survival, so I find this a bit off putting. That could just be me though.

In fairness to Ms. Landon these "mistakes" (if indeed they are that) are common errors in the entire genre, not just her book. But that doesn't completely exempt her either - I would have appreciated at least a halfhearted attempt at explaining some of this.

In the end this was a really hard review to write. I don't want to completely discourage people from reading the books because they are, I think, worth at least a try. On the other hand, I don't want to encourage people to think they are precisely great reads either -- they aren't perfect and might fall apart under intense scrutiny.

The Tea:
Any "Celestial" Seasonings tea has a nice spatial theme to it. Enjoy!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Made to be Broken

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Grade: A
Status: Library Book

Prior book:
Exit Strategy. Don't need to read but it helps set up the characters. This one stands alone fine though.

Plot: Nadia Stafford's taxable income comes from running a nature lodge in Canada. But her non-taxable income is what makes Nadia unique: She's an ex-cop turned professional hitman. But this time around it's Nadia's legit business that gets her in trouble -- a teenage mom and sometimes employee of Nadia's has gone missing with her young daughter. While most of the town is convinced that the girl has simply gone on to warmer climes Nadia's instincts scream that there is more to the story. As she begins to investigate just what that more could be she pulls friends from her "other" job into a problem that grows more complex every time she turns around and soon Nadia finds all her worlds colliding -- past, present and possibly even future-- as she finds out that some people will do anything for what they want but should never have.

Characterization: Nadia is so well drawn it is frightening. Normally I wouldn't love a heroine who was a hitman, nor have warm feelings towards two possible love interests that share that same profession but I do. Nadia, Jack and Quinn are all three layered sufficiently that you don't just judge them by their profession -- these are very real people who are (mostly) given very good reasons for what they are and the decisions they've made. You don't feel drawn to exonerate them -- they wouldn't ask that of you -- but you don't feel drawn to judge them either. I love the fact that they don't excuse themselves by trying to make out they are somehow better than the mafia moles and drug dealers they are often hired to eliminate; many authors would fall into that trap but not Armstrong.

Readability/Writing Style: Armstrong is a strong writer able to evoke poignant images with her prose. Many characters and locations leapt off the page for me.

All around a great, can't-put-it-down sort of read.

Tea: The plot is chilling so the tea called for needs to warm you up! My fave: Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger, a decaf tea you can drink all night (trust me, the book will be more than enough to keep you awake).

maggie b.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Burn

Burn by Linda Howard B-/C+

Status: Library Book
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Characterization C
Plot C-
Readability/Writing Style A


Plot: When Jenner Redwine wins a large lottery she sheds the confines of working class life in Chicago for the hot, rich lifestyle available to wealthy in Miami. Jenner is not surprised she doesn't fit perfectly into the world of socialites and trust fund babies and she doesn't really care -- she is satisfied with the challenge of managing some of her own money and sweet hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett is all she really needs in terms of friends. Together they make the rounds of charity events and dance clubs gripping about boyfriends and trying to find true love in a world where many men look at them and see only dollar signs.

It is as they are preparing for one of these charity events -- a cruise on a luxury liner complete with balls, art auctions and snorkeling in Hawaii -- that they find themselves not in the warm waters of the pacific but in the hot waters of the world of intrigue. Sydney is whisked away to a hotel room while Jenner is forced to share their cruise cabin with a decidedly grim kidnapper. Told to cooperate or she risks Syd's life, Jenner is forced into a world where missteps are final steps, masks are not worn only at charity balls and the only allies you have may be the very people who got you into this mess in the first place. In spite of herself Jenner finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into this fascinating new world and deeper and deeper into a relationship with her kidnapper, the enigmatic, captivating Cael.

I had a couple problems with the plot. One was the long set up -- we are with Jenner when she wins the money and learn all about what it is like to be a lottery winner. I've seen this before (one memorable "Cold Case" dealt with a lottery winner turned victim) and I just didn't need it in that much detail. My second problem was the sheer unbelievability of it -- spying is sneaky work and I just find this completely unreal, over the top, and frankly, at some points, down right silly.

Characterization: I found Jenner a bit cold hearted. I could totally understand her feelings toward her father, her feelings toward her dead beat loser of a boyfriend and her bruised sense of being used. But I also felt she never gave her friend Michelle a real chance and was far too wary of all the men around her being after her for her money. I felt like she would never have gotten with Cael if he hadn't been rich and that bugged me. It is one thing to be able to look after yourself, it is another to be paranoid and judgmental of others. If Jenner had earned that money I might cut her more slack but she won it (yes, she wisely invested it rather than blowing it on cars or whatever but still, she won it). Her attitude to those less lucky just struck me as something of a character flaw.

I also felt Cael was sketched rather than fully drawn. I didn't really get to know him and I wished I had.

Readability/Writing Style: The book didn't seem to take itself very seriously and that helped me over look its flaws and just go with the flow. Howard is a very experienced writer and is easy to read, even in the sections that turn into info dumps about lottery winning. I think this makes a good summer, sitting in the lawn chair and don't really want to think read. Is it as good as old Howards? No. I returned it to the library with no qualms. But did I like it? Not enough to buy it but to read it and relax, yes.

Caveat: The names were darn distracting. I think authors try for too much creativity in this area. Really, when a character is well drawn and likable you can name them anything -- even something ordinary like Harry, Bella or Edward or Elizabeth or Darcy.


Tea:
The only tea to drink in a lawn chair on a hot summer day is Southern Sweet Tea. I do the lazy thing and use six to eight bags of Lipton Ice Tea blend in the Iced Tea Machine I have. Then I add sugar (to taste although technically I use Splenda) OR I sometimes buy DaVinci Sugar Free Peach Syrup and DaVinci Sugar Free Raspberry Syrup and add about 1/4-1/2 cup each to the mix. This tastes very much like Bellini Iced Tea from the Olive Garden. The syrups are available online or at Cost Plus World Market.