#86 Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison

My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

I really liked this book. I’ve enjoyed watching Rachel’s character become more proficient in her magick throughout the 3 books of this series. And mmmm… yummy Kisten… I’m glad he’s playing a more prominent role in this book too, and we get to learn more about him as a person. (And that Rachel is finally ready to kick Nick to the curb as she turns an admiring eye towards Kisten. But I won’t say too much there and ruin it for you.)

Ivy is no longer vamping out all the time over Rachel, and their relationship, while still very platonic, is less stressed than it was in the previous book.

That said, I think I still liked the 2nd book the best so far of these three, although this is still a very close 2nd, tied with the first one.

I’ll be sending this book out on a private invitation-only bookring among some of my BC friends… you know who you are. :)

See the BookCrossing journal entry for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#85 The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I liked it, though not quite as much as the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, which was my favorite of the three.

The Amber Spyglass picked up right where The Subtle Knife left off, and having been a couple months since I read that, and 15 other books in between, I kind of forgot some of the finer points of the previous story. I kind of wish I’d had that copy handy for a quick refresher before starting on this one. I was able to get back up to speed quickly enough, but there were still some references to previous minor events that happened, and I found myself having to work back through memory or hoping that they’d expand if it was really important to the story. An example that kept being referred to is how Will was arguing with his father at the time he died in book 2. Well, unfortunately, I couldn’t recall the circumstances surrounding Will’s father’s death clearly enough in my head to know if what they were arguing about at the time was significant to the story, and I didn’t even know how he’d died until that detail was eluded to in a later conversation.

I don’t think this was as much of an issue between the first and second books because more of the minor plots and events were wrapped up before the end, while of course the big plot that spans the entire trilogy is left open… but you don’t usually forget the major plotline anyway, just some of the details of the minor ones.

So I always like to give an objective statement or review about the book as well as my opinions on it. And that said, I thought the entire trilogy overall was very good and well written. Though I was both pleased and disappointed in the way everything was resolved. How can that be?

WARNING! SPOILER ALERT.
Highlight the text below in order to read it.

Well, I didn’t like that Lord Asriel died, and I didn’t like that Lyra and Will couldn’t be together after all they’d went through. I guess both those points added a note of sadness to the ending. Of course, all the events that had transpired thus far lead up to the final resolution, and I enjoyed seeing the way everything fit together nicely.

See the the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#84 Sex, Lies, and Vampires by Katie MacAlister

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

This was a fairly good read, though not quite as good as the previous book in the series, Sex and the Single Vampire. (This is the third book in the series and A Girl's Guide to Vampires the first.)

Thank Goddess we no longer see Joy and Roxy, main characters from the first book who reminded me of a couple of whiny teenagers, in this one. We do have Ally and Christian and a few other characters from the second book though and I was glad to see them return in this one.

In this installment, Nell Harris, a Professor of Medieval History at the University of Washington, is also a Charmer who can create and disarm magical charms and curses, a practice she gave up 10 years ago when she accidently killed her best friend while trying to disarm a curse. She's been asked to the Czech Republic by Melissande, a Dark One (sorta like a Vampire), on the premise of translating an inscription on a fourteenth-century breastplate. The real reason behind Melissande's asking Nell to come though is because she's aware of her background as a Charmer. Melissande wants Nell to use her Charming skills to help find her 10-year-old nephew Damian who's been taken by the demon lord Asmodeus.

Immediately, Nell runs into "The Betrayer", Melissande's brother Adrian, who has been bound to Asmodeus, while searching for clues to Asmodeus's whereabouts in Christian's castle. Adrian whisks Nell off against her will when he realizes what she can do for him. Despite Adrian's curse binding him to the demon lord by his father when he was only 2 years old, Nell immediately sees the good in him and they soon realize that Nell is Adrian's Beloved. (A Beloved is a Dark One's "other half" who is able to bring light into his soul, etc.)

Melissande, Christian, and the other Dark Ones including Melissande's other brother Saer are all against Adrian and would prefer to just do away with him. But Adrian also wants to save Damian as well as have Nell remove his curse. So Nell joins forces with Adrian and while working to get the information they need to free Damian, they must also avoid the other Dark Ones trying to slow them down.

Thoughout the story, Nell's character reminded me a little too much of Joy or Roxy from A Girl's Guide to Vampires—her comments and American colloquialisms were meant to be funny, but I found them annoying more often than not. Plus, she's a bit too mouthy for her own good and doesn't think how her actions will affect what she's trying to accomplish. Fortunately, there were a number of other funny parts in the story, the mummies for instance, which had me cracking up!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information.

#83 Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I almost didn’t finish reading this book… the first 100 pages were very tedious and boring me to tears. However, I wanted to read at least 1/4 of the way through (about 100 pages) before making a decision whether to put this book aside since I’ve read a number of good books that also started off slow. In this case, I’m glad I continued reading as things got more interesting right around the 100th page, when Azriel was made into the Servant of the Bones.

I didn’t particularly care for the style in which the story was told, with Azriel telling his story to Jonathan, in the style of Interview with the Vampire. The story wouldn’t worked just as well without Jonathan’s character.

Azriel recalls to Jonathan his experiences serving various Masters as the Servant of the Bones, starting with his youth growing up in Babylon, circa 600 B.C.E., and ending in present-day New York, where he uses his supernatural powers to uncover a world-threating conspiracy by a magnanimous cult leader. And in the process, truly transforms himself from the demon he believed he once was, to a true Angel of God.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#82 Fool Moon (The Dresden Files book 2) by Jim Butcher

My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

I really liked this book, even better than the first one. I think Harry’s character is endearing to both men and women alike so I just recently started my husband on this series with Storm Front since I believe he prefers a male lead. That said, many male leads are often indifferent or unemotional like so many men are, but Harry allows you to see his softer side at times too, beneath his tough outside exterior. Because every good guy has a good heart. :)

This book centers around werewolves and their various forms, and as Harry enters into a battle with the supernatural creatures, all the aspects of his personna are stretched and put to the test, including again, his friendship with Murphy, which still hadn’t fully recovered from the last episode. Susan is back and Harry looks deeper at his feelings for her, especially when their lives are threatened and they’re clinging to each other on what might be their last night alive.

(I hope this review is coherent… I’m writing under the influence of Dayquil and many other pain killers. Go Pats! Go Yule Tree! So much to do today… must banish all the ickiness!)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#81 Powers of Detection: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy edited by Dana Stabenow

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Some of the stories in this book were really good, while others I didn’t really like at all.

Cold Spell by Donna Andrews
A cute and interesting story involving wizards, mages, and magic. And the quest to discover a strange murder. Like Donna Andrews other books, I enjoyed this story a lot.

The Nightside, Needless to Say by Simon R. Green
Green has penned an entire series involving the Nightside, and I’m anxious to read it after reading this short story. This story involves a P.I. named Larry Oblivion whose been murdered, but due to a magic wand obtained from the Unseelie Court, is able to stop time, and thus, take a time out before passing on to try to find out who murdered him.

Lovely by John Straley
A strange story about a raven named Gunk looking for a “dead thing” to eat. A strange story, but amusing nonetheless.

The Price by Anne Bishop
A great story by Anne Bishop set in the same stage as her Blood Trilogy, where women represent power and men are meant to serve them. Unfortunately, an angry witch full of hatred has her own ideas…

Fairy Dust by Charlaine Harris
A little bit weaker than the previous stories but a good read nonetheless. Sookie Stackhouse, of Harris’ Southern Vampire fame, uses her telepathic gift to discern the true killer of Claudine’s twin sister, part of a fairy triplet.

The Judgement by Anne Perry
A strange story… I didn’t really get it. It was still interesting, but I’m sure I would’ve gotten a lot more out of it if I understood the deeper meaning which escaped me. I also didn’t care for the bible-thumping piousness of some of the characters who tried to accuse of Witchcraft.

The Sorcerer’s Assassin by Sharon Shinn
Another story that takes place in a school with mages and wizards. Someone is killing off the 6 most powerful, one-by-one, and the remaining are fighting time to discover who’s the guilty party before they’re next.

The Boy Who Chased Seagulls by Michael Armstrong
Stupid story… I didn’t like this one at all. It was about an old man who had a story about… you guessed it, a boy who chased seagulls, and he used this story to scare a little boy. So what?

Palimpsest by Laura Anne Gilman
I hadn’t yet read anything by this author at the time I read this story, though I do have two of her books, Staying Dead and Curse the Dark, on my TBR pile. I had mixed feelings about this story. I felt it had a lot of potential, but it fell flat in some areas and left me wanting more. So now I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do with a full-length book, where the characters and story can be a bit more fleshed out.

The Death of Clickclickwhistle by Mike Doogan
Stupid story… I didn’t like it at all. It was more of a sci-fi story than a mystery, although there supposedly was a murder they were trying to solve. But I thought all the characters were idiots and the story bored me to tears.

Cairene Dawn by Jay Caselberg
Another story that I believe had a deeper meaning than I could grasp. Sure, I got the whole reference to the Egyptian pantheon, Isis, Osiris, his brother Set, and son Horus, but I believe there was something else going on here, eluded to by the last paragraph of the story which is “Do you know what a jackal sounds like in the fog of a Cairo dawn?” I was like… huh??

Justice is a Two-Edged Sword by Dana Stabenow
This story started off kind of slow and I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d like it. But things picked up and got interesting about half way through and I found I enjoyed this story as much as some of my other favorites from this book.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#80 Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
I liked this book. The style reminded me a little bit of MaryJanice Davidson’s, but without all the shallowness of Betsy from the Undead series. I think Mothers will relate to it even more than I did since I’ve never been either a mom or a “soccer mom” myself. The story itself was fun, not too heavy, with a good mystery to boot. It was hard to put down and the surprise ending snuck up on me.

Though this is the first book I’ve read by Julie Kenner, NeedSun had sent me some others from her Protector (Aphrodite) series, so now I’m looking forward to reading those while waiting for the 2nd book in the Demon series, California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, due to be published June 2006.

This will be on it’s way to NeedSun shortly as I’ve been collecting together a box of stuff to send her way. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#79 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
This was a great book. There were a few more relatively minor differences from the movie in this book than in the first two. Mostly it had to do with the additional detail in the book that wasn’t in the movie or was only hinted to in the movie.

For instance, in the book, we find out that Professor Lupin, in conjunction with James Potter (Harry’s father), Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, are the ones who originally designed and produced the Marauder’s Map. In addition, Harry used the map to discover the hidden passages from Hogwarts to the Wizarding village of Hogsmeade and took a few furtive trips there to join the rest of his class when he was supposed to have remained behind at Hogwarts. Neither of these facts appeared in the movie, most likely in the interest of keeping the movie time down to 2 hours. For that reason, I’m curious to see how much may have to be removed from the book for books 4 through 6 since they’re all much longer than the first three books. The movie for book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was just released last week and I’m still debating whether to read the book or see the movie first…

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#78 Dark Prince/Dark Descent by Christine Feehan

My Rating: 5 out of 10 stars
Dark Prince
I had a hard time getting through this one and I found myself continually wondering why such the big hooplah over this series. Perhaps it's because this is Feehan's first book, but I swear if I had to read once more about Mikhail's coffee-colored hair, or Raven's blue-violet eyes, I was going to gag. The love scenes were too long and drawn out—how many times did I have to read the same thing over and over?

The writing also got to me. Usually when authors write in the third person but want you to be able to get inside a character's head, they break from one character's point-of-view to another's via logical divisions, whether that be chapters or simply sections within the chapter itself. However, after only a few pages into this book, I found the author jumping from Mikhail's point-of-view to Raven's from one paragraph to the next. This was very disconcerting, and I found myself having to reread many paragraphs a few times just to figure out who was saying or thinking what.

I've heard that this wasn't the best book in the series and that it gets much better going forward so I'm willing to give this series the benefit of the doubt and continue with it nonetheless.

Dark Descent
short story previously available in The Only One anthology.
Hmmmm... I liked this a little better than Dark Prince. Could be that Feehan has grown into her writing a bit and is no longer all over the place as much. Or possibly I just got used to it. Unfortunately, the love scenes are still entirely too flowery for me: "her velvet sheath enclosed his strong manhood..." And after a paragraph or two of that, my eyes are crossing or I'm nodding off (if reading in bed). No, it didn't come off as erotic to me, too flowery perhaps, I don't know.

The premise of the story was very simliar to Dark Prince though: good-guy Carpathian male meets human lifemate female, all the while battling off rogue undead vampires in between bouts of "white-hot lightning" sex. I hope Feehan can mix it up a bit in some of the other books in this series or I don't think I'll continue reading them.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more information. Also see the journal page for taniazed's bookring of this book for lots more reviews.
See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#77 Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

My Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
I found this collection of short stories about the author’s life somewhat amusing, though I don’t think I got quite the shock value Burroughs intended. Some of the stories had me chuckling, but others I found myself simply saying so what. I found him to be extremely vain and shallow, and fortunately he sees himself with these qualities too so he wasn’t deluding himself which made me feel better about him. (I really dislike shallow people but I suppose I can stand them a bit more when at least they realize how shallow they are.)

His story about magical thinking really rang true though. There are no coincidences, and if you put enough energy into your thoughts and desires, you can affect change in the world around you. It’s one of the premises of many earth-based religions. Though he approached the subject as if everyone thought he was crazy because he believed it. His exact beliefs about baby Jesus and a cow though, that was pretty cute. But again, each of us is entitled to envision divinity in our own manner, like different facets of a diamond, all paths to the same thing, and all that…

I remember also thinking, while I was reading this, that though he had a fucked-up life, and did some wacky things, my own life would probably be just as comedic and shocking were I to put all my past experiences into a book. I had my own strange oral surgery experience, a somewhat similar rodent/rat incident, and my own way of dealing with door-to-door Jehovah Witnesses that seems to come up at every party I attend. But this journal entry isn’t about my own experiences; I bring it up only to make the point that a lot of these stories didn’t strike me as strange as they may have others possibly because I’ve had just as strange experiences in my own life.

That said, though I found the book interesting enough to continue reading all the way through, I think it was about half way that I began to find them getting a bit more dull. Again, most likely just the way they affected me personally.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#76 Chocolat by Joanne Harris

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
A great read, I really enjoyed it. Character-wise, Reynaud stands for everything I dislike about the Catholic religion and I really hated his character in this story: a true villian, bigot, and zealot. I could never wrap my mind around some of the Catholic ideals and concepts—Lent and abstinence, original sin, and the like. Reynaud likes to take the words of the Bible and warp them to his own twisted means.

Vianne is exactly the opposite of Reynaud and stands for everything I believe in and all that is right with the world; her outlook on life closely mirroring my own—except for the parts about fleeing from place to place to escape The Black Man. She was a good mother and a wonderful woman, and I was happy to see the impact she had on many of the people of Lansquenet, giving them strength and courage, and a new love for life.

The premise of the story, a chocolate boutique opened by Vianne in a strictly Catholic village, allows the characters, both major and minor, to examine their beliefs as the priest Reynaud speaks out against the debauchery of the chocolatier. Joanne Harris, the author, is very good at describing things in the best frame of reference, the chocolates, the flowers of springtime, the images brought to mind while reading this book were both beautiful and mouth-watering. And seeing as how it’s just past Halloween, and a recent vacation to Key West from which I just returned last week, I happened to find all kinds of chocolate in the house which we usually don’t have. I think this book may have caused me to gain a few pounds because with all the reading about chocolate, goodness knows I had to indulge. Heh, at least all the Halloween chocolate is almost gone now… though I miss the Key West fudge and Lindt chocolates. LOL

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information. See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books.

#75 Quit Your Job And Move To Key West by Christopher Shultz & David Sloan

My Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

A quirky and fun guide to living in Key West, and how to decide if Key West is right for you. Each page is filled with humor-filled facts, and the authors writing style, which brings to mind that of Christopher Moore, makes this 115 page guide a really fast read.

Mike and I have actually been considering this very thing. With the approach of another hard New England winter (how depressing!), and a recent vacation to the Keys (we've been there 3 times now), we're seriously thinking of doing it! This is a fun, but fact-filled book that'll keep you laughing from cover to cover. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for full book description and links to more information. See more progress on In 2005 read 100 books.

#74 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Vol 2 edited by Richard Dalby

My Rating: 5 out of 10 stars
I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. After reviewing past journal entries for this book, I made sure to read the ones that others mentioned or particularly liked, and they were probably my favorites too. I had read a few that weren’t mentioned by others and found some of them harder to get into so I decided to stick to the recommended ones. Overall a fairly decent read in the style of Lovecraft.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information. See more progress on In 2005 read 100 books.

#73 Hunting Midnight by Emma Holly

My Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

This was a pretty good book, not a bad read for my first Emma Holly book. I can't claim the genre is among my usual favorite since it appeared to be more of a romance than anything else, though paranormal, and didn't have as much danger and intrigue as my favorites usually do. However after an initial slow start, I began to develop an affinity for the characters and will look forward to future books in this series to see where things lead with Ulric and Juliana. Mucho thanks to bookrabbit for sharing this with me.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.
See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books

#72 F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Another intriguing read… not quite as good as E is for Evidence but still, in general I have to say this series is getting better as it goes along.

Throughout the story, you’re made to feel that any one of the characters could be the guilty party, responsible for all the murders and setups taking place in the small little beach-side community of Floral Beach, CA. So though not quite a slap-in-the-face surprise ending like E is for Evidence the way everything ties together in the end is surprising nonethelss.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books

#71 American Gods by Neil Gaiman

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
This was a pretty thick book, 628 pages long, but it went by fairly quickly nonetheless and I greatly enjoyed it. While reading, I found myself trying to place which God or Goddess was represented by each character that Shadow met on his travels with Wednesday. (I was pretty good with all the Egyptian ones and Kali; the exact form of some of the Norse ones escaped me, though the names were familiar.)

I’m looking forward to reading Anansi Boys now, which is sort of a follow-up to this book.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: In 2005 read 100 books

#70 Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
This was a quick read, but fun and action-packed, a great first novel from this author. Unlike some other readers, I had the true murderer figured out about half way through, but I enjoyed the red herrings nonetheless. And even though I knew “whodunit”, it was enjoyable to discover all the clues being left and how everything fit together. I’ll be on the lookout for future books from this author.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: Read 125 books in 2005.

#69 The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
In many ways, I liked this book even better than the first one, Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass). I liked how they moved between 3 different worlds, and how there were many different subplots going on. There was one thing I didn’t like however…

WARNING! SPOILER ALERT.
You must highlight the text below in order to read it.

...and that’s the cliffhanger ending. We’re left wondering whether Lyra is alive or dead. I can only imagine that being a child, she escaped the wrath of the Spectres, but since Mrs. Coulter could also command the Spectres, she could’ve very likely swooped in while the Spectres were attacking the witches.

But then again, we know Lyra must be alive since there’s still one more book in the trilogy and she figures so heavily into the story line. It’s just that, after finishing this, I was left with the feeling that I had to read the 3rd book immediately to know what happened to Lyra.

So as I’ll say again, I’m looking forward to the third and final book in this series, The Amber Spyglass.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: Read 125 books in 2005

#68 Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
I liked the tone of this book. The style was in the genre of gothic horror, aka Poppy Z. Brite. And the whole theme with spiders and creepy crawlies made my spine tingle and raised the hair on my arms. The author did a good job with the main characters, the descriptions vivid and allowing you to know and understand the characters well. I noticed a symmetry between some of the main characters and their past, particularly with Daria and Spyder. I’m looking forward to reading the followup to this, Murder of Angels.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: Read 125 books in 2005

#67 Bridget Jones's Guide to Life by Helen Fielding

This was a cute and quirky, funny little read, just perfect after finishing The Edge of Reason as I just did. It's Bridget's form of a mini self help book, imparting all the wisdom she's gleaned in her adventures, such as cooking tips, dating advice, etc. Her methods, though delusional, are true-to-form Bridget. :) Thanks to sabeena29 for sharing this!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#66 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

Date Started: Thursday, September 29, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, October 3, 2005
My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
My Review:
I liked this book about as much as the first one, though this one was a lot more different from the movie than the first one was.

Like in the first one, I found myself constantly criticizing Bridget for everything I see wrong with her—her lack of self-esteem, her inablity to see the consequences of her actions, and her continual tardiness. I mean, I'm a continually tardy person myself, but I wouldn't do something stupid like go out shopping when my plane is due to leave in a few hours. That's just asking for trouble. Heck, I refrain from leaving the house the entire day I'm leaving to go anywhere till I have to leave to catch the plane.

In any case, though I found myself constantly scolding her in my head, her actions and those of her friends, are amusing indeed. The fact I'd find myself chuckling at Bridget's stupidity, despite the fact that I thought she was an idiot, allowed me to give this book a rating of 8 anyway. :)

Now that I've read both Bridget books, I've got a small 50 page copy of Bridget Jones's Guide to Life to read as part of a bookring. Looks like fun!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#65 E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton

Date Started: Monday, September 26, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, September 29, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Comments:
I liked this one best of the 5 I’ve read thus far. The extra detail didn’t seem to go on as long any more, often just enough to give you a clear picture in your mind instead of cause your mind to wander. The mystery kept me in thrall until the very end, when it all came together in a surprise ending. Kinsey is still a workaholic, but has begun to reevaluate her life and actually thinks about things other than work and her caseload now. :)

At the beginning, I thought it would bother me that Kinsey was framed to look as if she was on the take, because usually when this happens in a story, all the other characters operate under the false assumption that she’s guilty, automatically believing the frame without taking into account that she wouldn’t do this, and in the long run it really screws with everything else in the story. It’s really a pet peeve of mine… Instead, Kinsey and most of the other primary characters worked to find out what was really going on and who had set her up, which led to a much deeper and intricate plot to be uncovered.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: Read 125 books in 2005

#64 False Memory by Dean Koontz

Date Started: Monday, September 19, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, September 26, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
Comments:
This book started off kind of slow and I was tempted to put it aside a few times as I’ve got so many other TBR books piling up behind it. But I wanted to give it at least halfway, which is about 376 pages since this is a fairly long book. Fortunately, the action got going around page 200 and I was glad I kept reading. This book could’ve been half as long and been even better though… I found it going off on tangents quite often so that my mind would start to wander and I’d forget what I’d just read.

In the beginning some of the phobia characteristics experienced by the characters, one in particular, hit a little too close to home, and since I don’t enjoy being reminded of my own shortcomings, I was getting discouraged with it, and again, almost another reason for me to put it aside. Until around page 200 when it started to become apparent that these phobias were implanted by a madman, then I felt better about that part. :)

Overall, a very odd book, which I had mixed feelings about, but actually liked it more than I disliked it. Thanks for sharing bunnybee!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#63 Murder in the Hearse Degree by Tim Cockey

Date Started: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, September 18, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Comments:
For some reason, not quite the gut buster for me as his previous 3 novels in the Hitchcock Sewell series. In this one, Hitch is his usual satirical self, and attempts to piece together the pieces of a murdered nanny for an old friend who’s back in town. I think perhaps it’s Pete’s character, and his denial in facing up to the problems in his marriage that bugged me a bit more than it did in the previous book where Pete was first introduced. Beyond that however, the writing is sharp and snappy, and Hitch’s character, though he has hard time being serious about anything, manages to uncover a few secrets which have put other people’s lives in danger. I’m definitely looking forward to more Hitch!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#62 Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Date Started: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 of 10 stars
Comments:
This was another great story from Neil Gaiman. It’s classified as a children’s book, I guess because the writing style is more accessible to younger readers, and doesn’t have a lot of the subtlety and nuances of adult novels. That said however, the story itself was spooky and intriguing and I gobbled this book down in one day. :) Neil Gaiman has proved yet again, as he did with Stardust, that he is definitely an author for all generations!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#61 The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon

Date Started: Thursday, September 8, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, September 12, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
This was a new author for me, but I enjoyed his work. The book continued to build on the suspense, which did move rather slowly in the beginning, so that towards the end I could barely put it down.

The rest of the story contained more than just a horror though, and for me, that made the beginning or slower parts of the horror story better than they would be otherwise. For it’s also a coming-of-age story, three teenagers&mdashtwo boys and a girl, and their struggles with friendship, loyalty, and even raging hormones. ;)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#60 We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews

Date Started: Monday, September 5, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, September 8, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 of 10 stars
Comments:
This was another great book by Donna Andrews, though perhaps not quite my favorite in the series.

Meg attends a fan convention “con” with her boyfriend Michael, part time actor and college Drama professor, for the cult TV show he’s on. While at the hotel, someone kills Tamalaine Wynncliffe-Jones, the show’s leading lady and executive producer, or the QB as the rest of the cast likes to call her (short for Queen Bi7c4, or as she likes to think Queen Bee). Of course, everyone is a suspect, and since Meg was the one to find the body, she uses her amateur sleuthing skills to dig up information and try to piece together the puzzle of who dunnit, since she feels the cops are continually looking in the wrong direction.

As usual, there’s a chuckle per chapter at least as Andrews seamlessly blends humor in with her mysteries, and you’re left guessing on the killer’s identity right up until the end. Though each book in this series can stand alone, reading the previous books gives you greater insight into each character. Highly recommended!

Refer to this book's BookCrossing journal page for more links and information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#59 Bad Girl by Michele Jaffe

Date Started: Thursday, September 1, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, September 5, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 stars
Comments:
This was a great book, and I look forward to reading more by this author. (I see she has a historical line as well as her newer crime/mystery books too.) Windy is a great character, not dull and boring in comparison to Kinsey in Grafton’s alphabet books. Her relationship with her daughter Cate, her attraction to Ash, combined to make a character you could really like and admire. The story contained a lot of red herrings to throw you off the track of the serial killer, and it kept me engrossed long into the night when I should’ve been trying to get to sleep. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

See more progress on: read 100 books in 2005

#58 The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Date Started: Monday, August 29, 2005
Date Finished: Wednesday, August 31, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
I'm not really sure how I felt about this book compared to the Broadway musical and the Andrew Lloyd-Webber movie. Of course, the primary thing missing is the MUSIC... which I so love. It really makes the whole thing for me. Given that, the book was obviously a translation as the English is not necessarily written in a way that a native speaker would say or write it. Also, it was written back in 1911 so the language spoken in France at that time was also more proper than that which is spoken today. Given that, I can't say that it was difficult to read, just not as smooth as today's native English writers.

About the story itself, as was mentioned in the foreword, some liberties were taken with the musical and the movie, which in my opinion actually made it a bit better in some respects. But the book also went into more depth on the history and architecture of the Paris Opera House itself which you don't really get from the musical or the movie. All in all, I'd say they tend to complement each other fairly well, and I appreciate reading the book after having seen the Broadway musical twice, and I also have the extended DVD edition of the Lloyd-Webber movie in my personal DVD collection.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#57 Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

Date Started: Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, August 28, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 stars
Comments:
I liked this book okay, though there were a number of things I didn't like about it as well.

The author doesn't appear to believe in the subject matter she's writing about, in this case Shaminism. All the "you're going to think I'm crazy" and "I can't believe that I'm doing this" got old for me after awhile. I'm not sure why others didn't perceive this too. Or perhaps they did and simply felt the same as the author, as if the subject of Shaminism is a fantasy or myth. I don't know exactly, except to say that I prefer writing where such paranormal events are accepted as the norm, aka Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, instead of the author constantly trying to convince her audience that the practice of Shamanism is real.

Despite this, the subject matter itself kept me reading on. I was hoping that Joanne, the main character, would finally begin to embrace her shamanistic background and stop doubting and criticizing her abilities, which she did eventually. But the author's hesitancy in the belief of her subject matter still showed through despite this.

Oftentimes, the words or actions of the characters seemed contrary to previous events, making some parts of the story seem somewhat disjointed, though this seemed to even out a bit about half way through the book.

I liked the story line itself though and think the author has a lot of potential going forward as it appers this is going to be an ongoing series. This is after all a first novel for her.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#56 The Hearse Case Scenario by Tim Cockey

Date Started: Friday, August 19, 2005
Date Finished: Wednesday, August 24, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 stars
Comments:
I just love Hitch! I certainly wouldn't push him outta my bed were he to saunter by. ;) Though I wonder, with his smart-ass sarcastic comments all the time, if I'd get sick of him after awhile. Naaah...

Anyhoo, I didn't want to put this one down and am looking forward to the next book, which I'd sent off to HallieK before reading it so that I could mail both of these back to yllus at the same time. (She's going to mail it back to me when she's done.) Thanks again to yllus for introducing me to yet another great author!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#55 Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, August 18, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 stars
Comments:
I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I guess I should've figured that seeing as it was Evanovich, which I guess is the reason I signed up for this ring in the first place. :)

Anyhoo, going in I was afraid that being one of Evanovich's first novels, it was going to be strictly romance, the kind of stuff I usually hate. But I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there were a few things that bugged me... the way she stressed at least once every few pages that Ivan had pirate blood running through his veins for instance. As if that's supposed to make him some really sexy dude! Unfortunately, the media has warped the public's perception of pirates such that they're seen as romantic and dashing heroes, which is really not the case at all. Pirates were never the gorgeous "Johnny Depp" type creatures portrayed by Hollywood, but were thieves, who would go days, months even, without bathing, thought nothing of slicing the throat of a "trusted" friend if it meant a bigger share of the pie for them, etc. So as I read, whenever there was reference to Ivan's "pirate blood", I'd have to force myself to see the Johnny Depp type of pirate instead of the dirty, rotten scoundrel type. But that was really the only part I didn't like...

On the up side, the action was swift and interesting, with a bit of intrique, and even a ghost thrown in. And Evanovich's humour, though not quite up to par with her Stephanie Plum series, was evident throughout.

All in all, a fun read and a book I'd certainly recommend to other Evanovich fans.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#54 D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton

Date Started: Saturday, August 13, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, August 16, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 6 stars
Comments:
There were some things I liked better about this one and some things I didn't like as much. For starters, like I mentioned for the B book, I noticed Grafton getting a bit too overly detailed sometimes about things I really didn't care too much about. Like spending 2 pages to detail the layout of an attic??! I found my mind wandering and had to go back and reread these sections to make sure I didn't miss anything important... which I didn't, but still, by the 3rd or 4th time I ran into this, I was groaning inwardly.

Beyond that, the story itself was good, and as in previous stories, the ending was a surprise. I also like that Kinsey's character is beginning to show a few more female characteristics, and I like that she finally gave in to some of her temptations with regards to Jonah. I'm hoping she continues in this direction in later books.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more info and links.

#53 The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Date Started: Friday, August 5, 2005
Date Finished: Saturday, August 13, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 10 stars
Comments:
Going in, I was unsure whether or not I'd like this book since I haven't really read much from the historical fiction genre. However, it blew me away! And I learned a great deal about Tudor England, Henry VIII, and Queen Anne Boleyn in the process.

This book is based on historical fact. At the back of the book is a Q & A with the author and she claims that the only fabricated parts are the feelings and thoughts of the individuals in the story. As she says, and I quote, "The history is the skeleton and the fiction is the breath."

Were this not a bookring book, I'd hang on to it and share it with as many people as possible. I may end up seeking out another copy of it anyway so I can do just that. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#52 Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Date Started: Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Date Finished: Friday, August 5, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 stars
Comments:
This was a great fantasy book, and very different from the type of book I'm used to from Gaiman. It's more of a fantasy with faeries, pixies, gnomes, and the like instead of the dark and freaky stuff that he usually writes (although I really haven't read enough of his work to claim to be an expert). This would make a suitable story for both young and old.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#51 The Naming of Parts by Tim Lebbon

Date Started: Monday, August 1, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, August 1, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 stars
Comments:
Woohoo! Finally passed the 50 mark. Not sure whether I'll make 100 or not, but it's a goal to shoot for at any rate. :)

This was a good, quick, spooky read. The author's use of imagery really made the entire scene come to life with vivid clarity. The colors in the landscape, the way the zombies moved, it all added up to an enjoyable trip for the imagination.

I was left hanging at the end... I wasn't sure whether it was intentional or whether I was supposed to surmise the ending based on other events in the story. I don't want to give too much away for anyone who reads my entry but hasn't yet read the book, but with regards to what they would find when they reached the coast, Jack said he thought he knew, and since he knew what was going on before it happened in many other parts of the story, he's probably right here too. However, I couldn't figure out what it was that he thought he knew. Maybe it's that you're supposed to be left guessing and never really know. :)

I'd never heard of this author before Laurie shared this book so I'm interested in checking out more of his work. BookCrossing journal page for this book can be found at http://bookcrossing.com/journal/895593.

#50 C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton

Date Started: Sunday, July 31, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, July 31, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 6 stars
Comments:
I still think book B was the best of these three. In this book, I thought I had the bad guy pegged from the start and I turned out to be right. There also seemed to be less action going on in this one, a bit more mellow than the others, or perhaps it's just due to the other stuff I've been reading.

BookCrossing journal page for this book: http://bookcrossing.com/journal/2169604

#49 Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Date Finished: Saturday, July 30, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 stars
Comments:
I liked this book, though perhaps not quite as much as Full Blast, the 4th book right before this one. Still, a few laugh-out-loud moments and scenes that stay with me for a while and make me chuckle even then is how I determine the mark of a good book, and in that regard, this book certainly did not disappoint. I went through the entire book thinking I knew who the murderer was only to be surprised by a twist ending so I appreciated that.

This book will be starting it's journey as a bookring very shortly... See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more information and reviews.

#48 Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman

Date Started: Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, July 26, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
Going in to this book, I was unsure how I'd feel about it. All of the reviews I'd read, and the description itself, kept referring to "The Church" and Christianity stuff. Now, I'm not Christian and never have been, but I know enough about their teachings, and though they've got some good ideas, I am completely at odds with many of their teachings, and some of the things they practice and preach really make me angry, so much so that I tend to avoid books that deal with the subject.

That said, with the exception of the very end of the book, and the fact that many of the characters held various positions in the Church, there really wasn't too much religion in it, which allowed me to enjoy it for what it was.

The book takes place in a universe similar to ours, but different in many ways. Each human, and witches as well, has a personal daemon, an animal of the opposite sex from themselves, who is sort of like their soul, or alter-ago. A human and their daemon cannot be separated from each other by more than a few feet, and to be separated from your daemon can cause certain death. Before they've reached puberty, a child's daemon can change form at will, and will not settle on one particular form until their child has become an adolescent. Lyra's daemon is named Pantalaimon and often takes the form of an ermine, which seems to be his favorite form. When he wishes to appear inconspicuous, he can be a moth, or a mouse, or in a protective mode, even a lion.

Lyra and Pan have spent most of their childhood growing up at Jordon College near London. She's an orphan, or so she's been told that her parents were killed in an accident when she was younger. Though she lives at the college, she's friends with the servant's children, some of the town children, and even children from other colleges. The arrival of the "Gobblers" in town has put fear in the adults and children alike, for the "Gobblers" have been stealing children and bringing them North for secret experiments.

As the story progresses, Lyra discovers some hidden secrets about herself, the Gobblers, and the Northern Lights, and progresses through a number of dangerous adventures on her way to find out what's going on and help to save the children. The ending, though coming to a satisfactory conclusion, is left open to pave the way to the second book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely. (I almost gave it an 8 instead of a 7, but the fact that I had to stop and look up some words in the dictionary made me decide to go with the 7.) Plus, at the very end when Lord Asriel and Lyra went into a discussion about "original sin" and quoted a few bible verses, I thought "Oh oh, don't start now!" But it was only in the last 30 pages or so, and it only went on for a few pages and then just became a minor concept again so I was okay with it. However, I'm wondering if leading into the 2nd book, this whole concept of "original sin" (which is one of those things that I have a grudge against) is going to be further explored. I hope not!

(Journal page for this book can be found at http://bookcrossing.com/journal/2934282.

#47 Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos by Donna Andrews

Date Started: Monday, July 18, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, July 19, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 stars
Comments:
I'm so glad I discovered this author. These cozy mysteries are quick reads (I usually get through them in a day or two) with just the right amount of mystery and humor. This is the third book in the Meg Lanslow Mystery series, and though not required that you read them in order, the back stories progress nicer if you do.

In this story, Meg (an ornamental blacksmith), her boyfriend Michael, her brother Rob, and the rest of the extended family and friends are participating in a craft fair/reenactment of the siege of Yorktown, right down to the Colonial dress and all the period pieces. When a murdered entrepreneur, much hated by many of the locals for varying reasons, winds up dead in Meg's booth, her and her friends become the prime suspects by the town's new deputy (NOT a family member unlike most of the other people in town). Meg will stop at nothing to prove the innocence of her and her friends, even if it means stepping on a few toes along the way, including those of the arrogant deputy himself.

I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes the cozy mystery genre. It's nice light reading, the kind you don't want to put down but doesn't strain your brain with all kinds of police procedurals and stuff. :)

For more reviews and information, refer to the BookCrossing journal page for this book.

#46 Eric (from Rincewind the Wizzard 4-in-1) by Terry Pratchett

Date Started: Friday, July 15, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, July 18, 2005
Comments:
Another great story from Pratchett, albeit a bit shorter than the others. If anything, it’d qualify more as a short story as I can’t see them really making a book out of something that, at least in hardcover form, was only 93 pages.

#45 Full Blast by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Thursday, July 14, 2005
Date Finished: Friday, July 15, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 stars
Comments:
I liked this one better than the one right before it, Full Speed, perhaps because of the supernatural aspect added by Destiny the Psychic, or maybe because of the talk of aphrodiasiac-laced brownies or sexy lingerie. ;) And a killer that's targeting people responding to the newly added personal ads of Jamie's newspaper. Because of this, Jamie and Max (her silent partner in the paper) find themselves in the middle of the investigation.

I had messaged Faithful-Reader at the beginning of the week for her address, but haven't yet heard back. I plan to wait about a week, in case she's on vacation, and message her again, plus post an ISO message in the forum. If I still haven't heard from her after all that, waiting about 2 weeks, then I'll move on to the next person after her in the list, and send all 3 books together.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#44 Full Speed by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, July 14, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 stars
Comments:
I didn't like this one quite as much as Full Tilt. Like it's predecessor, it was a quick and fun read. The part with the preacher Harlan's sermon seemed to drag on a bit too long. There were a few twists and turns to the mystery, but nothing too exciting. Fortunately, Evanovich's writing can hold even the dullest story together. I liked the dog Fleas, he added a more personal level to the characters. I'm not sure why Jamie is denying and dragging out her attraction to Max though... I mean, get with the program girl! Live for the moment! You've got this gorgeous hunk drooling all over you, and you're dragging your heels because you're wondering if it's the right thing to do?! Whether your feelings for him are just lust?! So what?! This aspect of her character really bugged me, so I was glad to finally see her letting down her resolve in this latest book and stop being such a stick-in-the-mud!

Refer to the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information.

#43 Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, July 12, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 stars
Comments:
This was a quick but fun read. Billie and Nick are no longer primary characters in these later stories, and they are only referred to briefly, with regards to raising Max from 16 on. This book also contained more of a mystery than Full House, as I believe all of Evanovich's later books do. I believe the next book in the series, Full Speed, picks up where this one leaves off, with Max and Jamie heading to Tennessee to try to find the preacher and get some answers from him about the corruption that was unearthed in Beaumont in Full Tilt.

For more reviews and information, refer to the BookCrossing journal page for this book.

#42 Sourcery (from Rincewind the Wizzard 4-in-1 volume) by Terry Pratchett

Date Started: Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Date Finished: Tuesday, July 12, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
I liked this one about as much as I liked the others in the Rincewind sub-series, that is to say, it was pretty good with a few laughs to boot. I like that we're beginning to learn a little more about Rincewind and see a little deeper into his character, and some of the new characters were interesting as well. I hope that Conina appears in later books.

I borrowed this 4-in-1 from the library so there isn't a BookCrossing journal page for it. Instead, see the reviews for Sourcery at Amazon.com for more info about this book. A link to the entire 4-in-1 volume, Rincewind the Wizzard, can be found at the Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC).

#41 Full House by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Date Finished: Wednesday, July 6, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
This was a really quick read, and a fairly interesting book. I was afraid it'd be all romance with little to no mystery or intrigue, but I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, it can probably only be loosely categorized as a mystery, but probably a cozy mystery.

The main character, Billie, falls for Nick, who's known around town as a sexy womanizer, love 'em and leave 'em type. But in Billie, Nick finds something that he's been missing in his life. This story deals with his struggle as much as hers, in overcoming their hesitancy surrounding their feelings for each other. Nick, because Billie, divorced with 2 children, represents stability and a stark departure from his wild ways. While from Billie's perspective, Nick represents danger, and thinking back to her unfaithful husband, the kind of man who cannot be trusted. The story progresses with both characters working out their feelings toward each other, while in the background, a rash of break-ins and other goings-on are plaguing Billie's neighborhood (which is where the mystery part comes in). The mystery part comes to a head towards the end when the Billie is put in danger by someone she thought she could trust, and of course, Nick arrives to save the day.

In conclusion, I was happy with the way it all turned out, and though not as good as the Stephanie Plum series, I'm interested enough to read the rest of the books in Janet Evanovich's Full series.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more links and information, or if you'd like to request this book from me.

REVIEW: B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

Date Started: Saturday, July 2, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, July 4, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Somewhat better than the first. I still found the author going into way too much detail on some things, but it didn't seem to aggravate me as much this time, probably because it was more likely things I wanted detail on.

The story was interesting enough to hold my interest, and the murder plot was certainly deceptive enough to keep me guessing through the whole book.

Kinsey Millhome's a tough-as-nails detective, very different from but somewhat reminiscent of the old Anita Blake (before the Ardeur consumed her). Though I was left unsure about this series after the first book, this one has strengthened my decision to want to read all the Kinsey Millhome books. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional reviews, links, and information.

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REVIEW: Red as Blood: Or Tales From the Sisters Grimmer by Tanith Lee

Date Started: Monday, June 6, 2005
Date Finished: Friday, July 1, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

As mentioned, I read these stories in between other books I was reading. I liked some of them better than others. My favorites were the last three: "Wolfland", "Black as Ink", and "Beauty" the best, perhaps as they occurred more in this day and age and I'm not a huge fan of historical stories. And I also thought "The Golden Rope", the one with the Witch and The Prince of Darkness statue, was pretty good too.

I can't say that I could place each of them to a fairy tale myself. The only ones I could do this for were Red as Blood (Snow White), When the Clock Strikes (Cinderella), Wolfland (Little Red Riding Hood), and Beauty (Beauty and the Beast), only 4 of the 9.

Still, I appreciated this book for what it was, and though I didn't like the beginning stories as much, am glad I stuck with it and found the later ones much better.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional reviews, links, and information.

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REVIEW: The Light Fantastic (from Rincewind the Wizzard 4-in-1 volume) by Terry Pratchett

Date Started: Saturday, June 25, 2005
Date Finished: Friday, July 1, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I thought Pratchett would've done well to include The Light Fantastic as part of The Colour of Magic instead of as a separate book since it was pretty short and picked up right where The Colour of Magic left off. I read this as part of a 4-in-1 volume entitled Rincewind the Wizzard which I borrowed from the library, and which contains the first 4 books of the the Discworld's Rincewind series: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, and Eric. (I've still got to read the last two.)

Like I already stated, The Light Fantastic picks up right where The Colour of Magic left off, and completes the tale of Rincewind and Twoflower's travels through the Discworld. A lot of things begun in the first book, and a lot of loose ends, are resolved in this one, and the ending brings the story to a satisfactory close. Following in form to the first book, this one adapts the same Pratchett sense of dry British humour that I enjoyed so much in The Colour of Magic. Overall, an enjoyable read that leaves me looking forward to more of the Discworld.

View The Light Fantastic at Amazon
View Rincewind the Wizzard (compilation) at Amazon

REVIEW: Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie

Date Started: Thursday, June 16, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, June 23, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
Comments:
This was a fairly good book, the author is definitely a good writer, although I wouldn’t really claim that the genre of this book is one of my favorites,therefore I probably wouldn’t rate it as high as others would.

That said, there was enough suspense and mystery, though romance was definitely the overriding theme, to keep me interested. The characters were interesting, although I did feel like hitting a few of them over the head more than once. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional reviews, links, and information.

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REVIEW: Hearse of a Different Color by Tim Cockey

Date Started: Friday, June 10, 2005
Date Finished: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Comments:
Another great book in the Hitchcock Sewell mystery series. I love this author’s sense of humour; it’s right up there with Christopher Moore. Hitch is an undertaker who finds himself investigating a murder that puts him in a bit of hot water with his girlfriend, the police, and who knows who else! I’m now hooked and must read the entire series! :) Lucky for us BookCrossers, yllus has been collecting the series and sharing them with us. Thank you for that!

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional reviews, links, and information.

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REVIEW: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

Date Started: Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, June 9, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
Comments:
The action started out a little slow, and I didn’t really start to get excited about the action until about 3/4 of the way through. Kinsey herself seems to be an interesting enough character though, such that I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I didn’t really care for the way things ended in this story; Kinsey’s thoughts jumped around a lot towards the end with regards to pinning down in her mind who the murderer was, and even though it was written in first person, you often didn’t understand her train of thought. I also found the author’s paragraphs to run on a bit too long at some points, so that I’d totally lose focus sometimes due to too much detail, or overly descriptive prose.

That said, I remember reading from reviews up at Amazon that this first book in the series wasn’t one of the best, and I’m glad to hear that they only get better from here.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for additional reviews, links, and information.

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REVIEW: Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews

Date Started: Friday, June 3, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, June 6, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
Though I really liked this book alot, I didn’t think it was quite as good as the first one, Murder with Peacocks. A little less drama and suspense than the first and fourth one, but still strong on charm and wittiness. That said, I’m really liking the way this author writes though and looking forward to book 3 of the Meg Lanslow mysteries, Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos which is on it’s way to me through PaperBackSwap.com.

I borrowed this book from the library so I don’t have a BookCrossing journal page to link back to. Instead, see Amazon.com’s page for this book for additional information and reviews.

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REVIEW: The Hearse You Came In On by Tim Cockey

Date Started:  Monday, May 23, 2005
Date Finished:  Thursday, June 2, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
Comments:
Just finished this last night (I was on vacation for 5 days so it took me a little longer than usual since I didn’t get to read it while I was away… too much else going on.)

I enjoyed the novel enough to look forward to the second one, which is also waiting here for me (though I’ve got a library book to get to first).

The main character, Hitch, has a great sense of humour.  For a longish paperback (412 p.) the action moved along fairly swiftly.  It was only at the very end that I was looking for things to be wrapped up more quickly than they were.  That wasn’t a huge nuisance to me though, if anything, it’ll only cause it to lose one point if that. :)

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews, info, and relevant links.

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REVIEW: The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Date Started: Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, May 22, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Comments:
I really enjoyed this, my introduction to Pratchett, and have now decided I’d like to read the whole Discworld series.

There were times during reading that I thought it was going to get all dry and philosophical, but fortunately, the author never took things fully in that direction. And those philosophical discussions would instead take some kind of wacky turn. The writing style seems genuinely British, and the satire is more subdued than say, Christopher Moore’s style.

I enjoyed Rincewind’s character, and look forward to finding out what becomes of him and Twoflower (and the Luggage) in The Light Fantastic.

Besides the list of books available at fly.to/discworld and FantasticFiction, I found another useful reading order guide, with graphics, that breaks down the Discworld books into the individual mini-series at http://www.ie.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides.

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REVIEW: Bite by Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Vickie Taylor

Date Started: Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, May 16, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
(overall average based on all stories)
Comments:
Since I’ve been reading the stories from this book in between other full-length reads, I should’ve been making notes on each story as I went along. That said, today I just read the Laurell K. Hamilton contribution, which was pretty short, only 30 pages, and previously, a couple of weeks ago, I read the Charlaine Harris and MaryJanice Davidson stories.

The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death by Laurell K. Hamilton
Unlike her contributions in other anthologies, this was actually an original short story instead of the first few chapters of her next-to-be-released Anita Blake book. It was only 30 pages long and takes place between the events of books 8 and 9 of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly.

There wasn’t a lot of substance to the story itself. If anything, it probably only serves to introduce those unfamiliar with the Anita Blake series to Anita’s world. That said, though I love LKH’s writing, I found this story kind of flat in comparison with the other Anita books, and more like a filler. If you’re an Anita fan and miss this one, don’t fret as it doesn’t really add anything new to the Anita Blake storyline.

Rating: 7 stars

One Word Answer by Charlaine Harris
Another story I felt was more of a filler to introduce new readers to Sookie Stackhouse and the Southern Vampire series. This one only 23 pages in length, we’re actually introduced to one new fact, that Sookie had a cousin who was a Vampire living in New Orleans. The events which transpire in this story, though not significant to the series in any way, take place after the 4th Sookie novel, Dead to the World. (There’s actually another Sookie story in Powers Of Detection: Stories of Mystery and Fantasy, also published in 2004 and edited by Dana Stanebow, which takes place around this same timeframe.)

In any case, I also found this story rather boring as it didn’t really contain any substance either, and was more of just a single event that occured in the course of one night. A definite fluffer!

Rating: 6 stars

Biting in Plain Sight by MaryJanice Davidson
I liked this story so much better than the previous two. It was 69 pages in length and did contain more of a story. Granted it’s still considered a short story, but there were some new characters introduced, and of course, the old favorites, Betsy and Sinclair and the others. Granted the story and mystery behind it isn’t too deep, you simply can’t go to the depths in a short story that you can in a full-length novel. However, it was meaty enough to let me actually enjoy it.

A rogue vampire is killing innocent young girls. Well, not directly, but he plays mind games with them until they eventually commit suicide. Dr. Sophie Tourneau is a veterinarian in Embarrass, Minnesota, a very small country town where the town knows what she is deep-down, but they don’t discuss it openly, and don’t seem to mind. Dr. Sophie is the first to suspect that these suicides are somehow vampire-related. She enlists the help of Liam, who’s been a silent admirer of Sophie for many years, and they head out from Embarrass to bring the news to the Vampire Queen (Betsy) and ask a few questions of the latest victim’s parents. There’s a bit of a love story underneath it all, as a relationship develops between Sophie and Liam. And of course, Betsy still hates and strongly denies her attraction to Sinclair.

Since it’s a short story, there’s not a whole lot of clue collecting and detective work to the mystery of figuring out whodunit, but the quest to discover the truth and find the rogue vampire is a funny story in itself and does contain a sufficient story line, and even a subplot. :)

Rating: 8 stars

Galahad by Angela Knight
The reviews at Amazon indicated that most of the reviewers liked this story the best of all. I must be very different from the other readers because I hated it! The author tries to mix the world of Vampires with that of King Arthur and his knights, and it just didn’t work for me. Their dialogue seemed completely inappropriate for either group. The author seemed like she was trying to hard and all the references the characters made to pop culture, like being voted off the island, or to Lord of the Rings, was just sad. It felt like some wanna-be writer trying to write her first short story and falling short.

I actually did find the explicit sex scenes rather interesting, but unfortunately they didn’t really seem to mesh with the rest of the story. Sir Galahad as a womanizing vampire? Puh-leeze!

Rating: 4 stars

Blood Lust by Vickie Taylor
I found this to be a good story and I enjoyed the characters too. At 77 pages, it’s long enough to allow for some character development as well as an interesting story.

Daniel wants to become a vampire so that the stakes are even for him to go after Garth La Grange, the Vampire who stole his research, his house, his woman. What follows is the the tale of his hunt, joined with the vampire that converted him, in which he learns more about his new powers. He also discovers some new things about the love he held for his former fiancee, plus the true extent of what his research means to the rest of the vampire community.

Rating: 7 stars

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REVIEW: Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Date Started: Friday, May 13, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, May 15, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Comments:
A great read for sure! Sometimes while reading, I’d start laughing out loud and Mike would look at me like he missed something! Heh, of course he did, he’s not reading along with me… :)

Anyhoo, I really enjoyed the characters. Barney, Hooker, Judey and Brian… all favorites. Though I’ve only read the first two Stephanie Plum books so far, in my opinion, this one ranks right up there with them. (I’d heard that some of her other works outside of SP weren’t nearly as good.)

yllus, thanks for sharing yet another great book. I can pretty much be assured that any bookring you start will be a great read! (Though being a bunny person, I couldn’t bring myself to try out that Bunny Suicides book. My poor wittle buns would get so mad at me if I dared bring the subject of suicidal bunnies into the house!)

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REVIEW: Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Date Started: Monday, May 9, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, May 12, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Comments:
I loved this book! I read the 4th book in the series, Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon back in February via a bookring started by yllus and I found this one even better than that.

Meg Lanslow, a 30-year-old blacksmith, heads back to her home town of Yorkstown, VA for the summer to be the maid of honor in 3 weddings, her mother’s, her brother’s, and her best friend Eileen’s, all within 2 weeks of each other. After a few days, the mayhem begins with the first dead body found on the beach behind her mother’s house. Of course, this wouldn’t be a Meg Lanslow mystery if the conditions and circumstances surrounding the murder weren’t zany and bizarre.

As Meg and her Dad go sleuthing to uncover the culprit, they unwittingly become the murderer’s next victims, presumably because they’re getting too close to the truth. Aided by Meg’s new friend Michael, the dressmaker’s son, hilarity ensues and a few more bodies are found, fortunately of characters that you’ve come to dislike anyway.

Even when you think you’ve got it all figured out, some new twists are introduced that cause you to rethink your suspicions. This book kept me enthralled from the first page to the last, and I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. I’m eagerly anticipating reading the 2nd book in this series, Murder With Puffins, which I’ve requested from my local library because I simply couldn’t wait for it to find it’s way into my hands via other methods. :)

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REVIEW: Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore

Date Started: Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Date Finished: Sunday, May 8, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Comments:
A fairly good read, though definitely not my favorite Moore book. It didn’t seem as satirical as his other books, perhaps because the subject matter was a bit more serious, and I didn’t find myself laughing out loud as much as I have in previous Moore stories. It got off to a slow start and it wasn’t until really part 2, about page 100 or so, that it became more like a typical Moore book.

That said, I did like the book overall, and in a strange twist of fate, I actually learned a thing or two about whales in the process. (Moore includes some notes at the back stating which parts of the story were and were not based on truth and fact.) As I mentioned above, it became more zany and typical Moore in part 2, and I found myself liking the book a lot more after having reached that point. :)

The quote that BlueAmazon pulled out about “can I get an amen”... that was pretty funny! BlueAmazon, if you liked this book, you’ll LOVE Moore’s other stuff! He’s definitely one of the most zany, satirical authors of our time.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more info and relevant links.

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REVIEW: Undead and Unemployed by MaryJanice Davidson

Date Started: Friday, April 29, 2005
Date Finished: Monday, May 2, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Comments:
Another funny read. I liked this a little better than Undead and Unwed. Betsy has settled into her role as the Queen of the Vampires a bit more, though still not completely, and she’s still learning new things about herself in the process. She’s still trying to deny her attraction to the gorgeous Sinclair, but does wind up having another sexual interlude with him later in the book. :)

This second installment in the Undead series adds a bit of murder mystery to the whole vampire twist, which I believe adds more to the book and story itself. A group of vigilantes is going around staking vampires, and Betsy is on the hit list! Soon enough, the vigilante group is discovered but who’s their anonymous donor, sending them the money and weapons to do their dirty work?

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REVIEW: Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book by Terry Jones, Brian Froud

Date Started: Thursday, April 28, 2005
Date Finished: Thursday, April 28, 2005
My BookCrossing Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Comments:
This book was so neat! The pictures were beautiful. I have another of Froud’s Fairy books and the artwork in this one didn’t let me down. I feel there was a lesson to be learned from the story though, and after reading one of the reviews at Amazon, I’m not sure whether I got the lesson right or not. Someone there mentioned a more sinister plot in which the fairies wanted revenge. However I didn’t get that from the story. Granted they pulled their usual trickery later on as Angelica got older, such is their way, but I instead saw their actions as a way to get her to enjoy life more. I don’t want to go into more detail than that to give the story away but suffice to say, the underlying story can probably be taken in more ways than one. Your own outlook will probably color whatever lesson there may be to learn. :)

I’ll be having some friends over this weekend that will also appreciate looking through this book. How perfect, Beltane (May Day) and all, and we’re even doing the Maypole on Saturday (or Sunday if it rains out on Sat). And then this will be heading out to icanfly (another appropriate name to be receiving a fairy book, no?) sometime next week after I get her address. Thanks again to Firegirl for sharing this beautiful book!

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