3-29-09 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Fiction

3 - The story was interesting but Atwood's writing style killed me. Using a first person narrative can be tricky and in this case, although it did make the story more personal, it was a very flighty (not ditzy) and disjointed narrator. That made finishing this book a trial of determination. However, the story itself of a patriarchal monotheocracy set after present day was interesting and not altogether improbable. Well thought out, this was a good book but not one I would read again.

3-20-09 The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green - Fiction

5 - John Taylor is still the fascinating and sarcastic character I have come to love. Each Nightside novel introduces us to new characters or brings back familiar ones that are as fascinating as Taylor. This time it's Bettie Devine, demon girl reporter. If you like strange and quirky in a Twilight Zone kind of way, I cannot recommend this series enough.

3-35-09 Cooked by Jeff Henderson - Non-Fiction

4 - I really like that Henderson didn't shy away from the life that sent him to prison where he learned his love of the kitchen. It makes for a much fuller picture of the kind of chef and man he has become. He was a drug dealer in California just as crack cocaine hit the scene. He was young, rich, and very good at what he did. And then he got caught. The food stories are good too, from the tales of the prison kitchens to his jobs in California restaurants. Henderson is driven to be on top and be the best and, as a chef at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, he is well on his way there.

3-13-09 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick - Fiction

4 - This really is a good book and varies subtly from the movie. Of course that's if I'm remembering the movie correctly; it's been a while. Dick focuses on the preciousness of life in all forms and differentiates humans from androids with one trait: empathy. Androids have no understanding or emotion toward life itself, just an ingrained and evolved sense of survival. Yet they have learned to fit into a human society in the best manner possible but can never quite seem "right". A very interesting look at humanity.

3-10-09 The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey - Fiction

3 - This was a pretty good fantasy but I hated the way it ended. If I wanted a sweet romantic ending I would have read a romance. Not that romance is bad but I felt the ending made the fantasy aspect superfluous. Other than that, I liked the way Lackey set the story in San Francisco just months before the big quake. Her combination of fantasy and history was very good. I'll probably try another of her fantasies but not for a little while.

I've not forgotten about you...

Sorry the updates have been delayed so long. I've had a bad couple of weeks including totalling our car, so I'm a little behind on writing up my reviews. But never fear, I should be updating this week with 4, possibly 5, new books.

3-7-09 The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson - Non-fiction

4 - Well, the movies got some of the facts right. Some of the facts are just too weird. A talking spirit pig. A nightly marching band. This book reads like fiction and even though you'll think 'This isn't scary.' you'll think twice when you're up in the middle of the night in your dark house. Anson does a great job of keeping all the stories in a continual chronological order, flipping back and forth between people with no confusion for the reader. If you don't believe in paranormal activity or demonic occurrences read this story about a very normal family who didn't believe in those things either.

3-6-09 Quantum Prophecy 2: The Gathering by Michael Carroll - Fiction

5 - This series is very promising! The characters are becoming well rounded and new characters are introduced. The story line flows extremely well. The new teen superheroes are outed and their parents are outed as well. To escape the circus their life has become they return to the United States and are taken to a secret facility where they meet other teen superhumans and continue training. But there is a mole and soon the secret facility is not so secret anymore and comes under governmental control. some of their number are lost and new alliances are made. I'm eager for the next book, due sometime in May.

3-5-09 The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard - Fiction

4 - This is how I like my post-apocalyptic books: one man trying to make his way in a new world. Norman lives in Florida. He has only one neighbor left. The Despair has almost wiped out humanity. Rational people, happy people, commit suicide. Not necessarily in a flashy "Goodbye cruel world" fashion, but it happens just the same. Once a person has died, the Collectors remove the body. No one knows why or where. Norman is the first and only man to defy the Collectors when they come for his wife. This begins his long journey with Pops, the neighbor, toward Seattle where, rumor has it, a doctor is working on a cure for the Despair. A fabulous first novel with its only downfall being a lack of explanation at the end.

3-3-09 The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson - Fiction

5 - An interesting book that poses the question What makes us human? Jenna Fox is different. She's not sure how or why but she can feel it. After her accident and her extended coma she's left with no memories. As they slowly come back to her she starts to notice things: her grandmother doesn't like her, she is compelled to obey her mother. Once she discovers how different she really is she's confused, frightened, angry, and more alone than she ever imagined she was. The Adoration of Jenna Fox introduces teens to the heavy topics of what really makes us human and the scientific debate of just because it can be done, does that mean it should be done?

3-1-09 For A Few Demons More by Kim Harrison - Fiction

4 - This is the book that starts to show a little bit of the monotony of a series. Rachel realizes that she's lived her life for the thrill and that's not exactly a good way to live. She also does a ton of soul searching. 'For A Few Demons More' still has the action and amusing situations of the other books, but isn't quite the thrill ride of the rest. Kinda like riding the log flume after the roller coaster: still fun, but doesn't get your pulse racing as fast.

2-27-09 Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst - Fiction

3 - I read this thinking it would be a potentially amusing and maybe scary story about a living person fighting off the dead bad guys that terrorize the local cemetery. Sort of like "The Frighteners." I did not want a story that constantly slaps you in the face with do what you love, live your life, and if you don't like who and where you are, change it. Guess which story I got. It quickly became boring and melancholy reading about a character who is just hovering in the status quo surrounded by other characters full of regret. Very blah.