12-25-09 Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain – Non-Fiction

4 – Since my SO is attending a Le Cordon Bleu culinary school I definitely foresee myself reading even more chef and cooking books.  This one however has been on my radar for a while but I just never got around to it until I traded Devil In the Kitchen by Marco Pierre White with a classmate of my SO for this book (thanks Vic!).  A total screaming New Yorker, Bordain hides nothing when it comes to the goings on in a kitchen.  It’s awesome.  Even though Bordain admits that the professional kitchen has changed since he wrote this, it is a wild ride with helpful tips for the common person who can “kinda” cook (and that’s not me.  I’m strictly an eater with a hard on for technique and trivia).  If you are considering a career in the culinary arts you will be well served to read this book.  If you truly enjoy food and eating out this will be a raunchy, drug filled, sex soaked, non-PC adventure.

12-21-09 The Riesling Retribution by Ellen Crosby – Fiction

4 – I really enjoyed this mystery.  This is not a fantastically thrilling mystery and you don’t just love the characters.  But it is engaging especially for wine lovers like myself.  Crosby teaches the reader about the art, skill, and business behind a successful winery and then throws a pretty good mystery on top.  She has three other Wine Country mysteries and I am eager to read them all.

12-19-09 Always Follow the Elephants by Anahad O’Connor – Non-Fiction

3 – It was OK.  O’Connor does fill this book with facts from studies and does dispel some myths.  But there are other topics he covers that science hasn’t proven or disproven or they can’t be confirmed or denied even on a basic level.  this book is interesting for a trivia buff but not a riveting read.

12-13-09 B is for Beer by Tom Robbins – Fiction

4 – This is a fun little book that tells the reader all about beer by following a 5-year-old (almost 6) girl. Gracie wants to know about beer so she asks her uncle Moe who tells her some very strange things. She takes these snippets of knowledge and gets herself kicked out of Sunday school. then on her sixth birthday, when everything has gone wrong, she chugs a can of beer. That doesn’t go especially well but it does cause her to have a visit from the Beer Fairy. Written in the style of a children’s book, B is for Beer is a humorous read that has more serious undertones if you bother to look.

12-12-09 The Spy Who Came for Christmas by David Morrell – Fiction

5 – This was a great non-traditional Christmas story.  Of course, Morrell is a great author already so that helps.  This is classic Morrell with action and intrigue set in Santa Fe, NM on Christmas Eve.  The plot is enhanced by including a true Santa Fe tradition that controls the situation by removing the possibility of help.  A great short read that combines action and the Christmas spirit.

12-10-09 You Better Not Cry by Augustin Burroughs – Non-Fiction

3 – So I decided to get into the Christmas spirit by trying to find a funny, quirky book to read this year since it seems to me like I’ve just read The Stupidest Angel, my usual Christmas read.  Well, the beginning of this book was very funny because Burroughs was a completely odd dork as a kid.  Suddenly, in the next chapter, he’s an adult gay man waking up next to a gross French Santa Claus.  Whoa.  Then he stays a gay super alcoholic for the next couple chapters and the book is not funny.  This became depressing and soul searching.  Maybe in another mood I’d enjoy it, but not what I wanted.

12-7-09 No Touch Monkey! And other travel lessons leaned too late by Ayun Halliday – Non-Fiction

2 – I would never in a million years travel anywhere with this woman, not even to the nearest bus stop.  She’s way too hippy-dippy and her knowledge of the locales is as good as if I picked a spot on the map and rolled my way through the area like a D&D player.  Yes, there are some amusing points in her travels but even when those come up all you can think is “She’s a bloody idiot.”  Getting surrounded by feral dogs in the middle of a monkey forest alone at midnight isn’t a great dog travel story, it’s the mark of a moron who’s lucky she lived long enough to have children and write this book.  A definite low in my travel book reading.

11-30-09 Stranger at the Wedding by Barbara Hambly – Fiction

4 – This is a good, mellow fantasy.  I’ve read a couple of Hambly’s books and they are always enjoyable, easy reads.  Hambly has mixed proper Victorian style England with magic and just a little bit of romance.  It’s dark enough to appeal to me (the whole story is centered around a young woman who is cursed to die on her wedding night) and yet the characters lend a lighter air to what could be a horror story.  If you aren’t big into “fantasy” novels, I recommend you try Barbara Hambly because her writing gives a lot for a variety of readers to enjoy.

11-27-09 The Wizard Lord by Lawrence Watt-Evans – Fiction

2 – Ugh.  The character types and ideas are very interesting but the personalities and back stories (or lack of) that Watt-Evans used make the reader not really give a shit.  And this is the first book in a trilogy!  Needless to say, I will not be reading the second or third books because I just don’t care what happens.  The world he created is average in the fantasy genre but the character types are fascinating.  There is a set of eight heroes whose sole purpose is to keep the Wizard Lord in check.  The heroes are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Archer, the Scholar, the Speaker, the Beauty, and the Thief.  The Wizard Lord’s power is tied to each of them so even if he goes over to the dark side he can’t just kill them off.  See….a great premise.  If only Watt-Evans had worked on some character development.  You don’t even like the main character, the new Swordsman; you’re just indifferent to him.  Glad I got this at the library so I can give it back.

11-24-09 Sahara by Clive Cussler – Fiction

5 – Wow.  I have a new go to author to add to my adventure list.  Yes Dad, you were right, I do like Cussler.   History, action, adventure, military strategy, exotic locales, this book has it all.  the best part is this was a desperation read: we’d just moved, I’d finished my moving read that required no thought, and this was the first book of my huge collection that I could find.  And I am so glad I did!  The best description of Dirk Pitt is on the cover where someone says (yeah, I can’t find the actual book right now so this isn’t exactly a direct quote) that Dirk Pitt is a combination of James Bond and Jacques Cousteau.  Sahara is a must for lovers of adventure and history.

11-18-09 Vows by LaVyrle Spencer – Fiction

I’m not reviewing this again.  This was the book I kept free during the move so that I’d have something simple and well known to relax with when I had a chance.

11-13-09 Kronos by Jeremy Robinson – Fiction

5 – Robinson is one of my new favorite authors.  He seamlessly blends action, intellect, and religion without being cheesy, snobbish, or preachy.  Atticus Young, our hero, is a character that could have walked out of a David Morrell, Clive Cussler, or Preston & Child book.  He’s immediately likable and the main story picks up quickly after meeting him.  Robinson’s strength is the research involved in his stories and his ability to create awesome characters that the reader really enjoys.  If you love action fiction, you should definitely try him.  I’m eager to get my hands on Pulse, his new novel.

11-4-09 ArchEnemy by Frank Beddor – Fiction

4 – A great finish to a fantastic trilogy, Beddor put such a great spin on the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  Wonderland is without imagination and the world is changing not only there but on Earth as well.  Queen Alyss is desperate to save her kingdom from King Arch and her Aunt Redd.  The conclusion to the trilogy contains just as much action and intrigue as the first two books and leaves the reader pleased with the outcome even if it’s not quite what was expected.

I’m back again!

We had a bit of a moving fiasco so I’ve only just now been able to update my hard copy of my book journal and now I’m going to throw them all on here.  I’m back to 2-3 books per week and will update regularly again.  So here we go!