End of August

So, it's the end of August, which means it's time for the monthly "what I read list."

No, I'm not going to post the whole thing. Y'all have seen most of it show up here.

But, I am proud to say that this month was a record breaker.

No, for real. The last three years I've been keeping track of everything I read. The best I ever did was in January of 2005. I wasn't working, and didn't have classes. I read 33 books.

This month, it was 34.

Yahoo!!

19 of them I had read before. 15 were new. Considering me, that's pretty impressive.

Moon Over Tokyo

When I worked at the bookstore last year (oh my gosh. It's been almost a year now...), we were allowed to read, so long as we read something that was available for purchase in store. Even better, we could get books then return them, so long as they were still in the same condition (and we kept out reciept).

So I started reading a lot of Christian fiction. Hence where I found Charles Martin, Laura Jensen Walker, and Siri Mitchell.

Siri Mitchell wrote Moon Over Tokyo, a story about Allie, a reporter in Tokyo, and her friend Eric from high school. Well, they weren't friends in high school, but learned to be in Tokyo.

It's cute, and fluffy. It conveys a christian message without being overpowering (something I always appreciate in CF). There is really nothing more to it than Allie gaining confidence and falling in love.

But the language! It's great! And the haikus at the beginning of each chapter are great.

I know it seems odd, and sometime I just can't believe that I read Siri's books. But then again, I remember why I love them everytime I read them.

They're just so...wholesome. Which is nice, sometimes.

Anyway.

Private Scandals

Okay, the other confession I have to make is that I'm a serious Nora Roberts fan. Sorry if that's disappointing (and I'm sure I'll have other authors that disappoint you all, but oh well. I like what I like), but the truth can some times hurt.

Anyway, for a while (mid-80's-mid-90's or so), she was writing books with oxymorons for titles. Public Secrets, Genuine Lies, Hot Ice, things like that.

I just re-read Private Scandals. What can I say, it's cute! Okay, Deanna is a fluff TV journalist who just wants to put on a good show. Angela is her mentor at first, then bitter enemy. Finn is a hard-hitting war correspondent. When Deanna and Finn fall in love, everything starts going wrong. Well, actually, once they get engaged is when all hell breaks loose.

I did mention that Deanna has been getting letters from a secret admirer for just over 4 years, right? Because he really, really loves her.

Anyway, I like this because it keeps you guessing. What secret are they going to reveal next? Who's doing the killing? Why does anyone watch Angela's show when she's such a terrible person? Really, what's with the shrink?

And, I totally forgot who did it. And the whole time I'm reading I'm going..."there's no way it's him. Too easy. But I swear, I think...no, wait, maybe it was him...oh, wait he died. Not so much..."

It was fun. A quick and easy read, I like "seeing" Finn and Deanna get together. She's so...practical. And it makes him so irritated. It's awesome.

Whirlpool

Okay, I have to come out of the closet about something. Ever since I randomly picked up and read Midnight in Ruby Bayou, I have loved Elizabeth Lowell. She writes these amazing murder/mystery/suspense/romance novels.

That said, I just finished Whirlpool, a rewrite of The Ruby (a title that almost makes more sense).

It's one of those books where I was going to go to bed at midnight, but then I got involved, and when I looked up, it was almost 1. And I only had another 30 or so pages (probably less...), so I figured I might as well finish it.

She's an innocent jewelry maker. He's a field worker for a private security company. When Laurel's father gives her a priceless egg, then snatches it away again, Cruz (which is a terrible first name) is the only one who cares enough to keep her safe in the big, bad world of international jewel thievery.

And, yeah, if it sounds a lot like other Elizabeth Lowell plot lines, it's because it is. But they work so well!

Anyway, this novel takes them from LA to the desert (not unexpected), creating a world of mystery and mayhem that includes double-crossings, triple-crossings, and really, really untrustworthy women.

Except, of course, our innocent female protagonist who's just trying to keep her head above water, and her male counterpart who knows the dirty secrets of the world and is a little tired of looking at them. She bring revitalization to his life, the he thinks she can't love him because of the choices he made.

Madness, chaos, and near-certain death occurs, only to have the calvary charge in last minute and save them all. Damsel in distress proves she's a lot tougher than he thinks, white knight proves he actually has a heart, then love and flowers ensue.

Yeah, they're all really like that. But they're all so different that they work, and work well.

A side note on this one, though--Elizabeth Lowell writes more graphic love scenes on a regular basis, but these have a bit of S&M, and gets a little...intense. Not suitable for people under the age of 17. Well, maybe. Teens these days, let me tell you.

Long, Hot Summoning

The third (and final) book in Tanya Huff's Keeper series, it focuses more on Diana, the little sister, than Claire.

While I can appreciate the transition, I liked Claire.

Anyway, this time, Hell is trying to take over from the local mall. Yeah, it seems like it would be weird and cliched, but the way they use the cliches (and I mean every freaking cliche Tanya can think of) is absolutely hilarious.

Including (but not limited to) the archetypal Arthur, the evilness of minivans, teens stuck in the mall a la "Mallrats" (and becoming elves?!?), and the two cats. Oh, did I mention the mummy that's trying to suck the life out of Dean, hence upsetting Claire? And the really annoying human albatross that Claire has to deal with...

And! Every woman who sees Dean hitting on him?!? And he's so innocent!

The books are so funny.

Be aware...girl on girl action (kissing). Just a head's up. Diana is a lesbian.

The Second Summoning

So, the I just finished the second in the Summoning series.

Let me just say, still funny. In this one, Claire breaks up with Dean. They're both sad, so they get back together (thanks, in part, to Claire's little sister Diana), and due to...ummm...extenuating circumstances, they create an angel (don't ask. Really, it's confusing).

Of course, to balance out the universe, there has to be a demon too.

So in order to get rid of the demon, they have to get rid of the angel.

The problem? Diana has befriended the angel, and doesn't want to send him back.

Mayhem ensues, but eventually it all works out.

And the sexual innuendo is just too funny!

Summon the Keeper

Summon the Keeper is the first is a three part sci-fi trilogy by Tanya Huff. I read all 3 my first year of college (I think...), and haven't since. So, since I was home and bored with the books I had, I decided to pick these up again.

They star a keeper named Claire, a woman who basically helps protects the world from evil. Her cat, Austin, comes along and helps.

In this first book, she meets Dean, a guy so nice that Hell can't tempt him. And when I say Hell, I mean that in the basement of the hotel he works in (and sleeps in), there is a vortex to hell that talks (in all block letters...?), trying to have people give in to temptation.

It's a good thing there's a nice, attractive, Keeper around to take care of that hole to Hell.

It's a funny series. Not to be taken too seriously (it is sci-fi), but just funny.

Plus, it has a talking cat, and a hound from hell. And an annoying, sex-obsessed ghost. What's not to love?

Heart Sick

So, I'm in Utah, just about to finish To Kill a Mockingbird and realizing that the last book I have with me (Janet Evanovich's Ten Big Ones) isn't one I'm anxious to read. Re-read. Whatever.

So I have an hour between flights, and I wander out, looking for a magazine shop or whatever to pick up some random bestseller that I'll think is okay, and will forever remind me of the day of too many airports.

Instead, I find a (mini) bookstore. So much better.

And there, I pick up Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain. With a tag line of "Love hurts. Sometimes it's torture." and a positive comparison to Hannibal Lecter on the cover, I just can't help myself.

Archie Sheridan is a cop in Portland, OR who has been on medical leave for the last two years. When 4 girls go missing, and are found dead, he gets called in back to work. He also calls Susan, a reporter at the Portland Herald (guess where Cain works?). Archie wants Susan to follow him around this investigation, and she's all too happy to follow along.

The story goes back and forth between the investigation, bits and pieces of Susan's life, and what happened to Archie as he was held in a basement and tortured by Gretchen Lowell, the serial killer that put him on medical leave. She fed him pills, removed his spleen, and carved up his chest, to just mention a few things.

The story is amazingly well written. Though you're constantly being pulled into different story lines and view points, it really works. You can feel Archie's desperation to keep seeing Gretchen, to keep getting bodies out of her. But you can also see how it's tearing him apart, and how it makes him want to kill himself (quiet literally).

My favorite lines? Anne (the profiler who missed Gretchen, but came back for the kidnapper/murder) : "She's a psychopath." Archie: "Yeah, but she's my psychopath."

I'm a huge fan...but then again, I love serial killer novels. They're so much fun.

Tribute

The latest Nora Roberts came out about a month and a half ago, and I finally read it today.

Yes, yes, all in one day. Now, get over it.

So, it's called Tribute, and it's a little odd. I mean, I liked it, but it was unsual. She's a contractor who rehabs houses (Blue Smoke, anyone?), but is also the granddaughter of a famous actor. He's a local boy who...writes and illustrates graphic novels. He's a cartoonist, pretty much. I thought it was inventive.

She moves to small-town Virginia to rehab the farm that her grandmother once thrived in.

Of course, nothing could be easy, be it falling in love with Ford (our writer/illustrator), or coming out from under her grandmother's shadow. When someone decided that she can't be allowed to rehab the house, it only gets worse.

The story read well, along with the highly unexpected who-done-it, had me scratching my head a little going, "Well...that's interesting."

Again, didn't see the twist coming. Which was the entire build up. The who-done-it. I wasn't overly attached to the characters (Ford is a little too laid back, honestly), but it was a fun read.

Cross Bones

Okay, we all know that I love watching the TV show "Bones." One day, I finally decided that I was going to read the books that the show is based on.

I bought one, Cross Bones by Kathy Reich. It was $.50 on the paperback table at work...give me a break!

So it was touted as the new Da Vinci Code (Which I have read, and liked), but lacked a little...something.

As Brennan and Ryan are in Canada (Canada?!?), making many jokes about tap pants (tap pants?!?), when Brennan is suddenly shoved onto a case where she finds bones that could possibly be the bones of Christ!

So Brennan and Ryan fly to Jerusalem to either prove or disprove that Max (what Brennan nicknamed the bones that might be Christ) whom the bones could be.

It was convoluted, annoying, and over done.

Not to mention! At the end of every chapter, Reich ended each chapter by telling us that such-and-such wouldn't believe what happened! Then began the next chapter reinforcing that so-and-so really didn't believe it.

And sometimes she didn't even tell us what the surprise was. We had to figure it out.

Not that we weren't smart enough, but it was really annoying.

Immortal in Death

This is the third in J.D. Robb's In Death series. As Eve and Roarke are planning their wedding (i.e.- Roarke is doing everything), suddenly Eve has a huge case come up. When she has to charge her best friend with the murder of a famous fashion model, there's the potential for everything to go wrong.

This is where Eve first picks Peabody to help on a case (as opposed to Peabody already being on the case).

As Jake Casto, an Illegals cop is pulled into the case with Eve, she finds herself racing against the clock to find out what a weasel, an illegals dealer, and the fashion model had in common.

And she has to help plan her wedding.

It was cute, and I like getting to know Peabody more. I like Peabody. Also, where she remembers what happened that last night in Dallas with her father. The emotional aspect is good, as is the murder. In the early series, Robb is good about doing that. Later, books get good at one or the other, but not both. This is one that does both really well.

Pearl Cove

Nothing like accidentally stumbling across a great author, then having to run out and read every book you can find by them.

Okay, so this wasn't my first Elizabeth Lowell book, but it's one I like.

This is Archer Donovan's story. Archer is the oldest (and meanest) of the Donovan clan, and therefore his story is the oddest.

When Archer's half-brother dies, Archer has to fly to Australia (from Seattle) to keep the widow, and the secret of the beautiful pearls, safe. He (of course) remembers all the reasons he fell in love with the widow ten years ago, and when his half-brother sent him away.

It becomes an all out fight to stay alive (including getting most of the Donovan clan involved).

Never mind that they're fighting their growing attraction to each other, not wanting to fall in love, but not being able to help it.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I finally got around to reading the ultimate Southern novel while I was on a plane. Somewhere between Cleveland and LA I read the whole thing.

I liked it. It reminded me of a cross between Tom Sawyer and The Color Purple. The beginning was very much like Tom Sawyer (Huck Finn... both books seems the same to me). Southern kids playing around, playing tricks, running errands, screwing around. A little bit more modern, but at first I couldn't figure out the time period.

As the book went on, it was more like The Color Purple, if it had been told from an outsiders prospective.

Honestly, I really liked Jem. Watching him grow up, and seeing him take care of his sister. She seems like a bit of a moron at times, but I was curious if she ended up with Dill.

And I was so excited to see Boo!

Okay. That said. I thought it was good, but not stellar.

Wrapped in Rain

Okay, we all know that I love Charles Martin. I think he's amazing. Wrapped in Rain is the book that started it for me.

It's a story about a man who hates his father (for good reason), but has a maid/keeper who keeps him from being insane.

The love of his life (who he didn't realize was her) shows up on the side of the road, and suddenly he has to deal with a lot more than an insanely jealous ex-husband.

He has to deal with his issue, keep his woman safe, protect and love the five year old that comes with his love, take care of his brother who has serious mental issues, and come to terms with his past.

It's amazing. Let me just tell you. Ah-maze-ing.

Be aware, though, blatent Christianity. So if you're not into God, don't be upset that I didn't warn you.

8 Books

I'm going on a road trip to Michigan with some friends. It's a 33 hour drive (or so...).

The books that are currently on my reading list? The 8 new books? They're all the ones I'm taking with me.

And 17 movies.

You see, I can plug my laptop into the cigarette lighter in the car, so we can watch movies on my laptop.

So if I get bored, it's my own fault.

Oh, I'm going with 3 other people. So I really shouldn't be bored.

Reconstructing Natalie

I just read Laura Jensen Walker's Reconstructing Natalie, the story of a 27-year old woman with breast cancer.

It's Christian Romance Fiction (usually an ouch of the worst proportions), but this is good. A little over the top at points (Oh my gosh how they get together at the end, and the token black friend), but really good.

Good because you never think about breast cancer. I don't. I'm 22. It's not going to happen to me, at least not yet.

Which is exactly what Natalie thought.

So when her whole life suddenly falls apart, what can she do except do her best to hold it together and then rebuild?

She does both, and admirably. Natalie helps the average person relate. Not that we fully can, because without the deadly disease, nothing ever compares, but Laura and Natalie take you right into the head of a cancer patient.

I picked this up the first time because the author was coming to our store to do a book signing. I'd never done a book signing, so I was really excited when Pippa told me about it.

Then I looked at the schedule. It was the random Saturday that I had off for no apparent reason.

So I went home instead. It was a good weekend, if I remember correctly.

But I read the book anyway. It was good.

Eventually I bought it. And I randomly picked it up the other day. I was really happy I did.

Two for the Dough

Two for the Dough is the second in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

Here, Stephanie is chasing down Kenny Mancuso, Joe's cousin. He turns out to be crazy, and working with Spiro, the undertaker's son.

This is also the one where Steph burns down the funeral home and leaves Joe naked in a parking lot after a rather heavy session in the back of the Buick. Oh, wait...not naked. She gives him his gun back first.

Anyway, it's full of all the things we love about Stephanie. Madness, an inability to actually get anything done, bumbling around just happening on everything. There's a severe lack of Ranger in this book, but as of yet, he's more a side character than a main player.

She and Joe aren't involved yet at this point either, so there's a lot of sexual tension...

Wait, this is a Stephanie Plum novel. There's always sexual tension. Part of why we love it.

Okay. That's what I've got.

Blue Smoke and Murder

Elizabeth Lowell has done it again. Reading Blue Smoke and Murder is a lot like reading her other books. Many take place in the desert (which is really no fun, but okay), with a female character who gets herself in trouble, though has no idea of it. The trouble usually comes when she discovers a past family secret that suddenly just can't get out.

Not only that, but she just happens to get help from a security consultant who just happens to specialize in whatever her problem is.

It's like magic.

Anyway, in Blue Smoke (I was going to use the initials, then realized it was...awkward), Jill gets in trouble with some paintings she's found, and Zach just happens to be nearby on vacation when he get assigned her case.

The usual mayhem and madness ensue, including creepy phone calls, people getting shot, Zach and Jill falling in love ( a. who didn't see that coming? and b. Zach is awfully close to Jack, I just decided), the ultimate showdown where Jill has to go out on her own, only to have Zach ride to her rescue.

While the premise is always interesting, and I always feel like I'm actually learning something, some of it is overused and underplayed. A lot of things I've read in her other novels, a couple new things, and the same basic premise. While I enjoy them, they rarely stick with me.

Though there was one great line. "If you're looking for reassurance, it's in the dictionary between real and stupid." Zach tells Jill. I liked that one.

Average.

Tantalize

I took a Young Adult writing class one semester. Since then, I've realized that not all young adult novels are terrible, or cliched.

And, of course, we all know how I feel about YA vampire novels. Until today, I never met one I didn't like.

Of course, today I did. I read Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Oh my gosh, what a disappointment.

Our protagonist is a 17 year old who is in love with a hybrid werewolf (that should have warned me off...). She's also rebuilding the family restaurant.

When her head chef (and grandfather figure) dies, a mysterious replacement comes. He begins wooing her away from her "boyfriend."

And then, somehow, with almost no warning and for sure no biting, she's suddenly a vampire. Many of the usual things about vampires aren't true, and suddenly she is introduced to a whole world of the supernatural, where there are almost no rules.

In the end, she'll sacrifice everything for...the restaurant? Really?

Yeah. That's the big disappointing ending.

It was just...odd. Too much happened with almost no explanation. The girl is hardly believable, there are no redeeming qualities by the big bad vampire, not even bad qualities. He's too...vanilla. He's not scary, not nice, not attractive...he's boring.

Disappointing.

Unspeakable

I just finished Sandra Brown's Unspeakable. It's an older novel (10 years now...), but one that I hadn't read. Lola mentioned it when she was looking through my books ("You don't have Unspeakable? Sad.") so I picked it up at work.

It's about a deaf woman (Anna) and her son (David). Well, and a whole bunch of other people. In a small town in Eastern Texas, Anna lives with David and her father-in-law (Delray). When Jack Sawyer, a drifter, comes to work at the ranch where Anna lives. When Delray's good-for-nothing stepson breaks out of prison and Delray dies, Jack is the only one who can protect her and David.

Like all the other Sandra Brown novels I've read, it involves love, a huge scene where everyone is going to die (but doesn't, of course), and the twist at the end (usually within the last 15 pages or so) that is shocking.

And, of course, in the end, love conquers everything else.

Because in novels, the ending is usually happy, if unresolved.

Hello, Darkness

I just finished Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown.

Yes, take a moment and sing the song.

Ok, now that we've all done that (every time I think of the book, I think of the song).

What I like about this: Well thought out, the twist, the relationships. I like Paris because she's strong and can stand her ground, I like Dean because he's trying to do the right thing, and Sandra shows us his human hang-ups, especially about raising a son. I like Gavin because he's finding his way into being the man his dad wants him to be.

What I don't like: Incest, The Sex Club, the dentist...okay, all the weird sexual perversions.

That said, I really like this book. You do have to be aware of the sexual content, because (a) it's a Sandra Brown novel, and you have to be prepared for that, and (b) it's a murder mystery of a sexual nature.

But did I mention I really like the twist? I spent the whole time (the first time I read it), just following where she pointed me. What, he has the tapes? It must be him! Ooh! Sexual predator! It's him! And then...OH MY GOSH!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S HIM?!? kind of moment.

Although, this time, for the first time, I caught the slip. The moment where you realize who it is, the slip in his language. Never saw it before, and I've read it at least twice before.

Going Home

I just finished Going Home by Nora Roberts. It's a re-release of "3 Classic Silhouette Novels"... you know, 3 smaller books that you'd otherwise never know that she wrote.

The first story, Unifinished Business was cute, the kind I like where she comes home and re-falls in love with her guy. Not much more than the romance angle, but cute.

The second, Island of Flowers was one of those "I don't trust you but I'm falling in love with you" types that are over too fast, and yet not fast enough.

The third, Mind Over Matter was cute, about a cuple who gets together despite both of them being too proud to admit they love each other until they don't have each other anymore.

As a whole, I was unimpressed, but that's what happens when you buy early books of people breaking into genres. You find them cliched and trite, but just cute enough that you like them.

Fearless Fourteen

I just read Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen, the most recent in the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter series.

What you need to know about these books (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, Four to Score, High Five, Hot Six, Seven Up, Hard Eight, To the Nines, Ten Big Ones, Eleven on Top, Twelve Sharp, Lean Mean Thirteen, and Fearless Fourteen) is that they are are hilarious.

Laugh out loud funny. There aren't a lot of books that I laugh out loud with (I'm a bit of a cynic, in case you hadn't noticed), but I usually do with these books.

More recently they've been hit and miss, but this one was pretty good. Lots of sexual innuendo, which is always fun. Tank fainted (Tank!), Lula got engaged (to Tank!), and Mooner has a potato gun. A potato gun. It was too funny.

You can probably pick this one up and not be too lost, though some of it you will be. It's easy to pick up, but you might feel like you're missing some of the finer points of the history.

Anyway, I'm a fan. Very nice, JE, very nice.

Breaking Dawn

I just (as in just...) finished Breaking Dawn, the final book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga.

Can I just say how incredibly happy I am about who died?

I really don't want to give it away (too big of a hype. Like giving away the final Harry Potter or the end of "The Sixth Sense"), but I loved it (here's your warning...spoilers involved. All throughout. So be careful).

Okay, I loved Bella's parts. The middle section, with Jacob as the narrator? Weird.

Anyway, Stephenie (okay, so I refer to people by their first names. It makes me feel better. By last names makes me feel...distant) did leave it open for another...but not for a long time down the road. By then, I'm sure Bella will have time to have sharpened her gift (I knew she was going to have something! I thought it was going to be like Alice's gift, but I'm not perfect. Or Alice, for that matter).

Can I say...that was the most unexpected thing I have ever encountered in a book? Within the first two hundred pages, I thought it was going to live up to my worst expectations. Killing Bella. When she came up pregnant, I couldn't have been more shocked.

And I knew! As soon as she woke up, I knew Jacob had imprinted on someone! Only took him forever! That's where I called Miranda, to see where she was. I was on page 450, way ahead of her. But I knew it!

Aarg...

The whole ending? A small disappointment, only because I was expecting something so much bigger. A bigger fight scene. A bigger loss.

I guess I got that from the last Harry Potter. They lost a lot. And while those books became darker as the series went on, these only get lighter. More love, more tenderness, more acceptance.

Except Leah. But I'm pretty sure she'll come around eventually.

And Alice! Why did you leave?!? I mean, I get why, but I missed her. And I still am not such a huge fan of Rosalie. Geez.

Sorry. Talk to me if/when you read it. Otherwise, I'll totally give away all the details.

Oh! Right.

Something I Love

Okay, I have to admit 2 things here.

1) I like stories with a romantic angle. Without a least a hint, the story feels a little...blank. Like, yeah, a bunch of murders (or whatever) happened, but who really cares? This is me, not connecting.

2) My favorite kind are those in which someone comes back to their home town (or where ever), only to find that they still love the same person that they loved before they left.

Totally my favorite.