Come In and Cover Me by Gin Phillips
My rating: 3,5 of 5 stars
Ren’s brother Scott died when she was only 12 years old, but he never really went away. His ghost has been a part of her life for 25 years. Her ability to see ghosts has help her in her career as an archaeologist – they can help point her to where the artifacts are buried. She is currently trying to piece together the life story of a Mimbres woman who made unique bowls. Two long-dead Mimbres women have appeared to her but they seem to be telling her more about her own life than theirs.
Ren meets and starts a relationship with one of her fellow archaeologists, Silas, on the dig for the Mimbres bowls. However, she’s apprehensive about sharing her ghost-seeing abilities with him and is afraid she might lose him.
Overall, this was a good story but it was slow and also predictable at times. I thought her relationship with Silas was fairly formulaic – she’s a tough, mysterious woman who needs the love of a good man to break down the walls she’s built around her. However, I thought Ren’s relationship with the two Mibres women was interesting and I enjoyed the flashbacks of what the Mibres women’s lives were like when they were alive.
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(I received this book courtesy of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.)
January 18th, 2012 in
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The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe by Glynis Ridley
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
In 1765, King Louis XV ordered the first French expedition around the world. Philibert Commerson was appointed the voyage’s botanist and charged with discovering medicines, spices and other resources. No women were allowed on ships on this kind of voyage but Commerson’s mistress, twenty-six year old Jeanne Baret managed to come aboard posing as Commerson’s young male assistant. She was able to keep the ruse up for quite a while but eventually it all fell apart. Even so, she was the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth.
This book was incredibly well researched but I found it too academic for my taste. Because everything takes place was so long ago and not many first person accounts from people on the voyage are out there, the author has to make quite a few assumptions about what may or may not have happened. She always backed them up with historical background information or by outlining the logic that lead to her conclusions, which I thought was great. However, since there is no known first person journal or letters written by Jeanne Baret herself, the author also makes a lot of assumptions about how Baret was feeling or what she was thinking in various situations. I didn’t always agree with the author’s reasoning in these cases. The author clearly admires Baret, which she should, but I think this led her to be overly generous with some of her assumptions.
I would have preferred to read this story as historical fiction – then the author could have made all the assumptions she wanted without having to outline her reasoning and documentation. I think that is part of what made this a dry read. There is quite a bit of information about the plants that Commerson and Baret documented on the voyage so if you have an interest in botany, you will probably enjoy those parts quite a bit. All in all, it is an interesting story and even though I thought the book had some flaws; I’m glad I read it.
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(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
January 17th, 2012 in
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I like to try and actually commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. in some way during MLK Jr. weekend. Last year, I tried reading the boys a picture book about his life. That went over like a lead balloon. When we got to the part where he got shot, the boys started crying and saying, “This book is too scary!” Trying to explain that he made a sacrifice for a larger movement was no help. When I told Cash that with out MLK Jr, his best friend wouldn’t go to the same school as him, he basically told me to be quiet – that was too horrible to contemplate and he didn’t want to hear any more. So when I brought this book out this year and said we were reading it because it’s MLK Jr. weekend, they freaked out. I have scarred them for life. I assured them that no one died and that Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t even actually in it and they let me read it to them. Sheesh.
White Water by Michael S. Bandy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
On a very hot day in 1962, Michael and his grandmother take the bus into down. Once they get there, Michael runs to the water fountains to take a drink. But the water tastes nasty and dirty. He looks over at a little boy drinking out of the whites-only water fountain and notices that little boy seems to be enjoying his drink. Could the white water be better? Michael decides to find out and takes the bus to town the next day by himself. When no one is looking, he takes a drink from the whites-only water fountain. It tastes dirty and nasty too. He happens to look down and see that both fountains are fed by the same pipe. It’s the same water! The white water isn’t any better. Michael wonders if the fact that white water is a lie, what other things that he’s been told should he question?
I think most of this book went over West’s (the five year old) head but Cash (my seven year old) and I were able to have a great discussion about segregation and Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in bringing that to an end. He didn’t freak out and was flabbergasted to learn that even Kansas City had segregated schools back then. West’s only contribution was to tell me that he doesn’t have any friends with black skin – they have BROWN skin. I think this was a great book to use as a stepping off point for a conversation about race and history that was on their level.
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January 16th, 2012 in
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Yesterday I reviewed My Life As a White Trash Zombie – which I loved! I happen to have an extra copy to give away to a VERY lucky reader with a United States address. To enter, just fill out the form below by 11:59pm on January 23, 2012.
January 12th, 2012 in
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My Life As a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I heard that the zombie is the main character and the “good-guy” of this book, I knew I had to read it. I’ve never heard of a book with a zombie good-guy before! And just look at the cover – how could I resist?
Angel lives with her alcoholic dad in Southern Louisiana. She’s a pill junkie and a high-school dropout who can’t hold a job. In other words, a loser. One day, she wakes up in the hospital after overdosing. She remembers being in a terrible car crash but she mysteriously has no injuries. A note is delivered to her hospital room informing her that a job at the county morgue is waiting for her when she’s released. How convenient now that she has an inexplicable craving for brains. Unfortunately, there is a serial killer on the loose who decapitates his victims.
This book was so fun and original – I loved it. It has two mysteries to solve: 1)Who turned Angel into a zombie? and 2)Who is the serial killer? I couldn’t figure out either mystery, the author definitely kept me guessing. There is also just the slightest hint of a romance thrown in as well. Angel is a great character. She has her flaws (obviously) but she is so likable, I was rooting for her to turn her life around.
After finishing My Life As A White Trash Zombie, I was delighted to learn that it’s the first book in a series. The next book is called Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues and will be released on July 3.
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January 11th, 2012 in
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Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Yelena is locked in a dungeon waiting to be executed when the Commander’s security advisor, Valek, offers her a deal. She can become the food taster for the Commander, making sure that no would-be assassin has poisoned his food. To make sure she doesn’t use the freedom of her new position to try and escape, Valek poisons Yelena with Butterfly’s Dust. To survive, she has to visit him every morning for a dose of the antidote. Yelena must try and figure out how she can escape now that she’s been poisoned but it’s hard to find time to do that because a rebels are plotting against the Commander. On top of all that, she just found out that she has magical powers she can’t control.
I want to start off this review by reminding my readers that I am not an experienced fantasy reader – if you are, you may want to take my review with a grain of salt.
Yelena is a great, strong female character. She doesn’t play the damsel in distress; she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and learns to kick some ass. She does have a love interest, but I didn’t feel any chemistry between him and Yelena. That subplot felt a little forced to me.
Magic doesn’t play a significant part of the story until towards the end which was actually a plus for me. For some reason, I can get on board with zombies, vampires and werewolves but I have trouble suspending my disbelief when it comes to magic. I think it might be because there are more clear-cut “rules” about what zombies, vampires and werewolves are capable of. Maybe reading more fantasy would cure me of that problem. Overall, I thought Poison Study was a fun, quick read.
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January 10th, 2012 in
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The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A school teacher, his wife, and his daughter are brutally murdered in Tumba, Sweden. His fifteen year old son survives the attack but is hospitalized and in a state of shock. Detective Joona Linna asks psychiatrist Dr. Erik Maria Bark to hypnotize the boy to gain information about the murderer. Bark swore off hypnotism ten years ago after his last hypnotic experience resulted in tragedy. He reluctantly gives in to Detective Linna, only to set off a terrible chain of events.
This book started off with a bang – ten pages in and I was on the edge of my seat. There are so many mysteries interwoven into the plot, not just who killed the teacher and his family. The story takes so many twists and turns that my head was spinning. I’m giving it four stars instead of five because there were a few implausible points in the story. For instance, Linna lets Erik, a civilian, go with him into all kinds of dangerous situations and there is also a retired detective who takes his civilian adult daughter with him on his investigations. I don’t know that much about Sweden but I’m pretty sure this would not be allowed ordinarily.
Overall, this was a great book. I’ve heard it compared several times to Stieg Larsson’s books but as I haven’t read them yet I can’t speak to the validity of that comparison. What I do know is that The Hypnotist is a fast-paced, intense mystery that was a lot of fun to read.
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January 9th, 2012 in
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I recently reviewed the book Girl With A Pearl Earring. Since I loved the book, I decided to watch the movie to see how it stacked up. The basic premise of the movie is the same as the book. Greit is a poor sixteen year old girl who is sent to work as a maid in the painter Johannes Vermeer’s household in the 17th century.
I was disappointed with the way the Scarlett Johansson portrayed Greit in the movie. I wanted her to be strong like she was in the book. Instead, Johansson walked around with her mouth open and a stunned expression on her face most of the time. I found myself yelling, “Close your mouth!” at the screen several times. Very annoying. That would have bothered me even if I hadn’t read the book first.
Several characters were left out that, if included, would have helped Greit come across as a stronger person. Her siblings were not in the movie and her relationship with Vermeer’s oldest daughter didn’t make it to the screen either. As this movie was only 99 minutes long, I think there was some room to develop Greit’s character more.
The movie plays up the sexual tension between Vermeer and Greit. In the book, I felt like their relationship was more of a mentor/mentee or father/daughter type relationship with just the barest hint of any romantic tension. Colin Firth’s portrayal of Vermeer walked the line between appearing smitten and just looking like a creepy old man.
I think that even if you haven’t read the book, this movie is just okay – I give it three stars.
January 6th, 2012 in
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The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mia Thermopolis is a nine-grader living with her mother in New York City. Her father lives in far off Genovia. One day he comes to visit and surprises Mia with the news that he’s actually the prince of Genovia. Not only that, he just found out he can’t father any more children, leaving Mia as his sole heir to the throne. Because of this, she must now learn to be a princess under the tutelage of her grumpy and strict Grandmere.
This was a very fun young adult book. I listened to the audio book, narrated by Anne Hathaway. (She played Mia in the movie version of the book, which I have not seen.) She has the voice and emotions of a typical ninth grader down pat! I was laughing out loud at times. Of course she is helped by the fact that Meg Cabot gets teenagers and writes teenage characters so well. There are several more books in this series and I’m looking forward to reading them.
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January 5th, 2012 in
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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mockingjay is the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. This review assumes that you have read the first two books in the trilogy, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and may have spoilers for them if you haven’t.
In Mockingjay, Katniss must decide exactly how much more she’s willing to sacrifice to keep the people she loves alive and help the Districts’ rebellion. Once again, the action is non-stop and kept me on the edge of my seat. There are a couple of reasons why this is a four-star review instead of five-star like I gave the first two books. One is that I had some trouble following the descriptions of the Capitol and the action that took place there. Two is that I was disappointed with the way the Peeta/Katniss/Gale love triangle ended. I felt like Collins gave Katniss a really easy way out. Other than those two points, I thought this book was a satisfying end to the trilogy.
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January 4th, 2012 in
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