Death Swatch is the newest book in Laura Childs' scrapbooking series. It has a great setting - Mardi Gras time in New Orleans - and some great characters in Carmela and her girlfriend Ava. It even has a great mystery - a float designer who has connections to some of the highest crewes that parade, is killed at a Mardi Gras party. (A dark humorous scene is everyone coming to the funeral when they are all hung over from their various Mardi Gras parties from the night before.) He also was an amateur historian interested in maps and Jean Lafitte's treasure. Who has the map and who killed him for it? And is there a treasure? Carmela gets more than she planned for in this hectic and fast paced adventure.
I was actually thrilled that this series finally seems to have hit it's stride. The story is strong and the characters are too. I loved the part where Carmela and her women friends have created their own female crewe. I just wish the author would move the interpersonal relationships forward. Carmela and her ex have been hanging on too long and it seems to be dragging the series and the character development down. I hope this gets taken care of in the next book. A fun read.
Flowers and bee
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Through a Glass, Deadly
Sarah Atwell's Through a Glass, Deadly is her Agatha nominated first book in the glassblowing series. Emmeline Dowell has created a life for herself as a glass artisan in Tucson. She is happy living above her studio and shop, selling her glass pieces and teaching classes in the ancient art of glass making. Finding a body in her furnace is a big surprise. Even more astonishing is the fact that this body was the husband of someone she just met. And this husband was involved with the mob. Em just wants to find the murderer so that things can get back to normal. Having the police over means her ex boyfriend, the chief of police, Matt will soon be by.
Atwell gives us a great exploration of glassblowing - maybe more that you wanted, but I always thought it was a fascinating art - and of the Tucson area. Em is an interesting artist and it is great to see her passion for her work. She is an appealing character, there are great secondary characters and it is a good start for a new series. I'm looking forward to the next one. A good read.
Atwell gives us a great exploration of glassblowing - maybe more that you wanted, but I always thought it was a fascinating art - and of the Tucson area. Em is an interesting artist and it is great to see her passion for her work. She is an appealing character, there are great secondary characters and it is a good start for a new series. I'm looking forward to the next one. A good read.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Bright Lights, Big Ass & More
What can you say about Jen Lancaster's books? They are funny. They are relatable. And sometimes she says those not so nice things that you were just dying to say!
Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? is her sequel to Bitter in Black and it continues the tale of money and job woes and their slow recovery. It also tells the story of Jen's book deal which happens whiles she's in temping hell. And then there are those wacky neighbors? They never have those on the glam TV shows!
Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie is Not the Answer is a story about losing weight. But it also the story of someone trying to accept their body, make it healthier, and figure out how she got that way and make some changes in her life. She makes the working out horror story seem funny, and brings a great "everyday" woman appeal to the typical "trying to change myself" memoir. If it is on thing you learn - Jen is not typical. Very funny and inspiring.
Lancaster's next book is supposed to be a memoir about growing up. I can't wait to see her perspective on it. And to laugh about it. Her books are very good reads.
Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? is her sequel to Bitter in Black and it continues the tale of money and job woes and their slow recovery. It also tells the story of Jen's book deal which happens whiles she's in temping hell. And then there are those wacky neighbors? They never have those on the glam TV shows!
Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie is Not the Answer is a story about losing weight. But it also the story of someone trying to accept their body, make it healthier, and figure out how she got that way and make some changes in her life. She makes the working out horror story seem funny, and brings a great "everyday" woman appeal to the typical "trying to change myself" memoir. If it is on thing you learn - Jen is not typical. Very funny and inspiring.
Lancaster's next book is supposed to be a memoir about growing up. I can't wait to see her perspective on it. And to laugh about it. Her books are very good reads.
We'll Always Have Parrots or Organized Chaos Can Be Fun
Donna Andrews has written a mystery series. Her publisher refers to them rather plainly as "the Meg Langslow mysteries." I'll just call them "organized chaos." From the very beginning of the series, Murder With Peacocks, to the one I just finished, We'll Always Have Parrots, we are exposed to a world that Andrews has created containing lovable quirky characters, twisting plot points, way too much happening at one time, and the occasional murder. And let us not forget the birds. What may have started a cute title idea has managed with Andrews' cleverness to be fully integrated into the story line. Each book has something to do about birds.
Meg is a great character who while the chaos reigns around, manages to wrangle it, direct it and sometimes conquer it. She's a take charge kind of gal, and if someone in her large extended family is suspected of murder, she tries to make it right. A bit "type A" for someone who is an artistic blacksmith (but she has been getting into making armory lately...), but because she is the "sane one" in the room, we cling to her as the story tumbles and tosses along.
Her family are a bit nutty. The mother who is a gossip and diva. Her dad, a retired doctor, who is a big mystery fan who wants to help out at the autopsies. Her brother, the "barely passed the bar" lawyer, who managed to create a hit computer game. Her nephew, whose duck follows him everywhere. And the countless other distant and not so distant cousins who keep popping up with regularity. Did I mention it was set in the South?
I can not describe all the funny bits in these books. Maybe because there are too many to describe. But if you do not find anything funny in these - well then - you have no sense of humor and just go away. But I highly recommend them for these serious tense times. A very good read. I can not wait to start the next ones.
The Meg Langslow books I have read:
Murder With Peacocks - Meg tries to organize and be in 3 weddings in one summer with 3 bridezillas - one of which is her mother. One of them wants peacocks on the lawns. And a nasty guest is murdered. (My personal nightmare - being in three weddings in one summer - not the the murder part.)
Murder With Puffins - Meg and her boyfriend Michael try to escape for some quiet time to a family cottage in Maine. Half the family comes with. A local artist and old flame of Meg's mother is murdered. And there is the remnants of a hurricane. Yikes!
Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos - In her hometown of Yorktown, Virginia, Meg tries to help organize the chaos of a reenactment festival of Yorktown and solve a murder that happened in her craft fair booth -while in period costumes. What a gal!
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Meg is temping at her brother's computer gaming company when the office's practical joker is murdered. The buzzard is the office mascot. The game they sell? Lawyers From Hell.
We’ll Always Have Parrots - While attending a fan convention for a TV show, Michael has acted in, and to sell her budding line of swords, Meg finds the dead body of the star of the show. A rabid fan? A disgruntled co-worker? Or could it be one of the monkeys and parrots that are running about the lobby? Talk about a decorating idea gone wild.
Books I have to look forward to:
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
And something for the future:
Swan for the Money - Due in July 2009
Meg is a great character who while the chaos reigns around, manages to wrangle it, direct it and sometimes conquer it. She's a take charge kind of gal, and if someone in her large extended family is suspected of murder, she tries to make it right. A bit "type A" for someone who is an artistic blacksmith (but she has been getting into making armory lately...), but because she is the "sane one" in the room, we cling to her as the story tumbles and tosses along.
Her family are a bit nutty. The mother who is a gossip and diva. Her dad, a retired doctor, who is a big mystery fan who wants to help out at the autopsies. Her brother, the "barely passed the bar" lawyer, who managed to create a hit computer game. Her nephew, whose duck follows him everywhere. And the countless other distant and not so distant cousins who keep popping up with regularity. Did I mention it was set in the South?
I can not describe all the funny bits in these books. Maybe because there are too many to describe. But if you do not find anything funny in these - well then - you have no sense of humor and just go away. But I highly recommend them for these serious tense times. A very good read. I can not wait to start the next ones.
The Meg Langslow books I have read:
Murder With Peacocks - Meg tries to organize and be in 3 weddings in one summer with 3 bridezillas - one of which is her mother. One of them wants peacocks on the lawns. And a nasty guest is murdered. (My personal nightmare - being in three weddings in one summer - not the the murder part.)
Murder With Puffins - Meg and her boyfriend Michael try to escape for some quiet time to a family cottage in Maine. Half the family comes with. A local artist and old flame of Meg's mother is murdered. And there is the remnants of a hurricane. Yikes!
Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos - In her hometown of Yorktown, Virginia, Meg tries to help organize the chaos of a reenactment festival of Yorktown and solve a murder that happened in her craft fair booth -while in period costumes. What a gal!
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Meg is temping at her brother's computer gaming company when the office's practical joker is murdered. The buzzard is the office mascot. The game they sell? Lawyers From Hell.
We’ll Always Have Parrots - While attending a fan convention for a TV show, Michael has acted in, and to sell her budding line of swords, Meg finds the dead body of the star of the show. A rabid fan? A disgruntled co-worker? Or could it be one of the monkeys and parrots that are running about the lobby? Talk about a decorating idea gone wild.
Books I have to look forward to:
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
And something for the future:
Swan for the Money - Due in July 2009
The Lover's Knot
A Lover's Knot: A Someday Quilts Mystery is author Clare O'Donohue's first mystery. (And she knows something about quilting, having worked on the HGTV show Simply Quilts.) Nell Fitzgerald is recovering from a shock. Her fiance has just called off the wedding. She takes a break from the chaos her life has become by visiting her grandmother in upstate N.Y.
While she is resting, she becomes drawn into her grandmother Eleanor's world of the quilt store, good friends, and her quilting circle. And when Eleanor is injured, Nell takes over for her in the store. But when she finds the local flirt and handyman murdered in the store, her outsider status is useful for picking up clues.
The characters are well drawn and their community well written, it makes one want to travel and see this place for oneself. O'Donohue does a nice job with Nell's reawakening from heartbreak to being in a stronger space. And she does it realistically - time wise. The reader cheers her on.
A great first book for a series. Hope there is another.
While she is resting, she becomes drawn into her grandmother Eleanor's world of the quilt store, good friends, and her quilting circle. And when Eleanor is injured, Nell takes over for her in the store. But when she finds the local flirt and handyman murdered in the store, her outsider status is useful for picking up clues.
The characters are well drawn and their community well written, it makes one want to travel and see this place for oneself. O'Donohue does a nice job with Nell's reawakening from heartbreak to being in a stronger space. And she does it realistically - time wise. The reader cheers her on.
A great first book for a series. Hope there is another.
Knit One, Kill Two
Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton is the first of her series with Kelly Flynn. Kelly comes back to Colorado because her beloved aunt has been killed. The police think it was a vagrant, but there are questions that need to be answered. Why did her aunt take out a second mortgage for $20,000? Where is the money? And what happened to her aunt's precious family quilt that was hanging in the living room? It is no where to be found. And what about this woman who claims to be her aunt's cousin?
Kelly finds her aunt had more friends than she thought, thanks to the yarn and fiber shop across the street. Even though she is supposed to be here temporarily, Kelly finds support and help from these friends when she starts trying to clear things up. And she finds she is really liking the relaxed atmosphere of the area. Perhaps she will stay? On to the next book!
Sefton does a great job setting up a series by giving us a nice set of secondary characters and a heroine the reader can relate to. And the bits about falling in love with the feel and colors of the textiles and yarns, make us want to go yarn shopping. Even if we know nothing about knitting. Looking forward to reading some more. A good read.
Kelly finds her aunt had more friends than she thought, thanks to the yarn and fiber shop across the street. Even though she is supposed to be here temporarily, Kelly finds support and help from these friends when she starts trying to clear things up. And she finds she is really liking the relaxed atmosphere of the area. Perhaps she will stay? On to the next book!
Sefton does a great job setting up a series by giving us a nice set of secondary characters and a heroine the reader can relate to. And the bits about falling in love with the feel and colors of the textiles and yarns, make us want to go yarn shopping. Even if we know nothing about knitting. Looking forward to reading some more. A good read.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
More Home Cooking
What can one say about Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking? Bright, well composed essays on a variety of food topics with cunning recipes stashed in between the start and finish. The joys of gingerbread - got it. The raspberry addict - got it. The love of roast chicken - got it. The pleasures of simple but good food - got it.
She makes the reader want to run home and make some simple but elegant dish. Such zest of life, such honest enthusiasm, humor and love of food. Such fun to read. A very good read.
P.S. Read her first one - Home Cooking, too!
She makes the reader want to run home and make some simple but elegant dish. Such zest of life, such honest enthusiasm, humor and love of food. Such fun to read. A very good read.
P.S. Read her first one - Home Cooking, too!
McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire
Jeffery Rothfeder's book McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire is not just a book about a business. It is a book about a family - the McIlhenny's, a place - Avery Island, Louisiana, and a time - the Civil War reconstruction era. Rothfeder does an excellent job of explaining how the product Tabasco - has been intertwined since the beginning with these three.
The business was begun as a post war enterprise. It grew to engulf the island - which is also home to salt mines. It helped create one of the first "company" towns. And it helped change the culinary culture as the appreciation for hot foods has grown. Tabasco has become an icon.
The McIlhenny family is full of bankers, naturalists, and soldiers and their family-run company has, in some ways, become an extension of themselves. Rothfeder does a nice job keeping the story going through the decades. An interesting story of history, food and a family run business. Don't blame me if you run out and get some hot sauce. A very good read.
The business was begun as a post war enterprise. It grew to engulf the island - which is also home to salt mines. It helped create one of the first "company" towns. And it helped change the culinary culture as the appreciation for hot foods has grown. Tabasco has become an icon.
The McIlhenny family is full of bankers, naturalists, and soldiers and their family-run company has, in some ways, become an extension of themselves. Rothfeder does a nice job keeping the story going through the decades. An interesting story of history, food and a family run business. Don't blame me if you run out and get some hot sauce. A very good read.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Paper Scissors Death
Paper Scissors Death is the start of a new mystery series by Joanna Campbell Slan. Kiki Lowenstein's husband is found dead and naked in a hotel room. Kiki is in a state of shock, but tries to keep it together for her daughter Anya. She also finds out their finances are a mess, and she is going to have to start over. The good thing is she has a mother-in-law who loves her granddaughter, and Kiki never really felt comfortable in the gated community she lived in anyway. The bad news is the mother-in-law hates her, knew about her husband's affairs and Kiki has a self-esteem problem. But she just can't accept that George would just die of a heart attack. He was too young, and who were the women he was dinning with just before it happened?
Slan gives us a heroine to be proud of. Kiki is forced to grow and get out of her comfort zone - just so she and her daughter can survive. The ironic part is - she gets more help from her "lower-class" friends, then the community she once was a part of. And she manages to get the attention of a police detective who is also not sure this case is over. Her well written friends and their support system are the type of folks that you want behind you when the chips are down.
For anyone who loves scrapbooking, Slan really has the crafting part down pat. Kiki ends up using her scrapbooking skills to earn money, and Slan - an author of non-fiction scrapbooking books, knows her stuff. She flavors Kiki's story with reasons why people love scrabooking. And she writes about the amount of emotion there is in the craft. And best of all she gets it right.
I'm looking forward to the next adventure. Forensic scrapbooking indeed! A great read, for mystery and scrapbooking fans alike.
Slan gives us a heroine to be proud of. Kiki is forced to grow and get out of her comfort zone - just so she and her daughter can survive. The ironic part is - she gets more help from her "lower-class" friends, then the community she once was a part of. And she manages to get the attention of a police detective who is also not sure this case is over. Her well written friends and their support system are the type of folks that you want behind you when the chips are down.
For anyone who loves scrapbooking, Slan really has the crafting part down pat. Kiki ends up using her scrapbooking skills to earn money, and Slan - an author of non-fiction scrapbooking books, knows her stuff. She flavors Kiki's story with reasons why people love scrabooking. And she writes about the amount of emotion there is in the craft. And best of all she gets it right.
I'm looking forward to the next adventure. Forensic scrapbooking indeed! A great read, for mystery and scrapbooking fans alike.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Crewel World: Cozies Ain't For Sissies
There are those that say certain kinds of mystery books are cozy. I think they categorize cozies, by having amateur sleuths, lovely little towns, and having folks getting murdered "off stage". So what happens when you have a series that has a little Minnesota town, the main character owns a needlework/craft shop, solves mysteries on the side, but the killings are not necessarily pretty. How's getting tossed off a balcony (Crewel Yule), cut by the throat (Cutwork), and having a knitting needle pushed into your brain (Sins and Needles)? Cozy? I think not.
Monica Ferris has created a great character in Betsy Devonshire. And she has given her a interesting group of friends and neighbors. Betsy has a talent for figuring out the little things that solve cases. And she is not so sure she likes this talent. It does bother her that some of these killers are people in the community. Folks that she knows. (Now, that is why I always find these "malice domestic" books creepier - these are not strangers doing the killing!)
She's embarked on this path by accident. She really was just intending to stay with her sister and help her in the store, while she was getting over her divorce. And then her sister was murdered. And she inherited the store and estate. So she stuck around for awhile. And got more involved with her employees and her customers.
Ferris does a nice job fleshing out the secondary characters throughout the series; it is a rare "cozy" that has a regular character that is gay. But Godwin grows and develops through the series. He becomes more than the guy who can match the right thread colors. Various members of the store's regulars - the Monday Bunch - get their own spotlight in the books in the series.
And then there is the needlework. Cozy? Maybe. It has been considered an art form for years. This series is a great way to see how Ferris mixes it in with the mystery. One book has Betsy trying to identify a certain bobbin lace pattern, the next has her researching symbols on a church tapestry. And the store is used as a place where folks in the community can gather. Actually, I wish we had a store like Crewel World locally. These books make me want to take up my cross-stitching again!
So do yourself a favor - start with the first three books in order, and then you can mix them around a bit. And discover the world of Excelsior, Minnesota. A fun series.
Monica Ferris' mystery series featuring Betsy Devonshire:
Thai Die (2008)
Knitting Bones (2007)
Sins and Needles (2006)
Embroidered Truths (2005)
Crewel Yule (2004)
Cutwork (2004)
Hanging by a Thread (2003)
A Murderous Yarn (2002)
Unraveled Sleeve (2001)
A Stitch in Time (2000)
Framed in Lace (1999)
Crewel World (1999)
Monica Ferris has created a great character in Betsy Devonshire. And she has given her a interesting group of friends and neighbors. Betsy has a talent for figuring out the little things that solve cases. And she is not so sure she likes this talent. It does bother her that some of these killers are people in the community. Folks that she knows. (Now, that is why I always find these "malice domestic" books creepier - these are not strangers doing the killing!)
She's embarked on this path by accident. She really was just intending to stay with her sister and help her in the store, while she was getting over her divorce. And then her sister was murdered. And she inherited the store and estate. So she stuck around for awhile. And got more involved with her employees and her customers.
Ferris does a nice job fleshing out the secondary characters throughout the series; it is a rare "cozy" that has a regular character that is gay. But Godwin grows and develops through the series. He becomes more than the guy who can match the right thread colors. Various members of the store's regulars - the Monday Bunch - get their own spotlight in the books in the series.
And then there is the needlework. Cozy? Maybe. It has been considered an art form for years. This series is a great way to see how Ferris mixes it in with the mystery. One book has Betsy trying to identify a certain bobbin lace pattern, the next has her researching symbols on a church tapestry. And the store is used as a place where folks in the community can gather. Actually, I wish we had a store like Crewel World locally. These books make me want to take up my cross-stitching again!
So do yourself a favor - start with the first three books in order, and then you can mix them around a bit. And discover the world of Excelsior, Minnesota. A fun series.
Monica Ferris' mystery series featuring Betsy Devonshire:
Thai Die (2008)
Knitting Bones (2007)
Sins and Needles (2006)
Embroidered Truths (2005)
Crewel Yule (2004)
Cutwork (2004)
Hanging by a Thread (2003)
A Murderous Yarn (2002)
Unraveled Sleeve (2001)
A Stitch in Time (2000)
Framed in Lace (1999)
Crewel World (1999)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Stamped Out
Stamped Out by Terri Thayer is the first book in a new series with April Buchert, a interior designer who has moved back to her small home town in Pennsylvania. She's been in California for awhile and is not sure she is glad to be home - even if it means shedding her deadbeat husband behind. But she has not mentioned that to her parents yet. She's still learning to deal with them being in the same town. Her dad and his partner have invited her to work with them on the latest project they are general contracting. And while checking out the site to be demolished, a body is found.
Who is it? No one has gone missing for years. This was a house her dad had worked on before and had bankrupted his company on the job. This house was trouble from the start, with continual changes from the owner, it's eventual fall into disrepair, and status as the local teen hideout. How many old memories will have to be dug up? How many old grudges? April learns that she was not the only one with troubles on her mind, the summer the house was built.
This book has some interesting characters, April who is an artist and trying to come to terms and change things in life, and there is her best friend Deana. Deana is the one organizing and hosting the rubber-stamping parties but her main job is her family's funeral home. (And actually that is pretty interesting.) During these crafting nights - all sorts of gossip is let loose and you learn a lot about the rest of the characters. (This does happen at some craft nights!)
Thayer's book is billed as "A Stamping Sisters Mystery" but really it is just a mystery with some rubber stamping thrown in. Let's hope there is a little more integration between the topics for the next one, because I like the characters and I'm interested in seeing what happens next. A good read.
Who is it? No one has gone missing for years. This was a house her dad had worked on before and had bankrupted his company on the job. This house was trouble from the start, with continual changes from the owner, it's eventual fall into disrepair, and status as the local teen hideout. How many old memories will have to be dug up? How many old grudges? April learns that she was not the only one with troubles on her mind, the summer the house was built.
This book has some interesting characters, April who is an artist and trying to come to terms and change things in life, and there is her best friend Deana. Deana is the one organizing and hosting the rubber-stamping parties but her main job is her family's funeral home. (And actually that is pretty interesting.) During these crafting nights - all sorts of gossip is let loose and you learn a lot about the rest of the characters. (This does happen at some craft nights!)
Thayer's book is billed as "A Stamping Sisters Mystery" but really it is just a mystery with some rubber stamping thrown in. Let's hope there is a little more integration between the topics for the next one, because I like the characters and I'm interested in seeing what happens next. A good read.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A chance encounter with a book by Charles Lamb, leads to a inquiring letter written to an author, who just happens to be looking for her next project, and her curiosity leads her to the island of Guernsey in the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows have written a book that is full of characters that we want to get to know - right away- and the format that the authors use - personal letters between characters - gives us the opportunity to be eager (and inquisitive) for the next missive.
Their letters give us the chance to examine the relationship between the characters, as it grows from being formal strangers, and moves to becoming beloved friends. They contain a lot of the minutia of life, and give the reader a bit of the background of the main writer - Juliet and what her life has been like during the war. All of the characters are experiencing the recovery of Great Britain from the war, but those on Guernsey have a special reason to be grateful after the sorrowful years of occupation.
The Literary society came about because of a special pig dinner. Special because it was being hidden from the Nazis. And as the islanders bonded over dinner and being in trouble, the society grew to be more than just a group of people talking about books. And one person, Elizabeth, seems to be the catalyst that brings them all together. When Juliet learns about their stories, she wants more than ever to bring their tale to light in a book because she is falling in love with the island too.
Filled with war stories, book references, British slang, and good humor, the authors have a definitely created a great story to tell. If you don't like the style of the book - personal letters - you might have trouble with it. But I think it is splendid! A very good read.
Their letters give us the chance to examine the relationship between the characters, as it grows from being formal strangers, and moves to becoming beloved friends. They contain a lot of the minutia of life, and give the reader a bit of the background of the main writer - Juliet and what her life has been like during the war. All of the characters are experiencing the recovery of Great Britain from the war, but those on Guernsey have a special reason to be grateful after the sorrowful years of occupation.
The Literary society came about because of a special pig dinner. Special because it was being hidden from the Nazis. And as the islanders bonded over dinner and being in trouble, the society grew to be more than just a group of people talking about books. And one person, Elizabeth, seems to be the catalyst that brings them all together. When Juliet learns about their stories, she wants more than ever to bring their tale to light in a book because she is falling in love with the island too.
Filled with war stories, book references, British slang, and good humor, the authors have a definitely created a great story to tell. If you don't like the style of the book - personal letters - you might have trouble with it. But I think it is splendid! A very good read.
Bitter is the New Black
Jen Lancaster is not a nice person sometimes. Come on and sit next to me, sister! In her memoir Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-centered Smart Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office - yeah what a subtitle - she tells it like it is. She goes from being a "on her way up the corporate ladder" yuppie/shopaholic to being an unemployed mess, and trying to recover from the downfall. In the meantime, she marries her long term boyfriend (for the gifts - their broke, but the fact that the hotel where they have it is having a porn convention is a stitch), gets a pair of dogs that like to chew her expensive footwear, and starts a website to get rid of the frustrations. And that website catches on. And thus a writing career is born.
This book is a combination of many things. It's a a study of employment dos and don'ts, job searching dos and don'ts (if they tell you they want you to work on a pretend business plan and come back for another interview - they really are just scamming you out of a consulting fee - cause they are going to steal it if it is good.), and learning how to live within your means. Along the way you have the wacky family stories (her mother being hungover the day of the wedding - insisting she only had one glass of wine - that kept getting refilled), the touching moments between Jen and Fletch (he's a keeper!), and an example of what not to do while your drinking too much (phone calls are bad). It is also a book about the myth of the American dream that mass marketers want everyone to spend their money and time achieving. She learns that one the hard way. But everything is done with humor and being a smart ass doesn't help sometimes - but it sure is funny.
Take the Office, mix it with Bridget Jones, with the acidity of Seinfeld, and add Chicago and there you will have this book. Cause you know it is all about Jen. Very funny. I can not wait to read the next one.
This book is a combination of many things. It's a a study of employment dos and don'ts, job searching dos and don'ts (if they tell you they want you to work on a pretend business plan and come back for another interview - they really are just scamming you out of a consulting fee - cause they are going to steal it if it is good.), and learning how to live within your means. Along the way you have the wacky family stories (her mother being hungover the day of the wedding - insisting she only had one glass of wine - that kept getting refilled), the touching moments between Jen and Fletch (he's a keeper!), and an example of what not to do while your drinking too much (phone calls are bad). It is also a book about the myth of the American dream that mass marketers want everyone to spend their money and time achieving. She learns that one the hard way. But everything is done with humor and being a smart ass doesn't help sometimes - but it sure is funny.
Take the Office, mix it with Bridget Jones, with the acidity of Seinfeld, and add Chicago and there you will have this book. Cause you know it is all about Jen. Very funny. I can not wait to read the next one.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Running Hot
Jayne Ann Krentz's Running Hot continues her Arcane Society series with a bang. Being a member of the society means that you have a paranormal talent, in this case, the aura readers. Aura readers are dismissed as "not important" talents. But what happens if your talent has a twist like Grace's? Or can be used to manipulate others' auras, like Luther's skill? These talents aren't so little any more.
Grace, a society genealogist and aura talent, is on her first assignment for Jones & Jones. It is supposed to be a routine case. She needs to identify a man who is suspected of murder. Her bodyguard showing her the ropes is Luther. Sounds simple. But what happens when they find out there are more sensitives at this hotel than just their suspect. And it looks like they have been experimenting with the Founder's formula. Did they stumble on a meeting for Nightshade? What are the odds?
Grace and Luther make a great team because they are not perfect. They are both people with a past. Their experiences and talents help them in the race to have J&J figure out what is going on in the ongoing battle against Nightshade. It also doesn't hurt that they are attracted to each other.
Krentz has written some great characters here and has set up the next adventure in the Arcane Society series quite nicely. It would be great to see some of Grace and Luther in the next book too. Her secondary characters are developed and she leaves us with a urge to see what is going to happen next to Fallon - who has been in all the books. And she leaves us with more information about the growth of Nightshade, but leaves us dangling to see what is going to happen next. A great series and a fun book. Can't wait for the next one!
Grace, a society genealogist and aura talent, is on her first assignment for Jones & Jones. It is supposed to be a routine case. She needs to identify a man who is suspected of murder. Her bodyguard showing her the ropes is Luther. Sounds simple. But what happens when they find out there are more sensitives at this hotel than just their suspect. And it looks like they have been experimenting with the Founder's formula. Did they stumble on a meeting for Nightshade? What are the odds?
Grace and Luther make a great team because they are not perfect. They are both people with a past. Their experiences and talents help them in the race to have J&J figure out what is going on in the ongoing battle against Nightshade. It also doesn't hurt that they are attracted to each other.
Krentz has written some great characters here and has set up the next adventure in the Arcane Society series quite nicely. It would be great to see some of Grace and Luther in the next book too. Her secondary characters are developed and she leaves us with a urge to see what is going to happen next to Fallon - who has been in all the books. And she leaves us with more information about the growth of Nightshade, but leaves us dangling to see what is going to happen next. A great series and a fun book. Can't wait for the next one!
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