It's not great, but it doesn't suck.
Sorry, that's pretty much my entire review of this book. It's a "historical" romance by KM, but you know right from the start it's not going to really stick to any true accuracy, as there is a bright yellow rubber ducky on the cover of the book. KM herself put in a little note about it before the novel begins, something about how even though she knows it's going to irritate people, that was not her intention at all; rather, it's there to "reflect the humorous, fun tone of this tale."
Right.
OK, basic plot is as follows: Two people are in desperate need of a spouse. They meet up after he places an ad in a local paper. She is the last candidate for the interviews, having lost her way once or twice. They know this is merely a marriage of convenience but are both attracted to each other immediately. Never mind that neither of them has an honest bone in their bodies. He has five children born of his first wife, children that he doesn't bother to tell his bride-to-be exist. He also has a previous occupation of spy, one that resulted in a scandal and arrest after false accusations. She is no better, having had a previous marriage that was never really a marriage, as her first "husband" was already betrothed to someone else. She was, of course, also ruined by her scandal, as the ton never believed the cad to be a bigot - she was a mistress and just embarrassed at being outed. Oh, and she has an even bigger secret to hide; that faux marriage resulted in enough sexual shenanigans for her to write and publish a book that sounds remarkably similar to The Joy of Sex (for Victorians, though......), something that will surely ruin her and her new husband forever if it were to come out.
Basically, this book is all about the crazy antics of both Harry and his wife Plum trying to hide their past problems from each other. Why anyone wouldn't run screaming from five unmentioned children is beyond me - they are not grown children, for Pete's sake! The youngest seems to be about 4-5, the oldest in her early teens. They first make their appearance when Harry and Plum are about to consummate their marriage, something else I would hardly find amusing. And yet, this book is cute in parts. You can sort of understand how Plum overlooks her new offspring, as it is made blatantly obvious that she wants to be a mother in the worst way. As Harry has a copy of the scandalous sex manual, it really should not be upsetting to him to find that his wife was the author. I mean, really, I just couldn't see why everyone was so worried. Then again, I didn't live back then, so I don't really understand the impact a scandal could have on one's future.
It was a fast read, even if the plot didn't always make sense. None of the characters were that well-rounded or interesting, with the exception of Plum's niece, Thom. Now she seemed to be an interesting sort of girl, right up until they introduce a young man who will obviously become a love interest for her down the road. Luckily, that doesn't happen in this particular title. I don't know if KM writes about her in a later book or not. It's cute, if you're not a strict Regency romance reader.
I still say "The Corset Diaries" is her best book to date. Go pick that one up and really have a good read!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
"Something From The Nightside" by Simon R. Green
John Taylor is a private eye hearkening back to the good old days of Chandler, Hammet, and the like. As the book opens, he's in his seedy little London office, arguing on the phone with someone to whom he owes money. In true film noir fashion, in walks a very classy dame, one who screams money, offering him what should be an easy case - find her missing teenage daughter.
Except that daughter has gone to The Nightside, and John knows all about the horrors that await him there. The Nightside is in the heart of London, a sort of alternate reality where it is always 3 am. There is no such thing as weather per se; the temperatures and such reflect the emotions of The Nightside itself. As Taylor puts it, it probably accounts for the great amount of rain there. The Nightside is a dark, scary place full of people who are not quite human, things like Timeslips, and all sorts of general weirdness. John was born there but left five years ago after some distinct unpleasantness. He's not in a great hurry to return, but Joanna Barrett, the rich broad, is offering him a lot of money, money he can hardly afford to refuse.
This is the first in The Nightside series by Green, and it's a great little book. As one character points out early on (and John himself tells us again and again), one can never be sure what one is looking at in The Nightside, as things are never what they seem to be. There are cool characters, like Alex the bartender, and scary ones, such as The Harrowing. The feel is sort of like a cross between Sam Spade and the flick "Dark City". John is a mystery himself, having been born of a human father and a mother was most certainly not; his father drank himself to death when John was just ten years old. John is almost a celebrity in his old home, and there's talk of an inheritance, although just exactly what he's supposed to inherit is never spelled out. (I have a feeling that will come in subsequent installments of the series.) There's a great "tough chick", Suzie Shotgun, rounding out the cast of characters on the hunt for the missing daughter, too.
This is definitely a thumbs-up title for The Bookbabe. It's a tightly-written, short, very cool little book. I look forward to spending more time in The Nightside.
Except that daughter has gone to The Nightside, and John knows all about the horrors that await him there. The Nightside is in the heart of London, a sort of alternate reality where it is always 3 am. There is no such thing as weather per se; the temperatures and such reflect the emotions of The Nightside itself. As Taylor puts it, it probably accounts for the great amount of rain there. The Nightside is a dark, scary place full of people who are not quite human, things like Timeslips, and all sorts of general weirdness. John was born there but left five years ago after some distinct unpleasantness. He's not in a great hurry to return, but Joanna Barrett, the rich broad, is offering him a lot of money, money he can hardly afford to refuse.
This is the first in The Nightside series by Green, and it's a great little book. As one character points out early on (and John himself tells us again and again), one can never be sure what one is looking at in The Nightside, as things are never what they seem to be. There are cool characters, like Alex the bartender, and scary ones, such as The Harrowing. The feel is sort of like a cross between Sam Spade and the flick "Dark City". John is a mystery himself, having been born of a human father and a mother was most certainly not; his father drank himself to death when John was just ten years old. John is almost a celebrity in his old home, and there's talk of an inheritance, although just exactly what he's supposed to inherit is never spelled out. (I have a feeling that will come in subsequent installments of the series.) There's a great "tough chick", Suzie Shotgun, rounding out the cast of characters on the hunt for the missing daughter, too.
This is definitely a thumbs-up title for The Bookbabe. It's a tightly-written, short, very cool little book. I look forward to spending more time in The Nightside.
Monday, March 26, 2007
"Fangland" by John Marks
"I just want you to know.....where you've landed. It's not an office. It's a country. Under the UN charter, it's known as Fangland, and to receive a passport, you need only one thing: the capacity to suffer in vain all things. Congratulations. It sounds to me like you'll be very happy here."
This little speech doesn't occur until page 323 in the book "Fangland" but it's very appropriate in trying to describe this book. I sort of felt like I was suffering in vain, and yet I did feel happy here. It's a wild thrill ride, although I'm still not entirely sure what happened.
The basic story is much the same as that of "Dracula"; this book obviously works off the same outline. Evangeline Harker is sent by her television show, The Hour, to Romania for a story on Ion Torgu, a reported terrorist. She has a meeting set up with an associate of Torgu's; not being an actual reporter herself, she's been sent ahead to verify that Torgu is real and that he's "news-worthy" as such. What she finds is certainly sensational, although not in the way that her employer ever imagined... The horror is much, much worse.
This modern-day vampire tale is definitely built on the bones of Stoker's "Dracula". The name Harker, for instance, is a direct lift, although the character is female this go-around and also much stronger. There's the spooky castle that the villain resides in, this time a burnt-out hotel in a small, rural village. There are servants for the villain. There's the escape from the villain and a stay at a convent. There's the "invitation" to the vampire and his shipment sent to a new country, this time America rather than England. There's even a Renfield, a colleague of Harker's who happens to be secretly in love with her. All these homages are great and really help make the book appealing.
The story itself, particularly that of Torgu, is where the two go there separate ways. Yes, Torgu is a vampire, of sorts. He is hideous, has horrible, worn, almost black teeth, and is not in any way charismatic. He does not bite anyone but he does drink blood, using a knife and a bucket. He infects others with a virus of death, a litany of place names that reflect man's inhumanity to man. Places like Auschwitz, sites of mass slaughters, even the site of the 9/11 Twin Towers. Each person that comes into contact with Torgu ends up hearing this chant of names in his/her head. However, none of them feel compelled to kill or drink blood like he does.
Just exactly what Torgu is trying to accomplish isn't clear. He seems to be out to infect others with this virus of his, and yet it also seems that he's trying to pass on his "gift" to Harker and relieve himself of the burden. Weird, weird and more weird. Also, a bit difficult to get into originally, as the entire novel is told from different viewpoints and different mediums, such as email, journals, and first person narrative. However, once it gets going, it's a wild ride. I really liked reading all the ins and outs of the news show - an obvious copy of 60 Minutes. In some ways, I felt like Marks was trying to make some sort of comment about how vampiric the media has become. In others, I thought he was mooning over them like a fan himself.
"Fangland" is definitely recommended by the Babe, but I gotta tell ya - don't expect a nice, neat, pat story. This is one for the "way out there" column. And I mean that in a good way!
This little speech doesn't occur until page 323 in the book "Fangland" but it's very appropriate in trying to describe this book. I sort of felt like I was suffering in vain, and yet I did feel happy here. It's a wild thrill ride, although I'm still not entirely sure what happened.
The basic story is much the same as that of "Dracula"; this book obviously works off the same outline. Evangeline Harker is sent by her television show, The Hour, to Romania for a story on Ion Torgu, a reported terrorist. She has a meeting set up with an associate of Torgu's; not being an actual reporter herself, she's been sent ahead to verify that Torgu is real and that he's "news-worthy" as such. What she finds is certainly sensational, although not in the way that her employer ever imagined... The horror is much, much worse.
This modern-day vampire tale is definitely built on the bones of Stoker's "Dracula". The name Harker, for instance, is a direct lift, although the character is female this go-around and also much stronger. There's the spooky castle that the villain resides in, this time a burnt-out hotel in a small, rural village. There are servants for the villain. There's the escape from the villain and a stay at a convent. There's the "invitation" to the vampire and his shipment sent to a new country, this time America rather than England. There's even a Renfield, a colleague of Harker's who happens to be secretly in love with her. All these homages are great and really help make the book appealing.
The story itself, particularly that of Torgu, is where the two go there separate ways. Yes, Torgu is a vampire, of sorts. He is hideous, has horrible, worn, almost black teeth, and is not in any way charismatic. He does not bite anyone but he does drink blood, using a knife and a bucket. He infects others with a virus of death, a litany of place names that reflect man's inhumanity to man. Places like Auschwitz, sites of mass slaughters, even the site of the 9/11 Twin Towers. Each person that comes into contact with Torgu ends up hearing this chant of names in his/her head. However, none of them feel compelled to kill or drink blood like he does.
Just exactly what Torgu is trying to accomplish isn't clear. He seems to be out to infect others with this virus of his, and yet it also seems that he's trying to pass on his "gift" to Harker and relieve himself of the burden. Weird, weird and more weird. Also, a bit difficult to get into originally, as the entire novel is told from different viewpoints and different mediums, such as email, journals, and first person narrative. However, once it gets going, it's a wild ride. I really liked reading all the ins and outs of the news show - an obvious copy of 60 Minutes. In some ways, I felt like Marks was trying to make some sort of comment about how vampiric the media has become. In others, I thought he was mooning over them like a fan himself.
"Fangland" is definitely recommended by the Babe, but I gotta tell ya - don't expect a nice, neat, pat story. This is one for the "way out there" column. And I mean that in a good way!
"Away Laughing on a Fast Camel" and "Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers" by Louise Rennison
What is it with me and these YA books? Particularly these books about Georgia and her life? As Gee would say "Fabbity Fab Fab"!
Nothing new really happens in either book. Gee is still going to school at Stalag 14, still crazy about boys, still clueless about said boys, and still amazed at the antics of her cat Angus. So why do I love these books so much? I'm really asking ya'll why - this is not a rhetorical question!
No, really, I think I know the answer. The books reminds me of myself at that age, and sometimes you just want a stroll down memory lane. Gee is not the brightest of girls (OK, maybe that doesn't remind me of myself!), her life is all about her and her wants/needs, and she thinks boys are just awesome. I can totally relate on that count! The number of crushes I had in grade school alone is staggering. Of course, I never had much luck with boys until I got to college, and even then it wasn't the best of luck. Guess Gee has me beat there!
Yes, they are repetitive, no Gee hasn't grown up, no her parents still don't get her, etc. There's nothing new, and yet they're still fun to read, unlike the Lemony Snicket series. Sorry, I tried to read them since they were so insanely popular, but only made it through the fourth installment. You knew exactly what was going to happen and it just seemed very stale. I can't tell you why I didn't enjoy those the way I have the Rennison books.
Go check out Georgia Nicolson and her ramblings at a library near you!
Nothing new really happens in either book. Gee is still going to school at Stalag 14, still crazy about boys, still clueless about said boys, and still amazed at the antics of her cat Angus. So why do I love these books so much? I'm really asking ya'll why - this is not a rhetorical question!
No, really, I think I know the answer. The books reminds me of myself at that age, and sometimes you just want a stroll down memory lane. Gee is not the brightest of girls (OK, maybe that doesn't remind me of myself!), her life is all about her and her wants/needs, and she thinks boys are just awesome. I can totally relate on that count! The number of crushes I had in grade school alone is staggering. Of course, I never had much luck with boys until I got to college, and even then it wasn't the best of luck. Guess Gee has me beat there!
Yes, they are repetitive, no Gee hasn't grown up, no her parents still don't get her, etc. There's nothing new, and yet they're still fun to read, unlike the Lemony Snicket series. Sorry, I tried to read them since they were so insanely popular, but only made it through the fourth installment. You knew exactly what was going to happen and it just seemed very stale. I can't tell you why I didn't enjoy those the way I have the Rennison books.
Go check out Georgia Nicolson and her ramblings at a library near you!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The Aim of the Bookbabe
Hello readers! I've had a couple of comments about the blog, ones that were made privately, about how I seem to be down on a couple of authors, or possibly not supportive of others. I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell everyone again what my aim is here with Novel News.
As an avid reader, I like sharing my feelings about the books I read. And that's exactly what the reviews posted here are - my feelings. They are in no way meant to reflect badly on any author or work written about. Let's face it, literature is subjective material, meaning that no one is going to be happy with everything that's out there. Two people can (and often do) read the same work and have polar opinions about it. One will love it, the other will hate it, etc.
The Bookbabe wanted to put her opinions out here in cyberland in the hopes of guiding her fellow readers to some good reads. But again, they are reads that I consider to be good, and that's just my opinion. Please don't hesitate to pick up a work that sounds good to you, even if I didn't enjoy it. Again, not everything appeals to everyone! Also keep in mind that I'm reviewing books that I like and want to read; there will most likely never be a review of a "popular" mainstream author. No Grisham, no Steel, no Patterson and the like. I don't read those books. That doesn't mean they're not good books - I just don't care for them. They have to be fairly decent to someone for those authors to be the best-sellers that they are!
Also, don't limit yourself to the works reviewed here. I'm not out to be like Oprah - this is not a book club and should not be treated as such. I want you to read anything and everything that appeals to you! Reading should be fun and you should pick out what appeals to you. If that happens to be something I've reviewed, great. If not, that's great too! I think it's best when readers can be well-rounded and have interests in several different areas. It's not a bad thing to read only one genre, but I think it's better to try a little of everything. You never know what you might be missing otherwise.
In closing, again, please keep in mind that these reviews are meant to guide you, the readers, through the millions of books out there. BUT THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS. Read, read, read!
As an avid reader, I like sharing my feelings about the books I read. And that's exactly what the reviews posted here are - my feelings. They are in no way meant to reflect badly on any author or work written about. Let's face it, literature is subjective material, meaning that no one is going to be happy with everything that's out there. Two people can (and often do) read the same work and have polar opinions about it. One will love it, the other will hate it, etc.
The Bookbabe wanted to put her opinions out here in cyberland in the hopes of guiding her fellow readers to some good reads. But again, they are reads that I consider to be good, and that's just my opinion. Please don't hesitate to pick up a work that sounds good to you, even if I didn't enjoy it. Again, not everything appeals to everyone! Also keep in mind that I'm reviewing books that I like and want to read; there will most likely never be a review of a "popular" mainstream author. No Grisham, no Steel, no Patterson and the like. I don't read those books. That doesn't mean they're not good books - I just don't care for them. They have to be fairly decent to someone for those authors to be the best-sellers that they are!
Also, don't limit yourself to the works reviewed here. I'm not out to be like Oprah - this is not a book club and should not be treated as such. I want you to read anything and everything that appeals to you! Reading should be fun and you should pick out what appeals to you. If that happens to be something I've reviewed, great. If not, that's great too! I think it's best when readers can be well-rounded and have interests in several different areas. It's not a bad thing to read only one genre, but I think it's better to try a little of everything. You never know what you might be missing otherwise.
In closing, again, please keep in mind that these reviews are meant to guide you, the readers, through the millions of books out there. BUT THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS. Read, read, read!
Monday, March 19, 2007
"Beneath a Rising Moon" by Keri Arthur
Hm. This is going to be one of those "I don't really recommend this book" sort of reviews, and there's a very specific reason why, so it's going to be short.
In a nutshell, there's just too much sex in this book.
I know, I know - what's wrong with sex? Well, nothing - unless it takes up a good third of a relatively short book (about 245 pgs). The basic plot is that Neva Grant is trying to find out who attacked her twin, Savannah, almost leaving her for dead. The main suspect is one of the Sinclair family, a werewolf pack that throws "dances" every month during the week of the full moon. In Arthur's mythos, the full moon heats the blood of the werewolves to a sexual frenzy and they must "dance" with partners (sometimes several) so as to relieve their frustration. Neva believes that Duncan Sinclair might be the key to finding her sister's attacker and sets out to seduce him at the dance. Needless to say, she's successful to a degree, thus the numerous sex scenes. It turns out that Duncan and Neva are actually after the same thing; the attacker has killed several female partners and is bringing much unwanted attention to the Sinclair dances.
The plot was okay, not horrible. The mystery of whodunit wasn't too badly written, although Bookbabe figured it out fairly early on. The characters themselves were okay - nothing great but nothing awful, either. Again, it was basically the amount of sex in the book that I found to be a turnoff (no pun intended!) I'll give Ms. Arthur her props for making it part of the story from the get-go; nothing worse than having a character who suddenly is having sex with anything that moves (yes, that is directed at LKH - I'm still bitterly disappointed over the whole Anita Blake train-wreck). But even when it's part of the character make-up, it still feels like way too much here. Neva and Duncan are constantly ripping off clothes and going at it like bunnies, often at times that just make no sense at all. I get the whole "moon-fever" thing, but really - most books have weres behaving themselves and not running amok like wild animals, whereas this one would have us think that they cannot control their lust during the full moon. Nowhere does it say much about actually hunting, as I would expect from werewolves, unless you count the hunt for a willing partner. And the way these partners "dance" with several partners each night, it would seem that no one is playing very hard to get.
If you like sex and lots of it, this might be the book for you. The Bookbabe is going to steer clear of Ms. Arthur in the future, at least, while I'm happily married, that is!
In a nutshell, there's just too much sex in this book.
I know, I know - what's wrong with sex? Well, nothing - unless it takes up a good third of a relatively short book (about 245 pgs). The basic plot is that Neva Grant is trying to find out who attacked her twin, Savannah, almost leaving her for dead. The main suspect is one of the Sinclair family, a werewolf pack that throws "dances" every month during the week of the full moon. In Arthur's mythos, the full moon heats the blood of the werewolves to a sexual frenzy and they must "dance" with partners (sometimes several) so as to relieve their frustration. Neva believes that Duncan Sinclair might be the key to finding her sister's attacker and sets out to seduce him at the dance. Needless to say, she's successful to a degree, thus the numerous sex scenes. It turns out that Duncan and Neva are actually after the same thing; the attacker has killed several female partners and is bringing much unwanted attention to the Sinclair dances.
The plot was okay, not horrible. The mystery of whodunit wasn't too badly written, although Bookbabe figured it out fairly early on. The characters themselves were okay - nothing great but nothing awful, either. Again, it was basically the amount of sex in the book that I found to be a turnoff (no pun intended!) I'll give Ms. Arthur her props for making it part of the story from the get-go; nothing worse than having a character who suddenly is having sex with anything that moves (yes, that is directed at LKH - I'm still bitterly disappointed over the whole Anita Blake train-wreck). But even when it's part of the character make-up, it still feels like way too much here. Neva and Duncan are constantly ripping off clothes and going at it like bunnies, often at times that just make no sense at all. I get the whole "moon-fever" thing, but really - most books have weres behaving themselves and not running amok like wild animals, whereas this one would have us think that they cannot control their lust during the full moon. Nowhere does it say much about actually hunting, as I would expect from werewolves, unless you count the hunt for a willing partner. And the way these partners "dance" with several partners each night, it would seem that no one is playing very hard to get.
If you like sex and lots of it, this might be the book for you. The Bookbabe is going to steer clear of Ms. Arthur in the future, at least, while I'm happily married, that is!
"Night" by Elie Wiesel
This is now considered a classic, assigned in schools all over the country, just recently added to Oprah's recommended reading list. Back in my time at school, however, it was still relatively unknown and as such I hadn't read it. I can see why it's part of the current curriculum; it's just as powerful as "The Diary of Anne Frank" and just as important to anyone trying to understand that dark time in history known as The Holocaust.
This slim book is Wiesel's story of the concentration camps, an extremely harrowing ordeal. His family lived in Sighet, Transylvania until the Nazis arrived in 1944. At first, no one wanted to believe that anything bad would happen, even though all the Jewish families in town were segregated and moved to "ghettos". Within days the Nazis started rounding up the families and shipping them by rail to Aushwitz; I do mean shipping, as the people were treated more like cattle than human beings. Wiesel was separated from his entire family save his father. The remainder of the story is their attempt to survive the horrors of the concentration camps.
It's never a bad thing to be reminded of the darkest times of history, for the old adage is correct: those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. While there have been dictators since, some extremely vicious men, no one has come close to committing the heinous sort of crimes that Hitler was able to accomplish. Had he been just a bit more successful, it is entirely possible that the Jewish people would have been eliminated entirely - not only their persons but their history as well. Thank goodness that didn't come to pass, but it was very, very close.
Despite the power of the story itself, it is something that Mr. Wiesel says in his introduction to this new translation that caused me to stop and think. While explaining some of the edits to the original publication and what might have made it otherwise, he throws in one line, a very disturbing line to me, "Books no longer have the power they once did." This is just unthinkable to me, and I hope, to you as well. Books have been and hopefully always will be a powerful way to get one's point out to the masses. Granted, not every book is going to be a life-changing experience, and that's okay. Just as one would grow very bored and possibly waste away on just bread and water, one cannot (or should not) rely on just one type of book to fill all one's reading needs. But there are very powerful works out there, and I hope that, as readers, we take the time to digest those as well as our favorites. Let's prove Mr. Wiesel wrong on this count, shall we?
This slim book is Wiesel's story of the concentration camps, an extremely harrowing ordeal. His family lived in Sighet, Transylvania until the Nazis arrived in 1944. At first, no one wanted to believe that anything bad would happen, even though all the Jewish families in town were segregated and moved to "ghettos". Within days the Nazis started rounding up the families and shipping them by rail to Aushwitz; I do mean shipping, as the people were treated more like cattle than human beings. Wiesel was separated from his entire family save his father. The remainder of the story is their attempt to survive the horrors of the concentration camps.
It's never a bad thing to be reminded of the darkest times of history, for the old adage is correct: those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. While there have been dictators since, some extremely vicious men, no one has come close to committing the heinous sort of crimes that Hitler was able to accomplish. Had he been just a bit more successful, it is entirely possible that the Jewish people would have been eliminated entirely - not only their persons but their history as well. Thank goodness that didn't come to pass, but it was very, very close.
Despite the power of the story itself, it is something that Mr. Wiesel says in his introduction to this new translation that caused me to stop and think. While explaining some of the edits to the original publication and what might have made it otherwise, he throws in one line, a very disturbing line to me, "Books no longer have the power they once did." This is just unthinkable to me, and I hope, to you as well. Books have been and hopefully always will be a powerful way to get one's point out to the masses. Granted, not every book is going to be a life-changing experience, and that's okay. Just as one would grow very bored and possibly waste away on just bread and water, one cannot (or should not) rely on just one type of book to fill all one's reading needs. But there are very powerful works out there, and I hope that, as readers, we take the time to digest those as well as our favorites. Let's prove Mr. Wiesel wrong on this count, shall we?
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