Welcome back, book fans! It is my fervernt hope to get caught up with reviewing last year's books so that I can also discuss this year's books...you know, before the year is out. With that in mind, I'm hoping to either have longer reviews or more frequent. We'll see how it all plays out. Until then, here is the next batch of awesome and/or approaching terrible books. 52. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! by Jonathan Goldenstein. (Humor)(B-) The catch with this book is that you have to have a sense of humor and you have to have a pretty good working knowledge of the bible. That makes this book somewhat exclusive to non-religious people who have a sense of humor.
53. Skin Trade by Laurell K Hamilton. (Fantasy) (C) I've invested a lot of time in this series. Enough that I figured spending four hours on her latest book made more sense than not. And there were definitely some parts that I really liked. I'm pretty sure. But I'm a college educated woman who, not to toot my own horn, is pretty intelligent. And I couldn't remember who was who and what they looked like and where they came from and why I was supposed to care. For, like, three-fourths of the characters in this book. Okay, so, Haven used to be called Cookie Monster and he has blue hair? And he worked for the mob. So he can't get involved with the cops. But he is her tiger to call? Wait, no, that's Crispin. Who is Crispin? Did I meet him. When? I liked Auggie. He worked for the mob. Is he in the same area? Why didn't I see him? Where am I? How am I not myself? Why is this so complicated? I need to make a diagram.
54.The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (Young Adult/Historic Fiction) (A) This book is amazing! I read it for Young Adult book club and we all agreed it was so well written. My rule of thumb, though, held true: no happy endings in Nazi Germany. I cried through the last three chapters of this book. (Sidenote, not the only time I cried.) And yet, I think it brings up a pretty good point. At what point do we hold people responsible for going along with the crowd? When they do it without question? When they question but do not act? When they act but not hard enough? I do not have any answers. I recognize that there is always shades of gray but also that we like to soften history. We like to make our actions more palatable. This is a well written story that depicts almost every side a person could be on during that time. Tragic but ringing truth.
55. The Sisters 8: Annie's Adventures by Lauren Baratz-Logstead with Greg Logsted and Jackie Logsted. (Children) (B+) (Sorry to 180 on subject matter.) This was light, cute, and meant for a younger reading set than I normally gravitate towards but I've always loved books/stories about large, unconventional families. A set of octuplets find that their parents have gone missing (Are abducted? Been killed? Who knows?) They DO know that a mysterious person has communicated with them that they must each develop a special skill that will come in to play to save their family!
56. The Sisters Grimm: 1 by Michael Buckley. (Children) (B+) Now this, while still younger, is only a bit younger. It deals with more adult fare that is written superbly. If you are a fan of fairy tales you might give this a try. Tough as nails "orphans" (who find out what happened to their parents if not where they are being kept for rescue) aren't going to be fooled by anyone. Of course, the giant didn't exactly trick them. He just picked up the car with Granny in it and walked away. They can't turn their back on the only family they have left but they also know NOTHING about the family line of work: fairy tale detective sleuthing. YES!
57. Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. (Graphic Novel) (Unable to rate due to personal bias). This really captures exactly the feel it was going for - I just didn't appreciate it. I have trouble witnessing people be humiliated and I will forever be haunted by the guy they set-up thinking he was going to meet someone who he might connect with. We all want that in life. To connect, to be loved, to love in return. And he'd done all the right things. He looked normal (actually, nearly precisely like my dad which might be why it was hard on me) he was thoughtful to bring a flower, and he waited in case she was just running late. I still tear up thinking about it. WHY. WHY. Sorry. Like I said, haunted. I'm not sure I would recommend reading this unless you like depression and/or your awkward teenage years.
58. Guide to the Ghosts of Lincoln: 3rd Edition by Alan Boye. (Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror) (D) OH, man. You'd think this would be awesome, right? Ghost stories. TRUE ghost stories. True ghost stories set right here in Lincoln! And yet...I had some serious issues with the editing. There was a lot of devolving into how the author was intricately involved in some aspect of the story.
59. Finger Lickin' 15 by Janet Evanovich. (Mystery/Awesomeness) (B+) Oh, man. See, the
classic debate is Ranger vs Morelli. And I have to ask myself, why just one? Why can't she love
both? This is pretty much everything you would expect from a Stephanie Plum story. Which,
since I love them, was what I had hoped for and received.
Going on, favorite quote of all the books happens in this installment. Lula: Fire! Fire! We're all
going to die! We gonna burn like we was in h*ll! (Needless to say, they did not die in a fire.)
Note: Next in the series, Sizzling Sixteen , was just released!
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