Update on reading list

Hi, All, as you can see, I've been busy reading and reading and reading...three new posts tonight. I still have to finish Under the Dome. I only have about 25 pages left but have put finishing it on hold because it's so enjoyable, I do not want it to end. So that's a little bit (haha) of a hint on how my review will go.

I will also be reading The Secret Life of Bees and To Kill a Mockingird this week as well as a few other books that I happened to pick up at Goodwill (a great place to get books by the way).

So many books, so little time. So come back on a regular basis over the next few weeks because I'm on vacation this week and I'm on a reading roll!

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

OMG...and WOW. I read this book in one day (a vacation day, mind you). This was so enjoyable. The main character, Rebecca, is a shopaholic who gets herself into some debt trouble and of course, she ignores, lies, continues to shop and with the whole snowball effect there's some serious anxiety. Of course her profession just happens to be Journalist, who just happens to write about finance. This hit home for me...because I'm an Accountant...and as they say, we numbers people are the worst when it comes to our own checkbooks, and ain't it the truth...lol. I laughed a lot during this read. When her world was crashing down, I felt it...when good hopeful things were happening, I felt that same hope. I even felt her obsession when she was shopping...she was obsessed...and it was so fun to be in that character while reading this book.

She plays the lottery and is convinced she will win...the description of that one night...from her playing the numbers till she is watching the lottery on TV...is perfect...and so realistic. Actually going through and figuring out how much she would win, how much she had to deduct to pay off her debt, buy a flat, buy gifts for others, etc...so realistic...so funny. I know I have felt that way many a times...I was just so impressed with Ms. Kinsella's descriptions, her realism, her creations of such realistic, loveable characters (and some so not likeable at some times). This story was a roller coaster ride, and I did NOT want to get off of the ride. I'm glad there are more books because I will defnitely be reading them. To think, I almost skipped this book over just because I wasn't interested in the commercialism that has followed this book/movie.

Oh and in between chapters there are letters from Rebecca's debtors and they mention her excuses in some of the letters...what a riot. This book and this character actually reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones (books I will be reading and reviewing at some point) and I did so love those movies.

I give this book two thumbs up, five stars. It has depth in it's seriousness, it has lots of humor, it has a definite lesson in it and the character development is superb.

A highly recommended read, Confessions of a Shopaholic is a book any girl who holds a debit or credit card and likes to shop, should defnitely read.

Enjoy!

The Critical Library

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

I will start off by saying that I have not seen this movie as of yet. The reason I chose to read this book was because I have seen The Notebook which was based on the book by Nicholas Sparks and it's one of my favorite all time romance movies. So I decided to give this book a try. I have read one other Nicholas Sparks book before but the name currently escapes me. If I find it, I will post it at a later time just for informational purposes :)

After reading this book, I find that I do like Mr. Sparks' writing. This was heavy, deeply emotional subject matter. I was worried while reading this story that I was destined for a broken heart by the last page...that it would leave me in tears...and frankly, it should have. But as strange as it sounds, though the subject matter was heart wrenching, I didn't take the 'feelings' of the character away from the pages. This is not a bad thing. I could understand the feelings of Adrienne, the main character and understood her pain but did not "feel" her pain for her. I actually liked that about the book. This is why Mr. Sparks' books make such good basis' for movies because you can take the story and expand on it...give it more life than it seems to have on the pages. Again, I'm not saying that this takes away from the book at all. It doesn't. It's a great story, though you sort of know what is going to happen, and I expected to cry somewhere down the line...and though it WAS as sad as I knew it was going to be, I didn't shed a tear. Instead I came away thinking...wow, that was a tragic but at the same time, enlightening.

I think part of the reason it's not as sad feeling is because of the strength of the characters. I did feel the emotional intelligence and strength that the characters portrayed.

I think this book was a great basis for a movie. I just think it gives a basis that a screen writer and director could expand on and really make you feel what the characters are going through with beautiful scenery as it's set on the beach (my favorite).

I didn't find the story very thought provoking...I was only left with one question...how many people would survive a story such as this one and come away stronger and be able to use these events as a teaching experience. Come to think of it...this story had similarities to The Notebook as they are both stories being remembered and told in the now through writings. I'm wondering if other books by Mr. Sparks are written the same way. Oh as an afterthought...this book does make you take a bit of inventory of your life, I think...but then again, the people living as "Paul" does in the book, will not actually be taking the time to read a Nicholas Sparks' novel so I'm not sure it will change many lives. :)

This was an easy read, I got through this book in about two days (vacation week so not a lot of interruptions and a lot of time spent reading). I wouldn't say it was a page turner though it did have some instances where I wanted to see what was going to happen so had a hard time putting it down for long. I am going to give this book three stars. There wasn't a lot of depth to this story, and it was a bit predictable. The "what" was predictable, you just didn't know the "how." I guessed at the how but was wrong...lol. If you like love stories, romance with a bit of tragedy, you will like this book. I enjoyed it, I took away a nice feeling from it but it's probably not something I would read over and over. I will make sure I see the movie because I will be interested to know how the director expands on the story.

Over all, a good story.

The Critical Librarian.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris




This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (HBO's True Blood is based on this series). I liked this book better than the first believe it or not. I am trying to enjoy the books separately from the HBO series and am doing so but think it's important to compare the two as well. The True Blood, the second season is based lightly on this book, and for that, I'm quite glad. This book was entertaining, surprising, a light read. There are a few spots where I would say this was a page turner but I am finding that the subject matter though filled with vampires and murder and other "creatures" is not heavy nor scary...though a few pages are a bit 'thrilling.' The best way to describe these is just an enjoyable story filled with likeable/loveable characters. Sookie, by herself, keeps you coming back for more as the stories are told from her viewpoint. She is just so interesting, brave, innocent, loveable, intense, passionate, cute and leads a very event filled life.

I won't give away too much...but some characters you may love in the TV series don't make it past the first chapter in this book...so there are definite differences that show up immediately. Some characters are the same...Andy Bellafleur is one (I may be misspelling his last name because I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment...lol).

I give this book four out of five stars...the only reason I don't rate these five stars is because I have to save that extra star for really deep stories and these are GREAT, fun stories...but definitely aren't deep.

A fabulous read and highly recommended!

Happy Reading!

What I'm reading right now

Hi, All...I am in the process of reading the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and my main focus currently is the brand spanking new Stephen King book - Under the Dome...and it's fantastic. I'm already halfway through and it's hard to put down...so Stephen King fans...go GET it!!! It's worth the hardcover price!

I will probably be posting my review over the Thanksgiving weekend. If I do not post beforehand...have a Wonderful holiday weekend. Be thankful for books!

Dead Until Dark, The Review

Dead Until Dark

by Charlaine Harris

Sorry I've been so slow in posting lately folks, I have been reading a few different books at the same time but lots of personal stuff has kept me from posting. I have strayed from my list and been a bit spontaneous with my reading. I've also been rereading some favorites...The Twilight Series being one of my many rereads lately which I would like to post about at some point. Due to my fascination with a good vampire love story and a liking for the HBO series True Blood, I decided I would try this book by Charlaine Harris. Dead Until Dark is the first in the Southern Vampire mystery stories from which the series True Blood took their stories and characters for the show.

I had heard the books were better and I had been a little disappointed in this past season of True Blood so decided to try the books. This first one was fabulous. Ms. Harris creates likable characters such as the main character Sookie Stackhouse and my favorite surprise character in the book, "Bubba." You'll have to read it to find out who the undead vampire, Bubba was in life...or at least who they hint at who he is. It took me a few chapters, although it shouldn't have after reading Odd Thomas.

This book was humorous, light (despite the subject matter of murder mysteries and a huge sense of loss for the main character) and an extremely easy read. Definitely a page turner in some instances though I did find a few slow spots where I put the book down and didn't pick it up for a day or two but I think that was just because of the point where I stopped reading. There aren't many of those spots.

I give this book four stars. I love the book...I would give it five but I have to save those extra stars for depth and this was definitely a really light read. I will definitely be looking for book number two to continue to find out what Sookie Stackhouse and Vampire Bill get themeselves into next as there is a definitely cliff hanger feeling to the book. You know Vampire Eric is going to make life interesting for the couple so you feel the need to continue the series. Also, because Sookie is such a likeable character, you want to continue to spend some time in her world. It's easy and light despite the descriptions of how heavy her load is with her gift and dating a vampire in the world of the prejudiced south.

One piece of irony I found to be humorous was the fact the the Gay cook, Lafayette, who wears eye shadow is not judged against in the south. No, people accept him...but go after the vampires. Great piece of irony. Of course, in the show True Blood, Lafayette is black...which creates an even greater sense of irony (being in the south) but I don't recall that Ms. Harris specified that Lafayette was black in the book...though he could have been. It makes me wonder what kind of creatures will have to infiltrate our world to shift the prejudiced to focus on someone else. So a little bit of a thought provoking moment in the book there.

A great, enjoyable read if you are looking for something that isn't too deep. This is a recommended read!

NOTE after the fact - After being well into the second book, I have found that Lafayette is indeed a black man...which makes it even more interesting because in the south that would be something that would be spelled out from the get go...but because vampires are the "new" minority, Lafayette is just another guy. Also, these books are NOTHING like the show...the storyline is completely different as of the second book...so if you don't care for the show...don't judge the books by THAT cover...unless you have a thing against vampires...then, of course, you probably won't like these books.

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book I)

Author, Stephen King

Wow. That is my initial reaction having just closed this book. The entire book was written with an air of suspense...waiting for an event that was big, an explanation, an answer. But while you are waiting, you are taken through many horrific events, thrilling and suspenseful. The Slow Mutants in the train tunnels, The Preacher woman in Tull...the entire town of Tull. The life of Jake.

My favorite quotes? I cannot write them here...I will just say that the vision the Man in Black gives Roland, along with the explanation of that vision. It ties us to the book...to the world, the universe, and to what may lay ahead for all of us. It opened up a new line of thinking for me...and let's just say that "Going Green" and recycling isn't going to help.

My favorite part of this book? Okay maybe it's because I'm a HUGE Stephen King fan and he can do no wrong in my eyes, but I really enjoyed the Afterword. To understand where this book is coming from, to know that it just is...and it will be whatever it is, makes me want to hurry up and read the next in the series...to find out where it's going, as Stephen King himself found out while writing the book. And to know that this story has been alive in King's life from the beginning...and will go on till the end...but as Roland says, it's only the end of the beginning...because is there really ever an end or a beginning? That's the questions this book rouses in me.

I loved it. Creativity, Thoughts, visuals, etc...

The Critical Librarian gives this book 5 Stars and highly recommends this for an excellent read!

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Fear Nothing - Review

FEAR NOTHING

Author, Dean Koontz

Hmmmm. This book was an odd book. I went through a lot of different feelings about this book while reading it. At one point, I was amazed and scared out of my mind, another time, I started thinking...okay this plot seems to be heading to the corny side. I will say Mr. Koontz saved it in time and turned things around a little bit...but I also felt there was alot left unexplained. I may have missed it...I did not go back through to ensure that it was actually left out...the explanations...and then one of the characters seemed to know things just because he suddenly knew them...rather than someone telling him...so for a character to be completely in the dark about something on page one and then to have medical, scientific knowledge towards the end without someone actually spelling it out seemed to be a little far fetched.

There was also some things never solved...the attic at the rectory, for instance.

Dean Koontz did give his writing his usual flair...this was a page turner regardless of the plot and there was one scene so scary in the upstairs of the Ferryman residence, I had to put the book down and go talk to people to escape the scene...but only for a few because I wanted to plow on to get through the scene so it wouldn't haunt me. ...so there is definitely a great CREEP factor in this one.

So if you want to be scared...but walk away with a tiny bit of confusion...this is a great book. The confusion isn't so much that this book is lacking as a satisfactory read though. I appreciated Mr. Koontz's style of writing as usual and even more so as he came up with some things in this one that I never really thought about. I was looking at my cats in a whole new light last night...wondering.

One item that deserves special mention and kudos is some of the thoughts that go through the characters' minds in Mr. Koontz's books. I would like to share one in particular though there are many that I found profound enough to flag.

"How strange this world is. Those things that we can so readily touch, those things so real to the senses--the sweet architecture of a woman's body, one's own flesh and bone, the cold sea and the gleam of stars--are far less real than things we cannot touch or taste or smell or see. Bicycles and the boys who ride them are far less real than what we feel in our minds and hearts, less substantial than friendship and love and loneliness, all of which long outlast the world." Page 60

That statement says so much. How fleeting are the moments in the physical in our lives...but the feelings we live and survive and cherish...go on endlessly. Amazing.

For chill factor, I would give this book a 4.5 star rating. For character development, 3.5 stars, for conclusion, 3 stars (because I know what he was trying to do, it's my personal dislike of this sort of ending that causes me to rate this way). This is still a rough draft of my rating system but for the time being, it will do.

So that leaves this book with an overall rating of 3.5 stars.

Salem Falls-Review

(image courtesy of Amazon.com)

Salem Falls

Author, Jodi Piccoult

This is my second trip into the world of Jodi Piccoult as she seems to be a very popular NH author. I do like that her books are set in New England towns...gives me that warm sense of home. Typically her books are about small towns...but big happenings in those small towns.

Salem Falls is about a small town in which a stranger moves in...and people begin to judge based on past histories without seeing the actual truth. At some points in the story, you question what the truth will be...but all in all you sort of, in the back of your head, know how it's going to come out. It's a story of people learning to love again, to trust, to heal, and of course, attention seeking teenagers thrown in for some dramatic effect. The reason for the title? Those attention seeking teenagers like to dabble a little in witchcraft. However, this is not a supernatural thriller or a book involving magic...it is just something kids are playing with and the witchcraft stops there.

Jodi gives us good pictures of her characters. You love them, you hate them, you feel for them, you understand why they do what they do and you get aggravated with their lack of communication with the other characters. So she really puts you into the drama that is unfolding. What I don't like...the lack of justice in this book. Perhaps that isn't a good description of what it is that bothers me.

This book left me with a little bit of an itch that was not scratched when it all came to an end. I guess one could give Jodi Piccoult kudos in writing "real life" because after all, in real life, not every issue is resolved, not every person knows the outcome, and sometimes life is left hanging in the balance for some.

But at the same time, that is real life, and I was reading this book to get away from those unresolved issues...we have those daily in the news and on crime TV. She definitely doesn't leave you hanging like Danielle Steele does (or used to as I haven't read a Danielle Steele book in about 15 years or more) but when I'm reading someone else's story, I prefer that justice be served and that I am left with a feeling of resolution.

So if you don't mind walking away with a feeling of frustration, aggravation of horrible people getting away with horrible things and suffering continuing in the back of your mind (for the characters) then this would be a good story for you. If not, walk away.

I would like to get more technical in my star giving and will eventually be coming up with a rating system but for now, I will say, great writing, great plot, great characters, unnerving ending and for the sake of the feeling I walked away with....

the Critical Librarian gives Salem Falls 3.5 Stars (out of 5).

Reading List

My Summer Reading List

Vanishing Acts, Jodi Piccoult
Duma Key, Stephen King
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Salem Falls, Jodi Piccoult
The Pact, Jodi Piccoult
Fear Nothing, Dean Koontz
The Pact, Jodi Piccoult
The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
The Testament, John Grisham
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Odd Thomas, Series, Dean Koontz

More to come....

Odd Thomas FYI

I am currently reading the next Odd Thomas novel but decided to read other books as well in order to break up the monotony of one character reading.

The House of Thunder - Review

The House of Thunder

Author, Dean Koontz

(image courtesy of Amazon.com)

Wow, this book was a page turner. I was never a big Dean Koontz fan until I read Odd Thomas. As far as I was concerned, no one could live up to Stephen King's ability to terrorize me through the written word. Everyone else paled in comparison. But seeing as how the Stephen King novels aren't coming out weekly, I have had to find other ways to entertain myself. So after reading Odd Thomas which is a book near and dear to my heart for personal reasons, I decided to peruse the used bookstores for a few other Koontz novels to see what I could see.

This being the first one, I was pretty amazed. I had NO idea how this book would turn out...which kept me intrigued throughout the entire book literally until the last chapter.

A patient (Susan Thornton) wakes up in a hospital not knowing at first who she is or why she's there. Though most of her memories come back quickly, there are huge gaping holes in her memory, and unfortunately, the most terrifying memories she holds from a long time ago...have come to the forefront of her brain to physically or perhaps psychologically haunt her. Of course, you won't know what the real deal is until the very last chapter of the book.

If you like a good creep factor...this is the book for you. Why I liked this book...A page turner, this brings forth, horror, twilight zone and a little bit of conspiracy theory, rolls it all up and serves it up in a great novel called The House of Thunder.

What I didn't like about this book...it is hard to say without creating a spoiler alert...but there's a bit of complicating stuff at the end that you never see coming. If that had been written on the sleeve of the book, I probably wouldn't have picked this one...so I'm glad it wasn't because I would have missed out on a great read. So even though it contained some subject matter, I don't particularly care for...it wasn't enough to spoil the book for me. This book is a great ride.

A quick read and very enjoyable should this be your cup of tea!

The Critical Librarian gives this book four out of five stars.

What

Odd Thomas - The Review

(image from Amazon.com)

This is a book about a fry cook who loves his job as simple as it is because he has a very complicated gift. He sees the dead....sees...not hears because the dead are silent in Odd's world.

Odd's life seems on the outside to be very simple...he has a simple romance, a simple job, a simple apartment, a variety of characters for friends who seem genuine, and he lives in a simple town, Pico Mundo, CA.

The complicated part isn't so much that he sees the dead...the complications arise from the dead wanting him to assist in stopping major mind blowing crimes...or to solve the issues (murder mysteries) of the dead in between. This book has a major mind blowing crime waiting in the wings that Odd tries to stop just in the nick of time...does he save the day? You'll have to read it to find out.

What I like about this book is the combination of the paranormal and the suspense/thriller genres intertwined so that it becomes hard to tell the dead from the living. Odd has animated interactions with the dead even though they don't speak...and the appearance of Elvis every now and again gives the spookiness a bit of comical relief. I will admit though that not only did I turn pages quickly as you would reading any suspenseful book, I also had to put the book down towards the end to dab at my eyes with a tissue. Dean Koontz surprised me quite a bit at the end of this one.

In summary, this is a great read. Not too deep, not too scary, not hard at all to follow. The characters are genuine and believable, the plot fun and surprising. Could a fry cook do the things Odd Thomas did in this story? Who knows...but I do know this...

Odd Thomas is captivating enough to lead me to read the next in the series. I'll see you at the end of that one!

**** The Critical Librarian gives Odd Thomas four out of five stars