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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K

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....