book review

Books About Books!

Angela2 Comments

B&N Books Gift Card 10-23-2014 001Has anyone read Lorna Barrett’s books about Tricia Miles, owner of a mystery bookstore?

I am just asking, because I now own 7 of them, and have never read her books.

But, when I see a series of books, about a bookstore owner…Oh Boy! I believe that I do have all of the books she has in this series, and it appears to be the type of books I read, mystery and funny, all rolled up into one great story!

I received a gift card from my awesome team at work when I was leaving my position as their Supervisor to take a different position (everyone knows I am all about the books…) and while I was killing time before a weekly Doctor’s appointment, Barnes and Noble is where you will find me.

So I was just curious; have you read them? What did you think?

I have a stack of stories in front of me I am reading before I even think about starting on these, but my MBA class ends in 2 weeks (WooHoo) and then I am free and clear for the rest of the year!

Just a thumbs up or thumbs down if you please, I am not a fan of plot spoilers!

Cradle and All – James Patterson

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As the owner of too many James Patterson books to count; Okay, you can never have too many James Patterson books!, I figured I was due to review another one. I read this story quite some time ago, and it was a great read!

Cradle and All cover

Anne Fitzgerald is a former nun, and current private investigator. Still having a friendship with the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Boston, it was him who brought Anne the strangest case yet to date. She travels to Los Angeles and witnesses the horrible effects of the outbreak of polio. Yes, polio. It has just found its way to Boston, so Boston is not yet as ravaged with the disease as Los Angeles is.

What comes next is as unbelievable to the religious PI as it would likely be for most; a pregnant virgin. Not just one, but two. One in Ireland, one in Boston.  And even more epidemics. Seemingly straight from the Bible. The world begins to wonder if this truly is the “second coming” that many have predicted, prophesied, and been waiting for. Anne realizes the danger that these two girls are in with their virgin pregnancies and upcoming births. These two girls are scared. Anne is scared. The whole world is scared.

With this story, Mr. Patterson builds on both our inborn fears and our inborn hopes at the same time. It seems now more than ever that everything, everywhere, is going from bad to worse to unspeakable. This is a great story to make you think, with lots of twists you won’t expect, and it is not full of religious overtones (really, it is not) in case if that isn’t your thing. You should definitely give this one a try!

The Year of Living Biblically – A. J. Jacobs

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Another great book by A. J. Jacobs will have you laughing, and cringing at the lengths he went to in order to follow the Bible for a year. His wife deserves an award for putting up with him as well 🙂

Year of Living Biblically cover

He followed the big ones; you know, the Ten Commandments, love thy neighbor, and be fruitful and multiply. Again, his wife deserves an award for putting up with him. He had the most difficulty with the rules in the Bible that some are aware of, and that very few attempt to follow. Such as:

Do not wear garments of mixed fibers. This involved worldwide searches for fabrics that were not mixed, with anything.

Do not shave your beard.

Stone adulterers. This is funny, you do not want to miss it.

Eating unleavened foods, and avoiding other foods or ingredients.

He was not dismissing the Bible as nonsense, but rather educating others on the sometimes complexity of it, and how as times have changed, some of the rules in the Bible are not applicable to this day and age. A.J. explains that he is Jewish, but said he is Jewish in the same way that the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant. He states that he is also an Agnostic, so this was a spiritual as well as educational journey for himself.

This is definitely a story worth reading, and it is a book I would read again. Lucky for me, I own it, so I can do just that!

If you would like to buy this book, or read more about this and A.J. Jacobs, you can visit his website at http://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/

Does Anything Eat Wasps? And 101 other Unsettling witty Answers to Questions You Never Thought You Wanted To Ask – New Scientist

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Does Anything Eat Wasps CoverThis is one of the most informative, and funny books, I have ever read. New Scientist began publishing in 1994, answering questions of everyday science. This book is a compilation of the random questions they received, and the answers that helped these curious science wonderers. The chapters vary from our bodies, plants and animals, domestic science, our universe, our planet, weird weather, troublesome transport, and the best of the rest.

It appears to be an unimportant book, but it will give you information about things you were curious about, but never realized you were.

It will tell you if it really is toxic to eat the green potato chips (oh my goodness, I remember hearing this!), how long it takes your dead buried pet to actually turn into nothing more than a skeleton, and the all-consuming question, “Does anything eat wasps?”

You will find information concerning the foods you eat, the animals you care for, and so many random things that you will only be smarter for reading this book!

It is an easy read, funny and entertaining, and educational all to boot. If you can find this book, read it! It will not only leave you smarter, but also leave a smile on your face!

Irish Tweed – Andrew Greeley

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Irish Tweed Book CoverI absolutely love the “Irish” series of books by Andrew Greeley. He was the subject of one of my Author Information posts, and is absolutely one of my favorite authors. He was a Catholic Priest (he has passed away) and wrote many books that were full of mystery and suspense. You would never know he was a priest from reading his books, so if you have never read his work before, you should really try one of his books. It is not all religion and scriptures. At all!

His Irish series are centered on Nuala Anne McGrail, her husband Dermot Michael Coyne, and their children. The number of children increases as you continue through the series! There is always mystery, danger of lives lost, and also a good amount of history about Ireland. Not the boring history though, just the good stuff!

In Irish Tweed, Dermot is pouring over the memoir of a woman from Galway, who came to America after her family died in the famine. While Dermot is doing this, Nuala and her teenage daughter are knee deep in taekwondo classes, thanks to the bullies at the school across the street from their home.

The backstory of the Galway woman weaves in with the current plot of the story, which seems to put the family right in the middle of tensions from days gone by.

I have to say, I read so many of these books right in a row, that I began talking with the Irish dialect that is prevalent throughout the Irish series of books. It took a while to stop doing it, and people looked at me weird when I said something that sounded off-the-wall to them. Such as, instead of saying “yes”, I would say “’tis true.” People who irritate are called eejits. It was rather embarrassing, but there are 12 books in this series and I read them within less than a couple months.

I highly recommend giving one of the books in this series a try. Once you do, I promise you will need to read them all!

Need More Spooky Reads For Halloween?

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Haunted Highways: Spooky Stories, Strange Happenings, Supernatural Sightings

Haunted Highways Cover

Retold by Tom Ogden, these short stories are based on myths and urban legends. What these have in common is that they all take place on a highway, road, trail, or path of some sort. Due to the fact that there are thousands of such myths and urban legends, Mr. Ogden chose 4 categories to loosely stick to, while still sharing a good representation.

The first category is about vanishing hitchhikers (a story you have heard immediately came to mind, didn’t it?) He included The Phantom Hitchhiker, Resurrection Mary, the Weeping Woman, and The Prophecy.

The second category is titled Street Walkers. No. Not those street walkers. The firsts two stories in this section will take you to Hawaii. Next you will travel to Tokyo and learn about Oiwa’s Ghost. Back in the States, you experience The Funeral Cortege of Baynard Plantation in South Carolina. John Brown’s Body takes you through the Civil War Era, into West Virginia. The Nun’s Walk and The Occurrence at the Creek Road Bridge wraps up the 2nd section of the book.

If you haven’t been completely freaked out yet, you will continue on to the 3rd part of the book, Phantom Travelers. This immediately brings to mind many movies that scared me so much as a child, I will not watch them even now. Included are The Long Ride Home of Peter Rugg (275 years and counting!), The Return of Mad Anthony Wayne, The Man Who Disappeared, The Ghost Train (numerous people claim that while traveling the highways along the same route that President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train took, they see his train), Telly’s Phantom (yes, Telly Savalas), and The Curse of Little Bastard, in case if you ever wondered what really caused James Dean’s car accident.

Part Four is Lost Souls. A mixed bag of ghosts that include cowboys, Indians, and fair maidens of the Old West. Phantoms on horseback, an Irishman who opted to dance with the devil, and read about strangers stuck on a certain set of railroad tracks being pushed to safety by a busload of children. How better to end the book than with a tale on Route 66, or “The Highway to Hell”, as the author puts it.

These stories are all fairly short, none over a few pages long. Most of these are tame enough, without blood and gore and just scary, in that I will be sharing them with my girls with no worries.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister – Gregory Maguire

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This is not your mother’s fairy tale! Gregory Maguire has created quite the niche for himself, reconstructing fairy tales we have heard our whole lives, giving us the backstory, and twisting it up a bit.

What really happened with Cinderella, her step-sisters, and her step-mother? It is all right here.

This story is told from the viewpoint of Iris, who is burdened with taking care of the disabled Ruth as well as keeping peace in the family. (There is even a twist there, but no spoilers from me!)Confessions of an ugly stepsister cover

Clara is beautiful. Her step-sisters Ruth and Iris do not fail to notice this. Her own mother had kept Clara locked away from the world before she died. Things would not change very much for her with her new family.

Iris wants nothing more than to paint, and be with her tutor’s apprentice.

There are many subplots, and lots of twists and turns. Everyone has an agenda, telling themselves they only want the best for themselves and their families.

This is not a complicated read, with too much going on that you cannot follow the many plots going on. If you think you know what really happened to Cinderella, I would like to suggest you open this book up and read about it from a different perspective. It is certainly worth the time and effort. You will not be disappointed.

Better Than I Hoped, and Not What I Expected

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Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Book Cover

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith

Being a huge fan of all things Abraham Lincoln, I was a little worried when I first picked up this book that it was just going to be horrible, and ruin my penchant for Abe forever. Boy was I wrong!

Even persons vaguely familiar with Abraham Lincoln are likely aware of the love he had for his mother. Her passing was devastating to the young Abe, and although he loved his step-mother very deeply, no one could fill that void.

That is where this journey begins. It begins with Abe finding out a vampire is responsible for his mother’s death. He discovers a vampire colony that is responsible for numerous unsolved deaths. And then he meets Henry Sturges. Vampire extraordinaire, Henry has the same goal as Abe. Henry teaches Abraham the ins-and-outs of vampires, and Abe is a willing student.

What did the vampires have to do with the Civil War and the reshaping of our nation? More than you would ever believe. This story is told from the 3rd person perspective, with the journal entries of Abraham Lincoln dispersed throughout.

We all know who won the war, and what became of Abe, so I will not spoil the story any more. But if you like history, Abraham Lincoln, or vampires, you definitely need to read this book!

A Book To Make You Laugh Out Loud!

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I do not normally read books that tend to be funny, but A.J. Jacobs has comedy writing down to an art form. Likely what makes it so funny is that he is the subject of his books, and the things he will do to write a story…so here goes

The Guinea Pig Diaries – A. J. Jacobs

“My Life as an Experiment”

The Guinea Pig Diaries Cover

If you have never read A.J. Jacobs writings, you have no idea what you are missing. Imagine living your life as if it were one big experiment. Were there things you wondered about, but never did anything to find the answer? Was there something you would love to do, but are unsure if it is even possible? This story may give you the courage to do just that. Or at the very least, it will make you laugh at what the author goes through as he uses himself as the test subject in any number of experiments.

This experiment has been a 15 year long project, which began when he saw an advertisement for a Laz-Y-Boy chair that had more bells and whistles than you could even figure out what to do with. A.J. Offered to sit in the chair for 24 hours straight and let the world know if this was the best chair ever made.

He fell asleep. But it started him on this journey that you want to take with him.

How important is the truth? A. J. spent a month being completely honest. Completely. He also spent that same month saying whatever it was that popped into his head. Anything and everything. He claims that this was the worst month of his existence.

This book shows you how easy it was for A.J. to outsource every single aspect of his life. He outsourced someone to pay his bills, do his research, track his tasks, and even feed him. He outsourced everything needed for his wife’s birthday celebration.

The chapter on “The Truth About Nakedness” began innocently enough with the need to assist Mary-Louise Parker on writing an article for Esquire. Wanting something not boring, she agrees to pose nude. She also lets him know for him to get the full experience of this project, he needs to pose nude as well. And he does.

“What would George Washington Do” came from a desire to know more about George Washington, as well as finding an article about the list of rules that George lived by. Well, by George, if he could do it, so could A.J. George’s list of rules covers everything, including not “adjusting” yourself in public. He vows to live by the rules George set, and a lot of it no longer applies 🙂

He wraps it up with being a uni-tasker. Only doing one thing at a time. No multi-tasking allowed. This is so much harder than he ever could have imagined.

If you are looking for a light read, full of laughs and good feelings, you have got to get this book! You will not be sorry!