Get Lost in Literature

Beth lives in a small town, where news travels fast. She's a long time sufferer of panic attacks, but recently her attacks have increased. She can't keep a boyfriend because of her episodes, and has trouble staying connected to her brother and her nieces because her sister-in-law hates her. Photography is her favorite hobby, until one day she takes a photo of a man who isn't human. This story starts good, but fizzles into a fast paced cheese fest. Alright, maybe cheese fest is too strong a phrase, since there were some original ideas in here...I think the cheesy part had more to do with how underdeveloped some of the ideas were. The main character is hard to relate to, she is snarky, but she doesn't emote much, except when she's afraid. And I think the idea of having to choose who she should trust in the William vs Graham conundrum is baloney. William's whole argument is that "No landers" are slaves. If they have no choice in how they live or die,...

As children, Meredith, Brandon, Greg, and Stephen are childhood friends. Then high school happens. Meredith changes into a "mean girl", Brandon and Greg become star athletes, resorting to bullying to gain more attention. Stephen doesn't really change; for Meredith, Brandon and Greg, that's a real problem because Stephen is gay. Being gay makes Stephen different, it makes him a target. The parents of Meredith, Brandon, Greg, and Stephen have all got their own problems. Meredith's parents' marriage is failing, crumbling apart. Greg's parents ares hiding the spousal abuse. Brandon's parents are hiding mental illnesses and extramarital affairs behind the pretty facade of their lifestyle. Stephen's mom, a grieving widow, is terrified of losing her son. All the while, the endless and unforgiving cycles of domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and self loathing take its toll on the kids...not that they can take the time to notice. Then one night, full ...

The Mongoliad (Book 2) by Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo, Mark Teppo, Mike Grell Overall, I enjoyed Book 2 of the Mongoliad. The problem with writing a trilogy like a round-robin-campfire story, is that Book 1 appeared to be the beginning and climax of the story without an end and Book 2 seems to be the transitional phase between climax and resolution...and that's just kind of hard to get into, especially when the main characters from Book 1 are reduced to subplotting, to introduce new characters that may or may not play a pivotal role in Book 3... I didn't really understand the beginning, what was the point of showing Raphael's backstory? The adventure is still interesting, but now there is an air of confusion as well. No questions were really answered and more questions were revealed. Or maybe I waited too long in between reading the 1st book and the 2nd...A mistake I won't make again. My next read will be Boo...

The Mongoliad (Book 1) by  Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, E.D. deBirmingham, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo I don't know why, in my head, I thought this story was going to be a fantasy. Not that it wasn't fantastic, it was just surprising to find this is more along the lines of historical/speculative fiction. And there's a lot going on this book. Mongol's have taken over Europe and Asia. Cnan a Binder--a Binder is someone who helps people find their paths?--is sent to guide a small band of knights on their quest to overthrow the Khan of Khans. Gansuhk, a mongol warrior, ordered away from his comforts of roaming the steppes on horseback to the court of the Khan of Khans...Why? To control the Khans drinking habit. I admit, I'm not familiar with any of the authors of this book, so I have the luxury of not being able to pick out one author's hand from the other. But with quests, assassination attempts, gladiators, and half-assed romances (I...

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." This is the story of the young shepherd Santiago, who is more importantly a dreamer. Santiago dreams of travel and of treasure, and instead of waiting around for what he wants he goes after it. I don't know that "profound" is the word I'd use to describe this book, but I think the message is important. People have dreams, and sacrifice their dreams for obligations deemed more important, and then one day they wake up miserable and wonder what if? What if I'd done what I wanted, what if I'd done what makes me happy? You might be a fool for following your dreams, instead of picking the responsible or respectable course, but at least you might be a happy fool. Another recurring theme, is following the omens and listening to the universe when it tries to speak/help. I'm not sure how much I believe in a divine pre-written future, where omens guide you on your way...

JAL has written another page turner. When Theres was a baby someone tried to bury her alive. A couple of has-been musicians find her and try to raise her in secret as their musical prodigy, but discover something not quite right with the girl. She developmentally behind and prone to violent outbursts. Teresa, a girl with no imagination and no friends, suffering from depression, is looking for her place in a world that terrifies her. Theres offers Teresa friendship and Teresa can't resist. The thing that makes Lindqvist's novels so scary is that his villains are relatable; he makes you love them, sympathize with them. He writes horror that isn't horrifying because the amount of monsters and murders, but because his villains present emotional/intellectual questions frightening new ways. Nurture vs. Nature : both girls with vastly different home lives grow into predators. So what is it that makes a monster? Are some people just born broken, or are they products of thei...

Officer Scott James isn't really a dog person, but rather than take retirement, he joins a K9 Unit. Maggie an ex-military dog isn't ready to retire either. Both suffer from PTSD, brought about by witnessing the murders of their respective partners. Maggie's POV added to the overall emotional feel of this book, based on the things she could understand vs the things she couldn't. The Prologue made me cry, but as an animal lover I admit I find nothing more horrifying than bad things happening to animals. Scott's evolution from " K9 Unit's great because I have no partner" to realizing that in the K9 unit the dog was so much more than a partner. I think this book was beautifully done. It is more than a mystery. It is a story about two souls who need healing, first, and its about solving a cop-killing second. I think anyone who loves dogs and anyone who loves shepherds will understand this novel and be moved by it. When the mystery hit, it wasn'...

This story is about a dwarf named Tungdil, raised by humans, who is sent on an elaborate journey, to reunite with his kinsmen and save the dwarven race from doom. The beginning of this book is cheesey and hard to get into. Disease and war is quickly devastating the dwarven race, and everybody is fighting with everybody for no apparent reason. There are metaphors that are intended to give a poetic visual, but don't make a lot of sense in hindsight.The character seem incapable of experiencing emotion which makes the story hard to connect to. The characters keep time in Orbits and Solar Cycles; I've determined and Orbit is like a day, and a Solar Cycle is like a year, but if an alternative time unit is going to be introduced, it should also be explained at some point. The original was written in German, and I think part of the cheese is that the translator tried to translate exactly...Not that I speak German, so I could be wrong, and it might be cheesy in both languages, bu...

This week I'm reading: The Dwarves by Markus Heitz ; An epic fantasy, that also happens to have a questionable amount of cheese. I'm 63% done with it. Suspec t by Robert Crais ; I actually haven't started this yet, but I'm told its a murder mystery told by a dog with PTSD. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Tales of the Jazz Age by F.Scott Fitzgerald ; I was in the mood for a classic, and I got this little freebie off of Pixels of Ink... It would be a great collection of stories if there weren't so many typos. 25% of the way through. I will be offering reviews of these, along with images of the cover art, (because people do judge books by their covers) as soon as I'm finished reading.

I'm a bibliophile who is unemployed and hiding from a heat wave. Needless to say, I'm bored. I'd like to take this mundane, uncomfortable July day, to start a book blog. I don't know if I'll actually get followers, or if I'll just talk to myself on the internet, about books, until I find an employer, but right now it seems like a good idea. Yeah, I'll probably talk to myself...But if you like books and you find this blog, follow me...At the very least, a couple of followers makes me look less crazy. Now as to the books I'll be reviewing, I read a little bit of everything except for erotic/adult only books. I read mystery, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary. I rarely read romance, I have a fear of cheesey predictable plots, but when I do, I do review. I'm not strictly a critic or strictly a ego-stroker. If its good, I praise it, if its bad I flame it, if its in between I name what works and what doesn't. Sometimes I read a book ...