Archive 2009

Summer is coming and that can mean only one thing in the book business...

SUMMER READS!!!! Wahoo!

Summer reads are meant for beaches, vacations,

or just that quiet time after the lawn is mowed

and you want to sit outside and enjoy the splendor of your hard work.

 New trade-ins are arriving daily at both stores!

August 2010---Jean recommends: 

Dead in the Family, by Charlaine Harris 

The previous Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead and Gone, ended with a civil war between the Fae and left us stunned with the death of a main fairy character and the closing of the door between the Fae and human worlds. Sookie was gravely injured in the Fae War.  

Dead in the Family opens with Sookie slowly recovering from those injuries. She is depressed over the loss of friends and family killed in the war. The book starts with short chapters, discrete bits that cover short periods of time. Much like the depression she suffers from causing her to think of only one day, one hour, one minute at a time. The chapters get larger as she slowly heals and is able to live beyond the moment. 

Sookie looks to rebuild her body, her relationships with vampires Eric and Bill (who is dying slowly from silver poisoning,) and her circle of family. At the same time, it looks like at least one Fae is stuck in the human world and wants to kill Sookie.  

Eric’s political and personal problems grow when his maker, a Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, shows up with his newest made son, Alexei Romanov. Alexei’s human death and transformation to a vampire life has driven him mad, and Eric’s maker has the power to order Eric to do anything Appius Ocella wants him to do. Eric is immediately thrown into a delicate game of not offending Appius while trying to control Alexei’s blood lust.  

Alcide’s pack has to deal with a traitor. The pack traitor had buried a dead body on Sookie’s property in order to get her in trouble with the law, so she is asked to help uncover the culprit.  

Charlaine Harris is a wonderful writer. She crafts solid plots, filled with interesting characters, and weaves them together with a deft hand. She doesn’t need to explain why characters do things, she shows you through their actions. For a reader, this leads to emotionally satisfying participation without the plodding over-analysis that some authors drag us through. Dead in the Family is a top-quality entry in the Southern Vampire series.

August 2010---Jean recommends: 

Money, Honey, by Susan Sey 

This is the first book for author Susan Sey, who once lived in Kalamazoo. It reads like it’s her fifth. The characters are well fleshed-out, with tantalizing tastes of a back story that itches to be explored.  

This book has a heroine (Elizabeth Brynn) who works for the FBI and dresses in ill-fitting, boring pants at the office, and has a secret collection of high-end, vintage cocktail dresses at home. Her personal background is just as disparate. Her first ten years were spent with her father in a cult that believes in child brides and complete obedience to males. Rescued just in the nick of time by the government authorities, she spends the rest of her childhood with her extremely wealthy grandmother, finishing school and all. She works for a living when she doesn’t have to and never tells anyone about her early past. 

When a counterfeiter causes trouble in her jurisdiction, she is put on the case and forced to accept Patrick O’Connor as part of the team. O’Connor is a highly successful crime novelist who used to be a jewel thief until Brynn arrested his sister. He spent three years as an informant to the feds before he broke free and went into writing. He’s never been able to get Liz Brynn quite out of his system. He also loves expensive clothes, but he doesn’t keep it secret. 

The counterfeiter is passing bad bills at the businesses run by O’Connor’s sister and her husband. Patrick is determined to protect his family and to investigate a possible hook-up with Liz. Liz is determined to be taken seriously, despite her family’s wealth and her early childhood. Mara (Patrick’s sister) is determined to get her bachelor brother fixed up with someone, while raising her 2-year-old daughter and making her businesses succeed. 

Add to this mix some humor, some sizzle, the toddler getting jammy hands all over Uncle Patrick’s expensive wardrobe, and the criminal mastermind behind the O’Connors’ early careers being on a mission to kill them and everyone they love---and you’ve got an entertaining read.

July 2010---Jean recommends:

Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw, Illustrated by Margot Apple

Nancy Shaw is coming to the Portage District Library and we have her books. These books cover the comic antics of some very silly sheep. Told in rhyming verse with colored pencil illustrations, the books are colorful and clever. They are fun for adults to read (very important!) Some of the Sheep titles come with activities for kids to do at home.

Sheep on a Ship tells the tale of the sheep taking a sea trip. When a storm at sea puts their ship at peril, they make a raft.

            Winds whip.

            Sails rip.

            Sheep can’t sail their sagging ship.

            They chop a mast to make a raft.

            Sheep jump off their sailing craft.

The book ends with a make-your-own Pirate Hat craft.

Sheep Out to Eat by Nancy Shaw, Illustrated by Margot Apple

Sheep Out to Eat follows five sheep in a teashop as “they ask for a seat and a bite to eat.” They can’t read the menus and don’t know how to behave in a teashop. What do you think is going to happen?

            Sheep get soup. Sheep scoop.

            Sheep slurp. Sheep burp.

            Waiters bring them spinach custard.

            Sheep add sugar, salt, and mustard.

In the end, they discover they prefer the grass in front of the teashop over anything inside.  This is quite a lovely tale that would make a wonderful gift.

July 2010---Gloria recommends: 

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have come a long way in their series with FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast.  We are taken back 12 years to the death of his wife in a hunting accident in Africa.  I like reading mysteries with lots of action and this delivers big time.  It begins in Africa 12 years back and continues present day in Louisiana Alabama and Florida.  Personally, I found the overall plot and ending a bit weak, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from finishing the book and I will continue with the Pendergast series.

July 2010---Gloria recommends: 

The Chase by Clive Cussler

The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott 

Clive is introducing a new character after retiring Dirk Pitt.  Issac Bell works as a detective for the Van Dorn detective agency in 1907.  This was when the railroads were being built and telegraphs were the up and coming mode of communication.  Race across the country chasing bank robbers and saboteurs and on the way get fantastic descriptions of the locomotives and automobiles of the time.  You get out of breath just reading the action on the pages.  Cussler’s books will always be one of my favorites.

July 2010---Gloria recommends: 

The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell 

This is a stand alone mystery from the creator of the Kurt Wallander mysteries. London, Beijing and Africa are settings for solving this massacre in a remote Swedish village.  Judge Birgitta Roslin doesn’t believe the police are making the same connections she is to the killer and her life becomes a target as she digs into the mystery.  Literary mystery to a new level, I loved it.  Not as fast paced, but really holds your attention. 

Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley

I haven’t read a lot of graphic novels, mostly just “classics” like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, but I’ve been excited enough by the previews for the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World that I ordered the first two books in the series. 

Written and illustrated in a black and white “manga-inspired” style by O’Malley, the series is about an early-twenties bassist in Toronto who falls in love with American delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers.  He quickly learns, however, that to date Ramona, he must defeat her “seven evil ex-boyfriends.”  In both the comics and the upcoming movie, we see video game-like graphics appear when Scott and others fight. 

The first two volumes were fun enough that I’m going to order the rest (the sixth and final one is supposed to come out the end of July, just before the movie opens).  The characters are likeable and the dialog is either very real or very clever.  If you’re curious, but haven’t picked up a comic in a few years, give Scott Pilgrim a try!

July 2010---Jean recommends:

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, Young Adult 1993

If your preteen/teenager asks you to buy this book for them, I highly recommend that you do so. This is a thought-provoking book about kids in high school. The issues are deep and presented in a story that is compelling, well written, and true-to-life. I think that is why so many kids love it. The characters are real. The high school rules, classes, cliques, antics, scheduling, and personalities feel like our own experiences.

Sarah and Eric have been friends for years. Sarah has terrible burns scars and is wickedly intelligent. Eric was a fat kid. They are outcasts and their friendship gives them strength. When Eric joins the swim team, he loses a lot of weight. For at least a year he eats like a pig just to maintain his weight so his friend Sarah won’t feel cut off. When she ends up in a hospital in a catatonic state, he can’t just leave her there and not try to help.

Eric’s search for a clue to get through to Sarah will have him make alliances with the school bully, a teacher and his swim coach who has a knack for social justice, and the friends who have problems of their own.  

This book is still in print and can be ordered through Kazoo Books.

Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton, 2009

Lately, the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series had gotten hard to read. Since the main character became a succubus, the books had become a virtual nonstop sex show. For some readers, that was just fine. A nice cold drink, a seat right in front of the air conditioner, and they were happy!

Not me. I want more plot and character growth from the stories I read. I feel with these latest titles in the series, Ms. Hamilton has been trying to get back on track.

Skin Trade has Anita traveling to Las Vegas to track down a psychotic vampire named Vittorio. It opens with Vittorio mailing the head of the Vegas vampire executioner to Anita. A message taunting Anita Blake is scrawled in cop’s blood on the wall of a scene where three Las Vegas cops died and ten more fell into a mysterious coma-like sleep. Anita Blake calls a sheriff in Las Vegas just as he’s getting ready to call her. They know they need her help, but she knows right off that she’s headed into a hostile situation with the police.

Fans of Edward (Ted Forrester, U. S. Marshall and fellow vampire executioner) will pleased to hear that he’s back.

Ted: “I hear you’re having a hell of an interesting time.”

Anita: “What are you talking about, Edward?”

Ted: “Tell me you were going to call and have me meet you in Vegas. Tell me you weren’t going to hunt this one without inviting me to come play.”

Ahhhh. I missed Edward. He brings Olaf into the hunt for Vittorio. Frankly, I could live without ever reading about Olaf again. But he’s in the story line and I got over it. Max and Bibiana are back, along with their weretigers. In general, this book has a lot of the feel of the pre-succubus books of the series. The story line moves. Anita and Edward pull out their big weapons. Jean-Claude stays in St. Louis, and therefore, can’t slow down the pacing of the plot. All of the familiar elements are there for your enjoyment. I know I did.

July 2010---Jean recommends:

Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton, 2010

Flirt is another Anita Blake novel, but follows a different trajectory. If you can get past the scene near the beginning where Anita has lunch with Nathaniel, Jason, and Micah and they discuss relationships and flirting, the story quickly moves into action. Anita is kidnapped by a rich client who wants her to resurrect his deceased wife so he can keep her. She is cut off from her normal cadre of male support staff and has to help herself gain release.

It is an entertaining book that reads quickly and with a lot of action.

Something new in this book is the essay about how the book came into being. Ms. Hamilton describes a luncheon with some friends and how the discussion on the art of flirting led to this book. I have found her book dedications interesting before and this essay is a nice insight. Don’t skip it.

With Flirt, author Hamilton only descends into the endless drama of questioning her relationships (gads, dump Richard already!) for a little bit, and that is in the beginning of the story. For me, the angst is too much like Bella’s insecurities in the Twilight series… (Micah says, “Haven’t we proved by now that we find you fabulous in the morning?” Anita scowls at him and says, “I was told all my childhood that I wasn’t pretty, and you guys love me because of vampire powers. You may not be able to help it.”) Now, I like character-driven novels. But a killer, as depicted by Anita Blake, needs to dump the wishy-washy. It just doesn’t fit with her take-action persona.

July 2010---Tove recommends:

The Fairacre novels by Miss Read

Enter the world of Miss Read and the village of Fairacre.  These classic novels of English life are charming and lovely, but with an unexpected bite beneath the surface.  Classic summer reads, and you can find them at Kazoo Books!

June 2010---Jean recommends:

Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles, December 2009

Succubi Like It Hot by Jill Myles, January 2010 

Yum, yum. Fans of paranormal romance rejoice! These two books are fun, funny, and have a kicky kind of pace. Gentlemen Prefer Succubi was written in 2005, and finally published last December, followed in January by Succubi Like It Hot.  

Jackie, our plucky heroine, wakes up one morning with a heck of a hangover…in a dumpster. A local homeless man tells her he saw the dark-haired man who carried her there, kissed her forehead, and gently laid her lifeless body in the dumpster. The problem is that the guy she hooked up with was a blonde. And she doesn’t understand why the homeless man keeps insisting she wasn’t breathing all night. Poor Jackie! 

Within an hour of climbing out of the dumpster, Jackie has run in to Noah, the blond from last night, learns he’s a fallen angel and that the dark-haired man was a vampire. Even worse, she’s become a succubus. What’s a shy, slightly dumpy, museum guide to do when her body becomes the stuff that men dream about and she craves sex every few days?  

In Gentlemen, Jackie learns about the paranormal world and the power struggles among the factions. She meets Remy, a succubus who works in the adult movie industry, and Zane, the vampire who dropped her off in a dumpster. She learns that Zane isn’t all he appears to be. The queen of the vampires captures Noah and demands that Jackie bring her the lost halo of the first fallen angel, Joachim, a source of unspeakable power. Jackie has to save her friends, avoid becoming evil, keep the vampire queen from gaining more power, AND straighten out her love life.  

In Succubi Like it Hot Jackie starts out with her personal life almost in harmony. Then things start to go terribly wrong. First, Noah demands she see him exclusively. Secondly, she pays the pizza delivery man and watches him fall into a coma from her touch. Third, when she calls Remy for help, she learns she’s been cursed to wipe minds blank with a touch while her sex drive goes into hyper drive, which if left unaddressed, could cause her to starve to death. Fourth, Remy the porn star takes Jackie on a road trip to find a voodoo priestess succubus in New Orleans. Fifth, a mysterious man is following Jackie and he might not be just a fan.  

Can Jackie break the curse and regain her love life while staying out of jail? The second book in the series has shades of “Thelma and Louise.” With succubi. And a curse. And dead bodies. And a stalker. This book is lots of fun. 

The third book in this series is called My Fair Succubi and will be released in December 2010. I look forward to it.

June 2010---Jean recommends? Iffy…

Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich, 2010 reprint of a 1987 book published under the name Steffie Hall. 

New on the shelves, but not a new book, is this romance by Janet Evanovich. Like her other earlier titles, this book shows why she is a successful author today. Her writing shows talent long before she began the uber-popular Stephanie Plum mysteries. And, like her other earlier titles, this book shows the limits of a beginning writer.  

Chris Nelson, badly hurt in a divorce, is not looking for romance in her life. Her car, on it’s last legs, breaks down on the way to work. The Good Samaritan (Ken Callahan) who stops to help her is, of course, cute and knowledgeable about cars. Chris, normally a graceful athlete, manages to accidentally break Ken's arm and disrupt his life.  

Before she knows it, Ken is renting a room from her, Chris has managed to accidentally break his toe, and her 7-year-old daughter and her own mother have both fallen under Ken's charming spell. Can Chris hold off committing her heart to love again?  

If you are determined to read everything Evanovich has written, you will have to read this book. If you like her other early romances, you might find this one entertaining as well. However, it is chock-full of romantic clichés, repetitive mental arguments by the characters, and it lacks the sense that real people would behave this way.

June 2010---Jean recommends:

The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber, (2004) 

While this book may be older, it is new to me. The Let's Read Romance book group members each agreed to read an author we weren't familiar with. That's how I came to finally read a book by Macomber.  

The Shop on Blossom Street is a yarn and knitting store opened by Lydia. Lydia is an unmarried woman, who has survived two bouts with brain cancer. The constant fear that she may not live long has caused her to postpone relationships, and life. Opening the store is her attempt to put cancer firmly into her past and to reach for a normal future. 

Three women join her first knitting class, “How to Make a Baby Blanket”-and they couldn't be more different from each other. Jacqueline is determined to make amends with, and a blanket for, her pregnant daughter-in-law. Carol sees the making of a baby blanket as a positive sign of success as she goes for her last chance at fertility treatments. Alix is making a blanket for a charity, as part of her court-ordered community service.  

As these women learn to knit, they forge friendships that will change their lives immeasurably.  

This book is a wonderful introduction to Macomber’s work. The writing is solid. The characters are well fleshed out. The plot carries you deeper and deeper to each woman’s internal conflicts and resolutions.  

Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

I give the highest recommendations for Lover Mine, the eighth book in the Brotherhood of the Black Dagger series! It was my favorite installment so far. This book covers the story of John Matthew, the vampire who was raised as a human. In previous books he showed unrequited love for the sympath assassin, Xhex. When she disappears, everyone becomes convinced that she has been killed. John refuses to give up. As the story plays out, the characters of John and Xhex grow in complexity, become truly interesting.

In addition, the relationship between John's best friends, Blay and Qhuinn grows into something that I didn't see coming. I can only hope their story expands in a future installment.

If you have read other books in this series, expect more of the same...street lingo, swearing, open sexuality, danger and alpha males protecting their species. If you haven't read any others, let me recommend that you start with book one, Dark Lover. After you have the set-up in your head, you can shoot around the series without compromising the enjoyment.