Book Title: Two for the Dough
Author: Janet Evanovich
Pages: About 320
Grade: B-
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned (bought)
Summary: After reading a fair bit of high-brow and chick lit lately I decided to finally read the second book in the quite popular (By my records) Stephanie Plum series. I surprisingly liked the first one, about a New Jersey thirty-something turned bounty hunter who is dealing with a flirty cop/childhood menace Joe Morelli, a crazy traditional family, and a bucket full of weird cases. Anyway this led me to pick up the second book and I was appalled by how awful a lot of the writing was! That being said, I'm still a fan of the series - they are fast-paced and interesting, just the kind of junk novel that passes by in a few hours.
I think the reason why I didn't like this book quite as much as the first was well for one, you have a better idea of what'll happen and when...the first book I'm like "bounty hunter eh?" and had no idea what was happening. This one I had a better idea of how to pick up clues and so on, but even then the story was kind of broken up and jarring, and there was a ridiculous amount of grossness in this book given a big portion of it revolved around a funeral home. Still the story was interesting, the relationship between Morelli and Stephanie was very well written, and the ending was exciting. All the good makings of a fluffy read for spring (and soon summer) days! Will I buy another one? Hmm only if I can find them for super cheap. Otherwise it's library time for me.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Book #10: The Book of Air & Shadows
Book #10
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Book #9: Little Altars Everywhere
Book #9
Title: Little Altars Everywhere
Author: Rebecca Wells
Pages: 200
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Borrowed
This isn't *really* my kind of book - it reminded me eerily of something like Margaret Laurence's "A Bird In The House", given it is a collection of interwoven short stories told from the perspectives of different members of a small-town Louisiana family, most notably from the character of Siddalee. So how did it get an A? Well there wasn't anything I didn't like about it. I found the prose easy to get through and imaginative. The stories for the most part were captivating and enchanting. The characters were well developed and familiar despite our polar opposite lives. The plot moved enough from section to section to keep me interested. I can't justfiy giving it a lower grade just because it's not my preferred style (ie: novel over short stories) or preferred subject matter (ie: modern day as opposed to the past).
The stories revolve around two points in the character's lives - their childhoods in the 1960's and their relatively young adulthood in the early 1990's. Vivi is their eccentric, perhaps dangerously so, mother who also features in the ya ya sisterhood book I'm assuming. Interestingly enough this book was written before (and publicized after) the ya ya sisterhood - yet there are frequent mentions of the ya ya's and some dark secret they share and so on...so I'm guessing that book was simultaneously in the works as this one. Big Shep is Vivi's husband, a working class man who makes a few poor choices that make him forget how to love. Their children include the eldest daughter Siddalee, who is probably the most identifiable as the main character in the book. Sidda goes through several phases of independence/autonomy and relying on her family for guidance. Her younger brother Lil Shep doesn't feature much in the book other than his desire to be freed from the nasty secrets his family is keeping. I can't remember the next siblings name, I think it's Lulu, stars in my favourite story in the book about petty thieves and liars. Finally there is Baylor, the youngest, who lives in a dream both as a child and an adult.
Overall I can't say I recommend or don't recommend this book. I enjoyed it yes, but I wasn't floored to be gushing about it. A nice read for winter days.
Title: Little Altars Everywhere
Author: Rebecca Wells
Pages: 200
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Borrowed
This isn't *really* my kind of book - it reminded me eerily of something like Margaret Laurence's "A Bird In The House", given it is a collection of interwoven short stories told from the perspectives of different members of a small-town Louisiana family, most notably from the character of Siddalee. So how did it get an A? Well there wasn't anything I didn't like about it. I found the prose easy to get through and imaginative. The stories for the most part were captivating and enchanting. The characters were well developed and familiar despite our polar opposite lives. The plot moved enough from section to section to keep me interested. I can't justfiy giving it a lower grade just because it's not my preferred style (ie: novel over short stories) or preferred subject matter (ie: modern day as opposed to the past).
The stories revolve around two points in the character's lives - their childhoods in the 1960's and their relatively young adulthood in the early 1990's. Vivi is their eccentric, perhaps dangerously so, mother who also features in the ya ya sisterhood book I'm assuming. Interestingly enough this book was written before (and publicized after) the ya ya sisterhood - yet there are frequent mentions of the ya ya's and some dark secret they share and so on...so I'm guessing that book was simultaneously in the works as this one. Big Shep is Vivi's husband, a working class man who makes a few poor choices that make him forget how to love. Their children include the eldest daughter Siddalee, who is probably the most identifiable as the main character in the book. Sidda goes through several phases of independence/autonomy and relying on her family for guidance. Her younger brother Lil Shep doesn't feature much in the book other than his desire to be freed from the nasty secrets his family is keeping. I can't remember the next siblings name, I think it's Lulu, stars in my favourite story in the book about petty thieves and liars. Finally there is Baylor, the youngest, who lives in a dream both as a child and an adult.
Overall I can't say I recommend or don't recommend this book. I enjoyed it yes, but I wasn't floored to be gushing about it. A nice read for winter days.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Book #8: Forever In Blue
Book #8
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Book #7: Lipstick Jungle
Book #7
Title: Lipstick Jungle
Author: Candace Bushnell
Pages: 430
Grade: A
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Owned (bought)
I had mixed feelings going into this book to be honest with you. On one hand, Candace Bushnell has skyrocketed to fame as the author of Sex and the City, and rumours had been abuzz that LJ (not LiveJournal - Lipstick Jungle) had been optioned for a TV Show on NBC or something. On the flip side though, I really didn't like "Four Blondes" - Bushnell's collection of novellas, and I hadn't heard the greatest things about Trading Up, which my sis owns but I have yet to read (FYI - there is a crossover mention of the character of Janey from 4B & TU in this book). Regardless, I was kind of excited when this book came up in my reading roulette because the last two I read were pretty dense.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story - I devoured it in three short days! The book is about three women in their early 40's - Victory, Wendy, and Nico, who are corporate magnates in their glamorous fields, fashion design, executive movie producer, and magazine editor respectively. Being powerful women doesn't come without its challenges though as these women deal with the boys in a messy corporate sandbox filled with gender expectations and rules that the women are both striving to break and afraid to. Victory is negotiating her financial stability between business obligations and relationships as she tries to blossom into a huge-name designer. Wendy is trying to deal with intense pressure at work and intense problems at home when her stay-at-home husband gets fed up with her. Nico is trying stuck in two games where she is trying to KO the other person before they KO her. Their storylines interweave with the fact they are best friends (although missing the camaraderie one would expect from Carrie Bradshaw's creator) and they have a ton of mutual people in common among the society set.
The things I liked about this book were the fun, fantastical lifestyles of the women and the light easy prose of the book that felt neither flaky nor overdone, it still managed to stay fresh. I also enjoyed the girl power aspect that shed some harsh and some enlightening light on what it's like to be a corporate top gun as a woman. The ending was a bit - wow, okay it's done? - but left plenty open for further exploration in say, a TV show? My one concern with reading this book is the slightly skewed nature of the girl power aspect. While these woman are powerful and manage to work things out in very creative and strong ways, they can really only afford to do so with money. Although the money aspect of the story definitely adds to the interest level, it also is a bit disheartening that you can only solve problems with oodles of dough at your fingertips.
Still a great, fun read and one I would surely reccomend - by far the best of anything I've read by Bushnell.
Title: Lipstick Jungle
Author: Candace Bushnell
Pages: 430
Grade: A
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Owned (bought)
I had mixed feelings going into this book to be honest with you. On one hand, Candace Bushnell has skyrocketed to fame as the author of Sex and the City, and rumours had been abuzz that LJ (not LiveJournal - Lipstick Jungle) had been optioned for a TV Show on NBC or something. On the flip side though, I really didn't like "Four Blondes" - Bushnell's collection of novellas, and I hadn't heard the greatest things about Trading Up, which my sis owns but I have yet to read (FYI - there is a crossover mention of the character of Janey from 4B & TU in this book). Regardless, I was kind of excited when this book came up in my reading roulette because the last two I read were pretty dense.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story - I devoured it in three short days! The book is about three women in their early 40's - Victory, Wendy, and Nico, who are corporate magnates in their glamorous fields, fashion design, executive movie producer, and magazine editor respectively. Being powerful women doesn't come without its challenges though as these women deal with the boys in a messy corporate sandbox filled with gender expectations and rules that the women are both striving to break and afraid to. Victory is negotiating her financial stability between business obligations and relationships as she tries to blossom into a huge-name designer. Wendy is trying to deal with intense pressure at work and intense problems at home when her stay-at-home husband gets fed up with her. Nico is trying stuck in two games where she is trying to KO the other person before they KO her. Their storylines interweave with the fact they are best friends (although missing the camaraderie one would expect from Carrie Bradshaw's creator) and they have a ton of mutual people in common among the society set.
The things I liked about this book were the fun, fantastical lifestyles of the women and the light easy prose of the book that felt neither flaky nor overdone, it still managed to stay fresh. I also enjoyed the girl power aspect that shed some harsh and some enlightening light on what it's like to be a corporate top gun as a woman. The ending was a bit - wow, okay it's done? - but left plenty open for further exploration in say, a TV show? My one concern with reading this book is the slightly skewed nature of the girl power aspect. While these woman are powerful and manage to work things out in very creative and strong ways, they can really only afford to do so with money. Although the money aspect of the story definitely adds to the interest level, it also is a bit disheartening that you can only solve problems with oodles of dough at your fingertips.
Still a great, fun read and one I would surely reccomend - by far the best of anything I've read by Bushnell.
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