Sometimes It's A Dud

Just to prove that I don't ALWAYS love the books that I read I want to talk about a recently read book that I really didn't like. I of course had heard of the Janet Evanovitch novels along with the Sue Grafton novels. I tried and liked Sue Grafton's "A is for Alibi." I decided that I was going to try Janet Evanovitch's "One for the Money" to see which I enjoyed more and which series I might want to continue with. I bought "One for the Money" on my NOOK so it was in ebook format, ASIN

B000FC0SJ6. The novel was first published in 1994 by St. Martin's Press.

 

The story follows Stephanie Plum a recently unemployed linergie sales rep which leads to money problems. Her weekly dinner with her parents and grandmother although always stressful (her grandmother is slightly crazy and her mom spends the whole dinner telling Stephanie the benefits of finding a husband) actually gives her a lead on a job. Her cousin Vinnie who owns a bail bonding company reluctantly hires her but only after she threatens him. He is determined to give her the easiest of bail jumpers, to keep her off his back and so that she doesn't get hurt. Stephanie however has a whole different idea in mind. She is tipped off about one bail jumper that could potentially lead to her recieving ten grand easy. The jumper is ex-vice cop Joe Morrelli, suspected of murder, and long time obsession of Stephanie's.

 

Stephanie has no experience, no tools, and no idea where she is going to begin but she dives in head first. Through every mishap and bump and bruise Stephanie keeps her head up and keeps on trying. Although there is certainly some suspense and witt that adds to the story the book wasn't all that great. It wasn't all that well written, the suspense wasn't enough to give me that "I HAVE TO READ THIS" feeling. I originally thought that Stephanie might be a fun character to follow but after the first intial charm she just got on my nerves. And instead of being witty and charming it turned out that Stephanie was just annoying and stupid. The writing was simple and the story unbelieveable to the point of ridiculousness.

 

There really wasn't much that I enjoyed about the book other than it was a quick read with a tiny bit of witt here and there. I don't recommend the book at all. It's not even a good fluff read or something to read on vacation. I just thought the book was a bad book. I apparently seem to be in the minority on that one however. See I don't ALWAYS love the books I read.     

A New Story from An Old Tale

I have always been fascinated by history. I actually paid attention in my history classes in school, a rareity I assure you, because I truly enjoyed the study of it. There are certain periods that interest me more then others, the '60's Civil Rights movement, World War 2, Victorian Era england to name just a few. But one of my all time favorite historical periods to study is Henry VIII's england mainly him and his many wives. To that end I seek out historical fiction that has to do with any of those eras. I do some non-fiction research as well but I crave historical fiction.

This craving was what brought me to "The Other Boleyn Girl" written by Philippa Gregory and published by Touchstone. It is the story of Mary Boleyn who started out as a lady in waiting to Queen Catherine, Henry VIII's first wife, and became Henry's lover. She was also the sister of the woman that became Henry's most notorious wife, Anne Boleyn. Mary Boleyn was a sweet tempered fair haired innocent young girl who had the misfortune to be born into one of England's most ambitious, non-royal, families. As Anne is sent off to the French court Mary is pushed into being a lady in the Queen's household.

At fourteen Mary is at the height of her golden beauty and she soon catches the eye of the young King. They start a flirtation that her family encourages fourcefully realizing what this could mean for them. Henry begins to court Mary, wooing her eventually into his bed. And because of his youth, good looks and his abundance of charm Mary finds that she is falling in love with this great King. As Henry spends more and more time with Mary he begins to lavish wealth and power on her family. The more the Boleyn's gain the more they want and so despite the pain the Queen is in the family continues to encourage Mary to keep the King interested. When Mary gives birth to Henry's son, the first son that lives, the Boleyn's get showered with gifts and Mary is treated like a Queen. The Boleyn's have a knack for making things go their way and with their combined talents they keep the King interested in Mary even while she is recovering from giving birth. However after the birth of Mary's and Henry's second child Henry's interest begins to wander. This is when they bring Anne back to court.

The rest of the book follows the story of Anne winning over the king from Mary's point of view. She realizes the hard way that her family never cared for her happiness they only ever cared what their position was at court. With this in mind and after an arranged marriage Mary decides that she has to fight for her own happiness. The book is incredible with an amazing story. It is incredibly well written and very well researched. Philippa Gregory tells the story of Mary Boleyn with light and beauty. She gives Mary a voice and shows the world what is was like to be the most important woman in the royal court for a time. I never knew that there was a Mary Boleyn until I read this novel but it inspired me to find out more about her. 

I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of historical fiction. Or just a fan of the Tudors and the way that the court was run. It's a story that shouldn't be missed Mary Boleyn has been skipped over for many years with this book she is put front and center. Go find a copy of "The Other Boleyn Girl" and step into a world that is rich, colorful and chock full of love, lust, pain and blissful happiness. It's a great, great read I suggest you take the time and find that out for yourself.  

A Little Detective Work

I will be the first to admit that there are times when I have read books simply because of the hype that surrounds them. Working at a bookstore where I am constantly bombarded by questions about and requests for the same titles over and over has not helped me break this habit. However I will also be the first to admit that due to this little habit of mine I have walked away with some pretty great reads. Then there are some that aren't great but have been good fluff reads. Palette cleansers if you will. I dived into a series of such reads just recently.

As an avid reader and consistent book shopper I have of course always heard of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone Alphabet detective series. And although I love the occasional mystery I was never interested in picking them up. They just seem very superficial and simple and that just didn't interest me enough to pick one up. Then I got the NOOK tablet. I had been planning on reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett on it as my first book but I was just finishing up "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriett Beecher Stowe. That's a pretty heavy book, one all about enslavement and people as property, "The Help," although more modernized (Mississippi in the '60's), has some similar attributes. I didn't want another heavy book to follow my heavy book. So for reasons still unknown I decided to check out the very famous "A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton. I figure it would be a good quick read, one to cleanse the palette after "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and it would give me a taste of what the fuss was all about.

I ended up purchasing the book on my NOOK for my first ever NOOK read book. "A is for Alibi" as an NOOKbook is only 200 plus pages so I knew it would be a quick read. I found that I ended up enjoying all 200 plus pages. The story is about Kinsey Millhone private investigator. She is a tough talking, simplistic, ex-cop who left the force because she doesn't enjoy playing by the rules. Divorced twice and not looking for number three Kinsey works out of the offices of California Fidelity insurance in Santa Teresa, California. Although she takes on insurance fraud cases from time to time her real passion is helping the underdogs like Nikki Fife. Nikki was convicted of murdering her husband eight years ago, just having been released from jail she seeks out Kinsey. The job she hires Kinsey for is one that slightly surprises her, Nikki wants Kinsey to find her husband's real killer and clear her name.

Kinsey, being Kinsey, accepts the challenge and begins to investigate the man himself and all those surrounding him around the time of his death. As Kinsey's investigation starts getting more and more interesting she begins to realize that although the cops pinned the murder on Nikki they may have skipped quite a few suspects. The deeper she gets the more dangerous her investigation becomes, especially when another body turns up. Through it all Kinsey finds herself more and more drawn to the dead man's business partner. They discover that there is a physical chemistry between them that just can't be denied. But is this relationship just what she needed or is it a distraction that she can't afford?

The narration is told in first person through Kinsey's eyes which is nice because as the reader we are privy to the way her mind works while interviewing suspects or gathering information. The downside to the book for me was that the action was saved for the last few pages. For this story it wasn't that bad because the mystery seemed to be throughout the rest of the book. However this seems to be a repeative style Sue Grafton uses in the books and the last few I've read have been slightly boring until the very end. I think it's something that is only seen in the reading of the series but for this book it seemed to work. There were twists and turns that kept me guessing which is important in a mystery.

Like I said this is a good fluff read, a palette cleanser between more substantially themed books. But it is a pretty good one. If you are looking for a quick mystery read go out and find a copy of "A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton because it will be just what you are looking for.

A Modern Fairy Godmother

"If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model with collagen-puffed lips and silicone-inflated breasts, a woman in a magenta convertible with heart-shaped sunglasses and cotton candy hair; if Los Angeles is this woman, then the San Fernando Valley is her tinybopper sister." This is the opening of Francesca Lia Block's "I Was A Teenage Fairy," published by HarperTeen. I knew from that first sentence that I was going to love this book. The poetry of the sentences and the imagery that is evoked is enough to carry the book but these are coupled with a deeply moving and beautiful story. It's a winner in my book.

It is the story of Barbie Marks a young girl with an aging beauty queen mom who is hoping to force Barbie into becoming everything she wasn't. So Mrs. Marks takes her beautiful daughter into LA to talk to an agent. This agent offers to take some pictures of Barbie to get her used to being in front of the camera. And because he wants Barbie to be as comfortable as possible he suggests that her mother wait in the lobby. Right away Barbie feels that something is wrong and when she asks to be shown how the camera works he instead offers to come around and get his picture taken with her. So he walks around the camera and puts her on his lap, holds her real tight and changes her life forever.

Barbie grows up to look like her namesake and becomes the model her mother wanted her to be. And though she feels lost and hurt because of what happened in her childhood she has a friend that doesn't allow her to sit and feel sorry for herself but makes her get up and live her life. A little friend who follows her everywhere, uses bad language and hates when anyone says the words "I love you," a fairy friend named Mab. Francesca Lia Block writes "Maybe Mab was real...Maybe not. Maybe Mab was the fury. Maybe she was the courage. Maybe later on she was the sex." Mab was the pinkie-sized friend that never let Barbie settle for less than her dreams. With Mab by her side Barbie enters into a new relationship with a famous actor, and begins to follow her true dream of being a photographer.

The whole book is made up of poetry and pain, colors, light and dark. Francesca Lia Block has a voice unlike any other author I have ever come across. She can take a darkness like child molestation and turn it into a story of overcoming with a foul-mouthed fairy in it. This 186 page story is one of my favorite books. Mab became one of my favorite characters filthy mind and all. I highly recommend this book, it's a quick read and well worth the time. It's a beautiful book one that I read again and again and I promise that once you meet Mab and Barbie it will become a repeater for you as well. So go out and find yourself a copy of "I Was A Teenage Fairy" and enter into the world that Francesca Lia Block creates, it's a world that you won't want to miss.

Learning A Lesson

[Edit: I was reminded that it might be a good idea to add the publisher, date of publication and maybe even ISBN into my posts. I obviously hadn't thought it through because that is such an obvious thing to do when recommending books. Anyway here that info is for this book. I would have had it up sooner but my internet has been doing strange things so here it is now. A quick note I bought this book used online and it looks like it is an old library book. Don't be discouraged if you can't find this exact one. First edition was published by St. Martin's Press, New York in August 1992. ISBN: 9780312076382. Hope this helps a little in finding this great book.]

A long time ago when I was still in high school, I think, I watched a movie called "Dangerous Minds" starring Michelle Pfeifer about a woman who after a nasty divorce finds herself taking over an english class in California. Thinking that she can make a difference she instead finds a class full of stubborn inner-city kids with more chance of being arrested then graduating high school. The movie was based on a book about the real life of that teacher, LouAnne Johnson. The book was called "My Posse Don't Do Homework-A Funny and Inspiring Story of Teaching." I became determinded to find and read this book. It took me years to find a copy and to tell the truth I don't remember where I eventually found it but I did find it online. A used copy from a library that closed and was selling off it's stock somewhere or something like that. Anyway I got it eventually and I started reading it the day it arrived in my mailbox.

The stories that LouAnne presents are what she calls "snapshots" moments that she felt truly represented the kids she taught and who shaped the kind of teacher she became. LouAnne Johnson started teaching as an intern two differnt English classes and then moved on to teaching the Academy students. The Academy program was a 'school within a school' that the government helped to fund. What it offered was a 25 student limit of class sizes and extra resources for teachers so that they were able to provide extra help to the students that needed it. What LouAnne found was that not only did the program help get students from freshman year to graduation it also gave them a sense of self and one of confidence.

LouAnne met many students through her teaching years some of which she portrays in her book. She speaks of the students that pushed and pushed until she pushed back just enough to make them see there were things worth fighting for. One of the first stories she tells is that of Raul (the student's name was changed for privacy sake) and the loan she gave him of $100. He bought a stolen coat on the streets and the money he owed was due, and on the streets when you didn't pay the money you owed you paid in other ways. Ms. J, as they called her, loaned him the money he needed with one condition that he graduate from high school and pay her back on his graduation day. Although her crop of kids were usually resistant and stubborn she found ways of teaching them all about choice. How it was their choice to get an education or to take to the streets. They learned to view her as more than just a teacher, they ended up seeing her as a hero.

This book is moving, inspiring, and so beautiful at times it made me cry. The stories that LouAnne Johnson shares are sometimes funny and sweet, sometimes dark and sad and through it all she stays true to the things she believes in. This is a worthy read. "My Posse Don't Do Homework" is an inspiring tale one that helped me see hope even through the dark. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in non-fiction true stories about hope and kindness. The whole book is a look into a world that isn't normally talked about in everyday life, unless you live it, and it makes it worth the trip. LouAnne Johnson has a voice and a heart that are rare and this book lets you see that in abundance. Take a trip down her memory lane by picking up the book and reading it for yourself. It's anything but a waste of time, I promise.