Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham-Smith


From the back: The Classic Regency Romance - Now With Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!

First sentence: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

My thoughts: I read Pride and Prejudice and I loved it. So when I read that it had been reprinted with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem I couldn't help myself. I had to read it. Or in this case, listen to it. The author did a good job intertwining his part of the story with the orignal, keeping the story more or less on track. I found Elizabeth's blood lust a bit over the top, but all in all it was a fun "listen." It isn't great literature, but then it wasn't meant to be. If it sounds like something you might like to try, go check it out at the library and enjoy.

Quotes: All I ask is that my final months be happy ones, and that I be permitted a husband who will see to my proper Christian beheading and burial.

"I like her appearance," said Elizabeth, struck with other ideas. "She looks sickly and cross. Yes, she will do for him very well."

....few thought it worth the expense to dress the dead in finery when they would only soil it upon crawling out of their graves.

Links:

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn

From the book jacket: In the third book in the brilliant New York Times best selling series featuring a lovable and wise dog narrator, Chet and Bernie go under the big top to solve the most unlikely missing persons (and animals!) case ever.

First sentence: "I smell trouble," Bernie said.

My thoughts: I fell in love with Chet in the first book of this series and love him more with each book. As you will see in the quotes below, Chet is easily distracted. His thoughts will wander, to past cases, to food, to girl dogs.... The writing of Chet's internal dialog is fun to read, at times laugh out loud funny. Even though it is funny and narrated by the dog, the mystery will grab you and pull you along. I will be waiting anxiously for the fourth installment of this wonderful series. I would suggest that you start with the first one, but they all stand alone nicely.
My rating:



Quote:
"Bernie and Rick hurried up behind me, huffing and puffing; always fun when you can get humans huffing and puffing. Suppose you have something in your mouth, a magazine, say, and when some human makes a grab for it, you twist away, letting them come closer and closer every time: humans start huffing and puffing pretty quick in a game like that. But this was no time for games. We were on the job, and besides there were no magazines in sight."

"Got into some scrapes down in Mexico, and so did Bernie. The Mexican vet had to stitch me up; she stitched up Bernie, too. She was nice, kind of fell for Bernie, which led to complications on account of she forgot to mention her husband. But he turned out to be a real bad shot, so it ended up okay."
Links

Product Detail:
Hard Cover: 320 pages
Publisher: Atria
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5707-7

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris



This is the third book of essays I've read by this author. This one contains 22 autobiographical essays that span his lifetime and touch on his relationships with members of his family, his work, his upbringing in North Carolina and his life in France. I enjoyed this book as much as the others, Sedaris never fails to make me laugh!



Saturday, October 16, 2010

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

This is the 5th book in the Dexter Morgan series by Jeff Lindsay. I've read them all and have enjoyed them. This one is no exception.
Since the birth of Lily Anne, Dexter has been surprised to find that he has real human feelings. These feelings become stronger and he vows to put his Dark ways behind him. He pushes the Dark Passenger to the back of his consciousness and tries to lead a normal life.

However, as the story gets going he finds his life and by extension Lily Anne's life, threatened by evil in the form of cannibals. An secret club in the heart of Miami that practices this. Lindsay said that in his research for this book : "There are cannibal chat groups...just dying to give you a recipe for how to prepare and cook human flesh." All I can say to that is YIKES! It is one thing to read in a work of fiction but to think there are really people who chat about this is just......wrong.
Anyway, There are a couple of surprises and changes in Dexter's life that promise more great stories in the future of this series.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly


I've read a few of Connelly's novels from the Harry Bosch series and have never been disappointed. This is the first book in the Mickey Haller series. Haller is a defense lawyer that works out of his car, a Lincoln Town Car. Thus the title.I did not find Mickey to be very at first I guess because he was drawn of such a manipulator of the system. At the end I liked him better as his character outside of his job was so well developed.

The story moved right along with little if any fluff or filler. I quite enjoyed this one and plan to read more in this series.

About the book
Michael Connelly
Connelly's series in order

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart


I got this book as an ARC from the Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club. It is Machart's first novel and what a read! I loved the prose, he could really draw a picture in words. I found myself rereading passages just for the enjoyment of it.
I've seen where others compared Machart to Cormac McCarthy. Having read several of McCarthy's books I think this is accurate.
This was not an easy read for several reasons, however it is a good read, well written and compelling. I will be looking forward to reading more from this author.