Book Review - Kraken

Kraken by China Miéville


My rating: 2 of 5 stars



What made me think I would like this book? Oh, right, it was around three in the morning and I wanted to find an audiobook I could listen to to help me sleep, and the library website was making me cranky because nothing I wanted to read was available. So I picked this.

If you are a Cthulhu fan, you will probably love this book. I found it extremely odd, though the writer is skilled and the writing itself (while occasionally self-serving and a bit pompous) was good. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the plot.





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Book Review - The Reach

The Reach by Nate Kenyon


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The blurb on the cover compared this book to vintage Stephen King, and I agree. It is extremely reminscent of Firestarter, one of my favourites from when I was a teenager. In fact, it's pretty much what Firestarter would have been, were it set in today's high-tech, genome discovering, mercenery world.

There's a young girl. She's special. And a college student has been assigned to find out why. Is she schizophrenic? Is she psychic? Jess strives to figure it out, despite constant roadblocks thrown in her way by the director of the institution where the girl is held.

The book culminates in a no-holds barred action sequence that felt a little forced to me after the intellectual, thought-oriented, relationship-based start of the book, but it does tie up ends nicely. A fun read, quick going, and well-written.





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Book Review - Iron House

Iron House by John Hart


My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Sometimes, when I'm reading a book, I can't help but think what a great action movie it would make. This is one of those books.

This is sort of a guy/adventure book, and is something I think my Dad would love. It has the mafia, hired goons, talented asassins, pregnant women that need to be protected, family secrets, family vendettas, explosions, kidnappings, surveillence, lots of bad guys, and lots of guns.

It's lots of fun. This adrenaline-filled romp follows a man on a journey to leave the mob life, whose track takes him into a past that he's been reluctant to explore, a brother he lost touch with in a group home years ago, and a mother he never expected. It's nothing remotely intellectual, but it sure is a heck of a lot of entertainment, and sometimes that's precisely what you're looking for.

Be aware that toward the end of the book you may find yourself staying up til four thirty in the morning because you can't put it down!





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Book Review - Changing Habits

Changing Habits by Debbie Macomber


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Following the lives of young nuns from before they took their vows through the reasons they left the sisterhood, this is an interesting light read. As a former Catholic myself, I knew plenty of nuns, some of whom were important people in my lives, but like many of the women in this book, I did (and do) not agree with the Catholic church on many fronts, including birth control and the treatment of women in the church.

I don't know that this would be for everyone, but I found it an enjoyable read.





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Book Review - Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry


My rating: 5 of 5 stars



With an exquisite ear for language and a deft hand at creating worlds and societies that are whole and very, very real, Lois Lowry offers up a real treat in the world of YA dystopian feature with Gathering Blue, the second in her "Giver" series.

Though Gathering Blue takes place in the same world as The Giver, the first book in the series, the society is very different. There are more hints at what has happened to destroy society, but not enough to truly satisfy... just enough to tease you into wanting to get your hands on the next book to see how the world became just so broken and how in the world it can ever be fixed.

While the first book centered on a society based on equality and same-ness, in this group of stragglers from a world gone awry, society is based on scrabbling out a hard living if you can, while too many kids run underfoot and a priveledged few are kept in a life of luxury. When one young girl's mother dies, she is taken in by the council of Guardians that run the city... and she is treated to rich meals, a bathroom, even a needlework workshop of her own where she can practice her talents. But, as she soon discovers, this better life comes with a dear price.

Fascinating and thick with detail, Gathering Blue is as worthy a read as the first in this series. I highly recommend this one.





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Book Review - Empty

Empty by Suzanne Weyn


My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A little more well-crafted than her Bar Code Rebellion tales, "Empty" by Suzanne Weyn is a look at what happens when oil reserves begin to run low, perilously close to empty in most regions of the world.


There is significantly less violence in this scenario than I would realistically expect in such a scenario, so it is noticably toned down for YA audiences, but there are still some dramatic moments of fighting and discontent - though these are generally skimmed over or only vaugely mentioned.

There were, on the other hand, some things in the book that made me scratch my head - most noticeably the fact that girls were walking around with dirty hair/bodies because they couldn't get soap or shampoo made from petroleum products. Come on! Detergent based hygeine products have only been around for so long - I know all the stores to hit up if I want pure soap or shampoo bars, and if I couldn't get to the stores, I know how to make them myself, and have done in the past. Guess I'll be valuable after peak oil hits! This was mentioned a few times and made me snort with laughter each time in the book. You'll know who the hippies are by their shiny hair and lovely smelling, soft skin in this scenario. I guess there'll be a rush on stores like Lush!

Overall, it's a fun, quick read and a good way to get kids talking about the realities of where our world may be headed. It may not happen while they are still teenagers, but they may see this kind of world happening to their own teenagers one day, unless they read books like this, think about the consequences, and move on to change the world.





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Book Review - Girls in White Dresses

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close


My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Done and disgusted.

Not only was the start of this book full of cliches, but when I reached the part where it was a big joke and tragedy for one of the female characters to be set up on a date with "an obese person" - leading to her having to drink and wail and cry at her girlfriends later "What about me says I should be fixed up with an obese person?"... followed by all kinds of commisseration about how she was too good for that, I was ready to toss the book.

I thought okay, maybe it's going to be that she realizes the errors of her ways and ends up falling in love with the guy. No. Instead she's fixed up with an effeminate guy she makes fun of next. At that point, I lost it and was not going to finish it. I DO NOT recommend this book at all. It left me feeling sick and offended.





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Book Review - The Killer's Wife

The Killer's Wife: A Novel by Bill Floyd


My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fascinating look into the life of a woman who was married to a serial killer. Even though she turned in her husband when his crimes came to light, she lives with guilt in her heart because she didn't do so sooner, and with blame from some of the victims' families. When one particular angry father makes his way back into the new life she's made for herself and her son - who believes his father was a petty criminal who died long ago - it turns her world upside down.

This is a well-crafted book with fantastic dialouge, interesting characters, and lots and lots of suspense. I couldn't put it down and wound up reading late into the night only to get up early so I could read more with my coffee in the am!





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Book Review - The Bar Code Rebellion

The Bar Code Rebellion by Suzanne Weyn


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is the second installment of this series - and from the ending of the book, clearly the last - following The Bar Code Tattoo which I read late in 2011. As I think I mentioned then, Suzanne Weyn creates compelling characters and tells a good story, but she isn't a particularly graceful or insightful or stylish writer. Her craft is weak, but her stories and characters are strong, which brought me on to this, the second book.

Conspiracies in this book run high, almost to a point where I couldn't suspend my disbelief any longer, but I still stand on the opinion that I'd have loved this book at 12-14 or so and it is still likely a fantastic read for pre/young teens.





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Book Review - The Bride Collector

The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really wish I could give half stars, because this would be a 3 1/2 for me. Not quite great enough for a four, but much more entertaining than the average three.

The Bride Collector is an interesting murder mystery romp that crosses Alex Delaware and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest. Sort of. It involves a ragtag group of ridiculously intelligent asylum residents with a frustrated detective chasing the coattails of a serial killer that leaves beautiful naked women glued to walls wearing nothing but a bridal gown and a bit of putty in their heels to seal the wounds he's drilled to drain their blood.

If you like Criminal Minds, you'll like this book. It's definitely a diverting read and different from most crime novels.





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Book Review - Stolen Innocence

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall


My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Ever since I was sucked in by the series "Big Love", I've been hopelessly curious about all things Mormon-polygamous-sect related. This book was on my list at the library for a while, and I finally grabbed it recently with high hopes for drama and scandal.

It doesn't disappoint. In places, the book is slightly self-serving, but that's something I think you run into with just about any memoir that you read. People like to paint themselves in the light they want you to see them in. At times it is brutally honest, but at other times it seems to fudge a little. That's okay. It's still an interesting look inside of the Warren Jeffs rape case from the perspective of a victim.

It also startled me how much the story of Elissa Wall lined up with some of the storylines in Big Love. Clearly the reality of Elissa's life was an inspiration for some of the storylines in the series, which made it even more interesting to me.

There seems to be a lot of controversey on the net and among the FLDS community about her story, and whether or not the smiles in her pictures meant she was happy or miserable when she was put into an arranged marriage at fourteen. To me, the smiles are beside the point. Even if she thought she was happy at the time, it's beside the point. She was a child in an arranged marriage, and her story is horriby sad, as would be the case for any fourteen year old in that situation, whether they wanted it at the time or not.





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