How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)

How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)
By Ann Colter

Funny! This caught my eye at the library with it's amusing title. Glad I picked it up, I was impressed. Ann Coulter has a different way of looking at the world, and doesn't take things at face value. This was a refreshing read for someone who spends most mornings muttering at the newspaper articles that seem to only tell half the story! Sometimes I finish reading the stories with more questions that apparently never occurred to the reporter to ask, things that I think are important and would change the way the incident is viewed. And then there are headlines that mislead the reader, as the story is completely the opposite of what the headline seems to say. A recent example, for those who think I'm lying: "Nazi's Riot at Demonstration". The headline would lead the reader to think there were Nazis at a demonstration and they rioted. However, the real story is that Nazi's were having a demonstration- peaceful, apparently- and a group of anti-Nazi's threw rocks and beer bottles at cops. Note, *not* at the Nazi's, at cops standing nearby. I'm not defending the Nazi's, I think their ideologies need to be wiped out. But they had every right to be there, as did the cops. There was no reason for anything to be thrown. I digress, the real point is that Ann Coulter asks those questions that I wish I had been able to ask. And she comes up with some disturbing answers. Very good read.
8/10

Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion

Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion
By Carolyn Keane

I don't think I should even bother reviewing it. It's Nancy Drew, all her books are the same and if you don't know who she is... well, get out from under your rock! Always good to read at the beach, though, so there you are. And that’s where I was!
7/10

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart
By (Didn't write it down, oops!)

I want to learn how to fly. I mean it, one of these days when I have enough money, I'm going to start taking lessons. For now, I'll just watch The Aviator and read books like this one. This was a very good book about the famous flyer. Full of interesting facts, a great read for a fan of Amelia or flyers in general. For example, as an interesting fact, on one of Amelia's first flights, she spent the entire time with an oil leak in the cockpit of her plane. The oil dripped down her back for the entire flight, ick! But it must have been an exciting time to be a pilot, testing all the new technology as it literally rolled off the assembly line, tweaking the engines and such to fit your needs. It seems so romantic, yet I'm sure it was more hard work than anything else! I also really like a small story from her childhood. Seems she and her sister decided to build a roller-coaster in their backyard. But for some reason, they didn't build a down-hill for the last hill. Instead, they flew off from the top. They tweaked it for the second try, building that downward slope. And my sister and I used to give our aunt a heart attack hanging upside down from the monkey bars in the backyard, imagine if we had come up with the roller-coaster idea! Too late now.
8/10

Memoirs of Cleopatra

Memoirs of Cleopatra
By Margaret George

Brilliant! Over 1000 pages and worth every single word. I admit, I've been obsessed with Cleopatra for quite awhile, even wrote a few papers on her. But this book was beyond my wildest dreams. Wonderfully researched, first of all (and most important, to me). The characters were vibrant and alive. I understood Cleopatra in a way that I hadn't when writing an art historical paper on her. I'm not sure how much of it was accurate, so I'm taking it as the fun, engaging book that it is. For example, was Cleopatra really there when all the famous events took place? I'm sure she wasn't conveniently on the street outside when Caesar was killed, but I also not sure she was even in the same city! If I ever find out she really was there, I'll change my vote. But for now, because of this suspension of disbelief, this book gets a
9/10

The Man Who Would Be King

The Man Who Would Be King
By Rudyard Kipling
(book on CD)

My dad tells me this is one of his favorite movies. Haven't seen it, but based on the book I'm sure it's very interesting. I listened to this whole story one night while I was driving by myself and I didn't even notice where the time went. My one complaint, and it's a big one, was that there wasn't as much detail as I wanted there to be. The story went rather quickly and was suddenly over before I even realized it. I liked the downfall of the men, through an irate woman who didn't want to marry. Very clever, never saw it coming! The men were certainly clever, I'll give them that. Overall, it gets a
7/10

Weird US

Weird US
Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman

Have to say it- weird book! I love the wierdnj.com website, so I was pretty sure I would like this book. And it is a good book. There are sections I skip, because they seem too much like urban legends and I'll go to snopes.com if I want to read urban legends. But many of the stories are extremely interesting. I especially love the story about the town that is on fire underground. There's some mine system under the town and the mines have been burning for years and supposedly will be for years to come. I wonder if it's any warmer there in the winter? But my favorite story is the one about America's one and only emperor, who declared himself that in San Francisco and "reigned" for quite a few years. The book says he may have been crazy, but I think he may have been completely sane! He got free food, made the newspapers, was in parades, etc. He even tried to dissolve Congress (yeah, good luck with that one). I'm about seventy-five percent convinced that he was really smart and knew exactly what he was doing.
8/10

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair
By William Makepeace Thackeray

Fun!! I read this because I adored the movie when I saw it a few weeks ago. Shockingly enough, the movie was better. I love Becky, she's such a fun character. Very naive when it comes to what her "benefactor" wants from her- who didn't see that coming a mile away?- but still sweet. She comes through as more of an optimist/land-on-her-feet sort of girl in the movie. Maybe I should start a page about the differences between the books and the movies based on them! For now, I'll stick with just reviewing the books. The imagery was great, of the costumes and the time period both. The behind the scenes scheming of Becky is subdued, calmly done.
9/10

Nights in Rodanthe

Nights in Rodanthe By Nicholas Sparks

If you've read Nicholas Sparks book, you'll know what this one is like. Kind of fluffy, but that's okay. Everyone needs some fluff now and then. The characters were marginally believable, I suppose. I can't imagine a weekend, 2 days, changing your life as much as it does for these two characters. But then, I don't believe in love at first sight like Nicholas Sparks seems to! Cute story, take it for face value. And the ending... well, as I said it's Nicholas Sparks so we all know what that means.
7/10