Angel Light

Angel Light
By Andrew M Greeley
0312860803 352p

Wow, obsessed with sex much? Bizarre liberties taken with scripture, for no reason (ie- Lucifer's role here). I liked Meg. Sara and Toby were amusing. The ending was rushed. Sara's major problem was pretty much glossed over, which cheapened the seriousness of it. The villians were ridiculous, out of a bad 40's B-movie.
7/10

The Grass is Always Greener

The Grass is Always Greener
By Erma Bombeck
150p

Eh. I live in the surbubs, so I understood all the jokes. They were amusing I suppose. Not hysterical though.
7/10
1/12/10 5:55 pm

Price of Passion

Price of Passion
By Susan Napier
9780373820610 187p

Pretty good. Liked the characters, including the pets! Could have been longer, more in depth.
7/10

The Third Sister

The Third Sister
By Julia Barrett
1556114966 247p

Eh. Too flowery. Not enough depth of character. Storyline not very developed. Interesting, but not developed enough.
7/10

Women on the Front Lines

Women on the Front Lines
By Michal Ann Goll
078420202 153p

Didn't like whenever she quoted scripture, she put a ton of stuff in parenthesis. Distracting and unnecessary. Otherwise, decent book, nothing too earth-shattering.
7/10

Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain
By Charles Frazier
1400077826 449p

What a total crap ending. Loved this book until about the last 15 pages, where it got more and more contrived, convoluted, and ridiculous. Honestly, I'm so annoyed right now at this book that I can't even say any more about it. UGH!
7/10

A World of Movies

A World of Movies: 70 Years of Film History
By Richard Lawton
0517347008 369p

Beautiful photographs. Oddly set up book, though. Basically all the text was in the first few pages, instead of, for example, an introduction to each section. And then every 2 pages had 3 pictures and a snippet of information. The snippet referred to one of the photos, the other 2 were just there. And there was usually no link between the photos. Vaguely chronological. And I thought some of the major players weren't featured as much as they should/could have been: Bogart, Bacall, both Hepburns, Tracy, I'm sure there are others. For example, there was one photo of Bacall, not in any of her most famous roles, and I think there were 4 of Marilyn Monroe. Not that Monroe wasn't important, but 4 times as important as Bacall? I thought it was cool to read it now, since it was written in the 70's, so I know 30 extra years of films that weren't made at the time.
7/10

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol
By Dan Brown
9780385533133 339p

A lot more preachy than The Da Vinci Code. Langdon is still all-knowing, which gets tiring after awhile. A few mentions on how famous he was in certain circles after he wrote about the events in The Da Vinci Code, which was frankly annoying. It was Dan Brown patting himself on the back. Fast-moving. Ridiculous torture/killing devices, I never understand why the bad guy doesn't just shoot the good guy.
7/10

Blue Dahlia

Blue Dahlia
By Nora Roberts
051513855X 353p

First in a trilogy. Actually, was a bit put off by this one. The storyline is interesting, the nursery, the kids, the other characters. But the main character knows a guy for just a few weeks and decides to accept when he proposes. Okay, she's in love, he's in love, fine. But she's got two kids to worry about, seems she rushed into the whole thing. I don't think it's possible to be in love that much and know that much about a person in such a short amount of time. Especially if you have kids you love, whose well-being you wouldn't want to jeopardize.
7/10

Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher

Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher
By Lenore Hart
0312373279 371p

I have to reread "Tom Sawyer". But it seemed like too often, this novel said something like "Mark Twain got this part wrong." I like books told from other characters perpectives or sequels written by other authors. But not when they contradict the original too much.
7/10

From the Heart

From the Heart
By Nora Roberts
0515119652 545p

3 books. Tonight and Always: I liked Alison and the grandfather the best, of course. 8/10
A Matter of Choice: Good, not too compelling though. 7/10
Endings and Beginnings: Okay. 7/10
7/10

The Quilter's Kitchen

The Quilter's Kitchen
By Jennifer Chiaverini
1410408191 202p (sort of)

Not really an Elm Creek story, instead it's a cookbook with very short chapters covering a day cleaning out cabinets and finding old items to tell short stories about.
7/10

Homespun Bride

Homespun Bride
By Jill Strickler
0373827822 282p

Cute, knew where it was headed of course. Too surface-y.
7/10

P.S. I Love You

P.S. I Love You
By Cecelia Ahern
0736698701 12 hours book on CD

I really didn't like Holly for most of the book. Even at the end she hadn't really grown on me. I think one of the most jarring, annoying parts was when she had her month where she was supposed to do karaoke. She kept saying it was the worst day of her life. Her husband, before the book began, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, went through treatment that failed, she lost her job taking care of him and he ultimately died. But the day she does karaoke is the worst day of her life?? Seriously, that's sick.
7/10

Medieval Myths

Medieval Myths
By Norma Lorre Goodrich
0452011280 277p

Interesting in an academic way, though I'm guessing these stories are more compelling in their original language. Mysogenistic and sometimes rambling.
7/10

The Cinderella Complex

The Cinderella Complex
By Colette Dowling
184p

Out of date. Written in 1981. But I can't see it being relevent then either. Rambling. Doesn't take into account that people may think differently than the author. Interesting idea, I get that she had some sort of relevation in her own life, but it doesn't apply to everyne. I think she reached too far with her ideals.
7/10

Breaking the Da Vinci Code

Breaking the Da Vinci Code
By Darrell Bock, Ph.D.
0785260463 170p

Okay, not as good as other books I've read looking into the validity of Dan Brown's claims. Rather than go point by point with The Da Vinci Code, he took the overall themes and broke them apart. Wasn't as compelling to me. Still, good idea.
7/10

Irresistible Forces

Irresistible Forces
By Brenda Streater Jackson
0373860641 249p

Okay. A lot of backstory for a romance novel, got a bit too much with all the family. Kind of a silly premise also.
7/10

The Triumph Of Night

The Triumph Of Night
By Edith Wharton

Didn't understand it totally, which is strange since I normally love Edith Wharton stories.
7/10

Pictures from Italy

Pictures from Italy
By Charles Dickens
0140424313 187p

Interesting and kind of cool in that this book is composed of letters he wrote to friends while he was on vacation in Italy, just polished up. But I wasn't overly interested, even though I'm interested in Italy. Just seemed too disjointed. As a letter to a friend, I'm sure it's fine. As a book, not so much.
7/10

Crime Scene at Caldwell Ranch

Crime Scene at Caldwell Ranch
By Barbara Heinlein
037322897X

Hurried, seemed like. And the ending was left so open, which is a little annoying.
7/10

Lady Susan

Lady Susan
By Jane Austen

Somewhere in the middle in terms of quality of her stories. Letters to write a story is a great idea if done correctly, this was close to it.
7/10

1601

1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors
By Mark Twain

Interesting. Very short, even with all the add-ons (footnotes, bibliography, etc). And not as interesting as I thought it would be.
7/10

Once a Cowboy

Once a Cowboy
By Linda Warren
0373751559 246p

Parts were good, parts were silly. But hey, it was free.
7/10

The Idiot

The Idiot
By Fyodor Dostoevsky
1593083475 564p

Okay, although I thought the ending was rushed. I don't like that every character has 3 names, eventually I got used to it but still it's annoying. Story was good, until the last few pages.
7/10

Born in Shame

Born in Shame
By Nora Roberts
051511779X 356p

Okay, a bit hurried, it seemed, with the main characters falling in love (and into bed). They had barely met. I'm glad it was Murphy, though, since I'd liked him in the other 2 books. Bet he's glad now that he'd never slept with Maggie of Brie, ha! Liam was cute. I like Shannon finding not only sisters but also brothers. That was cute when she realized that.
7/10

Wicked

Wicked
By Gregory Maguire
0060987103 406p

Not as good as I expected. And too revisionist, too fast of a change. Interesting and I do still want to see the musical.
7/10

Will You Marry Me?

Will You Marry Me?: Seven Centuries of Love
By Helene Schev-Riesz
1416540091 112p

Eh, okay. I was expecting more in depth- like maybe the responses. Not necessarily letters, but even a short paragraph on how that particular piece of history ended.
7/10

The Lilac Bus and other stories

The Lilac Bus and other stories
By Maeve Binchy
390p

I don't like that we never hear the end of any story. We get the beginning. The middle. But no end. It's implied, but who knows is something else might happen. No surprises? Odd. Good characters, obviously, since I wanted to know what happened to them!
7/10

Dinosaur Plots

Dinosaur Plots
By Leonard Kristalka
0380709988 284p

Out of date, since it was written so long ago, so I won't take off for that! I didn't like how he dismissed any belief other than his. The most glaring, for me, was Creationism. There were other smaller ones. He just didn't seem very open to accepting other ideas. Funny guy, though, writing was amusing for the most part.
(And please spare me, don't tell me I'm closed-minded for favoring Creationism, I read this and many other pro-Evolution books and am not convinced.)
7/10

Paranormal Phenomena: Opposing Viewpoints

Paranormal Phenomena: Opposing Viewpoints
By Greenhaven Press
0899084621 228p

Eh. Really, not that groundbreaking. Things were touched on so briefly that there really wasn't a chance to think too deeply about any particular subject.
7/10

Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility
By Jane Austen
(book on CD)

Horrible recording. Words cut out at the end of chapters, an entire chapter is missing, the sound fades in and out. The book was okay. Won't be my favorite Austen by a long shot. Elinor annoyed me, the ending annoyed me, quite a few characters annoyed me. Never thought I'd say this about an Austen book:
7/10

Going All the Way

Going All the Way
By Craig Groeschel
9781590529386 209 p

Full disclosure: I'm a born-again Christian, have been for 12 years, have dated but haven't "gone all the way" in the worldly sense. Dating a non-Christian at the moment.

On to the book, too strict for me in some ways- no flirting? no suggestive comments? What will I do at work all day?? Seriously, everyone at work knows who I am and what I stand for, they certainly don't see me as immoral because of a few comments. It's about walking the walk, flirting is just fun, doesn't mean anything except friendship (of course this is for me, other people are different of course.)

I get what he's saying about no sleepovers, but it's faulty logic that he uses to get there- you shouldn't be in the same bed with someone you're not married to because you wouldn't do that after you married with someone who isn't your spouse. What about kissing? Arm around the waist or shoulder? Dating? You wouldn't do any of those things after you were married to someone who wasn't your spouse (unless you wanted to seriously piss off your spouse), so you can't do them before you're married? Yes, there is a line, but he doesn't use sound reasoning to draw it.

Funny book, many good points. But, and I'm going to sound completely ungodly here, I think he went a little overboard on some of his rules.
7/10

Love in the Time of Cholera

Love in the Time of Cholera
By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
97803073871741 348p

I was expecting much more of this, being such a best seller and talked about everywhere. Actually, it was kind of a let down. Weird, too, like Slaughterhouse-Five minus the war plus obsession. Odd book overall.
7/10

What's so Great about Christianity

What's so Great about Christianity
by Dimesh D'Souza
9781596985179 306 p

Last chapter redeemed this book a little, but on the whole, I didn't enjoy it. Not very convincing. Won't be recommending it to any aetheist friends, that's for sure. Well-researched.
7/10

A Lost Lady

A Lost Lady
By Willa Cather
174p

Very well-written and moving until the last chapter. It seemed almost a cop-out, a Hollywood ending type move. I was disappointed by it, sadly enough.
7/10

Night Moves

Night Moves
By Nora Roberts
0373510071 221p

Decent writing and characters, nothing extraordinary this time.
7/10

Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitanism
By Kwame Anthony Appiah
0393061558 176p

Okay, came highly recommended, but I found it too disjointed. He rehashed things a few times in the course of a chapter. Just seemed like it could have been shorter. And should have been.
7/10

What About Christian Rock?

What About Christian Rock?
By Dan Peters, Steve Peters and Cher Merrill
218p

Might have been relevant at it's time, I'll give it that much. But pretty out of date now. I guess they're right in quoting Loyd Boldman "The joke is, if you want something to be okay in Christian circles, just wait ten years, and suddenly it's okay because it's no longer new." I never even knew there was ever an issue with people being against Christian rock.
7/10

Wicked Forest

Wicked Forest
By V.C. Andrews
067103992X

Miguel is not discussed enough. Thatcher is kind of forgotten about so that the revelation about him turns out to not really matter. All around, not that shocking or anything.
And this is the last VC Andrews book I'll be reading. No, I didn't finish all the books, I'm just tired of them. I'm done.
7/10

Willow

Willow
By V.C. Andrews

Just okay. Interesting story and the first in a series so you can't expect too much! Need some questions to be answered in books 2-4. Thatcher is good though, him I like. I guess we'll see where that ends up.
7/10

Concerning Famous Women

Concerning Famous Women
By Boccaccio, translated by Guido A. Guarino
251p

Okay. I guess. One thing that shows clearly- he's not a big fan of women having sex! Wow, how many women did he condemn for enjoying sex with their husbands? Or I think he put it as only being acceptable for having children. Was this book taken seriously? It seems to have been. On one hand, first women's biography, yeah! On the other, misogenistic overtones almost invalidate that. I learned yesterday that blatant, disgusting misogeny is still alive and not just in the movies and on tv. It's sickening.
7/10

Redeeming Love

Redeeming Love
by Francine Rivers
1576738167 464 p

An okay book, interesting modern take on Hosea. But too much telling and not enough showing. I guess that makes no sense if you've never taken a creative writing class. And it's not as bad in this book as in Danielle Steel. But there was a lot that was straight narrative told instead of shown through actions. Made the characters just what they are- characters in a book. Not living, breathing characters as they could have been. Still, good story, nice tidy ending of course.
7/10

Rising Tides

Rising Tides
By Nora Roberts
05152317X

2nd in the story. Doesn't advance Seth's story much, seems like most 2nd parts of a trilogy- a placeholder. Good characters, just not explosive.
7/10

Atonement

Atonement
By Ian McEwan
0385503954

What??? Okay #1, how in the world do you make this into a movie? Everything takes place in people's heads, well almost everything. #2 the ending. The last 2 pages. (I'll try to be vague for anyone who hasn't read)- so what is truth? And does it matter? Does it matter for a movie more than for a book? I liked the set-up, over all I just wasn't satisfied. Not enough of Robbie to feel for him- especially the section in the London flat.
7/10

The Allegory of Love

The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition
By C.S. Lewis

I don't know Latin, which hurt me while reading this. And I don't especially like poetry. And I haven't read Romance of the Rose, Faerie Queene, or anything else he talks about. Romance of the Rose is now on my list, however, I will be reading it (in French) in the next few weeks or months.
7/10

Rose Cottage

Rose Cottage
By Mary Stewart
0449000613

Cute. Not sure why the author is called on the cover "the mistress of suspense-romance." There wasn't much suspense, I had already figured it out pretty early in the book. And no romance, there doesn't seem to be any basis for Davey being anything more than friend/brother. If it hadn't been that there were no other guys around for Kathy to fall for, I would have expected her to discover that she and Davey were siblings!!
7/10

Don't Know Much About Geography

Don't Know Much About Geography
By Kenneth C. Davis
0688103324

Didn't really answer the questions that were at the beginning of each section, I for used to it but it was annoying. Interesting book.
7/10

Plain Truth

Plain Truth
By Jodi Picoult
0671776126

Really good until the last 2 pages. I mean, I saw it coming, that last revelation. But it was horrible and cheapened the whole book. And the people in it.
7/10

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks
9781416542780

Not as interesting as I thought it would be. The title made me think it would be more like an episode of House! Instead, it was a lot of theory and such.
7/10

Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels
By Jonathan Swift
0553211072

There was more than just Gulliver's Travels in this book, but I got bored. So I only read Gulliver's Travels. I'm sure it's brilliant and I just wasn't in the right mood to read it, although I've been trying on and off for about 6 months to read it. The narrator was a total jerk, arrogant and not likable at all. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be, I don't know! Ah well!
7/10

The Gospel According to America

The Gospel According to America
By David Dark
0664227694

Ugh. I loved the parts with the Twighlight Zone and sci-fi books where he gives a tiny explanation and then talks about minute points like you've seen the episode, not even bothering to tell you thinks like "oh, I mentioned this actor? he plays this character," just assumes you know and uses the names interchangably. No coherence, no idea what his thesis is, what sections are points to support this thesis, which sections are just ramblings... what a bizarre book.
7/10

Into the Wild

Into the Wild
By Jon Krakauer
9780307387172

Don't admire him, the selfish child. In his 20's but acted like he was 5. Can't have been too bad of parents- their other two kids still speak to them! But he goes years without even calling to tell them he's alive. Irresponsible child, the author admires him for some reason. I have doubts about the sanity and maturity of this author.
7/10

The Republic of Pirates

The Republic of Pirates
By Colin Woodard
9780151013029

As you should know by now, I adore books about pirates. But this one wasn't that good. It ignores the first 20 years, along with all the pirates from that era, dismissing them as privateers. Yes, there was a difference between pirate and privateer but many of the men who had license to be privateers... well, they bent the rules and became pirates along the way, attacking ships they weren't supposed to. The author picks and chooses, deciding himself who was a pirate and who wasn't. Henry Morgan isn't (who knew? Seemed like a pirate is Empire of Blue Water!) because he became a well-respected man at the end, yet so did some of the 'pirates' in this book? Too many names, not enough substance. And what was the story behind that ship that went and saw the Whydah after it sank, it's never explained and it's really bugging me! (Yes I tried google, no luck there)
7/10

Body Piercing Saved My Life

Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock
By Andrew Beaujon
0306814579

Good concept and idea, but didn't really go anywhere. Dates seem irrelevant, he jumps around without warning or reason. And I'm very surprised that a book about Christian Rock music talks about the 3,000 kids at Cornerstone and the other small numbers at other festivals but doesn't even mention the 100,000+ at Creationfest. Didn't make sense to me, although I did get the impression he was slightly downplaying the entire genre. Maybe he wasn't doing it consciously, and maybe I'm oversensitive and he wasn't doing it at all, but that was the impression I came away with, the attitude of "isn't that so cute what they're doing".
7/10

The Diana Chronicles

The Diana Chronicles
By Tina Brown
9780385517089

I didn't really like it. It veered back and forth from slightly tabloid-like to friendly gossip. There wasn't much here that hasn't been said before, it was just all jumbled up this time, jumping back and forth in time with no apparent reason. Sometimes, you'd find yourself 100 years in the past, not sure why you were there. To fill room? Because it was important in some way I didn't understand? I have no idea.
7/10

Working IX to V

Working IX to V
By Vicki Leon
0802715567

This is the woman who wrote all the 'Uppity Women' books. She's very funny, although I don't think this collection was quite up to her usual. I think because she had the same size sections, little articles about things, but this time the sections were about a career instead of a specific person (although there were examples of specific people who had those jobs in some sections.) But this meant it didn't seem like she said enough about each job, she couldn't put as many jokes in because there was a certain amount of actual information that needed to go in there.
7/10

Revolution in World Missions

Revolution in World Missions
By K.P. Yohannan
1565999916

Good personal stories raised my opinion of this book. But the author really seems to dislike... no, hate Americans. He has very little good to say about them. He talks about conventional missionaries not yielding any converts, yet had talked about his own experience as a national missionary, not having any conversions take root. So he's now sure that all these conversions are true? Or any of them? I just didn't like the authors tone in this book. The whole thing seemed to be "give money but stay out of our countries", "don't give any/as much money to other countries, Asia needs it more." I couldn't believe his story of the elderly woman turning off her phone to send them more money- dangerous! Living alone, she should have a phone for emergencies but he brushes that aside. I guess because elderly women in his country don't have phones, so why should she? Ridiculous. Yes, Americans can be self-centered. But we also donate more time and money that any other country and I'm offended by his constant charges of 'racism' when that's his attitude towards Americans.
7/10

What Jesus Saw From the Cross

What Jesus Saw From the Cross
By A.G. Sertillanges
0918477379

Long winded. Takes many liberties of what Jesus thought. How would the author know? No one knows what He was thinking about, especially as He was dying. Some other minor things- Mary Magdalene part comes from church ideas, not Biblical (i.e. as always, that she was a prostitute, which isn't true). The definition of 'brethren' moves from 'brothers' to 'cousins' based on what the context is. Because Jesus didn't have biological brothers. Except maybe He does but that would cause a problem with the Catholic version of Mary. The author is a Dominican priest, though, so it's understandable that the Catholic version is the only one shown.
7/10

Tales from the 1001 Nights

Tales from the 1001 Nights
Translated by Sir Richard Burton
1587263327

So many stories that I already knew on one hand. And yet told differently than I remembered. One of the main things I saw was no respect for women. I can only remember one mother who is talked of well, otherwise the women are ridiculed and belittled. Their opinions are so unimportant that it is even shocking that they speak. And yes, I understand that it is the custom of the time/religion/whatever. I can still be annoyed at it!
7/10

Burning Bright

Burning Bright
By Tracy Chevalier
0786292105

Interesting. Not as good as her other books, but okay. Most of the characters were interesting, but it seemed the book wasn't long enough for all the stories it wanted to tell. There was so much going on and everything seemed so rushed, there wasn't enough time to fit in everything. Such as Mr. Blake, who is barely there. I suppose he is supposed to be slightly mysterious, showing up at random times and sometimes saving the day, but the summary makes it seem like he will be there more than he is. Good book overall, not one I need to read again though!
7/10

A Ghost for Maggie

A Ghost for Maggie
By Emily Carmichael
1402538200 (book on CD)

There were many things I liked about this book- the characters, especially Robbie. The romance/non-romance between Katherine and Tom (how adorable were they?). The animals- cat and birds. The house. What I didn't like, however, was the sexism of the book. Maggie is a complete idiot when it comes to men, thank goodness she has a big, strong man to rescue her. She is wrong on who to trust, when I so much wanted her to be right. She knew her former boyfriend for 3 years, friends for 2, with him for 1, still keeps in touch with letters apparently. Yet she ends up being completely wrong about the mans character. I'd make a rude noise, but frankly that phrase became too overused. Then Colby doesn't believe in her ghost, okay fine but does he have to go on about it? He expects her to believe some pretty crazy things- like that he's trustworthy- yet he can't even consider the possibility that she's telling him the truth? Maybe because he seems to have such a problem with the truth. The first half of this book, I would give a 9/10. But the total character assassination of Maggie, (and women in general) who apparently is not too smart so who knows how her future with Colby will turn out! That drove me nuts.
7/10

The Burning

The Burning
By Thomas Legendre
031615380X

To be honest, some of the gambling stuff lost me. I'm not a big gambler, understood quite a bit of it but not all of it. Followed some of the economic stuff, but not all of that either. Didn't understand the relationship between Dallas and Logan. Part of the time I was rooting for them, but for the most part: why were they married in the first place? You'd think all those weekends together, all their talking, would have shown them they were incompatible? The supporting characters were my favorite, which is always sad: Sophie, Ozzy, Erin, Silverson, and of course Puffy. Couldn't work up much sympathy for Logan, even less for Dallas.
7/10

50 Jobs Worse than Yours

50 Jobs Worse than Yours
By Justin Racz
1582344922

Cute and funny. Very short though, actually might have been better to have more details on each job or something. Pictures were amusing and the categories were also.
7/10

50 Boyfriends Worse than Yours

50 Boyfriends Worse than Yours
By Justin Racz
1596910569

Cute. Very quick read, short book. Amusing descriptions of stereotypes, all kinds of crazy men who you probably shouldn't date!
7/10

Glory and the Lightning

Glory and the Lightning
By Taylor Caldwell

I remember reading this book years ago, but I misplaced or loaned my copy. So when I found it again in a bookstore, I decided I'd pick it up and reread it. Parts of it were as good as I remembered. The early lives of the main characters, before they meet, are very good. Their meeting is so-so. Their life together is so bogged down in politics and plots that the story starts to lose focus. Aspasia becomes a minor character in the last third of the book, even though this is supposed to be half her story. The secondary characters, some of them should have been expanded, I think. Good book, though I probably won't read it for a third time.
7/10

Urban Legends

Urban Legends
By Richard Roeper
1564144186

Urban legends are always fun to read, even moreso when the author admits they are urban legends. Roeper is a very amusing writer, this is a fun light read if you're looking for something to smile or laugh over.

7/10

Schlock Value

Schlock Value
By Richard Roeper
1401307698

Very funny look at Hollywood! Roeper covers a bunch of topics about actors, actresses, movies, awards shows. His style is so fast and breezy that the book takes no time at all to read. I laughed out loud a few times, he's very entertaining. I think he had many more points to make though, maybe they should have given him more pages!

7/10

31 Days of Prayer

31 Days of Prayer
By Ruth and Darren Myers
1576738744

Not much of these really applied to me. They were very basic. I would have enjoyed this book more in my first or second year of being a Christian. But it is sometimes nice to go back to the basics, so this was a good book in that respect!
7/10

TV Guide Movie Reviews, Volume 3

TV Guide Movie Reviews, Volume 3: The Biggest Blockbusters of All Time
155993489

Sound of Music: 2 1/2 stars. South Park the Movie: 3 stars???? What is that about?? At least they got Bambi right- 5 stars.
7/10

Treason

Treason
By Ann Coulter
1400050308

Her books aren't all as amusing as the first one I read. It was an interesting book, with good points, but didn't catch my attention as much as some of hers have.
7/10

Slander

Slander
By Ann Coulter
1400046610

Not as funny as her others but definitely good. Of coure, this won't make a difference in how the media covers things. Hey, I saw the election coverage, I saw the liberal bias. But Ms. Coulter is unfortunately not going to be able to turn the tide! At least she's trying, and is being semi-amusing while doing so.
7/10

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

High Crimes and Misdemeanors
By Ann Coulter
0895263602

Not likely to convince anyone who isn't already convinced. Still, well researched, well thought-out and compelling.
7/10

Answers to Tough Questions

Answers to Tough Questions
By Josh McDowell and Don Stewart
084230021X

The answers here are too short, some even I can think of objections and argments for- and I believe in everything that these two are defending! Could have been a little more thought out and indepth, I think.
7/10

In Search of Historical Jesus

In Search of Historical Jesus
By Lee Roddy and Charles E. Sellier, Jr.
0553135880

Decent book, but too much emphasis on the Shroud of Turin. I'm not that into the Shroud, I know some people are so this book would be great for them!
7/10

Brazen Virtue

Brazen Virtue
By Nora Roberts
0553272837

Interesting plot, intriguing. Didn't really understand the couple, they didn't really click.
7/10

The Mystery of Atlantis

The Mystery of Atlantis
By Charles Berlitz
0843400282150

Good, probably was better when it was written! He talks in circles, sometimes, but that could be because he's writing about Atlantis, which is not provable at this point.
7/10

Princess Sultana’s Circle

Princess Sultana’s Circle
By Jean Sasson
0967673712

Sultana is more and more outspoken as the books go on. I think because she only hits on the times where she… lectured isn’t the right word but it’s close, lectured her husband and other family members about women’s rights. Otherwise, she led her life. Not an ordinary life, based on the $380,000 she spent in one store in one afternoon, but still a somewhat normal life. I think she comes across a bit preachy at times, but that’s okay because of the importance of her message. One thing bothered me, she really needed to slap that brother of hers, I wanted to fly over there and slap the moron many times while I was reading this. (Yes, I realize she couldn't, still I really wanted her to.)
7/10

April Shadows

April Shadows By VC Andrews
0743493869

Good. Again, not too creepy but the storylines are always interesting and the characters are, as usual, very good.
7/10

Girl in the Shadows

Girl in the Shadows
By VC Andrews
0743493877

Good. Unfortunately, none of these books are now up to the first books creepiness. Since the whole 'ghost-writer'/the real VC Andrews is dead-thing, they haven't been nearly as thought-provoking and (yes) creepy!
7/10

The Legend of Bagger Vance

The Legend of Bagger Vance
By Steven Pressfield
0380817446

Powerful. Most definitely not about golf! I loved the images, I loved the way the story was told. But it ended too abruptly and seemed to be too laid out. Vance coming back in the end was too convenient, although I suppose he was supposed to be some sort of god. I’m not up on whichever religion this book was based on, but I loved reading about the excitement for young Hardy as he watched the match and was picked to be on the inside of almost everything. That enthusiasm and pure innocence was enough to gloss over the philosophical babble.
7/10

Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor

Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor
By Susan Haskins
156852496X

Interesting. Not too ground breaking or intriguing. But a decent book that tries to set right some long-standing untruths.
7/10

The Source

The Source
By James A. Micheneu

Started off very well, I really enjoyed the first part. Didn’t agree with some of it, but I did enjoy it. The last of the book though, I’m not sure where exactly it started to go downhill but it did! If I had read this book a few years ago, I may have decided to be an archeologist… at least for a few weeks! First 2/3 of the book or so: 9/10, the ending 1/3: 5/10. So the average, I suppose, would be: 7/10

The True Darcy Spirit

The True Darcy Spirit
By Elizabeth Aston
0743274903

Okay, still good but not as good as the first two. This plot seemed much more outlandish than anything in the first two books. But there are still hints of the character traits that I love in Jane Austen’s novels, so: 7/10

Twanged

Twanged
By Carol Higgins Clark
0446605360

Not as predictable as I thought it would be! Great characters, a good time was had by all. Definitely a different plot, I really liked the fluffy novel this was.
7/10

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment
By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Moving depiction of a man driven to insanity. But I’m not sure what was going on. Was I supposed to feel sorry for him? Understand what he was going through? Sympathize with him? Because all I felt was “what a waste of intellect.” The main character, I mean, not me. He could have done so much, but instead he walked around in a fog, not knowing what was going on most of the time. His poor family and friends went out of their way to help him- with money, a job, support, medical care. And all he did was wander the streets, being… what? Too smart for everyone around him to understand? His attitude was ridiculous, in my opinion. I almost wished for him to kill himself so at least Sonia wouldn’t be tied to him for the rest of her life. The last two paragraphs seem to redeem him but it’s too little, too late. I’m not even sure if he was really changed at the end or this was another moment of clarity that he would soon talk himself out of.
7/10

Star Dreams

Star Dreams
By June Flaum Singer

Crazy story! I knew that with the first couple pages, but it just got more and more bizarre as the book went on. Amusing, at times. Insane, at times. Not a book I’ll be reading again. Not a bad book, I enjoyed reading of the sisters exploits (well, most of them!).
7/10

The Hundred Secret Senses

The Hundred Secret Senses
By Amy Tan
080411109X

Amy Tan is a great author with an amazing history to pull from. I liked the intertwining of the two stories, the modern and the old, that finally combine into one. I knew they had to be connected, but I was still shocked. Maybe I shouldn’t have been, maybe it was incredibly obvious! Still… I was surprised. I didn’t like the ending, however. I don’t like not knowing what happens to the characters. And I definitely (not surprisingly) don’t like the state of the narrators relationship with her ex/husband at the end.
7/10

The Day They Came to Arrest the Book

The Day They Came to Arrest the Book
By Nat Hentoff
0440918146

Unbelievably preachy. Interesting topic, don’t get me wrong. But pretty condescending. I guess this book was supposed to be for younger readers, but I think books should stand up no matter what age you read them at, if they’re to be considered good learning books. I’d heard of this book before I bought it, but we didn’t read it at my school. Now I’m glad we read things like Catch-22 instead!
7/10

1,003 Great Things About Teachers

1,003 Great Things About Teachers
1567315070

Cute book. Just a list of “things” but still very cute.
7/10

Wild Women in the White House

Wild Women in the White House
By Autumn Stephens
1567316301

Cute! I had hoped for a more in-depth look. Instead, this book is a series of short segments about each woman profiled. Ideally, this book would have touched on stories about each woman, instead of giving an extremely short biography of each one. But that’s just me, what I was expecting. The cover has the subtitle: The Formidable Females Behind the Throne, On the Phone, and (Sometimes) Under the Bed. So I thought this would be stories of those incidences and others. Still, it was a good book, and if I was inclined to know more about any story I could certainly find other books that would go into more detail.
7/10

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
1558743790

I’ve read most of these in the emails I’m sent from Chicken Soup. Good stories, of course and mostly good writing! This is one of those series where there isn’t much to say. I recommend going out and buying a few, they’re good reads. But otherwise, I have nothing to say about them!
7/10

The House of a Thousand Lanterns

The House of a Thousand Lanterns
By Victoria Holt
0385008171

Hong Kong, a new place! I’m so used to Australia at this point, I seem to have read so many Victoria Holt’s books that wind up in Australia. There were a few things I didn’t like about this book. One was her relationship with her husband, uneasy and secret-keeping as it was. She thought him capable of murder, but really he was just lying to her. Ummm… That doesn’t make any sense. Oh, as long as he was only lying and keeping things from her, he’s a good husband? And her relationship with her “marriage of convenience” husband. She could never see past his wheelchair to think he may have been the right one for her? She was so blinded by the playboy to even consider the “cripple” right in front of her. After he dies, she realizes how much he meant to her. By then it’s too late, but she uses his death to stall for time anyway, invoking her one year rule. I think she’s an idiot who didn’t see the great guy staring her in the face. Sitting across from her at dinner every night. Giving her son a name and a place to live, love and acceptance. Instead, she pines for what she can’t have. I hope I’m not that stupid if I ever fall in love, not noticing deep flaws like lying and conniving!
7/10

Unauthorized Guide to The X-Files

Unauthorized Guide to The X-Files
By Hal Schuster
0761508457

Anything to do with X-Files is interesting to me, of course. Because this is unauthorized, there is no new information here. It is compiled very well, with some strange chapters that seem like filler. For example, shows that may have influenced X-Files. Interesting, I suppose, but not to me. I don’t need a synopsis of every show that Chris Carter may have seen, especially since I know he has only ever mentioned one show as being an influence on him. But, good writing, no spelling errors that I picked up on!
7/10.

Lakeside Cottage

Lakeside Cottage
By Susan Wiggs
0778321908

Fluff. I hadn’t read a fluffy book in a few weeks, I needed something to read during my breaks at work. You know, those books where it doesn’t matter that I don’t it pick up some days or at all on the weekends. And can pick back up on Monday and not have missed anything. I like when formulaic stories have a twist. Like this one. Guy with a past meets woman. She has no idea who he is, they fall in love/lust/whatever. She discovers secret and is upset but all works out in the end. But the twist… his secret is a good one! He’s a hero, as we find out in the first few pages. And he’s not keeping the secret alone, there is someone who finds out. Makes for an interesting dynamic. Anyway, good book, well-written. Still fluff, but the good kind!
7/10

The 500 Best Urban Legends Ever

The 500 Best Urban Legends Ever
By Yorick Brown and Mike Flynn
0743445392

I could have just gone to Snopes.com and read all these same stories! Cute stories and commentary, nothing spectacular. It’s possibly not the best urban legends, but it is the most well-known ones!
7/10

Babysitters Club Super Mystery #2: Babysitters Beware

Babysitters Club Super Mystery #2: Babysitters Beware

Yes, I read this. I have been trying for years to collect the whole series, I have about half! So anytime I see one at a garage sale or whatever, I grab it. And it’s a compulsion: if I buy a book, I have to read it! I really hope my future daughter likes Babysitter Club books or I’ve been wasting a lot of time finding them all!
7/10

A Creed for the Third Millennium

A Creed for the Third Millennium
By Colleen McCullough
0380701340

This review will have spoilers, so there's your fair warning. I was expecting something very different when I saw the cover of this book. And seeing who the author was, I got past that first reaction and decided to read it anyway. Wow, it was a tough book. I think it would have been better if the main characters had even had a flirtation, the ending would have been much more shocking. I honestly didn't see things coming, though some might say it was predictable. I was honestly shocked about the 'Judas' thing and I'm a Christian! I noticed his name in the beginning, but forgot about the similarities after a few chapters. So I was shocked that I didn't notice 'Judas' in the beginning too! The back of the book says "the woman he loves sets out to destroy him" which I found grossly inaccurate. I don't think she set out to destroy him as much as use him. He ends up destroyed, but even she didn't see the extent it would go to. She was just as shocked as everyone else, though she realized how he had played the part she had written for him- to perfection, more so than she had thought possible. The Chicago Tribune, quoted on the back of the book, calls it "passionate," which I disagree with. Again, I keep coming back in my mind to the thought that there should have been more between them than a tiny kiss and his declaration that she was more in need of love than anyone else. I do like the end, when Judith doesn’t do what the reader expects her to do! Finally, I thought, a moment of realism. All around, because I am itching to write my own scenes to insert, it only gets:
7/10

Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller
By Henry James

Wow. That was... odd. I really wanted to smack the girl most of the time, she was just so stupid. How could you not know what was being said about you?? Honestly! But then the ending! Wow, did not see that coming at all! This was my first Henry James book, and it was a very short 94 pages. Good book though, I liked the aunt most of all!
7/10

Once a Princess

Once a Princess
By Johanna Lindsey
0380756250

I'm a sucker for stories about European royalty, I'll say that up front. That's why I read this book, fluffy though it was. A long-lost princess, found in America and brought back home to rule. (I loved *loved* Princess Diaries, in case anyone wants to know.) The characters were fun, especially the friends of the prince/king. I was a bit saddened by how much emphasis there was on the princess' virginity. There was so much back and forth on it, so much emphasis. That annoys me with fluffy books like this. There is so much emphasis always on the *woman* being a virgin. The man, of course, should have a vast and varied sexual history and maybe even (as here) a mistress. Gah, it's just such a stupid double standard and I'm tired of it. Nevertheless, this was a decent book and it gets a
7/10