Sinister Sprinkles - Jessica Beck

Sinister Sprinkles - Jessica Beck
I did a little research on the author of this book, which I don't normally do, but something got me interested.  I have an inquiry on my blog on whether Jessica Beck is really Joaane Fluke, author of the Hannah Swensen series.  Now, I have compared these two quite a bit in my previous posts and it got me thinking, could it be true.  I discovered that Jessica Beck really is a pen name, the books that come out from her are spaced in between Joanne Flukes books and the artwork is also very similar.  I don't know, I guess I'll just have to wait and see if it's true. 
So, this third installment of the Donut Shop Mysteries is a case of mistaken identity. At least that's what they think at first.  The murder victum in this book is the very same woman that Suzanne's ex-husband Max, cheated on her with. (That's not very good english, and Hannah Swenson would have corrected me!)  Max, goes missing and Suzanne finds herself trying to help prove he didn't do it.  She's not enthuzed about it at first, but decides to go along with it, a little to easily for my taste, but then again I guess we wouldn't have a story otherwise.  Halfway through, her boyfriend, Jake, pays her a visit, just to breakup with her and her best friend is flown out to California and offered a really good job out there. There are some awesomely awkward encounters with the local hair stylist and morning radio personality, these end a little too abrubtly for me, I was left wanting more.  The ending is pretty exciting, an awesome shoot out at the Donut Shop with an unexpected suspect turning out to be guilty.  And wouldn't you know it, Jake comes back to make-up.

There were parts of this book I liked and parts that I didn't.  I didn't like when people asked Suzanne for details on what she was investigating or what she found out, she thought for only a second and then gave some lame excuse on how she couldn't see how it could hurt.  If she wasn't going to hesitate to tell them, then why write any kind of hesitation at all, it bothered me!

This was really good light reading, and the recipes in this one were much better then the last.  I still prefer Joanne Fluke's writting, unless of course they turn out to be the same person and then I would have to say I like the work in the Hannah Swensen series better!  3.5 out of 5 for this one.  Next up is Evil Eclairs, but it's not due out until the end of April.

Jumper - Reflex by Steven Gould

Jumper - Reflex by Steven Gould

I decided to read this sequel because it looked like an interesting continuation and I wanted to see if Hollywood could have made a good follow up movie with it.  It was VERY good.  I again think that if the screenwriters had stuck to some of the original plot lines in the book they would have had a much more successful box office turnout.

 

Our story picks up with Millie and Davy ten years later.  They got married and are "commuting" between their condo in Oklahoma and the hide out that Davy created years earlier in Texas they call the Aerie.  The couple is arguing once again about whether to have a child.  Davy is against it, afraid of inflicing the abuse he once had to endure from his father.  Mille is more optomistic that he is not his father and is not capable of that.  Right in the heat of the argument, Davy pops away and leaves Millie frustrated.  "I wish I could teleport, then he wouldn't escape from me so easily."  I know rigtht away that this story was going to be more about her.

 

Well, Davy had leave because of a prearranged meeting he had in D.C. with a member of the NSA.  The meeting goes all kinds of wrong ending up with the kidnapping of our hero, Davy.  The chapters that follow are some of the worst yet most mezmorizing chapters I have ever read. 

 

Millie was left in the Aerie, which, being some 200 feet up  embedding into the face of a mountain, has no ground level exit.  She waits for a day with no cell phone, no wallet and no Davy to take her out of there.  Then she breaks out the emergency escape equipment, a climbing harness and nylon rope.  As she is starting to decend the rock, one of the clamps comes loose, sending her plummeting 150 feet to the ground.  That was the first time she jumped, ending up back in her condo in Oklahoma.

 

Davy is have a real rough time.  He has been kidnapped and placed in a strange room with all white wall, a bed, a bathroom and a large window in one wall.  He has been chained to the wall and can't jump out of there.  Also, there's a really strange scar on his chest just over his heart.  His captures inform him that he has been electronically restrained and will only remove the chains after they have "trained" him to come back when called.  I hated to read about how they tried to break him, it was terrible and amazing all at the same time. The writing was so REAL that you just wanted to reach in the book and crush all those people who were forcing him to endure such humiliating experiences.  Like I said, mezmorizing!

 

In the mean time, Millie is learning how to teleport and starts tracking down her husband.  This woman could work for the CIA, she's good at getting information from people, and the fact that she can jump to anywhere in the world doesn't hurt either.  Her side of the story is wonderful to read, I found myself rooting for her every step of the way. 

 

Eventually, Millie discovers where Davy is; Davy outsmarts his captures so they decide they have to dispose of him; Mille gets there in time to save him and they get their revenge on almost all of them.  However, they have no way of knowing who the actual boss is since the one they thought was in charge ended up committing suicide before the could get any information out of him.

 

I have to say, it was tough to get through the Davy chapters with the humiliation and all, but well worth the effort.  It was a GREAT book, well written with emmense depth.  5 out of 5, a must read!  Can't wait to read, Jumper - Griffin's Story.

Jumper - Steven Gould

Jumper - Steven Gould

This is my second installment of reading books which inspired some of my favorite movies.  I really enjoyed this book, even more then the movie.  I think if Hollywood would have stuck with some of the original plot lines in the book, they may have had a better chance at a sequel. 

Davy is from a broken home.  His mother left when he was twelve and his father drank then beat him.  This first time Davy "jumped" was right before his father was going to beat him with his belt, the buckle side.  He landed in the local library, one of his favorite hang outs and the only place he feels safe.  In the beginning, the plot pretty much stays the same as the movie, however, he is not best friends with a girl from school,  he doesn't fall into a river and then jump causing everyone to think he's dead.  He does run away to New York where he does actually rob a bank.

It gets weirder though, in the movie he can jump to places he's never been if he just looks at a picture but the book tells us that isn't the case.  Davy has to actually have been to the place he is jumping first, in order to have a sensory memory of it that allows him to jump back there later.  He meets a girl in New York, Millie, who is actually from Oklahoma.  They hit it off and he later tells her that he can teleport.  He starts to look for his mom but doesn't know where to start, so he goes to his grandfather's house in Florida. No luck, grandpa died several years ago, but a family attorney points him in the right direction.  His mom contacts him in New York and they have a great day together before she flies out on a business trip.  Unfortunately, the flight is hijacked and his mom has a bomb strapped to her.  She doesn't make it.  Davy watches it all happen without being able to do anything.  He makes it his mission to find the terrorists responsible for the hijacking and take revenge on them.

There is so much to this story that I could go on and on, but you really should read it for yourself.  I love how Steven Gould implies that teleportation is a plausible human function and not just a sci-fi, futuristic, unachievable goal.  This books get a 5 out of 5, READ IT!

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

I just LOVE to read.  My latest craze is taking all of my favorite movies and reading the books they were based on.  My first subject, Stardust of course.  I absolutely loved this movie so I was super excited to read the original story.

In the book we are introduced to the village of Wall, somewhere in England I think, so named for the stone wall located near the village.  There is a small gap in the wall that is guarded night and day in order to keep people out.  There is only one day that they are permitted within the wall which opens into a meadow, and that day only comes around every nine years.  It was on one of those days, May day, that Dunstan went wondering among the many booths that had come to sell their wares to the villagers.  He happened upon a young maiden and, well, nine months later had a basket left on his doorstep.  And that is how we meet Tristran, Dunstan's son and the main character in the book. 

I have to say that whoever wrote the screen play for the movie did a GREAT job.  I loved it soooo much more than the book.  The character that Robert De Niro plays in the movie, Captain Alberic, has a depth to him that I really missed in the book.  Also, the girl that Tristran is suppose to be impressing by bringing her back the star, she's is such a brat in the movie, but Neil Gaiman portrays her as a really understanding and remorseful person.  I actually liked hating her in the movie and didn't want to feel the compassion towards her that I ended up feeling.

All in all, the book gets a 3.5 from me, but the movie, which I know I'm only suppose to be reviewing books here, the movie gets a 5 out of 5.  You simply have to see the movie!

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

I recently joined a book club and our first assignment was this book.  I have to say I was apprehensive, not because I don't like Nicholas Sparks, it was just that I've read so many of his books like; Dear John, The Notebook and The Last Song, that I knew whether I wanted to or not, I was going to cry. I wasn't disappointed.

This sweet story starts out introducing us to Katie, who works as a waitress and just recently moved to Southport North Carolina.  She doesn't have a car, and walks to work from her little cottage down a dirt road.  We are also introduced to her friend Jo who moves in next door to her in the only other run down cottage on that road.  Early on we get a sense that something is a little off about Katie.  She's not openly friendly, she works all the time and spends very little money on anything but food, saving the rest.  Jo immediately asks her if she's dating anyone, which she promptly denies.  But Jo doesn't let up there, she asks her if she has met the general store owner with the grey hair.  I immediately suspect something about Jo, she seems to have her own agenda, but more on that later.

We are then introduced to the grey haired store owner, Alex, and given his perspective.  He has noticed Katie, has tried to talk to her, but she keeps her head down and doesn't linger in the store when she's shopping.  She only pauses long enough to talk to Alex's daughter, Kristen. His son, Josh, usually fishes out on the dock behind the store. Alex's wife passed away several years ago. I knew immediately that Katie and Alex would fall for each other.  Alex also notices something about the way (spoiler alert) that Katie tends to twist a ring on her finger that is no longer there. He knows exactly what has happened to her and what she is running from. 

As I continued to read, I knew exactly where this story was going, because I had read a similar story many years before - Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen.  There are many similarities between Black and Blue and Safe Haven.  I like Safe Haven better though, much happier ending.

Now, I really like how Alex accepts Katie for who and what she is but I also know that Jo is being pretty hard on her about not leading him or the kids on if she is not in this for the long haul.  Katie eventually tells Alex that she is on the run from her abusive husband, and I do mean husband because she is still officially married to the man, who just happens to be a police detective.  This is where the story got weird for me.  It starts to tell his perspective, not Alex's, but the wife beater husband, Kevin.  I really didn't care to read about how he justified hitting Katie or how he thought she actually enjoyed being locked in the house all day, unable to leave or make phones calls or even go for a walk.  That part really creeped me out.

Anyway, Kevin eventually finds Katie in Southport.  She just happens to be babysitting Alex's kids for the evening at their place when Kevin decides to burn the place down.  Katie manages to escape, saving the kids but running into Kevin outside.  There is a great fight and death scene that I would love to describe, but you're just going to have to read it.  And then, the kicker, we find out that Katie's friend, Jo, was really... wait for it ...  the ghost of Alex's wife all along and there was never really anyone at the rundown cottage next door!!  I told you there was something about her, didn't I!!

This was a sweet little story and overall I really did enjoy reading it.  I give it a 5 out of 5, even taking into account the creep factor with the husband.

Maximum Ride Series #5 - Max

Maximum Ride Series #5 - Max by James Patterson

Max, The fifth book in the flying teenager series.  Let me begin by saying I will continue to read these books, but my attention span is officially on other things.  I wonder if it's just me or it others feel that these plots are feeling more and more thrown together.  Well, luckily i only have 3 books to go, as James Patterson announced that the eighth book will be the last one of this series.

This book started out with "The Flock"  giving an aerial display in support of the CSM (Coalition to Stop the Madness) the group Max's mother started to help save the environment.  During the performance, an assassin tries to take out Max, surprise, and the whole gang mobilizes to kick butt.  That is, before the gunman blows himself to pieces.  There is a pretty funny segment at a modeling agency where we definitely see the teenage romance budding rapidly between Max and Fang. 

I won't mince words, I'm completely bored with this series so I apologize for not being more flattering.  The plot swiftly moves on to Max's mother being kidnapped; the flock befriends the military to help find her, and there's something fishy (pun intended) going on in the Pacific.  After a series of misadventures on a submarine, they discover that Max's mom is being held under water.  Trying to rescue her, they also encounter some weird mutant fish that help them, through Angel's ability to talk to fish.  We discover that Max can also breathe under water which really comes in handy rescuing her mom . . .  and . . .  everybody wins.

I wonder though, what happened to the mutant, slim cover mega fish they discovered?  The story just kinda left them at the bottom of the ocean.  Well, we did discover that Max isn't afraid of kissing Fang in front of anybody any more, and we may have another enemy for the next book.  It ends, typically, with the whole gang flying off into the sunset on search of yet another adventure.

I give it a 2 out of 5, I'm just tired of the worn out plot line I think.  Maybe the next one, Fang, will be better.

Maximum Ride #4 - The Final Warning

The Final Warning: Maximum Ride Series #4 - James Patterson

Let me first start by saying that, no, I did not read all of these books in one day.  I have, however, read about four or so since my post on the 2nd book in this series.  Like I've said in previous posts, the Maximum Ride Series is written for the teenage audience and is a fairly easy read.

This book starts out with Max and "The Flock" attending Ari's funeral, Max's half brother.  Also in attendance are Jeb, her "father", and Dr. Valencia Martinez her "mother".    The story takes us to Washington where a bunch of government types try to persuade The Flock into letting them study the strange kids with wings.  It didn't go well.

As they are trying to figure out where to go and what to do next, they discover that they are still spontaneously mutating and acquiring new powers.  Nudge is magnetic and Angel can now talk to fish.  Max's mom hooks them up with a research vessel that takes them down to Antarctica to help with the Global Warming epidemic  But, even on an island of ice and snow, they are still tracked down and kidnapped to be auctioned off by someone named the Uber Director.

Now the next sections I have several problems with; during the auction a massive hurricane just happens to swoop down on the office building they are being held in in Florida. They escape, yet again, and take off for parts unknown to save the world some more.

This was where I really started losing interest in the series.  I enjoy the adventure and all, but the constant, getting captured and then escaping only to run into another trap is wearing a little thin.  I am still going to try and get through the next book - Max, but I'm not all that optimistic.  3 out of 5 on this one.  It just seemed thrown together somehow, and I like a little more depth in my reading.

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports - Maximum Ride #3

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: Maximum Ride Series 3 - James Patterson

Okay, here we go, the third book in the series of "The Flock".  I have to say I liked this book, but the series is beginning to wear on me.  What kept my attention through this book was that the action never stopped.  I'm serious, there is SO much going on in this one, that I could barely keep up.  From the very beginning we are introduced to a message on a laptop, which they stole at the end of the last book, that warns of a traitor in their midst.  Fang's blog plays heavily in this story as we find out towards the end.  I enjoy the trickery involved in the middle and without giving too much away, I have to say I completely bought it and was slightly disappointed by the writing of how the betrayal was not actually true.  I think it could have been done better. 

The flock actually splits up in this book, which surprised me but was believable because of the addition of Ari, Max's supposed half brother who has tried to kill all of them on numerous occasions.  Fang doesn't take kindly to Ari joining their family so he decides to go his own way, learning how difficult being a leader actually is.  Ari seems to have had a change of heart and is now a kinder, gentler Ari.  Having an expiration date tends to do that.  Before the split, Fang and Max's relationship is progressing, but Max keeps running away. 

Max's little group, which consists of Ari, Nudge, Angel and Total (the talking dog) try to take out the entire corporation that was the reason for their existence and most likely the cause of the constant death threats.  During the process, they manage to get themselves captured, again; Max learns who her mother is (or does she) as well as her father, and a whole bunch of kids from around the world help them take down an evil dictator.

I have no idea what surprises The Final Warning Maximum Ride Series #4 will have and I must say I'm not too sure I'm looking forward to finding out.  This book left me spent from all of the excitement so I don't know how much more I can take. This book gets a 4 out of 5 from me.

Prom Nights from Hell

Prom Nights from Hell - Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Meg Cabot, Lauren Myracle, Michele Jaffee

The first story in Prom Nights from Hell is The Exterminator's Daughter by Meg Cabot.  It's a cute story about a teenage girl who is seeking revenge on the son of Dracula (Sebastian), who has put a spell on her best friend.  The reason the girl, Mary, seeks revenge on Sebastian is because his father turned her mother into a vampire. 
It's told from the first person perspective of two characters, Mary the heroine, and Adam, the hero who eventually becomes Marys boyfriend.  This story is easy to follow, having been written for a young audience and (of course) the major action happens at prom.
It's a budding romance story and was interesting but not one of my favorite writers.  I give it a 2 out of 5.

The next story is The Corsage written by Lauren Myracle. In this story we have a new telling of an old campfire tale.  Frankie, the main character in this tale, goes to a fortune teller to see if the boy she loves, Will - who just happens to be there too, is going to ask her to the prom.  During their session, they happen across a corsage that is suppose to grant three wishes.  Will dies in the process of asking Frankie to prom under extreme circumstances and probably the influence of the corsage as well..  Frankie goes a little mad and decides to bring Will back to life, after he's been buried for several days.  The ending was a bit surprising for me and somewhat of a let down.  This one gets a 2.5 out of 5, and maybe that's just because it was too short of a story and felt a little rushed for me.

Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper by Kim Harrison was one of my favorites in this compilation.  Madison Avery is in a new town she calls Dullsville, USA with her father and at prom.  She is unhappy with her date and decides to leave the prom with a mysterious dark stranger named Seth who turns out to be pretty scary.  Seth and Madison are speeding along in a convertible that promptly looses control, at Seth's direction.  Madison is not yet dead, much to Seth's chagrin, who cuts through her with a knife.  She wakes up in the morgue to hear two people arguing and this is where our story beings.  Through several circumstances, Madison is turned into a Reaper.  Not really dead, but not quite alive either.  The ending in this story is just the beginning to the series of Madison Avery the first book being Once Dead Twice Shy. 
I loved this story, the characters were well written and believable and the story line left me wanting more.  I suppose Kim Harrison felt the same and that's why we now have a series.  I give this story a 4 out of 5 only because it felt unfinished, and now I MUST read Once Dead Twice Shy to find out what happens next!

Michele Jaffe intrigued me with Kiss and Tell.  The story immediately begins with a death and just gets better from there.  We are introduced to Miranda who has some extraordinary capabilities, like being able to hear EVERYTHING with crisp clarity.  Miranda is a student at a boarding school; she has no parents that she can recall and is on a roller derby team to help expel some the "extra" energy she seems to have.  To be on the team, she also has to be a driver for the teams sponsor, a car service.  This is how she meets Sibby, her fare.  When Miranda drops Sibby off at her destination, she notices things aren't exactly what they seem and resorts to rescue her from her captures clutches.

I enjoyed Miranda's kwirky nature in this story and would like to read more about her.  I hope that Michele Jaffe will make this story into a series since there were several loose ends that were not tied up when this tale was finished. It's a 4 out of 5 for me; I just wanted more explanations.

Now, to my favorite in this book - Hell on Earth by Stephanie Meyer.  Gabe, our hero, has asked a girl to prom, Celeste, who instantly wraps herself around every guy in the place, abandoning Gabe.  We hear from several different perspectives, Gabe's, Celeste's, Sheba's (the new girl) and several other minor characters.  Gabe is drawn to Sheba for reasons he can't understand, he just knows that she needs his help.  Sheba, who is dark, mysterious and  a bit devious, has an agenda all her own, which is to wreak havoc throughout the entire prom.  She MUST do this in order to advance among the ranks of the demons.

Sheba tries to regain control over the devastation of the night, sensing there is another calming presence there, but unable to place it.  Little does she know, until it's too late, that Gabe is her own personal guardian angel.
She falls in love with an actual angel, and is instantly enslaved for life, but couldn't care less about her unfortunate situation while she is looking into Gabe's eyes.

I truly loved this story! Of course I did, it's Stephenie Meyer, one of my favorite authors.  It was well done, didn't feel rushed, and the characters were well defined, not hollow or two dimensional.  This story gets a 5 out of 5!

Maximum Ride 2 - School's Out Forever

School's Out - Forever - Maximum Ride Series 2 - James Patterson

Well, I have dove back into the Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson.  With a series like this, I usually get bored around the 3rd or 4th book so I'm trying to force myself to stay focused. 

So far, so good.  The series is written for a teenage audience and is an easy read and right now is keeping my interest with the action and our six winged kids staying on the move.  In this book the flock finds themselves whisked away by a government agent who tries to get them to live like normal kids.  Predictably, she turns out to be one of "them" and the flock is once again on the run.  But before that happens, Max has her first date, which makes Fang jealous.  Fang has a little admirer which makes Max jealous, and we see the introduction of Fang's blog which plays a major part in the plot in later books. 

The teen romance between Fang and Max is blossoming nicely and we have many mysteries introduced, such as, who are their real parents and will Iggy's parents come back in later books to try and exploit him again.  Angel develops more and more talents like being able to breathe under water (I think all these special skills with come handy in the future).  We also discover that Ari (Max's supposed brother) is still alive even though she snapped his neck in the last book.  And Ari has some secrets of his own, like a voice in his head as well.  Who is the voice, or I should say voices, that keep telling Max and Ari what they should do next? 

I can't wait to start reading the next book - Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports .  I give it a 4 out of 5 overall for keeping my attention, but not doing a great job of surprising me.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer

I have wanted to read this for a while and was pleased to see it was a fairly short book.  It took me one night to get through this story, and although it was short, I was definitely not disappointed by the story line.

As anyone who has read Twilight: Eclipse knows, Bree is one of the newborns in the army that goes after Bella. Unlike Bella, her ending is not as happy.  I loved the fact that Stephenie Meyer decided to tell the story from the perspective of the newborn, blood thirsty vampires that stalk Seattle.  Let's face it, we have all been salivating for another Twilight story since we finished reading Breaking Dawn, and this lovely little tale gives us great new characters and a whole new way to look at the vampire life Bella has never seen.

Bree introduces us to the suspicions and fear that this whole new world has to offer.  She also experiences a short, but meaningful, (to her) romance as well as developing a great friendship with another powerful vampire, Fred.  I would love another book where the Cullins meet up with Fred at some point.  Through the telling of Bree's story, we discover there was so much more going on in her head then we could have dreamed of in Eclipse.

I WANT MORE STEPHENIE MEYER!!!
She can write with such wonderful emotion, it leaves me spent.  I give it a 6 out of 5, off the charts!!

Fatally Frosted - Jessica Beck

Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck

As I stated in my previous blog post, I continued to read this novel in hopes it would tie up some loose ends from the first one, Glazed Murder.  It didn't, and I was extremely disappointed.

In this book, our slightly plump heroine, Suzanne Hart, discovers a pushy local has been murdered by one of her own donuts.  In order to clear her name, she has to solve the mystery and capture the real murderer.  Once again, the similarities from the Joanne Fluke novels continue.  The relationship between Suzanne and her ex-husband, Max, is becoming more and more tense as she tries to tell him she is moving on and he should do the same.  While her new budding relationship with the police office becomes strained as she is the number #1 suspect in this most recent murder. 

The recipes embedded through out are good, however they don't have the underlying theme that the ones in the Hannah Swensen books have.  (I may be comparing these two series just a little too much, but I can't help it, they are just so similar.)  I finished this book in just one day.  It was good light reading and a nice break from the other novels that are currently on my list.

This book gets a 3.5 out of 5 for me.  It just didn't have enough meat in it to give it any more then that.

Glazed Murder - Jessica Beck

Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck

I started this book for a little light reading before I went back to the Maximum Ride series.  I have read all the Joanne Fluke novels about Hannah Swensen and the Murder She Baked series and this looked similar to those books.  I didn't know how similar they were until I started reading.

Our amateur sleuth in Glazed Murder  whose name is Suzanne Hart, owns a donut shop, Donut Hearts, in a small town in North Carolina.  A body gets dumped on her front doorstep which she witnesses and puts her and her family in danger.  She decides that the local police are not going to do everything they can to catch the murderer, so she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery in order to get herself out of danger.  She is slightly overweight, has an overbearing mother, a retired police officer helps her investigate and has a real estate broker best friend who is always there for her when she needs her. She also starts dating a State Trooper.

In this book there were so many different directions that the suspect list took Suzanne that I was struggling to keep up with plot.  I was wondering at the end if she was going to tie up loose ends in the next novel, Fatally Frosted, but i was disappointed. 

I couldn't help but notice the similarities with the Joanne Fluke novels.  I'm sure anyone who has read her books and then read the above paragraph will also notice similarities.  Joanne Fluke writes about Hannah Swenson who owns a cookie shop in a small town in Minnesota I believe.  In one of Joanne's books, Hannah is presented with some competition in the form of a southern bell from North Carolina who opens up a sweet shop down the street.  She is promptly murdered, therefore eliminating the competition.  In one of Jessica Beck's books there is an already established cookie and cake shop down the street that is threatening to make donuts as competition for Suzanne's business.  Suzanne refers to the cookies and "too bland" for her taste and quickly dismisses them as competition.

I find the references fascinating.  And to take it one step further, I will say that there are some similarities in Joanne Flukes novels to those written by Lilian Jackson Braun, or The Cat Who books.  I challenge anyone to read just one of these books by all three of the authors I've listed and not see the similarities in each.

I like Glazed Murder, but I'm not thrilled by it.  I think I like the Joanne Fluke novels better.  However I will continue to read the books by Ms. Beck just to see how the similarities progress.

I give it 4 out of 5 overall and that's mostly for the recipes.

Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment

Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

I haven't really kept the promise I made to myself.  I wanted to write a little review about each book that I read, directly after I finish reading it, but I have read 3 books since completing this one.  I hope to do better in the future.

Alright, to get right in to it, this book REALLY freaked me out.  My husband Doug came home one day describing to me this book series from James Patterson about a bunch of kids that had wings among other powers.  The reason this freaked me out so much is, when I was 19 I had an extremely vivid dream about a group of kids that were destined to save the world.  In my dream, which extended over an 8 year period, the kids were given special powers along with instructions from unknown persons on how to defeat their evil enemies and save the world from becoming hell on earth, literally. 

I thought there was no way that James Patterson could have written about something I dreamt about 15 years ago.  That was impossible, right!?!?  Well, I started the book and discovered that they were completely different, or so I thought.  The lead character, Maximum Ride, or just Max for short, was a fourteen year old boy who was the oldest of a group of six kids who all have wings.  Well, a few chapters in I realized I was wrong, Max was a GIRL!  The same as in my dream, although I can't remember what my lead heroine's name was after all these years. Still, the similarities just kept getting weirder and weirder.

In The Angel Experiment, Max gets instructions from a voice in her head that leads her to certain discoveries about the groups past.  They are constantly being hounded (ha ha) by the Erasers, which are genetically enhances kids who can change into werewolves.  Max and her group of flyer's have adventure after adventure, trying to escape capture and imprisonment at a laboratory nicknamed "The School" while striving to discover who they are and if they have parents out there somewhere.

After the initial shock wore off, I started to wonder how James Patterson came up with the concept for the series.  I would love to contact him and ask, but I don't want to come off as a crazed fan, or worse yet, a person that thinks he stole my idea.  That would have been a nifty trick since I never told anyone but my husband.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the books just to see if I can freak myself out some more.  I would give this book a 5 out of 5 overall.

Finished Reading Freakonomics

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Oh Freakonomics.  What can I say about this book?!?  It was extremely interesting and held up to what everyone was saying about it.  I was definitely dazzled!  I mean, when you read, right in the first couple of pages, that the reason for the drop in crime in the 1990's and early 2000's was not due to innovative police tactics, but to legalized abortion, well that gets your attention!

Steven Levitt has an incredible way of looking at data and presenting it to you in way that is easy to understand.  How he compares groups is somewhat surprising, like what do real estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common, and you would be shocked to realize they actually DO have something in common.  The out of the box thinking and comparing done in this book blew my mind.  I'm not sure it I truly buy into everything he says in it, but I have absolutely walked away with an open mind as far as data and the economics of things goes. 

The parts I especially liked where the ones where he asked if parents really matter, and what's in a name.  It will have everyone who reads it questioning why their parents picked the name for them, and if they made the right choice when they named their own children!

For me it was a home run, 5 out of 5 and I can't wait to ready SUPERFreakonomics!

Second Book Finished in 2011

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The third and final book in the Millennium Trilogy Series. 

Having recently suffered from a bout of insomnia, I managed to complete this book within 48 hours.  I read the first two books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire last year as was immediately hooked on the author who unfortuanately passed before he had the opportunity to finish the series.  According to a fan website the series had initially consisted of ten books in total.  I would have loved to see what this Swedish author cranked out in the future.

The book itself tied up a number of loose ends that had been plaquing me from the beginning when I was first introduced to Lisbeth Salander, the tattooed female heroine of the series.  The reserved, anti-social nature of this computer hacker was easy for me to indentify with, but I don't think it would be a problem for most women to identify with this character.  Stieg wrote about her is such a way that she encapsolated many of the vulerabilities that plague women on a daily basis.  He did this not only with his main charater, but with all of the supporting characters as well.  I believe that most men would identifiy with the male main character, Mikael Blomkvist, who befriends Salander in the first book, is cleverly portrayed as a saviour while at the same time allowing our heroine to remain just that.

Although Stieg goes over the background of our characters from the first two books, it's probably a good idea to read those first to get a true understanding.  In the first book it took me quite a while to get into the meat of the story.  The first couple of chapters dealt with Swedish finance and business dealings that almost completely lost me.  I stuck with it though, and the payoff was spectacular!!

In the following two books, it doesn't take long for Stieg to get to the point.  In fact, at the end of the second book, we leave our heroine Salander in a pool of her own blood having been shot three times but her father, once in the shoulder, once in the hip and once in the brain!  When I read that, I just about screamed!  I couldn't believe our heroine was being killed off this way even though I knew there was a third book, I couldn't think how he was going to save her.  Surprised again! Stieg came up with not only a detailed explaination but also a plausible one.

All in all, I loved this series and am very sad that I will not get to read more.  I give this book and the Series, 5 out of 5!

First Book Read of the New Year - Sizzle

Sizzle - By Julie Garwood.  I really enjoyed this book.  A thriller, suspense mystery that wasn't too intellectual to be entertaining.  The setting in sunny California was typical and the main characters were young hard bodies who, predictably hooked up.  The sex scenes were okay, not great writing, and the ending was also predictable.

It took me about 24 hours total to get through this book, which is not a lot of time, so it was an  easy read with an easy flow, even after taking pain meds for a tonsillectomy surgery.

The only thing that left me hanging in the end was the relationship between the main character, Lyra's, parents and her grandmother was never fully resolved.  There was still a lingering conflict that I wanted to have buttoned up but it never was.  I have to wonder if Julie Garwood is planning to write a sequel or not.

All in all I would give it a 3 out of 5!

New Project, New Year

After being inspired by my step-sister who, last year read over 115 books, I have decided to keep track of my own readings. I read a TON of books. I have an e-reader that my husband got me as a Christmas present in '09 and since then you can't keep it out of my hands. To give you a rough idea of what I read last year, here's a partial list :

• Witch & Wizard
  
• The Lovely Bones
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  
• The Girl who Played with Fire
  
• Eat, Pray, Love
  
• The Da Vinci Code
  
• The Lost Symbol
  
• The Golden Compass - 1
  
• The Subtle Knife - 2
  
• The Amber Spyglass - 3
  
• 1 Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
  
• 2 Strawberry Shortcake Murder
  
• 13 Plum Pudding Murder
  
• 7 Peach Cobbler Murder
  
• 11 Candy Cane Murder
  
• 3 Blueberry Muffin Murder
  
• 5 Fudge Cupcake Murder
  
• 4 Lemon Meringue Pie Murder
  
• 6 Sugar Cookie Murder
  
• 10 Carrot Cake Murder
  
• 9 Key Lime Pie Murder
  
• 8 Cherry Cheesecake Murder
  
• 12 Cream Puff Murder
  
• House of Night 01 - Marked
  
• House of Night 02 - Betrayed
  
• House of Night 03 - Chosen
  
• House of Night 04 - Untamed
  
• Quidditch Through The Ages
  
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
  
• Harry Potter Prequel
  
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  
• 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  
• Chronicles of Narnia - Complete Collection
  
• Dear John
  
• Outlander 01 - Cross Stitch
  
• Outlander 02 - Dragonfly in Amber
  
• Outlander 03 - Voyager
  
• Outlander 04 - The Drums of Autumn
  
• 1 - The Lightning Thief
  
• 2 -The Sea of Monsters
  
• 3 - The Titan's Curse
  
• 4 - The Battle of the Labyrinth
  
• 5 - The Last Olympian
  

 

As you can see, I don't really have a favorite author or topic really. I read just for the fun of reading. In this blog, I want to keep track of all of those books and post a little blurb about what they were about and how good (or bad) they were. This is mainly just a journal for me and my own entertainment! Here's hoping I can keep it going for the whole year!!