Playing Catch Up

Been busy - too busy with house issues and being too stressed and depressed to read. Fortunately things seem to be calming down and I have managed to get a few books read. Binged on my air miles to get a gift card from chapters and for $60, got the following 4 books:

VERITAS: There were a couple nice insights about how academics tend to mix their lives with their work. Interesting career for our heroine's tiny, Escalade-driving mother and a well done relationship between the two of them. Overall the murder story was incidental to the romance and both were a bit formulaic. Also the cover picture has nothing to do with the real murder scene and that is a sloppy detail which annoys me and makes me wonder did the artist even read the book or just make the bad decision to go for a "college murder" look and hope to get away with it?

TRUTH BEHIND THE MASK: A Sci-fic novel with a crime ridden city protected by the vigilante sentinals. Well done back story and interesting plot. I liked this one for its emphasis on family. The heroine's "parents" are her older sister and her sister's lesbian partner who were thrown into those roles at a young age. Some very nice banter between Pagan and Erith. And its always a pleasure to see women who are smart with technology.

NIGHTSHADE: This book was a delight. One heroine is the undervalued daughter of the "Butcher of the Plains" a rather unpleasant despot of a desert realm. The other is the "backwards," as in lesbian, daughter of a more benevolent king and queen of a lush kingdom. There is of course a sub plot of political machinations but the main emphasis is the increasing attraction of Jessa and Darcy. The author manages to convey their longing and delight in each other very well. I'm thinking this is the first in a series because, although our lovers get together and foil the plans for Jessa's arranged marriage, the whole question of the assassination of the king and the subplots amongst the conspirators is never answered. Hopefully, there is a sequel to look forward to.

BATTLE SCARS: There is nothing a lesbian likes more, at least in romance novels, than a woman with issues/baggage who is in need of helping/healing/rescuing. In real life, most people would run like hell from all the warning signs but that is why they call this stuff fiction. To be fair though, this one is well done. Ray is dealing with her Iraq war PTSD with the help of her therapy assistance dog. Dogs need vets and in this case, she a hottie who needs to learn to love again. The book does show how people can resist their own healing, just how much work it can be and how your self esteem can take a beating. Also loved this book for the secondary characters, the dogs. Being a new dog owner, I can attest to the impact those furry companions can have on one's outlook on life. I thought this book was very well done for the genre.

Review: Dry by Augusten Burroughs

If alcoholism was a choice, this book would certainly dissuade you from ever picking up a drink. Augusten had the fancy apartment and high paying job but he was also downing a bottle of scotch a night - minimum. Fortunately for him, his employers stage an intervention and it's off to the Pride Institute - a GLBT rehab. As he says after a moving testimony from a fellow patient "That's the reason to go to a gay rehab. People appreciate the drama."

Throughout his rehab and subsequent attempts to remain sober, he never spares us his nasty thoughts or his judgements. Of the closet case, Mormon boss who attempts to sabotage his sobriety, he says "I wish Rick would get gang raped by a bunch of Muslim garbage collectors.

He struggles with feeling "...I'm a drunk that doesn't get to drink. It seems unfair. Like keeping a Chihuahua in a hamster cage."

He manages to remain sober, and attend his AA meetings although he thinks that "It seems easier to make friends in bars. I have to keep reminding myself these AA people are exactly like bar people - they are bar people - except their bars have all been shut down. And I have to admit, this makes them less interesting to me."

He manages to remain sober for quite awhile even though he becomes involved with a crack addict. Eventually, it's the death from AIDS of an ex-lover which sends him free falling of the wagon. He endures months binging on booze and coke repeatedly pissing the bed only to sleep in it again the next night and be haunted by hallucinations of spiders. He certainly doesn't make alcoholism in any way attractive.

The strength is must have taken him to stop drinking not just once but twice is amazing. He presents most things in a humourous way but the horror of the events is still clear beneath the presentation.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Source copy: own it

Review: Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon

This one is a romance set in the court of King Soltran. The life of the princess is saved from the knife of an assassin by an acrobat named Talon who is actually a young woman in disguise as a man. I have a love for cross-dressing intrigues from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night onwards and this one is pretty good.

There is a nice slow character development of both Princess Shasta and Talon as they grow up from teenagers to young adults. Talon's sisters are major characters and given a fair amount of time due to their importance in the plot. The politics of the court are realistically drawn and a definite influence on the awakening of the princesses' sense of duty to her people. The religion of the land, worship of the Goddess Ithyris, is well thought out and stands in contrast to the worship of the Goddess's brother Ulrike by the barbarians in the border lands. The power of the priestesses in battle was a nice touch. Apparently this is to be the first in a series...ie we get to see the reality of life after the fairy tale ending.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Source copy: Own it

February Total

Grand total five books in February. Slow month as I've been busy preparing for a promotion and, having succeeded in getting it, yay me, I am dead tired from climbing up the learning curve. For a whole week, it was all I could do to drive home and collapse. Book covers would call out faintly, and plaintively but I ignored them. Tragic. But its a new month and although the learning curve is still there, I'm not pushing myself too hard...so time to get back to it.

Waiting on the shelf this month:
The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Year total to date: 14 books
Jan 9
Feb 5

Review: A Crystal Diary: A Novel by Frankie Hucklenbroich

I love memoirs. I love reading about real lesbians and what life was like back in the bad old days. And in the majority of cases, I can find some points on which to identify with or at least understand the author/main character....this book is the exception.

The first chapter is great and details her encounter with the neighbourhood butch who is back "ruined" from the war. But it's downhill from there because our heroine is just too lazy and selfish to go and get a real job, for long, when she can pimp out other women or rob people. I have nothing against sex workers but I despise pimps. The fact that Frankie knows she is a user of people and keeps it up, makes her extremely unlikeable. In her favour, she doesn't try to blame it all on the drugs since that is a cop out and more importantly she continues this behaviour even when she kicks her habit.

The writing however is great. The author can really paint a picture and is very honest about her thoughts and actions. I just couldn't relate to her air of entitlement. And her idea of "butchilinity" comes across as plain old sexism. Note to author; you can be a butch without being a complete jerk.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Source of copy: personal library

Review: Infinite Loop by Meghan O'Brien

I know I would have liked this book more if I wasn't just in the middle of getting divorced. It's well written. Has a great, computer nerd, lesbian lead character. Witty banter. Hot sex. But all I could focus on was the fact that these two characters had major issues and were in for a shit load of therapy. The one main character Mel, has major trust issues. The other Regan, has self esteem issues. Put them together along with a road trip and its love conquers all.

I just kept thinking, it's great you are clutching to each other like a life jacket but red flag time...don't get together. Then again my ex-wife-to-be and I got together just after my mother died which all her friends told her was red flag time and we lasted a long time.

If I wasn't so miserable right now, I'd buy more into the story - which again I emphasize is well done, much better than a lot of romances - I think I'll read this one again in a few years to see what I feel about it.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Copy Source: Excellent confition 2nd hand copy from After Stonewall

Review: Mean Little Deaf Queer: A Memoir by Terry Galloway

The author lost her hearing due to an antibiotic her mother was given while pregnant. Young Terry ends up with huge, boxy hearing aids and coke bottle glasses and thinks to herself "The next part of my life is gonna suck. I bet I can milk it for every tear it's worth." That is what I love about this author. She has selfish, petty thoughts and the guts to reveal them. She also has a loving family who love to recount stories about their relatives and she portrays them with a lot of affection.

We learn how Terry finally comes to realize she has just as many prejudices and fears about the disabled or differently abled as a fully abled person would. And on top of all her physical issues, she also has to deal with coming out as a lesbian. This was back in the 70s which was hardly as accepting times can be now - if you are lucky to live in a faily enlightened place.

After a guidance counsellor give her a note which says, typos and all, "Factory work make good job for deaf," she ends up in alternative theatre and becomes a successful actor. And yet she still struggles with resentment of her situation and questions her life finally coming to accept "...mine was a happy life, when I could stand it."

What a delight to read about someone else's fears and failures, their daily struggles to make sense of it all, to see how much better or worse or both someone else has it in this crazy reality show we call life. That is why I love autobiographies but too many of them are almost like publicity blurbs, the overwhelming honesty in this one just blew me away. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Copy Source: Library

Review: Swimming Cat Cove by Lauren Wright Douglas

This was another of my 2nd hand discoveries; in excellent condition for only $4.00. Billed as the 2nd Allison O'Neal novel its also apparently the last as I can't find any mention of the author writing anything else after this one was published in 1997. Too bad because it's an amusing and light enough read in typical Naiad style.

Having inherited a B&B in the first book, our heroine is feeling trapped and stressed by money worries. To keep it or sell it she ponders. Meanwhile a child in distress appears to add to her problems. Sammy the cat and Ossie the child named after a cat (Ocelot) are as endearing as usual. And the appearance of a possible buyer for the B&B, helps make Allison realize she wants to keep what she has. As suspected, It All Works Out In The End.

I really have a bit of a weakness for books in a series. It's my obsessive compulsive nature to finish them all damn it. Trust me a series has to really be god awful before I can break the urge to read on.

Rating: 3 out of 5 for not taking up too much of my life to read it and for a cute kid named Minou.
Source of copy: see above

Review: Steel WItches by Patrick Lennon

I got this one from the library because of the setting; Cambridge UK. It's the place I was born but never lived in until my 20's when I returned from Canada for a year's working holiday. It's a wonderful city, especially for cycling and walking. Lots of pubs and university students. Whenever I read a book set there, I have fun remembering the places and seeing how the author describes them.

Steel Witches has a very clever story mixing the hero's present with the past of two "witches" in a small Norfolk town. It was interesting to see these two elements tie together and each is an interesting story in its own right. The characters all come off a bit obsessive about their individual quests and driven along to the ending which, unfortunately, isn't that great after all the build up.

Not a bad read but one I wouldn't read twice now that I know what really happenned.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Source of copy: library

Review: Death at Lavender Bay by Lauren Wright Douglas

When I was first coming out, I read every lesbian book I could get my hands on at the Vancouver library. Most of those were published by Naiad Press. Fairly formulaic, largish print (to make the books seem longer), mostly romances and mysteries but still, they had lesbian characters and that was the main thing. Actually being able to read about lesbians, women I could finally identify with, was such a relief.

One of my favorite series was the Caitlin Reece detective novels by Lauren Wright Douglas. I hadn't read her Allison O'Neil series until now. I was browsing the used book section in After Stonewall and found the first and second in the series so snapped both of them up.

The first is called Death at Lavender Bay in which our heroine inherits a B&B in Oregon which she doesn't want. I should have such burdens deposited on me! Now we aren't talking great detective story here. If you couldn't figure out what happenned, I'd recommend enrolling in Mysteries 101. Rather the story is about the main character realizing what a carefully maintained rut her life has become and what she does with that realization.

A suspension of disbelief will make most of the story easier to take. If Allison just admitted who she was from the start and asked a few questions, hey presto "mystery" solved. There are many humourous asides. The location is well set and inviting. The sense of community is palpable and part of what awakens the protagonist. If only most lesbian communities were this way.

I read the novel in a couple hours. It was enjoyable escapism. In some ways I could identify with Allison's little personality quirks and so this light weight book actually gave me something to think about.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Source of copy: own it

January Summary

Total books read: 9
Genres: Horror, Thriller, True Crime/Classic, Humour
Favorite read this month: a tie between In Cold Blood and The Know-It-All

Well it wasn't a War and Peace month was it? My brain is feeling a bit mushy like my stomach feels after too much junk food. I started off with the wholesome fibre novels but it was all french fries towards the end.

However,I did just spend $50 of my christmas present money on 6 second hand lesbian novels so perhaps February will be a lesbian bonanza...oh I like the sound of that.

Review: Blood Red by James A Moore

I liked this one. Evil coot Soulis (soul less get it) moves into big mansion and turns out to be a big league vampire. Apparently the undead, just like jigsaw puzzle afficionados and the macrame crowd, have hobbies too. Soulis' hobby is creating more vampires especially a sucessor out of hottie, college-student-by-day, high-class-escort-by-night Maggie.

Turns out the presence of religious leaders in a community make it difficult for evil to prevail so he pays Ms Maggie to seduce all the priests, rabbis, ministers, etc, in the town. Turns out none of them resist her advances.

Soulis rips through that town like a hot knife through butter. Trying to figure out what the hell is happening to their quaint little town are two detectives; Holdstedter and Boyd. These two are great characters with witty banter and dedication to their jobs. Their reactions to the events are believable.

The pace kept going right from the start. The minor characters and plot lines were well done. The book wasn't scary at all but a still a great vampire/mystery read. It's also hard to dislike a book where a character uses the phrase "Jesus on a pogo stick." His ending up fried by a bolt of lighting is one of the many nice touches scattered through out the book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Source of copy: Library

Review: The Final Procedure by Stan Pottinger

There is nothing like a thriller with a female FBI agent searching for a demented old Nazi doctor to prevent biological havoc. On the other hand, the lead character's suffering through infertility treatments made it hard for me to completely like her. I realize infertility must be a devastating diagnosis for people but, frankly, with all those kids in the world who need adopting, I just can't be completely sympathetic.

Anyhoo, turns out her beloved family doctor is in fact the aforementioned demented old Nazi doctor she has been seeking at work. Gosh, I never saw that coming - well yes I did from the very start and I'm not sure anyone who has read even one thriller before would fail to figure this out. Then the demented old Nazi doctor is revealed halfway through the book making things even less thrilling.

The best part was the mind fuck the protagonist uses on demented old Nazi doctor to get him to kill himself - except she saves him at the last minute. As if. He killed her husband. Knock him off, no one would ever know. But she can't do that or she would become as evil as him or some such platitude. Turns out he mind fucks her too as there is no vacine!

Ending, predictable.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Source of copy: bought it second hand

Review: Evil Harvest by Anthony Izzo

I love horror novels. My mom loved horror novels too. She had tons of them. In fact, it was from her collection I was introduced to Stephen King. But good horror is hard to find. A book that keeps you awake at night with the lights on because - you never know - the monsters might be real. Most horror just isn't that scary they are just genre books with some supernatural element ie a western with vampires. Yet ever the optomist, I scour the horror shelves of the library seeking a good book. This isn't one of them.

The protagonist, Matt Crowe, lost his parents and younger brother to monsters in Lincoln, New York. Now and adult and ex-Army Ranger, he heads back to his hometown to take seek revenge on the killers. The book starts out fast with Matt rescuing a woman, Jill, from one of the monsters. She is new in town and has trouble believing what she saw but, after briefly thinking Matt is crazy, she soon joins him in his quest. Of course they start to fall in love - and what a wonderful tale to tell the kids about how they met.

The writing is adequate. The action moves between the viewpoint of the good guys, see aforementioned, and the bad guys lead by Police Chief Rafferty. I hate corrupt cops or anyone abusing their positions of power and such characters annoy me to begin with. The problem I had with this character was that he was so over the top evil, oppressing an entire town, but I couldn't believe in the litigious ol' US of A, no one had tried to take this guy out via a law suit.

I started to lose interest after the big confrontation at the cabin which seemed ill advised to begin with. Matt's had years, in fact decades, to plot his revenge and holing up in a cabin, without even boarding up the windows, was the best he could do? Ex Army Ranger?

I was pissed off that Donna died. I was pissed off that Harry died, he was the best character in my opinion. I was pissed off but also relieved that Jill died as it made Matts' losses even more poignant. The ending was a complete let down.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Source of copy; Library

Review: The Judas Strain by James Rollins

"The Judas Strain," from the Sigma Force series, occurs just before "The Last Oracle" which I read last week. When a main character "dies" in this book I knew of his resurrection in the next but it wasn't a major problem though and both books can stand alone.

This book is a great action adventure story. Lots of international travel from the Vatican to Istanbul to Cambodia - if only travel was as easy as hopping on the Sigma Force jet or wrecking fancy rental cars. There are interesting tidbits about Marco Polo's travels and how they tie into a biological threat to humanity. Kowalski makes his appearance as the big dumb guy side kick but I like this character for caring about his comforts and wanting to get the bad guys. The cruise ship full of long lost cannibals meeting infected and turned into zombie-type cannibals was a clever touch.

Reading this was like being on a roller coaster - pure fun.

I'd rate it 5 out of 5
Source of review copy? Library
Would I buy it? Yes, it would be a great re-read if I was stuck at home with the flu and wanted dependable entertainment.

Review: The Sacred Bones & The Sacred Blood by Michael Byrnes

I actually read the first book in the series, "The Sacred Bones" last year. It had an intriguing premise; a Vatican conspiracy to steal and examine but not publicly declare the discovery of the bones of Jesus but I just didn’t make an emotional connection with the characters. It was like reading a dumbed down version of a Dan Brown novel which is saying something! The idea was great. The genetics details and religious history, scene setting was just enough without overwhelming the reader. But I just couldn’t care about the characters. And if you don't care about the characters you might as well be reading a textbook. But, in my obsessive compulsive little way, I read to the end - hoping it would get better but - surprise - it just ended with the set up for the sequel.

So why read the sequel? I picked up "The Sacred Blood" because there wasn't much else in the paperback section of the library that day and I wanted something easy to read. Also I thought maybe the writing would get better this time around. Well it’s the same – proficient. The story moves along at a good clip. The new characters Jules and Amit with their witty banter are far more engaging than Charlotte and Father Donovan. The religious/eqyptian history is interesting but again not overwhelming in amount. And - surprise - it ends with the set up for another sequel.

Definitely a beach or stuck at the bus depot kind of read.

I'd rate it 3 out of 5.
Would I buy it? No.

Review: The Last Oracle by James Rollins

I confess to being a Rollins fan. His books deliver action and adventure, a bit of science and archeology or mythology, likeable characters and a fast, easy read. But there are plenty of books which do that and yet are so poorly written I can't finish them. Rollins however can write well enough without creating pulp fiction.

This particular novel had a great evil (Russian) empire plot for world domination mixed with a look at the use of nanotechnology/cerebral implants to augment psychic abilities. What grabbed me and kept me reading was the very unique group of children who had been experimented on. Normally, I don't care for "kids in danger" stories as they come across as a cheap ploy to garner sympathy. However, the 5 main children in this story aren't like that especially Pyotr. The unexpected appearance of a MIA character was also a nice touch and credible given the story.

In short, fast, easy read which also makes you think a bit.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Source of this copy: Library

Review: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

This is one of the few times I have seen the movie first and then read the book. Not that I saw "In Cold Blood" but I recently saw "Capote" and "Infamous." Both movies are about the author writing the novel in question and both are brilliant films in different ways. Since I knew a lot of the story going in, I was able to concentrate more on the way the book was written rather than being carried along by the facts.

I gather that at the time this was a new style of writing but now it reads like your every day true crime novel - albeit better written than most of that genre. Capote manages to give a sense of reality to the victims - the small things he notices or conveys about them makes their senseless deaths even more poignant and distressing. He lets the locals speak for themselves and shows how their sense of community was replaced by fear that the killer or killers were known to them. Had the killers not been caught, there is no telling what that fear would have done to the community.

At the same time, he shows the killers as real people with real problems and a lack of self awareness and self control which makes their actions even more horrifying. Their story also shows their stupidity - if they hadn't returned to Kansas, they likely never would have been caught.

Throughout the book, Capote, a shining example of the East Coast intelligentsia, never comes across as patronizing or judgemental. He portrays the characters with honesty and simplicity. The book certainly didn't focus on the killers in a way to make them sensationalized or seem like heroes. Nor are the Clutters rushed off the stage as mere props to start the story.

I wouldn't read this book again but I did appreciate Capote's style when I did read it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Source of this copy: Library

Review: You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs

I read Running With Scissors and was immediately enamoured with this author. His current book of stories around Christmas is short but enjoyable. My favorites though are the early stories regarding his demented childhood Christmases involving, in no particular order, a canibalized wax Santa, a gingerbread slum made with allspice and coffee and the pony named Al Capone. I was reading part of this in a coffeeshop and attracted some attention from bursting out loud with laughter...upsetting the Glib and Stale readers pouring over their news fix.

The later stories are darker and show how his alcoholism was out of control. The one night stand with Santa was hilarious because of his inability to escape images of Saint Nic at every turn thus reminding him anew of the night from hell. His interaction with Shirley is perfect - perhaps too perfect I wondered and then decided that sometimes artistic events do happen in the real world too. The last story had this new home owner cringing with sympathy.

I'd rate it 4 out of 5.
Source of this copy: library
Would I buy it? Yes

Review: The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs

My first read of 2010. I really enjoyed reading this book. And what's not to like? A crazy holy grail - reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica - and a bookworm with a sense of humour author.

Out of the millions of facts in the encyclopaedia, the choices Jacobs makes to share in the novel also reveal a great deal about him as do the connections he makes between those facts and the rest of society. We learn how his competition with his father prompts his monumental undertaking and get a sense of "the real world" outside his task as he and his wife attempt to become parents.

He hilariously reveals how he becomes a bit of a pain in the ass with all his stored up knowledge just waiting to spring it into use in a conversation no matter how tenuous the connection. Hey, who hasn't wanted to do that? Although he had more success with his general knowledge than I did after studing for a customs broker exam.

I wish I could quote more of the funny passages but there are way too many to count.

Overall a funny, general interest read, well written, and easy to finish.

I'd rate it 4 out of 5

Source of this copy: library

Would I buy it? It would be on my 2nd choice list