Lame Book Reviews

What is the What

[so vox is being a little bitch and won't let me look up any books on amazon, so I'll try to insert covers later.]
This is the type of book that made me really appreciate my English degree.  It's technically written by Dave Eggers, but both he and the book's subject, Valentino Achak Deng, claim that Eggers gets credit only because Deng's English and education were too limited to properly explain his story. 

Deng is a Sudanese refugee, one of the now famous 'Lost Boys,' who walked thousands of miles to escape being slaughtered in a cultural civil war.  The title refers to a folk tale he heard growing up in which it is foretold his people will always prevail until the what shows up.  But what is 'the what'?  No one knows.  It kind of reminded me of the The Nothing from 'The Neverending Story' but in a far more literary sort of way.  I honestly feel the need to write some sort of literary paper on this book even though I have no one to read it because every page inspired the extremely nerdy analytical part of me.  Because, like Eggers other work, this is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.  And it says more about the duality of hope and apathy in this country than anything else I've ever read. 

A Royal Pain

A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

Rhys Bowen

This is the second book in "Her Royal Spyness" series by Rhys Bowen.  And it was enjoyable.  I guess that's the best word I can use to describe this series.  It's not brilliant and it's not terriblly funny or clever, but it is enjoyable.  I do love how Rhys Bowen seems to have a real thing for anarchists, as displayed in both this and her Molly Murphy series.  but I do wish she wouldn't continually drag out the romance in her series in order to keep up some form of romantic tension.

When the Bough Breaks

When the Bough Breaks (Alex Delaware)

Jonathan Kellerman

So this is one of those books I will always associate with my dad.  When I first started my little used bookstore job, I tried to read this book.  At that time, I chose books mainly based on what was popular within the store.  I thought by reading all the popular stuff, I would be a better bookseller, but more importantly, would maybe finally understand what the hell everyone else was talking about.  but when  I was about halfway through I made the mistake of leaving the book on the dining room table.  The next day I couldn't find it, so I moved onto another book.  But a few days later I saw the book in my dad's jacket pocket, completely destroyed.  He took a 15 year old paperback and bent it and thumbed it and clutched it so tightly it was falling apart.  And then?  He taped it back together, thinking it was fine.  for the record?  NOT FINE. 
Anyway, I finally tackled rereading it this summer.  I was too mad to do it before now.  but it was good.  The main character, Dr. Alex Delaware, is an interesting guy to follow around.  And the mystery was grand and lavish, involving child porn, rich boys, a remote island, and big dogs.  Plus, his girlfriend makes guitars, which is pretty hot.

The Missing Ink

The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery

Karen E. Olson

This is the first in a new series by someone who is apparently a veteran author, Karen E. Olson.  I'd never heard of her but was fascinated with the idea of a tattooist mystery.  And it was basically what I had been expecting.  A girlie mystery with a new twist.  This one had remarkably few girlie mystery tendencies, with the exception of the main character, Brett Kavanaugh, being incapable of listening to her cop brother.  And I have a feeling I'm going to find her midget shop manager the most aggravating thing to deal with as this series progresses.  On the plus side, hot English guy and Elvis karaoke bars!

'I' is for Innocent

I Is for Innocent

Sue Grafton

The more I think about this series, the more I end up liking it.  Kinsey Millhone is growing on me as a character and the mysteries seem to be a little more intriguing as time goes on.  This one involves the death of another PI and whether or not a man really killed his soon-to-be ex-wife.  I'm also happy that Rosie the Hungarian finally found love and that Kinsey continues to be an imperfect heroine to follow around.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Novels)

Janet Evanovich

This is the fifteenth in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and I unabashedly loved it.  I told a bookstore customer that I know it's basically the same book over and over again but since I really like the book, it doesn't matter.  I know exactly what I'm getting when I take one of these suckers home and I'm never disappointed.  It's slapsticky and predictable and well, terrible.  But it will hold my heart forever.  Especially since there's a drag queen fireman who likes to wear a chicken suit.  Hard to top that.

Hex and the Single Girl

Hex and the Single Girl

Valerie Frankel

This is one of those terrible girl books that I couldn't resist.  And I enjoyed it up until about the last third or so.  And that last third?  BALLS.  I don't even know how to explain it except that it sucked.  It went from cute and adorable to just aggravating in that girlie book way that I hate.  Please don't make your female characters into complete fucktards to serve the plot.  Make the plot serve the characters in a desirable way and I won't get so angry.  And well, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Promises in Death

Promises in Death

J.D. Robb

This is the 28th book in the futuristic romantic suspense series by J.D. Robb and in my opinion, one of the better ones.  This one was hard because one of my favorite characters had to deal with their lover dying.  And it sucks to see your favorite characters suffer.  But it's also ballsy in a publishing world that dislikes allowing loyal readers to get upset about anything.  And I continue to admire the progression of every character and every plotline.  Now if I could just get her to feature Baxter and Trueheart a little more, I'd be a happy camper. 

Garden Spells

Garden Spells (Bantam Discovery)

Sarah Addison Allen

I loved this book.  It was recommended to me by my sister Alex and was one I would have avoided on my own.  But I'm glad I found it.  It's full of magic that's chalked up to good old fashioned Southern charm and creates a truly lovely literary universe that handles fear and affection with equal ease.  It's hard not to love a book that has an emotionally needy apple tree and a woman whose true confidence lies in her ability to do good hair.  I'll be keeping an eye in the author, Sarah Addison Allen.

Salvation in Death

Salvation in Death

J.D. Robb

This was one of about three in the J.D. Robb series that I found out about long after it was published, which was nice because it allowed me to read it very close to the next one in the series, as well as a short story that I didn't know existed.  In other words, I got to gorge myself on semi-terrible futuristic romantic suspense.  And it was awesome.  This one involves Lt. Eve Dallas looking for the murderer of a priest, and involves a nice sidetrack into the murder of a televangelist.  I love this series because it's one of the few out there that explores the complexity of marriage and not just sex.  And Iove it for its crude bursts of humor and intriguing progression of characters.