The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book 5 or 6 years ago. I was on the fence about it then but continued on with the series. Rereading it years later, I enjoyed the book much more. The characters are quirky but realistic (at least as realistic as it gets in a Jasper Fforde novel) and the plot, although slow to develop, was entertaining. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I were more familiar with some of the literary works discussed during the novel. I think there were inside jokes I missed. [I also think I said this the first time that I read it and that if I would do a re-read I would brush up on some of my classical reading...]

Series: Thursday Next Book 1

Synopsis: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from workds of literature. When Jane Eyer is plucked from the pages of Bronte's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

Recommended Reading:
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

Dexter in the Dark

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I did not enjoy this book as much as the others. It was darker in content (I actually had a nightmare one night). I didn't like adding the children into the serial killer mix. As a mother of two children it made it very disturbing to read. Another thing that I didn't like was the author took some parts of the book out of Dexter's first person narrative. There were confusing passages about IT that were hard to comprehend.
I did still enjoy Dexter's witty commentary. I hope that the series goes back to what it was in the first two books.

Series: Dexter Book 3

Synopsis: In his work as a Miami Crime Scene Investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds... particularly because, on occasion, he rather enjoys committing them himself. Guided by his Dark Passenger (the reptilian voice inside him), he lives his outwardly normal life adhering to one simple rule: he kills only very bad people. Dexter slides through life undetected, working as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, helping his fiancee raise her two adorable (if somewhat... unique) children, and always planning his next jaunt as Dexter the Dark Avenger under the light of the full moon.

But then everything changes. Dexter is called to a crime scene that seems routine: a gruesome double homicide at the university campus, which Dexter would normally investigate with gusto, before enjoying a savory lunch. And yet this scene feels terribly wrong. Dexter's Dark Passenger senses something he recognizes, something utterly chilling, and the Passenger - mastermind of Dexter's homicidal prowess - promptly goes into hiding.

With his Passenger on the run, Dexter is left to face this case all alone - not to mention his demanding sister (Sergeant Deborah), his frantic fiancee (Rita), and the most frightening wedding caterer ever to plan a menu. Equally unsettling, Dexter begins to realize that something very dark and very powerful has its sights set on him. Dexter is left in the dark, but he must summon his sharpest investigative instincts not only to pursue his enemy but to locate and truly understand his Dark Passenger. To find him, Dexter has to research the questions he's never dared ask: Who is the Dark Passenger, and where does he come from? It is nothing less than a search for Dexter's own dark soul... fuled by a steady supply of fresh doughnuts.

Recommended Reading:
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
Long Lost by Harlan Coben

Dearly Devoted Dexter

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series has me, hook, line and sinker. What's not to love? Witty dialogue (or monologue, in some cases), plots that keep me guessing and damn.good writing. These books are dark and funny, picking apart the best and worst things that make us human.

Series: Dexter Book 2

Synopsis: Dexter Morgan has been under considerable pressure. In trying to avoid the deep suspicions of the dangerous Sergeant Doakes-who believes Dexter is a homicidal maniac (which, of course, he is)-Dexter has had to slip further into his foolproof domestic disguise. While not working as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he now spends nearly all his time with his girlfriend, Rita, and her two children. But how long can Dexter play Kick the Can instead of Slice the Slasher? How long before his Dark Passenger forces him to drop the charade of family life and let his inner monster run free?
In trying times, opportunity knocks. A particularly nasty psychopath is cutting a trail through Miami-a man who "slices and dices and leaves vegetables behind." Dexter's dark appetite is revived, but it's not until his nemesis, Sergeant Doakes, is abducted that Dex can finally throw himself headlong into the search for a new plaything. Unless, of course, his plaything finds...

Recommended Reading:
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton

2010 in Review

Not my best year.

Reading Goal: 61 Achieved: 43
TBR Shelf: 30      Achieved: 28
And still hiding books in the closet... And in a pile in front of the closet... And on the dresser...

Other bookish things include starting a book club at work, which has been fun. The ladies in the group are so interesting and I look forward to what they have to say each month. I wish I would have done this a long time ago. I did not get to re-read Diana Gabaldon't Outlander series or the Twilight series like I had hoped to. I think I'm over the Twilight thing now, so I will probably keep Outlander on my list of things to do.

2011 goals are going to be low, I have a lot on my plate for the coming year. I'm going set a reading goal of 45 books and get my TBR shelf to 25. And, of course, getting rid of the books. I've already started on this one by making my paperbackswap.com account active again.

And now, a list of my favorites from 2010...

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. What's not to love? She's created amazing characters, detailed stories and she left off with a cliff hanger.

How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. This book met all of my expectations. It was really a great read with lots of entertainment value.

Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. What can I say? I'm a sucker for fantasy worlds and girls that kick ass. The fact that the author has gotten back to what she does best (plot and character) and away from the "all sex all the time channel" only makes me adore the series even more.

Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson. Did I mention I'm a sucker for fantasy worlds and girls that kick ass? No? I originally picked up this series for The Spawn, but the violence is too graphic for him at this age.

Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan. This series I haven't finished yet as The Spawn is reading the last book (for the second time. Apparently it really was that.good.) but I'm totally into this series.

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. Every year there is one book that catches me completely by surprise. This one is it. I read this for the book club, and I didn't expect to enjoy it. I was wrong. I loved this book from page one. The character, the voice, the tone, the stories... it was more than just a book about horses, it was about life and love and survival.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. I'd hung back from reading this book because I had tried to watch the TV series but didn't get into and had heard the books were not as good as the series. This is a case where the "rumors" weren't true. I blew through this book in two days and enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I put off reading this because I had tried to watch the TV series and didn't like it. I had heard the books were not as good. I enjoyed this book ALOT. The characters were witty and smart. The plot was original. It was good writing that made the pages almost turn themselves. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

Pub. Date: July 2004


Series: Dexter Book 1
 
Synopsis: Dexter Morgan isn't exactly the kind of man you'd bring home to Mom. Though he's palyful and has a wonderfully ironic sense of humor, Dexter's one character flaw (his proclivity for murder) can be off-putting. But at heart Dexter is the perfect gentleman, supportive of his siter, Deb, a Miami cop, and interested only in doing away with people who really deserve his special visit. Dex is quite good-looking but totally indifferent to (and, frankly, a bit puzzled by) the attentions paid to him by women. Despite the fact that he can't stand the sight of blood, he works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police department, a job that allows him to keep tabs on the latest crimes and keep an eye open for his next quarry.
 
Dexter's well-organized life is suddenly disrupted when a second, much more visible serial killer appears in Miami. Dex is intrigued, even delighted, by the fact that the other killer appears to have a style reminiscent of his own. Yet he can't help but feel that the mysterious new arrival is not merely invading his turf but reaching out to him as well. This new killer seems to be doing more than copying Dexter - he seems to be saying, "Come out and play." Dexter's secret life makes for a lonely existence... even a lovable monster can be intrigued by the prospect of finding a friend.
 
Recommended Reading:
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I struggled with this book at the beginning. Once I got over my fear of it being another sad story about someone dying from cancer (and only about dying from cancer) I enjoyed the book very much. The book was broken up into sections and the chapters in each section flowed well. I found the writing style unique, it was a good mix of "to the point", humor and smarts that kept the book from being too emotionally heavy.

Pub. Date: April 2008


Synopsis: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." —Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form.

Recommended Reading:
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The Noticer by Andy Andrews

Half Broke Horses

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't expect to like this book, but I was hooked from the first page. This is so much more than a story about horses (in fact, horses only have a small bit to do with the story). It's a story about another time, a woman who lived her life by her rules. The main character's voice was so clear and stayed so true to character. The author really did an amazing job bringing her grandmother off the page.

Pub. Date: September 2010


Synopsis: "Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town — riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.
Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds — against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit.

Recommended Reading:
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd
Day After Night by Anita Diamant
A Gate in the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Ape House by Sara Gruen