What to Read? … What to Read?

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“Try to get some sleep,” he said.

But Meggie didn’t want to sleep. “Dustfinger! What sort of a name is that?” she asked. “And why does he call you Silvertongue?”

What’s more fun than discovering a new series; finding out that it will soon to be turned into a movie. What series am I blabbering about? That would be Inkheart written by the talented Cornelia Funke.

Meggie’s father Mo has an interesting talent: when he reads aloud, things, and sometimes people, come out of their stories and into the real world! But now the evil Capricorn wants to use Mo’s talents to bring himself great wealth and power. Then Meggie discovers that maybe Mo isn’t the only one who can read things to life. This is an enchanting story full of adventure, suspense, and magic. The characters are vivid and delightful. Unlike many books for younger readers there is a distinct emphasis on the importance of family as seen in the close relationship between Meggie and her father. Unfortunately the author does include several instances of mild profanity which seems totally unnecessary in a children’s book and is perhaps the biggest detractor from the story. Lightly magical, humorous, and fun, Inkheart will appeal to those who like adventure and fantasy, and to anyone who ever wished a story could come to life.

This is a book that will delight readers of all ages. Its plot is interesting, its characters charming and you will definitely have your favorites. I know I sure do and I am marking down the days until the movie hits the theaters. Now the question is will the movie do the book justice? I certainly hope so. There have been a few movies that have come out that should not have been attempted. Now let’s all go and read Inkheart while we wait for January 23, 2009.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“Amelia, his wife, is peering in. “Just grand, my dearest husband. Purest joy, of course, to see you again today as yesterday and the day before and the day before that and so on. You are as constant as my arthritis, my love. As dependable as flatulence after broccoli. As inescapable as the gaping mouths of graveyard worms. I see you are still ruminating upon your memoirs.””

I was wandering around the book store trying to find something that caught my attention. I rounded a display of bargain books and there it was; The Giant Killer written by Judd Palmer. I think it was the whole Preposterous Fables for Unusual Children that got me. Unusual Children why that would be me! I grabbed it off the shelf and hurried to pay for my new treasure.

Astride the Golden Hen, Jack the giant-Killer has almost rid the world of the colossal kind. But a solitary giant remains, cowering in the far North. He would stand no chance against Jack in his prime. But now Jack is old, made decrepit by the excesses of his fame.

I always did wonder what happened to Jack at the end of the tale, now I know. This is a great read again it doesn’t take too long and it is amusing. It is packed full of adventures; jealous wives; giants and a very old Jack; another great book for sharing with your unusual child or friend.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“Arabeth dared to run her hand under the open fold of his shirt, her fingers

dancing across his smooth skin to the rougher place where skin and tar had

melded together, and it occurred to Maimun that he typically kept his shirt

open just a bit more for exactly the reason of revealing a hint of that scar, that

badge of honor, that reminder to all around that he had spent most of his life

with a blade in his hand.”

When one goes to the bookstore or the library you never know what you might find. I happened upon The Pirate King written by R.A. Salvatore, this is the second book in the forgotten Realms series.

Drizzt returns to Luskan, and the Realms will never be the same!

The Arcane Brotherhood has long held the city of Luskan in their power, but when corruption eats away at their ranks, Captain Deudermont comes to the rescue of a city that has become a safe haven for the Sword Coast’s most dangerous pirates. But rescuing a city from itself may not be as easy as Deudermont thinks, and when Drizzt can’t talk him out of it, he’ll be forced to help.

This was an entertaining book, it was a little awkward in the middle, and the way it reads seemed to be forced just a bit. But that to me didn’t matter, it was entertaining all the same and it was a great way to waste away an afternoon. Will you enjoy this book, I would say yes especially if you enjoyed the Hunter’s Blades trilogy. You know what to do.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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A new series is being released on October 21, 2008; how exciting is that? Ghost at Work is a brand new mystery series that is written by the talented Carolyn Hart.

Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? In fact, being dead gives her more of an opportunity to be on top of events. Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not. And if anybody needs a little help, it’s Kathleen, the pastor’s wife. There’s a dead man on her porch, and once the body is discovered, the pastor is sure to become a suspect.

Uncharitable people might call it meddling, but Bailey Ruth knows Kathleen needs her help! As a member of Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions, Bailey Ruth goes back to earth to extricate Kathleen from a dire situation. If Bailey Ruth has to bend a few rules to help Kathleen save her family, Wiggins, her fussbudget supervisor, will make sure it all turns out right in the end.

Hart has won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards for her other books, will Ghost at Work bring her a new award? Only time will tell on that one. So in the meantime go to your local bookstore or library and reserve your copy. Let me know what you think.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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Looking for something new to read? Feel like getting a little spooked? Do you believe in ghosts or spirits? Try reading Ghost Radio written by Leopoldo Gout.

Ghost Radio is a terrifying novel about a ghost-story call-in radio show that inadvertently opens a doorway into the paranormal, giving voice to the dead and instigating an epic battle for the souls of the living
From the cramped bowels of a dimly lit radio station, Ghost Radio is beamed onto the airwaves. More than a call-in show to tell scary stories about vampires and poltergeists, Ghost Radio is a sanctuary for those sleepless denizens of the night, lost halfway between this world and the next.

Joaquin, the hip, melancholy host, sits deep in a fog of cigarette smoke, fielding calls from believers and detractors alike. He is joined in the booth by his darkly beautiful girlfriend, Alondra, and his engineer, Watts. Soon what began as an underground cult sensation is primed to break out to mainstream audiences. When a huge radio conglomerate offers to syndicate the show and Ghost Radio becomes a national hit with an expanding legion of hardcore fans, neither Joaquin, Alondra, nor Watts is remotely prepared for what is about to happen.

Though a charismatic host, Joaquin remains a skeptic even as he begins to notice a curious and troubling phenomenon—he feels himself drawn further and further into the terrifying stories he solicits on the radio. Slowly he loses control over his reality and finds himself unable to distinguish between the real world and the world populated by the nightmares on Ghost Radio. He is forced to confront his past and his own mortality in order to save that which is most precious to him and repair the crumbling wall between the living and the dead.

Gout has been compared to King (not bad for his first novel) is he just as good? I personally think he is better than King. Now before you decide to string me up by my ears and not let me down again hear me out. Even though I am not a big fan of horror, I do on occasion like to be spooked. I like my horror not to be predictable or formulated as King’s books are. Gout brings an interesting idea, with characters you come to care about and a plot that will keep you riveted to the pages of his latest book. Now while I go find a nightlight you go buy or borrow this book. Then tell me what you think.

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“Bees swarm before death. She was full of crazy ideas that I ignored, but I lay there thinking about his one, wondering if the bees had come with my death in mind. Honestly, I wasn’t that disturbed by the idea. Every one of those bees could have descended on me like a flock of angels and stung me till I died, and it wouldn’t have been the worst thing to happen. People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.”

Can you believe that The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd is going to be hitting the big screen?  Well don’t worry you only have to wait until October 17, 2008.

Honey-sweet but never cloying, this debut by nonfiction author Kidd (The Dance of the Dissident Daughter) features a hive’s worth of appealing female characters, an offbeat plot and a lovely style. It’s 1964, the year of the Civil Rights Act, in Sylvan, S.C. Fourteen-year-old Lily is on the lam with motherly servant Rosaleen, fleeing both Lily’s abusive father T. Ray and the police who battered Rosaleen for defending her new right to vote. Lily is also fleeing memories, particularly her jumbled recollection of how, as a frightened four-year-old, she accidentally shot and killed her mother during a fight with T. Ray. Among her mother’s possessions, Lily finds a picture of a black Virgin Mary with “Tiburon, S.C.” on the back so, blindly, she and Rosaleen head there. It turns out that the town is headquarters of Black Madonna Honey, produced by three middle-aged black sisters, August, June and May Boatwright. The “Calendar sisters” take in the fugitives, putting Lily to work in the honey house, where for the first time in years she’s happy. But August, clearly the queen bee of the Boatwrights, keeps asking Lily searching questions. Faced with so ideally maternal a figure as August, most girls would babble uncontrollably. But Lily is a budding writer, desperate to connect yet fiercely protective of her secret interior life.

This has been a best seller, it’s now been made into a movie, and the book was alright; if you didn’t look too hard at the time line. Her characters were good they each had a charm all of their own, did I feel like they would be my next door neighbors; no. That didn’t stop me from enjoying this heartfelt story. Now will you save me a seat while I go and get the popcorn?

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“St. Cristóbal’s Church in Spanish Harlem knelt quietly between a bodega and a pawnshop. It boasted a small gray steeple and was innocent of the graffiti that tagged its near-neighbors. Inside, it smelled of candles, flowers, and furniture polish. Like a nice, suburban home might smell.

At least it struck Lieutenant Eve Dallas that way as she strode down the aisle formed by rows of pews. In the front, a man in black shirt, black pants, and white collar sat with his head bowed and his hands folded.

She wasn’t sure if he was praying or just waiting, but he wasn’t her priority. She skirted around the glossy casket all but buried in red and white carnations. The dead guy inside wasn’t her priority either.”

I have started my list of what to read for November; and this one is at the top of my list. Salvation in Death written by J.D. Robb is released November 4, 2008.

As the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips—and falls over dead. Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she’s determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It’s not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It’s all that holiness flying around at St. Christobal’s that makes her uneasy.

A search of the victim’s sparsely furnished room reveals little— except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo—and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that “Father Flores” may not have been the man his parishioners had thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that hint at gang connections and a deeply personal act of revenge, she believes she’s making progress on the case. Until a second murder—in front of an even larger crowd of worshippers—knocks the whole investigation sideways. And Eve is left to figure out who committed these unholy acts—and why.

Will this one be as good as the rest of Robb’s books? Only one way to find out; don’t forget to check out your local bookstore or public Library for this new read.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“I went on board a ship bound for London. Never any young adventurer’s misfortunes, I believe, began sooner, or continued longer than mine.”

It looks like there will be a new T.V. series will be airing on NBC starting on October 17, 2008. What might this do with books? Very simple; the program is simply called Crusoe. The tie in with books is it’s based on Daniel Defoe’s classic Robinson Crusoe.

Robinson Crusoe’s seafaring adventures are abruptly ended when he is shipwrecked, the solitary survivor on a deserted island. He gradually creates a life for himself, building in English literature. Land and making a companion from the native whose life he saves.

Daniel Defoe is generally credited with being one of the first novel writers in the English language. His book is appropriately billed as an adventure story. This is the way adventure stories are supposed to be, not what they are today glorified reality T.V.  This is a great read, if a bit long winded in some description. It’s a perfect book for sharing. I’m hoping the new series will be as good as the book.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“Chester explained that when he looked out the window, he saw Professor Mickelwhite, our next door neighbor, playing the violin in his living room. He listened for a few moments to the haunting melody and sighed with relief. I’ve really got to stop reading these horror stories late at night, he thought, it’s beginning to affect my mind. He yawned and turned to go back to his chair and get some sleep. As he turned, however, he was startled by what he saw.”

Wow I found a great and amusing book for sharing with the little ghost and ghouls in your life. Why not try Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allen Crow written by James Howe and illustrated by Eric Fortune.

The Monroe house is going mad with excitement. Pete has just won a contest, and the prize is a school visit from none other than M. T. Graves, Pete’s idol and the bestselling author of the Flesh Crawlers series. He’s even going to stay with the Monroe’s while he’s visiting! Harold and Howie are thrilled, but Chester the cat is suspicious. Why does Graves dress all in black? Why doesn’t the beady-eyed crow perched on his shoulder say anything? Why has a threatening flock of crows invaded the backyard? And most worrisome of all: In each of the Flesh Crawlers books, why does something bad always happen to the pets? Suddenly, Graves’s interest in all of the animals — especially Bunnicula — looks far from innocent. It’s up to Chester, Harold, and Howie to find out if M. T. Graves and Edgar Allan Crow are really devising a plot to make their beloved bunny. . . NEVERMORE.

I stumbled upon this series purely by accident and I’m glad I did. It’s not a hard read or a long one, but it is a good one. What is more funny then a vampire Bunny? Not much, this is a great book for sharing and fits in with Halloween which is fast approaching.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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I dug out an old favorite of mine the other day; The List of Seven written by Mark Frost.

Occult forces of evil gather in Victorian England to scheme for world dominion in this lively but unconvincing period thriller by Twin Peaks co-creator Frost. The novel opens in London of 1884, where protagonist Arthur Conan Doyle, a moderately successful young doctor, unpublished author and part-time student of the supernatural, attends a seance at the request of an anonymous lady in distress. When the evening erupts into gruesome violence and murder, Doyle finds himself on the run, engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a cadre of ruthless satanists bent on incarnating the spirit of evil. He finds an ally in the mysterious, resourceful and supremely capable Jack Sparks, on secret assignment to the Queen. Sparks’s own brother is the mastermind of the “Dark Brotherhood” they oppose, and his character will, much later, supply Doyle with the inspiration for his Sherlock Holmes. Despite the appreciable wit and inventive flourishes with which Frost invests his tale, there is too much in this fast-paced plot that simply does not make sense. Frost creates mystery through an unseemly vagueness of description, perhaps awaiting the special effects of the screen to flesh out elements of his narrative. In the novel, however, his characters never become more than clever conceits, and the prevailing attitude toward the spiritualism at its center is frustratingly wishy-washy. The much-ballyhooed shocker ending seems a tepid afterthought.

Have you ever read Arthur Conan Doyle? Well if you have you will find it parallels his novels of Sherlock Holmes. Now don’t worry if you haven’t you will still like this book. It’s a book that you will devour and wonder if there really was someone like Jack Sparks who inspired Doyle to create his world famous detective.  All I can tell you is find a copy and read it.

Happy Reading

Sarah