Low Price Never Look Away: A Thriller

The best part of this book was finishing it. The characters were so unlikeable, reading this book became a chore. The story kept me going, but the characters were almost unbearable. It was impossible to root for the protagonist or the antagonist for that matter. These people are so bland and pathetic, that I wanted no part of their ridiculous world. Thankfully, time to move on.Get more detail about Never Look Away: A Thriller.

Slaughterhouse Five Decide Now

Have you ever gone to a movie and within a few minutes you just know it's not going to be "your type" of movie? That's how this book struck me--it's just not my type. From nearly page one, this book simply didn't grab me. In the least. Because it's a short book, though, I did finish it. I kept thinking it must have a great ending or some kind of great over-arching message due to its fame and esteem, but it didn't have either.

It's the only Vonnegut book I've read so I don't know if this is how his style always is, but I did not care for the scattered back-and-forth in time approach--it wasn't that it was hard to follow, because it really wasn't, but I didn't feel like it added anything to the book. Then again I thought the characters and events in the book were boring enough that if it hadn't had the time-jumping-around, maybe I would've not liked the book even more? I guess at least the time-jumping kept me on my toes.

Largely I thought that the book was unemotional. I didn't a lick about any character in the book. Billy was just a sad sap, but I never empathized with him--and I don't feel the author ever tried to get me to empathize with him. The other characters that came and went were pretty transitory and usually didn't stick around long enough to learn much about them. There are glimpses into Billy's wife and family, and some of his soldier-mates, but they are mostly just glimpses. I'm not even sure I know what BILLY'S character was really like--there just wasn't a ton of character development in my opinion. Also the book struck me as one attempt at dry humor after another, and maybe that's just not my style of humor? The "So it goes" and "Poo-too-tweet" repetition just annoyed me.

One unfair aspect to my reading of Slaughterhouse is it came directly after my first read of Catcher in the Rye. I could not put Catcher in the Rye down--I connected with Catcher in every way that I did not connect with Slaughterhouse. I thought Catcher was absolutely hilarious--I was literally laughing out loud on almost every page. I wasn't expecting Slaughterhouse to be as good as Catcher, but I didn't expect Slaughterhouse to be so uninteresting and random. I think Catcher was just more my style if you will. (They're very different books--I'm not directly comparing them, just directly comparing my interest in them.)

Because I'm clearly in the minority in not enjoying Slaughterhouse, I'll assume "it's me and not you (the book)". Nonetheless, I would never recommend this book to anyone--I would just tell them that most of the world seems to love it, but for me it wasn't the right fit.Get more detail about Slaughterhouse Five.

Crocodile on the Sandbank Right now

This is nothing but the paperback except worse: smaller print, newsprint paper. you're paying $16.99 for a pasteboard cover and the worst paper possible. Normal 'Library Binding' means even heavier construction than the regular hardback edition. BEWARE! Great story.Get more detail about Crocodile on the Sandbank.

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel Order Now

Have you ever gone to a movie and within a few minutes you just know it's not going to be "your type" of movie? That's how this book struck me--it's just not my type. From nearly page one, this book simply didn't grab me. In the least. Because it's a short book, though, I did finish it. I kept thinking it must have a great ending or some kind of great over-arching message due to its fame and esteem, but it didn't have either.

It's the only Vonnegut book I've read so I don't know if this is how his style always is, but I did not care for the scattered back-and-forth in time approach--it wasn't that it was hard to follow, because it really wasn't, but I didn't feel like it added anything to the book. Then again I thought the characters and events in the book were boring enough that if it hadn't had the time-jumping-around, maybe I would've not liked the book even more? I guess at least the time-jumping kept me on my toes.

Largely I thought that the book was unemotional. I didn't a lick about any character in the book. Billy was just a sad sap, but I never empathized with him--and I don't feel the author ever tried to get me to empathize with him. The other characters that came and went were pretty transitory and usually didn't stick around long enough to learn much about them. There are glimpses into Billy's wife and family, and some of his soldier-mates, but they are mostly just glimpses. I'm not even sure I know what BILLY'S character was really like--there just wasn't a ton of character development in my opinion. Also the book struck me as one attempt at dry humor after another, and maybe that's just not my style of humor? The "So it goes" and "Poo-too-tweet" repetition just annoyed me.

One unfair aspect to my reading of Slaughterhouse is it came directly after my first read of Catcher in the Rye. I could not put Catcher in the Rye down--I connected with Catcher in every way that I did not connect with Slaughterhouse. I thought Catcher was absolutely hilarious--I was literally laughing out loud on almost every page. I wasn't expecting Slaughterhouse to be as good as Catcher, but I didn't expect Slaughterhouse to be so uninteresting and random. I think Catcher was just more my style if you will. (They're very different books--I'm not directly comparing them, just directly comparing my interest in them.)

Because I'm clearly in the minority in not enjoying Slaughterhouse, I'll assume "it's me and not you (the book)". Nonetheless, I would never recommend this book to anyone--I would just tell them that most of the world seems to love it, but for me it wasn't the right fit.Get more detail about Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel.

Radiant Shadows Get it now!

So I've been fairly itching to know where this series would go after the third book--Fragile Eternity--came out last year and utterly realigned my loyalties as far as the faery courts go. Well, that's perhaps not entirely accurate. They were already leaning heavily in that direction after Ink Exchange. But the developments in Fragile Eternity cemented the shift so firmly, I wondered if I would ever recover my early fondness for some characters or if, alternately, anything on God's green earth would be able to uproot my newly acquired devotion to others. Where Fragile Eternity was a more direct sequel to Wicked Lovely, RADIANT SHADOWS is a sequel to Ink Exchange. Given the way I loved Ink Exchange, I, for one, was definitely looking forward to a couple of fresh, new characters, a possible mention of how Leslie was doing, and being back in the Dark Court with less tiresome Keenan and Ash and more magnetic Irial and Niall.

Ani is a halfling. Daughter of the Dark King's chief enforcer and a mortal woman, she sits astride the precarious line between several worlds. Raised among the Hounds, along with her two halfling siblings Rabbit and Tish, Ani comes into her own when she makes a rather unsettling discovery. Like the Dark Court she feeds off emotions, but she is also able to feed from actual contact with both humans and faeries. And it's not just a desire, it's a compulsion. Restricting her impulses, following her father's innumerable rules, Ani is on the brink of wasting away. Only the form Dark King Irial truly understands what she is. He helps her when he can, occasionally allowing her to feed off his own emotions, as he searches for a way to use her powers to benefit their people and keep her alive in the process. Devlin is the High Queen Sorcha's brother and assassin. Known as the Queen's Bloody Hands, it has been his eternal task to negotiate a path betwixt his two sisters--Order and Chaos--and maintain the balance between their opposing powers and purposes. And Devlin has never shirked his duty or fallen short in any way. Except one. When he inexplicably spared a life he was ordered to take. Since then he's stayed away, shoved any treacherous instincts he's had aside, and worked tirelessly on behalf of the High Court. Until one day he encounters the mortal who's life he spared. And all hell breaks loose as a result.

This series is wreaking havoc with my emotions and that is all there is to it. The thing is, I thought Wicked Lovely was wicked fun. I thought Ink Exchange was impossibly dark and achingly good, despite leaving me feeling a little bruised. I found Fragile Eternity problematic in many ways, but was glued to the page for the last third of the book and emerged in deep smit with a couple of Dark Kings who shall so not remain nameless. And I do mean deep smit. My love for Irial and Niall is deep and wide and full of shadows. And, as far as I'm concerned, this book (and any other she writes in this world) is worth the hardcover purchase price just for the few scenes they are in together. I am dead serious, people. I don't know how she did it but Melissa Marr has me wrapped around her little finger when it comes to the former and the current King of Nightmares. Just tell me one or (preferably) both are going to make an appearance and I am there. Their tortuous, touching relationship slays me. And such was the case here. I never really connected with Ani or Devlin, despite the fact that I thought he had some crazy good potential after his role in Fragile Eternity. I mean I love the Gabriel Hounds and their awesome steeds and pack culture. And Bananach--the War faery--is deliciously heinous and I simply love it when she tromps through a scene, bloody feathers and all. But, for some reason, I didn't care that much what happened to Ani. Not like I cared what happened to Ash or Leslie or Seth in the previous three books. And the dream subplot just did not hold my attention at all. Now, I will freely admit the possibility exists that I am actually so far gone on my two Dark Court boys that I have become insensible to the charms of lesser fae. But I'm pretty sure I'm fine with that. As long as I get more Irial and Niall in the next book. Which, as it is also the final book in the series, is going to have to be enough to last for me a very long time indeed.Get more detail about Radiant Shadows.

Hero at Large Buy Now

I'm a huge fan of Janet Evanovich so when I heard this book was being re-published, I had to snatch it up. From what I understand, this was the very first book she ever wrote. Like her other early, re-published books, the female main character is frustrating and the male main character is persistent and, too good to be true! With Chris's hilarious aunt thrown it, it makes for a cutesy, fun, feel-good quick read. Bob the Dog didn't have much of a part though, but I'm glad this first book helped Bob to evolve.Get more detail about Hero at Large.

Imperfect Birds Best Quality

Ms. Lamott never brought the characters to life. They seem flat, although of all of them, I got the best sense of Rosie. Rae was too much the earth mother, can do no wrong, warm and fuzzy; James, the husband, was always trying to use others' sayings and writings for his own, as he fumbled to write a novel, and Elizabeth, the mother, was, well, I don't know, as there are too many words to describe her. It is alluded that she has a psychiatric background and is an alcoholic. Not much is revealed of her family life, much less that of James. Her previous husband, Andrew, died, and apparently that contributed to her emotional and alcohol downfall but this is not explored at all - only vague references to it throughout the book.

Rosie's friends were not believable. Finn, the drug dealer, later boyfriend, makes a connection with Elizabeth that is so blatantly manipulative that I cringed; and Elizabeth bought it. Rosie's two other drug friends, Jody and Alice are also one-dimensional. Jody goes to rehab, gets cured and becomes the poster child for no drugs. Alice also got clean, although it was unclear in the book how this happened. I hung in with the book through Rosie's time in the "wilderness camp" for drug addicted kids, somewhere in the wilds of Utah, but lost it on pg. 268, when Elizabeth met with Jody and Alice, after seeing Rosie at rehab camp. James had recently adopted a dog, although Elizabeth had been against the idea, as discussed earlier in the book (is this James breaking out?). The dog is named Ichabod and when the two girls come to see Elizabeth, they spend time playing with Ichabod in the living room. Then Elizabeth gives her lecture, telling them: "It goes without saying that if you ever give Rosie drugs again, I will so rat you out. I will call every college that has taken you, and say you are a pusher - and I will hurt Ichabod," she said, and both girls screamed in protest." That did it for me - threatening girls she really doesn't know very well, threatening them with harming a dog she really didn't want, and these girls, who have just met the dog, "scream in protest"?

I found the dialogue unreal and not always believable; Elizabeth is very self-centered, and James is just crawling around in the background, rarely appearing unless he wants to "borrow" some person's sayings or writings. I guess that really annoyed me - his always asking: "Can I use that?" Hey, James, get your own words !Get more detail about Imperfect Birds.