Wild about Harry!

I finished listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yesterday afternoon - after threatening my kids to leave me alone so that mommy can listen to her very important book! I will not give away any of the details, but found that everything was wrapped up nicely into a very satisfying ending to the series.

James Patterson, part 2

Just finished listening to James Patterson's The Quickie on CD (co-authored by Michael Ledwidge). James Patterson falls into 3 categories: Alex Cross books (love them), Women's Murder Club books (like them a lot), and those other books (can take them or leave them). Oh, just realized there's a 4th category: Maximum Ride (not bad, if you can get past the flying kids angle).

Anyway, The Quickie falls into the "those other books" category. Many of them are co-authored (as this is). They often have these head scratching plot twists that seem to come out of left field. They tend to be quick reads, lots of action, good for the beach type of books. And unfortunately, since the books are so plot/action driven, there's very little investment in the characters - to the point of who cares what happens to them. This one pretty much fits this bill.

Lauren has caught her husband cheating on her and decides to have a revenge one night stand with a co-worker to even the score. And from there things fall apart quickly and completely. I can't say much more because I don't like to give away the details.

I listened to the book, very quickly (Harry Potter is coming tomorrow, you know), and it kept me interested. But I can't say that I really cared about Lauren or her plight. Is she good or bad? What about everyone else? Who knows, who cares. The final twists were not anticipated. Kind of in a what else can happen sort of way. But the fact that they were there was not a surprise (especially after last year's Beach Road).

I'd give the book to Patterson fans, most of whom know about the categories and will read it as such. It's not the best book, but it's not the worst one either.

Westerns

Okay, first off, I don't read westerns. And when I have in the past, for other reader's advisory assignments, I haven't had much luck picking titles. The first one I read was just plain odd - feral children who had fallen off a buckboard and were raised by wolves or something like that. The second time I thought I'd try a series western (Longarm, I think), that was nothing more that a Romance set in time and place. It was so bad I couldn't even finish it.

So this time I was determined to do it right. I went right to the master. I picked up a Louis L'Amour. I listened to L'Amour's The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon. It was the story of Mike Bastian, raised by his adoptive father to be the ultimate outlaw, and to eventually take over his empire. But Mike isn't sure he wants to be an outlaw, especially after he meets the beautiful Drusilla.

The story started with an interesting introduction by L'Amour himself on the make up of outlaw groups in the old west. Then the story began, narrated by Robert Stack. I was a little distracted at first by his voice, flashbacks to all those Unsolved Mysteries shows I've seen (okay that dates me a little).

This was the western I've been looking for. Lots of atmosphere and cowboying. There is a reason all my customers ask for L'Amour books. He does write a good story. Now, while I did enjoy the book, I'm not saying that I'll start routinely reading westerns. I would, however, definitely not hesitate to hand him out to anyone looking for a western read.

James Patterson, part 1

I just finished listening to 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. This is the sixth in the Women's Murger Club series. If you like Patterson, especially the Alex Cross series, and/or the previous 5 in this series, you should enjoy this as well. It is typically of Patterson's books, with its short, fast reading chapters. I listened to the story and Carolyn McCormick does a nice job with the narration, as she has with the previous 3 titles.

This book contained involved solving 3 separate crimes, which I don't remember the other books doing. It lent a realism to the work, since I'm sure police officers are involved in multiple cases at a time.

There didn't seem to be as much interaction between the members of the club in this book and I missed the banter of the group as they tried to solve the crimes. Each woman seemed to be indepently occupied, although in a related way, in this book.

Otherwise, it was an enjoyable thriller.

Vampires, part 1

I should start this off by saying that I really love vampire books. It started in high school (or maybe the first year of college) when a coworker at the Towson Library recommended Anne Rice's Interview of the Vampire to me. That got me hooked and I read everything she wrote (even the ones that weren't so great).

Well, it's been awhile since she ended that series and by accident late last year I stumbled on Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire" series. Sookie is a telepathic waitress in a bar in rural Louisiana. She likes vampires because she can't read their minds (they are dead after all and therefore don't have brain waves to read). Oh, I forgot to mention that ever since the Japanese created a synthetic blood alternative, the vampires, no longer needing to hunt humans to survive have come out in the open to interact in society. The weres, shapeshifters, witches, and fairies (as in godmothers) have not yet revealed themselves to society as a whole, but all play key roles in Sookie's life.

This series is cataloged as Mystery. There is an common story line that connects the books in the series (7 titles so far), but each individual story contains a murder or series of murders that Sookie and her telepathic ability helps to solve. These books have a very light feel to them, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of gore (for it usually takes a stake or a beheading to kill a vampire). There is often a climactic battle of some sort with all sorts of supernatural carnage. But they still have an overall humorous, easy tone to them.

Chick Lit

Do you believe in fairy tails? Do you believe in the happy ending? Well Meg Cabot sure does. She is the queen of the princess story and has branched out to be the queen of adult chick lit stories as well. I just finished her latest book, Queen of Babble in the Big City. It is the sequel to last year's Queen of Babble, picking up right where it left off, with Lizzie moving in with summer fling Luke (investment banker turned med student, and a real dethroned French prince) in his mother's 5th Avenue apartment. Lizzie, has weddings on the mind as she tried to reel Luke into a committment, works part time as the receptionist for a divorce and prenup lay firm, and attempts to enter her chosen field of bridal gown design and restoration. This is the perfect type of book to take to the beach, mindless and fun. Okay, I read it at the pool, watching my daughter take swimming lessons, but same idea. I've recommended Meg Cabot to several customers looking for this type of quick and easy read. And if they like it, the ending is an obvious set up for a future third book in the series.

Young Adult Staff Summer Reading

I read 4 YA books for this summer project and wrote up little summaries of each title (okay, sometimes I am an overachiever). Here they are:

1. James Patterson – Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports – This is the third of the Maximum Ride series. Max continues to try to protect her flock of recombinant DNA bird kids from evil scientists and a variety of wolf people, find out information about their backgrounds, and oh yeah, in her spare time, literally save the world. The book is a very fast read, or listen, as many Patterson books are. It does answer many questions posed in the previous two books as it was supposedly the final book in the trilogy. However, it also leaves enough open for more books to follow.
   
2. Gene Luen Yang – American Born Chinese – This book, winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz award, is a graphic novel depicting three seemingly unrelated stories. They are then woven into one ending which powerfully conveys the theme of cultural identity and ultimately personal acceptance.
   
3. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines – Aging child prodigy, Colin Singleton is good at languages and being dumped by all of the girls he has dated. All of which are named Katherine. After being by Katherine XIX immediately following graduation, he sets off with his best friend on a road trip. There he begins to develop his theorem of the predictability of relationships, which he hopes will define him as a genius and cause him to matter in the world. There is a lot of math in this book, even more fully explained in an appendix (which I will admit I skipped). It is an interesting twist on what could have just been another guy gets dumped story.
   
4. Rachel Cohen and David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Set amidst the chaotic backdrop of the NYC punk music scene, this book details one long evening in which two high school seniors, who meet by accident, find that they may be what each other has been looking for all along. The story is told in alternating voices, which makes for some interesting viewpoints as we see the action through each person’s eyes. A very well done story, however potential readers should be cautioned in that there is a lot of strong language and sexual content (hetero and homosexual) throughout.
   

Welcome to our reading world

I thought that I'd set up this blog as a Reader's Advisory project. I am going to post what I am reading (or listening to) with a brief description. I will also try to include whether I would recommend the book and to whom. After I get it started, I'll invite the rest of the staf to comment and to post their own titles to the blog. In past branches, staff has tried to share books read during meetings, however, we never seem to have the time. I thought that this project could help us accomplish the same thing. We'll see.