The Twilight of Lake Woebegotten (It's sort of new)
I'm very new to the board, so I don't know the general feeling on Twilight (and the series) by Stephanie Meyer. But I will say, whether you love it or hate it, this is a really good spoof book. Pretty much the same characters, only with outrageous names (poor Argyle Scullen) and a new twist: Bella (Hem, hem, I mean Bonnie) is the real monster this time around. It's hilarious, I promise. And coming form someone who has a love/hate relationship with this series, I think that anyone could enjoy it.
Kat-NE wrote:
I'm very new to the board, so I don't know the general feeling on Twilight (and the series) by Stephanie Meyer. But I will say, whether you love it or hate it, this is a really good spoof book. Pretty much the same characters, only with outrageous names (poor Argyle Scullen) and a new twist: Bella (Hem, hem, I mean Bonnie) is the real monster this time around. It's hilarious, I promise. And coming form someone who has a love/hate relationship with this series, I think that anyone could enjoy it.
Thanks Kat, that sounds really good
This is a must read for everyone
http://thereadingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2012/03/revie
"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
So this may very well be the weirdest book I've ever read and actually enjoyed. I don't think I could possibly describe what this book is about without going a full page on it because there is a lot going on here. It has monsters (sort of), time travel, time loops, a relationship that I found quite unsettling but not off-putting enough that I stopped reading, sullen, lazy teenagers; You name it, it's probably in there. I will say that the word "peculiar" does not at all do the children (it is probably easier to describe them as X-Men of the 1940's) justice. And the creepy pictures that go along with the story are just creepy! The writing style was great and I think that it is the reason that all the crazy storylines worked together. I had a lot of fun reading it.
Kat-NE wrote:
"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
So this may very well be the weirdest book I've ever read and actually enjoyed. I don't think I could possibly describe what this book is about without going a full page on it because there is a lot going on here. It has monsters (sort of), time travel, time loops, a relationship that I found quite unsettling but not off-putting enough that I stopped reading, sullen, lazy teenagers; You name it, it's probably in there. I will say that the word "peculiar" does not at all do the children (it is probably easier to describe them as X-Men of the 1940's) justice. And the creepy pictures that go along with the story are just creepy! The writing style was great and I think that it is the reason that all the crazy storylines worked together. I had a lot of fun reading it.
Kat, thank you for your recommedation- this particular novel recieved quite a following on Paul Goat Allen's forums of Sci-Fi and Parnormal and many of the readers mirrored what you said too.
dhaupt wrote:
This is a must read for everyone
http://thereadingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2012/03/revie
w-of-paris-in-love-by-eloisa-james.html
I just got a very lovely note from both Eloisa and her publicist at Random House, what a way to start a Friday 
This is a novel I've been waiting for and it did not disappoint
Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series #10)
http://thereadingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2012/04/revie
I am going to shock you all by actually liking something this time. I rated this one 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
First off, I am a tough reviewer. Only the most excellent works, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, will get a 5 star rating out of me. 4 stars is almost as tough.
This is a good, contemporary work of fiction. Other reviews I read of it used the tired old phrase "coming of age novel". I don't like that phrase and it doesn't really fit this book to me.
I found this book engaging, believable, and well written. Dialogue, which is the downfall of many contemporary writers, is pretty well done and realistic. The plot moves along for the most part, bogging down only at one point that I noticed. The wrap up and ending is pretty well done although I pretty much figured what would happen before it did. Still, nicely done.
The faults are the author spends a little too much time on the teen boy sex issue (nothing explicit happens mind you, but the kids attraction to an older woman goes on too long). The other thing I found bothersome is that the Doctor seems so artificial to me. He is almost a charactature.
Without giving up too much of the story; a high schooler is best friends in a small town with the son of the only Doctor in town. A much respected citizen in the community. The Doctors family treats the boy like one of their own. When another person, whom the Doctor treats and then allows to live in the house, enters the scene the family dynamic changes and the boy has to decide where his loyalty lies. Intricate characterizations and interesting how this works since neither the boy nor the interloper are actually part of the family.
I would recommend it as a quick read.
HoosierJoe wrote:
I am going to shock you all by actually liking something this time. I rated this one 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
First off, I am a tough reviewer. Only the most excellent works, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, will get a 5 star rating out of me. 4 stars is almost as tough.
This is a good, contemporary work of fiction. Other reviews I read of it used the tired old phrase "coming of age novel". I don't like that phrase and it doesn't really fit this book to me.
I found this book engaging, believable, and well written. Dialogue, which is the downfall of many contemporary writers, is pretty well done and realistic. The plot moves along for the most part, bogging down only at one point that I noticed. The wrap up and ending is pretty well done although I pretty much figured what would happen before it did. Still, nicely done.
The faults are the author spends a little too much time on the teen boy sex issue (nothing explicit happens mind you, but the kids attraction to an older woman goes on too long). The other thing I found bothersome is that the Doctor seems so artificial to me. He is almost a charactature.
Without giving up too much of the story; a high schooler is best friends in a small town with the son of the only Doctor in town. A much respected citizen in the community. The Doctors family treats the boy like one of their own. When another person, whom the Doctor treats and then allows to live in the house, enters the scene the family dynamic changes and the boy has to decide where his loyalty lies. Intricate characterizations and interesting how this works since neither the boy nor the interloper are actually part of the family.
I would recommend it as a quick read.
Thanks Joe, from the cover it looks like it might be from the middle part of the 20th century, is this the case.
I got this book in epub format from somewhere other than BN. I don't think BN carries it for Nook. If they do, I am sure someone will correct me.
In any format, this is a good story and very readable book. I would rate it 4 out of 5 in the star department. And that is a hard rating to get from me.
The formatting the author uses is similar to how Cormac McCarthy writes. With the whole no quotation marks thing. I find it difficult at times to figure out who is saying what, but it all works out once you get used to it. So maybe I downgade a bit for dialogue on this book.
Plot is excellent and moves well. Character development is outstanding. Very quick read because it moves along well. Setting is excellent although I don't remember the author stating exactly where the book is set. Evidently an out of the way rural area that experiences hard winter climate. I do know that it is set in the 1950's.
I won't give out any spoilers, as usual. You can look up the book summery with the link. But if you are looking for a contemporary novel in a setting such as I describe, that is well written, this one would be a good pick up.
HoosierJoe wrote:
I got this book in epub format from somewhere other than BN. I don't think BN carries it for Nook. If they do, I am sure someone will correct me.
In any format, this is a good story and very readable book. I would rate it 4 out of 5 in the star department. And that is a hard rating to get from me.
The formatting the author uses is similar to how Cormac McCarthy writes. With the whole no quotation marks thing. I find it difficult at times to figure out who is saying what, but it all works out once you get used to it. So maybe I downgade a bit for dialogue on this book.
Plot is excellent and moves well. Character development is outstanding. Very quick read because it moves along well. Setting is excellent although I don't remember the author stating exactly where the book is set. Evidently an out of the way rural area that experiences hard winter climate. I do know that it is set in the 1950's.
I won't give out any spoilers, as usual. You can look up the book summery with the link. But if you are looking for a contemporary novel in a setting such as I describe, that is well written, this one would be a good pick up.
Thanks Joe, and not to correct you but to add, B&N does have it in all three formats, hb, pb and nook. Here's what B&N lists as the overview:
Overview
A Southern gothic novel about an undertaker who won't let the dead rest. Suspecting that something is amiss with their father's burial, teenager Kenneth Tyler and his sister Corrie venture to his gravesite and make a horrific discovery: their father, a whiskey bootlegger, was not actually buried in the casket they bought for him. Worse, they learn that the undertaker, Fenton Breece, has been grotesquely manipulating the dead. Armed with incriminating photographs, Tyler becomes obsessed with bringing the perverse undertaker to justice. But first, he must outrun Granville Sutter, a local strongman and convicted murderer hired by Fenton to destroy the evidence. What follows is an adventure through the Harrikin, an eerie backwoods filled with tangled roads, rusted machinery, and eccentric squatters-old men, witches, and families among them-who both shield and imperil Tyler as he runs for safety. With his poetic, haunting prose, William Gay rewrites the rules of the gothic fairy tale while exploring the classic Southern themes of good and evil.
OOh, bestill my heart, this looks really good.
thanks again for the recommendation, I can't tell you how many books are in my pile thanks to the ravings of the members here.
Drum roll Please and the 2012 Pulitzer for fiction goes to NO-ONE
here's a link to the article
http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2012-Fiction
So we'll revisit the 2011 winner
Staff Pick: Jennifer Egan's new novel is a fantastically inventive, intelligent, and fully realized exploration of music, art, and life. It even includes a chapter written in PowerPoint, which is actually a pleasure to read. A Visit from the Goon Squad is Egan's most accomplished work to date
