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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie



☆☆☆☆This review contains spoilers☆☆☆☆

The difficulty in making Hercule Poirot one's dupe is that he's too smart for anyone to outwit. There will always be those criminal elements who think too highly of themselves and decide they can pull it off. This will always conclude in failure for their little murdering souls and another success for the honored Poirot.

Nick, our little protagonist, parties 1930's style--she's a young woman who may soon succumb to a murder's desire to see her dead. The reason for her aspired death is a mystery for she hasn't any money or enemies. When Poirot meets her at his hotel on holiday, he finds out that several attempts on her life have failed, and proposes to keep her safe while finding the murderer before the murder actually takes place.

He tells her to send for her cousin Maggie whose constant presence should function as a deterrent against the killer. Tragedy strikes the first night she arrives when the killer believes she is Nick and the sound of the shot, hidden by local fireworks, finds its mark.

Nick's shawl, worn by Maggie, throws the killer off and the wrong woman is shot. Poirot is devasted that this should happen when he promised protection. A nursing home appears the safest place for Nick though the murderer attempts another success by sending chocolate filled with cocaine.

During the course of the investigation, Poirot finds love letters from Nick's fiance who recently died, leaving Nick a rich woman. Finally, he is able to put the facts together and takes the action he loves, assembling everyone suspected together to tell the identity of the killer. He does this for suspense and to show off his wondrous gray cells.

We find out that Nick isn't a sweet person after all, and she killed her cousin and pretended all the other attempts on her life happened. She overdosed on the cocaine by her own hand and put the gun used to kill Maggie in her best friend's coat. She did all this for the same reason many people kill--for the money.

Nick and Maggie share the same first name of Magdala, so when Nick found love letters from the famous and rich fiance to her cousin, she claimed them as her own. Who would know the difference, since the engagement had been a secret.

Yet again, Poirot allows a suicide for the wrongdoer, so there's not a need to face hanging. Yikes, hanging seems so archaic, but eight women died this way in the US and England in the 1930's.

This is one of Christie's best since no one can guess who the real culprit is though I must say I had my suspensions early on. I'm still hoping that one day I can go to the world of the make-believe past, and become Poirot's sidekick. Hmm, but would there arise the need to kill Hastings. Mon Ami, mais oui c'est possible--pauvre Hastings.





Saturday, May 30, 2015

Who Goes There by John W. Campbell Jr.


From the moment I commenced reading this story, memories of another story stirred around in my brain.
Men living on a base in Antarctica and a being so evil that it can duplicate itself into any existing living cell structures.
Voila, I knew it appeared similar to the movie called The Thing, which is a terrifyingly wonderful movie starring Kurt Russel. In fact, the movie's based on the book.

Who Goes There was published in 1938. That boggles the mind to understand the mind of the man who had the intelligence to write such a brilliant book. Reading it today, I felt the concepts were way before their time in the same manner of Jules Verne or H. G. Wells. The story showed such insight that a movie made fifty years later would thrill audiences with anxiety filled horror.

Even though I liked the book, this is one of those instances where the film is superior. The book had several of the same elements, yet the movie took those elements to a higher playing field and added a fresh new story line causing more terror filled moments.

To be stuck in Antarctica with the "being" on the loose would be terrifying, and never knowing if a friend is still a human, would be agonizing. Plus they're in Antarctica with no place to run. The weather outside shows 40 below--until aid arrives, there's no place to hide.
There's also the added fear of spreading the evil off the base and into the world.

I still feel that feeling of wonderful creepiness rolling off my shoulders.




Tuesday, May 26, 2015

When The Ashes Fall by Jacqueline Druga


If by chance a major disaster wipes out a massive percentage of the population--the evil in countless humans will run rampant. Warlords will seize power resulting in endless beings suffering at their hands. People who were rather decent before the catastrophe will become savage with greed for themselves or their families. Kindness and honesty may be just words from our past, and instead of helping each other, humans will turn back time to the dark ages.

Knowing all of these predictions could come true, the cruelty in some books becomes troublesome, that's one reason Druga's books and I get along famously. She writes often regarding the exemplary behavior of people during dark periods of humankind's worst nightmares.

The story centers on a woman named Abby and her two daughters who travel to the city to have an amusing day. On the way home, she drives into a large tunnel when suddenly a nuclear bomb hits the city they just left. Several survivors find a smaller tunnel into a mountain that keeps them away from the fallout, and for a brief while they're safe.

They must leave the tunnel eventually, plus their hearts are yearning to travel to a husband and son still at home. Along the way, each person met shows compassion (except one unknown assailant in the story for just a few lines), now that's the world I would love to be in if events turn to devastation.

Druga's books are always effortless to read, and the only problem I find with them--they eventually must come to a conclusion.



The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin



☆☆☆☆This review contains spoilers☆☆☆☆

I've watched both Stepford Wives on film and wanted to know how skillful Levin wrote the book--was his writing as brilliant as the first movie or as dreadful as the second or somewhere in between.
Additionally, the first Stepford Wives show Joanna(Katherine Ross) strong to the finish, and the second one with Nicole Kidman was merely silly, but what about Joanna in the book?

She's precisely the same as the character in the first film except she wasn't as secure with herself at the end and starts to lose her hold on reality. An infinite number of women couldn't arrive near this portion of the story and still stay sane--perceiving their death is imminent and soon a robot will be their replacement.

To understand the book one must understand the age the book was published (1972). For the first time, women were actually gaining rights and receiving the respect due to them, though grudgingly by a substantial population of men.

Perhaps all men from this time period grew up with a mom who didn't work and had one specific job--to create comfort for their family, wait on their husbands as if they were children, and never have their own identity. They must even write their name as Mrs. John Doe, and never receive or send letters with their own name. They were lost even to themselves.

The seventies became a breakthrough for women's rights and we won though it was a struggle. Men wanted their maids and cooks back in the kitchen--not out in the workforce. So it's conceivable that a man would replace his wife with a robot to create a home exceptionally comfortable and to have a sandwich in his hand whenever desired.

Though it's ambitious to believe that an entire community of men could agree to mass murder. The book states that countless people left the community after the men's club formed, and the previous owners of Joanna's home stayed only two months, hopefully in this world, a favorable amount of men had a conscience.

I've often thought about the female children of these killers--would they be just as willing for them to die so their husbands could have the same setup? They're all murderers and butchers, I've come to the conclusion they might be willing--who could have a normal psyche after conducting or agreeing to such madness.

The book is wonderful, and Ira Levin is an incredible writer, though he must always throw in a spattering of extremely crude sexual references, which I (the prude) pass by quickly. Though I'm sure in this day and age readers will not mind his little expressions.
He's the author of one my top ten books called This Perfect Day, and his writing in that book is also genius. His books are slow and easy yet convey a powerful mix of controlled energy.

I found this book to read for free on the Open Library  site which I put to work on my Kindle. There are copious amounts of older books to read that commonly charge a considerable sum of money on my Kindle and the paper books are difficult to find--this site helps frequently with my reading "wants."



Saturday, May 23, 2015

After The Event by T. A. Williams


This review contains spoilers.

Another book on the end of  life's existence for countless humans-- not that there is anything wrong with another story containing diseases, horrible lunatics, starvation, destruction and so much more fun.

Before the events of this book take place, there's an extensive amount of back story concerning the father, named Grant and his four children. Grant's past includes running out continuously on his family, addiction, selfishness and as his wife lay dying, he was somewhere else taking care of his own needs as usual.

As the world begins the downward journey of  human destruction, Grant takes his motherless children to his father's farm. His oldest son hates him and believes Grant will let them all down yet again, but Grant fights his addiction and continues to win.

They barely survive the winter when suddenly horror is thrust upon them. Modern day pirates, though land pirates, descend upon their farm and create havoc, kidnapping, and murder.
This is where the story turns to such sadness that I could hardly continue reading. Grants young son is killed by the bandits, and his daughter taken.

I know that children would die if this story came true, but reading such sadness is hard to bear. Children die all too often in the real world--why shouldn't they live in books. 
There could be a worldwide referendum to prevent the death of children until they are the age of 18 in all future books punishable by some horrendous sentence. 

I plan to read the next book in the series name Remnants though I'm sure it contains more sadness to be endured.


Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson


This review contains spoilers.
When I commenced reading this short story, I agreed with various other reviewers stating the book appeared similar to Avatar--as the story progressed--my mind began to waver on that point of view.

Joe, who's a man made being, lives on Jupiter controlled by a handicapped man named Ed, though there's a last name listed, I will call him "Ed."  Ed is a disabled man who must move around in a wheelchair, and his job keeps him hooked to the avatar, but that's where the similarity ends between this book and James Cameron's laughable movie.

Joe can live on his own, though Ed controls Joe using his brain power, exploring the environment through Joe's eyes. A problem arises with the machine-- a tube (those pesky tubes from the 1950's) continually dysfunctions. Another scientist believes that Ed's sick and tired of Joe, however that isn't the case at all--Ed loves being in Joe's body. Who could blame him--he can roam around, drinking methane and eating random animals raw that wander near him. He makes pet animals (his dogs) out of giant caterpillars, and he's free from constraints.

Eventually, Ed leaves his human body and Ed and Joe fuse into one being.
The similarity to Avatar ends early in the story, since there isn't dragon riding and becoming one with the dragon through Ed's ponytail, or an ancient tree, or other ridiculous storylines from Avatar. Yes, Ed stays in his avatar, but the avatar in the movie didn't have any type of mind of his own--plus there isn't a strong culture in place in the book.

Ultimately, the scientist on their little space station come up with a beneficial idea, bring up humans (with disabilities who wish to go)for the purpose of connecting  their brains with the dozen Jovians recently sent down to the planet's surface without human control.
They also discuss sending the elderly up, anticipating living an extra life before dying "for reals."
An interesting concept, and personally when I'm a hundred years old, I could stand a caterpillar or two as my special pets.



Friday, May 22, 2015

Out of Darkness (The Starborn Saga #1) by Jason D. Morrow



What happens when you cross a zombie apocalypse and mutant super powers...anyone, anyone? The results are equal to but no greater than The Starborn Saga.
Mora's village seems to be in real trouble against the gray skins (yet another word used instead of zombies). She leaves her village to ask for help from a warlord type of character--imagine the president in The Hunger Games.

Jerimiah is the leader of the Screven, and the Screven's home base is yet again familiar as the Capital in Panem (if Panem had been involved in a zombie war, and didn't have all their hip toys and weapons). He will send his soldiers to protect villages, but he expects large sums of payments in crops and other items (Hunger Games anyone).

Along the way, Mora just happens to find out that she can move a large crane to help her escape from a horde of zombies. Yep, she has superpowers and can move items with her thoughts, which would be cool for us mere mortals if the remote lay on top of the television.
She meets a young man who takes her to his village that is controlled protected by Screven. She meets others who have mutant abilities, and finds out their secret codeword name--Starborn.

Then a considerable amount of silliness ensues, she likes Connor, she likes Connor's brother, she decides not to ask for help for her village, she asks Jerimiah for help with her village, she decides to help Jerimiah to find hidden Starborn, she refuses to help Jerimiah find hidden Starborn. Make-up your mind!

I know that I've delivered some harsh words against this book, but on the bright side, I honestly liked it, and I have started the second book called If It Kills Me.

Mutants and zombies combine for an interesting mix, and what better way to protect loved ones than to send zombies flying away or throw rocks at their heads with superstar powers. l look forward to the entire series.

Empty Bodies by Zach Bohannon


Oh, those pesky zombies, by now I'm sure we are all aware that it would be difficult to kill something that is already dead--though the star characters in this book live to tell the tales of zombie mayhem.
Considerable zombie books have their protagonist living through remarkable, deadly discombobulations that would kill off mere mortals.

In Empty Bodies, three people escape from a hotel full of the dead, and it happens that a man and a boy, which were the only two characters previously introduced on a plane, are the only two to survive a plane crash. A man and a girl are thrust into a warehouse full of zombies, sent by a madman full of delusions of grandeur, and they miraculously survive.

I'm sure these defying feats could happen, but what about the everyday person (which might be a large portion of the population--myself included) who runs blindly in panic and confusion straight into the arms of a loving zombie that just wants to eat their brains. No one wants to write about these losers since the reader would feel a large dose of disdain for them, and the story would be short indeed.

That being said, Empty Bodies is a mixture of sadness and heroic adventures. The book starts with several different characters in different areas--at a hotel, at a warehouse job and on a plane, and one of the characters--a little boy who's  likable and quite intelligent, though he can be quite judgmental. The book moves at a rapid speed and brings several of our players together, except two though, and during the ending we understand they soon might be reunited.

The last few pages of the story leave room for a new book when a psychopath is brought back to life for future reference.
I  enjoyed this book and look forward to the second one.


Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov


Today, people's beliefs of Neanderthals have changed immensely. In the past, it was believed that these early humans were not too smart in the membrane, and lived without tools and were basically ignorant.
That belief has changed, and new findings show they were a smart people, and some believe they were humans, at any rate they eventually bred with humans. Neanderthal DNA can be found in homo sapiens today, and some have that look about them. 

These ancient people lived in caves or homes they made with mammoth bones, and were very careful about the way they kept their domiciles. Most could have made the cover of Neanderthal Home and Garden (sorry). They made tools, performed operations, and may have used language and created music.

This book is about a young Neanderthal brought to the future (the future of 1958 when the book was published) and the nurse who learns to love him even though he is an ugly little boy.
No one could say this story shows any signs of political correctness, and some of the words are quite offensive. Ape boy is what the media call him, and he is just a spectacle to be poked at and studied--no one cares that he is a scared little guy except his nurse, who names him Timmie and eventually she loves him dearly.

Ultimately, the company who brought him into the future is ready to send him back where he came from--they want to pull someone else out of time. It doesn't matter to them that he now wears clothes, reads, talks, uses utensils while eating and will be completely lost back in his original home.

It's heartbreaking to think they wouldn't care, but it's believable that corporations and some scientists care for nothing but money and fame, and what's one little boy's life in the shadow of their greatness.

The nurse wants desperately to sneak him out of the building to safety, but she's found out, and so her only recourse, which would be the same as most mothers frantically afraid for their child, is to go back in time with him, and try to keep him safe.
There are many conclusions my mind has created on what happens when they get back and I persist in my belief that she will help him be safe and he will grow to be a great man.

This is a wonderful story and Asimov felt it was one of his best.



The Mystery Of The Blue Train by Agatha Christie


Oh, those little gray cells of Hercule Poirot's. I have a yearning to be Poirot's sidekick, and travel the world of the 1930's with him. To think of the mysteries we could solve, and the amusements we could have (purely platonic, of course, since I'm not sure anyone could find his egg-shaped head and his attention to his mustache desirable), but there would be those pesky murders to attend to that seem to follow Poirot around like a lost dog.

Poirot is traveling to the Riviera for Holiday, and to no one's surprise (at least not to me), a murder happens on the very train that he is traveling on. He decides to help out the police in the investigation--sometimes he says no, I'm retired, and other times he is more than willing to donate his time and gray cells to the effort of finding a dastardly killer.

There is a lesson here on spoiling our kids and giving them too much stuff, no matter what their age.
Ruth Kettering is found dead on the train with her face smashed in and all her jewelry missing, including a new piece that her father bought her, and the act of his generosity, motivates the killer and brings about her death.

Christie has a way of bringing together people who at first seem so far apart from one another in distance and temperament. Several other people are on the train with the victim--her estranged husband, his former mistress, a woman until recently was quite poor, and Poirot.
She blends lives together until new love forms in the hearts of two, and the most sadistic murderer is found out.
This is not a fast-paced book, but so worth the patience and time.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress


May contain spoilers.
The worst element of Aliens landing on our Earth would be their intent of good or evil. Not everyone views good and evil as absolute, and in the beginning, the intentions of the aliens in this book are difficult to decipher.
The aliens, that land on our world, aren't complete strangers--they are part of our ancestors that somehow broke off and moved to a distant planet far, far away.
They tell a tale of a spore cloud coming our way within one Earth year, and will hit their planet within twenty-five years. The spores are deadly to the aliens and subsequently deadly to humans.
The aliens set up labs with all the top scientist of the world to find a cure for humans and the quasi-humans also.
One aspect of the story that I consider appealing portrays the primary character who's a middle-aged woman. She's a scientist at a leading university with three grown children. She doesn't have a man and doesn't seem to be looking for one. She threw out her alcoholic husband years earlier, and she concentrates on her work and occasionally her grown children.
Books rarely show a woman, moving up in years, worth anyone's scrutiny in this age of youth and beauty, so this is an immense credit to the writer.
As time moves on she becomes depressed when thinking back on the mother that worked too much, and the mother that couldn't find the secret formula to give her children what they needed.
As the book moves on, her regrets become  perceptible, which leads her down the path of anger, bitterness and regret. I recognize this woman since I have felt these same feelings towards my children, and I've spent copious amounts of sleepless nights contemplating my own maternal defects.
I wish in the end that she lost her frustratingly fatalistic perspective, and after learning a large percentage of the population on our planet will live, including her other two children and grandchild (left on earth), that she would have grasped onto happiness for the human race. Maybe, as time moves on and the pain of her loss diminishes, she will find the ample hope that she needs in her life.



Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov


The thought of gazing upward to the stars driving any creature to complete madness is a difficult concept to fathom, nonetheless that's the driving force behind the story of Nightfall.
Picture a planet with six suns and no other way to light people's world. Every light they utilize, inside or out, comes from their suns. A few select scientist discovered there will be a total eclipse of all six suns and total darkness will ensue.
They're cognizant concerning the stars, though they're a bit shaky on what they may be. There are religious texts--thousands of years old-- explaining a well-known theory. The texts tell a tale of  catastrophes that happened when the world turned to darkness at a previous time. People burned their cities to light their world and set themselves back to their own dark ages. 
The primary component of the story presents dialog among a reporter and the scientist trying to record the event for future reference.
The dialog makes up 99% of the book, and the event of complete darkness occurs only on the last few pages. Asimov writes the amount of stars number 30,000 compared to the few thousand that inhabitants of Earth view during our nightly observations.
It's difficult to conceptualize the feelings except beauty from these pinpoints of lights, although to never observe a star and suddenly to be bombarded with thousands could jolt anyone's composure.
Even though the book feels especially long winded--the writing continues with Asimov's excellence and the story's interesting subject matter is definitely worth the reader's time.



Monday, May 18, 2015

The Demented: Contagion (The Demented: Z Book 3) by Derek J. Thomas



This review has a spoiler, please refrain from reading unless there's a desire to learn what happens.
In the first two books, Tom's trying to save his wife and son only to have them killed in the third book. What's the point of spending hours reading the first two books related to them--just to throw his family away consistent with discarding decaying trash? 
I must confess after she dies I sped through the rest of the book telling myself the reasoning behind my motive-- I could move on to bigger and better zombie stories.
I didn't feel too guilty since the book moves at a rapid speed, I found certain parts difficult to grasp, the pace moving so quickly. Parts which had the capability to retain my interest were glossed over abruptly, and the ending told three years of the story in a mere paragraph.
I still assigned this book four stars for the reason Tom consistently shows he's a man of integrity and the story has  a  multitudinous amount of zombies.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

Dark Days (Apocalypses Z) by Manel Loueiro


First of all, I was hoping that the main character would come to his senses and realize that a 17-year-old child isn't an appropriate companion for him, but no such luck. Are relationships of this type so normal  in Spain that it didn't seem to be a major problem to the author. Where I live, this would be frowned upon to a severe degree.

Second of all, why did Lucullus (his cat)have such a small role? I am not a cat person, but I was thrilled that his pet made it all the way through the first book, only to have such a small role in this one. In a way, I feel everyone had a small role, even though the book was entirely about the same four (or three with the nun out of the picture) characters. The main reason for this is the speed the story is told--should it have calmed down a little?

The book had areas of the Belguim's body part that I didn't want to read about. Gross! In fact, the entire part revealing the evil guard raping women and trying to kill Lucia at the hospital was overkill. 

The truth of the book is that people would still be fighting each other even when they should band together to fight the evil around them. It's a sad view on the human race, but an accurate one.
The end of the book leaves us with an interesting cliffhanger though I'm just not sure it's incentive enough to follow the story to the next phase.

Breeds There A Man by Isaac Asimov




This is another short story by Asimov that has a very interesting chilling concept that I know couldn't be the truth--could it?

A scientist believes that the human race is nothing more than bacteria that is studied by long-lived (alien) beings. We are nothing but bacteria in a microscope to them, but they must keep us contained, just as we must contain all bacteria and viruses in our laboratories.
Each time a civilization's pursuit for knowledge grows to an extensive degree, these "beings" force a war among us to create such havoc, that all intelligent advances are lost.

One scientist gives out that is why all past great societies burn out at their greatest degree of strength and awareness. I have always wondered about these great empires and why they fall at their strongest--though I believe it's the death of a powerful leader, and no one to take his place that cause the great collapses.

The good news for the earth's populace is that the suicidal scientist helps create a barrier against warring enemies and thus help the bacterias (humans) escape the lab.
This story reminds me greatly of The Forgotten, a movie with Julianne Moore. In the film, we are all just lab rats for a race of aliens that play with our emotions and  taking away or changing the people in our lives. No one can remember what happened before, except Moore can remember her son, and nothing the aliens do to her can change that.

Humans are at the top of the food chain, and there would be a great horror to realize we are at the bottom--no more important than a stain on a microscope.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Departure by A. G. Riddle



I knew by reading the synopsis of the book that the essential characters are involved in a plane crash, which forces the passengers into a different time period or world than the one they left. At this point, the book takes a plunge into a surprising turn of events.

After the disaster, Nick organizes a rescue to save people from the sector of the plane that landed in the water. He's forces survivors to remain calm and help each other stay safe. They wait for the rescue that never comes and place calls on phones that reach out to emptiness.

Soon, five of the survivors endure a future they're not prepared for, and while a few meet their ghosts-- others meet their older selves. Only a handful of people lingers on earth, and Nick and all the survivors learn that they helped create a plague that forced people to age and die in mere hours.

Can they emerge back to their time, and once there, will they remember enough of what happened to fix their mistakes before they occur in real time?

Time travel always creates a perplexing puzzle that boggles my mind to an extraordinary degree. Several dimensions may be created by a person's merely existing in the wrong moment, which can influence the life of the world.

I genuinely liked this book and hope to read new books from the author.




Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Feeling Of Power by Isaac Asimov

I'm actually cheating a little bit on this review since this is not a book but a short story.
I started my love of books in middle school due to feelings of not fitting in and loneliness.
One author stands out in my mind and that is Isaac Asimov. The school library had several of his books containing short stories, and I fell in love with science fiction and reading for the rest of my life.
Though Asimov and I would never agree on views of Christianity or politics--I believe we could agree to disagree.

The Feeling Of Power is a story I read when I was young, and I've always wanted to read it again. The way computers are doing everything for us--this book has become even more believable, and very insightful of Asimov since he wrote it in 1951.

The story is set in the future, and Myron Aub (I love that name) has learned basic math--no one knows how to do this since computers compute numbers for everyone. Before long the military get their hands on it and of course nothing good will come of that.
Poor Aub, he just wanted to help mankind, but instead the military is going to use the formulas in a war to kill more beings.

The story ends on a sad note, but you should read it to find out.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Beyond The Wall by Jacqueline Druga



This is the third book in the long series called "Beginnings." Our old favorites are back: Dean, Ellen, Frank, Joe, George and many more, but we find out that one of these people is a terrible traitor who never cared about anyone else in Beginnings.
I'm not going to say who it is, but it was a real shock when it happened, since I always want people to be good and kind, and turn from evil.

This is by no means as good as the first book called The Silent Victor, which I couldn't put down until I read the entire story. I love hate Ellen, actually I really dislike her a lot, while continuing to like her. I'm so confused!
In the real world, I have never respected anyone who sleeps with another person's spouse, or sleeps around while married, and this describes the person that Ellen is, at least part of the time.

Frank is really becoming more understanding and mellow, and I like him much more. I think characters in stories should grow and become wiser and more self-aware.
It rarely happens in the real world, so we should at least see in books. I'm starting to appreciate his character much more.

Dean and Joe are exactly the same, and George gets kidnaped by the enemy.
So which one of these people never cared, and always had a secret agenda? I guess you will need to read the book to find out.
I'm going to start the fourth book soon called Circle of Justice, and hopefully one day I will read all twenty plus books.

The Secret Of The Old Clock by Carolyn Keene



This is a young adult book that is over eighty years old, though it's my first time to read a Nancy Drew book, and I felt inquisitive to see what all the hype was that made these books so popular. As I compare this story to a new YA book, such as the Hunger Games, the contrast is so large that I wonder how this series ever became popular.

At the time, women didn't have the freedom they have today, and there was a terrible depression hurting so many in the world. A young woman with her own car, driving around and having the freedom to do whatever she pleased must have been a dream for many young women. Plus, she lived in a large house with an understanding father, a housekeeper, and there were food and money at her disposal, so this must have accounted for a big reason these books were popular.

The surprising part of the book was that Nancy broke into a house and a truck (though it was the truck of thieves), and she was a thief and a terrible eavesdropper. I had always thought that she would be too good and righteous to attempt such felonies, but the book seems to think that if it's done for the good of mankind, then it's perfectly fine to break the law.

The entire story centers around Nancy trying to find a will that a man she never met left that was written later than the will that the Tophams have, and cause their will to be null and void.

Oh, if only we had the old man's money that he said he would leave us then I could take singing lessons. Please pity me! This was the part of the book that was so frustrating--the reasons she wanted to find the new will--to bring up a child and help the poor old woman are understandable, but to help with singing lessons or to help the older brothers to travel--this is absurd.
Plus, add the fact that Nancy has  passive/aggressive feelings toward the Topham sisters, and after a while I started to feel great pity for them.

Overall, I wasn't that happy with the story, and young adult books have come a long way in over the years, and for the most part, that's a positive statement.


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie




This review may have frequent spoilers, so please be cautious in reading if you want to be surprised by who the murderer is.

This is not one of my favorite books by Christie, but still it's quite interesting.

This is a reread for me, and I was quite surprised how often the clues actually pointed to the murderer, yet I didn't see it during the first read.

One trick she uses to throw us off is that the entire story is told by a journal written by the doctor of the village. He helps Poirot a great deal, so I was thrown off that it could ever be him, especially since Poirot always tells the doctor that he reminds him of his dear Hastings. 

I'm always shocked that characters that I trust or even love are so evil, or can turn evil under the correct circumstances. I always want there to be good in people, but that's not the truth in fiction or reality.

The old staging of all the people who could be involved in a murder is so cliche.


The detective walks around the room, accusing every, and then to their relief, giving the reason that it could be them, but they are safe.
Finally, the real perp tries to run away, but there is police at all the exits, and then the true evil, lurking inside, is revealed.
This book didn't end that way, since after the group of accused leave, Poirot allows the murderer to leave for his home and commit suicide to save the reputation of his sister in such a small community. 
This would not be allowed today--suicide must not have been such a severe action during that time as it is currently.

I read countless zombie books so that a slow read such as this, is much appreciated.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey



As I read the first half of this book, I realized I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. It was rather slow and cumbersome, but redeems itself in the end.
I find it sad that we (me included) would turn our minds away from a new idea rather than to believe it might be true. I thought for sure the Rainbow Man was an evil spirit or the devil, but slowly realized that my first snap judgement was wrong.
Sometimes it's hard to know who or what to trust, and sadly most people love to judge first, and then distrust last. Christians are some of the worst offenders, but we've been brought up to believe most things are evil and of the devil. This is fear based faith, and something I don't ascribe to anymore.
The best passage of the book shows Leah stating  that none of us can hear God. We pretend to, but to hear Him, we must be as little children in our hearts. Then we can hear His voice. We all think we know the best way, and make our decisions without Him.
Allie is (30 year old) nine year old who befriends Leah. She is smart and good, and everything needed for a best friend for someone going through great turmoil
I loved this book, and feel there is a message for everyone, believers or non-believers.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Infected: The Fall by Caleb Cleek



A good zombie story told by a police officer, starting from the beginning of the infection. He tells about his family and town, and he still wants to be a good cop even as the world is falling apart around him.
The zombies in this book are the ones I would be most scared of--they are fast, strong and smart. They have reasoning skills in hunting humans, and have flanks coming in from the back while the ones in front are distracting their dinner.
If a zombie apocalypse ever happens--I would rather deal with the slow, the stupid and the weak brain eaters, otherwise I will be one of the first to die.
This was a good story, and I'm looking forward to the next one. Hopefully, it will be soon.

Awoken by Sara Noffke


Roya is the chosen one, and must fight the evil dream hater named Zhuang. They are going to battle in the many layers of dreams, which is Inception meets David and Goliath.
I love young adult books, most of the time--Maze Runner, Hunger Games, The Giver, but I'm beginning to believe that some of these books should stay in the realm of young adult readers.
I read this book concurrently with Shatter Me, and it was difficult to keep reading when I was so bored and annoyed with both stories.
It's not the idea of the story, because that is what drew me to the book in the first place, it's the boring drama that continues throughout. This was the type of drama I would have loved at 16, but now I'm older it makes for monotonous reading.
The only difference between Awoken and Shatter Me is that the latter redeemed itself a little at the end.
I'm actually glad so many people like this book and there are many great reviews on Goodreads, since I don't like to write anything wrong, and then my review is the only one existing. Awkward! I'm positive I won't read Stunned, which is the second in the series.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi




I love Goodreads, and keep a record of all my books there--those I've read or want to read. I also look at several reviews before starting a new book. So basically, what I was saying to myself while reading this book  is "why, why, why didn't I believe all of the reviews with one star."
I should have put out a restraining order that this book should not come within a thousand miles of me, but what I actually did was read it. I did so kicking and screaming the whole way, because I hate to quit once I've started.
Juliette is in an insane asylum, and all she really has is a notebook she writes in and a view from a window. She crosses out almost everything she writes, and rewrites it a different way. At first, I found compelling, but after I lost interest in her completely, I found it annoying.
This book is a silly love story in a future world that is dying, and it drags on and on. After a while I was hoping a comet the size of the moon would smash into the earth and put me them out of their misery.
Suddenly, when I was about to get into a fetal position and cry "make it stop," the ending became very interesting. She meets more people that have mutant powers (oh I should have added that she can kill you if she touches you) but just when there was such promise--it was over, and  a series of books hold the rest of the story.
I'm torn whether I should read book two, but one thing I know for sure is that I'm going to look at the reviews again, and this time I will believe them.

Friday, May 1, 2015

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood



I saw the movie associated with this book many years ago, and was surprised to find out the book was so much more full of substance that can't be captured on the screen.
I don't always like Margaret Atwood's books, because they feel full of herself as if she was writing them with pompous attitude, but not this book.
This story is woven through three different time lines that all connect in a downward spiral. The main character speaks of the time before the madness, when she is conscripted and (attempted) brainwashed to become a handmaid, and the present time as a handmaid.
A handmaid is a surrogate (the woman doesn't have a choice in the matter) mother for a couple who can't have children. The men are high ranking officials, and for some reason there is a birth decline affecting many people in this new country of horrors.
Women are not allowed to read or write, and given the time the book was written, women had just achieved so much in equal rights. So many men (or at least many more men) during that time, didn't want women to work or leave the house and kitchen.
To say that the government of Gilead was based on Christian values would be to say the Westminster Baptist Church is based on Christian values, when it is actually based on hatred.
Even Offred doesn't believe this type of lifestyle is what God meant, but of course it comes down to people often perceiving others as trying to control their lives, as some perceive present day Christianity want to accomplish.
The one thing I really hate about this book is the ending, or lack thereof. Even the movie came up with a good ending, but the book just ended right in the middle of a story, and so everything is now left to our imagination.
Though there are some historical notes from a conference conducted in the future (yes they still have dreaded boring conferences), where the speaker tells how they know about Offred by the recordings she makes and hides.
Even though this last part is interesting, no one in this future which is in 2195 knows more than we know, so we still can't learn an ending here.
I believe this book is brilliant and genius.