Walls’ much anticipated follow-up to her bestseller “The Glass Castle” failed to impress me. While many have been heralding this as a wonderful book, I felt it lacking. Coined a “true life novel”, the story centers around Walls’ grandmother, Lily. Only aged five when she passed, Walls obviously does not have any autobiographical information, but rather relies on first-hand accounts and in-depth research to construct her grandmother’s life in the -Liz
Another riveting Dan Brown thriller involving conspiracies and Masonic lore. Much awaited, and thoroughly enjoyed, I only wish it was longer; it only took me a day and a half to read because I couldn’t put it down. Although religion is one of the main reasons, I’m sure, that Brown’s readers enjoy his writing, this newest novel did not involve nearly as much religion as The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. The ending was okay, but dropped off pretty quickly, but the twists and turns of the story keeps Dan Brown in a special place in my heart. -Alex R.
Anonymous is the manager of a 5-star
Co-author Imogen Edwards-Jones has since published Air Babylon and Fashion Babylon, which I am eagerly perusing. Also, Hotel Babylon was turned into a series show in
-Liz
Ah, the French. I admit, I am a sucker for call girl memoirs. I know, weird. But after delving into the smutty and simultaneously hilarious world of Nancy Chan’s “Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl” and the follow-up “Diary of a Married Call Girl”, I was hooked. A French take was exactly what I needed to dither away a weekend. Written in diary form, as only a classy call girl could do, we enter Belle’s seedy world, her friends (heavily populated by ex-boyfriends), and love of fashion – even if it is underneath her clothes. Pretty scandalous, this is a book to keep at home…and perhaps away from the boyfriend JShowtime had a short-run series inspired by this work with Billie Piper – an underappreciated actress if there is one - as the much-loved main character. With more outrageous things on TV nowadays, this show was definitely not tame, to say the least, and the book is the same.
-Liz
Anonymous is the manager of a 5-star Co-author Imogen Edwards-Jones has since published Air Babylon and Fashion Babylon, which I am eagerly perusing. Also, Hotel Babylon was turned into a series show in
-Liz
The Doctor's Wife is a novel revolving around the assassination attempt of an abortion doctor whose liberal wife is having an affair with a conservative artist who’s wife and muse is completely insane. A pretty quick read, the book is somewhat predictable, but nevertheless has you wanting to flip through the pages to see what happens next. While fiction is not my preferred genre, occasionally I need a break from the usual heaviness of the memoirs I favor, and this novel was a quick fix.
-Liz
Ever since I picked up a copy of Uglies in the book store and decided to take it home, I've been absolutely hooked on Scott Westerfeld. I've read all of the books in the Uglies series, as well as many of his other books. This book, published in 2004, was an interesting read. Part of Westerfeld's charm is that I can't tell if he is (to use the book's lingo) a "cool hunter" or an "innovator." His books are interesting and forward thinking (as trends go) and that is one of the things that always makes my heart flutter when I pick up one of his works: I know I'm in for something exciting, something good. This particular book is a mix between thriller, mystery and a teenage popularity contest. This book is about the people who innovate trends, and the people who popularize trends. It's about shoes - not just any shoes but really COOL shoes. It's about "sticking it to the man." It's about the bad guys being the good guys. It's about billboards and advertising and name brand. Most of all, though, it's a book about finding someone to share adventure with.
