Adult Archives - Page 46 of 55 - Introverted Reader

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans: Book Review

The Christmas Box is about a young couple and their young daughter who move in with an elderly widow to help her out with light chores in exchange for rooms. Mary, the widow, becomes an adopted grandmother to them all and feels compelled to pass on wisdom she has gained with her years. This was a nice, easy read (I literally read it in about an hour). The lightness of the story, though, masks the underlying lesson about the first gift of Christmas and the preciousness of time. I would recommend this to anyone, but especially busy parents who are maybe starting to lose sight of what really matters to their children. Reviewed December 6, 2007

Everything is Going to be Great by Rachel Shukert: Book Review

After college, Rachel Shukert ended up working for free for a well-known experimental theater director. The play took a brief tour of Europe, and Rachel was thrilled when she found out that her passport had not been stamped. That meant she could stay in Europe as long as she wanted without a visa, since no one officially knew she was there. Setting out to "find herself," she ends up living with two of her gay best friends in Amsterdam, jobless, but more than willing to try out the local booze and dating scene. I'm not the right reader for Everything is Going to be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour. Call me a prude if you want, but I somehow (thankfully) avoided the stage of life that Rachel Shukert describes in her memoir. I don't understand the appeal of drinking until you end up in the hospital, or waking up with a man you met for the first time the night before. So when I ran into both things within the first few pages of this memoir, I knew this wasn't going to be a book that I connected with. If you did go through this stage, perhaps you'll enjoy this memoir more than I did. It is funny, but, like I said, I just didn't really connect with what Rachel was going through inflicting on herself. The book is well-written, and I did end up cheering for Rachel in the end, but the lifestyle described in the pages is a turn-off for me. Thanks to Harper Perennial for sending me a copy for review.

Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pajamas by Judy Parkinson: Book Review

Have you ever wondered exactly where some of our more common phrases come from? Judy Parkinson sets out to give a brief definition and history of some colorful, common English sayings. I found this book interesting and I learned a lot. For example, "Put a sock in it!" comes from the days of the old gramophones. They didn't have volume controls, so to turn the record player down, owners would put a sock inside the bell the sound emerged from. While I did enjoy learning the meaning behind some of these sayings, I have to say that the definitions were a bit dry. Take this definition of "shoot the moon": "This is an expression meaning to leave without paying one's bills or rent, or to remove swiftly one's household goods under cover of night to avoid their seizure by a landlord or creditor." This seemed like a good place to have a little fun or lighten the tone, but instead it felt more like a scholarly work. This is a short little book at 169 pages, so I wasn't expecting the scholarly tone. This is an interesting look at some of the origins of our language, and I recommend it for those curious about such things. Christmas is coming up, and I think this would make a good stocking stuffer if you have any lovers of language in your life. Thanks to FSB Media for sending me a copy for review.

The Ice Soldier by Paul Watkins: Book Review

William Bromley is a World War II veteran living in 1950's London. In the war, he led a mountaineering expedition that ended disastrously. He has never moved past this and started living again. He's just existing--teaching school, admiring the secretary from a distance, spending Friday evenings with his one friend, and visiting his father on school breaks. There's nothing exciting in his life and that's the way he likes it. Notably, he has also completely given up mountain climbing. Then something changes and he is left wondering if his life is really enough and does he have the courage to start truly living his life again? I enjoyed this. The story itself was very well-written and easy to read. The pacing was good and the way that things were slowly explained really worked. Probably the best part was that within this very straightforward story, the author manages to explore big themes like man vs. nature, the nature of friendship among men, and what war can still do to those lucky enough to survive. In other words, it works on many levels. If you want a simple adventure story, that's in here. If you want something to chew over and think about for a while, that's in here too. Reviewed June 21, 2008

Random Magic by Sasha Soren: Book Review

Professor Random has sneezed Alice right out of Wonderland. He sends young Henry Witherspoon into the book to find her and put her in her place before the world as we know it comes to an end. But Henry accidentally gets sent into the wrong book. Luckily, he meets the unflappable doodle witch, Winnie Flapjack, who takes him under her wing and helps him find his missing Alice. This book is for those people who actually believe that it's about the journey and not the destination. Me? I just want to get where I'm going. The book was fun, and I enjoyed seeing where Winnie and Henry were going to end up next and how they were going to get out of their current mess. The overall plot of finding Alice isn't a very big deal in the book though. It's more of an excuse to throw everything together. I enjoy books more if everything flows together better. Winnie's solutions to problems were ingenious. Change live to dead? She can do that, no sweat. Defeat a crazy queen in chess? Sure. Take on a boat full of pirates? All in a day's work to Winnie. Henry was a different matter. He was a loyal little thing with a big heart, but he was a little slow. He never learned to just do what Winnie said; he was always questioning her. He always came out the worse for it. The pacing was a little off for my taste. Some of the vignettes dragged on too long for me. Oh! I almost forgot! The prologue is confusing. As far as I can tell, it has very little to do with the rest of the book. So just skip it. My sister grabbed this and read it while she was house-sitting for me,…

Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens: Book Review

I read this for A Christmas Carol but decided to read the rest and see what else Dickens had to say about Christmas. There were a few other little gems, although none were as good as A Christmas Carol, but there were some that I didn't like at all. A Christmas Carol was a 4 star book for me. It was entertaining, Dickens made his point pretty quickly, and it was actually kind of funny. That surprised me. I loved this part: "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of inronmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail." I'm glad I read this, but at the same time, I can't help but feel that if you've seen one of the many, many movies, you know what the book is about. There is very little in the book that doesn't make it into the movies. Read it if you're curious, but don't feel you're missing out on anything if you don't. "The Chimes"--2 stars--This was similar to A Christmas Carol, but this time a poor man is shown how much worse the world could be. There aren't any little flashes of humor, the book got very preachy, it was too melodramatic, and I was left wondering why Trotty, the main character, is going through all this when he's surrounded by rich jerks who really need to be taught a lesson.…

The Classics by Caroline Taggart: Book Review

Do you ever find yourself reading along, and when you come to a reference to ancient Greece or Rome, you start scratching your head? With sort of a, "I think I heard something about that somewhere, but I don't remember much about it" kind of thought? The Classics: All You Need to Know, from Zeus's Throne to the Fall of Rome is the book for you. Caroline Taggart has put together a short (169 pages) primer/refresher for all that ancient stuff that you used to know but that has fallen by the wayside. Or maybe you never learned it in the first place. For such a short book, Taggart has packed a surprising amount of information into it. Topics covered include language, mythology, philosophy, history, the arts, the sciences, and a few more things. You won't read the book and be an expert by any means, but you will certainly have a decent base of knowledge to work from. The book might sound boring, but Taggart's style is actually pretty fun. "Atlas was inhospitable to Perseus (see page 47), who used the head of Medusa to turn him into a mountain range in North Africa, which takes almost as much talent as cutting someone's head off while looking at their reflection in a shield, and makes me think that Perseus could have taught David Copperfield a thing or two." She also occasionally mentions modern-day references to these ancient stories. "The first famous figure to emerge from this was Draco, who has given his name to very harsh measures in any context, as well as to a character in Harry Potter who provokes the audience to hiss whenever he appears." It's very good for what it is, but after suffering through a 10th-grade English teacher who seemed to think that World…

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes: Book Review

The Somnambulist features Edward Moon, a conjurer most easily compared to Sherlock Holmes, but with a freakish twist. His Watson is an 8-foot-tall mute man named--can you guess?--The Somnambulist. The pair are asked to investigate a bizarre murder in the seamier part of London at the beginning of the novel. Within pages, they have solved the murder. Or have they? This was a quick, enjoyable read. The characters may have seemed a little like stock characters at first, but they almost always turned out to be something other than they appeared. The plot was well-paced and, for me anyway, the mystery was pretty unpredictable. But, be warned. I picked this up thinking that it might be like The Alienist but set in London with a few sideshow freaks. It starts out that way, but by the end, the book wanders into solid fantasy. That wasn't a problem for me because I am a huge fan of fantasy, but I know that's not the case for a lot of mystery fans. But it did go a little over the top for me, which is part of why it's 3.5 stars instead of 4.5. Also, I was left with a lot of unanswered questions. I like to have everything pretty tidily resolved at the end. I can't even figure out why the book is titled The Somnambulist instead of The Conjurer except that it sounds cooler. If nothing else, read the first chapter of this book. It's only about a page long. Read it while you're browsing the bookstore or the library. This was the best first chapter I've read in a long time. Here's the first paragraph: "Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in…

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: Book Review

Everyone who knows pleasant Dr. Jekyll is surprised that he has taken the brutish Mr. Hyde under his wing. Hyde is a horrible person, and everyone who meets him claims to be immediately repulsed by him. It's obvious that there's more to the relationship than meets the eye, but no one guesses exactly how twisted this relationship is. Okay, you probably know the basic story. I think that takes a lot away from the book. I can imagine that this novella was shocking and horrifying when it was first published, but I just felt a little "meh" about it. I understand that there's a message about pride and ambition and man's dual nature and all that, but I'm usually looking for a good story. I'm not saying that this is a bad story, or that it shouldn't be a classic or anything like that, I just found it a little disappointing. If you're interested, pick it up. If you somehow don't know what's going on with these two men, go ahead and give it a try too. It's a pretty easy read for a classic, it's short, and it would be creepy if you didn't know what was going on. I read this as part of Dueling Monsters, hosted by Jill at Fizzy Thoughts and Heather at Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books. They pitted The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson against each other. I read Dorian Gray a couple of years ago (my review), and I have to say that he wins out as the worse monster in this match-up. It might help that I didn't know much of his story before I read the book, but he primarily wins for me because he…

Dracula by Bram Stoker: Book Review

I have somehow never seen "Bram Stoker's Dracula" or any of the other movie incarnations of this book. In fact, I was surprised to read the back cover of this book and find out that the book is about Dracula moving to Enland to set up shop. So, I had no expectations going into it. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It's written in a journal/letter style, which I (mostly) liked and found interesting. I liked seeing what was going on with the main characters as we went along. The voices of the narrators kind of all blended together though. Mina was different, but Jonathan and Dr. Seward were pretty interchangeable for me. If there wasn't a clue in the content, I very often had to flip back to see which one was supposed to be writing this section. And I thought Van Helsing's "accent" was terrible! This intelligent physician/lawyer makes some horrible grammar and syntax mistakes that didn't come across as real to me. Granted, I'm not an expert at that kind of thing, but there's my opinon. Speaking of characters--the characters in this book were all (with the obvious exception of the vampires) too noble and good for words. A typical, paraphrased conversation between characters (I think spoiler free): "If I should show signs of becoming a vampire, give me your oath that you will do the honorable thing and destroy me in the appropriate way." "I would lay down my very life to prevent such a thing from happening, but if it should, I would gladly fulfill such a duty to you, in order that you might go to your eternal reward in Heaven." Is this for real? Okay, the book's over a hundred years old, but still... Now for my big pet peeve: the way Mina is…