The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Years ago, they were all the best of friends.  But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past - and terrible lie they all shared.  But now Gordon ("Go-Go"), the youngest and wildest of the five, has died unexpectedly and the other four have come together for the first time in years.  Suddenly each of these old friends has to wonder if the dark secret they've shared for so long is the reason for their troubles today... and if someone within the circle is trying to destroy them all.

Monday, April 1st, 2012 and Friday, September 18th, 2009 will always be connected in my brain.  Believe me, it's not a good connection.  One of the most agonizing things to have happen as a book blogger is to agree to a review and then not be able to finish a book.

I've had books that I really didn't connect with, but still be able to find something about it to get me to keep reading.  I've even had one book that I hated more than anything else in my life, but the anger I had towards it compelled me to finish it.  It's a horrible feeling to have a book that you expected to like, agree to review, and then have this kind of experience with it.  Part of me feels like I'm letting someone down, but I guess the show must go on.

I guess in hindsight I should have know better.  Back in September of 2010 I reviewed another Lippman book and pretty much had the same reaction to it.  I just wish I would have refreshed my memory by reading that review first.  I had the same problem with both books.  I think the writing is technically flawless, the story lines are interesting, and the characters are supposed to be dynamic.  With all that I still can't, for whatever reason, connect with anything that I'm reading.  It's as if the character sketches and plot points were plugged into a computer and pages of a meticulously written story were spit out.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for me, there is no emotional connection behind anything I'm reading.  It's just a little too cold and sterile for me.

I tried to force myself to feel something, anything that would keep me reading.  I just wanted some little crumble of emotion to grab onto.  I kept trying and trying, then I had to face the truth.  For whatever reason, Laura Lippman's writing is just not for me.  I can't force myself to like something, so I gave up on page 122. I feel bad for it, but my brain and eyes feel just a bit better.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page for other reviews.

Mailbox Monday for 4/30/12

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books and is being hosted all this month by Cindy of Cindy's Love of Books.

I received a hardcover of The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones for an upcoming TLC Book Tour

I bought a trade paperback of Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter from Barnes & Noble.  This is a book I've wanted to read since high school, so I'm really looking forward to it.

   

On a trip to Wal-Mart I picked up a DVD of Disney's Beauty and the Beast since it's going back into the vault at the end of the month.  I also dug around the $5 music bin for a bit and found Don't Be Cruel by Bobby Brown (his second and best album) and Super Hits by New Kids On The Block.

Wielding A Red Sword by Piers Anthony

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Mym was a dutiful son, but his father the Rajah interfered in his love life once too often. Rather than wed without love, he took up the Red Sword, symbol of the office of the Incarnation of War.

At first he thought his efforts could ameliorate some of the suffering caused by Earth's constant petty wars.  But he found that behind all his involvement were the clever traps of Satan.

When seeming mischance placed him in Hell, Mym organized a great rebellion among the Damned.  And Satan seemed to capitulate.  But free again, Mym learned that Satan had been busy stiffing up riots and war.  Now it seemed things had gone too far and Satan must surely win.  There was only one desperate chance....

Ever since I started to reread this series for about the bazillionth time, I've been trying to remember the first time I ever read them.  I want to say it was some time in high school, but I was really never into scifi that much, and whatever else he may be, Piers Anthony falls into that category fairly easily.  So my best guess is even younger, but for all I know, it could have been during my college years.  Needless to say that my brain has just been a little fuzzy lately.

What I do remember though is how much I love the Incarnations of Immortality series, and book four is still a lot of fun after all this time.  Mym is one of those character that every boy wants to be and every girl wants to date.  Well, I would want to date him too, but I digress.  He is both strong and gentle.  He can sweep a girl (or guy) off their feet just by being himself.  He always strives to do the right thing though it gets him into trouble at times.  He never backs down from a challenge.  He's loyal, dependable, intelligent, loving, and he's a prince.  He is an heir to a vast fortune and a life of luxury awaits him and whoever he picks as his consort.  There are just two problems.  One he doesn't want to take his father's place.  He has an older brother so it shouldn't even be an issue, but you never know in these types of things.  Princes get killed all the time.  The other problem, he has a horrible stutter.

So Mym (by the way not his real name) does what any prince in his situation would do.  He runs away and joins a group of traveling performers.  He's ashamed of his stutter so he pretends to be mute and he quickly finds a place among the other misfits.  Now this is the point of the book, within the first few pages actually, that Mym's life begins to change forever.  Traveling with the group is Orb, the daughter of Niobe who is the current Incarnation of Fate.  The two quickly fall in love and Orb even shows Mym a way of getting over his stutter.  All he has to do is sing and the stutter goes away.  It's actually not as cheesy as it sounds.  Alas, their love is not to be.  Mym's brother dies in an accident which forces the Rajah to comes and take him home.

From there Mym is forced into on situation after another, including an arranged marriage.  It's his interactions with that young woman that really makes Mym shine as a human being and as a man.  They are both in love with other people and do everything they can to stop any feelings from developing between the two of them. It's not long before reality takes over and the two eventually fall in love.  From there, it's all down here.

Through a series of events that neither one of them could have ever predicted.  Their marriage is called off which sends Mym into a blind rage.  It's that rage that calls the Red Sword to Mym which makes him the Incarnation of War.  This is where the journey starts to get fun.  The author forces Mym to deal with Purgatory, learning the ropes of his new job, an endless stream of wars, and seductive demonesses sent by Satan to send him down the wrong path.

When that wrong path lands him in Hell with no real way of getting out, Mym does the only thing he knows to do, fight.  He leads a revolt of all the damned souls that haven't been getting a fair trial.  He even enlists, and yes there are animals in Hell, the animals that have been condemned for one crime or another.  He doesn't know it, but the fate of the world hangs in the balance of how Mym fares in his battle with Satan.  Either the world will end on Mym's treatment of a damned princess and a succubus or the human race will be spared total annihilation.

Other Books In The Series:

On a Pale Horse
Bearing an Hourglass
With a Tangled Skein

Favorite Fictional Character --- Brett Hopper

Now while Taye Diggs may be living the high life on Private Practice, there were two other TV shows that this overly talented actor starred in before it.  He played a lawyer in Kevin Hill and a police detective in Day Break.  Now while I loved both shows, neither one of them lasted all that long.  And while I enjoy all three characters, who wouldn't, it has to be his role as Detective Brett Hopper that is my favorite.  So with no further ado, here is the post I originally had on 9/8/10.

I know I'm probably going to be the only one who even knows about this character, but that's fine, I can live with that.  Detective Brett Hopper, played by the gorgeous Taye Diggs, was the lead character in the short lived TV show, "Day Break".  The show aired for only a few episodes in 2006, but I was hooked right away.  Luckily they wrapped up the storyline for the DVD release which has 13 episodes.

What I like about Det. Hopper, other than how fine he is, is how resilient he is in the face of the bizzaro world he is forced to deal with.  One day he wakes up and discovers that he is being set up for the murder of a state attorney.  He is forced to go on the run and watch as his girlfriend and family are targeted by the bad guys.  The problem is, he's forced to relive the day over and over again until he finds out what is going on.  Over the subsequent days he sees his girlfriend killed, his partner killed, his sister kidnapped, and almost every other thing that can ruin your day.  He's almost killed a few times and when he wakes up he has the wounds and scars to prove it.

Thankfully when he wakes up he is able to remember everything that happened the "day" before and he's able to correct the mistakes he's made.  How many times can you think you know someone only to have them do something that looks like a betrayal? He has his limits pushed to the edge, he doesn't know who to trust, and all he wants to do is save his girl. For most people this would drive them crazy, how many times can you watch your loved ones die without it driving you mad?  But Hopper finds the inner strength to continue on because he realizes that's the only way to make his nightmare end.

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Deep inside a palace on the edge of the world, the orphan Nepenthe pores over books in the royal library, translating their languages and learning their secrets.  Now sixteen, she knows little of the outside world - except for the documents that traders and travelers bring her ti interpret.

Then, during the coronation of the new Queen of Raine, a young mage gives Nepenthe a book that has defied translation.  Written in a language of thorns, it speaks to Nepenthe's soul - and becomes her secret obsession.  And, as the words escape the brambles and reveal themselves, Nepenthe finds her destiny entwined with that of the young queen's.  Sooner than she thinks, she will have to choose between the life she has lead and the life she was born to lead...

Before I read this book, I had only read two other books by Patricia A. McKillip.  I read and reviewed Solstice Wood back in 2010 and I had read another book, can't remember the title, a few years before that.  What I took away from both those books was how exquisitely complex McKillip's grasp of the English language really is.  She is a master wordsmith and Alphabet of Thorn drives that home.

With a storyline that spans thousands of years and involves languages made of thorns, fish, and other such symbolism, Alphabet of Thorn could have been a story that easily lost it's way.  With the skill of a master weaver, McKillip not only kept the story smooth and easy to understand, but she made it an absorbing account of family and magic and how the past has almost total control on the present.  She weaves the lives of Nepenthe and those around her into a tapestry that is both complex and beautiful.

Where McKillip truly shines is in her mastery of language and how Wernicke processes and bounces the sounds of those words around in the reader's imagination.  It allowed me to get lost in the linguistic nature of both the story and McKillip's writing style.  It was one of those books that is a pure pleasure to read for the simple fact of the way the author was able to piece words together into a symphony of story and sound.

Mailbox Monday for 4/23/12

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books and is being hosted all this month by Cindy of Cindy's Love of Books.

I received a trade paperback of the most dangerous thing by Laura Lippman for an upcoming TLC Book Tour

A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer Dubois (Winner!)

And the winner is Beth of Beth's Book Reviews