I'm behind on my book blogging, as per usual. So while I try to prod my brain into disgorging the dream I had this morning, here are a couple of nutshell book reviews:
33) Some Girls by Jillian Lauren. You know, usually I'm not a big fan of memoirs, but this one really got me. It's about a young struggling actress who gradually falls down the slippery slope into sex work, and ends up accepting a job that turns out to be a position in a harem in Brunei. She goes on from there to talk about the politics of the harem, and the royal family of Brunei, including the prince who the girls are vying for the attention of. I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well-written, thought-provoking, and certainly an entertaining story. Highly recommended!
34) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. This was my first exposure to Westerfeld's work (I own Uglies and Pretties but haven't gotten around to them yet), and you know what? This book is wicked. Great alternative history/steampunk storyline set around the beginning of WWII, with a total cliffhanger at the end that leaves you clamoring for more. I will definitely pick up the sequel as soon as it's released (October!), and will also definitely read more of his work. I highly recommend this, not just for you but for every kid you know over the age of twelve or so.
35) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Everyone loves this book. Everyone, that is, except for me. No spoilers here, in case someone out there hasn't read it yet, don't worry. The story is interesting, overall. But to be perfectly frank I found the writing to be a little excessive and the pace uneven. What's more, there were two major instances where Lisbeth's actions didn't gel with her personality AT ALL to my mind, and the horrific acts of violence scattered throughout the quiet narrative were a big turnoff as well. (And no, Lisbeth's revenge after that one scene didn't make me feel better about it; instead it made me feel that Lisbeth was no better a person than the individual who harmed her.) (Slight spoiler ahead!) My last complaint is that all three of the major female characters slept with the Blomkvist, the main guy, and I just found that unbelievable. I have to say that this book is distinctly not a keeper for me, nor will I be reading the sequels.
Okay, what little I can recall of my dream last night . . . I was at a party at a bar, for my younger sister's wedding (which is weird because in real life she got married in 2003). She was also heavily pregnant in my dream. Anyway, a ton of us were there including some of my NYC friends, like K and LG. At some point we realized that we'd missed the cars we arranged for, and were going to be late for Rose's wedding. So we had to run for it. I was with my sister the bride-to-be, in our long fancy gowns, running down dark city streets to get to the church. At one point we even scaled a wall, which was difficult for her but she managed just fine. And managed to get a little ahead of me. I got my shoes all muddy and nasty, and then lost one of them and spent precious minutes looking for it. When I got to the church everyone else was already there in the back rooms. I spent a few minutes trying to fix my appearance, then spent more time looking for my shoe in that room (which doesn't make sense, really, since I lost it while running) and managed to miss the whole damn ceremony. I felt terrible about it. Everyone left me there, looking for my shoe, while they did a brief ceremony and left. There was also something earlier on about some kittens, but I'm not sure if that was at the bar or at the church, just that for some reason we had to have these kittens present at the ceremony so we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to catch them.
Writing goals for this month:
- Finish episode six of the radio play.
- Edit Emmelina.
- Write my New Orleans voodoo story.
- Agent research.
1 comment:
Still want to read "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" despite your review -- mostly just because it's such a cultural phenom. But DEFINITELY want to read "Leviathan" because I loved "Uglies."
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