• Home
• Music
• Entertainment
• Books
• Design
• Technology
• Help/Environment
• Wellness
• Life Banter

Sure I was tired, but the book became more and more interesting towards the middle and before I knew it I had read 150 page to finish the book. It didn't start out as intriguing, but I definitely got caught up in this fine piece of chic lit.

Off the Record: A Novel, by Jennifer O'Connell, is about a girl named Jane who kind of played the "plain jane" role her whole life. Now a lawyer, living on her own and just meandering through life. Until her brother Andy calls her and tells her she is "Janey 245."

A rock star had written a song about Jane. He is someone she knew when she was a kid, but they hadn't seen each other since the 6th grade. But for one reason or another her pig tails and spirited ways had inspired a hit single. Or so Andy convinced her to think...

Sure it might be cool, but when you're trying to become a partner in a law firm you don't really want rock star attention. Except she suddenly found herself signing autographs and appearing on the Letterman show to reunite with Teddy Rock, formerly Theo from her childhood neighborhood.

Of course you can imagine a possible love story here, but Jane and Janey might as well have been two different people. Janey was wild, Jane was not. And let's face it, Janey would have been a great match for Teddy, but Jane...not so much.

To throw another male into the mix, a new person began working at Jane's firm. Drew. Drew had a reputation, which was based on fiction we find out, but Jane was immediately put off and treated Drew a bit unfairly.

The story also includes two of Jane's best friends; Nat and Liv. There are girl moments of what should she wear on Letterman, there were professional moments when Jane and Drew worked on a case together and of course there were anxious moments for Jane the entire time.

The book was great. An easy and entertaining read. I'd give it 3.5 stars only because it was awfully predictable and the editors did a bad job at catching typos. Otherwise it's fantastical!

Labels: chic book, fiction, Jennifer O'Connell, Off the Record

Written by:

| 7:48 AM | 2 comment(s)!

Sarak Weeks is the author of "So B. It" but I read her book "Jumping the Scratch." In this book it related to the skip of a record after having been scratched. As easy a read as this book was and as simple as it had been written, it sure did knock me for a loop.

"Jumping the Scratch" is primarily about a little boy, Jamie, who moves from Battlecreek where he was "normal as cornflakes" into a tiny trailer far away where people treated him like dirt. His Dad left him and his Mom for a cashier and then his Mom's sister had a tragic accident at a cherry factory where she ended up losing her short term memory. So, they moved in with her and began a new life.

Jamie's aunt's name is Sapphire and they call her Sapphy. She has an amazing memory of everything up to the accident, but everything after is quickly forgotten. Every morning she wakes up and asks why Jamie and his Mom are a her house. Jamie is saddened by this deeply because his Aunt Sapphy had been his confidante of sorts, someone who truly listened and understood him.

In addition to the children bullying Jamie they also pick on a little girl named Audrey. Audrey claims she knows ESP and she wears black framed glasses that are missing the lens'. She clearly takes a liking to Jamie and sticks up for him often, much to his dismay.

There was a person in the story who came to his 5th grade class for a day to teach them about descriptive writing. Jamie referred to this man as Arthur even though that was not his name. Arthur, an outsider, made Jamie feel "normal" more himself then he had in a long time. It was from that point in the book that things began to mend.

Through the story there are references to something that happened to Jamie at this trailer park, something dreadful. Though it was obvious to me he must have been abused in some way, it wasn't clarified until the end of the book. The owner of the trailer park had sexually abused him while decorating the office for Christmas. This was explained in the middle of the night when during a bad dream Jamie had woken his Aunt Sapphy up. She stumbled into the living room and tripped over his cherry cans. Yes, Jamie placed stacks of empty cherry cans around his bed as a sort of security system. She asked him was was wrong and since he figured she would never remember he decided to tell her everything. Turns out the "trigger" Aunt Sapphy needed to regain all memory, what she needed to jump that scratch in her record was to hear what happened to Jamie. It was his tragic story which brought her out of her short term amnesia. Justice was served once Aunt Saphhy explained everything to Jamie's Mom.

The story hit home on many accounts. Jamies felt perfectly normal as he was until having been uprooted and placed in an environment where people treated him as a misfit. After the bullying and abuse from the owner of the trailer park, Jamie simply gave in and gave up. His dreams and best memories were about Battlecreek where he and his family were "normal as cornflakes." Though what he doesn't realize is just because his location changed doesn't mean he did.

Having only touched on key points in the book I have to insist you check it out, borrow it or buy it because it's really a fantastic story. It isn't life altering or anything but for me it was a tad bit therapeutic. And you know something...cornflakes are normal, but they are also very boring. =o)

Labels: abuse, adolescence, bully, fiction, memory, Sarah Weeks

Written by:

| 8:52 PM | 1 comment(s)!

When it comes to mystery thrillers I love the work of Iris Johansen. She writes such fantastic thriller novels, I can hardly put them down when I get a new one. The character development is always impeccable and impressive considering most of her novels tends to have 4 or 5 strong characters.

Sophie Dunston is the main gal in "Killer Dreams". She is a strong, independent woman who is divorced and have a ten-year-old son who suffers from night terrors. His name is Michael and he has been suffering from these traumatic terrors since witnessing his Grandfather killing his Grandmother and trying to shoot him, but his Mom stepped in the way of the bullet. (I'd say he has every right to have trouble at night).

Anyway, Sophie is a brilliant chemist who has devoted all of her time to sleep research. Her father suffered from severe insomnia and that is what prompted her fascination with sleep patterns and disorders. She develops a product called REM-4 that ends up having such control over subjects that it is almost as if it brainwashes them into being slaves. Sophie rebels against what she created, insisting it never be used, but Sanborne (her boss) decides it can be the greatest chemical weapon of their time.

Needless to say Sophie quits and as we are getting into the book we find out she intends to kill Sanborne and destroy all of the REM-4 research.

Meanwhile Sanborne has been using the drug on many people along with a General they refer to as Boch. He has turned people into savage kiling machines that lack all emotion. One of the people who ends up escaping the program is Matt Royd. He too wants to kill Sanborne and Boch for that matter. He ends up joining forces with Sophie. You see where that is going, I'm sure.

Another chemist has altered REM-4 to make it stronger, but now the forumla has a very high fatality rate. Sanborne ends up sending people after Sophie and her son, Michael, because he needs her to fix REM-4 so that it won't kill the subjects, only control them. They end up losing everything and having to go into hiding with Royd.

It is easy to imagine where this book will end up, but how the author gets us to that point is full of twists and turns. Once again Iris Johansen has written a compelling novel that has left me wanting to read even more! Predictable at times, it still has enough suspense to keep me turning the pages. Plus, I really, really love her character profiles; excellent development.

Buy it, Killer Dreams!

Labels: fiction, Iris Johansen, Killer Dreams, medicine, mystery, suspense, thriller

Written by:

| 10:45 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Never have a I read a book that alternated narrators so often. Some how keeping in chronological order and without confusion, the author writes this story through the eyes of four people. They alternate by chapter and include all the same people but entirely different perceptions and feelings.

The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn: A Novel by Janis Hallowell. This book had me engrossed from the very beginning. The main character Francesca is an 8th grade girl who often times finds herself feeling completely alone. Her parents are divorced. Her dad and his girl friend have moved to Italy and her Mom is always away for work. She spends a lot of time at her neighbor, Ronnie's, cafe with her best friend Sid.

So when a homeless man who frequents the cafe, Chester, has an epiphany and decides believes Francesca is the Blessed Virgin because she smells like roses; he deems himself her protector. Chester follows her every move and makes sure no one brings harm her way. It catches on that Francesca is special, soon people swarm around her wanting to be blessed, thinking she can perform miracles. It isn't long before she begins to believe she may be the Virgin. The belief grows so strong that she even thinks she is carrying a child.

The devotion and admiration Francesca receives from these strangers begins to make her feel a part of something. She wants to please them, heal them and give them hope. Several people claim after being blessed by her they are healed of their afflictions.

Anne, Francesca's Mom, finally comes home from being away at a site for work. She freaks out at what is happening to her daughter and blames Ronnie for letting things get so out of hand.

As the reader I wasn't sure what to make of everything. I think a part of me wanted to believe she was the Blessed Virgin. But as the story grew on I realized most of what was happening was through her imagination. Francesca and everyone around her were searching for someone or something to make their lives better.

Anne took Francesca far away on a trip to a cabin after the crowd of devotees started getting out of control and at times violent. With time and medical counsel Francesca begins to see she is not a holy person, she is not pregnant and she is not alone.

The book was well written and insightful. There are other themes throughout the story, but you will have to read it for yourself. My only complaint is that I felt it was developing beautifully until the last few chapters. It is almost as if the author was rushing to get it done and she just abruptly ended the story. I suppose I needed some more closure for Francesca, but perhaps we are meant to think that through on our own.

Labels: coming of age, contemporary, fiction

Written by:

| 1:27 PM | 0 comment(s)!