Book Review: Embrace

I received a review copy of Jessica Shirvington's Embrace, one of those YA angel books.

This book was my first encounter with the angel genre romance (except for Elizabeth Chandler's dated Kissed by an Angel trilogy, which I read over a year ago), and it was not completely unsatisfying.

I was hesitant to pick up a supernatural book that focused on angels. Zombies? Okay. Shape shifters? Interesting. Vampires? Fuck yes, sign me up for some seductive, bloodsucking fun!

But angels?

This struck me as wrong.

I think primarily because I had always associated the supernatural with horror. Not that all zombies, shape shifters, and vampires in novels are evil beings. But there's always this tinge of danger and even inherent unholiness in the supernatural books that I've read (except, of course, for The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, which felt more Jurassic).

I think we can all safely say that angels are rarely thought of as "unholy," even though a lot of us think of demons as former angels.

& initially, the lack of "holy" regarding angels in Embrace did strike me as trying too hard, to make angels seem edgy or something. It does seem impossible to entirely leave religion out of a book about angels, however, and I would not be surprised if faith in God becomes more prevalent as the series waxes on...

I read this book because I was curious, and thinking that maybe the angel fad craze isn't as crazy & stupid as it initially sounded. And it wasn't particularly crazy or stupid.

I quite enjoyed the first third of the book or so.

In the middle, the book begins to feel predictable, and Violet (the protagonist) does suffer from "newbie-who's-amazingly-powerful-and-great-at-everything-and-who-all-the-guys-want-to-fuck"ness, but eh, it's a YA book, right?

Overall, I was left with the impression that this was an okay book. I went through phases where I really liked Violet, and phases where she was a bit too goody-goody for me, but since she's supposed to be some human-angel hybrid, I guess we can let that last bit go. And like I said, the first third of the book, I was very invested. I was just a bit disappointed that my initial emotional investment ended up waning.

Somewhat simplistic writing. Good for a beach read, quick read. Not a bad introduction to the "angel" genre.*

*This last criterion is based solely on my lack of regurgitation whilst reading, and might not be entirely unbiased.

Fairy Tale Re-Tellings

I don't know about you, but I love reading a well-told, re-told fairy tale. Here is one in the succinct form of a tweet. B/c Jenny Johnson is kind of awesome.

Book Review: Chomp

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of Carl Hiassen's recently released young adult book, Chomp.

Available for sale on March 27, 2012, this book was a lot of fun, while also touching on some dark subject matter.

Essentially, the novel follows the young Wahoo as he helps/watches over his father, a professional animal wrangler. Wahoo's father, the far more sensibly named Mickey, was recently injured (by an iguana that fell out of a tree), and so income has been tight. Wahoo's mother conveniently goes on a trip to the other side of the world (China) for work to earn some extra income, which leaves the boys by themselves.

In the midst of their male bonding time, the opportunity to help out on a popular "reality" television show comes up. And with their increasingly dire financial straits, really, how could they say "no?"

Well, regardless of whether they're capable of uttering negative syllables or not, they agree to help. Wahoo is knowledgeable, and kind of boring, but his father is awesome. Mickey is hilarious and fearless. In the middle of the book, the reader is also introduced to Wahoo's classmate Tuna, a girl suffering from living with an abusive, alcoholic father. Tuna is also fairly awesome, despite introducing an element of danger near the end of the novel.

This book is filled with memorable characters, zany situations, but at the same time, isn't merely frivolous fun. The characters definitely aren't perfect, but they are a pleasure to get to know.

I definitely recommend reading this book. Due to the abusive relationship between Tuna and her father, however, this might not be a book that you want younger (12 and under) reading by themselves. It deals with the relationship in a very open way (although the abuse is only physical), and if your children are reading it, you might want to have an open and frank discussion concerning physical abuse first.

Take a Chomp out of Hiassen; read this book.

Creepy Craigslist: Trying to be Nice

Oh, Craigslist...

To fully enjoy the ad, click on the image to enlarge.

"Please send a no less than 2 photos..."

Send a? Is this some new slang verb form of which I am unaware? Probably. I am getting on in years. I guess that I will just never be that hip.

Yes, I do like Teen Witch. Shut up.

"This is so we know what you look like in advance and don't turn you away at the door."

Oh, thank you for explaining why you need at least two photos of your models, with at least one being a close-up of their face. It's a bit nicer for you to simply write that if you don't reply to an applicant, it's b/c you think they're unattractive, rather than forcing them to endure "You so ugly" jokes when they appear on your doorstep.

"Pay negotiable."

That sounds like a winning employment prospect. Sign me up!

Someday...

I am a member of Librarything (here's a link if you want to check out my current, paltry library), and whilst reviewing Pet Sematary (a Stephen King novel which I thoroughly enjoyed), I came across this gem:


"...possible to combine with sunbathing." High praise, indeed. I can only wish to one day inspire such delightful words, myself.

Review: Improbability

I recently received an ARC of Sam Leith's The Coincidence Engine, which became available for sale on February 7, 2012.

I don't know if you realize what an avid fan I am of Christopher Moore (who's coming out with a new book soon; yay!) and other humorous, crazed-plot writers - but I am. I was eager to read this book, based on its' description, because I was hoping to have found a new, hilarious, wacky voice.

The book begins by discussing a plane that apparently assembled itself during a hurricane, seemingly from random nearby items, and then crash-landed and disappeared. A secret government agency is looking into the appear- & disappearance of this aircraft that should never have existed. Add in a clueless British dude named Alex, some goons of low intelligence capable of murder, and some members of a top-secret government organization so obscure its' own members aren't even sure of what they're investigating, all on a road trip across the landscape of America -- it sounds fun & zany, right?

Well... not exactly.

This book was not as humorous as I was hoping. Yet I would not say that it was not a good novel. I went in with certain expectations that were not met, yet I still, overall, enjoyed many aspects of it.

I would have preferred the humorous book I was expecting, but that is because I was in the mood for an exceptionally silly, fun romp of a book.

This book was more philosophical. It had a lot of mathematical discussion, and also brought in some physics, some ethical conundrums, etc. It was far, far more serious than I was expecting, yet well written so that I, as someone who mainly avoided math & physics classes when at all humanly possible, could still comprehend it. My brain was not straining to comprehend the subject matter to a degree that took my focus away from the story, either.

Overall, I would say that this story is worth reading, provided that you know what you're getting before delving into its' pages.

Creepy Craigslist: Awesome Jobs

I'll admit it: I love Craigslist. Between the missed "connections" (after all, what's more meaningful than two seconds of eye contact at the red light at 12 mile and Harper?), the items available "for sale," and the actual, occasional, legitimate offering, what's not to love?

Thus, I think it entirely appropriate that I turn my Craigslist trolling to good advantage by beginning "Creepy Craigslist" - no idea how often I will update, but it's bound to be more often than lately, right?

Right?

Anyway, this one seems like a great idea. Models always make $100/hour when they're not taking their clothes off, right?