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 The
Girls (5 out of 5 stars)Seal Books/ by Lori Lansens In a nutshell:
About to turn thirty, Rose and Ruby Darlen sit down to write their
life story—as conjoined twins. Happy happy? It’s a sad,
sad book. But it’s completely gripping. I’ve never read
anything like it. The twins’ story is odd and magical and
grotesque and beautiful. Master at writing: Lansing
does an amazing job with this novel. Her writing is full of darkness
and humour. See this passage: “Words leak
from my brain. Seep out my ear. Burble from my crooked mouth. Pool
on my warped parquet floor. At least they’re not gushing from
my heart. Or God forbid, my ass.” Read this book. |
In a nutshell: The
authors of gofugyourself.com, some of the meanest celeb writers
out there have decided to put together a book of awards like the
Tanorexia award and Most Maddeningly Inconsistent Dresser.
In theory: This is a very entertaining book at times as
Cocks (hee) and Morgan are quite witty in a lot of their observations.
But sometimes they can cross the line into just plain mean. And
what’s the point of that? Shelf-life? Expect
to see this one in Chapters bargain bin in a few months. It just
doesn’t have a long life ahead of it. |
In a nutshell: This
is the entire trilogy of The Golden Compass, a story of witches
and bears and angels and two children in the middle of a war. Controversy
true? Indeed, there is an anti-religious thread running
through the stories. It’s hard to say otherwise. You just
need to remember this is a STORY, and a fantasy one at that and
just read it for that. It’s incredibly gripping and the whole
thing is beautifully written. Get them reading:
While I would say this is not for the youngest readers, probably
those about 13 and up will love it. And anything that gets them
reading gets my vote. If you’re really worried about the religious
messages read it to them and discuss as you go! |
In a nutshell: The
government hires a detective to hunt down a bank robber whose true
identity once revealed, starts the real chase. Dirk Pitt
no more: It’s a departure for Cussler and while fans
may miss the Pitt, this is still vintage Cussler—lots of chases,
hot babes and fast cars. The writing is suiperclunky and awkward
but if you can look past that, you’ll love it. wtf?
In the front cover there is a map of the Western United States and
apparently Montreal is right above Montana. Hmmmm….. |
In a nutshell: Natalie
Goldberg leads aspiring writers through the art of memoir writing
in this inspiring book full of useful ideas and practice.
Memoir is…It isn’t just writing what happened
to you. That’s a common perception. Good memoir is more episodic
and detailed than that. Goldberg explains that perfectly and the
book made me want to sit down and write my own (even though my life
is quite a snore!) Write your heart out: She says
there are no reasons not to write. If you want to write, write.
Man, I wish I could get my ass disciplined enough to put something
longer than an article together. If you love writing this is a great
book to inspire you to do more. |
It's Oprah's week here ar relish. Not only are we featuring her book and an author from her book club, we also have The Loved Dog by Tamar Geller, a fascinating book to help you train your puppy. Granted, some of these techniques maybe don't work on all dogs but the stories she tells are worth the read alone. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Try. |
 O’s
Guide to Life (4 out of 5 stars)Oxmoor House/ by various authors In a nutshell: A
compilation of over 100 articles from O Magazine over the years.
Her favourite Things? It’s not really a surprise
but Oprah pimped this book on her favourite things show this year.
So low. Good? Do you like the magazine? If you
do, then you;ll probably love the book. It has some great articles
in it and some pap. Overall, for a fan of Oprah or what she stands
for, it’s worth picking up. But maybe wait for the paperback—I
think she has enough money. |
In
a nutshell:
The Greek Gods all reside in London and they are having problems.
When Aphrodite plays a mean trick on Apollo, things really go sour.
Why all the sex? The idea is great, the execution
is a little faulty. Phillips seems to be trying a little too hard
and includes sex scenes that aren’t really necessary and are
actually a little disturbing. Sweet take: The modern
ideas of what the gods represent are very creative. My fave was
Athena who speaks in huge words and no one can understand her. Enjoyable. |
In
a nutshell: Nine-year-old
twin boys, Jared and Simon, and their thirteen-year-old tomboy sister
Mallory, discover a magical but dangerous world in their own house
and the woods surrounding it. Good or hype? Some
people are saying that Spiderwick is just the next hyped up children’s
series but having read three of these now, I can honestly say that
they’re just well-written and imaginative stories that kids
will be glued to. Movie curse? We’ll see
when the film comes out if it’s any good but get your kids
reading these now—they’ll be intrigued by the movie. |
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In
a nutshell:
A woman kills her ailing mother and has sex with her best friend’s
son. Not as good as it sounds: I hated the protagonist.
I hated her guts. I thought she was stupid and narcissistic. Go
figure. I loved The Lovely Bones. Sophomore Slump:
I really hope Sebold just had a hiccup with this one because I think
she’s capable of better. The writing her was poor—she
kept jumping from past to present in one sentence. Pass. |
For the trendy glamazon on your list: Style A to Zoe by Rachel Zoe, the super-famous celeb stylist that everyone knows (sort of). Personally, I don`t think she`s that fab (she`s the woman who engineered the images of Nicole Richie and Mischa Barton). She`s very anorexic and desperate-seeming, yet the book it quite enjoyable to leaf through. Anyone into fashion and/or celeb watching will get a kick out of it. |
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The
Fug Awards (3 out of 5 stars)
His
Dark Materials (5 out of 5 stars)
The
Chase (4 out of 5 stars)
Old
Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir (4 out of 5
stars)
Gods
Behaving Badly (4 out of 5 stars)
The
Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone;
Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath (5 out
of 5 stars)
World
Without End (4 out of 5 stars)
The
Almost Moon (2 out o f 5 stars)