I should have known from the cover tag line of "Blood is thicker than ink." That this book was going to be complete shit. Actually, saying this book was complete shit would be an understatement. I have a high tolerance for crappy vampire books and tv shows. I read and reread Anne Rice more than I would like to admit so trust when I tell you that I don't normally hate on crappy vampire books.
This book is like a smutty version of Twilight. Can I just tell you how tired I am of helpless, yet hardened women, who crave... long... lust... for vampires. Even though they could get killed they still bone their vampire boys until they "change." UGH! Enough predictable shit!
This book also uses words like "freakin" and "hellava" way too much. There was zero variety in the vocabulary of Elle Jasper. I also have to say that reading the sex scenes was mostly just gross rather than even slightly erotic. I have written my share of sex stories. I opted to make most of them funny. Frankly, trying to write erotica and have come out as anything other than ridiculous is just a wasted effort.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. From cliched characters to poor writing it just isn't worth the time it takes to read.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
I didn't know what to think of this book after a few chapters. Now that I have finished this book I am still not sure how I feel about it. I connected with the female lead, Ruth. She really just wanted to tell the truth to the youth she was hired to teach about sex. She was held back by the religious right which was taking over in her community. Growing up in SLC, I grew up in schools that only taught abstinence. I will say this about that brand of curriculum, I started having sex when I was 14. It would have been nice if I had been nice to have been armed with knowledge. This is not to imply I wouldn't have had sex at such a young age. I would have still fucked like a hot bunny even with the knowledge. I just would have been safe from the get go, rather than just being lucky before a gay friend of mine showed me the ins and outs of safe sex.
The Abstinence Teacher brought up a lot of issues for me. My big RED FLAG went up with all the GOD talk in this book. I was worried I had just checked out a book that was trying to convert me. We see Ruth struggle with the religious right not only in her career with them putting a stop to Sex Ed and replacing it with Abstinence teaching; but Ruth also has to deal with the same people in her personal life. Ruth becomes outraged when her daughter's soccer coach holds a team prayer at the end of a game. Frankly, I would have flipped my top. I got my feathers ruffled by the way the Christians in this book talk and act. I felt like I was back in high school and those snotty bitches were calling me the devil again.
I think my personal bias against religious people prevented me from liking Tim. He is the male lead in this book. He is a born again Christian and not having an easy go of it. He is a recovering addict who basically transfers his addiction for drugs to God. Having more than one junkie for a friend I know how easily some flip the switch from heroin to Jesus. I think both addictions are equally dangerous to your well being.
Over all this book was a lot of lead up and talk to an anti climatic end. Did I like it? I can't say for sure. I have been thinking about that since finishing the book. I will say I liked parts of it. Parts of it made me so disgusted with the accuracy of how some people behave I had to walk away from it for a while. Over all I would recommend this book, with the warning that if you have the same prejudice against religious people you may get your panties in a bunch.
The Abstinence Teacher brought up a lot of issues for me. My big RED FLAG went up with all the GOD talk in this book. I was worried I had just checked out a book that was trying to convert me. We see Ruth struggle with the religious right not only in her career with them putting a stop to Sex Ed and replacing it with Abstinence teaching; but Ruth also has to deal with the same people in her personal life. Ruth becomes outraged when her daughter's soccer coach holds a team prayer at the end of a game. Frankly, I would have flipped my top. I got my feathers ruffled by the way the Christians in this book talk and act. I felt like I was back in high school and those snotty bitches were calling me the devil again.
I think my personal bias against religious people prevented me from liking Tim. He is the male lead in this book. He is a born again Christian and not having an easy go of it. He is a recovering addict who basically transfers his addiction for drugs to God. Having more than one junkie for a friend I know how easily some flip the switch from heroin to Jesus. I think both addictions are equally dangerous to your well being.
Over all this book was a lot of lead up and talk to an anti climatic end. Did I like it? I can't say for sure. I have been thinking about that since finishing the book. I will say I liked parts of it. Parts of it made me so disgusted with the accuracy of how some people behave I had to walk away from it for a while. Over all I would recommend this book, with the warning that if you have the same prejudice against religious people you may get your panties in a bunch.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd
In the last couple of months I have been reading a lot of books and essays set in the South in the 60's. Race relations are something that have come up a lot in my political science classes. While things are better than they were in the 60's it is in reading these works that I see how much more work we still need to do for equality. Today our schools are less diverse than they were in the late 60's. A disturbing number of minorities are incarcerated.
The laws and justice system in this country are racially bias. It is something that comes up in the Secret Life of Bees. Rosaline is treated quite harshly for spitting on a white man's shoes. She is the house keeper for Lilly. Lilly is the main voice in this book. We learn almost equally about bees and people in this book. I loved the way the writer incorporated bee keeping into day to day life and the similarities in relationships.
Lilly's Mother was tragically killed when Lilly was 4 years old. Lilly has always had a hole in her heart where her Mother should have been. Lilly's Father was not a good man toward Lilly. He was overly harsh in his punishments and overly apathetic about her when she was behaving. Neglect and coldness is all Lilly knew from her Father so it wasn't surprising that Lilly grew very attached to Rosaline.
When Rosaline ran into legal trouble Lilly couldn't stop herself from helping her run away. They ran away to a different part of the same Southern state. Lilly has a hard journey figuring out who she is, who her Mother was, what is right or what is wrong. It is a touching and at times overwhelming journey. But in the end Lilly figures out what she believes and knows about herself and the world.
I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in a good but heavy read.
The laws and justice system in this country are racially bias. It is something that comes up in the Secret Life of Bees. Rosaline is treated quite harshly for spitting on a white man's shoes. She is the house keeper for Lilly. Lilly is the main voice in this book. We learn almost equally about bees and people in this book. I loved the way the writer incorporated bee keeping into day to day life and the similarities in relationships.
Lilly's Mother was tragically killed when Lilly was 4 years old. Lilly has always had a hole in her heart where her Mother should have been. Lilly's Father was not a good man toward Lilly. He was overly harsh in his punishments and overly apathetic about her when she was behaving. Neglect and coldness is all Lilly knew from her Father so it wasn't surprising that Lilly grew very attached to Rosaline.
When Rosaline ran into legal trouble Lilly couldn't stop herself from helping her run away. They ran away to a different part of the same Southern state. Lilly has a hard journey figuring out who she is, who her Mother was, what is right or what is wrong. It is a touching and at times overwhelming journey. But in the end Lilly figures out what she believes and knows about herself and the world.
I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in a good but heavy read.
A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages By Kristin Chenowrth
I have always thought that I would love to hang out with Kristin Chenoweth, if she weren't so dang nice (this is a bit of a joke from her book). :) I really enjoyed the snap shots of her life that she painted in this book.
I guess I never thought about how annoying it can be to constantly be called short and sweet. I am taller than the average girl and meaner than the average girl, so these things haven't ever been said to me. That isn't to say that I couldn't relate to Kristin. She and I couldn't be more opposite but at the same time, I found a lot of myself in reading her book.
Kristin gave light to how much hard work actually goes into building a Broadway career. She is sweet and endearing in the way she talks about her best gay to her grandpa. There wasn't one point that was a high point over the others in this book. That is the thing about the way that Kristin delivers her story. She rides the highs and lows with the same humility and grace. She drips with normality which you don't often see from people as talented as her.
In reading about Kristin, I went from liking her to really respecting her. I was a pseudo fan of hers when I started and I would say that my fan-ness has also grown from reading about her. I dig anyone who stays true to who they are and doesn't apologize for it. I am not at all religious like Kristin. I don't think I have prayed since my Mother used to make me do it before dinner each night. But I do mediate, I do hold my personal truth near and dear. I found it refreshing to read about someone who isn't afraid to ask for help when she needs it, but for the most part she has to figure things out on her own. I am the same way.
I fully recommend this book to everyone.
I guess I never thought about how annoying it can be to constantly be called short and sweet. I am taller than the average girl and meaner than the average girl, so these things haven't ever been said to me. That isn't to say that I couldn't relate to Kristin. She and I couldn't be more opposite but at the same time, I found a lot of myself in reading her book.
Kristin gave light to how much hard work actually goes into building a Broadway career. She is sweet and endearing in the way she talks about her best gay to her grandpa. There wasn't one point that was a high point over the others in this book. That is the thing about the way that Kristin delivers her story. She rides the highs and lows with the same humility and grace. She drips with normality which you don't often see from people as talented as her.
In reading about Kristin, I went from liking her to really respecting her. I was a pseudo fan of hers when I started and I would say that my fan-ness has also grown from reading about her. I dig anyone who stays true to who they are and doesn't apologize for it. I am not at all religious like Kristin. I don't think I have prayed since my Mother used to make me do it before dinner each night. But I do mediate, I do hold my personal truth near and dear. I found it refreshing to read about someone who isn't afraid to ask for help when she needs it, but for the most part she has to figure things out on her own. I am the same way.
I fully recommend this book to everyone.
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