Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series

 

It's not a good sign that when reading a book in which the main character talks about a book she is reading, you're wondering if her selection is better than yours. By which I mean that the despite Charlaine Harris' runaway success with the True Blood vampire book series (of which I'm a fan), her Aurora Teagarden series left much to be desired. I read the entire series--all 8--and after the fourth book, I hoped that the series would recapture the hook that got me reading them in the first place. Sadly, it became more like "a day in the life of a boring librarian."

The Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series

by Charlaine Harris

The first book, Real Murders, got me hooked. Aurora, a mild mannered librarian by day, member of a club for enthusiasts about real murders by night, seemed to be a page out of an Agatha Christie novel--the quiet, unassuming detective in a sea of possibly untrustworthy characters. Though the book had a few rough spots, I read it quickly and looked forward to the next installment.

By the fifth book, Dead Over Heels, the series started to go off the rails, or in a post-Indiana Jones IV world, it nuked the fridge. Sure, it's plausible the main character can inherit a ton of money, but now she's married to a man who used to be a gunrunner to South American countries with the U.S. government's knowledge? And he's wealthy beyond belief too? To compound reader frustration, his shady past isn't really explained satisfactorily. I think Harris needed a vehicle to introduce two bruiser characters who would protect Aurora from unseen foes, since Aurora was made, in the first two titles, to be so delicate and unable to defend herself that she can barely retrieve items from the top shelf in a cabinet without causing herself harm or inconvenience (as a modern woman, I say Aurora should have taken a self-defense course or two and grow a spine).

Another quibble: At times, I had trouble remembering how old Roe was--she acted like she was in her mid-60s, but she was only in her early 30s. This character could have been someone interesting, but--as a cautionary note to all writers developing their own characters--making the character's main form of enjoyment reading is not that exciting--especially when you reference books and give no hint of their background/story line, assuming the reader knows who you're talking about. I don't like racing to Google mid-sentence.

Overall, I'd give this series a C. Someone looking for easy reads could do worse, I suppose, and the writing is solid. There are a few interesting crimes, though Harris provides few clues to assist the reader in giving even a reasonable guess as to who the murderer(s) could be before the end. It's like watching a crime show for 55 minutes, only to discover the murderer was someone never seen, but only referenced once and in passing--hardly satisfying to true mystery fans and cozy readers. To prevent frustration, take my advice and stop after "Real Murders." Then pick up the Lily Bard series, also by Harris, to find more satisfying mysteries.

Recommended for: Those who have nothing else to read or don't want to think--at all--about what they're reading. Want a lightweight book for carrying purposes.

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!
by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant

I read this book totally on a lark. I mean, how can you not be attracted to this? Take a good look at that cover. It's totally gaudy, slightly offensive, and come on, even "for fun" is crossed out. How could anyone possibly take anything written in this book seriously?

But that's just the point. The very prominent subtitle says it all: from guys who've made over $1 billion in the box office. That's right, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant adapted the book that was made into Night at the Museum starring Ben Stiller, which made more than $950 million worldwide. Add that haul to their other screenwriting credits, and suddenly, it's got more zeros than your average student loan bill.

Plus--and it took my more TV-savvy coworker to realize this--these guys are also on Reno 911! as Lt. Dangle and Deputy Travis Junior. In other words, perhaps these two guys know what they're talking about when it comes to screenwriting, making movies, and working in Hollywood.

Now, as a writer in my day job, I've often thought of what it would be like if I could turn my writing into big bucks (I know, it's a shock I'm not making them now). According to Ben and Tom, I'd need to move to Hollywood to even consider being a successful screenwriter, unless I happened to be named Woody Allen. After double checking my birth certificate and deciding that leaving my husband, family, and friends behind for some half-witted dream to move cross-country wouldn't be the best idea, my reading of this book was purely for entertainment. And entertaining it was. These guys know how to make you laugh--even when writing instructional material (seriously, they could make the booklets that come with any small appliance seem funny).

Their book covers everything you, a budding screenwriter, need to know, including the secret menu at In-n-Out Burger (I had it once when I visited LA and yes, it's that good). But seriously, they do seem to cover all of the bases, from tips on how to best write your screenplay (revisions, revisions, revisions!) to how to make studio executives like you to how you can make sure the movie you wrote gets made into a movie you'd actually recognize. I found myself fascinated by tidbits such as: in most movies, the most untouched, unedited-from-the-original-shooting-script sequences are the action scenes because these parts are handed off to the second director team (the one who doesn't think s/he is a writer/director) and all s/he cares about is figuring out how to get what you wrote translated into special effects and the like. So that would explain why some movies have really cool action scenes that seem disjointed from the rest of the movie's storyline.

Overall, the book was a great read, chock full of tips and actual advice, despite its slightly off-putting cover. I'd have no problem recommending this to anyone who'd like to be a screenwriter or who has been lured by the siren song of Hollywood.

The Grimm Legacy

The Grimm Legacy

by Polly Shulman

I picked this book up after reading a review about it in a magazine geared toward picking books for kids. It seemed really promising: a girl finds out that fairytales are, indeed, true after working for a New York library that specializes in lending magical items.

What I got was a book that needed more editing, a stronger voice, and a better handle of how a New York teenager would talk and act. Forgetting that she was supposed to high school-age, I thought that the protagonist was around 13.

The 10-year-old younger sister is treated as an equal, which is surprising, considering she manages to plunge the group into difficult circumstances more than once.

I thought more showing, less telling would have been handy too. We’re told that the protagonist's older stepsisters are overbearing and demanding, but we only get glimpses of them. We also learn that the main character’s father is very important to her, yet he makes maybe two (very brief) appearances in the whole book. Shulman is trying to gain sympathy for her character, but all I could think was that Elizabeth didn’t spend enough time at home or with her family to have that strong of a bond.

The pluses: Relatively engaging story. Perfect for someone younger, like 6th grade and younger.

The minuses: Needed a stronger editor and the protagonist got on my nerves quite quickly.

Recommended for: A kid who likes fairytales, spending hours in the library, and still believes that the impossible can happen.

Heaven's Shadow

Heaven's Shadow

by David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt

I was searching for something different to read. I'm a big Michael Crichton fan, but there are only so many times I can re-read The Andromeda Strain (GREAT book, eh movie, like usual for his stuff). Buoyed by a review that recommended the book for those “who like fiction with their science,” I picked up Heaven’s Shadow by Batman Begins screenwriter David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt. Before realizing a legitimate screenwriter had penned this, I thought the prose sounded like it was ready for the big screen. Turns out, the rights have been sold already.

The book's premise: NASA is sending a team of astronauts to visit Keanu, a Near-Earth Object or NEO (get it, Matrix nerds?), that was spotted a few years' prior. Set in the near future, the book feels like it could be happening today. The U.S. is in a space race with an international coalition made up of India, Russia, and Brazil. Both are gunning to reach the NEO first to claim victory and first rights on an expedition. But when both parties get to the object, things are definitely not what they seem. I got pulled into the plot, and despite a few lags, couldn't stop turning pages to find out what was happening next.

I also found myself rooting for the team leader, Zack Stewart, who embodies the “everyman adventurer.” He's a science fanatic who is dealing with personal loss and the joys of parenting a teenager. Throughout the book, his voice is the strongest among the astronauts, though I felt by the end that his voice had been overshadowed by the events happening. It was too bad because this was a man driven by his passion and you wanted things to go right for him. You just didn't get a chance to "hear" his thoughts by the end.

The pluses: The book has a lot of things going for it. As someone who used to dream of being an astronaut, the scenes of the astronauts at work and in mission control seem spot on. The technical jargon is relayed so non-techies feel included. Plus, despite some lags in the plot, the book kept up the pace just enough so that I was compelled to finish.

The minuses: It's written to be easily turned into a screenplay, so anyone looking for very lengthy description is going to be shortchanged. Also, the ending could have been better. Yes, it's set to be a trilogy. No, that's not immediately clear from the beginning--or ending--of the book. I looked it up online because after finishing the last chapter, I felt cheated out of a real ending to the story. And now I've unwittingly signed up for another series to follow (I'm looking in your direction, The Passage...) I'm not looking for the (unending) Ender's Game kind of resolution, just more than three pages for a book that was almost 400 pages long.

Recommended for: People who like science with their fiction, kids who did (or wanted to) attend space camp, fans of The X-Files, readers who want minimal description cluttering up the story.

The Passage

The Passage
by Justin Cronin

The Passage is a massive book, in length (784 pages), in heft (2.5 pounds in hardcover), and in the story's scope. It's also a part of a trilogy, which isn't immediately apparent. I had originally started this book because I thought, despite its size, that the story was interesting and surely, after almost 800 pages, it would be resolved. It wasn't. But that's a good thing.

The Passage was given a big marketing push because of its vampire story. The teaser copy in the front sounded interesting, and since I was looking for a switch from the usual, I picked it up at the local library (and managed to rack up fines since long books + two-week limit = not enough time to finish).

The book starts with the story of a small-town waitress who finds herself raising a baby girl solo. Pushed to prostitution, she eventually leaves her now-six year old in the company of a nun.

In a parallel story, researchers funded in part by the U.S. military are searching the South American jungles for a legendary, mysterious cure to all of humanity's ailments. The chief researcher believes that this unknown "virus" could cure terminal illness and lengthen the human lifespan. He's correct, but not before the research team meets up with some of the "infected" in the jungles.

Shortly after these events, two FBI agents are charged with bringing in death-row inmates to a facility in Colorado for a program that will commute their sentences, but may be life-threatening.

How does all of this relate to vampires, exactly?

Author Justin Cronin, who completed the Iowa Writers' Workshop and won the Pen/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, flexes his descriptionary muscles throughout this tome. The "how the character takes his coffee" descriptions are there, but they never interfere with the pace of the storytelling. Certainly, there are moments where you grip the armrest, hoping the characters make it through their predicaments. And there are other times when you are stuck in moments for pages, learning the minutiae, but not minding the pause in the action.

Admittedly, I got tired of the book after page 500. We're thrown 100 years in the future with new characters and no clear connection between the previous storyline, which had me hooked. After giving it up for a few days, I started again, figuring that since I had made it that far, it would be a shame to stop. I'm glad I did. The last two hundred pages really pick up the pace and create clear connections that indicate where you'll be headed for the remainder of this book and the upcoming sequel.

Recommended for: People who like vampire stories in which the vampires definitely don't sparkle. Those who enjoy a tale where humanity must fight back from the brink of destruction. Someone who likes reading prose that hasn't been hacked to death or rushed by impatient editors.

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen

For a while, it was the book to have on the subway or train to read. And then the not-too-great movie came out, and I've been seeing Water for Elephants everywhere. I just wasn't sure it was the book for me.

For starters, I heard that the main character was really old, and he was retelling his youth. Those stories never seem to work out well for me (as in, I usually cry and feel depressed). Then, a story about a circus--really? I'm freaked out by clowns and am allergic to hay. After I got over the fact that I'd never be a trapeze artist (see: how to give your dad a heart attack when you're 5), I kind of lost interest in the big top.

On a whim, I decided to try it anyway. How bad could it be?

So not bad. In fact, I was skipping my usual morning nap on the train just to get a few more pages in. Sara Gruen's prose was smooth and easy to read. Plus, the number of clowns making appearances was kept to a minimum.

The story is of Jacob Jankowski, a veterinarian who is forced to leave Cornell just before finishing his final exams. He finds himself on a circus train, manages to get a job (something of a miracle in the Depression), and becomes a part of the circus family, more or less. He also falls in love with the star, a woman who's able to command her show horses with an ease and skill unmatched. Naturally, she's married to the hot-headed animal manager, who's got more than a morbid sense of humor and an unpredictable nature.

From there, the story takes shape. I was captivated by not only the story--though it's just a simple love story--but with the description of the circus as it made its way to depressed towns along the train route. Thank goodness I never had to work as a grunt setting up the Big Top. Or had to do the backbreaking work during Prohibition.

Overall, the story gives a nice payoff at the end, and though I got a little teary-eyed, it was a far cry from the deluge that happened after The Notebook.

Recommended for: women who want Nicolas Sparks without the cliche, those who like Seabiscuit (the book and the movie), anyone who thinks the current depressed economy matches the one in the late 1920s (it doesn't...so far).

Matched

Matched

by Ally Condie

I started this book because of a recommendation I found that suggested it for people who enjoyed The Hunger Games series. I had enjoyed that series immensely and was looking for something with a similar feel.

The first thing to note about Matched—don’t let the “teen chick” cover fool you. Cassia, the main character, isn’t as rough-and-tumble as The Hunger Games’ Katniss, but she’s not a fool either. At first, I thought about comparing it to Twilight if Bella had a backbone (I know, hard to imagine, right?), but after finishing, that comparison doesn’t do Matched justice either.

The book begins with Cassia attending her “matching” ceremony, where people of her society (what may be determined as a post-apocalyptic U.S.) are paired off for fruitful, loving marriages. She learns that her match is longtime childhood friend, Xander, a near impossibility since matches are usually made across the provinces in the Society. Happy that she knows her match and could see herself loving him, she blithely looks at the small microcard presented to her at the ceremony. On it, Xander’s details are made fully known. As Cassia removes the microcard from the reader, another face pops on the screen—impossibly, of another boy she knows and one she’s never been particularly comfortable around.

From here, the book delves into the usual problems of teen love, but it also witnesses Cassia’s evolution from the Society’s chief cheerleader and full-blown believer (telling us that “The Society doesn’t make mistakes”) into someone who’s starting to think for herself, which puts her, her family, and both of her matches at risk. In all, Matched offers a fast-paced read with a satisfying ending, even if it is obvious a sequel is on its way (it is).

Recommended for: A girl mourning the end of The Hunger Games. People who liked Katniss, but wished she could handle her emotions instead of hiding them. Though boys might appreciate the idea of a society-that-seems-perfect-but-isn’t undercurrent, Cassia’s typical teen girl emotions and longings (such as, for a first kiss) may overwhelm some guys who take the chance.