Darkly Dreaming Dexter--Jeff Lindsay

I must confess, there's a new man in my life...and he goes by the name of Dexter. For those of you who don't know, there's a show by the same name on Showtime. It is riveting and yes, I'm sure my school-girl crush on Michael C. Hall adds to my overall interest in the show. I've been watching it for a few seasons now, and I figured it was about time to read the series it's based on.
The main character, Dexter Morgan, works for the Miami Police Department as a blood spatter analyst. His fascination with blood extends far beyond forensics; Dexter himself is a killer. But Dexter doesn't go killing all willy-nilly; he only kills those he knows have killed others. Think of him as a sociopathic vigilante, cleaning up what the law failed to. Dexter was adopted at the age of three after he was discovered at the site where his mother was murdered--sitting in her blood for over two days. He carried immense pain where his mother was concerned and felt it necessary to avenge her death. Dexter lived by a certain code--one taught to him by his foster father (and respected cop), Harry Morgan. Dexter showed signs early on, so Harry constructed a set of rules for Dexter to follow. "He taught me to be careful as only a cop could teach a killer."
Dexter was also taught to fake his emotions; whatever he actually felt, he was to act exactly the opposite. Dexter learned to imitate life. You get a true understanding of what a sociopath is--Dexter struggles to feel ANY emotion. That said, he sometimes came off like a foreign exchange student, attempting to find the appropriate phrase: "Ah, it's what you call...um...being in a committed relationship?" Like, he kills people as a hobby--I think he can manage to string a sentence together.
It's interesting to read how Dexter copes with his urges. He refers to these urges as his "dark passenger." He must please his companion by killing others or else it will keep nagging him.
With all of this said, you think I would be running to the library to get my hands on the next books in the series...not so much. While Lindsay had all of the elements, he failed to create any real sense of excitement or suspense. He even managed to turn Dexter into a somewhat cheesy character. At one point, Dexter actually says "au contraire." Ick. This is one of the rare occasions that I'm going to recommend the on-screen version; the show gives you all of the "page-turning" excitement Lindsay couldn't deliver. Seriously, sign up for a trial period of Showtime and give "Dexter" a chance. He's a serial killer you won't spending time with...

Flight-Sherman Alexie

Mr. Alexie, you are on NOTICE. If you write ONE MORE novel as brilliant as Absolutely True Diaries of a Part Time Indian or Flight, you will officially be my new literary boyfriend.

Flight tells the story of "Zits," a half Indian, half White 15 year old foster child. His mother died when he was six, and his father ran off the day Zits was born. Because his father never claimed him, Zits can't claim legal status as an Indian. As such, he's placed with white family after white family.

Zits harbors a deep anger and hatred for his situation in life. And I don't blame him; he's been through something like 20 foster homes (none of them good) and all his belongings fit in a backpack. Understandably, he's kind of a prick. But, you know, I have a GIANT soft spot for unruly foster kids, so I liked Zits immediately.

Convinced by a "friend" he met in Juvie, Zits walks into a bank, armed and crazy, and opens fire. A bullet explode into his head and then...nothingness. When he wakes up, he finds that not only is it 1975, but he's inhabiting the body of Hank Storm, an FBI agent.

Zits careens through space and time, waking up in new bodies that witness shocking acts of violence and revenge, including Custer's Last Stand.

Of course there's a moral lesson here about the damage seeking revenge can cause, but the moral never feels heavy handed. I adored Zits, and teared up more than once as he told his story. As this is a Sherman Alexie novel, I also laughed quite a bit.

Seriously Mr. Alexie; I'm one more good book away from staring at your author photo with little cartoon hearts in my eyes. I may or may not begin keeping a photo of you on my bedside. You know, something like this:


Don't say you haven't been warned.

If I Stay-Gayle Forman

Ever since Sherman Alexie pulled me out of my bookslump, it's like the floodgates have opened and all these really wonderful books have come slip sliding my way. If I Stay is one of those wonderful books.

Mia, a seventeen year old high school senior, has a pretty good life. She's close with her family, she has a loving punk rock boyfriend, and it seems to be a given that she'll be accepted into Julliard. But that wouldn't make for a very interesting story would it? Course not. Enter the conflict.

"Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that's true."

A thin layer of snow falls, and, because this is Oregon, the schools shut down. The family decides to take advantage of the snow day by taking an impromptu road trip. One minute, they're trying to come to a consensus over which radio station to listen to, and the next, Mia is standing on the side of the road, surveying the terrible car wreck that has killed her family. Mia doesn't understand what she's seeing. She walks over to the mangled car and sees her own body there, mangled, the flesh of her leg ripped away to reveal the bone beneath.

Am I dead?

I actually have to ask myself this.

Am I dead?

Before the accident, Mia was struggling with which path to take. Does she follow her first love-music-to New York City and Julliard, or does she stay with her family and the boyfriend who loves her so very much? Now though, as she watches herself lay there in a hospital bed, deep in a coma, she has a much greater decision to make; Should I stay?

Oh man. This book just about ripped my heart out of my chest. Mia thinks back to time spent with her family, and while she's relating these lovely memories, I sort of forgot that her family is dead. When I remembered (rather, when Mia reminded me of the fact) I felt this giant whoosh of the wind being knocked out of me. No! I love them so much! They can't be dead!

It's why the book is so brilliant. Mia is so torn between letting go (it'd be easier, she's so very tired, and maybe she'd be with her family again. Life would be so hard without them) and staying for the things that are still here (Adam, Kim, her music.)She knows life will be so painful if she stays. If she goes, she knows she leaves behind people that love her, and need her to come back to them. What would you do? I honestly didn't know what Mia's choice would be. Of course I wanted her to live, but I would have totally understood if she decided to just let go.

I cannot say enough how beautiful this book is. After finishing the last page, I had the desire to sit alone in silence, just to be able to digest all the beauty and the pain.

Have I convinced you to read it yet??

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian-Sherman Alexie

So remember how I was complaining about being in a total book slump? THE SLUMP IS OFFICIALLY OVER!! And it's all thanks to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit how hesitant I was to read this book. I'd even checked it out from the library a few months ago, but returned it unread. It had gotten such rave reviews, that I was a little wary. I've gotten burned a few times this year by the "omg you HAVE to read this!!1!" reviews on some other blogs. I'd rush out to read those books and, while there was nothing wrong with them, per se, they just suffered from my too high expectations. Anyway, I was cautious.

From the first paragraph, I was totally hooked. I could instantly hear Junior's voice in my head, loud and clear. He's smart, he's funny, he's sarcastic, he's confused and, well, he's awesome. Seriously, I would totally hang out with this kid.

I loved the honesty of it all. Junior pulls no punches in describing all the things that are wrong with the reservation and with the people on it. He traces every problem back to its source; booze. But though he acknowledges these issues, he's also attached through the strong bond of love and loyalty to the Rez. When his math teacher tells Junior that he has to leave the Rez in order to survive, Junior takes his words to heart and decides to go to high school at Rearden. Rearden is off the Rez and full of white kids. Though he knows he's going to be looked on as a traitor, Junior also knows that his teacher is right; if he wants a different life for himself, he has to leave the rez.

I really loved Junior's relationship with his family. They have their issues (dad's a drunk prone to disappearing for days on a bender, mom is an enabler and his older sister is sort of a hermit) but the love and devotion they all have for one another is wonderfully apparent. Who hasn't thought their family was totally weird and effed up, and loved them anyway?

It would have been easy for the story to devolve into stereotypes and absolutes. Instead, the story is beautifully crafted and feels incredibly real. This could be because it's loosely based on Sherman Alexie's own experiences growing up on a reservation. Still, it's the mark of a great writer when you can read their work and not think of the author all the time. Instead, you're thinking about the characters. After all, that's the point of story telling.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is at turns heartbreaking and hilarious. A book can get me to both laugh out loud AND cry? How rare (and awesome) is THAT?

I finished this book in a day, and was totally bummed that it was over. Luckily for me, Sherman Alexie is "hard at work" on a sequel, tentatively titled The Magic and Tragic Year of My Broken Thumb. I can't wait to have Junior's voice in my head again.

Hold Tight-Harlan Coben

I think it's about time to review something written by my literary boyfriend (Also known as my LBF), Harlan Coben. Call me a romantic, but his ability to write a good murder mystery had me from day one. I've found all of his books equally interesting, so I'm just going to review the first one I ever read, "Hold Tight." The story is about Mike and Tia Baye, concerned parents who decide to start monitoring the computer activity of their sixteen-year-old son, Adam. He has been acting despondent and temperamental lately, especially since the death of one of his classmates, Spencer Hill. After reviewing Adam's e-mails, his parents become increasingly worried about their son's safety. And when Adam goes missing, they refer to a series of cryptic messages that lead Mike on a wild chase around the city. I'm talking dead hookers, brutal fist fights, undercover drug clubs, hostage situations kind of wild. On the quest to find his son, Mike learns more about Spencer's death and Adam's possible involvement. I wish I could go into more detail, but I don't want to reveal all the good stuff. Let's just say, Coben will keep you guessing until the last page.
Coben has been described by a fellow mystery writer as a "modern master of the hook-and-twist." That couldn't be more accurate--my LBF knows just how to keep me coming back for more. I forsee a long literary relationship...

Dead and Gone-Charlaine Harris

OK. I have a confession to make. I got really impatient to read this book; I knew I wouldn't be able to get it from the Library for like, MONTHS. So I, um, downloaded it online. I know! I'm a jerk! I've done a lot of questionable things in my time, but this is one that I actually feel pretty guilty about. So don't tell anyone, ok?

As I got through the first few chapters of my totally pirated copy, I started to think that maybe I'd been hoaxed. There was no way that this stuff had been written by Charlaine Harris. I made a quick trip to the bookstore and compared my copy against the book. Dude. My copy was not a hoax. The book just wasn't....well it wasn't any good.

Now, one of the best things about this series is Sookie's voice. It's really strong and you get a perfect sense of who this character is in like, a paragraph. Sadly, Sookie's voice was totally missing from Dead and Gone. Seriously, she didn't even sound southern in this one. Total dissapointment.

Also dissapointing was that none of the characters really breathed like they have in the previous books. They seemed sort of like cardboard cutouts of their former selves. Even the Eric/Sookie sex scenes were kind of...boring.

I'm going to chalk the epic fail of this book up to the fact that Ms. Harris has more than likely been totally consumed with work on the HBO series based on the Sookie books, True Blood. Maybe she just sort of rushed this one to press or something. Whatever the case, I'm not ready to give up on this series yet, and will totally read the next installment. Maybe next time, I'll even BUY it.

Gods Behaving Badly-Marie Phillips

I’m pretty much a sucker for anything involving the Greek Gods. Since an early age, I’ve been fascinated by the sordid tales of romance, betrayal and lust. When I first heard about Gods Behaving Badly, I knew I had to have it.

Several of the Olympian Gods are sharing a dilapidated flat in London. The peeling paint and layers of dust are a far cry from the marbled splendor of Mount Olympus. The Gods are suffering a loss of their powers. Turns out that if no one believes you in anymore, it gets harder to turn a girl into a tree. Who knew?

The Gods are forced to take day jobs to make a living. Aphrodite is a phone sex operator (natch), Dionysus runs a sleazy bar, Artemis is a dog walker, and (possibly my favorite) Apollo is a t.v. psychic. When Eros hits Apollo with one of his famed arrows, causing Apollo to fall in love with mousy maid Alice, all Hades breaks loose.

This was such a fun read. I think Phillips did a fantastic job of modernizing these ancient gods. Apparently, Ben Stiller’s production company has purchased the rights and are in the process of turning it into a television series. Here’s hoping they don’t ruin this great story.

The Book of Lost Things-John Connolly

I consume books quickly. I also have a terrible memory. Those things combined ensure that I’ve read a lot of books that I can't remember. Every so often though, I’m lucky enough to read a book that, upon finishing it, I know with total certainty will stay with me for a long time. The Book of Lost Things is just such a book.

Set in the beginning days of WWII, twelve year old David is consumed with mourning his recently dead mother. To make matters worse, his father remarries and relocates the family to his new wife’s old English country house. David spends most of his time in his attic bedroom, ignored and ignoring his new baby brother. Feeling so alone, he takes refuge in the books lining the shelves of the attic. Imagine his surprise when the books begin to whisper to him. Of course, a magical adventure follows, complete with a new world discovered beyond the walls of the old garden.

This is honestly one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’m quite sure it’s going to be one I read yearly. It’s sweet, poignant and sad. Though it may involve a trip to a magical kingdom, werewolves, trolls and dying kings, it brilliantly captured the loss of childhood innocence on the road to becoming an adult.

The imagery was fantastic, and I could easily see this book being turned into a film.

Oh, and here’s a little secret, just between me and you; it totally made me cry like a little girl.