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GourmetReader

GourmetReader

  • Kalamazoo, MI, USA
  • member since February 25 2007

Reviews

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Displaying 11-20 of 43 reviews
  • PaperQuake: A Puzzle
    • Rated 3 stars

    Violet is the youngest of triplets, nearly an hour younger than the oldest, as she’s reminded at one point. The other two are identical, Violet a fraternal who looks nothing like her sisters, Jasmine and Rose. Violet wants nothing more than to fit in with her sisters but she doesn’t. She was sickly at birth and has been babied all of her life.

    Violet decides to make herself more like her sisters. Their parents, Lily and Greg, are florists who are opening a new shop. The triplets go to the new building to do some cleaning and Violet finds a letter addressed to “V” and it bears surprising resemblance to her own life. She gets caught up in solving the mystery of what happened to the mysterious “V” and, in the process, learns that she doesn’t need to be just like her sisters.

    Paperquake is a children’s book and that is evident in the writing, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The plot wasn’t as predictable as most children’s books are and chances are good that I’ll read others of Ms. Reiss’ books.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, May 26 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Becoming

    The Becoming

    by Jeanne C. Stein
    • Rated 5 stars

    Anna Strong is a bounty hunter who, inadvertently, goes against a vampire. When trying to apprehend the vamp, he attacks. Of course, he meant to kill her but somehow Anna wound up drinking his blood and becoming a vampire herself. She doesn’t realize it until the doctor at the hospital where she is taken tells her so. He becomes her mentor, so to speak, and her lover.

    She needs an ally since someone is trying to kill her, it seems. She’s pulled over by a state trooper who is a vampire killer, but she escapes. Her home is burned down. David, her business partner and good friend, is kidnapped. Anna is determined to find him. What she finds surprises her and nearly gets her killed.

    I read a review of this book sometime back but for some reason I never bought it. That is, until I saw it at Charis when I was in Atlanta. I’m so glad that I did. The Becoming was fantastic! The story is fast paced with enough turns and tricks to keep the reader guessing. I am going to have to find the next of this series soon because I can’t wait to find out what happens to Anna next.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, May 26 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • March
    • Rated 3 stars

    I loved Little Women when I was a child. I think I read it about 10 times. This book is another side to that story. Why were the Marches so poor? Was Marmee really that saintly? What was their father doing during the story? We know he was gone to war and that's all. "March" fills in the gaps. The only thing that I didn't like was that the story changes from Mr. March to Mrs. March but the narrator doesn't change and doesn't indicate the change, nor when he returns to the voice of Mr. MArch. It's only confusing for a minute but I think a segue would have helped.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, May 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Simmer Down (Gourmet Girl Mysteries)
    • Rated 3 stars

    This is a light, fun read. Chloe Carter has a great new boyfriend, Josh. Josh is a chef who recently took a job with a new restaurant. "new" as in, hasn't opened yet. He's busily preparing menus, hiring and training staff while preparing for the Grand Opening. The owner of the restaurant arranged for Josh to be the caterer at a gallery opening - where a competitor was murdered using one of Josh's pieces of equipment. Luckily, Josh isn't a suspect but then ... who did it? While dodging her sister's attempts to reunite her with an old boyfriend and working at her social work field placement, Chloe manages to find time to investigate the murder. Simmer Down isn't destined to be A Classic, but it is an entertaining book and the authors avoided most of the cliches that go along with the genre. If you're a fan of "chick lit" and/or mysteries, you'll probably enjoy this.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, May 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Certain Girls
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Good in Bed” is one of my Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time. It’s funny, it’s all about various relationships and there are even lesbians in it. Over the years, I’ve wondered whatever happened to Cannie Shapiro and Joy?

    Well, Cannie turned into a scaredy cat housewife/closet writer and Joy turned into a typical teenager.

    “Certain Girls” takes place 13 years after the end of “Good in Bed.” Cannie is married to Dr. K and Joy is in middle school, preparing for her bat mitzvah. We find out in flashbacks how they came to be here: how Cannie wrote her book, how she married, etc.

    Cannie wrote a book right when Joy was about a year old and it became a best seller. Instantly, almost, she was famous. She had various problems related to that and never wrote another book under her own name. She did, however, write a series of sci-fi books for teens under a pen name. Now, it’s the 10th anniversary of her book and the publishers want to do some promotion. Add to that stress, Cannie’s relationship with Joy isn’t that great and then Joy reads Cannie’s book. Of course, Joy doesn’t tell Cannie or ask her about it – she tries to gather facts from Cannie’s friends and family and long-ago acquaintances.

    The book’s ending ticked me off but over all it was good. Not as good as “Good in Bed” but still good. It was funny and once or twice made me cry.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Wednesday, May 7 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Moon Called
    • Rated 4 stars

    This is the first of a series but not Briggs' first book. Mercy Thompson is a walker - not a wereanimal but a shapeshifter - a coyote. She's all too involved with the werewolves, not to mention the local vampires.

    It's a good story, full of action but occasionally it's hard to track who is who. Perhaps it's because I forgot my Adderall today. In any event, there are 2 more, thus far, in the series and I'll likely read both "Blood Bound" (about a sorcerer turned vampire) and "Iron Kissed" (about Mercy's friend Zee.)

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, April 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • All Together Dead
    • Rated 3 stars

    I enjoy these books - they are light and fun but not at all serious or deep. Just what you need sometimes.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, April 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Wheeler Softcover - Large Print - Tales of a Drama Queen (Wheeler Softcover - Large Print)
    • Rated 3 stars

    I went to visit A Friend in a different city and didn’t feel like reading the book I took with me, so we found a used bookstore and decided to check it out. I mean, there are Borders and other regular bookstores but I generally find cooler things in used stores. This time, not so much.

    However, I did get 3 books: 2 Piers Anthony and “Tales of a Drama Queen” by Lee Nichols. This was, I discovered to my horror only after I bought it, a Red Dress Ink book. Which means it’s published by Harlequin. Well, it wasn’t so bad. Not your standard formulaic Harlequin romance, which is good.

    Elle Medina is a late 20s woman who has never held a job. She met her now-ex-fiance shortly after graduating from college and became a kept woman. That is, until he went on a business trip to Iowa and came home, after a week, married to another woman. Elle moves to Santa Barbara and lives with her high school best friend and decides to get a job, get an apartment and get a man.

    For 279 pages, we read about how she screws up at every opportunity and learns how to be a grown up. It was interesting to me because she never actually did learn how to be a grown up when she was supposed to, so her experiences are similar to what a teenager might go through. Since I didn’t learn how to be an adult until late in life myself, I could relate. Oh, my issues weren’t that I didn’t get a job but there were other things. Elle is a likeable character and the story, while not deep, is entertaining. If you are looking for something fun and easy, this is a good choice.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Monday, April 7 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Good in Bed
    • Rated 4 stars

    Cannie Shapiro is a woman I'd be friends with - this story is one I can relate to on many levels. It's funny in spots and sad in others. I think I've read this book 3 or 4 times and each time, when it ends, I wish it hadn't.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Friday, November 9 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • I Wish I Had a Red Dress
    • Rated 4 stars

    I love all of Pearl Cleage's books. The characters are like people I know and I like how Cleage doesn't shy away from difficult topics.

    GourmetReader wrote this review Friday, November 9 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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