Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs by Erik Didriksen

by Carol4 Comments
Pop Sonnets is a cute, quirky little book. Didriksen takes popular songs from over the years, oldies through today's hits, and Shakepereanizes them, with the appropriate vocabulary and meter. There are few books I read parts of out loud to my husband, but this was one of them. It's fun to see how he takes songs we know and transforms them. Here are the opening lines of a couple of my favorites: Guns 'n' Roses, "Sweet Child o' Mine" Her smile, it doth recall a simpler time - the bygone years when I was but a boy; each day held some discovery sublime, each exploration brought some newfound joy. Spin Doctors, "Two Princes" Two noblemen before thee genuflect, entreating thee in ernest for thy hand. The first, he garners riches and respect; the other's only flights of fancy plann'd. Hmm, showing my age there, aren't I? The Eagles' "Hotel California," is immediately recognizable. I drove my carriage o'er the darken'd road when faintly I observ'd a distant inn. When I arriv'd, their greeting did forbode the vile debauchery I...
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All In by Joel Goldman and Lisa Klink

by Carol2 Comments
All In is a fun, breezy thriller - danger, bad guys, gambling, and a touch of romance. From a New York penthouse to a luxury yacht on the Mediterranean, it's just a fun ride. There's plenty of action and not a slow spot in the book. Both Cassie and Jake are fabulous and will take your money. Cassie because it's her job - and she's very good at her job. Jake because he's a good poker player- not lucky, he just knows the odds and can read people very well. Together, they are quite a team, even if they'd rather not be and are not sure how much to trust each other. And of course there are sparks between them, even though Cassie at first and then Jake want to resist the attraction for their own reasons. Okay, so it's a fairly typical book, one that I could totally see as date movie, but the authors do it really well. The story...
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Once Upon a Scandal by Julie LeMense

by Carol2 Comments
In a lot of ways, Once Upon a Scandal is a typical romance. She's beautiful and spirited; he's sexy with secrets. She, however, is dirt poor and shunned by (most) of her previous friends due to a her father's scandal and death. He, while seemingly a rich playboy, is actually a domestic spy, keeping an eye on the rich and powerful and it's that bit of intrigue that makes the novel a step above ordinary for me. Benjamin enlists Jane's help, and she, feeling like she really has nothing to lose, agrees. Jane, with the help of Benjamin and an old friend, reinvents herself to help lure the person who stole secret documents relating to the war out into the open. I guess this is the second in the series, but I felt we were introduced to the characters and they're backgrounds well. I assume the first focused on a different couple and featured Jane and Benjamin as secondary characters. The attraction between them...
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Rungle in the Jungle by Robert Logan Rogers

by Carol3 Comments
It sounded like a cute book. The animals get together for a race, the snake tries to intimidate them, but positive thinking and creativity win the day - should be fun. Instead, it just wasn't very good, in my opinion. First, there is no punctuation, which always bothers me- yes, it's a kids book, yes, it rhymes, but please give me quotation marks. When reading books aloud, the quotation marks are great indicators that a change of voice is needed. I want to sound like a slithery snake during his boasts or big and bold when the ape states that he weighs more than a ton, and quotes would have given me the cue. I'm still not sure about the ape's assertion that he would lose weight before the race, though; it bothers me a bit. Second, many of the rhymes are forced or don't make a lot of sense and the pattern isn't consistent. Even rungle isn't a real word. I'm all for making...
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The Dead Key by D. M. Pulley

by Carol1 Comment
I liked the sound of this one and it's set in Cleveland, which is kinda cool. I just couldn't get into and finally set it aside. I doubt I'll pick it up again. I just didn't care about any of the characters, in '98 or the '70s. Maybe it was the back and forth between times periods and points of view that kept me disconnected or maybe I just picked it up at the wrong time. Maybe I just couldn't relate to either of the main female characters. They just seemed so young, especially Iris, who should have been an adult with a career but was more intent on drinking than working at least in the section I read. The writing wasn't bad, and the characters could have been interesting, but for me it was blah. I had to give up and move on to something I'd enjoy more. I think this is my first DNF of the year....
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Murder at the Book Group by Maggie King

by Carol6 Comments
I wanted to like this mystery. The set-up is right up my alley, a mystery reading book group whose member dies during a meeting. Books and murder, a bunch of middle-age women who are readers and writers - perfect. But it was all too much, too many (confusing) characters, too many potential motives, too much marrying/having affairs with each others exes. Maybe that was my main problem. Everybody was hooking up with everybody all the time, or so it seemed, but not in a romantic way, in a trashy way. The author also had a bit of an annoying habit of pointing out themes - like wow, Nazis keep coming up or lots of mothers and sons. Gee, I wonder if the solution has something to do with those two things. I liked the people. I liked Hazel, even though I'm not sure why people thought it was okay that she was digging so much into everyone's backgrounds, not just Carlene,...
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