The Historian

I really liked this book! Excellent story. The start was a little slow for me, but maybe I just wasn't able to give it my undevoted attention initially (immidiately following HP is hard for any book).

Nothing like traveling vicariously when you can't physically go somewhere. Ok, so I want to be a female Indiana Jones type historian able to speak and read multiple languages and go trapsing around Europe on trains to beautiful libraries and museums solving age old mysteries (except scary or dangerous ones...don't the the "heart" it - HA!) Accounting just seems so dull today.

Loved the characters...sharing their suprise to find another solving the same puzzle as themselves, not being able to contain themselves from sharing information and the joy of discovery and how they are allowed to "solve" their mysteries all along the way through the story instead of building up to a finale, and then there is a big finale!

Bad Monkeys by Matt Huff

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons — "Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing...

This book is a hoot!!! Totally warped and comically bizarre...I was highly amused. I especially loved the "eyes only" on the Keebler cookies and Quaker oatmeal packages. Almost defies description...you will just have to read it!!

A Poison Season...& some housekeeping.

I'm really enjoying all the Victorian era books lately...I can't decide which of the two series (those by Alexander or those by Robins) that I like best. I won't go into major details since mom has pre-posted them...just thought I'd say I'm liking them tho-- I think I'm really drawn to them because they are more mystery stories than really lovey-dovey romanc-y stories although there is a tad of that thrown in for amusement.

Kristi Stubbs will be joining us soon so a big 'Howdy & Welcome' to Kristi...which led me to the idea of maybe putting each others addresses somewhere? To mail and pass along the books? Or does that weird ya'll out to have your addy up? I dunno who has privacy issues... :)

The Pulitzer & an Academy Award...

I picked up "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham outside my bank. There are always a few tables set up with used books, and I love to peruse the $1 paperback section. Even if a book is horrible, it was a dollar, you know!? I picked up "The Hours" remembering when Nicole Kidman won the Oscar for her performance in the film and thought I would read it, then maybe rent the movie.
After finishing the last Potter book, I embarked on a completely different journey. The story of three women-- how their lives connect, how they impact each other's lives without ever even meeting. The story is centered around Virginia Woolf's book, "Mrs. Dalloway;" Mrs. Woolf herself being a central character- one of the three women. It was beautifully constructed- incredibly tied together, reiterating that it doesn't matter the time period, the social constructs, the style or monetary accomplishments-- we're still just people; people dealing with the same thoughts, the same fears, the same questions.
I immediately went out and rented the film. Amazing. One of the most incredible casts including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris... the list goes on and on of truly phenomenal actors that brought this Pulitzer Prize winning story to life. I recommend you read the book and see the movie-- though, I would say read first.
There is nothing more wonderful than finding a cheap book one day strolling through the city running errands and you find a gem; a story that changes your life forever.

Next by Michael Crichton

Welcome to our genetic world. This is not the world of the future-it's the world right now.
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. . . .

The premise of this book is SCARY!! How much is true and how much is fiction? What does happen to all the residual "stuff" from a hospital visit...blood, etc. I remember before my heart surgery in 2005 when I knew the surgeon was going to remove the "left atrial appendage" during surgery, if he could keep it for me...I wanted to see what a piece of my heart muscle looked like. (Didn't get it.) I know there are a lot of genetic tests available, such as the blood test I had a couple of months ago for the Jak 2 gene because of my high red cell count. Or for breast cancer. And what if your insurance company finds out what you could be medically predisosed for...does that mean its a pre-existing condition and they won't cover it? ANYWAY, there is a lot of technical language in this book and to many characters with their plots going on which all come together rather unbelievably for me at the end. Hmmm. There seems to be a pattern here...I was going on about all the architectural detail in The Pillars of the Earth. Can't people just write books with one interesting plot and use lots of adjectives and not write a boring technical manual...unless of course it involves numbers or maps, which I like.