Blair Books

Started out so flat that I almost stopped reading and then at page 116, chapter 30, Alex was invited to the white house and the book became a real novel. This was when the Jack & Jill investigation was first introduced.

Switching back and forth between the child killings and Jack & Jill was irritating since they were totally separate plots and had no connection with each other. The Jack & Jill investigation was written so much better than the child killings that it seemed like each was written by a different author. Maybe he had to include the child killings to get the page count up since he also had more than 100 pages of white space in this 373 page book.

The Jack & Jill part of the story was interesting and kept my attention with many twists and turns with suspense at every turn. The ending was good except I would have liked to know why all this happened but that was not possible since both people with that knowledge were killed off before they talked. Maybe that will be in the next book.

This was a phenominal read and very fast paced. First let me preface this review by saying that i do believe that its important to read the Alex Cross books in order. Many of the "bad" reviews came from reviewers who have not read the books in the proper order. OK, coming off my soap box now.

Alex Cross is on the hunt again. High Profile murders are being committed in the Heart of DC to some pretty important people. Alex is pulled off of a more personal case in order to work on this high profile one. But fear not the caped crusader will not be denied his target. The intesity of this book is great and i found it very difficult to put the book down. I thoroughly enjoy Patterson's writing style. He makes his stories easy to read and thrilling on top of that.

If you are looking for some exciting reads this summer i encourage you to read the Alex Cross series. You wont be disappointed...

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My headline says it all, I have equally loved every single James Patterson book I have read, I am his #1 fan and this book...just like all his others, didn't disappoint me in the least! S.L. Chessor author of My Tongue Fell Out & Poodlums Boogeymen and Booglers.Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers: A Poetry CollectionMy Tongue Fell Out

This is one of my favorites of James Patterson. I have always had difficulty putting down one of his books. There are two murder cases. One is Jack and Jill murders and the other is the murders of black children. These were two different cases, but why would Alex Cross think the murderers are one and the same? Read and find out, you will enjoy it. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"

Writing as a Small BusinessQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelTravelersThe Bluegrass Dream: A Wilderness Adventure of Early SettlersNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil War

"Jack and Jill" was good, but it took a while for me to get into it. It seemed to stagnate in the middle, then finally did start moving again. But, let me add that when it did start moving again, it was great!

This novel has been sitting on my shelf for a while, waiting for my attention and reading. While awaiting my Barnes & Noble order, which contains the books that I can't wait to sink my teeth into, I picked up this one off of my bookshelf and fulfilled my promise to myself to read it.

Now, I read Back When We Were Grown Ups by Anne Tyler some time ago (goodness, at least 2+ years ago), I wasn't blown away by that novel. I can recall picking this hardback from the airport bookstore when nothing else seemed appealing and thought I'd give the author another shot at grabbing my interest.

I was able to read this novel in just a short few days. Usually that pace is reserved for the novels that I can't wait to read.. but, this one grabbed my attention about 80 or so pages in. This story is a tale that takes you from the beginning of a marriage, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor (1941), through to the near end of the main character's life. The Amateur Marriage contains moments that made me gasp aloud for Pauline, its heroine, and laugh aloud for the other main character, her husband, Michael. Pauline and Michael meet, by chance, in a small town near Baltimore. Pauline's fall from a street car, and subsequent minor head injury, lead her and her girlfriends into Michael's mother's small town store. Pauline was an energy that Michael simply did not resist and, after bandaging her wound, he followed her to watch the "parade" of local war enlistees.

Pauline and Michael share a very short-lived courtship, if you will, and Michael is off to serve his country. Pauline, a young woman with a limited ability to live a life of calm and who maintains a flair for the dramatic, writes Michael in "boot camp." As the days drag on, her youthful age and restless spirit change the tone of her letters to Michael from those of passion and wanting, to daily tales of the happenings within the sleepy small town. Michael grows resentful of the fact that he cannot be with Pauline and that she is socializing with other young men and women. It literally drives him crazy to the point that he lashes out at a fellow soldier in the bunks. This led to that soldier's retaliation of a rifle shot right through Michael's buttock!

As Michael returns home earlier than expected, Pauline is met with Michael's proposal. Quickly and unconventionally, they marry and begin their married life living with Michael's mother in a small apartment above the store. The cramped quarters prove to be a challenge for the spirited Pauline, but Michael is apparently able to sooth her into logic and reason... to be sensible and come and live the life with him that she had chosen. These two young'ns suffer the struggles of early wedhood and the reader watches Pauline's high spirit draw out Michael's true heart felt feelings towards her. Michael and Pauline have 3 children and eventually move to the suburbs, mom-in-law in tow. Michael opens a larger, "super market" type of store and grows away from the small town store.

You see Pauline's doubts surface about her marriage in her flirtation with a neighborhood divorcee... and her attempts at straying in the relationship being caught by Michael's acute awareness and thoroughness. It seems as though Pauline is tied to her role of mother, cook and caretaker. Although, none of those roles seems to fill her spirit. Her passionate fights and make-ups with Michael make for a reality in their marriage that is enjoyable to watch and read about.

The good thing about this novel is that it spans the lifetime of these characters, including their three children, Lindy, George and Karen. We learn that their oldest daughter, Lindy, runs away causing a pain in the family that causes irreparable harm. After years pass, Pauline is contacted by Lindy's "landlady" who informs her that Lindy has been committed, hospitalized of sorts, and that Lindy's son needs to be picked up or she'd have to contact social services to pick him up. Pauline and Michael jump on a plane to take their first flight, ever, to San Francisco to pick up Lindy and her son (I loved this part of the story). When they arrive in San Francisco, they learn that Lindy is really self-committed to a commune, of sorts, and has renamed herself to "Serenity." They arrive at the landlady's apartment to later be introduced to Pagan, Lindy's son. Michael's reaction to that name is priceless! Michael, Pauline and Pagan head back home, sans Lindy and begin a life raising this boy. I believe that Michael falls in love with Pauline all over again during this transition in their lives.

As Pauline and Michael celebrate their 30th Anniversary with their children, they are given a gift. The gift was a framed set of individual portraits of each of them, immediately before they met one another. The table conversation leads to explain that the picture shows them before they knew one another and what their lives were to become. Michael and Pauline reminisce, good and bad, over the span of their marriage. At bedtime, Pauline approaches bed in her slip in anticipation of love-making and Michael turns her down. They have a conversation about their marriage and Michael insults Pauline. A comment is made about Michael leaving and Pauline reacts with her typical, "then go ahead and go" childish reaction. But, this time, Michael leaves and never returns home. Pauline tries to resurrect their marriage, but it is finished for Michael and there is no return to home.

I must say that I did not like the end of this book. Michael remarries and it is more than obvious that he talks himself into believing he loves his second wife, Anna, just because she is the opposite of Pauline (i.e. total lack-luster, plain, boring, unemotional, complacent). But, I believe that he is still in love with Pauline in a way that Anna will never match. Pagan grows up well, despite the divorce. George starts a family of his own and becomes his mother's "repair man." Karen is plain strange and becomes an attorney for the underprivileged. By the time that Lindy returns, Pauline has died of a car accident. I hate this for two reasons: 1) the reader doesn't get to read about Pauline's death via from her viewpoint, we just hear about it after the fact; and 2) we don't get to see Michael's true reaction to her death. Seems like a lazy way to end Pauline's story, in my opinion. Eventually, the entire family has a meal together, sans the dead Pauline, and I am not moved by any of it. I think that Tyler tries to tie up the ending by having Michael walk to Pauline's house at the end of the story, but I totally don't get it at all! I read it 3 times, still don't get it. If you get it, email me!

In any event, the ending just ruined the book for me. I had thought that, in comparison to Back When We Were Grown Ups, this book was much better... until the end. Ugh. I guess that I am not Tyler's target audience because I want an ending with more meaning and depth. It's almost like Tyler just gave up on the story. On the "Out of Ten Scale," unfortunately, I would have to give this one a six. It would have gotten a 7-8, however the story just bombed for me at the end. I guess this author just isn't my cup of tea, after all.

On a final note, I don't think that, in a marriage, there is such thing as being anything but an amateur... there is no "being a pro" at it. Marriage is a dance, a discovery, a union, and a commitment to friendship. As people grow and change, the dance changes... the union changes. You either learn to remain a part of it or you walk away. There would be no way of "being a pro," I believe. The only way to be is just to live it and try to remain tethered to one another by the truth of pure love.

For me, The Amateur Marriage represents the sixth time I have read one of Anne Tyler's novels. On the surface it's the story of Michael and Pauline. They meet by chance in 1941 in Anton's, the grocery store run by Michael's family. 1941, perhaps incidentally, is the year Anne Tyler was born.

There was a war to be fought, of course, a war that affected both of their lives. But there's a marriage, and a child, a daughter named Lindy. Others follow, a boy and another girl. For Michael and Pauline, life progresses, as does their marriage. But twists and turns take them to places they have never visited.

As with other novels by Anne Tyler, there is an obvious and consistent linearity about its time. A reviewer has to be careful with detail, because what happens to this novel's characters is a large part of how it happens, and thus an integral part of the book's rationale. To some extent, a listing of the plot, event by event, would render a reading unnecessary. But after a handful of Anne Tyler's books, I am now convinced there is much more going on in them than mere story-telling.

In the past I have found her characters shallow, rather self-obsessed, selfish, perhaps. They are people who have lives outside the family, but people who seem pre-occupied with the familiar and seem rarely to confront ideas or experience outside its apparently defining, but only sometimes
reassuring confines.

And perhaps that's the point. It is an American dream, a libertarian ideal under a microscope. It is analysed, picked apart, sometimes reconstructed. The characters are affected by political, social, economic and cultural change. Their lives are materially transformed by the same forces that lay waste and occasionally reinvent their home town, Baltimore. But they, themselves, are mere recipients of these effects, appearing to play no part in their instigation or, it seems, their analysis. They live their lives. They are pushed around by experience, jostled by life, reflect little, internalise everything, only occasionally recognising life's potential to reform. Time thus moves on. Inevitability looms unexpectedly.

It is not a criticism of Anne Tyler, her novel or its characters to proffer the opinion that everything seems to happen in an intellectual wasteland. People go to college, do law degrees, become involved with good causes, procreate, but moments of reflection seem to be confined to what breed of dog might not provoke allergy. Perhaps that's the point. Such things are the stuff of life. Time goes on.

You can easily imagine that Tyler's first title was "Immature Marriage" but being a wordsmith, the more interesting title (and concept)emerged. (Amateur is a word from the Latin, which means "to love.") And, the umbrella question of the whole book is whether this is love... is it passion, is it filling in the blanks of one's personality and abilities, is it a societal acceptable married front, is it compatibilty, is it the ability to raise children by inches from infancy to a legal age? The couple portrayed, Micheal and Pauline, are both capable of intense passion (positive and negative)and they raised children but it seems to me that the story is about two people incapable of love or perhaps more accurately, a wrong-headed combining. Yet that idea never occurs to them and they assume that what they have together must be love. Tyler's writing is incredible; her use of language and her insights and comparables are just so impressive; the quirkiness in events and personalities is pure genius. I liked the layout of the book as it progressed through 60 years; each chapter you must get your bearings as to what part of life this is and what everyone is up to. It was a splendid mix of fine writing, storytelling events and psychology. Loved it.

Both characters, husband and wife, were competent in their own ways, but deeply incompetent as a parental unit, to run a family and ultimately the intensity of their relationship became an increasing negative. Interestingly, the husband, Micheal, took action only when he realized that only his wife Pauline, and himself were excitedly and delightedly recapping their dramatic fights as their only stories at their 30th wedding anniversary party; their adult children were neither delighted nor amused. It was such a censoring "rear view mirror" moment that crystallized the problem and precipitated Micheal's immediate departure from the marriage. One is left to wonder if he just wanted out of the blame and by being the one who initiated the divorce it was one of those "when you are being ridden out of town on a rail try to get out in front and make it look like a parade" moments.

Both individuals were portrayed as underdeveloped and flawed; sometimes a marriage fits to the extent that one person's weakeness is supported by the spouse's strengths. But in this case, each had similar weaknesses that created a serious problem for the development of the children; they both loved drama (although the husband, Micheal didn't think he did) said and did hurtful and antagonistic things to each other; they were both sexually inappropriate, including overt seductiveness in front of the children and "bedroom activities" with children aware of what was going on around their children; they fought viciously and behaved in vile passive-aggressive ways in front of the children. Pauline was so boundary-less that she would have had an affair in an instant-with three children and a husband in the home- and was stopped because of a random phone call.

Micheal wearied of the running gun battle after 30 years and suddenly divorced Pauline, and he married an opposite type, an unexciting, undramatic, unimaginative and self-contained plain woman, Anne, who is psychologically flat, extremely even. While at first the enormous relief was a source of attraction to Micheal, (drama/intensity fatigue) but the second marriage is flawed for him and never becomes as important to Micheal as the first marriage. Anne is the least likable person of the book, toadlike and unable to be talked into or convinced of anything or taking other's needs into consideration. Her boundaries were so far afield and hun-like defensed that she could not be healing or much of anything but a sterile companion, content with being blameless.

The interesting thing here is to look at the singular entity both marriages created. The first marriage was a vigorous two-headed creature either snarling or kissing, with sexual passion in its arterial system and bitter bile in its veneous. The second marriage was a half-hearted calcified creature with tap water circulating. Micheal becomes a sympathetic personality at the same moment you realize how avoidant and evasive of blame he is and how underdeveloped he is, understandable with his overburdened sorrowful childhood and overburdened frenetic life from young adulthood through most of his life. As a matter of fact, it becomes apparent that he is neither good nor bad, just confused and undeveloped.

The unrecognized surprise to Micheal was that he craved the intimacy and passion that an explosive unstable personality, female beauty and naked dependence created; life was deadly set before he met Pauline and somewhat like that after he left her, especially after her death. One is left with the impression that he left his colorless life with his widowed and depressed mother (who lost a son and a husband) to marry an unstable and vivacious woman and then when he got tired of that (describing his life with Pauline as "hell" after 30 years) or didn't want to be associated with being 1/2 of a destructive parenting team, divorced her and went once again to a life with the polar extreme of a colorless and unchallenging woman who saw him as "dessert," in other words not necessary to her life. In short, she didn't really appear to have the ability to give anything essential to the relationship to create a bonded couple happiness; she was kind of a quid pro quo gal.

Interestingly, Pauline and Micheal raised their grandson better than their children, probably because they divorced when the grandson was young. When they were married their dual drama was their priority; the children were damaged by witnessing the drama-both the fighting and sexualization of the household, wild instability, and emotional neglect. The oldest child was completly destroyed and ran away; the damage to the other two went underground and affected them deeply as well. This kind of nuanced storytelling feels honest. It rang true that neither Micheal nor Pauline considered that their loose behavior and lack of real love was the cause of their oldest child becoming an addict and a run-away or that the other children were also damaged albeit more subtly. When the oldest child returns decades later after Pauline died, her comments that her parents were ice and glass, similar agents, equally destructive to children growing up came as an absolute shock to Micheal. It was also shocking to him when his grandson named his daughter Pauline and when the family had good memories and stories about Pauline, but not him; no doubt this character, Micheal, was based on a real life personality who assumed that the more overt personality in the couple could be pointed to as the sole source of the family's problem, especially as he was the one who initiated the divorce. The shock to him was that he wasn't perceived as "the good guy" or a victim (of Pauline) by his children; he wasn't able to understand or escape the fact that to them he was one of two adults partnering a deeply destructive parental unit.

I thought it the passage of time was interesting - 60 years of Americana; the writerly details were incredible. This book was nuanced in detail of each era, which made for good reading. You can imagine how psychologically unsophisticated things were in an immigrant neighborhood in 1940s Baltimore. Micheal and Pauline were immature unbalanced abberations of a psychologically unsophisticated time; their highly imperfect union was fueled by something that was assumed to be amare (love); the evidence that it was did not contain the depth of love was chronicled by the damage to their offspring.

I AM AMAZED AT ANNE TYLER'S ABILITY TO PRESENT EVERDAY LIFE WITH SUCH INSIGHT. THERE IS NO INTRICATE PLOT HERE-JUST THE UPS AND DOWNS OF AN ORDINARY MARRIAGE OVER A LIFE SPAN BETWEEN TWO VERY OPPOSITE MINDED PEOPLE.MOST MARRIAGES CAN THRIVE AND GROW IN SUCH AN ATMOSPHERE BUT OBVIOUSLY MANY CANNOT. THIS IS A BOOK THAT WILL STAY WITH ME FOR SOME TIME.

I cannot remember reading a more depressing novel (and I just finished The Kite Runner). The Amateur Marriage is very well written except for some style inconsistencies that bothered me but, because the story is so "small," it would be a difficult film treatment. What they should make is a movie of the reviewers' marriages who have described this story as "delightful." What must they be like?

The pace of the book is unique, in which years are cleverly rolled out in a way that make you wonder what happenbed to them... just like real life! Tyler jumps ahead decade by decade and clues the reader in using subtle current event hints that further illustrate how detached Michael and Pauline were from their own "real lives". I couldn't see either life as anything but a series of wasted, undocumented days that filled the unwritten chapters in between.

Throughout this novel you'll want to scream at the characters to "step back!", "simplify!", "communicate!" In the end, I was so glad for my own marriage and family that I demonstrated it, so, I guess you could say, this novel changed me in a good way.

I've read so much of Ann Rule, probably all of her books, and I think they're all four stars or better. This one I gave four stars, because it's not quite her best work, but it is certainly better than most true crime writers. Her thoroughness is one of her hallmarks, but the main thing that sets her apart is the way she can get into the head of the criminal and the motivations. Ann explains how she wrote this book at the request of a victim, and that must be a first. It's the story of the murder and abuse of Sheila Bellush, made truly horrific because the children were in their home when she was murdered. As always Ann brings compassion to her narrative that has never been matched by any other true crime author. A solid four stars, only by comparison to her other books, which are almost entirely five stars.

This book is filled with extraneous stuff that could have well been left out. I've loved all the other Rule books I've read, but this one was a real let down for me. It would have been good being half as long.

I think it would have been better not written at all, and possibly the request by the victim to have Anne write it clouded her better judgement.

This story was about the murder of Sheila Blackthorne and her subsequent life with her husband, Alan Blackthorne. While it is important to present some background information on the characters, was it really necessary for the reader to be confronted with such a lengthy history on Alan and Sheila's parents and grandparents? There was so much information on their ancestors that the reader became distracted at times and had to refocus attention on the subjects of the book (Alan and Sheilia). The book was heavily padded. For example, I was not the least bit interested in the background and career path of the lead detective on the case...I mean, why would we care that he started out on highway patrol and eventually promoted to Texas Ranger? Come on, he was an incidental character in a story so much larger than his role in it. Why Ann Rule felt it necessary to include so much information on these secondary characters is beyond any explanation I can think of. I would rather have known what made Sheila such a passive personality...why didn't she leave Alan after he'd bankrupted her parents...after he'd killed a motorcyclist while she was in the car with him? She seemed a bit of a ghost in the story; we should have been given a clearer representation of who Sheila really was. This story could easily have been told in 300 pages rather than 680. All that aside, the story itself was absolutely riveting. Sheila's life with Alan and the gradual unfolding of his diabolical personality made the reader want more, but chapter after chapter you were let down by boring details of Alan's golfing, details about Danny Rocha's (his accomplice)wife, kids, and auntie. Nevertheless, if you can get past the extraneous use of detail it's a pretty good read with all of the classic absorbing true crime elements--greed, obsession, lies, betrayal, murder.

It wasn't as good as the Bundy book, but I personally thought it was better then "Small Sacrifices." I didn't think it was too long, but there were points where Ann Rule would spend pages describing characters in the book that weren't all that important. Use the character definition page in the beginning of the book to get through it.

Overall, a really great book, definately a page turner. I highly recommend.

Of course, Sheila Bullush said that if she was murdered that Ann Rule should write a book about it. For Ann Rule, she kept a promise from an unknown woman. This book is about the troubled marriage that ended in a nasty divorce. Her former husband can't let her go without her. It's more of a male ego and pride than anything else. She left him, divorced him, remarried, and gave birth to quadruplets (4 babies at a time) with the help of fertility treatments. She also had two daughters from a prior marriage, the nasty one. Sheila is murdered but she thought she was safe from her ex. We read about how the four babies are found with their mother's blood on them. Her husband had hired a hitman to kill her. I feel sorry for her two older daughters who loved their father and torn in a nasty divorce. One of them reluctantly revealed the location of their mother's whereabouts. After all, they didn't think their father would go so far. Regarding Sheila, I don't know much to make a judgment about her. She was a fan of Ann Rule but she was torn, troubled, and always hiding and living in constant fear of an ex-husband from hell. I have sympathy and empathy for her second husband who became her widower and the father of four young children.

Don Diego de la Vega "El Zorro", made his debut nearly ninety years ago in "The Curse of Capistrano". He is one of the very few pulp fiction creations, who has been able to escape the confines of the genre and cross over into movies, television, comic books, video games and even a London musical. In "Zorro: A Novel" the noted Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende takes her shot at the Zorro character.

Allende had a great idea in trying to put meat on the bones of the Zorro legend. To do this, Allende places him squarely in Alta California and French occupied Barcelona. The novel is at its very best in recreating the historic details of this era. Unfortunately, where Allende fails is in acknowleding that Zorro is a creation of pulp fiction. Isabel Allende is a world class novelist but unfortunately she is not pulp writer. Pulp writing is its own genre and requires a special exuberant aesthetic which Allende unfortunately does not have.

Another example of an excellent novelist who cannot make this transition is Michael Chabon whose "Gentlemen of the Road" is absolutely dreadful. The only contemporary world class novelist that I know of who is able to make this cross over is Arturo Perez Reverte in his Diego Alatriste series. The adventure story is its own genre and serious novelists need to enter this territory with appropriate respect and caution.

I enjoyed the movies that Antonio Banderas starred in but that was all I knew about Zorro. I've had this book since it first came out in 2005 and was waiting for an inspiration to pick it up and read it. Fortunately, one of the girls in my book club wanted to read it after reading an earlier book of Allende's, so it was motivation enough to pick it up and start reading it.

After a slow start, this book captured my imagination and fancy until the last page was turned. This is about Diego, his upbringing in California as a son who was born to a Spanish noble and an Indian mother, who was a Shoshane warrior herself. Straddling both worlds, where he could move easily in between the two different cultures, Diego was also sent to live with a family friend in Spain. Diego and his milk brother, Bernado made friends with the ship's captain and cook, as well as learned how to sail a ship. Diego spent five years in Spain and learned a tremendous amount of fencing skills, acrobat skills when he became friends with the gypsies, and more. Returning to America with Isabel and Julianna, his benefactor's daughters on the run from one of Julianna's demented suitors, Diego was ready to take on dual identity as Zorro.

In the beginning of this book, it is quite wordy and it took me awhile to plod through the pages. However, it is chock full of historical tidbits (which is one of my favorite ways to read history) and the second half of the book picked up its pace quite a bit ... racing almost to the end. It is rich imagery and lyrical in spots. It is an in-depth look of one of the world's famous legendary heroes. Allende provides a great insight to his childhood and showed her reasonings for why he is the way he is and how he became the beloved hero, always fighting for truth and justice.

It is a fun novel to read once I managed to get past the first quarter of the book. This is a definite must-read for book clubs as it provides fodder for great conversation pieces especially over hot tacos and burritos.

9/21/08

This is a fantastically written fictional novel about the charismatic hero of Southern California during the Spanish and Mexican occupation while they were looking at statehood. It starts with Zorro as a child born with his "dumb" friend, how he became that way and how they grew up together until Don Diego goes off to Spain for his education till he returns to find his enemies from Spain as he reunites with his "dumb" friend and finds his father and mother and learns the truth of what has happened. Thus the legend of Zorro is born. I watched many of these episodes on Walt Disney when I was a child and loved the hero as I loved this book. This book filled in so much of the detail of the background of Don Diego and brought the character to life. Make sure you add this to your library for your family to read. All will enjoy this.

Title: Zorro
Author: Isabel Allende
Genre: Novel

Synopsis: The story of the young man Zorro, and how he came to be the masked legend. Born from a marriage of a rich Spanish man and a native American woman, Diego lives in both worlds. As he grows, he feels strongly the injustices that have been perpetuated against the native occupants of California, causing him to create the alternate persona of Zorro, who attempts to bring some more equality to the world.

Quote: "The fox saved you. That zorro is your totemic animal, your spiritual guide."

Review: I picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend, not expecting to enjoy it too much because I have no particular affinity for Zorro. However, I ended up liking it very much. You don't have to be heavily steeped in the Zorro mythology to get on board with good versus evil, righteousness versus injustice, genius underdog versus somewhat thick bad guys.

Title: Zorro
Author: Isabel Allende
Genre: Novel

Synopsis: The story of the young man Zorro, and how he came to be the masked legend. Born from a marriage of a rich Spanish man and a native American woman, Diego lives in both worlds. As he grows, he feels strongly the injustices that have been perpetuated against the native occupants of California, causing him to create the alternate persona of Zorro, who attempts to bring some more equality to the world.

Quote: "The fox saved you. That zorro is your totemic animal, your spiritual guide."

Review: I picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend, not expecting to enjoy it too much because I have no particular affinity for Zorro. However, I ended up liking it very much. You don't have to be heavily steeped in the Zorro mythology to get on board with good versus evil, righteousness versus injustice, genius underdog versus somewhat thick bad guys.

I love historic fiction and needlework, and this is a super read for anyone who enjoys either one. I purchased it as a gift for a friend who enjoys medieval reenactment and also weaves, and she just LOVED it!

Like she did with Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier once again takes a real work of art (this time a series of tapestries) and creates a story about their creation that shows how it MIGHT have happened.

Nicholas des Innocents is a handsome womanizer and the artist who is commissioned to design a series of tapestries for the thoroughly unlikable nobleman, Jean Le Viste. Le Viste cares nothing for art or love and is only concerned with raising his social status.

Nicholas meets the Le Viste's young daughter and she is immediately love-struck. The lovers manage to steal a few moments together, but Claude's parents are determined to keep them apart.

Strong characters, well-researched historical details, and a few dirty jokes (let's just say Nicholas uses the story of the unicorn's horn as a unique and quite effective pick-up line) will keep readers turning pages.

call me just an "average Jane" but I like reading stories where at LEAST one character has some redeeming feature that endears the story to me, the reader.

In The Lady And The Unicorn I would have been happy to see every character fall off a cliff. From the horrid, rutting painter, to his vain, selfish "true" love, her miserable and misery making mother and all the rest are only worthy of a long walk off a short pier. The only recommendation worthy parts of the story were about the tapestry weaving, which were interesting and informative.

If your idea of a "a fun evening reading" is to sink five feet in dark, depressing and selfish machinations, then this may be the book for you.

2 stars for making even unicorns cringe worthy.

If I were a fan of shoddily crafted pornos that one might find in the check-out line at CVS, I'd be pissed. ONE measly, grotesque sex scene? And, alright, he feels up a 14-year-old girl as well. How grossly unsatisfying. Having to read this schlock with a critical eye (it was a school assignment) was mildly entertaining, only because it might be one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever encountered. I was overjoyed that the book was a quick read; spending more than two days on this dreck is nothing short of masochistic. With every passing page, rife with overly simple language, inappropriate or anachronistic similes, and the same voice for every character, I found myself less and less engaged with the story. The depth of the characters and plot is that of a puddle. This book was so abysmal that during a trip to Paris soon after reading it, I refused to enter the Cluny, free of admission, to see the tapestries. It shames me to no end knowing that the author and I both grew up in the same place. Money spent on this novel could be put to better use by hurling it off a bridge.

I read this book a few months back and I still think of it, meaning it left an impression.

Like Girl with the Pearl Earring, the prose are absolutely tight and seemless, with very few snags to jar the reading.

Honestly, I find it irritating when a book changes between characters, because I get wrapped up in one. This book was an exception. Each character had a distinct voice and each wove into the others' lives, like, what else? A tapestry.

I felt for all of the characters and, like Girl with the Pearl Earring, this story created in me the feeling that there was some underlying power at work, something bigger than the characters. Nice.

Well constructed tick tock of a husband murder that built up over several years and culminated in a planned shooting that left a few too many questions. The wife was bipolar and that explains a lot. She still has her defenders, remarkably. The husband comes off as the true victim. If you like true crime, this one is well worth the time. Ann Rule is top notch in the genre.

A clue to Liysa Northorn's personality lies in the silly spelling of her name - the sort of "I'm so interesting" nonsense that most of us grow out of after the early teen years. Liysa, however, didn't, & according to Ann Rule she lied & manipulated her way through life until she killed her third husband basically because he wouldn't let her have her own way about everything. Liysa says she killed in self defense.
I found Rule's book mesmerizing, with a few caveats. Chris Northorn, the victim, comes across as rather a hollow man - bland with few personality traits other than being "nice." Certainly he seems commitment-shy & someone who drifted through life. It's no great step to conjecture that the abuse claims by Liysa began as an attempt to get his attention. If anyone in the relationship was abused, I'm guessing it was Chris.
Another caveat is the claim by Rule that Liysa was a devoted & good parent. Naturally the author needs to look at both sides of the story, but it's hard to believe that this self-obsessed, manipulative woman could parent effectively. Her children would merely be an extension of herself, accessories for looking good in the eyes of the world. We also hear how Liysa is a talented writer, but no evidence of this is given. Surely a talented writer would have done more with her talents than journals & an aborted film script.
I would have liked this book to be longer - I suspect Liysa's guilty plea cut short what would have been a lengthy description of the trial. Overall well worth reading, a fascinating story very well told.

Ann Rule is the most incredibly talented author. She can take thousands of facts and make the most compelling, riveting story. At the end, I always feel like I know all the people involved personally. When I sit down with one of her books, I know I am not going to get anything else done for awhile!

I do not agree with the other reviews at all. I thought this book was excellent. At times it made me sick to my stomach, as I could not believe someone could be as manipulative and selfish as Liysa. I feel horrible for the victim, Chris, his family, and his sons. I would highly recommend this book.

This was an interesting story about a psychopath (Liysa). I thought Ann Rule gave a good account of both Liysa and Chris, and I think the only real bias was because Liysa WAS guilty. I was left wanting to know if any of Liysa's stories were invested and found to be true. Some things were alluded to such as her first husband and a boyfriend being killed in car accidents, but was it true? Did she really graduate from college? Did she ever apply and train for the Navy Seals? So many other things. She was a lier, and lied when it suited her. I had a boyfriend much like her. He lied so much that he actually believed his lies. He would go to great lengths to make people believe his lies. I am so disappointed that she only got 10-12 years. I don't understand why the prosecution let her plea down when they had such good evidence. That seems negligent to me.
I didn't think the book was very well written for Rule, in that she repeated herself and certain phrases too much. Maybe she needs a proof reader who actually READS the book.

Some real beliveable fiction in this one!!
If you have TBWP films, games & the collectables-buy this book.

Very well written-will keep you glued to the pages!!

Can only become MORE collectable as time goes by!
Just get it from Amazon-the nice people with the nice price!!

There's nothing "new" in this book that is not already on the website. Of course if you can't view the website then this book is a must. It has Heather's journal entries in it and overall is a good source of interviews and information about the legend/story. I'm dissapointed by the poor quality of paper they used in the book/I think they could have made some creepy black glossy pages to really integrate the mystery for the fans of the movie.
I am satisfied with my purchase.

I keep this one on my bookself. I read the whole book in one night with chills up and down my spine. I had trouble sleeping too. I'd recomend watching the movie first and then reading the book...it gives you a pretty good idea on what actully happened.

Even today I'm a fan of TBWP and so when this book was released right after the movie, I rushed out to get it. What's in this "dossier" is mostly filler to pad a book someone was trying to get out before the popular buzz about this inventive work of cinematic art cooled off. There is basically nothing new in here and even the timeline about Blair and the events that have scarred its history are available for free off the film's promotional website. It was garbage like this that helped start up the backlash against what is one of the spookiest movies ever made.

To add to all of the tie-in books and dead-serious "mockumentaries" comes this - "The Dossier", a scrapbook of the investigation surrounding the disappearance of Heather, Josh and Mike in October of 1994 and the recovery of their footage. By now, everybody knows that our victims vanished while shooting a documentary about a witch who has haunted generations of citizens of Burkitsville (nee Blair), Maryland. Despite an exhaustive search, the footage and Josh's car remained the only evidence left behind. The recovered footage - the film and the videotapes meant to document its creation - depict Heather, Josh and Mike being stalked by an unseen presence, desperate to escape a seemingly endless forest.

Ofcourse, the real fun is how the film blurred the lines between fact and fiction on both sides of the camera (film students go into the forest, believing the witch to be a legend, until the legend comes for them; ads for the flick hinted that the story of the missing students was true when it wasn't). "Dossier" follows tradition - picking up the story from the perspective of private investigators hired by Heather's mother to solve the mystery. Like the film, "Dossier" keeps the tension high by masking its subject well - the "narrative" consists of memos, letters and transcripted phone calls compiled by the Buck Buchanan detective agency. It's obvious that nobody attached to the project believes in the witch legend, though their memos only detail weirder findings, and an enigma whose solution becomes more elusive.

While "Dossier" knows the tricks of the film, it brings less to the legend than the film did. It's a short, thin read, one giving us bits without fleshing much out. We learn of the origins of Blair and of Elly Kedward, the future witch. But Kedward's story never goes beyond one we can label as man's cruelty to man. (A mysterious, if otherwise decent figure, Kedward is driven into the woods, presumably to her death; successive generations are haunted by her.) We also learn more about Rustin Parr who murdered a group of Burkittsville children during WWII. (Parr's story is an oddball footnote to the legend - he's obviously a nut, but devotees of Blair Witch can't divorce themselves of the idea that his actions were a genuine manifestation of the witch. More on Parr, later.)

Unfortunately, the patchwork narrative misses details or at least fails to highlight them. "Dossier" was probably going the subtle route for deep chills and preserving the surface rationale for the story as a record of a professional investigation, but some of the details inexplicably glossed over seem as much as interest to us as to Buck Buchanan. We learn for example that Heather's camera and film were found inside of a wall of a ruined house by a group of students, the implication being that the ruin dated to civil war times, and the sections in which the camera was found looks to have been undisturbed since then. At this point, having only caught the flick on cable, and missed both the "Curse of the Blair Witch" and any of the special editions of the original (and having read none of the books) I naturally assumed at first that the ruin was the abandoned house in which Heather and Josh enter at the end of the film. However, it's soon apparent that the ruin nothing like that house, which closely resembles the one in which Rustin Parr committed his multiple murders (remember all those handprints? Those are supposed to be the handprints of children), a house which no longer exists. Nevertheless, "Dossier" passes the house by entirely, and does little more with the footage itself, even though it's the only tangible evidence of mystery. I thought "Dossier" and "Blair Witch Porject" consciously decided on keeping Parr conspicuously nearby but separate, only adding to the sense of mystery - until Parr became the subject of a "Blair Witch" - licensed video game.

Two things kill the fun offered by "Dossier" - it's a slim read, and it lacks any of the tension suffered by the heroes of the film. Though the heroes of "Dossier" raise and then eliminate various possible solutions, they never seriously consider the fact that they are victims of an elaborate con perpetrated by Heather and crew (sure they're working for Heather's mom, but even so they're still investigators). The "con" idea would have given "Dossier" a severely needed shot of tension, and is only one idea that could have really fleshed the book out. It's clear from "Dossier" that both it and the movie drew from the same inspiration that led to the novel "A House of Leaves" - a huge, dense mystery composed of overlapping narratives (with their own fonts and piles of footnotes) centered around a mysterious documentary about a house whose interiors rebel against laws of time and space. With a bit more effort and time, "Dossier" could have done much to enliven the mystery of "Blair Witch" while providing a great alternative to readers intimidated by the insurmountable size and narrative of "House". Instead, it does neither.

An incredibly powerful book. It's softly written, but beautiful and dreamy in that writing. A girl experiences a changing summer after a local girl is hit by a car and dies. This leads her to observe life differently and appreciate its ups and downs.

Lest you fear this is just angst, it's not. It's life, family, friends, and romance.

This was the greatest book I ever read. It features a variety of emotions; love, hate, guilt, friendship, betrayal, rage, happiness, and the indescribable feeling that comes in when all others fail.

It starts when our protagonist, Martha, is given a diary entry from a mother of a deceased classmate. Martha is instantly touched on the death of Olive. During her summer, Martha changes and matures through her experiences with her Grandmother, family, a boy she develops feelings with, and of course, Olive.

Olive's Ocean is a type of story that disguises itself unintentionally as "average fiction" but is deep and meaningful inside. The passages are carefully fined-tuned and edited to create a glowing feeling as you read it. Olive's Ocean is sentimental, emotional, beautiful, and beloved.

This book is Newbery Honor worth--and more.

In the book Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes, is about a young girl who traveled to her grandmother Godbee's house for a summer vacation. While on the trip, Martha runs into issues for a young teenager. She looses a friend and kisses multiple guys. She has a weird feeling about leaving Godbee's house and where the people she had kissed lives. She concludes that hardest decisions come to those who least expect them.
Olive's Ocean was an interesting novel. Things that usually happen to a teenager occur in this novel. Usually teenagers have small guy issues, which seem to be huge, but are nothing. In the novel Olive's Ocean, Martha kissed Jimmy who only kissed her as a bet and got it on tape. And both Tate and Martha started liking each other, once Martha's last day on vacation occured. Martha also kept secrets of incidents that occurred. Martha didn't tell her parents about her two guy incidents, almost drowning, and her dreams.
Olive's Ocean is best appropriate for ages 10-15 because of the emotions through out this novel.

My favorite book would have to be Olive's Ocean. The author is Kevin Henkes. The genre he chose was realistic fiction and the theme he chose was a girl learning to grow up. My favorite character is Martha Boyle. Martha Boyle is a girl that always thinks about a little girl named Olive that died because a truck hit her. Somehow she learns that Olive wanted to friends with her.
Mr.Henkes writing style is to express because he is trying to make you laugh and cry. I would want to pick up another one of his books because of the words he chooses it makes you feel like your really there looking at Martha or walking in her bedroom. I love this book because it's a roller coaster of emotions it makes you want to laugh cry and jump in the book and slap someone. Olive's Ocean is a very sad book because Martha has to cope with Olive death.

Her name was Olive. She arrived at her grandmother's house in tears, she was an orphan, she held her grandmother's old wrinkly hands and wept. Then she heard the ocean, she looked as a huge wave crashed on a giant rock, and for a moment she forgot how sad she was.
This is a story about a young girl named Olive. Olive had no friends. Another girl named Martha wanted to meet Olive ever sensed she died. Martha wanted to do something for Olive's parents to say sorry for their daughter. But what will she give to Olive's parents?
My favorite part was when Martha figured out what she was going to give to Olive's parents. Martha had a creative idea. I like this part because Martha's idea was so beautiful and only needed a couple things to make this gift so big.
I think this book should become a movie because it will be awesome having the characters come to life! With actually seeing Martha putting her idea in real life, will make Olive's Ocean more popular then it ever was!
I wish Olive wouldn't have to die. The author of this book should have told a little more about her and then a little while later she could die. But if she did, it would ruin the whole book.
I recommend this book to people who like comedy, drama, and the outdoors. I really, really, truly like this book!

A Home at the End of the World is an elegant study of how finding love in a world of fragile and impermanent relationships requires inventiveness, resilience, and a willingness to challenge restrictive notions of family. It was written circa 1990 by the acclaimed author of The Hours. The story is centered on Jonathan and Bobby, who become close friends and partners in sexual experimentation during their adolescent years together in Cleveland. Bobby is haunted by the loss of his adored older brother, his hero at 9 years of age, and then his mother a couple of years later. Yet he is less conflicted about what he wants in life. He has a strong need both to give and receive love. Jonathan is more bright and articulate than Bobby, but more uncertain of himself. He has an overly solicitous mother, who is prominently featured, and a mostly absent father. Jonathan, who is gay, falls in love with his buddy. Bobby sticks to him like glue but his deep devotion is more fraternal in character.

Jonathan moves to New York for college and stays on with his eccentric roommate Clare, who's eleven years older. They share a non-sexual sort of love. Bobby lives with Jonathan's parents until they move to Phoenix, then moves in with Jonathan and Clare in NYC. The three get along well until Clare does a make-over on Bobby and they become lovers. Jonathan's lingering feelings for Bobby leave him disquieted and he runs away. After Jonathan's father dies and Clare has a baby, the three come back together to move to a home outside Woodstock, NY (a childhood dream of Bobby's, passed down from his older brother). They open a restaurant, the "Home Café", which keeps Jonathan and Bobby busy and becomes a success. Clare is wrapped up in her child, whom Jonathan dotes on more than does Bobby, the father.

Bobby is the heart of the story, and was played by Colin Farrell in the film adaptation. He is the guardian spirit subtly driving the plot. He is the one who proposes moving to the "home at the end of the world", and he works the hardest to keep the family together. His attachment to Jonathan is remarkable, not least because it doesn't originate in sexual desire. Bobby winds up where he wants to be at the end. The "home at the end of the world" is his dream more than anyone else's, and it survives and will flourish because of the love he pours into it. (Although uncertainties are left at the end, extending the timeline of the novel a few years leads you to the strong likelihood of a happy outcome and lifelong love, given scientific progress over the course of the 90's.)

This is a moving work of literature which dazzles with its deft prose, but is most worth reading because it so powerfully evokes the deepest human emotions. Jonathan and Bobby aren't characters I'll easily forget.

I am going to disagree wholeheartedly with the reviewer that claims the movie is better than the book. Yes, it sometimes happens, but this is not one of those instances.
In my case, it was actually the movie that prompted my desire to read the book. Though it was written eighteen years ago, the story is (and will likely remain) timeless. The main characters, Bobby, Jonathan and Clare, and the secondary character of Alice--all narrative voices that comprise the work--are all human tragedies in their own right, but still heroic in some small way. It is almost as if Cunningham wrote this story about a group of people he knew personally and intimately. Furthermore, I think the story is an important one because it touches on a time in America when the AIDS epidemic was sweeping the country and destroying lives...a time when in reality, ignorance and fear ruled the day. The characters in Cunningham's work are courageous and flawed, but in such a way that will make you "root" for them. The writing is beautiful, genuine. I would argue that this is Cunningham's best book, though perhaps lesser known and recognized. I strongly recommend this book to any and all literary prose lovers. I could not put it down. A Home at the End of the World is a book I plan to read again in the future. It is a very haunting look at the not so distant past.

I did not know anything about this book, when I bought it. I had read The Hours and enjoyed it, so when I saw the author had wrote another book, I naturally wanted to read it. Having said that, I am NOT an emotional person, but I laughed and cried throughout this novel. Many people have focused their reviews on the homosexual aspect of this book. Being a straight male, I didn't find this theme all that shocking. The scenes that were sexual in nature were in good taste and not overblown. This book is so much more than a "gay novel". The novel is about love, loss, friendship and bonds that may get temporarily broken, but never die. I can't say enough good things about this book. Some have criticized the second half of the book being slower than the first. This is somewhat true, but I never found the book boring, and found that I really cared about the characters and what happened to them. I am still trying to decide whether or not to see the movie, I don't know if I will be disappointed with the adaptation of the novel.

The first time I read this book, I was blown away. But then I saw the movie. Now, don't get me wrong, there were moments of beauty in the movie--and certainly, Collin Farrell's masterful acting (and good looks) made it worth the price of admission. But still, the movie lacked something. Which is why I recently decided to reread this truly elegant work and was, once again blown away.

Michael Cunnigham is one of a handful of popular gay writers who, in my opinion, have achieved their fame both for the the uniqueness of their stories AND for the masterful way in which they write them. For me, Michael Cunningham, Alan Hollinghurst, Robert Leleux, and Andre Aciman stand out as writers who follow in the footsteps of Truman Capote and Noel Coward and a generation of both heterosexual and homosexual writers whose mastery of the english language allowed their works to transcend time.

So, upon the occasion of a second reading of the often under praised A Home at the End of the World, I find myself, once again, in love with both the author and the book.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Essential.penguin)

The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy

The Line of Beauty

Call Me by Your Name: A Novel

The Letters of Noel Coward

Couldn't put this book down. I loved the strong sense of place and time the author establishes--from the restless suburban 70's, to the wild East Village 80's, to the calm Upstate NY 90's, the author takes you there in a relatable and vivd manner. The story of the bond between these two wonderfully complex men is bold, honest, and inspiring. This is a story of family, of friendship, of unrequited love, and making your own rules for life. A great read.

From my experience, whenever an author writes about a favorite hobby/passion,or just tries to cram too much 'inside info' into a story to show that a lot of research went into writing, the story doesn't always measure up.
I felt that way about 'Dark Horse'. While Hoag promised us quite a bit from this visit to her 'other world', she didn't really deliver. The story became bogged down by cardboard characters with 'soap opera' names('Bruce, Krystal, and Chad Seabright'?), and way too many extraneous plot twists. Not every character in a murder mystery needs to be a suspect!(Every character over age 12, anyway!)
Although the story actually picked up near the end, Hoag's sluggish pacing, and shallow characterization made it a bit of a chore to finish.
This one wasn't in the same class as 'Kill the Messenger'...and since none of the other Hoag books I've heard about caught my interest, I don't think I'll be looking for her work in the future.

If this is typical of her writing, I won't be bothering with more. Maybe her earlier books were better?

Elena Estes is a retired cop that was badly injured in the line of duty, and in the process another officer had gotten killed. She is in her remote corner of the world in Miami, south Florida living with a gentleman friend who owns a horse ranch. After training as a horseback rider, her friend Dean does a write-up on her in the paper, mentioning her ex-cop status.

When a 12-year-old girl approaches Elena one day, seeking her help as a cop, Elena nearly refuses. The girl, Molly Seabright wants for Elena to find out what happened to her older sister Erin Seabright as she has gone off missing someplace. After deciding against her better interest to take on this youngster's case when the kid pays her one hundred dollars to find out, Elena falls into a heap of trouble.

The Seabright family is very wealthy, and seeming to care less of what happened to Erin. Bruce Seabright, the step-father has an air of danger about him, and not only that, but Don Jade at the horse farm seems to have a record himself, and this is where Erin was last seen working.

As the story moves on, murders take place, yet nothing turns up about Erin. Elena feels she is still alive somewhere and almost dies in the process trying to find out. Another character, Zandt, seems to spell trouble and is suspected of the murder of three girls. But he may not be the only one along with Don Jade. Someone else is involved as well.

This book was much better than I had thought it would be. The twists and turns kept you guessing about who did what. Especially good reading for horse lovers.

This is the first book that I've read by Tami Hoag, and it certainly will not be my last. The main character was feisty and likable, and she social commentary well with some suburbia dysfunction, romance, deceit, jealousy, tragedy, corruption, murder, and more! I can't even list all the elements she blended to create a wonderful suspense story. I look forward to reading more by this author.