Undead and Uneasy

Undead and Uneasy by Mary Janice Davidson
Paranormal

This book was better than the last one. MJD picked up the pace. Betsy is on the verge of finally being wed to the Vampire King, Sinclair. Plans are progressing nicely until everyone disappears or is killed. Betsy's father and stepmother are killed in an auto accident and she is now guardian of BabyJon. Sinclair is just not around. Her best friend is in the hospital fighting cancer.

Betsy must handle things by herself. She deals with fiends, werewolves and a few very unfriendly vampires. I found this book a bit faster paced, due to the increase in action. Still Betsy is a vampire bimbo. She is the vampire Queen but at times she just is so dumb.

a fluff book :)

Rating:

(4.0/5)

Undead and Unpopular

Undead and Unpopular by Mary Janice Davidson
Paranormal

This is definitely not a literary masterpiece but it is entertainment. Pure fluff!!

This time Betsy is planning her wedding, trying to come up with a guest list for her surprise birthday party, babysit her infant brother and host some European bigwig vampires. Everyone is ignoring the birthday party, her brother is messing his pants at every opportunity and these bigwigs turn out to have murdered her friend. What else can go wrong? Lots as it turns out!

These books are just fun to read.

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer by Joyce Reardon
Memoir

This is the Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, wife of wealthy Seattle industrialist John Rimbauer. The time period is the early 1900s. Ellen pours out her feelings about her impending marriage and her honeymoon. She discusses the building and planning of their immense mansion. She talks about her confusion re her sexuality.

A large number of disappearances occur at their mansion named Rose Red. This must have been scandalous at the time. People also commit suicide. Ellen believes in the paranormal and the house has a nightmarish quality about it. Ellen's life turns into a nightmare and we watch as she becomes a tormented soul


This book was read for the What's in a Name Challenge

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb

Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb
Mystery

As Eve Dallas is wrapping up what she considers an easy case, she gets a call from an untraceable number, giving her a riddle of where she can find a body. When Dallas deciphers the riddle, she finds a mutilated body in one of her husband's towers. What's worse, is that her husband, Roarke, used to be friends back in Ireland with the victim.

The killer has decided that Dallas is going to play a game with him and that he is going to start taking out people from Roarke's past. Summerset, Roarke's uptight butler gets framed for the crimes. Eve needs to get a step ahead of the killer before he gets too close.

As usual, this was an interesting story. Unfortunately, also as usual, Robb makes it personal, AGAIN! This is book 6 in the series, and I believe for 1/2 of them, someone close to Dallas has taken some sort of hit (framed, attacked, what have you). In a 25+ book series I can understand taking this route once or maybe twice. But 50% of the time in the first 6 books? And of course, Eve walks in on the killer without any backup. I believe 5/6 of the last books have had this happen as well. Why does Robb think that it would be any less dramatic if Eve outsmarted the guy rather than had a fist/gun fight with him?

That being said, I love the chemistry between Eve and Roarke, and the exchanges between Eve and Peabody. Not a bad book overall, just way too predictable.

First Line: "The business of murder took time, patience, skill, and a tolerance for the monotonous."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

McNally's Puzzle

McNally's Puzzle by Lawrence Sanders
Mystery

Wealthy bird shop owner, Hiram Gottschalk feels his life is threatened. He can not contact the police because there are no definite threats. The Gottschalk are to say it mildly dysfunctional. The son and heir is mentally unstable and the twin daughters are very twisted and not at all nice. To round out the menagerie there is the housekeeper who could organize the military and the manager of the bird shop who makes Archy look slovenly.

I found this one a bit repetitive. The first 25 pages were the same as the other books in the series. I do like Archy and his irreverence. His girlfriend, Connie is nowhere to be seen this time as she is mad at Archy for thinking 'dirty' thoughts. He needs to be kicked to the curb but not for this reason.

The plot was funny in parts and had a satisfying number of twists. The only niggle was that it was summed up too fast. The villain tried to kill Archy in the end and it just didn't make sense that that is what would happen. It was almost as if the author was running out of paper and had to get it ended then and now.

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

Atemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
Childrens/Fantasy

Artemis Fowl finds himself in trouble once again when he tries to make a business deal with a manipulative American business man, Spiro. Spiro steals Fowl's technology (which Fowl stole from the fairy community) and shoots his body guard, Butler. Fowl tricks the fairies into coming to help him out. Holly, a RECON elf, is dispatched to Fowl's location and ends up curing Butler and bringing him back to life.
However, this fairy technology cannot remain in Spiro's hands. Fowl, Butler, the fairies, and even Mulch Diggums come up with a plan to get this technology back.
This is book three in the Artemis Fowl series and doesn't disappoint. Infact, I think I enjoyed it more than the second book. It has some fun technology and entertaining exchanges between characters. Overall, an enjoyable book!

First Line: "Artemis Fowl was almost content."

Rating:

(4/5)

Undead and Uneasy by MaryJanice Davidson

Undead and Uneasy by Mary Janice Davidson
Paranormal

Book 6 (and until March, the most recent) in the Undead series. This one is quite different from the rest as Betsy finds herself alone. Jessica and Nick are at the hospital, Tina is in Europe, and Sinclair, Marc, Antonia, and others are no where to be found. Past books have focused on the interaction between Betsy and her friends/family. This one is more on Betsy trying to reason where everyone is and coming to sense with herself and her situation. There are still interactions (and they are entertaining at that!) but this is a Betsy book!

While I've enjoyed the last couple of books, I didn't find them as entertaining as the first one. I think this book picked up the pace a bit more. I wonder what's next for Betsy though, now that she's finally married!

First Line: "Once, there was a beautiful queen who was as terrible on the inside as she was glorious on the outside."

Rating:

(4/5)

Undead and Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson

Undead and Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson
Paranormal

The fifth book in the Undead series (5 books already??) sees Betsy trying to convince her friends not to throw a surprise party for her 31st birthday. Or is she trying to convince her friends TO throw her a surprise birthday party? Betsy is also continuing to plan her wedding with Sinclair, babysit her step-brother, host some European vampires, and, oh yeah, try to solve a murder.
I find that I can't read too many of these books in a row (for fear of losing brain cells? I'm not sure). It's been a while since I read book number 4 so this was a nice break from all the mysteries I've been reading! It's complete fluff, but fun fluff. This book isn't the best in the series, but it's not too bad.

First Line: "'There's a zombie in the attic,' George the Fiend informed me over breakfast."
Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Lady and the Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier
Historical Fiction

This story revolves around the Lady and the Unicorn set of tapestries. Nicolas des Innocents is commissioned by Jean Le Viste to create these works of art. Nicholas espies Claude, the nobleman's daughter and immediately falls in lust. Nicholas while a wonderful painter is also a lover of women. He has already impregnanted the Le Viste's maid.

The story follows the making of the tapestries though the paintings, the creation of 'cartoons' and then the weaving. We learn about each of the families connected to the tapestries. The De La Chappelles are chosen to weave the tapestries and of course they have a beautiful blind daughter.

The most interesting aspect of the story was how these works of art were created and the 'cost' to these artisans in creating these pieces

Rating:

(4.0/5)

Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland

Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland
Fiction

Tyler is a hotel management college student that lives in a small town in Washington. His mom is a hippie with bad taste in men, his sister doesn't do much with his life, and his girlfriend is anorexic. When Tyler comes back from his European trip, he tries to forget that part of his life, including his run in with a French girl, Stephanie. But when Stephanie calls and says she's coming to the USA, Tyler can't hide from his two worlds coming together.
Like any Coupland book, this story is more about people and relationships than about events. I didn't find the characters in this novel as weird as previous Coupland novels that I've read, and for this I was thankful. Coupland keeps these characters weird, but not to the point where you can no longer relate to them.
Not my favourite Coupland book, but definitely not my least favourite either!

First line: "My mother, Jasmine, woke up this morning to find the word D-I-V-O-R-C-E written in mirror writing on her forehead in a big black felt pen".

Rating:

(3.5/5)