Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Memoir

This is a set of essays commenting on Sedaris' life. One of the stories is about the time his father drags him over to a bully's house insisting his father pay for the root canal needed. The bully had hit him with a rock in his mouth.

Another of the the stories is about the birth of his niece. His brother becomes a gentler soul but still is a hard-ass.

I must be losing my sense of humour as although the stories were okay I did not find them hilariously funny. I found the Sedaris family to be eccentric sometimes but just the same as any other family. Tiffany wants to divorce her family. Paul is proving his machismo because he is the only 'male'. David is timid because of his homosexuality. An okay read.

First Line: "When my family first moved to North Carolina, we lived in a rented house three blocks from the school where I would begin third grade."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
Mystery

Kinsey Millhone is hired by the sister of Elaine Boldt, a wealthy widow who was last seen heading to the airport for her regular trip to Florida. Boldt seems to have been missing since that flight. Millhone is on the case and flies to Florida to track Boldt down. Except there are inconsistencies back in California as well. There was a murder in the home next door and Boldt disappeared before she was set to be questioned by police. Could this have something to do with Boldt's disappearance?

I find that Kinsey Millhone has absolutely no personality whatsoever. I remember not enjoying the first in the series that much, and now I remember why. These novels are very flat. There is no humor and we don't learn too much about Kinsey. That just means that the mystery has to be that much more captivating. Unfortunately, I didn't find it captivating at all, but rather a little dull. Then the book just ends. I think this will be the last book I read from the alphabet series.

First Line: "I'd been in the office no more than 20 minutes that morning."

Rating:

(2.5/5)

McNally's Dilemma

McNally's Dilemma by Lawrence Sanders
Mystery

Archy McNally's official case is to discover who is blackmailing Mr. Fairhurst about the story of his ancestor. Apparently his grandfather escaped the Titanic in drag but the family claimed he had died. What ends up being the main case is the death of Geoff Williams. His wife(Melva) has admitted to the murder. Her husband brought home his girlfriend and did the 'dirty' right in front of her causing her to kill him.

Melva asked Archy to care for her daughter(Veronica) amid the press and paparazzi. Except the stories of the daughter and mother do not match. There are a few niggling details that Archy just can not leave alone. Veronica is gorgeous and a handful. The two cases are interlinked and Archy is given a real dilemma.

This book shows how the rich really do live differently. They are above it all. Archy is as always charming and witty.

First Line: "I was perusing the lunch menu at the Pelican Club when I let out a how, which was a bit uncouth even for that unpretentious lodge."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Between Boyfriends Book by Cindy Chupack

The Between Boyfriends Book by Cindy Chupack
Non Fiction Chick Lit

Chupack writes for magazines and Sex and the City, giving advice on dating even though she confesses that as a single woman at the age of 37, it may be advice on what not to do rather than what to do. There are 36 articles/snippet on different subjects of dating and single life in this book. This includes essays on over-emotional guys, passing a guy to your friends when it doesn't work between you two, and when you feel like you've been on your current date before.

This book was fun, easy to read, and I'm sure every girl can relate to something that was said in it! Thankfully, I've never read any of her work before. I'm sure if I were to open up issues of Glamour, these articles would be in there and it would be recycled content.

First Line: "Men are good at a lot of things."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

True Crime by Andrew Klavan

True Crime by Andrew Klavan
Thriller

Everett is a journalist with a lot of personal problems. When one of his colleagues gets in a car accident and is in a coma, Everett gets assigned to her article, which is to interview Frank Beachum, a prisoner hours before he has to be put to death. As Everett looks into the case, he finds a couple of things that don't add up. After talking to the prisoner, and in between trying to sort out his personal life, Everett tries to find out what really happened on that day before Frank Beachum receives his lethal injection.

There were a couple of inconsistencies in the story. Everett goes to interview a person involved in the story and she pretty much threatens his life, then when he comes back later in the day, she helps him. Why the sudden change in attitude?

Also, at the end you want to keep turning the pages to see if Beachum lives or dies, the author splices the action with long paragraphs about how someone would feel going to their death. While this could be interesting, I found that it slowed down the pace of what should be a fast-paced section of the novel.

First Line: "Frank Beachum awoke from a dream of Independence Day."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Pobby and Dingan

Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice
Children's

Kellyanne has two imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingnan. Ashmol, Kellanne's brother, thinks she should just grow up and forget about her friends. One day Kellyanne's father takes her friends to work in his opal mine with him. When he returns home, she asks where they are. Horrors!! They are lost and presumed dead.

Kellyanne starts to wither away from heart sickness and worry. Ashmol concerned for his sister rounds up the whole town to look and try to find his sister's imaginary friends. Ashmol turns his whole attitude around and believes in Pobby and Dingan. Imagine a whole town searching for two imaginary friends :)

A charming story

First Line: "Kellyanne opened the car door and crawled into my bedroom."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Mercy of Thin Air

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue
Literature

Raziela Nolan dies at a very young age and is caught between. She can not 'follow' her loved ones, instead she watches Amy and Scott. Amy has bought a bookcase that once belonged to Raz's boyfriend. The story interweaves the stories of Amy and Scott with Raz's own story.

Raz is in her senior year at Tulane in the 1920's when she dies. She has been brought up in a very forthright manner. Her mother was a suffragette. She is involved in supplying birth control to women(an illegal activity). Raz hopes to be admitted to medical school in the fall. This causes some discord with her boyfriend(Andrew) as he wishes to marry her not have a long distance relationship.

Amy is having difficulties coping with the death of her fiancee. She must come to terms with her grief and her love for Scott.

The concept for this book was different. The stories were well told and I loved the twist at the end. The story grabs you as you want to know what happens and what happened.

First Line: "Simon Beeker had been dead four months."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

C is for Corpse

'C' is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
mystery

Bobby Callahan knows someone is trying to murder him. But he does not know why or at least does not remember. After his car is rammed over a canyon, Bobby is struggling to overcome his disabilities let alone figure out who was in the car behind.

Enter Kinsey Millhone, private detective. Kinsey tries to follow every lead Bobby comes up with but he is killed in 3 days. Kinsey really liked Bobby and vows to follow this to the end. Bobby is from a wealthy family. A family full of problems: step-sister hyped up on everything and anorexic to boot. This is just a case of following the clues until the end with a little twist.

The book was okay. A quick read but not terribly interesting.

First Line: "I met Bobby Callahan on Monday of that week."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Rice Mother

The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka
Literature/Fiction

This book is about four generations of a family in Malaysia. Lakshmi, from Ceylon, is duped into marrying Ayah. He portrays himself as a wealthy man. But everything is an illusion even down to the borrowed gold watch. Ayah is a civil servant who while kindly and loving is a plodding unintelligent man. Lakshmi has 6 children by the time she is nineteen. She makes friends with the Chinese servant girl next door, Mui Tsai. Mui is forced to have sex with her master and each child is given to a different wife.

This story weaves a tale during the Japanese occupation and beyond. As weak as Ayah is, Lakshmi is a strong and formidable matriarch. Her first two children are twins, Lakshmnan and Mohini. Lakshmi must keep Mohini save from the Japanese and the torture they will submit Mokini to if they find her. There is tradegy upon tradegy and she faces each challenge and keeps on going.

The prose in the book is absolutely amazing. The description of the Japanese occupation is hideous. The culture, pre-war and after is described. Children with beauty and lightness of skin colour are highly valued.

The story is told from the viewpoint of each of the characters. I found this story very compelling. So compelling, I just could not put the book down.

First Line: "I was born in Ceylon in 1916, at a time when spirits walked the earth just like people, before the glare of electricity and the roar of civilization has frightened them away into the concealed hearts of forests."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

'B' is for Burglar

'B' is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
Mystery

Kinsey Millhone, private detective, takes on a case to find wealthy Elaine Boldt for her sister. This should be easy and take only a day or two. Wrong!!

The widow was seen leaving her condo in California in a lynx fur coat to go to her condo in Florida. But she never got there. Kinsey follows the path but somewhere along the way it starts turning very sinister. The house next door in California was torched just before Elaine left. Is this just an unrelated event? A woman claiming Elaine is elsewhere is camped out in her Florida condo. Her cat was dropped off at the vets and never retrieved and her fur coat turns up with Elaine

Kinsey does not have as much personality as some of the other series detectives such as McNally and Dallas but the story is much more involved and the twists and turns more rewarding.

First Line: "I'd been in the office no more than twenty minutes that morning."

Rating:

(3.5/5)