What would you do if your dad was Errol Flynn?

Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Romance

I'm not usually a romance reader. This one was given to me by my best friends. Romance novels are her guilty pleasure. She even hides them behind other books on her bookshelf so they aren't in plain sight. Actually, she told me that she was putting a lot of trust in me b/c she does NOT loan out this book. She likes to keep it close at hand for any time she might want to pick it up. With all this in mind, I went into it rather optimistically.

The book starts out in the 50s. Belinda is a very young, naive girl from Indianapolis who goes to LA in search of her one true love--James Dean. She visits studio after studio trying to get an acting gig so she could be a part of the movie world. She is glamored by any big named actor in the biz. One day she sees her beloved Jimmy in a drug store. It's rather uneventful, but at least she saw him, right? Since he dies just a few days after Belinda saw him, she thanks her lucky stars that the brief meeting occurred at all. But now that Jimmy's gone, she is a little lost in what to do with herself. By chance she meets a past-his-peak Errol Flynn, has a very brief affair with him, and is cast by the wayside. She finds out she's pregnant, but Flynn has moved on. Belinda quickly catches the attention of Flynn's French friend and gets him to marry her.

This girl is all about drama. Thankfully, most of the story is not about her, but her daughter, Fleur. Her "father" discovers how unconnected he really is with Fleur and has her sent to a French nunnery as soon as she's born. Belinda gets to visit Fleur for one vacation a year. When Fleur is in her early teens, she feels tall, lanky, and ugly with the wide features she has inherited from the father she knows nothing about. Belinda sees a tall, beautiful blond with a tremendous amount of potential. While on one of their vacations, they meet a photographer Belinda knew from her Hollywood past. The test shots she takes of Fleur are just the beginning of her star-filled career as a model and actress.

In Fleur's first film, she is paired up with an older famous actor, Jake, who has done a ton of westerns and won a Pulitzer Prize for his first play. Once she meets her love interest, the story goes up and down as I assume most romances do. Does the mother try to have an affair with Jake? Yes. Does the step-father try to have an affair with his "daughter"? Yes. Are there misunderstandings and confusion galore? Of course!

I enjoyed this book, but I think this will most likely be the only time I read it. In the 50s scenes, Phillips is a bit heavy with the name tossing. I studied theatre and television in college, so I had an understanding of the backstage workings of productions. I think it's funny how Phillips illustrates this showbiz mom going a bit far when she deifies anyone with a big name in the business. Belinda is the ultimate fan who believes no big name can do wrong. It's their right to do what (and whom) they like. Her daughter is so far the polar opposite. She's modest, down to earth, and doesn't want the attention she gets. Fleur's solid character saved me from all the drama thrown in at every possible turn. It was a good, fast, and entertaining romance.

Persuading Annie

Persuading Annie

by Melissa Nathan

Women's Lives & Relationships/Chick Lit


I have read many, many modern versions of Pride & Prejudice, but this is my first modern version of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Melissa Nathan is a British author, so the book is filled with British phrases and culture. There's even a mild distaste of Americans (yet, somehow, a love of New York?)

As far as the plot goes, it follows Persuasion's really closely with modern situations. Annie is one of three daughters to a very wealthy, very handsome man, George. While she's in college, she thinks she's gotten pregnant by Jake, her boyfriend who she thinks might be the one. Confusion ensues and they break up. Both leave thinking they've been betrayed by the other.

The rest of the story happens seven years later. George's company is going under, so the CFO (and Annie's godmother), Susannah, hires a consulting firm to help save everything. Only Annie and her best friend, Cass, know that this company is owned by Jake.

Oh, do those two hate each other when they meet again. Jake flirts with Sophie (Annie's sister's sister-in-law) in front of Annie. Annie flirts with Edward (the company's CEO) in front of Jake. Eventually, an accident occurs with Sophie in a dark, dangerous alley and all the confusion starts to clear.

If you've read Persuasion, you know what'll happen in the end. If you haven't, what's stopping you? It's my favorite Jane Austen novel, so I'll recommend it to anyone who enjoys any of her works. Persuading Annie is a very quick, light read. You don't have to read Persuasion to enjoy it. If you like any kind of Chick Lit, this is a good choice for your next read.

Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea
A High Fantasy Classic

by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Earthsea Cycle:
#1 A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
#2 The Tombs of Atuan (1970)
#3 The Farthest Shore (1972)
#4 Tehanu (1990)
#5 Tales from Earthsea (2001)
#6 The Other Wind (2001)

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. I saw the miniseries when it came out in 2004 and loved it. When I saw the book was in the juvenile collection of my library AND that it was written by Ursula K. Le Guin, the series gained a firm place on my to-read list. That’s right, it’s in the juvenile collection of my library. When I saw our textbook list it as a fantasy, I was overjoyed to be able to sneak in a book that would add to my knowledge of the collection I work with as well as fulfill a class assignment.

Earthsea is rather like a medieval island country with magic and dragons throughout. A young man in a teeny village discovers he has some skill with magic. He does something extraordinary to save his village and his fame spreads to a wizard on the island. The wizard, Ogion, gives the boy his true name, Ged. If he tells anyone his true name, they will have power over him, so he goes by Sparrowhawk. Ogion’s ways of teaching magic are too slow for the prentice, so the boy goes to Roke—an island with a magic school.

Being naturally very skilled at magic, Ged soon gets himself into trouble by performing a spell to bring a spirit back from the dead. He is too young and ignorant to be able to control the spell, so he ends up making a tear in the fabric of space (or something like that). The Archmage (or the Dumbledore of the story) seals the tear using up most of his power. Before he sealed it, something had a chance to escape. This shadow creature attacked Ged but got ran off. Throughout the rest of the story, Ged is chased by the shadow creature everywhere he goes. That is, until Ged decides to become the hunter instead of the hunted.

I haven’t read a lot of high fantasy before. Some of the stuff I’ve touched on has seemed a bit too much at times, reeking of melodrama. I didn’t feel that way with this one. I really liked it and intend on reading the rest of the series.

Give the Crazy Lady in White a Chance

The Woman in White

by Wilkie Collins (1859-60)

Classic Mystery

Each chapter gets you deeper and deeper into the lives of the characters. Each chapter gets you more and more twisted in the plot. Each chapter makes you want to read the next.

The characters really drive the story. They were all well thought out with such unique personalities that they could have been based on real people. Laura (the ingénue) was beautiful, talented, and rich, yet dressed in plain clothes and was incredibly modest. Walter (the hero) did everything he could to defend the honor of his beloved with the meager funds of an illustrator/drawing instructor. Anne Catherick (The Woman in White) was your typical insane character who didn't make much sense and was pretty harmless unless her fears were triggered. Sir Percival Glyde is a smarmy middle-aged aristocrat who breaks out in spurts of anger whenever his plans are questioned.

The two characters that shine most in the eyes of critics are Marion Halcombe and Count Fosco. Marian is the half-sister of Laura who has the perfect body and mind but an ugly face. Her instincts and quick wit help unfold the mysterious plot against Laura to the utmost. (Do you ever find that you start writing or talking in a style not your own after reading something of another time or place?)

Count Fosco is the maker of the intricate plot which unravels, but you wouldn't know it. He is the most intelligent character in the story, yet at times, the most ridiculous. He has trained birds and mice that he dotes on and tweets at. He is jovial and courteous to everyone from the richest landowner to the lowliest street rat. Even the ever ready Marian cannot break the gaze of his cunning gray eyes when they've caught her. Few realize how dangerous a man he is. Our main characters only scrape the surface of this incredibly complex villain--and they know it.

I enjoyed this story, but because of its length, I think it would be better to read it like it was originally published--in serial. You can do that here: http://www.wilkiecollins.com/. I would liken reading this book to watching a long mini-series. Sometimes it's better to get a story in pieces rather than all at once.

I wonder if there are books on Anne Catherick like Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys that's based on the crazy lady in the attic of Jane Eyre. There are so many crazy ladies in fiction--Great Expectations, Sweeney Todd, Jane Eyre, The Woman in White. I'm sure there are many, many more. A list of books based on the crazy ladies of fiction might be an interesting one to conjure up, don't you think?

I love getting ARCs

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

John Green and David Levithan team up to write the story of Will Grayson …and Will Grayson. Both Wills live in different suburbs of Chicago and lead completely different lives. One lives in a posh neighborhood, the other doesn’t. One is gay, the other isn’t. One is indie, and the other is, well, wrinkled. By a weird twist of fate, the two Will Graysons meet in downtown Chicago while chasing different schemes of love.

I used to live in Oak Park, which is the suburb (though, most people still called it the city) bordering the west side of Chicago. My apartment was in Oak Park, but my parking spot was across the street in Chicago. Having this connection, I got more out of the story than some might. I had actual places in my mind rather than just the descriptions given by the authors.

The rich Will lives in Evanston. His friends called him "Grayson" most of the time, so that's what I called him in my head (though, the other Will called him Will2). The not so well off Will lives in Naperville. In my head, I called him Naperwill b/c he's from Naperville. No one in the book calls him that, I just like it. :) The authors make sure you know which Will's chapter you're on through Naperwill's writing style--he doesn't use caps. Since Grayson is a lot more by the book and Naperwill is way more connected to his computer/texting world, this worked really well.

Grayson kinda gets lost in the life of his best friend, Tiny. Tiny is an enormous football player who also happens to be the biggest drama queen in the theatre department. He seems to fall for another guy every 5 seconds. Tiny is so full of himself that he writes a musical about his life called "Tiny Dancer". (I love the humor in this book!) Anyway, Grayson has issues with all of this since he's played a big role in Tiny's life.

Naperwill is a loner. At school, Maura is the closest thing to a friend he has. They meet at the same place every day so Naperwill can drink her coffee. Online, Naperwill has fallen completely, head-over-heels in love with Isaac who lives far away in Ohio. No one at school knows about Isaac. No one at school even knows Naperwill is gay. Secrets have a huge effect on Naperwill's life.

I can't really say much else without giving away the story. Having been a theatre geek in high school and a theatre major in college, I've gotten to know the world where gay meets straight pretty well. Most of the teen books I've read with gay characters overuse stereotypes. This book does an excellent job of treating characters as people--not gay people or straight people--just people. The world is finally changing a little bit. Now you can see that change in our fiction.

Check out this new teen novel when it comes out in April 2010.

As a side note, I got the ARC for this book from John Green on my birthday. It was the first copy of the book he had ever signed. :)

Dexter by Design Review

Dexter, Dexter, Dexter. Where in the world did your character run off to in this book? For the fourth book in a successful series, I was expecting more of the usual for Dexter. I was not expecting the main character to question everything he did or miss key details that are thrown in. Jeff Lindsay gives Dexter his usual social awkwardness but seems to have taken away most of his common sense.
Dexter is usually so methodical in the research of his victims. In Dexter by Design, Lindsay has him killing on impulse. Dexter doesn't do that. Lindsay has him killing a murder suspect in an open and fresh case. Dexter doesn't do that.

I think that the Showtime series has effected Lindsay's work. I like that the show and book series are different and the same all at once. It gives the story more options. Some people die in the show that don't in the books and vice versa. The plots of the books seem to be running parallel with the plots in the different seasons. The first season of the show was obviously based on the first book, and rightfully so. (Without the book, there would be no show after all.) The second season and the second & third book's main themes meshed together. The third season of the show came out before the fourth book. The fourth book had a lot of the same story elements as the third season of the show. Is Lindsay trying to give the story over to Showtime's writers?

For now I await the fifth book to see if Lindsay has the courage to take back his characters and see where they end up--with or without the studio's influence.