Friday Book Report: Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass

Dr. Bill Bass and author Jon Jefferson team up under the moniker Jefferson Bass to create Carved in Bone, the first of the Body Farm Series.  Dr. Bill Bass is a well-known anthropologist responsible for “the body farm”, a three acre stretch of land at the University of Tennessee devoted to study how the human body decomposes in certain environments.  It’s an ultra-creepy environment that is perfect as the backdrop of a murder mystery novel.  The book combines the real life experiences of Dr. Bass and a little dose of fiction to create something completely original despite the fact that CSI shows/novels are popping up like dandelions these days.  The first of The Body Farm series was published in 2006 by Harper Collins Publishers.

Well known and respected anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has been called upon numerous times by federal and state agencies for his expertise and knowledge regarding death, and when a mummified corpse is discovered in the backwoods of Tennessee, his expertise is needed once again to solve the mystery surrounding the young woman’s death.  Although she’s been dead for over 30 years, the unique environment of the cave she was found in has remarkably preserved her body and the discovery is about to turn the local town of Cooke County upside down.  Cooke County and its people aren’t known for allowing outsiders into their community, but when the sheriff of Cooke County calls for Brockton’s help, he knows that this is one mystery he needs to solve.  Brockton’s investigation is threatening to expose certain secrets that the townsfolk don’t want revealed, and attempts to thwart his progress and attempts on his life have him anxious to discover the truth in this baffling mystery.

I’m not usually a fan of the CSI and forensic genre, but I really really enjoyed this book.  For one thing, it’s a very real read, and I think that has to do with this book being co-written by an expert in the field of anthropology.  Dr. Bill Bass takes his own experiences and weaves them into this fictional book and it has such a fluid feel to it, the pages practically turn themselves.  This book is stuffed with information about dead bodies, which could be gruesome to read about, but it’s done in such a clinical way that it never really creeped me out.  I found I really enjoyed learning about the skeletal anatomy and the reasons why a person might have died, once you get past the creepiness of the body farm, it’s pretty interesting stuff.

I also liked that the authors gave Brockton a life outside of the body farm.  He wasn’t just an anthropologist helping the police department.  He’s also a man battling the grief and guilt of his wife’s death, and his faults as a father.  He’s human, and he makes mistakes just like all of us.  Writing about his personal life wasn’t necessary, but it helped to make the character of Dr. Brockton more believable.  He’s also really funny, and for someone that spends so much time surrounded by death, it was refreshing that he had a little bit of wit and humor in his personality.

There are a lot of secondary characters that are just as well written as Brockton.  The secondary characters never over shadowed Brockton, but they complimented him very well, and the wide range of personalities was compelling enough to keep you reading.

There aren’t a whole lot of twists and turns in this book, and those looking for more of a mystery will probably be a little disappointed.  It’s not your typical “whodunit” book, and once you dive into the heart of the book you’ll probably have an idea of who the culprit is, but this book does have the feel of how things would really shake out in an investigation.  I give this book a solid B+ grade.  It’s well written, with excellent characters and the body farm setting and backwoods of Tennessee provide an excellent location for a murder mystery.  As I said, I’m not a fan of the CSI shows on television these days, but I very much enjoyed how this book played out and I think that anyone that does enjoy that genre would enjoy this book, too.  It interested me enough that I’ve read it more than once and I am seriously considering reading the other Body Farm novels.  If I’m willing to read more from the same author, well then, that’s about as big as an endorsement that I can give.  I highly recommend this book, especially for those that like the murder mystery/forensic science type genre.

Happy Halloween!

 
Happy Halloween everyone! This is a picture of my mantle, some of the decorations were Pinterest inspired, others I thought of myself (I'm sure other's have thought of them, but I'm taking credit for my own creativity since I never saw them on Pinterest myself. *wink, wink*).

The ghost in the mirror is just a piece of frosted vinyl I got from JoAnn's, cut into a ghosty shape and adhered to the mirror with a little scrapbooking tape. This I found on Pinterest, and some have used Ziploc Press N' Seal to make their ghost, others used window vinyl to stick to the mirror. I like the look of the frosted vinyl, and while you can sort of see the scrapbooking tape through the vinyl, it isn't so noticeable that it looks bad. The Bats are just window clings that I got at JoAnn's, but of course those you can get anywhere.

The pumpkins are just those craft funkin pumpkins that you can get at any craft store (I think the black one came from Target). Same goes for the candle sticks. I think you could probably find something suitable at a second hand store, but I didn't have time to search through all the thrift stores for suitable candlesticks, so I got these at Hobby Lobby while they were on sale for 50% off.

The crows came from the Dollar Tree, and the skull was $5 at Target. The mantle runner is from JoAnn's that was also on sale for 50% off (plus my discount) which made that pretty cheap.

Now, what I made were the spell books and the potion bottles. They were both super easy to do, just so long as you've got a little time and effort to put into it.

 

For the witchcraft books you'll need:
* Black spray paint
* Antique White acrylic paint
* White Sharpie paint pen
* Craft books (can be found at any craft store)

Basically, all you need to do is spray paint your books black (or whichever color you prefer).  Once the paint is dry, I used a sponge brush to paint my antique white acrylic paint onto the part of the book that would be the pages.  I thought the sponge brush did a nice job of creating lines as if they were actually pages.  I only used one coat, to keep the page-like feel, more coats and the black lines wouldn't be there.  Then I used my paint pen to write the titles onto my books.  I wish I had better handwritting, I don't think the titles look to "witchy" but they'll do.  And that's it!

The potion bottles were essentially the same thing as the books.  This is what you'll need:
* Glass bottles (I found mine at JoAnn's and Michael's for $1 apiece)
* Acrylic paint
* Glass writer pen

First off, I squeezed some paint inside the bottle, then swirled it around to cover the entire inside of the bottle.  Next, I took my glass pen and wrote on the outside of the bottle various witchcraft ingredients (eye of newt, aconite, gall of goat, hemlock, etc.)  Once the glass paint was dry I put the cork back on top and there you go, easy as pie!

I really liked how my mantle turned out, and I got a lot of compliments during our Halloween party as well.  So not only did I like my decorations, but others did as well and that's all I can really ask for.  I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!

Halloween Crafts: Googly-eyed Picture Frame

I found this quick and easy Halloween craft on Pinterest, so much fun stuff on that site!  This one was super easy to do and it took me probably a little less than two hours to finish.


Here's what you'll need:

* Wood craft frame (or any type of frame with a flat front)
* Craft paint in Halloween-ish colors
* Wood or chipboard letters
* Googly Eyes in various sizes
* Spray Adhesive or any type of craft glue
* Paint brush and/or sponge brush






Ok, the first step is to paint your picture frame.  I used a wood craft frame I got at JoAnn's.  The googly eyes won't cover the whole thing, so you'll need a bit of background color to hide the wood.  I painted mine black with a sponge brush, but you could do any color you wish (orange, purple, green, etc.). 

Next, paint your letters whatever color you wish.  I painted mine orange, but any other Halloween type colors would work just as well.  I used wood letters (Also from JoAnn's) to spell out the word "EEK" but I think "BOO" would be real cute, too.

Now it's time to start adding the googly eyes.  I bought several different sizes (from JoAnn's, where else?) and with my 40% coupons they weren't too expensive.  I used a spray adhesive I already had at the house, but any type of craft glue would work, I think.  The only negative about the spray adhesive is that it sort of leaves a film (it doesn't dry completely clear) so it kind of takes away from the black background of the frame.  But I'm nitpicking because it doesn't look that bad, and it was way easier than trying to individually glue on each googly-eye.  Get lots of different sizes to fill in some of the gaps with some of the smaller sized googly-eyes.


















Once you've got all your googly-eyes glued to the fame, it's time to glue the letters on.  I used some sort of craft cement glue that I had on hand.  I can't remember the name, but I think that any type of craft glue or cement would be just fine to adhere the letters.  The original frame from Pinterest added a ribbon before the letters, so you could do that too, but I just went the simple route with letters only.

And that's really all there is to it!  Add in your own picture or whatever you please and your frame is done!  I put in a Halloween picture of my little guy from a few years ago.  He was a darn cute Yoda!  Overall I think I spent around $10 or maybe less for this project.  The frame was about $4, the letters were $2 all together, and the googly-eyes probably came to about $4 or so.  The paint and glue I already had.  I think I might make a few more of these and add in more Halloween pictures of my guy to make a little googly-eyed display...but probably not this year, maybe next year!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Crafts: Raven Wreath

Since it's almost Halloween, I'm going to skip the book reports for a bit and instead post a few of the Halloween crafts I've been working on for this year.  I never used to be all into Halloween, but my husband likes the holiday and my little boy sure does love to dress up for it.  Plus, we are having a Halloween party this year and I decided I needed to spiff up the house with some ghoulish decorations!  This first craft was super easy to do, and I think it looks both creepy and cool at the same time.  It reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", don't you think?  Nevermore!

Anyway, here is what you'll need to make your own Raven wreath...

* Grapevine Wreath (mine is 18")
* Black Spray Paint
* Black Glitter (optional)
* Black Feathers (optional)
* One small Black Bird (got mine at Dollar Tree)
* One large Black Bird  (got mine at Joann's)
* Hot Glue and Gun (or any strong adhesive)

Alrighty, the first step is to spray paint the entire wreath black, make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies and get both sides of the wreath.

 

Next, while the paint is still wet, sprinkle the glitter.  The glitter is optional, I just like how it made my wreath a little more sparkly.  But, you don't have to glitterize your wreath if you don't want to.  After painting and glittering (or not) you'll have to wait a little while for the paint to dry.  I think mine was dry after about an hour or so.

 

Now that the paint is dry, it's time to apply the feathers and birds.  I used hot glue to adhere a little nest of feathers for my birds to sit on.  The feathers are optional as well and definitely aren't needed to create this wreath.  I just liked that my birds were kind of chilling in their nest.  After I glued in the feathers I attached my two birds.  I got the smaller one at the Dollar Tree (great place for neat Halloween decor), the larger bird I bought from Joann's at half price.

 

 

 

So, there's my Raven Grapevine Wreath.  Looks a little bit like the original, don't you think?  I really like it and I think it's a bit different from some of the other Halloween wreaths out there.  If you want the original instructions on how to make this, go here.  In fact, Joann's has a lot of fun little projects for Halloween, not just this one.  Anywho, there's one halloween craft done, I've got a few more I want to do and hopefully I can get them posted up here soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Book Report: The Shack by William Paul Young

William Paul Young writes a modest tale about a man and his struggle with tragedy and life in general in The Shack.  It was published in 2008 by Windblown Media.

Mackenzie Phillips considers himself a normal man.  Married with children, he has a good life but definitely still struggles with past hurts that have haunted him for years.  His struggles continue when his youngest daughter, Missy, is abducted during a family vacation.  Frantically searching for his daughter, the evidence the authorities find leads them to believe she may have been brutally murdered in an abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness.  After Missy’s death, Mack turns inward, hiding his emotions and fears from everyone.  He becomes angry at God for letting this happen to his family.  Four years later Mack receives an odd note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that horrible shack for a weekend.  Mack struggles with the desire to confront God and the fear that letting out all those emotions will open wounds he’d rather keep hidden.  His curious nature leads him back to the shack and what he finds there will change his life forever.

Whew.  This book is…powerful.  I can see why there is so much controversy surrounding this book.  From all the other reviews I’ve read, people either love this book or they hate it.  There’s hardly any in-between when it comes to The Shack.   I think I am one of the few that fell somewhere in the middle regarding this book.  I didn’t absolutely love it, but I didn’t hate it either.  And while I didn’t absolutely love it, I can admit that this book is powerful and it raises a lot of questions into subjects that most people would rather just ignore.

This is a Christian fiction book, and everyone should know that before proceeding.  William Paul Young uses this book to try and break down some of the stereotypes that people have of God and The Trinity with his own ideas about what he thinks they are like.  This isn’t a book to try and sway the reader into Young’s thinking, at least it shouldn’t be.  These are his ideas just like any other fiction novel out there and I think if the deeply devotional readers out there that did not enjoy this book can get past that, they might actually enjoy the story.  There’s talk of this book being heretical and inaccurate.  I’m not sure why, Mr. Young is writing a fictional story about a man and his battle with tragedy that is threatening to engulf his life.  His meeting with God changes his perspective, as I think it would do for anyone that met God.  I guess I just didn’t have a problem with some of Young’s ideas about the Trinity, even if they weren’t my own because I was able to read this book knowing it’s fiction and in no way should replace Scripture.

I really enjoyed that the majority of this book deals with the enormity of God’s love, and the inadequacy of humans to really understand how to fully love without the presence of God.  That part I really liked.  I really enjoyed how Young portrayed just how amazing God’s love is.  Mack has the stereotype that God is mean and an “eye for an eye” God, and Young definitely tries to alleviate that stereotype.  It was definitely enlightening to read a different perspective about God’s capacity to love and his grace to forgive.  

There are definite flaws in this book.  I didn’t think it was very well written, for one.  Mr. Young is not a writer and it’s very evident in this book.  I didn’t realize until after reading this that he never intended to publish this book, but it was more a story for his children.  So he does get a little pass after learning that.  The dialogue seems forced and unrealistic at times, especially the interactions between God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit.  And while I thought Mack was very well developed, the dialogue wasn’t.   There are poignant scenes that are definitely emotional and tug at the heart strings, but even those powerful and heartfelt illustrations can’t hide that fact that a lot of the scenes were somewhat cheesy and forced.

Overall though, I liked this book.  It was interesting to read a different viewpoint on the Trinity, even if a lot of the thoughts I didn’t agree with.  Still, I would recommend this book solely because of the way Young describes God’s love and ability to forgive.  And for that alone I have to give this book a B grade, I’ve never read any other Christian fiction that was so enlightening about God’s capacity to love.  I don’t think The Shack is for everyone, but for those with the ability to discern between theology and fiction, I think this could be a very interesting book to experience. 

Friday Book Report: Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Welcome to 1929, where prohibition is in full effect, and men willing to bring alcohol to the masses become kings.  New York is ruled by these kings and the young flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes age of the flapper.  Anna Godbersen delivers a story of three young women searching for their own goals and dreams in Bright Young Things.  It was published in 2010 by HarperCollins Publishers.

Cordelia Grey is too big for her small town of Union, Ohio and so she escapes with her best friend, Letty Larkspur to the allure and glamour of New York City, just hours after Cordelia’s wedding.  Cordelia is searching for the father she’s never known, famous bootlegger Darius Grey.  She not only finds her father, but also a brother, Charlie, and a new friend in Astrid Donal, Charlie’s socialite girlfriend.  Cordelia soon discovers that family is most important to Darius, and she’s forced to choose between her newly found family or a promising romance with the handsome Thom Hale.

Letty dreams of seeing her name light up Broadway.  All she’s ever wanted to do was sing and perform on-stage, but she soon discovers that New York is full of young women with the same dreams, and the reality of her situation soon sets in.  After a falling out with Cordelia, the innocent and naïve Letty struggles on her own to find her way in the city that can dash a young girl’s dream in a blink of an eye.

Astrid Donal is a young flapper that seems to have it all, money, beauty, and the love of Charlie Grey, heir to Darius Grey’s bootlegging industry.  She’s spoiled and she knows it.  But she too is just a young woman with dreams of her own, and her seemingly perfect appearance covers up a slew of family secrets and flaws.

I had really high hopes for this book.  I thought the times of the flapper and prohibition would be an interesting read, but this book just fell flat for me.  I did enjoy the scenes and the description of the New York City scene in 1929, but that was about all I enjoyed.  I thought the author did a very nice job describing the city and the people during the times.  It was interesting to read more about how society’s came together and socialized more with one another during prohibition.  I did like that part of the book, but that was about it.

My main problem with this book were the main characters involved.  I just could not get on board with Cordelia or Letty.  I liked Astrid well enough, at least she knew who she was and wasn’t afraid to show it.  But Cordelia really got on my nerves.  She’s selfish.  She marries back in Ohio but leaves her husband just hours after the wedding.  Why marry him at all?  There are three books in this series, so perhaps he comes into play later on?  If that’s not the case it’s a realy crappy thing for Cordelia to do.  She runs off to New York with her friend Letty, but as soon as they have one fight, she abandons her.  Once she finds her father, I would expect her to bend over backwards to please him.  But nope, her father asks her to stay away from rival bootleggers, but she goes behind his back and sees them anyway.  She never did one thing that wasn’t for anyone other than herself throughout this entire book, and that really bothered me.  I guess she kind of redeems herself towards the end, but overall I did not like her character and really had a hard time reading about her.

Letty is just too naïve for her own good.  Her small-town mind can’t quite grasp the big city rules, and it was frustrating to read.  I suppose it’s realistic that the bright lights of the city can overwhelm a small-town country girl, but her sheer stupidity wasn’t realistic at all.  She’s new to the city and the rules of New York, so why not go out with a complete stranger and expect only good things to happen.  Any girl in her right mind would not do that, past or present.  It’s just asking for bad things to happen.  I didn’t like reading about Cordelia because of her selfishness.  I didn’t like reading about Letty because she was dumb.

I can’t really recommend this book because of the characters involved.  The storyline is actually pretty good, once you get past the foolishness of the characters.  But I can’t enjoy a book based solely on the storyline.  I need good, well-developed characters to make the book entertaining, and that just wasn’t the case with Bright Young Things.  Perhaps the second and third books in the series are better, but after reading the first, I just don’t think I can stomach trying to read more about Cordelia or Letty.  I have to give this book a C grade, it took me forever to finish because I just wasn’t interested in it, the characters drove me crazy, and while the storyline is readable, there wasn’t much going on and really nothing happens until almost the end of the book.  I suppose it’s just plot development for the second book, but I’m not going to waste my money on book #2 when I felt so disagreeable towards the first.   The title is “Bright Young Things” but I really think a more fitting title is “Stupid Young Girls.” 

Friday Book Report: Texas Hold Him by Lisa Cooke

The year is 1870 and the South is trying to recover from the Civil War that has just ended.  New Orleans resident Charlotte Mason used to live on a prosperous southern plantation, but the aftermath of the War left her family with barely enough to live on, and an unknown blackmailer threatens to ruin her family for good.  Lisa Cooke delivers a delightful look at the riverboat gamblers in Texas Hold Him.  It was published in 2009 by the Dorchester Publishing Company, Inc.

Southern Belle Charlotte “Lottie” Mason is in a pickle that she’s not sure she can get out of.  The Civil War that ravaged the South left her family devastated, and now a blackmailer is threatening to send her ill father to prison unless Lottie can come up with the money to keep her father safe.  Lottie learns that there’s a big gambling tournament coming up, and she pleads with Obediah “Dyer” Straights, a successful riverboat gambler, to teach her the game of poker to earn the money to save her father.  Dyer has no time for a proper Southern lady; he travels the riverboats to search for revenge.  However, the ever insistent Lottie won’t give up, and he finally agrees to teach her for the price of one night in his bed, which he assumes will make her run away, but she calls his bluff and the cards are dealt. 

This is your typical light-hearted romance novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This isn’t the type of book that’s going to make a reader think, and your brain won’t need to function too much to understand the plotline, but I don’t care.  It’s a very fun read and a great way to let your mind escape to the riverboats of the Mississippi for a few hours.  The premise of the book is a tad bit hard to believe, and if you really analyze this book, the plot is fairly weak, but it’s the characters of Lottie and Dyer that make this book readable.  Without them, this book would be sub-par and I would’ve folded long before the big bets are placed.  Lisa Cooke knows her audience though, and instead of taking the time to develop an intriguing plot she improves on her main characters, which is why romance readers read romance novels in the first place.  Fans of the romance genre don’t mind if the story is a little far-fetched, just as long as the protagonists are interesting and worth reading about.  Lottie and Dyer are definitely worth reading about.

The dialogue between Dyer and Lottie is great, I found myself laughing out loud more than once while reading.  The banter, teasing, and sharp wit between the two are hilarious.  Lottie is a little naïve and definitely out of place on a riverboat, and Dyer’s reactions to the situations she gets herself in make this little book a page turner.  It reminds me a lot of the movie (or television show) Maverick.  While the situations may be life threatening to the characters, the comedic overtones trump the disasters the characters get themselves into. 

While I can accept that the plotline of this book might leave a little to be desired, my only real complaint was that I thought it was too short.  A lot of the situations Dyer and Lottie get themselves into weren’t quite as developed as I would have liked, and I wish that the book were longer to really explain and detail their mishaps.  It felt like some of the situations they got into were abbreviated and I wanted the author to really give us an illustration of what was going on, not just the Cliff’s Note’s version.  Ms. Cooke tries to develop a secondary storyline between minor characters Newt and Sally that I thought was unnecessary.  If Ms. Cooke wanted to expand on their story, well that’s fine, but their story felt underdeveloped and lacking.  There wasn’t enough explanation or emotion written about those two to make their story interesting.  She needed to either develop a real story between them or just leave out the little snippets of emotion and just focus on Lottie and Dyer and keep Sally and Newt minor characters in the relationship between Lottie and Dyer.   I also just wanted more interaction between Lottie and Dyer, and there wasn’t enough about Newt and Sally to make me care about them.  Lottie and Dyer were without a doubt; the best part of this book.  The exchanges between Lottie and Dyer were wonderful, and I would’ve loved to read more conversations between them.

Overall I really liked this book, it’s a fast and easy read, great for a day or two of escapism if you’re looking for a fun book that doesn’t take itself too seriously.  There’s mild language and a few steamy scenes, so I wouldn’t recommend for younger readers.  It is a romance novel, so keep that in mind if you aren’t a romance fan.  I am a romance fan and I give this book a solid B+ grade.  The plot may be silly, but it’s the characters that make this book, and if you enjoy the comedic romance books, than I recommend you ante up for Texas Hold Him.

Friday Book Report: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of those novels that every book lover should read.  Whether you enjoy it or not is based on your personal style, but one cannot deny that Austen is still one of the best novelists out there, and that she can take a story from 200 years ago and still it is relevant in today’s society.  The various themes of this book can very well be applied to today’s modern world, and it’s amazing that anyone familiar with the literary world knows exactly who Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are.  Their characters transcend time, and that in itself is a testament to just how remarkable an author Jane Austen was.  This book was originally published in 1813, and after 200 years is still one of the most famous works of fiction to ever grace a page.

The story revolves around the Bennett family and their five daughters.  Elizabeth, the second oldest is a young woman able to speak her mind and unafraid to do so despite what polite society might say.  She’s strong, independent and truly believes she can assess a person’s true character.  When she first meets Mr. Darcy, she finds him to be horrible and arrogant and she cannot stand him at all.  All her comments towards Darcy are filled with disdain, and she makes no apologies for speaking her mind to him so freely.   During the course of their acquantaince Elizabeth feels she has justly evaluated Darcy’s character and her stubbornness won’t allow her to change her thinking.  But of course, certain situations come to head and Elizabeth must soon realize that her first impressions of Darcy are not what they seem, and so this wonderful romantic tale takes off and Austen leads the way with her witty and humorous writing.

There of course are two main themes of this book; pride and prejudice, and both the main characters have ample amounts of both.  Darcy is an extremely proud man, his wealth and station in life have given him reason to believe he is above most in society and therefore he comes off as haughty and unsociable.  This is what Elizabeth sees when she first meets Darcy and he so grossly humiliates her with his cold comments about her appearance as well as the entire social scene he is thrust into.  Elizabeth is full of her own pride.  She overhears his insults and her stubborn nature will not allow her to shift her prejudice of this discomfiting man.  It’s really a remarkable thing to witness, the two are so much alike and so vastly different we all know they are perfect for each other; if they could just swallow their pride and be done with it.  Pride is shown and brought up throughout the book, and while it is usually considered a fault to have pride, Darcy says it best when he describes the differences of pride, “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity to what we would have others think of us.”  And that is the crux of the situation, Darcy has loads of pride (and he should, for he is a wealthy man with a profitable estate to be proud of) but all Elizabeth can see at first is vanity, and not in a good way.  She sees an egotistical man, instead of a man proud of his accomplishments.  

Mr. Darcy on the other hand, is bothered by Elizabeth and he doesn’t like it at all.  Her manners and straightforward approach unsettle him and he has to battle with those first impressions that Elizabeth has thrust upon him.   He’s attracted to her but he doesn’t want to be.  Jane Austen writes his displeasure in loving her so perfectly in quite possibly the greatest scene ever written.  His first proposal of marriage to Elizabeth is one of the funniest things I think I’ve ever read.  The way he reluctantly acquiesces to the idea that he loves Elizabeth despite all her shortcomings is written brilliantly and Elizabeth’s response to his overwhelmingly “romantic” proposal is downright hilarious.

I very much enjoyed this book, and not just because it’s recognized as a “classic” and a must read.  It’s an intellectual romance, and the writing engages the reader to feel what the characters are feeling.  Having lived during that era, Austen can write with extreme conviction that the events that take place in Pride and Prejudice could most certainly happen in 18^th century England.  The writing can be hard to understand sometimes (British English 200 years ago is not exactly the same as American English in the present day), and I found myself taking breaks after reading a few chapters to let my mind digest the information I just read.  These breaks weren’t from a lack of interest, I just felt that at times the writing got over my head and I needed to stop reading and really absorb what I had just read so that I could follow the storyline and grasp just what Austen was writing about more coherently.

I wholly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, but I think those that read often will appreciate this book more than the casual reader.  I do not think I would have liked this book 5 years ago, but having read so much more in the past few years than I used to I can definitely recognize the value this book has in the literary world.  This book is an A, the writing is wonderful, the storyline and themes prevalent throughout the book and are explained and justified beautifully.  It’s suitable for any age, but younger readers may not have the patience to finish this book.  If you love books, and if you love witty romances set in the 18^th Century, you should really read this book, if you are among the few that haven’t already.  Pride and Prejudice is a delightfully entertaining book and I would definitely read it again.

Project Backyard: Upgrading Our Deck

This is my dog, Milo (he looks sad in this picture).  We've had Milo for nearly as long as we've lived in this house.  Aside from random acts of stupidity, he's actually a pretty good dog.  My only (well not the only, but the one I could actually remedy) complaint is that whenever it rains, he hides under the back deck and the results of this are usually one muddy puppy that tracks in dirt if I'm not paying attention.  Oftentimes I've had to take him in the front yard if it rains so that he won't hide under the deck.  But since we were finishing our basement I was hesitant in startin any other large projects while that was going on.  Since our basement is nearly complete, it was time to do something about mud-puppy.

This was our deck before we started.  It's open with a lot of dirt underneath...no wonder Milo always got so dirty!  Our deck was leaning just a bit due to the land settling, so the first thing we wanted to do was to jack up the deck and make it level again.  So, first thing we did was to dig around the posts, pull out any old concrete that wasn't needed in preparation for filling in the post holes with new concrete.  We used a few bottle jacks to raise up the deck, poured in new concrete around the posts and waited a few days (or maybe a few weeks, I don't remember) for the concrete to dry.  Then we just filled up the holes with dirt and proceeded to the next step.

We decided to do a little landscaping around the deck to give it a little more pizzaz, so next we dug out some grass to make a little garden area for some bushes. It's not sexy or anything, but I do think it looks better than just having plain ol' grass there.  We bought some sheets of lattice at one of those hardware stores, cut it down to size and attached it to the deck to close off the bottom.  Once all the lattice work was done, I re-stained the deck and lattice to brighten it up a bit.  After staining it was time for some gardening, so we bought a bunch of bushes and plants to plant in our little area and then laid down some lava rock (same as we have in the front yard) and there you go, Bob's your uncle.

I think it looks much much nicer, and now I don't have a dirty dog everytime it rains.  Win-win.  It took a lot of hard work, it wasn't cheap to do, but it does feel so nice to get some accomplished by yourself.  Gotta love the DIY's even if they aren't inexpensive.  It was still worth it and I think it makes our backyard look much better. 

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Friday Book Report: 212 by Alafair Burk

Alafair Burke takes real life headlines and weaves them into her story to create the crime novel 212.  The third installment of the Ellie Hatcher series is full of compelling storylines, current events and the underlying theme that human instinct isn’t always what it seems.  This book was published in 2010 by HarperCollins Publishing.

Detective Ellie Hatcher and her partner J.J. Rogan are called to investigate a homicide in one of New York City’s hippest new buildings, the 212.  As it turns out, the man murdered was a bodyguard of a wealthy and famous entrepreneur in his own penthouse.  Sam Sparks, bachelor playboy and real estate mogul is unwilling to cooperate with their investigation, and thus Hatcher and Rogan are forced to put this case on the backburner when another murder lands on their desk.

Megan Gunther is a New York University sophomore that finds personal threats posted on a website specializing in campus gossip.  She’s disturbed by the posts and the anonymity of those posting threats about her.  She takes her case to the police for help, but there’s nothing they can do for her.  Her friends think it’s just a joke, but suddenly Megan ends up dead and now it’s up to Ellie and her partner to find justice for the young college co-ed.  Hatcher and Rogan investigate all the possibilities of Megan’s death, but it isn’t until another woman is killed that a link between the two is formed and the race is on to find the killer before another young woman dies.

Crime novels aren’t particularly my favorite genre, but I did enjoy this book.  It’s obviously not my favorite book ever, but it kept me interested and it didn’t take me long to finish, so it did hold my attention.  This book reminded me a lot of the show Law & Order, what with the crime and the ensuing investigation that almost always leads to something more than just a simple case of murder.  There are a lot of twists and turns, and lots of red herrings to sort through.  Three seemingly unrelated homicides start to link together as Ellie and Rogan piece the puzzle together, and it’s up to them to solve the mystery before another homicide is added to the list.  I could almost hear the Law & Order theme music in my head while reading this…almost.

I liked the character of Ellie Hatcher, she was strong and resilient and very determined to do her job well.  She has her flaws but for the most part she’s well rounded and not your clichéd “screwed up” cop with issues.  I thought she was very well developed and even though this is the third book in the series (and I have not read the previous two), I didn’t feel like I was missing out on a lot.  There were some backstory moments where reading the first two books would’ve helped, but they weren’t necessary and this book works very well as a stand-alone.  I liked the little character details that Burke adds in to give Ellie a personality; how she always illegally parks when arriving at a crime scene, that she always orders the same drink, the hints about her musical tastes that give the reader a little more background on who the real Ellie is, and not just Detective Hatcher.

I liked that Burke took recent events as used them as background for her story.  There are a lot of similiarities to the the “Craigslist Killer” as well as numerous other political scandals that never seem to go away.  And while she does use current headlines, it never felt like her story was just copying what was written in the newspapers.  While I like the “ripped from the headlines” story Burke had going on, I thought perhaps she used too many headlines to form her storyline.

This is a mystery/suspense crime novel, and therefore there is supposed to be a lot of mystery involved before the real culprit is revealed.  However, I felt this book had way too many twists and turns in the plot to make the story believeable.  This story had so many red herrings, and the investigation of the murders jumps from one suspect to the next, winding and spiraling around that the original plotline starts to become clouded and convoluted.  With so much going on, the reader has to process all kinds of information and dead ends while trying to formulate an actual theory as to “whodunit” and why.  I understand the main concept of a mystery novel is to keep the reader guessing, but in this case I think the author took it a bit overboard.  And instead of allowing the reader to form their own ideas, Burke has Ellie and her partner lay out nearly all the possibilities that lead to the crimes they were investigating.  I’m sure this was an attempt to accurately depict how detectives work in solving crimes, but as for me the reader; I felt that the author was trying to purposely sway me from forming my own opinions and giving me Ellie’s instead.  I would have rather had all of Ellie’s theories kept to herself so I could think about the crimes and try to solve the mystery myself, without the “help” from the author.  I suppose it was meant to distract from who really did it, but instead it frustrated me.

All in all it was an entertaining read.  I give this book a B- grade because it did keep me interested enough to read through quickly, the storyline was well thought out for the most part, and I really enjoyed the character of Ellie Hatcher.  This is a crime novel, and there is some harsh language and disturbing scenes.  This book isn’t for children and I wouldn’t recommend to anyone younger than 17 or 18.  If you are a fan of the mystery/crime genre you just might enjoy Ellie Hatcher in 212.  I’m not particularly a fan of the mystery/crime genre, but I still enjoyed Ellie Hatcher, and I just might have it in mind to read a few more books involving her to see what else she has in store. 

Friday Book Report: World War Z by Max Brooks

Max Brooks provides us with a very believable and hauntingly realistic “oral history” of just how a war with Zombies could ever happen.  It reads as if it was a documentary on BBC or the History Channel, a very different and interesting way for a novel such as this to be written.  World War Z was published in 2006 by The Crown Publishing Group.

Max Brooks’ alter-ego (he is never named in the novel, and the reader is left to assume it is Brooks conducting these interviews) travels all across the globe to interview first-hand survivors after the Zombie War.  His journeys take him from the Plains of America to the Middle East to the Antarctic and everywhere in-between.  He interviews war veterans, critical members of various governments and even your everyday regular bloke that just happened to get caught in the middle of the most atrocious event to ever happen to humanity.  Brooks interviews men and women trying to help make a difference in the fight, but he does not discriminate and even interviews those that took advantage of the fears of humans to make money during humanity’s most trying times. 

This is one of those books that; we all know is science fiction and would never ever happen, but the writing is so good and Brooks thought of everything that this book has you thinking, “Zombies aren’t real…and yet.”  The Zombie genre has been around for decades, with authors and screen-writers all putting their spin on those mindless brain-eating buggers, but Brooks actually explains how his zombie infestation would work, and just how such an infestation could go global in a matter of days.  It’s very intriguing.  The breakout takes place in a remote village in China, once the Chinese government gets word of what’s going on, a cover-up of sorts is in place to keep other countries from really understanding the dangers.  Infected but not yet turned humans are fleeing the country to escape quarantine, getting smuggled out of the country by the thousands and therefore bringing the disease to the next country…and then the next…and so on and so forth.  I’ve never once thought that there would be anyway that The United States would ever be overrun by zombies (if such a thing existed) because we have too much firepower and so much land to cover, but Brooks actually made me believe that zombies could infest our country and initially succeed.

Brooks was able to really capture all the emotions of everyone he interviewed, and you could almost feel through his writing that you were there living through all of this with them.  The major themes of this book had to do with human nature and the irrational emotions that separate humans from the living dead.  The fear and irrational panic that everyone has at some level created not just a fear of zombie infestation, but also secondary threats that put the human race at danger.  Unpreparedness and fright caused humans to turn on humans, governments turning on their citizens and countries waging war with each other when they should have been coming together to fight the common enemy.  It’s truly an engaging book about what could happen in a post-apocalyptic earth, no matter if zombies are the cause or not. 

I really enjoyed this book.  My one complaint is that there were too many interviews and not enough depth or explanation.  There are some really great interviews, but just when they started to get good and pull you in, Brooks stops and goes on to the next interview.  At times it was frustrating to read about one person’s experience but never hear the whole story.  There were so many characters and so many stories you could never get focused or engaged enough to truly care about that specific person’s experience.  I would have preferred less interviews but with more depth and progression in the stories that Brooks told.  Brooks does try to tie it all together in the end, but by that time the reader is left trying to remember what person goes with which story and its importance to the overall book.  I get that all the stories are important to the whole story, and he does put them in chronologically according to how the zombie war started but it was difficult at times to focus on the story when you have all these characters and experiences running around throughout the book.

Overall I liked this book a lot.  Brooks gives us a plausible and very realistic version of the Zombie Apocalypse.   It’s not just the believability that makes this book so darn good; it’s the human emotion and the resolve of the human spirit that makes this book worthy of all the praise it has received.  I wish the individual stories were better explained, but overall this book gets and A- from me.  It’s very well written, the zombie infestation is explained brilliantly and the war on the zombies is so in-depth you actually feel like this is something that really happened and not just a work of fiction.  Any fan of the zombie genre should read this book, and I believe any zombie fan will find this book as hauntingly realistic as I did.

US Airlines Scam

Today we recieved a letter with our address handwritten,it was postmarked from Phoenix, Arizona.  It was addressed to my husband, so he gave me a look that I immediately knew was his "this is something stupid" look and opened it up.  In the process he got a paper cut, so he was already perturbed before he even read the letter.  Sure enough, our initial impressions were correct.  According to the letter from "US Airlines" (which doesn't exist, by the way) we "qualified" for an award of 2 roundtrip tickets.  Cool!  I love traveling!  Problem is, this is a scam, and not a very well thought out one at that.

Above is a picture of the letter we recieved (our address blocked out just to be safe) and if you can't read it, this is what it said:

NOTE:  You must respond no later than August 22nd, 2012.

Dear Daniel,

I am pleased to inform you that you have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets.  Congratulations.  These tickets are valid for travel anywhere in the Continental U.S. from any major international airport.  The retail value of this award is up to $1298.00.  Certain restrictions apply.

We have attempted contacting you several times without success.  This is our last attempt.  If we do not hear from you soon, we may need to issue the ticket vouchers to the alternate.

Please call me today at 1-866-568-9312

Regards,

(signed name here)

Joanne Cane

Vice President

There were also two letters and five numbers that I'm assuming was supposed to be some kind of confirmation number at the bottom of the letter.  Anyway, of course we didn't call because this is so obviously a scam there was no need for further action.  Grammar aside, there were so many things wrong with this despite how official they tried to make it, there is nothing official about this letter.  It was printed on cheap printer paper, I would expect fancier cardstock from a national airline.  There was no return address, and no US Airlines address anywhere at all on this letter or the envelope.  I am sharing this to do my duty to my fellow Americans to spread the word that this is a scam and do not call that number.  There is a youtube video that you can find here if you really want to know what this scam is about.  My advice is to just throw it in the trash, but make sure you spread the word so no one falls for this hoax. 

I did a google search for US Airlines scam and there are a lot of hits, one from another blogger that you can find here for more information.  Apparently this type of scam has been going on for a few years with different airline names and different forms of letters/vouchers. 

If you get a letter similiar to this one, it's a scam and don't fall for it!  And be sure to spread the word about this to all your friends and family so they know, too.