India. Meditation. Not one meal described.

Day 5:

Indonesia! Ah, so much more fun. She has sex! She finds love! She concludes that finding the love of a good man is not the conclusion of the book! And yet, it kind of is!

Good thing I made it through the book in 5 days (of reading — not counting the days consecutively), because the second book is due on Monday so I have to start it soon. And also, I can’t remember why I started writing about the book on my website so I’ve run out of things to say about it, but it seemed weird to just stop posting about it after day 3, because then you all (whoever you all are) would have thought I just gave up on the book. No, I persevered, because I rarely give up on a book and instead hold onto the hope that it will improve. A book has to be pretty stinkin’ awful for me to give up on it once I’ve started it.

Conclusion:

Book not bad. But I feel the same now as I did before reading it. In other words, I think it made no impact on my life. I’d rather never be published than to be published and to have zero impact. Wait, she made bundles of money on this, though. Bundles of money would probably change my mind.

Yum, still in Italy. Why do all her friends have names starting with S? Getting confused. Perhaps I should boil more water. Not sure what I’m boiling water for, but the state says to do it, and if anybody needs help delivering a baby, I’m there…zzzzzz.

Day 3:

Whoops, fell asleep mid-description of luscious cheese dish which I cannot eat. Book is not boring, but I was very tired.

Today I made a bigger inroad on the book and got through Italy and started India. Why did this book take over America? I don’t get it. I’m enjoying this more than I thought I would, but I find myself hearing a Julia Roberts-ish voice, perkily and breathlessly reading it all to me.

1 end paper
1 publishing company icon page
1 page with title on it and fancy bead graphic
1 page listing author’s other books
1 page with title, author, and publishing company on it, in case we missed the previous 3 pages
1 dedication page
1 page with quote from a different author
1 page with title on it, this time without fancy bead graphic
2 pages introduction
1 page introducing beginning of book one, with fancy bead graphic

FINALLY BOOK BEGINS

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: Laura is a dreamhunter; someone who can step into the mysterious Place to catch dreams to be later broadcast to others, and must use her skills to complete her father’s mission.

I vaguely remember a time when books just had titles and not series titles. The series title might eventually show up around the time that the 2nd sequel came out, but nowadays it seems like every book has a series name from the beginning. The “Dreamhunter Duet” is one of the first series names I’ve heard that only involved two books, but once I read them, I realized why they belonged together.

Book one, Dreamhunter, does have an ending and not one that leaves you hanging mid-action, but I was glad I had checked out both books at once because I needed to start book two immediately.

Dreamhunter sets up the world — an early 1900s version of this one, with the exception of the Place. The Place exists outside of normal boundaries and only a certain few can enter, and even fewer can “catch” dreams which they bring out to the regular world to perform, so that others can experience them.

Dreamquake begins a bit slowly, though it starts right where Dreamhunter ended. But by the time the book ended, it had gone in a direction I hadn’t expected at all, and found satisfactorily fulfilling.

I wouldn’t mind reading more books set in this world, but the Dreamhunter Duet pretty much covered everything. Highly recommended.

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: America is obsessed with square footage, renovations, House Hunters, and flipping houses.

After three houses in nine years and a realtor with a fondness for embezzlement, my lust for housing had begun to wane. Sure, I still checked ZipRealty daily, had registered for various MLS alert notifications under numerous aliases, and knew sale prices for every house in our neighborhood that had gone on the market during our time here, but my heart wasn’t really into it. (Yes, you should see me when my heart really IS into something…just stay out of my path of destruction, is all I can say.)

The hideousness of our last real estate transaction had pretty much beaten out what little optimism I’d had in life, and I had just about resigned myself to merely making catty comments about housing ads and pictures (“You think your living room looks best with your giant dog sprawled on the couch? Really?”) when I read this book, and immediately all my lust was back.

On nearly every page, I came across something interesting that I saved to tell Chris later. (I’m sure Chris appreciated my thoughtfulness.) The book is well-written and enjoyable. Best of all, it made me realize that I am not alone in my obsessive need to look at housing.

If this book had photos, I would have immediately shelled out the $24.95 ($16.47 on Amazon) to buy it. Those of you who are less obsessed can find it in a library.

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: A British Naval captain’s life is turned upside-down when he accidentally bonds with a dragon.

I do not normally like historical books, nor is my geography very strong (yes, I get lost driving in my hometown). So I looked at the first page of His Majesty’s Dragon, the first in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, about five separate times before I actually made it to the second page. Rather surprisingly, I found myself caught up in the plot.

Imagine the war (don’t ask me which war; one with Napoleon) with the usual attacks — by land, sea, and air. Except the air attacks involve captains on dragons carrying large crews armed with guns and bombs.

Most aviators begin training at age 7 or so, but Captain Laurence becomes an aviator only after he has already captained several ships. When he captures a French ship that contains a dragon’s egg on it, however, he becomes the unplanned partner of the dragon Temeraire. In book one of this series, Captain Laurence begins to understand what it means to be an aviator as he and Temeraire join the war.

In book two, Throne of Jade, Laurence and Temeraire journey to China where Temeraire’s egg originated and his species live. The Chinese originally gave Temeraire to the French and Laurence must figure out how to keep from being separated from Temeraire. This proves to be more difficult when he and Temeraire see how well dragons are treated in China, where they are not used as soldiers but exalted and respected.

In book three, Black Powder War, Laurence and Temeraire are about to go home from China when they are suddenly give the task of collecting three dragon eggs from Istanbul and transporting them.

The dragon warfare in all the books is fascinating, but don’t get too attached to any of the ground/air crew — people die like crazy.

I’ve already got book four on request, and book five is on its way later this year. These are books that normally I wouldn’t like, and instead, I’m completely fascinated.

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: Naomi, a high school student, suffers a head trauma and consequently cannot remember the last four years of her life.

This is a terrific book. I was a big fan of Zevin’s Elsewhere which has an unusual and moving twist on what happens when you die. Zevin writes the kind of books that make you feel fulfilled after you finish it, but nervous about starting it because you know the book will bring up some deeper stuff that frankly, you don’t want to think about.

It’s difficult to explain the book — somehow, not much happens, but at the same time, everything happens. A teacher once told me that a short story is about the most important event in a person’s life, and a novel is about the most important time period of a person’s life. Memoirs isn’t driven by particular events or conflicts, but covers the most important time in Naomi’s life.

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: When Mac’s sister is mysteriously murdered in Ireland, MacKayla (Mac) discovers that she has the power to see the Fairy Court and becomes engaged in a battle against evil.

In order to read this book, you have to first get past the half-naked bodies on the cover and the author’s apparent history of writing romance books. Once you accept that the author still hasn’t quite found the line that would bring her more solidly into the fantasy realm, the book is actually entertaining enough to pick up further sequels.

But you do have to be open-minded. There are numerous descriptions of Mac’s clothing as “pretty,” which doesn’t seem so irritating until you realize that there is no reason for all these mentions. Do I need to know that the silver sandals Mac props on a coffee table are pretty? No. In fact, I don’t even need to know they’re silver.

One of the most unintentionally hilarious bits in this book is when Mac gets caught in a rainstorm and goes into a bookstore. She explains, “I love books…way more than movies. Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself. Movies show you the pink house. A good book tells you there’s a pink house and lets you paint some of the finishing touches, maybe choose the roof style, park your own car out front.”

Less than twenty pages later, this description appears: “This morning I’d awakened to find a wide band of bruises across my torso, just beneath my breasts. I couldn’t wear a bra because the underwire hurt too much, so I’d layered a lacy camisole trimmed with dainty roses beneath a pink sweater that complemented my Razzle-Dazzle-Hot-Pink-Twist manicure and pedicure. Black capris, a wide silver belt, silver sandals, and a small metallic Juicy Couture purse I’d saved all last summer to buy completed my outfit. I’d swept my long blonde hair up in a high ponytail, secured by a pretty enameled clip.”

No, no, no. We do not need this kind of detail in this kind of book. Are you a movie, or a book? (That being said, this has probably already been optioned for a movie. Gorgeous young male immortals, ugly special-effects type monsters, hot young fighting woman on a personal revenge mission, AND fairies that can MAKE YOU HAVE SEX WITH THEM. This is a winner by Hollywood standards.)

However, despite the occasional foray into cheesy paperback romance description, I still enjoyed the book. The plot is enough to keep me interested, and the second book in the series, Bloodfever, is much improved in the romance description department. I’ll be following this series — cautious, but hopeful.

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: Merle, a dog who wanders into the author’s life, enjoys life in rural Wyoming.

Okay, I realize the one-line summary is lame, but it’s hard to describe a book which is essentially the autobiography of a dog. I don’t usually read books about dogs’ lives anymore because I cry too much if the dog dies. Marley and Me, for example, sat on my bookshelf for over a year before I finally re-sold it on Ebay, unread, because I was afraid to read it.

As usual with dog books, I flipped to the end of this book at the library to see if the dog dies at the end. Yes, the dog dies at the end. Yes, I used up half a box of Kleenex during the last 30 pages; what’s it to you?

Despite the waterworks, I still enjoyed this book. Merle had a very unusual dog life–an owner who cared for him, but was also willing to let Merle lead his own life. Merle was able to walk around town, unleashed, unbothered, mainly because of the town where the author lives.

Merle is quite a character, but there is more than just a dog’s story here. Kerasote also offers interesting scientific studies on animals’ brains. For example, he describes a study in which it was found that it wasn’t exercise that mattered so much for increasing the size of a rat’s brain, but more that the rat had complex, engaging exercise. What does this mean? It means I have to build that agility course for Stanley.

This book is recommended, but only if you buy your tissues from warehouse clubs and are in no danger of running out.