[My new book] starts in 1960 with a woman named Lois Rabinowitz, who was evicted from Manhattan traffic court for attempting to pay a parking ticket while wearing slacks. This was...
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Elizabeth Bennet is a smart and spunky girl in the eighteenth-century. Unlike her mother and younger sisters she does not spend her time trying to find a rich man and get him to fall in love with her; in fact she mocks those who do so and plans to never marry unless she falls in love first. When Mr. Bingley, a wealthy young man, move into a house not far away her mother is determined to get one of her daughters married to him or his even richer friend, Mr. Darcy. Jane Bennet soon catches Bingley's eye but Darcy seems to have a great deal of distain for the entire town, except possibly Elizabeth.
I had tried to read this book when I was about 12 and found it quite over my head. I recently decided to give it another go and am very glad that I did! The characters are wonderful as is the plot. I enjoyed the writing, it is very elegant and stately, yet has a spirit perfectly suited to our heroine's attitude.
I loved that this edition didn't have notes. I always find those frustrating and think that they make it harder for you to keep your mind in the time period the book is meant to be in.
At first glance Rachel Morgan is doing pretty well as a magic mercenary. She is making enough to cover her rent, kicked the local vampire crime boss's ass and is learning ley line magic. But there are some major flaws, such as ending up as a demon's familiar, scaring her boyfriend away, and the fact that her roommate has gone back to drinking blood. Plus, you know, all the local evil trying to do her in.
I'm really enjoying this series. The dialogue is perfectly timed and sometimes makes me laugh out loud because it is so perfectly fitted with the characters. My only tiny complaint with this book is that it felt a little rushed.
I like that this series isn't as if it was one really long book cut into sections. Each book has some parts carried over, but gives you enough info it could be almost stand-alone as well. It makes it less frustrating when you can't get a hold of the next book quite as quickly as you wish.
Meryl and Addie are sisters but very different. Meryl is brave and bold, she wants to go on quests and kill monsters. Addie is scared most of the time; scared of bugs, scared of the dark, scared of getting sick and scared of of losing her sister. But when her sister falls ill with the Grey Death and only has a short while to live Addie must try to find enough strength in herself to look for a cure.
This is a nice teen story about being strong, even when you feel weak. Levine does as least as good a job on this book as Ella Enchanted. Some of her stories have issues with the writing or plot that bug me, but this one was really good. The characters felt so real and powerful, a contrast to some of hers in other books that tend to be vague or bland.
Sierra is a young mustang, proud, free and excitable. She sometimes too wild for her herd where her roughhousing and running around get her into trouble with the older mares. But when the herd's lead stallion is defeated by a young inexperienced stallion who is too harsh on the older mares and the herd's health starts to fail, Sierra becomes more nervous and flighty. One day she runs too far and loses her herd. She struggles to survive as a lone horse, until she meets another horse, one who smells of smoke and humans. She is mistrustful but decides that having a herdmate who smells is better then no herdmate at all. But can their fragile bond survive if he finds his humans again, or will Sierra once again be on her own?
Beautiful horse story. I like that although told from a horse's point of view we have no horses talking, even to each other. As in the real world they communicate through body language and the odd sniffs and snorts that horses use. The author has a gift for writing in this way, telling us what happens and how the horse feels without resorting to making the horses talk to explain it to us humans.
Callie is Death's daughter, or was until she put a Forgetting Charm on herself and moved to New York City. Now her father's assistant turns up and removes the spell, then informs her that her father has been kidnapped. She must step into her father's shoes and become Death. But meanwhile she must complete 3 tasks and find her father. This was so not what she thought her life would be like.
When I heard Amber Benson had wrote a book I was excited. I think she is a great actress and the interviews I have read and watched had shown a sharp wit and active imagination. The plot in this book is great and the characters good, but she desperately needs a proper editor.
I am not a great hand at grammar or sentence structure, but I think my kid sister who scored only 20% in her english test would have made a better editor, that is how bad this is. I thought the writing could have been quite good if their were a few changes; such as not italicizing at least 5-10 words on every single page! Or taking out the far too numerous so's, like's, kind of's and the most annoying the "really, really's" which turned up on almost every single page and often multiple times. I wondered if the editor even read the book, as such blatant errors as "...take the reigns while they..." and "...I was waste deep..." should have been caught by the least competent editor! I am rather horrified that this is sitting on bookstore shelves, plainly they figured that Amber Benson's fame would sell the book without the publisher doing any work.
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Customer Comments
emmejo has commented on (93) products.
Pride and Prejudice (Modern Library) by Jane Austen
emmejo, November 8, 2009
Elizabeth Bennet is a smart and spunky girl in the eighteenth-century. Unlike her mother and younger sisters she does not spend her time trying to find a rich man and get him to fall in love with her; in fact she mocks those who do so and plans to never marry unless she falls in love first. When Mr. Bingley, a wealthy young man, move into a house not far away her mother is determined to get one of her daughters married to him or his even richer friend, Mr. Darcy. Jane Bennet soon catches Bingley's eye but Darcy seems to have a great deal of distain for the entire town, except possibly Elizabeth.I had tried to read this book when I was about 12 and found it quite over my head. I recently decided to give it another go and am very glad that I did! The characters are wonderful as is the plot. I enjoyed the writing, it is very elegant and stately, yet has a spirit perfectly suited to our heroine's attitude.
I loved that this edition didn't have notes. I always find those frustrating and think that they make it harder for you to keep your mind in the time period the book is meant to be in.
Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison
emmejo, November 6, 2009
At first glance Rachel Morgan is doing pretty well as a magic mercenary. She is making enough to cover her rent, kicked the local vampire crime boss's ass and is learning ley line magic. But there are some major flaws, such as ending up as a demon's familiar, scaring her boyfriend away, and the fact that her roommate has gone back to drinking blood. Plus, you know, all the local evil trying to do her in.I'm really enjoying this series. The dialogue is perfectly timed and sometimes makes me laugh out loud because it is so perfectly fitted with the characters. My only tiny complaint with this book is that it felt a little rushed.
I like that this series isn't as if it was one really long book cut into sections. Each book has some parts carried over, but gives you enough info it could be almost stand-alone as well. It makes it less frustrating when you can't get a hold of the next book quite as quickly as you wish.
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
emmejo, November 5, 2009
Meryl and Addie are sisters but very different. Meryl is brave and bold, she wants to go on quests and kill monsters. Addie is scared most of the time; scared of bugs, scared of the dark, scared of getting sick and scared of of losing her sister. But when her sister falls ill with the Grey Death and only has a short while to live Addie must try to find enough strength in herself to look for a cure.This is a nice teen story about being strong, even when you feel weak. Levine does as least as good a job on this book as Ella Enchanted. Some of her stories have issues with the writing or plot that bug me, but this one was really good. The characters felt so real and powerful, a contrast to some of hers in other books that tend to be vague or bland.
Spirit of the West 2: Sierra (Spirit of the Cimarron) by Kathleen Duey
emmejo, November 2, 2009
Sierra is a young mustang, proud, free and excitable. She sometimes too wild for her herd where her roughhousing and running around get her into trouble with the older mares. But when the herd's lead stallion is defeated by a young inexperienced stallion who is too harsh on the older mares and the herd's health starts to fail, Sierra becomes more nervous and flighty. One day she runs too far and loses her herd. She struggles to survive as a lone horse, until she meets another horse, one who smells of smoke and humans. She is mistrustful but decides that having a herdmate who smells is better then no herdmate at all. But can their fragile bond survive if he finds his humans again, or will Sierra once again be on her own?Beautiful horse story. I like that although told from a horse's point of view we have no horses talking, even to each other. As in the real world they communicate through body language and the odd sniffs and snorts that horses use. The author has a gift for writing in this way, telling us what happens and how the horse feels without resorting to making the horses talk to explain it to us humans.
Death's Daughter: A Callipe Reaper-Jones Novel by Amber Benson
emmejo, November 2, 2009
Callie is Death's daughter, or was until she put a Forgetting Charm on herself and moved to New York City. Now her father's assistant turns up and removes the spell, then informs her that her father has been kidnapped. She must step into her father's shoes and become Death. But meanwhile she must complete 3 tasks and find her father. This was so not what she thought her life would be like.When I heard Amber Benson had wrote a book I was excited. I think she is a great actress and the interviews I have read and watched had shown a sharp wit and active imagination. The plot in this book is great and the characters good, but she desperately needs a proper editor.
I am not a great hand at grammar or sentence structure, but I think my kid sister who scored only 20% in her english test would have made a better editor, that is how bad this is. I thought the writing could have been quite good if their were a few changes; such as not italicizing at least 5-10 words on every single page! Or taking out the far too numerous so's, like's, kind of's and the most annoying the "really, really's" which turned up on almost every single page and often multiple times. I wondered if the editor even read the book, as such blatant errors as "...take the reigns while they..." and "...I was waste deep..." should have been caught by the least competent editor! I am rather horrified that this is sitting on bookstore shelves, plainly they figured that Amber Benson's fame would sell the book without the publisher doing any work.
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