Demons Are A Ghoul's Best Friend (Book 2) by Victoria Laurie

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is the second book in the series and we see M.J and co heading to Lake Placid to solve the case of Hatchet Jack, an axe wielding ghost who terrifies students and locals during the summer months.

To be honest I love this genre of chick lit/cosy/supernatural/romance that seems to be the in thing now. This book manages to tick off most of these genres cliché list;

• Struggling 30 something woman
• Hot rich boyfriend (preferably exotic in some way),
• Tension/misunderstanding between said hot boyfriend
• Funny side kick,
• Gorgeous but troubled best friend and
• Some sort of ability

Which is fine I didn’t care, I was having lots of fun reading the story. Victoria Laurie has a great sense of humor. I can easily imagine M.J being Stephanie Plumb's long lost sister, the one the family doesn't talk about because she is "weird". The side kick Gilley always cracks me up. Not to mention Steve’s successful attempts to mangle western sayings.

The ghost in this book is way nastier then her previous adventure and there was a lot more action scenes with M.J mostly getting her butt kicked. However they are geared up with brand new techie stuff that easily finds those pesky ghosties, that is of course when the school desk flying across the room towards your head does not give it away.

If you like these sorts of books then definitely get your hand on this series.

Teaser Tuesday : 31 March 09

Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Do NOT post anything that could spoil the plot of the book!

" In a roadside shack, we managed to buy some noodles - thin, white, wiry specimens that suggested intestinal worms drowning in an anemic soup."

Fried Eggs with Chopsticks by Polly Evans Page 301

Monday's At The Movies

I have been following this meme through Musings of a Bookish Kitty for awhile now and decided its high time I participated. Especially as lately I have been seeing quite a few movies and there are a lot of new ones coming I wish to watch (do not get me started on my excitement for Monsters vs Aliens).

Confessions of a Shopaholic
This is a fun light hearted movie with not one shred of originality. If you love shopping for clothes and shoes you will probably be one step off an orgasm with the plethora of designer wear advertised here.

Its a shame the script was pretty poor and the support cast was not fantastic. Everything was horribly predicable even the jokes. Isla Fisher to give her credit saved this film. She pulled goofy off really well and was believable in the role.

As long as you don’t expect much you should get a few chuckles out of this movie. It is barely recognisable as the book it is based on. Perhaps wait till it is on DVD or go with a big group of girls to get the most out of this film.

Knowing
I am not sure what to make of this movie as the more I think about it the more it annoys me. But while watching it I did like it.

What I didn’t like: Well the ending for starters. It was one of those endings that kept on going and should have been 10 minutes shorter. There was a good ending and if it had stopped there I think that would have been a strong if not powerful ending, but then it just kept going and ruined the moment. The extended bit which I guess is the true ending to me was just a waste of time and could have been easily cut.

My second gripe was the weird religious references. I am not talking about the fact there was religious references, I am talking about the fact that when they happened they really were weird and left you sitting there thinking “what the heck was that?”

Also it was all rather depressing which is off putting to me. I figure if I want to be depressed I can watch the news. I go to the movies for fun and excitement.

What I did like: The graphics were pretty awesome. The cinematographer did a really good job. I have heard this movie was shot in Melbourne and that is evident in some scenes that unfortunately no cinematographer or graphics computer guru can hide (such as the scene when they are sitting in a cafe at the museum). But for the most part they worked well with what they had.

Also the action scenes were really well done and jaw dropping. There were more than a few occasions where I was completely stunned in horror by what I was watching. The scenes aren’t gory but they really freaked me out. But then I am easily freaked so maybe I am not the best judge on this. I do note that I was not the only one who jumped out of her seat in one scene though.

Nicholas Cage was mostly great in this movie and Rose Byrne did a reasonable jobs (she seemed a little on the flat side not as good as she is in Damages).

I suspect my biggest issue about this film is it just falls short of being really good. Something I cant put my finger on holds it back. The story I thought was clever, there were great actors, and a wonderful director. All the makings of what should be a kick ass awesome film. Yet like I mentioned at the start, the more I think about it the less I like the film and I walked out feeling quite depressed about everything really.

This meme is hosted by A Novel Menagerie

Friday Fill-Ins: 27 March 2009

Janet is the Host of Friday Fill Ins. My responses are in green.

And...here we go!

1. "In a hole in the ground there lived a womble from Wimbledon."

2. "The roof appears to be falling down but that ain't no matter. You should be more worried about your Ferrari rolling down the hill and hitting the garbage truck."

3. "After dark the rain began to fall again, the dog started to howl, the cats began to wail, and I realised I had just dropped my bowl of ice cream."

4. "Gold spilled from the hold of the Spanish galleon as the wreck settled on the sea floor."

5. "There was a hand in the darkness, and it groped blindly for the light switch."Where is the damn light switch" a voice uttered in frustration."

6. "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, but can the unsuspecting ambush an accident?"

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Nicholas Cages new movie Knowing, tomorrow my plans include house chores and Sunday, I will be going to a garden show thing!

Valiant by Holly Black

Rating 3 1/2 out of 5

Summary: When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-coloured powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis's brother, timid and sensitive Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet. When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honourable. And as Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honourable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

Review:This is a pretty dark tale of humans and faeries interacting. Do not expect to see any Tinkerbelle’s here. Faeries are nasty, really nasty. They get pleasure out of human’s suffering and delight in torturing, killing and in some instance eating them. Though to be fair they do the same to their own as well. Val walks smack into the middle of this world completely clueless and falls deeper and deeper into trouble.

Valiant is the sequel to Tithe. It is set some time after the events of Tithe. However you do not need to read Tithe to read Valiant. Valiant is a stand alone story.

"There is only one human who knows this place. So what did Luis tell you?" The troll took another step toward them, his voice soft and furious."Did he dare you to go inside? Did he say there was a monster?"

The story touches on drug use, teenage sex, dysfunctional families, romance, loyalty and friendship. In fact there is very little Valiant does not touch on. I found the teen issues dealt with here were darker then that addressed in Tithe. However due to the “faerie” angle for some reason they were not as confronting then if this had been a normal runaway teen story. I don’t know why but for me it was not as shocking, but it still managed to
get the message across. Though having said that there was one moment for me
that did stun me but I will not mention it here so as not to spoil the book.

Holly Black has an easy style of writing that flows well. She is a good writer and was able to get her points across without me have to scrounge around for a dictionary.

If you like your faerie tales dark and edgy then you might want to consider picking up Holly Black. I am not sure why but I was reluctant to give this 4 out of 5 stars so I settled for 3 1/2.

Teaser Tuesday : 24 March 09

Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Do NOT post anything that could spoil the plot of the book!

" 'No' I snapped, irritated that I had wasted twenty-five minutes of my time trying to convince him that a young boy had been murdered and buried at the base of the tree we were standing around. 'That's my job. Your job is to take a shovel and dig where I tell you to!' "

Demons Are A Ghoul's Best Friend? by Victoria Laurie Page 109

Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: December 23, 1787, Portsmouth.

14 year-old John Jacob Turnstile is about to be sent to prison when an offer is put to him - a ship has been refitted and is about to set sail with an important mission. The captain's valet has been injured and a replacement must be found immediately. The deal is struck and he finds himself on board.

The ship is HMS Bounty, the captain is William Bligh, and their destination is Tahiti.

Review: When you mention Mutiny on the Bounty to most Australian’s we can all say we know exactly what you are talking about. However for a lot of Aussies press deeper for details and you would get a response along the lines of “Well there was a boat called Bounty, Its Captain was called Bligh, um the crew mutinied….Oh and there was that movie, the one with Mel Gibson”. I know that probably would have been my answer and most of my friends would have been the same. I enjoy history and learning about it and even I never really knew the details or how this tale related to Australia.

I have been unable to find any reference to a John Turnstile being on the ship so it would appear that his character was created to tell the story, which works really well here. He is brought on board as the Captain’s servant so by default knows a lot of what is going on and is best placed to tell the tale.

"When daylight came on the second day I was able to take full account of the predicament we found ourselves in."

What I really liked is that the author did not portray any of the characters in a particularly negative light. He showed that they were all just men really who each made some mistakes. I liked that I was able to form my own opinions of the characters and not be swayed by the authors writing. Turnstile’s views of the people are expressed but there was never a feeling that you were reading the authors views, jut the view of a fourteen year old boy.

From what I can tell this book is very close to the actual account of what happened during the voyage. For me having the actual events portrayed in this way made it all come alive and more real. Boyne was able to really convey the conditions on the boat and the journey. There was not a point in the book where I did not learn something new like bathing on a boat, superstitions of sailors, and that if a Captain lost his ship in the 1700’s he was put on trial.

I was particularly interested to learn that Bligh was not in fact a true Captain he was for lack of a better word only acting in the position. Also that later on in life he became the Governor of NSW. At the end of the book John Boyne mentions all the reference material he used such as the trail transcripts and diaries written by Bligh, Boyne clearly did his homework and it shines through the book.

Also Boyne cleverly wove old cockney language with modern language so that the reader was able to feel like they were really were on a ship in the 1700’s, while making it easy to follow.

This was a really enjoyable book and I will be definitely picking up another of his books. A good book for anyone wanting to learn some history in particular about the Mutiny on the Bounty.

Spring Reading Thing 2009

I stumbled across this event on J-Kay's blog and I thought it sounded like a wonderful idea so I will participate for the first time this year (and if truth be told the little logo pic was so cute I couldn't resist). This challenge seemed like a good opportunity to set some mini goals for reading and combine my other reading challenges into one.

The challenge is run from 20 March-20 June 2009 and is hosted by Callapidder Days. It is a fun no pressure challenge which is my kind of challenge!

I am currently roughly averaging 4 books a month so based on that excellent mathematics I am aiming for 12 books. Of course I plan to read more but I am enough of realist to know it probably wont happen (despite all my protests I am still being kidnapped to have a social life, dont people know my books need me!).

Demon's Are Ghouls Best Friend by Victoria Laurie
Brisingr By Chirstoper Paolini
The City of Ember by Jeane DePrau
Fan Mail by PD Martin
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
Valiant by Holly Black
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson
Triskellion by Will Peterson
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Some of these are first books in a series and I do have the following books so no doubt I will read them as well probably straight after the first. A big whack are YA books and should make a good dent in my YA Reading Challenge.

I am excited to be participating in this challenge and if you would like to particpate simply click on over to Spring Reading Thing 2009 and sign up. There is no time limit to when you can join.

Friday Fill-Ins: 20 March 2009

Janet is the Host of Friday Fill Ins. My responses are in italics and red.

And...here we go!

1. Why do we have to go to work on Mondays? Cant we have 3 day weekends instead?

2. Pizza Friday and laundry Saturday are now habits.

3. I have just received three books in the mail. Yippee.

4. I had never heard the phrase "celebutard" until it was reported in the news as a new word in the Macquirie dictionary and it makes me think that the people who make this stuff seriously need to get a job.

5. I am going to make Pizza tonight the way I always do.

6. How was I to know that I was slowly becoming addicted to twitter until it was to late.....Curse you Irish!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making pizza for dinner, tomorrow my plans include gardening and going to the movies to see Confessions of a Shopoholic with a girlfriend and Sunday, I want to find time to read!

Teaser Tuesday : 17 March 09

Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Do NOT post anything that could spoil the plot of the book!

" As the fiddle began to strike up, the captain clapped his hands together loudly in time to the music and in no time the men were clapping along with him, while Mr Heywood an Mr Hall stood facing each other hesitantly."

Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne Page 125

From Baghdad With Love by Jay Kopelman

Rating 4 out of 5

From Baghdad with Love is the tale of Lava, a stray puppy found in Camp Fallujah and a Marine. While sweeping a building for insurgents the US Marine group the Lava Dogs find a bundle of energetic fur that melts their hearts on the spot. And so begins Lava’s story of being raised in secret in Fallujah and his eventual bid for freedom as Jay Kopelman fights desperately to keep Lava a secret and get him out of the country.

Kopelman's story about Lava. Snippets of the story are told from other people’s point of view more to illistrate the events and people working in other countries to help Lava. The story flows easily and is not difficult to grasp the terms being used. One thing I appreciated was that Jay Kopelman did not make the book about the rights or wrongs of war. You did not feel lectured or harassed. While he does express some of his personal views on some situations they are fleeting.

I felt Kopelman glossed over some of the nastier aspects of his stories which is understandable. The tales he did tell were not bedtime fairy tale type stories. However the war stories were not the main point of the book but merely highlighted events that were occurring during Kopelmans and Lava’s time in Iraq. It was interesting reading about what was happening during this period and about the people affected by them.

All these things though high light Lava’s story, which of course is the main theme of the book. I loved reading the effect he has on the Marines and the people around him in Iraq. One in story in particular was that of “Sam” and Iraqi who worked at a compound for news reporters in the red zone of Baghdad. When he first met Lava he wanted nothing to do with the dog, apparently Iraqi people do not like dogs and see them as being disgusting. But by the time Lava left the compound Sam was his biggest supporter and risked his on life for Lava.

While I will not say this was a light hearted book there were some light hearted moments and even funny ones. Some of the funniest moments for me were during Lava’s puppy days with the Marines in Camp Fallujah. I can only just imagine the scene of these big tough Marines and this cute bundle of fur bringing joy into each others lives at a time where there was little joy to be found.

"In reality, when he isn't asleep, he's anything but innocent. I personally saw the little monster destroy several maps, two pairs of boots, one cell phone, photographs of someone's kids, five pillows, and some grunts only pair of socks."

The content of this book is a little older then that of Dewey the Library Cat. I would not recommend this for anyone under fifteen years of age simply because some of the war stories told are quite disturbing even if they are glossed over. A must for animal lovers.

Friday Fill-Ins: 13 March 2009

Janet is the Host of Friday Fill Ins. My responses are in italics and red.

And...here we go!

1. When I look to the left, I see my book and laptop.

2. My living room is the room that has the best view in my home.

3. Let it work..........huh let it work? no the words go let it rock!

4. Traveling can be done dirt cheap! But if I dont have to then I am not going to.

5. Voting is a responsibility that all qualified citizens must share (and even the not so qualified).

6. If you have any chocolate feel free share and I'll be your best friend for life (I am easily bribed).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on my TV shows, tomorrow my plans include driving to Katherine and back and Sunday, I want to do nothing but I cant will have to do house chores!

Photo Meme

For this meme you need to find your 5th photo file folder, and then the 5th photo in that file folder. You then get to pass on the fun to 5 other people.

Laura from Musings tagged me a while ago now for this meme and I have been a little slack (ok a lot!) in getting it up. Plus I cheated a smidgen in that the following photo is not the 5th photo in the 5th folder its more like the 8th. This was because the 5th photo was the back of someone's head and was not interesting at all (unless you really do like pictures of the back of peoples heads and then I apologise for not posting it).

Click on the image for a larger view

This picture was taken two years ago at the Melbourne Christmas Parade which I stumbled upon while roaming Melbourne scouting out the shops while waiting for K and our friend to finish their business meeting. I had noticed this large group of people and a street blocked off all morning as I wondered around, so when I noticed a book shop right near by I wondered down to have a sticky beak at the shop and what was going.

That's when I found out it was the Christmas Parade so I stuck around to watch it. I did not really get many good pictures as all the good spots were taken, most of my shots of the parade was with my camera held way over my head, pointed vaguely in the right direction and a lot of hope that it would turn out ok. This was one of the few shots I was able to snap through a gap in the crowd.

In this picture you can see Santa and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins who I have to say looked completely bored. Or perhaps it wasn't boredom, maybe she just needed to go to the toilet? I know I did by that stage and that's when I left the parade LOL!

Now to nominate five people I have decided to bestow the honor on the following:
Irish at Ticket to Anywhere
Terri at Reading, Writing and Retirement
Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Sally 906 at Books and Musings from Downunder
Raider Girl at An Adventure in Reading

Anyone else who wants to join in feel free.

Tuesday Teaser: 10 March 2009

Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Do NOT post anything that could spoil the plot of the book!

" As we talk, Lava climbs up and over our boots, destroys packages of M&M's, and paws through our blankets for more prey."

From Baghdad With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava by Jay Kopelman Page 15

On a Hoof and a Prayer by Polly Evans

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

At age thirty four Polly Evans decides she wants to learn how to ride. So naturally you fly half way round the world to Argentina. This is the story of Polly’s adventures as she spends two months traversing the wilds of Argentina seeing the sights from Patagonia and Iguazu falls. While learning its fascinating history, and of course leaning to ride a horse or two along the way.

Evans has a relaxed way of writing that was easy to follow. She has a great sense of humor and a wonderful understanding of the history of the country which she blends together to tell her story. I have learned more about Argentina reading this book then I have ever learned in school. There were some really good laugh out loud moments and some amazing characters that Evans met during her travels.

“ ‘Ah don’t worry.’ Yvonne smiled ‘They’re good horses here. But you’ve got to ride them properly. We’ve had guests before who’ve ridden their horses into trees - but it was their own stupid fault. They were just sitting there, doing nothing. You’ve got to really ride the horse.’ ”

Another thing I really enjoyed was at no point did you feel her judging the people of the nation she visited. Also she did activities that are attainable by the average person. Those are my two pet peeves with some travel writers; they can be so condescending about the people and do activities that cost bucket loads of money.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and I will definitely be picking up her other travel books (she has written about cycling around Spain, motor biking round New Zealand and traversing China by any means possible). If you like travel books or are planning a trip to Argentina then I recommend you reading this book.

Friday Fill-Ins: 6 March 2009

Janet is the Host of Friday Fill Ins. My responses are in italics and green.

And...here we go!

1. Staying back at work for someone I dont like was my last random act of kindness (seriously I dont normally stay back for no one).

2. Another place that I want to visit is Europe.

3. Chocolate are the best thing for conversations in matters of the heart.

4. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate

5. Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck walk separate paths.

6. Our clear skies and dragonflies reminds me that there is a dry season not far away.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include relaxing and Sunday, I want to more relaxing! (It has been a LONG hectic week at work).

Teaser Tuesday : 3 March 09

Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Do NOT post anything that could spoil the plot of the book!

" Push it firmly backwards? At which point of the attack, exaclty, should you start to push. Before or after the hungry feline has sunk its pointy teeth into your sweet, soft flesh?"

On a Hoof and a Prayer by Polly Evans Page 183