Girls' Guide to Wine

Title: Girls' Guide to Wine Author: Susy Atkins Genre: Wine Length: 144 pages (paperback) Rating: 3 out of 5

A guide to wine, not to be taken seriously!  This fun little book is written by Susy Atkins, a wine editor.  In other words, someone who actually knows more about wine than me.

The author unapologetically dives into today's stereotypes of people who buy which types of wine.  She also shares some tips about buying wine online, by mail or at the store (clearly dating this book to its publish date of 2002).  I think my favorite part; buying your favorite bottle when no one will judge you and stay in to enjoy your evening.

The author intentionally doesn't take herself, or this topic, too seriously.  If you are looking for a true guide to wine, this isn't your book.  However, if you're looking for a quick read that will make you laugh, grab the book...and a bottle of your favorite wine...and enjoy!

Red, White and Blood

Title: Red, White and Blood Author: Christopher Farnsworth Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy Length: 446 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content: Sexual, Violence Rating: 4 out of 5

Nathanial Cade has met his match with the Boogeyman.  While Cade has "won" every encounter, the Boogeyman continues to return with the knowledge of each battle he's had with Cade.  He always had the same pattern, but this time it appears that he is going after a specific target, President Curtis.

It is an election year and President Curtis is on the campaign trail.  A few Secret Service agents are introduced to Cade as he will be joining the grass roots tour of the middle states.  Zach also rejoins the campaign trail, which ignites questions on where he's been the last few years.  More importantly, why he fell from grace and how he's returned to it.

Bodies are piling up, many along the path of the campaign trail.  Several are also tied to the Curtis campaign in some way.  Will Cade be able to stop the Boogeyman for good this time?

A lot of time was building the backstory of Zach.  As with the first two books in the series, we also saw several flashbacks to Cade's earlier days, which helps us to understand his previous encounters with the Boogeyman.  Several characters from the first book also make a reappearance.

The author went into graphic details on how the Boogeyman killed his victims, more than I felt necessary.  However, I still couldn't put the book down.  It definitely didn't end the way I expected.  I am left with a cliffhanger.  I've scoured the author's site and there are no additional books in this series at this moment.  I"ll be keeping an eye out!

The President's Vampire

Title: The President's Vampire Author: Christopher Farnsworth Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy Length: 335 pages (hardback) Sensitive Content: Violence Rating:  4 out of 5

Nathanial Cade has been bound to the President, through a blood oath, to protect the country from the Other Side as the President's vampire.  A well established group, with footholds in high political positions in the White House and other government organizations, believes the end justifies the means.  They take this to a whole new level by replacing humanity with something else that is highly contagious.  Cade has seen these creatures before over the years, but they've evolved.  Cade and Zach, his handler, must figure out who is behind it, where the creatures are coming from and keep them from spreading.

Cade and Zach are forced to work with Graves, and take orders from him, something that Cade has issues with but he is forced to do based on his oath.  This in essence means that any order that Graves gives him, he has to obey, which puts a chink in Cade's plans to stop Graves and those behind the virus.  It appears that Graves and Cade have a past history together, and Cade has a very long memory that never forgets, but can't quite place where they've met before.

The characters continue to evolve from the first book in the series, both the individual characters and their relationships with each other.  The author also weaves in pieces of historical information which helps us understand why Cade acts a certain way.

After finishing Blood Oath, I couldn't wait to pick up this book.  It was an easy read and kept me in suspense for the majority of the book.  I honestly didn't expect the last few chapters to turn out the way they did.  The only downside to this book is the truly graphic nature of some of the scenes. 

Winter Reading Challenge

As we've been thrown head first into colder weather I began searching for ideas to help keep the boys off electronics during snow days and at least part of the weekend.  It hit me: a winter reading challenge.

The boys are thrilled (not really)!  We are now discussing what the prize will be when the chart is completed.  The prize options have ranged from $5 to having control over what we do for a weekend.  We're still negotiating!

Want to join?  We'd love to hear your options for the challenge to help us as we select our books.

Rainbow Mars

Title: Rainbow Mars Author: Larry Niven Genre:  Science Fiction Length: 369 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  Sexual Rating:  3 out of 5

Hanville Svetz works for the Institute for Temporal Research, which is on future Earth.  He is a time traveler who collects extinct species and specimens from the past.

Svetz learns that Mars was inhabited and convinces his team to go back in time and learn more.  What appears to be minutes for Svetz and his team is months for the team in the future who is building contraptions large enough for his specimens...on Mars as well as on Earth.  As he goes bak to retrieve items, he begins to notice slight changes when he returns.

The book was a bit slow and difficult to get into.  The story suddenly ended and there were short stories at the back of the book.  I really enjoyed those stories and would have placed them at them at the beginning of the book instead. 

Joe Gould's Teeth

Title: Joe Gould's Teeth Author: Jill Lepore Genre:  Non-fiction Length: 151 pages (hardback) Sensitive Content: NA Rating: 3 out of 5

Joe Gould was a man obsessed with writing, race relations, Harvard, and Augusta Savage.  He was made famous by Joe Mitchell, a New York writer who profiled Gould, "Professor Sea Gull."

Gould is said to have recorded everyday conversations in hundreds of notebooks which were scattered across his travels.  His collection is called "The Oral History of Our Time."  Lepore asks, "Shouldn't someone check?" and begins her own journey to find evidence of his notebooks.

Joe Gould was a toothless madman.  He whipped his penis out at parties and measure it.  He destroyed property.  He would turn against friends who had supported him as soon as something wasn't going his way. 

The end of this book focuses on Savage, a black artist who was his perverse obession.  He pursued her, asking friends for assistance.  She pleaded for him to stop.  Lepore writes, "He said he was trying to save her, but really he was trying to drown her."

I picked up this book based on the title of Joe Gould's Teeth, not knowing what the subject really was but fascinated by the cover (and the fact that I have two in braces).  It was an easy read.  At the end, I was more curious about what happened to Augusta Savage than if Gould actually had notebooks still stored in the Northeast states.

Blood Oath

Title: Blood Oath Author: Christopher Farnsworth Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy Length: 470 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content: Violence Rating:  5 out of 5

Zach Barrows is an up and coming White House staffer who has eyes on the chief of staff position.  He is caught in a compromising situation with the President's daughter in the Lincoln bedroom.  Coincidentally he is transferred out of the White House and partnered with Nathaniel Cade.

Cade is cursed.  He is also bound to the office of the President by a blood oath that is 140 years old.  Cade defends the United States against the evil that people do not want to see.

As Zach is beginning to settle into his new position as Cade's liaison to the White House, the reality of his position as well as Cade's supernatural world comes to life.  They are immediately thrown into a crime and must fly across the country to investigate.

The characters are well written.  I would act exactly as Zach did in almost every situation.  Griff, Cade's previous handler and Zach's mentor, is surprisingly lovable.  The Vice President is obnoxious.  The "evil" took a surprising turn.

This book was fast paced, intense, funny, emotional...everything you want in a great book!  I am excited that this is the first book in a series and I can't wait to see how it unfolds!

The Faerie Path

Title: The Faerie Path Author: Frewin Jones Genre:  Fantasy, Young Adult Length: 312 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  No Rating:  3 out of 5

Anita is a young woman from London just about to turn 16.  She has a loving family, a newish boyfriend and a best friend with whom she shares all of her secrets.

On the day before her birthday, Anita meets Evan for a birthday surprise, a boat ride.  The two are having a great time and Evan begins to share something with her.  However, the boat is hit and both end up in the hospital.  When Anita wakes, Evan is on the same floor as her, but he hasn't regained consciousness.

Anita begins to have strange dreams, one of which she grows wings and flies.  Evan ends up missing.  Anita is then fully transported into a dream world of the Faerie.  In her dream, she is the seventh daughter of the king.

Anita learns her name is Tania, the long lost daughter who has the ability to move between the Mortal World and Faerie World.  She coninues to believe she's in a coma as the story unfolds.

The story is told from Anita/Tania's point of view.  The author is building the characters and providing quite a bit of background as this is the first book in a series.  He provides intricate details regarding the dress as well as landscape when in the Faerie World.

The story is written for the young adult.  I would gauge that this is written for a younger teen as it was quite easy to determine what would be happening next.  While it is fantasy, other than moving between the Moral and Faerie Worlds, there wasn't a lot of fantasy at play.