An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was our book club selection for the month. Plahniuk is clearly one of those people that make you wonder, "How is his brain so different that it comes up with crazy stuff like this?" I was reminded of Kurt Vonnegut's work when reading this book. Tender Branson is the last survivor of a religious cult who goes on to fame and fortune then complete, tragic, failure. This book skewers the rich, celebrity and organized religion and the masses who follow it. It's surreal yet often believable. We get the story of Tender's life as he recites it into the black box of a plane he's hijacked and intends to crash to the ground with when the fuel runs out. Or, does he? Very clever writing and good discussion material. View all my reviews

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth My rating: 3 of 5 stars The world is a dark and scary place filled with more dangers than just terrorists and Republicans. :-) Fortunately, for the US, the President has a super agent working for him to fight against werewolves, aliens and monsters of unimaginable evil. What makes his agent rise above all others is that he's one of the monsters. A vampire tied by oath to the Presidential office for 140 years, Nathaniel Cade is a lean, mean predator. Along with his new handler, former White House staffer Zach Barrows, Cade must investigate and diffuse a horrific attack on the US. Good stuff and a nice combination of paranormal and spy stories. View all my reviews

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton My rating: 4 of 5 stars It was not my intent to read this 549 page book in one setting but I did. I had to stay up until 3 AM to do it but I found I just couldn't put it down after I got 100 pages in. The story crosses over years between the early 1900s up to 2005 and tells the tales of three women, Cassandra, Nell and Eliza. Cassandra is a young widow living in Australia with her Grandmother, Nell, who raised her since she was a small child. When Nell passes away, Cassandra finds out what her Grandmother learned on her 21st birthday. Nell's parents found her as a four year old who had been abandoned on a ship from England to Australia and raised her as her own. Cassandra also finds her Grandmother's journals as she tried to discover her identity. Armed with a book of fairy tales, written by Eliza Makepeace and found in young Nell's suitcase, Cassandra endeavors to complete the search for Nell's family. It was a beautifu...

Undead and Unstable by MaryJanice Davidson My rating: 3 of 5 stars Finally! Some actual action and plot progression. It's about time. This was a good airplane read. Vampire Queen Betsy and friends actually spent some time talking to each other in this entry in the series and Betsy did more than just flit around and whine. It's about time because I was going to abandon the series if this book wasn't enjoyable. It was and I look forward to the next book. View all my reviews