Book Review: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Book Information
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0441017157
MSRP: $25.95
Format: Hardcover
Available from Amazon.com

Sookie Stackhouse is a human (maybe?) with the ability to hear people's thoughts. While that sounds like a nifty trick, in reality picking up stray thoughts from people's heads isn't all that fun and exciting. For Sookie, it is turning out to be hazardous to her health as her abilities take her deeper into the supernatural world around her.

Book #9 of the Southern Vampire sereis opens with the shifters coming out of the closet. Soon after the announcement, Crystal, Jason's wife, is found dead in the parking lot of Merlots. Is this a hate crime since Crystal was a werepanther? Or is Sookie in the middle of yet another war among the supernatural?

The Southern Vampire Series is/was one of my favorite series and I have been reading it since book 1 came out in 2001. So after almost 8 years of following Sookie, I am willing to give the series a little slack. We are old friends and can forgive each other an off day or two. But, the problem with long running series is that eventually the author gets a critical point. She can choose to end the series with a logical and fulfilling conclusion. Or, she can try to squeeze a few more books (and a few more royalty checks) out of it. Option 2 forces the reader to give up on a series completely or fool themselves into thinking that "maybe the next book will be better." Well, when volume #8 came out, I was hoping that volume 9 would be "just a little bit better." But I can see the writing on the wall and I think it is time for me, Sookie and friends to part.

The problem with the book is that nothing happens yet everything happens at the same time. For example, a fairy assassian is gunning for Sookie. Harris spends almost an entire chapter describing how Sookie is going to relieve some stress by gardening. And when the fairy shows up to kill Sookie while she is weeding the plants, Harris is able to kill off the fairy in about 2 paragraphs. I understand the element of surprise was important in Sookie coming out on top. But seriously? All that buildup for a nonexistent scene? No last dying words from the fairy? No "oh shit, I am going to die" inner monologue from Sookie?

The entire book follows the same format. All filler and no resolution or climax. The book ends with a cliffhanger, leaving many dead, countless injured and no real idea if some of the main characters will be around in book 10. But honestly, I closed the book not even caring who makes it and who doesn't. The only thing I could think was that the series used to be soooo good!

For Sookie fans willing to stick it out, at least wait until the paperback comes out. If you are dying to know what happens, check out the hardcover from the library. For readers who were a little skeptical after reading volume 8, I would quit while you are ahead. Stop now while you still have good feelings about the series and the characters. Better yet, just start watching the TV adaptation on HBO, True Blood.

xoxo,
Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: April 2009

ISBN-13: 978-0143114963

MSRP: $15.00

Format: Mass market paperback

Available from Amazon.com

I enjoy a good conspiracy theory every once in a while. But sometimes you get a book that is disturbing because it isn't a theory, it is actually based in fact. Take everything you have learned about nutrition from the food pyramid to your "recommended daily allowances" and toss it out the window. Because since the 1980's Americans haven't been eating "food." Nope, we have eating "food products" or "food substitutes" and that is an entirely different ballgame.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, is a call to action to defend real food. The book makes a startling point, that as we become increasingly consumed with issues of health, we have become increasingly unhealthy. The problem isn't low-fat, trans-fat, poly-unsaturated fat, or any other evil nutrient, but rather the fact that most of the "food science" that goes into making new food products has no science backing it up. Our great grandparents all lived long and healthy lives with out any of these specially formulated foods. So, it stands to reason that the problem is that Americans have simply stopped eating food.

Pollan systematically goes through the current nutritional advice and pokes holes into each theroy. He also points out numerous food scandals in which we have been told by the FDA or scientist to consume some nutrient over another only to find out that that advice had dire impacts on our health. (Of course, each of these past scandals have been swept under the rug, so this is the first time you will hear about them.) So in the end, what is a girl to do? According to Pollan, we don't need food pyramids, recommended daily allowances or anything else. We just need seven simple words, "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan describes these 3 tenants in more detail in the book, but it is basically a lot of common sense. If it has more than 5 ingredients, ingredients you can't pronounce and doesn't resemble the animal or plant is supposed to come from? It probably isn't food. Oh and if someone goes through great pains (a lot of marketing dollars) to convince you that something is health? Chances are it isn't!

This is a good read for anyone and everyone. You see TV ads all the time sponsored by some food lobby and you can't help but believe something is true after it hearing it so many times. And surely, if it wasn't true, they wouldn't let them put false labels on boxes or make false claims, right? Wrong! Most of those claims are considered marketing and don't need to be backed by science or testing. And most of the claims are subjective anyway.

But a really "fun" game to play after reading this book is to go through your home pantry and see how much in it is actually food and how much are engineered food products. It was pretty disturbing and enlightening when I opened up my refrigerator. I would say only about 20% of the "food" in my cabinets could actually be defined as food... Another good book to check out is Skinny Bitch by Roy Freedman and Kim Barnouin. After reading it, you will never want to drink a glass of milk again. I don't care how cool those "got milk" ads are!

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Succubus Heat

Succubus Heat
by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Kensington
MSRP: $15.00
Available at: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Succubus Heat is book four in the Georgina Kincade series. If you're a fan of Kim Harrison and Kresley Cole, I highly recommend this series. It's filled with demons, vampires, angels, imps, nephelim, and of course, succubi, running around Seattle and Canada trying to find some happiness here on Earth. The characters are well thought out, and this volume contains some very poignant moments. If you haven't read Succubus Blues, Succubus on Top and Succubus Dreams, I suggest that you stop reading here because the following contains some spoilers.


Georgina isn't your typical succubus. She's tried to be good and limit the amount of truly good men that she seduces, but lately things have not been going well. Since her break-up with famous author Seth Mortensen (yes, you do need to read Succubus Dreams), Georgina hasn't been coping well with her raging emotions. Seth is now seeing Maddie, her co-worker at Emerald City Books. Out of loneliness, Georgina has taken up with Dante, who all of her friends despise. To top it all off her demon boss, Jerome, is NOT happy with her bad attidude of late, and decides to 'lend' her to Cedric, a Canadian archdemon, to help him get rid of a Satanist cult that has been creating havoc in his city.

Of the four books in the series, I enjoyed this book the most. There are some very sad moments, and there are a lot of unresolved issues that I hope will be explored further in future volumes. After I finished reading this book, it left me wanting more. Unfortunately, the next book in this series isn't due out until April 2010. Booo!!! I'll definitely want to re-read the first four books again before I read the next book.

~Allie

Read more!

Book Review: Darkness Revealed by Alexandra Ivy

Publisher: Zebra (Kensington Publishing)

Publication Date: March 2009

ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-0296-3

MSRP: $6.99

Format: Mass market paperback

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders or Powell's

Anna Randal never imagined how much her life would change after her encounter one night with Conde Cezar almost 200 years ago. After being bitten by the tall, dark and handsome vampire, her life went from bad to worse. For 200 years, she has been trying to track down the mysterious vampire and get some answers.

Cezar will never forget the single night he spent in Anna's arms. Imprisoned as a servant to the Oracles for the past 200 years, he is now charged with protecting Anna from the infamous Morgana. Anna is destined to join the ranks of the Oracles, powerful beings that police all the supernatural races. But no matter what Cezar does, it seems he is fated to lose Anna to either hands of Morgana or the Oracles.

Actually the 4th book in Ivy's Guardians of Eternity series, this book is a great stand alone. I have yet to read the first 3 books, but I am definitely interested in this series! You can never go wrong with vampires!

Darkness Revealed has an incredible cast of characters that are very 3 dimensional and lovable. Anna wants to be upset with Cezar for leaving her wandering the world for almost 200 years with no idea who and what she is. Anna is actually a fairy, but after being bitten by a vampire, she can only jump to the conclusion that Cezar is responsible for her immortality. On the other hand, Cezar is the tragic hero charged with protecting the woman he loves. All the while, he knows that whether he succeeds or fails, he will lose her in the end.

If you like Gena Showalter, J. R. Ward or Sherrilyn Kenyon, you will love Alexandra Ivy!

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey

Book Information:

Title: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What men really think about love, relationships, intimacy and commitment

Publisher: Amistad (An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Publication Date: January 2009

ISBN-13: 978-0-06-172879-6

MSRP: $23.99

Format: Hardcover

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Borders or Powell's

Steve Harvey, world famous comedian and actor, has decided to write his own book about relationships. Fans of the Steve Harvey Morning Show radio program are familiar with Steve's Strawberry Letter segment in which he regularly imparts romantic wisdom and advice to his listeners. A long-time fan of the Steve Harvey Morning Show, I am sad to say this book was somewhat of a disappointment.

Okay, so maybe disappointment is too strong of a word; but, I can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't like this book. Don't get me wrong, Steve has some pretty good insight on how the male mind works. In a nutshell, men are very simple creatures and all the "complications" surrounding relationships are figments on the female imagination. And I think that right there is what doesn't sit well with me about the book. The crux of Harvey's argument is that men are dogs because women let them be. Men don't commit because women don't make it a requirement. Men cheat because their women don't provide them what they need at home. (That and they don't think they will get caught.)

Yup, everything wrong with the world is our fault ladies. (He even brings up the story of Adam and Eve! Geez! Let it go already. And for those of us who aren't Christian, that argument doesn't really work.)

The sad thing is, Harvey does have a couple of gems in his book about men, but the tone of the book put me in such a defensive mood that it was very hard to appreciate them. And instead of the book being proactive and empowering about ways to change your behavior, we end up with a laundry list of things not to do:

"Don't tell him where you would like to go [on a date]..."

"Don't be too independent"

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should."

I had really high expectations for this book; but, sadly this one is a pass ladies. A little more sugar would have made it a bit easier to appreciate and swallow.

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Succubus on Top

Succubus on Top
by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Kensington
MSRP: $15.00
Available from: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

I'm WAAAYYY behind on my reading. Too many books, not enough time! I was fortunate to be able to meet Richelle Mead at last year's BEA and get an autographed copy of her book, Succubus on Top. This book has been in my "to read" pile for a year, and I'm finally getting to it. :D

What's a succubus to do? Georgina Kincaid is not your typical immortal. She has a day job as an assistant manager in a Seattle bookstore, she spends a few nights a week luring unsuspecting men into her seductive clutches and then sucking the life force from them, and, oh, she's madly in love with a human male. Unfortunately, they can't have sex because each time she has sex with a man, she sucks out his life force and takes a few years off his life. To add to all this turmoil, Georgina's co-worker and fellow assistant manager, Doug, has been acting really weird. Well, weirder than he normally acts. Doug is in a band, and his behavior changes from bizzare to out of control, and Georgina must find out what's behind the change in Doug, or risk losing her friend.


Succubus on Top is actually the second novel in Richelle Mead's Georgina Kincaid series, and is fast paced and intruiging with many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. I finished the book in one night. Although I was expecting far more sex scenes (she is a succubus after all), there were a few and they really made you empathize with what a "demon-whore" has to do to get what she wants. She's supposed to be on evil's side -- corrupting men, stealing their life force, leading married men astray -- but underneath it all, Georgina really does have a heart of gold. I'm really looking forward to reading the first, third, and fourth books in this series.

This first book in this series is Succubus Blues, the third is Succubus Dreams, and the most recent volume, Succubus Heat, was just released on May 26, 2009.

~Allie

Read more!

Book Review: Outliers - The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Book Information

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (Hachette Book Group)
Publication Date:
ISBN-13: 978-0316017923
MSRP: $27.99
Format: Hardcover
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and Powell's

"Why do some people succeed far more than others?"

That is a question we ask ourselves almost everyday. The world is filled with rags to riches stories about individuals who through sheer determination, guts, grit, intelligence and ambition fight the odds to become "successful." In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell seeks to to understand how people thrive by looking around them. Who are their parents? Where do they live? What is their birthdate? What is their cultural background? Gladwell's findings are shocking and astounding.

Want to know the secret to becoming a world class hockey player in Canada? At first glance, you might think that being an incredible hockey player requires you have an innate talent. But as Gladwell takes you through the rosters of successful hockey teams, you will start to notice an unnerving pattern. All world star hockey players are born in January, February or March. The same applies to successful lawyers in New York City. All of them have the exact same resume and are Jewish.

The reason? The eligibility date for hockey leagues is January 1. Therefore, children born in December are a full 11 months behind in their physical development compared to their teammates born in January. For boys in the middle of puberty 11 months is a huge different in physical strength, height and agility.

As for why all the most successful NYC lawyers are Jewish. Chalk that one up to good old discrimination. Unable to be hired in the prominent WASP firms back in the 1960's they started their own firms and were able to turn them into powerhouses by accepting cases that their WASP counterparts weren't willing to dirty their hands with - hostile company takeovers.

But along with all the "success" stories, Gladwell examines many "failures" as well. He strives to show us that really successful people, or outliers, really aren't outliers after all. They aren't any smarter than the rest of us. They don't possess some innate talent that the rest of us don't have. They weren't "special." All of their stories follow a peculiar and unexpected logic that explains their road to success. In essence, he takes the romance out of the rags to riches story and presents us with the cold hard truth. People who are "successful" were all given an opportunity and had the strength and presence of mind to seize it.

This a book everyone should pick up and read. While it might be too late for us to become as successful as Bill Gates or the Beatles, at the very least we can use our influence to give someone else a chance.

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Nights in Black Lace by Noelle Mack

Book Information
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Publication Date: October 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0758221902
MSRP: $12.95
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Powell's

Odette Gaillard, CEO and founder of Oh! Oh! Odette lingerie, is looking for some excitement in her life. At her annual runway show, she finds herself oddly distracted by the young American obviously out of place in the front row. Bryan Bachman is a freewheeling athlete who is backpacking through Europe while waiting to hear back from graduate schools. Bryan spends his last euro on a charity raffle and ends up with front row seats at the sexiest fashion show of the year. But if Odette has her way, Bryan will end up with a few more prizes by the end of the night.

Nights in Black Lace was a disappointment. The story line had a lot of potential, but was squandered by focusing on the wrong aspects. As a backdrop to the story, Odette's new designs get stolen. However, the issue is never really resolved. While a suspect is identified, the subplot is simply dropped in the next to last chapter of the book. It is disappointing because the thefts are the reason Bryan chooses to remain in Paris despite having no money, no place to stay, etc. For such a key aspect of the story to be left unresolved is simply disappointing.

Another disappointment was the flatness of the entire cast. Bryan is portrayed as a very weak character throughout the story. He has no job, no prospects, no money and doesn't really save the heroine of the story from any disaster physical or emotional. He comes across as really being a kept man, which is not sexy at all. But seriously, if Odette can and does do everything on her own, what is the point of having a man around?

Other characters in the story come and go at the drop of the hat. Leaving you wondering why the author chose to introduce them at all. One of Odette's models, we come to find, is transgendered and strips at a nightclub that Bryan happens to end up at one night. That is interesting, but since the model is neither seen nor heard of after that single mention, it leaves the reader wondering why she was mentioned in the first place.

For sexy reads and contemporary romance, you are much better off checking out Carly Phillips, MJ Rose or Shayla Black.

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Coyote's Mate: A Novel of the Breeds by Lora Leigh

Book Information
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Publication Date: February 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0425226339
MSRP:$7.99
Format: Mass market paperback
Available from Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble and Powell's

Del-Ray Delgado is a genetically altered rebel known as Coyote Ghost. Created in a lab, Coyote breeds are manipulating, cunning and a little on the paranoid side. The ultimate killers, the Coyotes have decided to take their fate into their own hands and escape their creators.

Anya Korbin is only 16 years old when she pleads with Del-Ray to help free the Coyote women trapped in her father's lab. For 6 years, she and Del-Ray plot the escape with Anya's only plea that her family not be harmed. But Coyotes can't be trusted and Del Ray is no exception. He has plans for Anya. Plans that include claiming her as his mate whether she agrees or not!

I am normally a big fan of romance novels and picked up Lora Leigh on the recommendation from my local book seller. Leigh is definitely an imaginative and popular writer - she makes it on the New York Times Bestseller's List pretty often; however, Coyote's Mate wasn't my cup of tea. Instead of Anya coming off as a smart, independent woman in her own right, she came of as a selfish, whinny brat to me.

The majority of the book deals with Del-Ray forcing Anya in a sense to marry him. Since the breeds are a mixture of human and animal, mating is more of a hormonal exchange instead of an exchange of vowels. But Anya petitions the Breeds council to basically get a restraining order against her mate for 1 year. The whole situation is just a bit too far-fetched to me. Del-Ray is in essence the King of the Coyotes and he is kicked out of his own home for the better part of a year!

I guess I wanted Anya to deal with the situation instead of running away from it. I much prefer heroines who use their brains to get what they want, not tears. So that being said, if you go for the angst filled romantic stories where the heroine wants to be swept off her feet but feels like giving into her desires makes her a weak person, this is the book for you. If you prefer characters who end up in sticky situations and must use their own brains and wiles to get out of them, you might want to pick up one of Leigh's other series.

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: A Red Hot Valentine's Day by Danes, Hart, Kessler and Michaels

Book Information

Authors: Lacy Danes, Megan Hart, Jackie Kessler and Jess Michaels
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0061689390
MSRP: $13.99
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Powell's

I normally don't buy anthologies because I feel 80 pages isn't enough flush out a really good story. However, I am huge Megan Hart fan. So I figured I would give this book a try while I wait for her next full length novel. A Red Hot Valentine's Day is a mixed bag with a few good stories and a few that were just okay.

In Get There, by Megan Hart, Edie and Ty are long distance lovers who will finally be together on Valentine's Day. To pass the time until their reunion, they swap love letters detailing erotic journeys of parted lovers.

Eternal damnation has never been so sweet as in Hell Is Where the Heart Is by Jackie Kessler. The succubus Jezebel is about to get a very special Valentine's Day gift from her demon lover.

In Torn Desires, by Lacy Danes, Lady Sophia finds that her neighbor and lover Lord Quinton has been toying with her affections when he hires a matchmaker. But to Lord Quniton's displeasure, it is Lady Sophia who is introduced to her dream lover.

Finally, the Earl of Atleigh has less than one week to prevent the woman he loves from marrying another man. The name of the game is seduction in Jess Michaels's regency romance By Valentine's Day.

By far, Hart and Michaels have the strongest stories of the bunch. Danes's Torn Desire was a little too light on the plot and too heavy on the sex for me to really enjoy it. And Kessler's story was gruesome and strange to say the least.

This is definitely a book to buy from a used bookstore or check out from the library. If, like me, you are a fan of one of the individual creators, the 80 page novellas are a nice read while you are waiting for the next full length book. But overall, this one isn't a keeper for the shelves. Or if you are looking for new authors to read, this one might be a great preview of their styles before you commit to reading a 400+ page paperback . I am definitely going to look up other works by Jess Michaels.

xoxo,

Tissie

Read more!

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Finally! A book that combines two things that I love: romance and zombies!! I've never actually read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but I've seen the movies and tv-series several times. My first thought in reading this book was that the poor author, Seth Grahame-Smith, had been dragged to see the movie (by a woman) and started imagining zombies eating and killing off characters to amuse himself. Just imagine a movie studio shooting Pride and Prejudice and Shawn of the Dead on the same movie set. The result? A hilarious, highly entertaining mishmash of angst, unrequited love, disembowelment and brain eating.

Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five daughters, living in Hertfordshire. For the past fifty-five years, and strange plague has swept through England, causing the dead to rise again and feast on the brains of the living. When his daughters were young, Mr. Bennet had sent his daughters to China to study the deadly arts under Master Liu in order to protect the citizens of Hertfordshire from the "manky dreadfuls." Zombies don't stand a chance when any one of the Bennet sisters are around. Their mother, on the other hand, doesn't care for her daughters' fighting skills, and her main goal in life is to have them all married off to rich men.

I would love to see this book made into a movie. Keira Knightly would be perfect in this, reprising her role as Elizabeth Bennet, with some kick ass moves that she learned in The Pirates of the Carribean. This would be SOOOO much more enjoyable that sitting through Speed Racer again! Hollywood, are you listening??

P.S. Hollywood is, indeed listening! I found this article about Elton John's Rocket Picture's upcoming feature, Pride and Predator! Ooh... I can't wait to watch Lizzy Bennet kick some butt!

Publisher: Quirk Books (April 4, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-1594743344
MSRP: $12.95
Available though Amazon.

Read more!

Book Review: Mortal Temptations by Allyson James

Mortal Temptations
by Allyson James

Patrica Lake's world is turned upside down when she finds a winged, demi-god unconscious on the floor of her antique store. Her unexpected visitor is Nico, a powerful deity cursed by Hera to be a slave to female sexual desire. As punishment for chasing after one of Hera's priestesses, he is sentenced to an eternity of heartbreak as he is used by one female after another and tossed aside along with his partner in crime and demi-god Andreas. Patrica, of course, holds the key to ending their enchantment...

I really wanted to like this book. Yes, the story is pretty cookie-cutter - our tortured and cursed hero must commit some great act of sacrifice to save himself and his one true love. Mortal Temptations had all the potential to really be an unique, yet heartwarming story; but it totally fell flat almost from the beginning.

Patrica is psychic and can read the auras off of people and objects, hence her profession as an antiques dealer. You would think her abilities would be almost vital to Andreas and Nico's quest for clues on how to break the curse. But her psychic abilities are introduced in the beginning and then are almost forgotten over the course of the story.

Nico and Andreas are described as essentially high class gigolos who are tortured by their fate. However, throughout the story, they honestly don't seem more than slightly annoyed by the whole situation. Andreas seems almost giddy to have a new toy to play with. And Nico doesn't seem plagued by bouts of depression or melancholy over being a god reduced to a sex slave.

The ending was also nothing special with Nico's final "test" incredibly uneventful and really not that difficult. Happily ever after was attained a little too easily for me to really feel any emotion for the characters.

Overall this book was a bust. If you are looking for a good tragic hero type, you are better off checking out Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter's series.


Book Information

Publisher: Berkley Trade
Publication Date: January 6, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0425223697
MSRP: $15.00
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble

Read more!

Book Review: Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? What about real estate agents and members of the KKK? And the million dollar question - why do drug dealers live with their moms? All the answers to these questions and more can be found in Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Steven Levitt is a rogue economist. As the book explains:

"Many people - including a fair number of his peers--might not recognize Levitt's work as economics at all. But he has merely distilled the so-called dismal science to its most primal aim: explaining how people get what they want. Unlike most academics, he is unafraid of using personal observations and curiosities; he is also unafraid of anecdote and storytelling (but he is afraid of calculus). He is an intuitionist. He sifts through a pile of data to find a story that no one else has found. He figures a way to measure an effect that veteran economists had declared unmeasurable. His abiding interests--though he says he has never trafficked in them himself--are cheating, corruption, and crime."

Levitt poses numerous questions in his book ranging from what makes good parents to what caused the dramatic reduction in crime in the early 1990's. While some of the questions and answers posed make perfect sense, others may leave you with a sorry taste in your mouth. Probably the most controversial aspect of the book is how Levitt attributes the decline in crime in the 1990s to the legalization of abortion. I am kind of sitting on the fence with that one. On one hand, unwanted and neglected children are more likely to turn to a life of crime. At the same time, you can make numbers say anything - which is one of the themes of the book.

Overall, Freakonomics was a very interesting read. I am not usually big on nonfiction. Too dry for my tastes. But, the book kept me interested and engaged from beginning to end. And now I know why drug dealers live with their mothers, so that in itself was worth reading the book for!

Book Information
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 12, 2005
ISBN-13: 978-0061234002
MSRP: $29.95
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble

P.S. I reviewed the first edition of Freakonomics. It has since been revised and updated to cover new topics, clarify some facts and rearrange the chapters.

Read more!

Book Review: The Secret Tunnel by James Lear

What would happen if you took Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, remixed it with a spoof of Sherlock Holmes, and sprinkled some hot man sex on top just for the heck of it? Why that is elementary by dear Watson! You would end up with something like The Secret Tunnel by James Lear. *snicker*

Edward "Mitch" Mitchell is traveling from Edinburgh to London aboard the Flying Scotsman for a (hopefully) engaging reunion with his old college roommate, "Boy" Morgan. Mitch is the godfather of Boy's new daughter. Boy is definitely straight, but doesn't mind dipping into the other pond every once in a while.

One would expect the 392 mile and 8 hour train ride to be fairly boring. However, Mitch seems to have a knack for getting himself entangled in tight spaces. >_<>The Secret Tunnel is fun and sexy without being vulgar. Mitch's antics both on the case and in the bedroom (or train car, or public toilet, or wherever he may be) leave you entertained and wondering how our hero is going to pull the case together and tag the villain within the last ten pages. While the protagonist - and honestly, the majority of the male cast - happens to be gay, the witty prose and comedic situations appeal to a much wider audience. If you enjoy the occasional mystery but hate the stuffy whodunits where the butler always did it, or if you enjoy the occasional comedy but are looking for a bit more in the way of plot, this is the book for you. By the end, you may not care who did it because the ride to the uh, "climax", was so much fun. >_<

Book Information
Publisher: Cleis Press
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1573443296
MSRP: $13.95
Format: Trade Paperback
Available from Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble

xoxo,
Tissie

Read more!