Book Review Friday 3/28/08

Book: Tutu Deadly
Author: Natalie Roberts
Pages: 256

If the cover didn't tip me off, then definitely the phrase "meet the dance instructor who puts criminals behind barres" should've warned me, but alas, I didn't listen. Besides, it was on the Reader's Choice table at the library, so how bad could it be?

Oh, so, so, so very bad. So cheesy and corny and oozy I had to almost hide it behind a more sophisticated book when I was out in public.

For the record, I have never, am not, nor will I ever be a dancer. This is a completely foreign world to me. I'm only vaguely familiar with the terminology and can only imagine what it's like in the competitive dance world.

The premise of the book is that a talented dancer's psycho-mom--most of the dancers have these so called psycho-moms, moms who are living vicariously through their children's lives--is found dead and the dancer is missing. The murder weapon is a tub of frozen cookie dough that was used for a fundraiser activity for the dance studio and was delivered to the house by the academy's owner, Jenny. She becomes the main suspect, drawing the attention of both the local police detective and several federal agents.

While Jenny tries to maintain her innocence, other people are trying to take her out. She's attacked, shot at, and harassed. In the midst of all this chaos, she also finds herself falling for detective.

All of these shananigans are happening in practically my backyard, Ogden. So, interlaced in the story, are references to the local mormon culture. The main character of the book, nor most of the people she associates with, are not members of the Mormon church. However, as it is in real life, being native Utahns they know quite a bit about the church and it's associating culture. There is a lot of reference to Mormonism throughout the book. While I'm sure it's of some interest, it certainly doesn't need to be the focal point.

I can't say that I liked this book all that much. It was awkwardly written for a native, and LDS member, Utahn. I even felt that it read much like a teenager's attempt at a poorly disguised mystery. The ending was thrown in there mostly to conclude the book and was not written well at all. I have no desire to continue on in the series. It's a little too juvenile for me.

Book Review Friday March 21, 2008

Book: What the Dead Know
Author: Laura Lippman
Pages: 384

My mom picked this book up on a whim and recommended it.

In 1975, two Baltimore sisters go missing after spending the afternoon at the mall. There's no trace of where they've gone until 30 years later, a lady found wandering the highway after a hit and run lets it slip that she's one of the missing girls. This new found discovery opens a cold case that sends investigators on wild goose chases across the whole northeast.

The story weaves through different generations and characters, getting the full spectrum of what happened. While those paying close attention can guess the outcome by the third chapter, I was more engrossed in the story telling and I didn't see it coming. That was a nice surprise in a rather bland last quarter of the book.

The writing was excellent in the first 3/4ths of the book, but as the real story started to unravel, it became choppy and unrealistic, as though the author was trying to get the book over already.
The ending seemed much too implausible and I was irked that I invested that much time for the sort of resolution.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone sensitive to language as it was chocked full. I give it three stars because I did finish it really fast considering. But it fell apart at the end for me.

Book Review Friday 3/14/08

I know it's technically Sunday, but it's been a rough latter half of the week.

Book: The Spellman Files
Author: Lisa Lutz
Pages: 230ish


When I gave birth to my son, nearly three years ago, I became a recluse. I went from always being on the go to not having anything to do or anyone to do it with. I filled the hours by reading, sometimes reading a book and a half a day. It was a low point to say the least. I tried to stay abreast of the New York Times Bestseller List and see how many books off the top ten I could read. It was a bit daunting because sometimes a book that was part of a series would pop up, and I would have to read the first 11 books before getting to the book on the list. However, by the time I got to that book, it'd be off the list and I'd have to start all over. This is the method by which I was introduced to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, a bond agent from New Jersey. The eleventh book of the series was on the list and so I had to get caught up. I did so in about 3 weeks. Crazy, I know. But I've been hooked ever since. Once a year, a new one comes out and I read it in about two days. Then I have 362 days to fill with other good books.

In any case I'm always trying to find something that fills that zany, crazy PI alter-ego and I came across just the ticket this last week with The Spellman Files.

Lizzy is a PI for her family's Private Investigation firm. The middle child, she was always living in the shadow of her perfect older brother. Rae, her younger sister, was born when Lizzy was 14, and grew up in the business, learning the tricks of the trade early on.

Each character in the book took on a vastly different life of their own. I found them all to be just a little off, but in a good way. The book reminded me of an adult version of Harriet the Spy. It was hilarious, and very well written.

The opening begins by following Lizzy on a car chase. She finally pulls over, walks back to the purserer and says "mom, dad, this has got to stop."

Instead of asking normal questions to acquire the whereabouts of their kids, mom and dad Spellman resort to following them. When Rae is old enough, she starts in on the action as well, lugging a camera with her to get the shots worth the most in blackmail.

While I still enjoy the Stephanie Plum series a tad bit better, this book definitely got me my fix for the next little bit and hopefully I can hold on until the next Plum book is out.

Conversations From the Bleachers, Take Two

Wade and I went to see Matchbox 20 in concert Thursday night. I've been a fan of MB 20 and Rob Thomas since high school. Since they've remained out of the spotlight the last few years, I didn't think they'd be as popular as they apparently are.

Back in Decemberish, Wade approached me with the idea of going to the concert. It was uncharacteristic of him, so I jumped at the chance. I was a little surprised to see Alanis Morisette opening for them because I assumed she was the bigger act. Little did I know.

Thursday, I was scheduled to meet Wade at his work at 4:15. We were to drop off Josh at Wade's parents' house, enjoy a leisure dinner at a restaurant that you actually order from a menu to a person who then takes it back to the chef to cook for you, and arrive at the concert with plenty of time to spare for the 7:00 start.

In stark contrast, I spent nearly an hour trying to put Josh in his car seat. He was a nightmare. He straightened his legs and wouldn't bend to save his life. It was unbelievable and several times I had to leave the scene for fear that I would beat the snot out of him. I then had to change my shirt because it was dripping wet with sweat. The new shirt didn't look good with the old pants, so I had to change those too.

I finally arrived to pick Wade up at 5:15, slightly later than originally planned. All three of us were less than thrilled. We dropped Josh off at 6 pm. We drove back to the E Center and Wade dropped me off at The Training Table to get a seat and order dinner while he parked the car and walked over to the restaurant. It was nearing 6:30 when I walked through the doors of a very crowded diner and glimpsed around for an empty table. As luck would have it, a neighbor and her sister were going to the concert as well and had chosen The Training Table to eat at too. They were just finishing up, so I sat down to take her table and got involved in a conversation. When Wade walked through the door, I realized that I hadn't ordered dinner like planned and that put us back a long time.

We arrived at the concert at 7:30, just as the first opening act left stage. Apparently, we didn't miss much. Behind me, three girls went into great detail as to which strip clubs were the best to patron based on the creepiness of the men inside. Newsflash: Men who visit strip clubs are creepy. End of story. We sat around until 8:00, when Alanis came out.

Now, I'm as big of an Alanis fan as any other normal person out there, but her set totally sucked. She wore the worst get-up and was head banging her way around the stage in some chaotic frenzy. However, as I came to find out, there are some diehard Alanis fans out there and they seemed to be enjoying the songs. I liked her old stuff, but the new stuff royally stunk. The only redeeming quality being the drunk lady two rows down who arrived tanked.

As a side note, I'm no prude to those who choose to drink responsibly while out in social situations. I do however feel that if you're touching other people, being obnoxious, or if people can visibly tell that you are hammered, you've crossed the line. I did not pay my money to come watch you impersonate a stripper, nor did I pay to see you make out with the poor sap who brought you, but can apparently hold his liquor better. If security has to come down and yank you up the stairs for a stern warning, this should alert you to a problem. And it seems looks and drunkenness is proportionally related. The drunker you are, the less appealing your overall look is. You don't see pretty people acting like arses in public.

That aside, Alanis was a crazy, hyped-up once been and the answer to my question "how come she's the opener" was immediately answered. Keep in mind that the mindless chatter behind me from the "sophisticated" threesome continued throughout her gig.

At a little after 9, MB 20 finally made their appearance. Overall, the concert was incredible, marred only by the morons sitting around us. You don't realize how many good songs a particular group has until you actually see them sing them all in succession. I knew every song that was played and had a great time. However, we told Wade's dad we would be back no later than 10:30 and it was nearing 11:00. Who knew that a concert starting at 7:00 would go on past 11:00. Wade made the comment as people were slipping away, that they looked to be the ones with small kids at babysitters. We soon joined the masses and headed to pick up Josh. I texted a friend on the way, my head throbbing and my senses on overload, "I think I'm too old for this."

Book Review Friday 3/07/08

Book: Courage Beyond Words

Author: Christopher Robbins

Pages: 338



On a rainy night in Manhattan, more than fifty years after the end of the Second World War, Michel Thomas pulled a packet of letters from the safe in his apartment and placed them on a writing desk...He spread them out in a fan, a dozen dog-earred airmail envelopes faded with age...The letters dated from just after the outbreak of war in Europe and were among Michel's most prized possessions. He had lost count of the number of times he had taken them from their battered, black cardboard file and set them down and stared at them...He had removed the fragile airmail sheets from their envelopes and carefully unfolded and smoothed them a thousand times. But in fifty years he had never read a single word...

And so begins the biography of Michel Thomas, Holocaust witness, Nazi Hunter and language teacher to the stars. The book, in a one word description, is phenomenal, renewing my faith in the human spirit. It took close to two weeks to read because it was so sad, so raw, and so deep that I had to prepare myself each time I sat down. If I were to lose myself completely to it, like I do in so many other books, I would be consumed with hatred and contempt for Hitler and his reign.

Born in Poland, Michel grew up loving his mother, his aunt, Judaism, and Germany. Poland had been under Russian control and travel was near impossible for Polish Jews. When he was just a young boy, his love for Germany caused rife between him and his mother, so she had Michel smuggled to Germany to live with his favorite aunt.

After graduating from the university, Thomas moved to Vienna. However, Hitler was moving in to make Austria part of the German Reign, so Thomas escaped to France. Hitler had plans with France as well, encompassing them in an armistice agreement that had Germnay occupying most of the country under France's free will. This gave birth to the Vichy government, and it was the Vichy domain that tried to expel all foreign-jews.

Following stints in labor camps, Thomas was moved to a camp that separated it's occupants into two groups. Non-Deportables and Deportables. Non-Deportables were prisoners who had papers that were in the system to be allowed to immigrate. The majority of the camp, including Thomas, were eligible for deportation to Auschwitz. Every day, new loads of prisoners arrived, and split into their respective groups. Cunning and inventive, Thomas managed to avoid being detected and became a fugitive inside a prision camp. Authorities raised the alarm that he was missing and he had to remain alert at all times, always trying to find a new place to hide when transports were scheduled. At last, a possible escape presented itself and Thomas seized the moment. He had a 15 minute head start before he heard the guards coming after him.

Successfully escaping, he moved to join the French Resistance. He was arrested and tortured into giving up his commrades, but escaped, once again. He finally joined forces with the American Thunderbirds, a particularly decorated group that had waded ashore in Sicily earlier.

The Americans utilized Thomas' talents and language skills in interrogating the enemy. He was made a Divisional Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agent. It was in this position that Thomas helped to liberate Dachau, a concentration camp in the outskirts of Germany. He recounts a horrifying and haunting experience.

Post-war, Thomas used controversial and unconventional methods to arrest war criminals. Many criminals were sought at the end of World War II and the extent of human suffering was discovered. Thomas successfully brought some of the most wanted criminals to the hands of the American justice system.

Hardened by the war, Thomas left Europe and moved to the states. It was in California that his uncle gave him a stack of letters from his mom, his aunt, and another family member. He never read them. He had long ago reconsiled that they did not survive the war and he could not bear knowing the whole truth.

Thomas created a revolutionary learning system, designed while imprisoned in solitary confinement. This system never took hold among the academic crowd, but celebrities flocked to him. He lived out the rest of his life in the states, dying at the age of 90 in 2005.

At some point during the book, I'm ashamed to admit I became skeptical about the experiences of Thomas. I think it had to do with the backlash surrounding another Holocaust memoir that has been proven to be falsified. In any case, I couldn't seem to reconcile in my mind that one man had so much happen to him--evading camp officials, discovering the file containing names of the entire Nazi Party. The book, originally released in 1999, added a final chapter to deal with an article written by the New York Times that expressed the same skepticism I was feeling. The author of this book provides documentation, as well as eyewitness accounts, to withhold any wavering disbelief. I humbled myself and am a better person for having finished the book.

The historical implications of this read are priceless. While we are all aware of D-Day, Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust, the minor battles mentioned were new to me. It was also very interesting to get a first-person view on France's involvement in World War II, as well as the Nazi hunting postwar.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It's complete with an underlying love story woven throughout as well as history and personal sacrifice.

#64 Own an Evening Gown

The day after Thanksgiving, Wade surprised me by saying he wanted to go shopping. "Shopping on the busiest shopping day during the year? Are you serious?" But he was relentless. Our first stop was Best Buy. He insisted that we get to the store by 8:00. Since the store opened at 5:00ish, I figured it would be pretty picked over by 8, but who am I to complain? I was, as usual, dillydallying and Wade was rushing me out to the car. I was none the wiser.

We got to the store and ran into some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. We talked for a minute and then Wade turned to me and said "this isn't a coincidence that Wes and Jamie are here." I must've looked a little confused because he continued. "We've been planning this since September. Wes and I are going to take the kids and you and Jamie need to find new outfits for tonight's date." I was stunned. Every once in a while, he can really pull one over on me. His parting words were "we don't care what you get, just remember that you need a formal dress for the cruise." It's been so long since I've gone formal dress shopping.

Jamie and I drove to the mall and started our quest. It'd been a long time for both of us, and neither of us had occassion to buy a formal dress since being through the temple. So, it was a challenge nonetheless.

I finally found a really nice dress that was a halter-dress. I then had to spend the next hour searching for something to wear over it. I finally found it at Dillards. My first purchase ever at Dillards.

We went to lunch and then met back up with our husbands. They brought us a dozen roses and whisked us home to get ready. We dropped Josh off with Wade's parents and then picked up Wes and Jamie. The guys took us to Biacci's for dinner and then to Mannheim Steamroller. It was all very cool and unexpected. And that's how I came to own an evening gown.

Follow-Up Fish Tank Confessions

**I still think big fish are creepy. I involuntary shudder when I see fish that look like this:

I don't want something like this in my kitchen staring at me while I eat, contemplating consuming me himself. I also don't deal well with any kind of death. Pets or people alike, I internalize the emotions and I'm a basketcase. One of the many good reasons I didn't pursue my dream of being an oncologist. Another, slightly more pressing reason being the lack of good grades to get into medical school. A friend gave me a hermit crab for my birthday a few years ago. I was so nervous it was dead that I finally had to just throw it away because I wasn't functioning as a normal adult. I'm not entirely sure that it was dead when I threw it away. It looked dead, but they're called hermit crabs for a reason. In any case, I certainly don't want to scoop this sucker out of the water and try to dispose of it in the trash can...or flush it down the toilet.

**An update on the London blog I follow. Turns out she just changed blogger dillibobs and it didn't update to my feeder. Whew. Good thing, as I was feeling kind of bad for her early demise (See above).

**In the last two days, my patience level has not miraculously increased ten fold, but I do realize my limitations. I'm grateful to be living in an age where television can watch my child so I can close the door and ponder why I had him in the first place. I often wonder how people did it before the advent of technology.

**A friend gave me a good recipe to kick Josh's spitting habit. Pepper. It's mean, but it works. He's not nearly as rude. All I have to say is "do you want some pepper" and the kid is gold. Before I get a backlash of "bad parent" comments, I only put a dash on my finger. I'm not trying to kill the kid, but it's akin to soap in the mouth. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

**Yesterday, as though it were a sign from God that he indeed reads our blogs, the sun came out. It was a gorgeous day.

**Do you ever have those days that you feel are going to be great days? I have a friend down the street that we take turns on Wednesdays watching each other's 2 year old for a few hours so the other one can do whatever. In my original Fish Tank Confession, I was lamenting playdates and babysitting. This is different. This is a set up that works for both parties. I only babysit every other week for a few hours. There are no last minute calls. And I know that for every time I babysit, she babysits my kid and I get to play for a few hours. In any case, today is her turn and I'm going to read in peace and quiet for my few hours. After I got back from swimming this morning, I was showing Wade David Archuletta's performance on American Idol and it made me happy that a local kid was showing that not all Utahns are weird and backwards. His rendition of "Imagine" was incredible. When I checked my email, there was an email stating that a jacket I had ordered a few weeks back and was on backorder actually shipped this morning. I wasn't expecting it until nearly April, but I was sooooooo excited to get that email. Now I can still wear it this season. YAY! It's going to be a good day. I can feel it.

**I'm reading an incredible book about World War II that makes me believe in the human spirit again. I hope to get it done by Friday so I can review it for the week. It's heavy, so it's taking longer to get through. But not nearly as heavy as Anton Chekhov. At least it's interesting. ;)

**I caught a ride from a friend in the neighborhood almost every day one semester. I never offered to pay gas money. To this day, I still feel bad about it. I didn't purposely try to cheat her out of gas money. I just didn't think about it. In fact, I feel so bad about it, and it's been weighing on my mind so much that I'mgoing to go pay her some gas money and tell her what an idiot I am. Then I can let it rest. Mind you, it's been over a year. She's still talking to me, so she must not feel that bad about it. But I do.

**I am a word nerd. Like the contestant on American Idol, I am addicted to crosswords. I was a bit offended that Simon would think it was dumb, but unless you do crosswords, you don't understand. I'm proud to be a word nerd. I'm not ashamed at all to own an electronic crossword puzzle handheld device. In college, I had a 25,000 clue crossword that hung on one entire word. When I get my very own home office, I'm going to make one wall a crossword.