A Tribute to Gale K and Living Dead in Dallas Review

Not long ago I met a woman by the name of Gale in my Play Book Tag Group on Shelfari. She was a delightful woman with a very similar taste in books as mine. We got to know each other more when we were both chosen for the Darlingly Dynamic Diva's Group in a game we were both playing. Recently her daughter posted to The Play Book Tag group that Gale passed away last year. Sadly Gale stopped posting several months ago and I personally feel very sad that I didn't notice her absense sooner. We often make friends with people online and then don't realize how much time has passed since we last spoke with that person. I am vowing to try to change this about myself. Gale was a wonderful woman who should be remembered for her sweet demeanor and great taste in books, I wish I knew her longer.

In memory of Gale I wanted to share Gale's Shelfari profile and the picture of her mosaic tabletop that she created (above right):

"Although I have only been a member of Shelfari for a short time I have been reading for many years. I received my first book at the age of six and have been reading for pleasure ever since. My hobbies are reading, quilting and stained glass. My "photo" is actually a mosaic tabletop I built and is stained glass on clear glass. I have been married for 31 years and have two grown children who are also readers. One of my favorite things to do is work with beginning readers. I love to see children fall in love with reading, it opens a whole world of possibilities for them. I enjoy discussing books with others and fully admit to a gap in the non-fiction area of my reading list."

When I log on to Shelfari and see her still in my friends list it brings a pang to my heart to think she is no longer with us. Gale was a great contributor to the group and she is greatly missed.

As a tribute to Gale a group of us at PBT decided to read a book from her shelf of Shelfari. My book of choice was Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris. Gale was a big fan of Sookie and this review is for her:

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
#2 in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series
Rating: 3 Stars

Pub. Date: March 2002
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 304pp
Series: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series, #2
ISBN: 0441009239
Purchased from Amazon.com

One of the staff from Merlots is found dead outside of the bar and finding out who did it leads Sookie to places she never thought she'd go. Meanwhile, Sookie has been employed by the Vampires yet again and her and Bill set off to Dallas to locate a missing vampire. Sookies skills are necessary to covertly find out what people know from the place the vampire was last seen. Before they can head out she is attacked by a maenad as a message to the vampire Eric.

I am a big fan of the True Blood HBO Series and I believe that comparing the latest season to the book is actually taking away from the book for me. The stories are similar enough to make you compare them but different enough to be disappointed in the book. The Southern Vampire series is definitely unique and interesting. Harris has a great imagination and I like what she brings to the world of vampires, but I almost wish the book was exactly as True Blood season II was. I didn't want to spend this entire review talking about the HBO series because it's about the book but it does add to some disappointment for me when reading the book.

I will be reading the next book in the series before the next season of True Blood, as to not ruin the book for me. I believe that I'll enjoy it alot more and appreciate it what it is instead of comparing it.

This book fits the following Categories/Challenges for me:

• Hogwarts Reading Challenge (Transfiguration)
• Romance Reading Challenge
• RYOB Reading Challenge
• Monthly Mixer Mele Challenge
• PBT March Tag: Other

WoWO Book Club Meeting and The Help Review

On Wednesday night we had another successful Women of Washington Oaks (WoWO) book club meeting. This time we discussed The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Rating: 4 Stars by the WoWOs

In Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 things were very different then they are today. During this time there are very clear lines between the white middle class elite and their African American help. As we learn in reading The Help, these lines do not get crossed without very real consequences. The Help follows three different, yet extraordinary, women through their everyday lives during this time: Skeeter is a white woman, just graduating from college, whose mother is disappointed that she has not found a man yet. Growing up she had a maid who, when she returned from school, was no longer employed at her home and no one will speak of what happened to her. Aibileen is an African American maid who is caring and nurturing to the children she is raising for the families that she works for. Aibileen loves and cherishes Mae Mobley, the latest child she is raising, and tries to show her that she is beautiful and how to be anything but the racist women she is fated to become. Minny is a ballsy and spunky African American maid who has had problems in the past with her mouth. She finally is able to secure a position with Celia, who is new in town and doesn't not know of her reputation. These three women come together to make real change happen in Jackson, Mississippi and the reader gets to be a fly on the wall for their courageous and very well written journey.

If you have not read this book, there are some spoilers below in the text and the pictures:

The group as a whole enjoyed the story and loved the characters. One person rated the book 3.5 (due to subject matter not being her thing) but everyone else rated the book 4.5 to 5. Which is the highest ratings yet from the WoWO. We had one person who hadn't finished the book, but she will now that she has heard what we loved about the book. The group was torn on who their favorite character was. We all agree that the three main characters were wonderfully written and we loved them all. Minny is Ballsy and has a lot of Spunk, Aibileen was caring and nurturing and was the one to stick her neck out there and bring everyone together for the book to be a success. Skeeter was a great catalyst for change and shows that not everyone during this time felt the same. Our least favorite characters are pretty easy to guess if you read the book: Hilly being the number one choice, Leroy and Skeeter's mom were close behind in the votes. We all also agreed that Two Slice Hilly deserved what she got in that pie from Minny.

We all believed that if Aibileen stayed working for Elizabeth that there was a good chance Mae Mobley would have grown up to be just like her mother. Racism is taught and no matter what Aibileen tried to instill in her, the chances were slim that she would be different than the others as she grew up.

All of us felt that the setting was wonderfully written and you could picture the places and scenes vividly in your mind. The shifts in point of view gave a good and complete narrative to the places, people and events in the story and the character development was very well done. Several in the group didn't love the ending because they didn't feel they got the closure they needed for some of the characters. We are hoping that this was left open because there is a sequel coming, we would love to have another look into the lives of these women a few years down the road.

Although The Help is fiction, I personally loved how Kathryn Stockett incorporated her real experiences with Demetrie and being from the south into this book. I also loved that the descriptions of the cover of Help, the story the women wrote in the book, being the same as the cover of The Help. These two elements really gave the story an aire of realism and made you feel as if you were reading truth instead of fiction.

Entertainment Weekly mentions that there is a movie in the works for this book and we are excited at the prospect. We will definitely make the WoWO group trip to the movies for this one!

I would like to say a special thank you to Lori, Tricia and Bernice for bringing Minny's Chocolate Custard Pie! For those of you who read the book, you'll love this:

Tricia wouldn't eat it though... Hmmmm... Should we be worried?!?! Tricia hated Hilly enough to probably go as far as Minny did. Don't get on her bad side!

May I present to you the Lovely Sisters of the Mighty WoWO:

Left to Right:

Louise, Tricia, Karen, Peggy, Lori, Faith(Me), Myrta, Linda (w/Miles) and Bernice

Thank you ladies for making this book club such a success!

Also, Thanks to "the Help" from last night, Hector! Thanks for making sure we had our drinks full and food in our bellies! We appreciated all the help ;-)

The WoWO's next book club meeting will be on May 14th and we will be reading The Love Ceiling by Jean Davies Okimoto.

The Help book fits into the following categories/challenges for me:

• RYOB Challenge
• Hogwarts Reading Challenge (Charms)
• New Authors Challenge
• PBT Mar Tag: Other

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Dragonflight is book one in the Dragonriders of Pern Series.

I couldn't come up with a synopsis for this without giving away plot lines so here is the synopsis from BN.Com:

After ten long turns, Lessa was ready to come out of hiding, to reclaim her birthright...and to Impress the young dragon queen and become Weyrwoman of Benden.Suddenly the deadly silver Thread once again threatened all Pern with destruction. But the mighty telepathic dragons that for centuries had defended Pern were now few in number, not nearly enough to protect the planet in its hour of greatest peril. So Lessa hatched a daring and dangerous scheme: Rally support from people who had long ago ceased to exist...

I had some trouble with the language/translation of this book, especially in the beginning on the ramp up. The details didn't interest me all that much and I didn't take the time to really focus on the language and the details. If there was something I was unclear about I forged through the text and hoped that it would become clear to me later, sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't. I'm glad I read the book, because it was a good storyline, but I wasn't enthralled with it. I did feel I was rushing through to finish it, and that may be what my main issue was in not getting the details. I was a bit disappointed by the way it felt to end before it should have but then I heard that this was written with a series in mind, so then it makes sense to leave some of the plot line open. Some friends whose judgment I trust liked this story alot more than I did, so I know it probably deserved more deep reading than I gave it. I may come back and re-read this one at some point, naybe it wasn't the right time for me to be reading this one. I will read on in the series if my fellow group members from Fantasy Thriller and Horror want to continue with it as a group, but I probably wouldn't continue it on my own.

This books fits the following Categories/Challenges for me:

• Hogwarts Reading Challenge (Care of Magical Creatures)
• Monthly Mixer Mele (A in April)
• New Authors Challenge
• PBT March Tag: Other

Raven Stole the Moon Giveaway WINNER!

RAVEN STOLE THE MOON by Garth Stein WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

The winner was chosen via Random.org based on the number you were in the order of signing up for the challenge:

The numbers assigned were as follows:

1) Annette

2) Strandlezer (Barbara)

3) Nicole (CoyoteMusic)

4) Suzanne

5) Nicole R

6) Annapi

7) WonderBunny

8) Roberta

9) Doy you love to read? (Melissa)

10) Mom2MandJ

11) Punxygal

And without further ado... The winner chosen by Random.org is...................................

#8 ROBERTA

Roberta, I have emailed you privately through your Blogger account for your mailing address. Please email me with your mailing address to Faith_Bookluvr@yahoo.com asap so that I can get the address to Terra Communications and we can get the book out to you ASAP.

Thank you to Sarah at Terra Communications for supplying the book for the giveaway and to all of you who entered to make my first book giveaway a success!

Dust to Dust by Tami Hoag

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

In the sequel to Ashes to Ashes, A internal affairs cop, Andy Fallon, is found dead with a single message on the mirror, "Sorry." Although it looks like it could be a suicide or accidental death, something just doesn't seem right to Sargent Kovak. Even after the cops sweep this one under the rug as an accidental death, Kovak can't stop diving into the depths of this one. When Andy's father Mike is found dead and it too looks like suicide, until it is found to be a murder staged as suicide, Kovak and his partner Liska know that Andy's death is not what it seems to be and they are determined to find out the truth.

There are alot of characters in this book and most of them are called by nicknames such as Ace, Tink, Kojak, etc. This book seemed very much like a real life detective story to me. It was gritty and interesting, all the characters were well developed and you find yourself suspecting this person or that one until the truth is unveiled. Some very good twists and turns and the gritty cop roles were well done. Some of the cops were a bit over the top with their stereotype, but that's true in life too. Tami Hoag knows how to write a murdery mystery gritty and suspenseful, just what you want in a mystery read. There was an unexpected twist at the end, that gave the book a little extra punch. It would have been ok with or without it, Im not sure which I would prefer actually. Sometimes I need a happy ending and sometimes I don't, this time it was just fine the way it was.

This book fits the following Categories/Challenges for me:

• Hogwarts Challenge - Defence against the Dark Arts (Murder Mystery)
• RYOB Challenge
• Thriller and Suspense Challenge
• PBT March Tag: Other