Echo’s Revenge by Sean Austin

This book was fun. Probably not the best written book out there but I still enjoyed. I find it funny that so many books lately have been breaking the rules to what is considered good writing. I have found the rules were too stuffy anyway. I love the chaos of this book. There are so many characters but two main characters – Reggie and Jeremy. I love that you get perspective from multiple characters. I didn’t think it made it confusing but it definitely added to the chaos which was perfect for this book. Reggie lives with his mom, her boyfriend and his brother Jeremy. Life is just about surviving the day to day – his mom is a total flake and her boyfriend is an abusive jerk. Reggie and his brother escape into ECHO’s Revenge, an online interactive game. Reggie is a master at the game and is invited to be part of a focus group. He goes feeling like he’s got something positive in his life. The group is not the best experience but he still feels special. His mom’s boyfriend discovers his trip and the punishment is severe. Time for escape, Reggie and his brother run away. The boys don’t realize that their running away have saved their lives. ECHO is real and he is working his way through the gamers. (The book gets a little hooky here as the pictures of the missing gamers appear on milk cartons the next day but it’s just requires a little belief suspension.) The boys now have two things they are running from – their mom’s boyfriend and ECHO. They are not without support and with each new person, Reggie learns something new. It is this knowledge that helps him survive when ECHO finally catches up to him and his brother. It’s almost a coming of age book as we watch Reggie grow during this ordeal. It’s a fun and exciting book. The style is easy to read and engaging. I’m glad this is the first of a series and I get to watch it blossom as well. For more fun echohunt.com offers interactive play with the characters and books.

Cemetery Club by JG Faherty

This was supposed to be yesterday's post but I fell behind and didn't get it written. Cemetery Club started off rather slow. I did not like the beginning. The first few segments were snapshots of the history of Rocky Pointe but I wasn't connecting to the town. The modern day story started with Todd. Todd had just been released from Wood Hill Sanitarium after serving 20 years for killing several people in his teens. Todd is looking forward to spending his time reconnecting with his mother and continuing his research on what really happened to those people. He suspects he raised a demon. Meanwhile, whatever it was has risen again. John Boyd witnesses the aliens take over a cemetery maintenance man who kills another man before dragging his body into a neighboring crypt. Todd is beaten by police before they even explain why they are arresting him. It's at this point that I am convinced I can no longer read this book. I was so angry. So far the book had failed to grasp my attention and here, in this modern day, this man was completely violated by the men who are sworn to protect. I nearly quit. I nearly wrote a terrible review because I had had it. But I wanted to give the book a chance and I'm glad I did. Once Cody Miles, Todd's lawyer, entered the scene the story took on a completely different feel for me. I was sucked in and I couldn't stop. The fun thing about this book was the debate about what exactly had invaded the community - was it demons or was it aliens? There were good arguments for both and I wasn't disappointed when I learned what the truth was. The beings turn their victims into zombies and that was fun. I hadn't read a zombie book yet so it was great. I loved the characters. I loved how they were real and how they were really struggling with what was the right thing to do. There was even a human villain who I thought could have been used a little better but I could totally picture him in the movie. I didn't like the ending but then I liked the characters a lot and the ending hurt. I won't spoil it for you but I was disappointed. I wanted them to be my heroes and I wanted a happily ever after. The fact that the ending made me feel made it a great ending. I could completely see this movie. It's a small book so it may never happen but I would love to see that movie. There were some editing issues with the book - I won't lie. One character's name changed from Hank to Frank for a few pages and then back to Hank. It was a little off putting but I didn't care. I chalked it up to the quaintness of the publishing. It wasn't well formatted for a nook so there was some fun font issues but I ignored them and stuck with the story. If you like horror, especially Stephen King, I recommend this book. It reminded me a bit of IT but with zombies instead of clowns.

Baby’s in Black by Arne Bellstorf

Wow what a sad and wonderful history. I picked Baby’s in Black because it had something to do with the Beatles (my family are huge fans). This is the story of Stuart Sutcliffe who was the original bassist for the Beatles when they started in Germany in 1960. Stuart did not consider himself a great musician but followed for the sake of his friend John Lennon. He was soon discovered by Astrid Kirchheer. They fell in love and she nurtured the artist that he was meant to be. Sadly, Stuart had an underlying illness that the doctors were unable to determine which resulted in his death. The beauty of the story is in the telling of their relationship. Drawn in black and white, this graphic novel has a haunting yet light touch. You can’t help but feel for both Astrid and Stuart who never were able to marry. His future was so bright and yet was not meant to be. That did not mean that he didn’t influence the lives of others who went on to have amazing careers. This is a must have for any Beatles fan even though it does not focus on them exclusively. The story is simple and fairly modest making it suitable for young fans.

Enchantment by Pati Nagle

I really hate writing reviews for books I didn’t like or just couldn’t read. It goes against everything I believe. I love books and most of my reviews are glowing because I only review what I like. As I get asked to review more and more, it means finding that I don’t like some books. More often than not, I push through unless it’s NetGalley then I politely decline writing a review. I can’t remember when I was asked to review this book but it’s been sitting in my tbr pile for far too long. I have spent the last week trying to muddle through the first 50 pages. I finally made it to page 86 when I said that was it. I was done. I was going to walk away and call this once lost in the tbr file. I can’t even remember who asked me to review it and they haven’t gotten back in all this time so would anyone notice if I just overlooked this review? The truth is – no, no one would notice but I would feel like I was lying. Am I a bad journalist if I only post reviews of books I like? Okay, it’s not quite that bad but it was when I started. I need to share the bad with the good. This isn’t the worst book ever written. The language is fine. The plot is okay. It’s just really boring. Just before the start of her senior year in high school, Holly discovers a being living in a spring near her house. The being is dying. She wants to focus on him than on finding a college to attend the following year. In 86 pages, I could tell you very little about Holly (to be honest, I’m not positive that’s her name). In one meeting, she is madly in love with the guy who she knows is not human and can’t leave the spring. She’s nearly obsessive. Day three she has to go with her sister, as her sister returns to college. The whole time she’s sure that the man in the spring believes she has abandoned him. Um, hmm. I found the characters very one dimensional – there was no feeling in this book. I wasn’t being pulled in. Maybe, it’s me. Maybe I just was the wrong audience. Maybe this was the wrong book. I don’t know. I just know that Nancy Pearl said to subtract your age from 100 and then that’s the number of pages you have to read before deciding a book is just not going to work for you. I’d love to say that I read those pages but truth is – I gave it many more and even trying to skim over the story didn’t help me like it.

Agaves by Greg Starr

Agaves are a type of succulent plant characterized by rosetta-like structure – leaves that spread out from the base in a circle. Interest in these plants for landscaping grew in the 1980s but it wasn’t until the turn of the century that Agave’s popularity surged. They are drought and heat tolerant plants that are naturally found in the southwestern region of the United States and into Mexico. Greg Starr offers information on how to incorporate Agave plants into your landscape regardless of where you live. Some species can tolerate severe cold while others can tolerate wetter climates. He goes on to explain how you can help your Agave thrive even in the less than ideal conditions. The majority of the book is a detailed explanation of each species of Agave. With each description, Greg Starr offers landscaping information and how best to raise that particular species. He includes information on where they can be found in nature and what conditions can be found there. The book is beautifully photographed with pictures of Agaves in various states of growth. The information appears to be simple but until you put it to use I couldn’t really say. I would have liked to have a reason to grow Agaves instead of they look neat. I wish the author would have sold the idea better but then if you weren’t already interested you probably wouldn’t be picking up his book. I like gardening books but I have limited experience and even less space. I would have loved to find out how to eat an Agave plant or to learn which were edible and how to harvest them.

Dollhouse Volume 1 by Andrew Chambliss

A post-series story following the characters of Dollhouse, this graphic novel is a must have for fans. Those not familiar with the show may find some of the plot confusing but the writer’s did a good job of introducing characters and the Dollhouse. The story begins with a phone call. This is not your normal call but one that threatens to take away all that makes you you. For some, they turned into mindless killers. Others turned into makers of mindless killers. Those who avoided the call are trying to survive in this apocalyptic world. Being this is volume one, there is no tight ending, no wrap up to the story but there was enough of a conclusion that made the story feel whole while still encouraging the reader to see out volume 2. This book makes me want to watch the show all over again – guess what I’m watching on Netflix tonight?

The Naked Foods Cookbook by Margaret Floyd and James Barry

The concept of naked eating is to eat clean, whole, unprocessed foods. The authors ask that you investigate your food before bringing it into your kitchen. This is not only a good practice for the environment but will allow the preparer to create more healthy dishes. The first few chapters of this cookbook explain the concept of eating naked as well as how to stock your kitchen and preparation methods. The recipes contained have vegetarian versions and all are gluten-free. The authors are supportive of raw organic milks but include ways to make dairy free milks at home. I liked that the recipes varied from raw to cooked and included vegetarian and meat ideas. The recipes are all rated based on difficulty and easy to find. The book ends with sample menus and food seasons. All in all this is a good book for those who are investigating eating raw, vegan or unprocessed.