BOOK #70

Booyah! Seventy books for 2010! And I just got this one in under the wire. So for our 'book pledge' of 2010, I think I actually read about 50 of my 90+ books that I was trying to finish for the year. Not bad since we all fell off track somewhere in the spring. Oh well.

And this author, well, I can't resist her work. I always buy her newest on the day of release. She has two series: one is about a psychic detective and then there is this one - a psychic ghost getter. And the author herself is a psychic who lives in Austin - and I happen to follow her on Twitter. She's fun in real life as well. I can always tell when an author invests their own personal experiences in the writing as it always develops a strong ring of truth. And being fascinated by the whole 'ether' world and those that communicate with it, I'm naturally drawn to these types of books. Again, it's that 'magick' feeling that I love.

Unfortunately, for this book, I was seriously disappointed. The plot revolved around her and her crew 'busting' a big bad phantom in a very haunted castle on a cold, rainy Scottish island. Nothing new there. The plot was endless in its circles of going back and forth to the castle and battling the big bad phantom. And then finally (for us readers that is) solving the mystery that never seemed to ever be there in the first place. This book seemed to have less humor and more sturm und drang than her previous pieces. And I think that's what dragged me down for most of my reading. I hung in there though, only if to see if it might get better but alas, it really didn't. It ended. Oh well.

I highly recommend all of Victoria's previous books. Just not this one so much. And I will definitely be there when she releases the next one though. Here's to 2011, kids!

BOOK #69

Chick lit break! Took me about 2 hours to read it. Amusing, funny, silly.
Just what's it's supposed to be. Nothing to get excited about. But if I found some more of Plum Sykes' work for a couple of bucks, I'd buy them. Perfect for a no-brainer type of read.

BOOK #68

Having 90+ books lying around my house finally paid off! Martin Scorcese just released a documentary about this author, Fran Lebowitz, on HBO titled "Publicly Speaking". She is a very funny woman. After watching it, I dug out her book. I remembered I had ordered it by its colorful cover. Does her humor translate to her essays? Yes and no. I thought she was more charming and funny in person than in her essays. Yet, this book was published in the late 70s so there is a huge difference between the Fran of the 70s and the Fran of 2010.

She's been compared to Dorothy Parker and some other great wits of the past. I think she has developed her own niche of NY smugness, high intellect and the always obvious refusal of modern technology. She drives a fifty year old restored cab, for god's sakes (which is very cool, BTW).

Some of the essays are dated and only mildly amusing. While the others are hilarious and highly quotable. I am sure somewhere there is more than one website devoted to exclusive Fran Lebowitz quotes. I know I put up a number of her quotes on my FB page.

I think, if you are traveling to New York, then take this along for the read on the plane. That would be about perfect.