Books Read in April & May

Description from Amazon.com

 

Aspiring novelist Penn Hamilton is determined to parlay his perfect looks and brains into fortune and fame. He sees powerful--but painfully plain--New York editor Beryl Unger as his means to an end. The two meet at a Barnes & Noble event in which Penn "rescues" narcoleptic Beryl after a fainting spell (she literally passes out at the sight of him). He seduces her in a raunchy sex scene (shouldn't the term "raging meat" be reserved for a Cajun cookbook?). Beryl soon becomes wise to Penn's devious ways and steals his manuscript. Turns out, it's brilliant, and Beryl sets her bruised ego aside to orchestrate a megamillion--dollar deal designed to turn the multitalented pretty boy into a one-man brand. Beryl puts all her promotional muscle behind Penn, but their relationship takes a deadly turn when she discovers he's been bedding her star client, drop-dead gorgeous African American novelist Sharlyn Tate. Files (Scenes from a Sistah) delivers a steady supply of satire and sass, but her deep-purple prose may prompt literary purists to pass.

 

 

Description from Amazon.com

 

Wizard Harry Dresden stars in the third installment of the Dresden Files (following Fool Moon), a haunting, fantastical novel that begins almost as innocently as those of another famous literary wizard named Harry. In the opening scene, Dresden and his knight friend, Michael, battle the ghost of a woman who is terrorizing a local hospital's maternity ward. From there, the novel quickly evolves into an unorthodox tale spiced with sexual innuendo and subtle humor (Dresden carries his ghost-hunting gear in an old Scooby-Doo lunch box). Due to the weakened barrier between the spirit world which Butcher refers to as "the nevernever" and the actual world, obsessive and violent ghosts are on the loose in modern-day Chicago, and they seem to be targeting Dresden and Michael. Horny vampires and possessive demons join the mix as Dresden journeys into the spirit world to hunt down the villains who are terrorizing him and his friends. Butcher narrates Dresden's story in the first person, which limits the amount of detail he can inject into the lives of his secondary characters. Despite this narrow point of view, Butcher successfully lends human dimensions to vampires and spirits through his vivid descriptions and colloquial dialogue. (Sept.)Forecast: A vivid cover showing glowing barbed wire wrapped around a pair of cemetery gates is misleading as is a cover quote appealing to fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Tanya Huff but it will catch the browser's eye. This over-the-top tale is more likely to entertain young adult readers than fans of the aforementioned authors.

 

Description from Amazon.com

Private detective/wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is suckered into tangling in the affairs of Faerie, where the fate of the entire world-and his soul-are at stake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description from Amazon.com

 

In this continuation of her diary, Bridget again recounts the ups and downs of the single life. During this period she has a somewhat steady boyfriend; however, the joys of having a man in her life are tempered by his seeming indifference to her at times. To her consternation she discovers that he is spending time with another woman. Besides the trials and tribulations of this relationship, Bridget must contend with confrontations with an obstinate boss, dealings with a weird contractor, working on her apartment, and the unpleasant experiences during the worst vacation of her life. Through it all Bridget is supported by her married and unmarried friends. Her comments, often overstated, are both harsh and humorous.

 

 

Description from Amazon.com

 

It's divorcée daggers out in Graves's impressive and uncomfortably funny debut, the first installment of a trilogy in the Desperate Housewives school of moneyed midlife debauchery. Jessica DiSantini, with half her neurosurgeon ex-husband's money and nearly bottomless wine cellar, shuttles her daughter to school and Mass (at "Our Lady of the Lexus") in between gossip sessions with her divorced friends Lally, Caitlin and Janey. And while the lady lunchers may have good shoulders to cry on at first, they realize that other singletons, no matter how chummy, are still competition. So when debonair David Clemente appears on Southern California's marriage market (his wife left him for their art dealer), Jessica and her crack team of surgically enhanced divorced divas are each determined to land him, by any means necessary. A series of home invasions add a pleasing piquancy to Graves's entrée, as does the author's flair for mixing high-brow references with chick lit's light humor.

 

 

Description from Amazon.com

 

Harry Dresden is not having a good day. A vampire named Ortega is hunting the beleaguered wizard, intending to challenge him to a duel that, Ortega claims, will end the war between the vampires and the wizards. Harry has almost no hope of winning the duel, but soon he is preoccupied by another problem: Father Vincent, a priest, needs Harry's help in finding the Shroud of Turin, stolen by a trio of thieves. Harry traces two of the thieves to his hometown, Chicago, but when he finds them, he learns that he isn't the only one after them. A group of terrifying demons wants the shroud, and its leader is interested in Harry's soul, too. Harry must call on all of his friends, including three brave knights, his police-officer friend, and even his half-vampire ex-girlfriend, Susan. Butcher maintains a breakneck pace in Harry's exciting fifth adventure. This imaginative series continues to surprise and delight with its inventiveness and sympathetic hero.