Book 30: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Summary: This is the story of Roland the last Gunslinger of his world and his quest for the Dark Tower. It starts with Roland chasing the man in black across the desert. He encounters Jake a young boy apparently from our contemporary earth and he joins Roland on the quest. It's interspersed with some of the things that have happened in the gunslinger's life before this: his destruction of the town of Tull, his trial to become a gunslinger, things like that.

My Thoughts: This is the start of Stephen King's grand epic 7 book Dark Tower series. It's by far the hardest to get into of all the books. If more readers could get past this one and into the second, The Drawing of the Tree, they would be hooked. It's just too disconnected. It's hard to feel much for Roland because you don't know his history. You don't really know why he's chasing the man or why he wants to get to the Tower so badly. It is made up of several shorter works that were published in various magazines back in the 70s. The edition I read was the one King updated in 2003 when he was publishing the last few books in the series. He tried to make it more coherent and to clean up some errors or confusing points, and he did accomplish some of that. There is some interesting foreshadowing that you can see if you know what is going to happen in the end. But it's hard to clean up the overall tone of the book. I recommend it only because it's short and you need to get past it to read the other 6 books which are great.

Links:
Amazon
The Gunslinger at Wikipedia
Review at sfsite.com

Book 17: Pay It Down! by Jean Chatzky

Summary:
Jean Chatzky lays out how to get out of debt by finding $10 a day. She goes into details on how to find that much money and what exactly to do with it in order to pay off your debts.

My Thoughts:
Interesting premise, but to me, if you can scrounge up ten bucks a day you're probably not in as much trouble as you might think. I'm a big reader of online blogs about debt reduction, but the problem is it's all common sense. Make more than you spend and pay off all your credit cards. Pretty simple, right? If you're motivated enough to get your spending under control and start getting out of debt, this book might have some tips for you. But honestly, you already know how to do it.


Links:
Amazon
Jean Chatzky at Wikipedia
Review at The Simple Dollar (this is one of those sites I mentioned above)

Book 27: Just After Sunset by Stephen King

Typical Stephen King short stories. One of them is the grossest thing he's ever written - "A Very Tight Place" - about a man trapped in a port-a-potty and left to die.

Book 29: 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Really good. There are some creepy stories in here.

Book 28: Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson

Not my usual thing. It's an autobiography of sorts about the woman who took over the Ann Landers advice column. It talks about her life as a single mother and all the women who helped guide her through life from her hometown of Freeville. Definitely a girl book, but it was interesting and an easy read.

Book 24: Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson

Repairman Jack. I would recommend starting at the beginning. It's getting complicated and if you haven't been following these, you might be a little lost at this point. I'm tempted to try and find Nightworld, which is apparently the final book of the Adversary Cycle that wraps up Jack's story, but I'm going to wait and see if he updates it after he finishes these other Jack books.

Book 23: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

This was a very short Stephen King book. But it's good. Better than I remembered anyways.

Book 25: Nothing To Lose by Lee Child

More typical mystery/thriller Jack Reacher. All these books sort of are the same, but they're so dang good it doesn't matter.

Book 22: The Fallon Pride by Robert Jordan

A historical fiction book written under the psuedonym of Reagan O'Neal. It's the story of the Fallon family and their troubles set around the historical events of the late 1700's and early 1800's. It was decent, but this was the second of a trilogy, and I won't be going out of my way to find the other two.

Book 26: Bloodline by F. Paul Wilson

More Repairman Jack. I love these.

Book 21: Infernal by F.Paul Wilson

More Repairman Jack.

Book 20: Crisscross by F. Paul Wilson

Repairman Jack!!!

Book 19: Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

Jack Reacher. Gotta read all of these.

Book 18: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I think this was my 3rd try at reading this book. It is good, but it's a little bit of a chore for me to read books that are this old. I'm not classy enough to dig the old flowery(?), elaborate type of writing. But the story is pretty awesome. And it's nothing like any of the Frankenstein movies I've seen, so that was a good surprise.

Book 16: Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

Another entry in the Odd Thomas series. Just as good and entertaining as the others. Odd is a great character.

Book 15: Hunted Past Reason by Richard Matheson

Not a great one. A man goes on a hiking trip with a "friend" who goes crazy and starts hunting the first guy. Hell House is the greatest Richard Matheson book I have read and it's far far superior to this.

Book 14: Godzilla On My Mind by William Tsutsui

This is a look at Godzilla and his impact on world culture. Some interesting stuff, but most of it is just highbrow philosophical junk. I would have been more interested in some actual facts about the films and Godzilla's history, but that's not what this was.

Book 13: 'salem's Lot by Stephen King

Classic.

Book 12: Night Wars by Graham Masterton

Very entertaining. I read this at the beach and it flew by.

Book 11: The Elric Saga Part 1 by Michael Moorcock

Summary: This actually consists of 3 books: Elric of Melnibone, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf. It's the story of Elric, an albino sorceror-emperor, and his life. It starts ot with him as the emperor of a disintegrating nation that is well past its glory days. He is different than most of his kind - more intellectual and introspective. This leads him into confrontation with his cousin Yrkoon, who is next in line for the throne.

My Thoughts: Elric is a very well known character in the fantasy genre. The stories were interesting, but a little too smart for me. I prefer things to be more straight forward and not so thoughtful. Elric spends a lot of time thinking or pondering his feelings, which I guess makes him a well rounded character, but it was just annoying. All the brooding got old. It started to feel very drug-trippy, hippy like which is not all that enjoyable foe me.

Links:
Amazon
Elric at Wikipedia
Comments at LibraryThing

Book 10: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

Summary:
Johnny Rico decides to join the MI (Mobile Infantry) after high school. in his time, the only way to get franchise is to serve a term of at least 2 years in the armed forces. The book tells teh story of his joining up and the subsequent adventures he has as a trooper. A lot of the book is philosophical in nature. Why is violence necessary? Who should have the right to vote? Those kind of discussions fill the book.

My Thoughts:
Much better than the movie. The movie is good in its own right as a cheesy popcorn flick, but the book has some serious meat to it. Not as fun, but it makes you think a little. Heinlein has some interesting commentary especially about China and the 20th century that looks pretty prophetic given that it was written in 1959.

Trivia:
This section is stupid. Go read the Wikipedia page.

Links:
Amazon
Starship Troopers at Wikipedia
Review at scifi.com

Book 9: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Summary:
Bella, a high school student, moves from her mother's in Phoenix to live with her father in dreary Forks, Washington. There she tries to fit in and eventually falls for a vampire named Edward Cullen, who along with his "family" are posing as other students. The beginning of the book is all about Bella fitting in and learning the Cullens' secret. After they have become a couple, Bella learns more about Edward's history and his chosen lifestyle. During a family baseball game, another trio of vampires comes in and one of them takes it as a personal challenge to hunt and kill Bella. It is up to Edward and his family to make sure she is protected.

My Thoughts:
A pretty awesome book as anyone can tell by it's chart topping sales. Definitely aimed at teenage girls, but I enjoyed the vampire/werewolf aspect as well as the family loyalty that the Cullens show.

Trivia:
Soon to be a major motion picture!!!
This is the first in at least a 4 book series.

Links:
Amazon
Twilight at Wikipedia
Reviews at rateitall.com

Book 8: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Summary: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy find themselves transported to the land of Narnia where they join the lion, Aslan, to fight the evil White Witch. Everyone knows the story, so I'm not going to type it out.

My Thoughts: This is a classic that everyone should have read by now. If you've only seen the movie, do yourself a favor and read the danged book. It's short enough. This is actually another cheat for me, because I read it out loud over a couple of weeks as a bedtime story for my son.

Links:
Amazon
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at Wikipedia
Review at Commonsensemedia.com

Book 7: Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King

Summary: Told in 12 chapters, one for each month, a town is terrorized by murders during the full moon of each month. Only a handicapped boy, Marty ever manages to escape. He eventually comes up with a plan to get rid of the werewolf permanently.

My Thoughts: This is a very short book coming in a just over 100 pages with tons of full page illustrations. I read it as a cheat to get me back on track and make sure I 'm not falling behind my goals. This is as good as any other King book, but it feels rushed, like he was just cranking it out. That's partly because of the 12 chapters format, but it's enjoyable nevertheless.

Links:
Amazon
Cycle of the Werewolf at Wikipedia
Review at Charnel House

Book 6: From a Buick 8 by Stephen King

Summary: A boy's state patrolman father dies and the boy starts hanging out at the station where his dad worked. HE finds out that the police barracks have an old "Buick" hidden in a shed behind the place and it does some freaky stuff. It lets out the occasional creature or weird plant. It has a strange attraction and at least 2 people have disappeared into it. The boy, Ned, eventually gets the story out of the old troopers about where they got the "car" and his father's obsession with it.

My Thoughts:
Awesome Stephen King book. It's not a straight forward story though, there is no clean ending as the storytellers often point out.

Trivia:
A supposed movie is in the works with Tobe Hooper as the director. He also did Poltergeist and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Links:
Amazon
From a Buick 8 at Wikipedia
Review at liljas-library.com

Book 5: Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark

Summary:
A man named Alan Grofield is a small town theater owner. Every summer he puts on community plays, but since he doesn't have much money and the theater drains his finances every year, he's also a criminal on the side. He does just enough heists to make ends meet and keep his theater afloat. He gets pulled into a meeting with a man named Myers to perform a payroll job in New York, but he decides the guy's plan is too risky and walks out. Myers hates that and robs Grofield and the other guy who walked out with him. Eventually the other guy finds Myers and kidnaps him and comes to Grofield to ask what he should do with him. Grofield suggests letting Myers go, so the other guy does. Myers turns around and fatally injures the guy. Grofield then decides to track Myers down and settle the score. He ends up in New York where Myers and his crew are committing the payroll job. Grofield waits until he's done it and then confronts Myers. The final showdown doesn't quite go how Grofield expected.

My Thoughts:
A nice, quick little read. Nothing too special. Good for the beach or a boring weekend.

Trivia:
Richard Stark is a pseudonym for Donald Westlake.

Links:
Amazon
Alan Grofield at Wikipedia
Donald Westlake at Wikipedia
Review at epinions.com

Book 4: Duma Key by Stephen King

Summary:
Edgar Freemantle, a successful building contractor, is in a horrible work site accident near his home in Minnesota. He loses an arm and part has some initial brain damage to the point where certain words are hard to say/remember and his personality is changed. He lashes out in anger often at first, and this eventually alienates his wife who divorces him. He contemplates suicide, but his therapist warns him that even if he tries to cover it up as an accident, everyone will still know the true cause. He also suggests that Edgar find something that he used to enjoy doing and to maybe relocate in the hopes of changing his mood. Edgar does leave and finds a house to rent on the nearly empty island in Florida called Duma Key. There are only a few homes along the beach and they are all owned by one old woman, Elizabeth Eastlake, who is the only permanent resident of the island along with her caretaker, Jerome Wireman. Edgar stays in a house that he nicknames Big Pink due to its color. It has been used by artists, including Dali, in the past as a retreat to allow them to focus on their art which ties nicely in to Edgar since that is what he decides to return to as something to occupy his time. Eventually weird stuff starts happening in association with Edgar's paintings. Her gets an overwhelming urge to paint and after he does he often can remember very little, but the paintings are amazing. He learns things he shouldn't be able to know like who his wife is sleeping with and who his daughter is dating. He eventually learns that he can use his paintings to affect the real world when he paints a child killer with no mouth adn the man dies in jail because he can no longer breathe. He also uses this power to help Wireman who has a bullet lodged in his skull from a failed suicide attempt in his past. Edgar's paintings start to attract notice and one of the art galleries on the main land have a show of his work. All his family and friends from back home fly down for the show. This all turns to horror when Miss Eastlake dies the same night. There are also forces on the island which are set loose and Edgar, Wireman, and Jack (Edgar's part time assistant/gopher) have to find the cause of the evil and defeat it. It's all tied in to Miss Eastlake's past and what she and her family went through in her youth to capture and hide the evil back then. This is all done in a typical Stephen King scary way.

My Thoughts:
This is honestly the best Stephen King book I've read since at least Black House. It really pulls you in and holds you enthralled until the end. It's not quite as straight forward as Cell, but it doesn't try to do too much like I think Lisey's Story did. It's just a story, but it has enough layers and is complex enough to make it really enjoyable. If you're looking for one Stephen King book to read from the last 10 years, I'd give this one a go. You wouldn't regret it.

Trivia:
Edgar's last name is Freemantle, which is the same as Mother Abigail's from The Stand. A posting on King's message board by the moderator states that Edgar is indeed a descendant of Abigail, but not the same one as in The Stand because the stories are set in different universes.

Links:
Amazon
Duma Key at Wikipedia
A Review at Charnel House

Bibliography of the edition I read:
King, Stephen. Duma Key. New York: Scribner, 2008.

Book 3: Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson

Summary:
This is the story of Del, a northern sword master, and her search for her brother and the people who enslaved him. On her journey she meets Tiger, a southern sword dancer. They are opposites: she is all icy determination and focus similar to her northern land; he is easy going but fierce like the southern deserts. He falls for her and helps her through many trials to find her brother who is the last person alive from her family. On the way we learn what happened to her family and what she had to sacrifice to prepare for her quest to find her sibling. Tiger acts as her guide through the unfamiliar south and its people.

My Thoughts:
This is a good fantasy series. I read most of the books years ago when I was in college, and they hold up well enough. Nothing earth shattering, but sometimes a plain old sword and sorcery book is a fun read. I may read some more in the series before the year is up. We'll see.

Trivia:
Sword Dancer was a Belmont Stakes winning racehorse back in 1959.

Links:
Amazon
Jennifer Roberson at Wikipedia
Review at The Best Reviews

Bibliography of the edition I read:
Roberson, Jennifer. Sword-Dancer. New York:Daw, 1986.

Book 2: Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

Summary:
This book centers around a lower demon named Jakabok Botch and his life story. It covers how he came out of the lowest level of hell onto the earth. He talks about all the things that happened to him and the trouble he got into. It's written interestingly. Jakabok is trapped in the book and is talking directly to the reader. Every few pages he goes on for a while trying to get the reader to burn the book. He has been trapped in it for hundreds of years and wants it to be over. In between these pleadings, he tries to use his story as a bribe to get the reader to destroy the book. Eventually he starts threatening the user or making grand promises. The story ends with how he was trapped in the book.

My Thoughts:
I liked it well enough. I'm not a big Clive Barker fan. His Books of Blood were awesome, but most of his other books have been so-so for me. The whole demon speaking to the reader aspect of this book was neat, but annoying. It actually draws you in a little to where you feel like the threats he starts making are a little scary. But at the same time it feels like he's overdoing it. It happens almost every other page where the story is broken and he's pleading with the reader. Maybe if he had used the technique less, it wouldn't have pulled you in as much? I don't know, that why I am just a reader and not a writer, I guess. Overall I'd recommend it. It was short enough; I actually read it on a plane trip to Dallas via Chicago. I can only imagine what anyone sitting next to me would think if they were reading it over my shoulder.

Trivia:
Nothing off the top of my head, or on Wikipedia for this one.

Links:
Amazon
Mister B. Gone at Wikipedia
Review at Bookreporter.com

Bibliography of the edition I read:
Barker, Clive. Mister B. Gone. New York: Harper Collins, 2007.

Book 1: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Summary:
The book is about a teenager named Alex who is depraved. His gang of friends or "droogs" runs around and commits various crimes including robbery and rape. Eventually this all turns on him and he gets betrayed by his gang and captured by the police. While in jail another unlucky accident occurs and Alex is selected to be the first prisoner to undergo the Ludovico treatment. This rehabilitation method forces the person to watch graphic videos of violent crimes and at the same time uses an injection that will make them sick as they watch it. Eventually, like Pavlov's dogs, they begin to associate any violence or criminal behavior with getting sick even without the drug. After he is "fixed", Alex is set free. He returns home to find a lot of things have changed, but he is still recognized by several people including his previous victims and he has to deal with the repercussions of those acts. At the same time, he gets too ill to defend himself when attacked.

My Thoughts:
Of course I had seen the movie, but it never really occurred to me to read the novel. The movie is one of those things that make me feel dirty after seeing it. The book, on the other hand, didn't give the same feeling. It is actually a difficult read. Burgess has filled it with a made up slang that is a combination of Russian and nonsense words. And he uses them extensively which gets to be difficult after awhile. Mostly you can pick up the gist of what the characters are saying, but luckily the edition I read had a useful glossary. I'm not one for reading into books or movies a lot, but it's clear what Burgess is trying to say. Today's society is turning people into Clockwork Oranges, which are almost robotic versions of themselves. We are made to feel bad for having certain feelings and most of our lives are constrained to what the world considers normal. If you don't conform to these notions, you are an outcast. Of course, Alex is the extreme in this view. His actions are criminal and can't be condoned, but Burgess writes him as the protagonist so you eventually see him as being wronged by the government who takes away his right to decide how to act in certain situations. Anyways, it was an interesting book. Short enough to recommend, but if it was much longer, I probably wouldn't. If you get turned off when reading difficult texts, you probably wouldn't want to try this one.

Trivia:
An interesting fact is that the third section of the book originally had a seventh chapter which makes it match the same number that the first two sections had. For some reason, the American publisher decided to omit that final chapter. I believe it was eventually restored, but the version I read was still missing it. Stanley Kubrick was not even aware of the missing chapter until he was filming the movie and so he didn't include it in the film.

Links:
Amazon
A Clockwork Orange at Wikipedia
SparkNotes on A Clockwork Orange

Bibliography of the edition I read:
Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.

Starting off

OK, so I made a resolution to read 30 books in 2008. I plan on using this blog to write reviews of them and keep track of my progress. It's February already, but I have 3 books down and am a good ways into the fourth. I'll write individual reviews in separate posts and hopefully I can accomplish a resolution for once in my life!