Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Perfume is one strange book and the ending was very very disconcerting. It was a quick read and quite original. The idea of someone with a perfectly discerning nose for scents who doesn't have any individual scent of his own was unique. Set in the past, when odors were much more pronounced, it was an interesting tale. I just wish I had stopped reading before the last chapter.

I will pass this on and see if anyone else feels the same.

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

This book reminds me of Who Moved my Cheese? Simple easy reading with a hammer of a moral to the story. There were parts that made me think a little. I liked the idea that enthusiasm is as much a universal language as love is. I like the idea that everyone has a personal goal and that the universe is trying to get you to it - although not always in ways that you would understand. However, I liked the book more as I was reading it than I do in the days after finishing it. It was easy to get sucked into the philosophy of the book (much like when I read Ayn Rand). However, the lingering taste is not necessarily one that I treasure.

I think I will keep it and pass it to others and try to read it again in a while. Maybe it will improve with another reading?

Happiest Toddler on the Block - Harvey Karp, MD

Interesting ideas. I haven't put all of them to work yet, but I am going to suggest my husband read it. Hopefully, that will make me less embarrassed to try Toddler-ese and Fast Food Talk.

Another review of this book took issue with the use of evolution of man to convey the developments going on in a toddler. While I don't have any issues with using evolution to convey the ideas behind the strategies and tactics, I did get sick of that portion of the book. I was ready to move on to the techniques. I should have just skipped ahead.

It will go on the bookshelf until we make it out of the toddler years - what only 4 more years of this???

100 Best Novels

After looking at MLA's 100 Best Novels, I am feel like I'll need to get out of the brain candy mode and pick up something worth reading.

For the Board's List, I have only read 15 of them!

• The Great Gatsby - does it count that I have read it more than once?
• Brave New World
• Catch-22
• The Grapes of Wrath - again, do multiple readings count for something?
• 1984 - multiple readings again...
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Animal Farm
• Howards End
• Lord of the Flies
• The Age of Innocence
• Death Comes for the Archbishop
• The Catcher in the Rye - multiple readings
• The House of Mirth
• A Bend in the River
• The Call of the Wild

I do slightly better for the Reader's list, 28!

• Atlas Shrugged
• The Fountainhead
• The Lord of the Rings
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• 1984
• Catch-22
• The Great Gatsby
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• Brave New World
• The Catcher in the Rye
• Animal Farm
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Gone with the Wind
  
• Lord of the Flies
• A Prayer for Owen Meany
• The Stand
  
• Beloved
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• The Handmaid's Tale
• Something Wicked This Way Comes
• The Call of the Wild
• Fahrenheit 451
• Watership Down
• The Hunt for Red October
  
• Naked Lunch
• It
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Does it count that I tried to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? I think it should, I won't pick it up again.

How did you do?

The Darkest Evening of the Year - Dean Koontz

Everyone knows I enjoy Koontz, but between this one and the last one, I don't know if I can say that as strongly. When Koontz is good, I love it. But two less than stellar books in a row and I am starting to question my decision to go out of my way to buy them the day they come out.

"he delivers a heart-gripping tour de force he’s been waiting years to write, at once a love story, a thrilling adventure, and a masterwork of suspense that redefines the boundaries of primal fear—and of enduring devotion." HA HA HA! That's some good promotional writing. The love story is underwhelming and the adventure and suspense were hardly worth mentioning. I was never in doubt about the outcome and the villains were very one dimensional. The return of a dog as a main character was contrived and unbelievable. I am having a terrible time coming up with a redeeming feature... There was one paragraph I thought was worth reading again, and when I did, I am not sure what I was thinking. Normally, I have several quotable sections - ideas that just seem to make more sense when phrased that way.

Yes, I read the book in one night like usual, but I was never at the edge of my seat and I didn't have to stay up past my bedtime. Without any other thing to do, yes, I finished it. But it wouldn't have been hard to put down. What a disappointment.

The Obsidian Trilogy - Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

I like Mercedes Lackey - she writes brain candy for the fantasy crowd. Some of her books have more to them, but most of them are just a nice adventure story with a fun cast of characters. After all the mystery / suspense / detective brain candy reading of recent months, I needed a new flavor. I picked a book in a series that came out after the last book I read by Lackey - about 2 years ago. It turns out that I should REALLY look at my book case more often. After starting The Outstretched Shadow I realized I had already read it! But, I re-read it and then moved on to the rest of the trilogy: To Light a Candle and When Darkness Falls.

This is the standard fantasy set up; magic, disenfranchised youth, evil forces, etc. With the usual caste of characters - centaurs, mages, unicorns, elves, demons, trolls, etc., it felt more like a Salvatore story than a Lackey one. I enjoyed the main characters, they didn't feel one dimensional. And they went by quickly. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy Salvatore or those who want brain candy in the fantasy flavor.

I'm not sure if it will stay on my shelf, but I will try to get Higgy to read it before it leaves the house and maybe Joe once Higgy is done.

Love Frustration - RM Johnson

Hmm, I don't know how to characterize this book. It was a cross between straight fiction and romance. It went by quickly enough, but I doubt I'll remember it. I think the detailed (and in my opinion, entirely unnecessary) rape segment has me firmly putting it in the to the used book store stack. Until that, it was harmless enough that I probably would have passed it on as something fun.