Julie's Review: Stone Cold

Summary: The modern-day paladins of the Camel Club are back in their third exciting adventure (after 2006's The Collectors). Justice-seekers Milton, Caleb, Reuben and honorary member Alex Ford, a Secret Service agent, are led by feisty Oliver Stone, aka former CIA assassin John Carr. Their associate, Annabelle Conroy, is a slick con artist on the run after stealing $40 million from lunatic casino owner Jerry Bagger, who killed her mother. Oliver's CIA past distracts him from Annabelle's cause: his old unit, Triple 6, was responsible for the death of Raymond Solomon, branded a traitor during the Cold War, and now Solomon's son, DHS security expert Harry Finn, is picking off Triple 6 members. Oliver could be next if Carter Gray, his former boss, reveals that John Carr isn't really dead. Gripping, chilling and full of surprises, Baldacci's latest reveals the anarchy that lurks under the slick facade of corrupted governments. ~amazon.com

Review: You know you've been away from a series for a while when you don't remember what happened in the last book. Although for Stone Cold you don't need to really remember The Collectors, you just need to remember Oliver Stone. I always enjoy David Baldacci books but The Camel Club series is amongst my favorite. You see I love anything that deals with the government, the CIA, the FBI etc but only in fiction. You see I think if we really knew what went on behind the scenes of this country, we'd all be a little more scare or maybe feel a bit more safe. Stone Cold deals with what it's like on the inside of a corrupt CIA director and Senator.

There are really two stories/plots going on here. The first and foremost is that someone is killing Oliver Stone/John Carr's old Triple Six regime. It's not really a problem for him since everyone assumes he's dead. Heck, he even has a plot at Arlington National Cemetery. There is one person who does know that John Carr is alive and that's Carter Grey, former CIA Director and all around nasty guy. Of course, you know that the fact that Grey knows Carr is alive is going to haunt him. The story really goes back to the height of the cold war and the cold war spying industry. This is the part of the book that really fascinated me. I love all that stuff. Well now that it really doesn't exist. When I was a kid is scared the crap out of me.

The 2nd plot is one of Annabelle Conroy and the con she pulled on Casino owner Jerry Bagger. This is a good subplot but one I didn't really care about as much as Oliver's. It gets resolved halfway through the novel so we can concentrate on the main plot, who is killing former Triple Six members?

There are a ton of interesting characters in the book. Of course the Camel Club is ever present, Annabelle (aka Susan) is back, Harry Finn and a few others that I don't want to name because well it's fun for the reader to find out about.

I really did like the ending but it does leave me pause to wonder how Baldacci is going to wrap up the series.

This was a solid entry into the Camel Club series but not my favorite. I believe there is one more book left in the series, Divine Justice (Camel Club). This one is on my short TBR pile since I believe it resumes exactly where Stone Cold left off.

If you haven't read any of the Camel Club series, I highly recommend them. Especially if you like any of kind of government conspiracy or CIA novels. The first book to go and read The Camel Club.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Movie News: Something Borrowed Casting

I have to say I'm pretty excited about Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed becoming a movie. I think the casting is spot on. I think people think this will be a standard rom-com but I disagree. The books are a bit more serious than your standard chick-lit fare. What do you guys think? Are you happy with the casting so far?

Rachel = Ginnifer Goodwin
Ethan = John Krasinski
Darcy = Kate Hudson
Dex = Colin Egglesfield

Do you think they'll combine Something Borrowed and Something Blue; kind of like they did with Confessions of a Shopaholic?

Random Musings

It's not really a musing but more of a bookish word for the day. My friend sent me this and I thought it was too clever not to share.

Urban Word of the Day: Tree-Book

Definition: A book printed on dead trees, i.e. paper, as opposed to an e-book, which only exists electronically.

Example of usage:

Thomas: Hey, how do you like your new Kindle?
Andrew: I don't know, I haven't used it yet. I'm still trying to finish all the tree-books I'm reading.

I'm a Tree-Book girl and darn proud of it!!

Jenn's Review: The Cart Before The Corpse

Summary: Famous southern carriage-horse trainer Hiram Lackland, a handsome widower, dies mysteriously after retiring to a farm outside Mossy Creek. His estranged daughter, Merry Abbot, also a horse trainer, arrives to settle his estate. But Merry quickly plunges into bit-chomping dilemmas when her father's friend and landlord, mystery-novel maven Peggy Caldwell, insists he was murdered.

Before Merry can so much as snap a buggy rein, a handsome and annoying GBI investigator, Geoff Madison, is on her case. Then there's the troublesome donkey: Don Qui. Short for Don Quixote. And the fact that Hiram was teaching all of Mossy Creek's lonely women how to--ahem--drive his carriage.

Can Merry rein in the truth? What kind of horse play was her rakish dad involved in, and why would someone want to giddy-yup him into an early grave?

Stay tuned for the answers in this first episode of, "As the Carriage Wheel Turns."

Review: If you are a huge fan of Murder, She Wrote, this book is for you. Otherwise, this is brutal. This is the first time I've ever been able to say that I couldn't put it down because I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Where do I start? The writing was... floundering, at best ~and that's ignoring all the grammatical and punctuation errors in the uncorrected manuscript (this was an Advanced Reading Copy, so these things are to be overlooked). The character's are never developed and wander around the town (as well as the book) haplessly. I didn't find any of them compelling and didn't really give a damn about what happened to any of them, except perhaps the animals.

I realize that this is a spin off of a Mossy Creek series, but it is touted as a start to a new stand alone series. If this be the case, then there should at least be some development to the character of Merry, who is new to the town. However, there is no substance to what should be emotional and dramatic time for Merry. Peggy, who is portrayed as being the 'Jessica Fletcher' of Mossy Creek, suddenly becomes a capable stable hand and horse handler. Random relationships are thrown together for different characters at the end of the book with nothing to support them.

There are way too many plot devices, only a few of which are well managed. It meandered from scene to scene with no real sense of flow. It also didn't help that the narrative kept jumping voices each chapter making it seem even choppier. As for the horses, I like horses as much as any suburbanite girl, but there was a lot of technical jargon about carriages that bogged down an already lumbering story. As for the culprit, I won't spoil it for those who plan to prove me wrong, but I thought him/her quite incapable of the murder; it was rather ludicrous, actually.

Somewhere, there might have been a story in there, but it was buried by too many ideas and poor execution. I have never put down a book while reading it's climax (I'd rather be ridiculously late than be interrupted then), but I walked away from this for half a day right in the middle of the showdown between the protagonist and antagonist. Please don't waste your time.

Oh, and this was my first eBook. More on that to come...

Final take: 1.0/5

GJR in a new Book Lover's Journal

Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers by Rachelle Rogers Knight brings exceptional works of fiction to the attention of readers while inciting their overall enjoyment by exploring thoughts, feelings and emotions through the course of reading. The journal features dozens of cross-referenced lists of literary awards and notable picks and offers more than 2,500 suggestions to help readers discover great literature and new authors. Users can record books read, jot down thoughts and ideas, and keep track of recommendations, books borrowed and loaned, and book club history.

We are delighted that Girls Just Reading was included in the reference pages in this reference/source book. I received mine over the weekend and truly enjoyed flipping through the pages. The one thing I didn't enjoy; realizing how many books I've never read. ;)

I also noticed that a lot of the book blogs I read are mentioned in the references with us. As well as some that I don't currently read, that will be added to my blog roll.

I think that Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers would be a fantastic gift for the bookworm in your family.

She also has one specifically for the YA reader in your house. Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Young Adult Book Lovers

The author, Rachelle Rogers Knight has her own blog, Bibliobabe where she incorporates parts of the journal into her blog. I have added her blog to my favorites as well.

Julie's Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary: Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes. Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson’s cakes — which is a good thing, because Julia can’t seem to stop baking them. She offers them to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth but also in the hope of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Flour, eggs, milk, and sugar... Baking is the only language the proud but vulnerable Julia has to communicate what is truly in her heart. But is it enough to call back to her those she’s hurt in the past? Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily’s backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in. ~amazon.com

Review: I'm hungry. Specifically I'm hungry for North Carolina BBQ. Oh and now I want to try a Milky Way cake and I don't even like Milky Ways!! Making you hungry now? Then be prepared to be hungry while reading Sarah Addison Allen's newest magical book The Girl Who Chased the Moon. While Jenn didn't really get into Emily's story; I found both her's and Julia's to be interesting but on different levels. I can't possibly understand what it's like to lose a parent when you are a teenager, it obviously adds a whole layer of complexity to already trying years. While I didn't identify with the loss of a parent, every one knows how hard it is to fit in especially when you are new. For Emily that is doubled because well Mullaby doesn't like her mom. She can't figure out why since her mom never even told her about the town she grew up in. Heck she didn't even mention that Emily still had a grandfather!!

I really liked Julia. She was interesting, quirky and troubled. She only wanted to be back in Mullaby for 2 years. That was her plan. Come and finish her dad's business and go rejoin her life in Baltimore. Well we all know that the best laid plans never amount to much right? Her's is an interesting story and one that has a couple twists. One I saw coming and one I didn't. Julia and Emily bond instantly. Julia takes Emily under her wings and shows her Mullaby.

I think my favorite secondary character was Vance. He was wonderful. I loved him. He was such an interesting character. Here he was a giant and he was the most gentile man. He only ever tried to do right by his daughter and because of unforeseen circumstances inadvertently led her down the wrong path. Although in the end, Dulcie turned out well and it was leaving Mullaby that did that for her.

There's a lot of other things that go on in the book but I want to leave it for you to discover the magic.

Sarah Addison Allen's books always deal with the past. For Emily it was coming to terms with her mom's past and not letting that define her. For Julia, it is dealing with the person who hurt her the most and loved her perhaps the most and realizing that life is something that happens when you aren't looking. (Yeah I know that's cliche but it works).

Julia's story was very personal for me for reason I can't say or it'll ruin the book. :) And then ending to it was so sweet and perfect, that writing the review I'm getting welled up.

I truly love her writing. The prose sucks you in and doesn't let you go. I finished this book last night and dreamt about it. I know it affected me.

I can't quite give it a 5 but it is on par with Garden Spells for me. Some of it was a bit too predictable but not in a bad way. You just can see it coming.

If you want to see what Mullaby looks like click here to find out.

Final Take: 4.75/5

Related Links: Jenn's Review