Teratologist by Edward Lee and Wrath James White

Started: 8/30/06
Finished: 8/30/06
Year: 2003
Genre: Horror (novella)
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Booksfree.com book
Blurb: There is no posted blurb on this book. It's basically good vs. evil-trying to find God in the madness.
Opinion: You really need to have a strong stomach or a very poor imagination to make it through this book. Or really openminded. Luckily, I'm of the openminded variarty and even though some of the graphic details of this book have left a strong mark on my brain, I enjoyed this quick read regarding good vs. evil. Sometimes it's amazing what a character would have happen in order to find God.

Women Who Kill by Ann Jones

Started: 8/19/06
Finished: 8/29/06
Year: 1981
Genre: Sociology/True Crime
Grade: A
Reason for reading: picked it up at a used book store in VT-I enjoy true crime and thought that this would be a good book to read.
Blurb (from back cover): "When battered and abused women began to fight back-and kill-men began to fear that this would become an epidemic. Some felt that women were getting away with murder. But were they? They were not. In fact, in many cases their punishment was harsher than that of men.
"But this book is much more than a description of battered women who kill in self-defense. It is a social history and a fascinating story of women on the edge of society-women driven to kill for a multitude of reasons. Here are tales of crime and punsihment that reveal hard truths about American society and women's place in it."
Opinion: One of the best books I've read this year. Very detailed history of women who have murdered others and the punishments that they were forced to serve. Also contains some feminist history of how many women fought to get equal punishments for the same crime as men. I highly recommend it.

Tomorrow They Will Kiss by Eduardo Santiago

Started: 8/14/06
Finished: 8/20/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Like her native Cuba, Garciela Altamira is beautiful, defiant, passionate, and constantly threatened with some kind of trouble.
"Far from her tropical home, toiling in a New Jersey doll factory, Garciela longs for the same happy ending that seems always to come in her beloved telenovelas-a kiss powerful enough to erase the sins of her past and the haunting memory of her homeland.
"But how can she forget when she lives among the ghosts of the little Cuban town? With Caridad and Imperio-two women Garciela has known since girlhood-by her side in the factory, it seems she'll never be free of her past, never truly able to pursue the possibility of love she finds quite unexpectedly in the cold, gray New Jersey winter.
"Tomorrow They Will Kiss is a novel as irrestible as gossip, as addictive as soap opera-a tale of love pursued at any cost, of how friendship and history unite us for better or worse, and of the hope for that redemptive kiss capable of reconciling estranged lovers and countries."
Opinion: A pretty good story that focuses on 3 different main characters. A relatively quick read. For a complete review, check out MyShelf.

Marley & Me

Started: 8/12/06
Finished: 8/14/06
Year: 2005
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: I love animals and people have recommended this book.
Blurb (from back jacket): "John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.
"Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good-Marley was expelled. Neither did the tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, 'Don't hesitate to use these.'
"And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. Marley shared the couple's joy at their first pregnancy and their heartbreak over the miscarriage. He was there when babies finally arrived and when the screams of a seventeen-year-old stabbing victim pieced the night. Marley shut down a public beach and managed to land a role in a feature-length movie, always winning hearts as he made a mess of things. Through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn comes in many forms.
"Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans."
Opinion: I can see why this has been a best-seller for several months. Any animal lover would love to read about the crazy and sweet Marley. I cried. I laughed. I imagined Marley's antics. Marley actually reminds me of Ramon's border collie, Oreo. A definite must for any animal lover.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Started: 6/23/06
Finished: 8/13/06
Year: 1968
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Booksfree.com and trying to read up on classics
Blurb (from back cover): "War and Peace, probably the greatest novel ever written, stands alone in its vast scope and minute detail, its immense diversity and final unity. Set in the years leading up to and culminating in Napoleon's disastrous Russian invasion, the novel focuses upon an entire society torn by conflict and change. Here is humanity in all its innocence and corruption, wisdom and folly, painful defeats and enduring triumphs. Here is the seemingly effortless artistry of a master capable of protraying with equal power the clash of armies and solitary anguish of the heart. Here, finally, is a view of history and personal destiny that is perpetually modern."
Opinion: I am glad that I read this classic and continue to find myself amazed that I liked it as much as I did. I'm not one for historical books but for some reason, this book gripped me. I probably will not reread it due to its length but if there was an occasion to reread it, I might do it.

Laguna by Michael Putegnat

Started: 8/8/06
Finished: 8/9/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for Myshelf
Blurb (from back cover): "What happened to Octavio Paredes?
"Thunder rumbles over the Laguna Madre on the Texas Gulf coast, echoing through the hallways of Congress and the canyons of Wall Street, shaking the foundation of a century old ranching dynasty.
"John Magne, a powerful fourth-generation ranching patriarch, is faced with a financial crisis. He must transform an environmentally delicate coastal bay, the Laguna Madre, into a natural gas field or lose everything. Descended from a long line of masters of influence and manipulation, he deftly executes a plan that reaches deep into Washington and state house politics and New York investment banking.
"Against Magne's overwhelming political power, stands one unwilling and unwitting ex-government worker, with a deep aversion to conflict and a record of running from it...and five women, each on different missions, all converging on a shocking conclusion.
"Laguna is a mystery set in our times, where lies, power and greed are the new religion and love is an accident. It is a world where truth is irrelevent, redemption impossible, and murder is just business. Or are they?"
Opinion: I've been reading War and Peace and needed to get some review books read so picked this one up to break up War and Peace. A little choppy but great action throughout the book. For a complete review, visit MyShelf.com next month.