All Dogs Are Blue Book Review

All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo De Souza Leao
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The journal of a madman. That was how this read. It was just one long coherent rambling. The sort of book that would have appealed to me when I was in my late teens. It is not that different then if you were to rip out random pages of my diary from a teen, just more insane. What I will give the author credit for is his creativity and a look into the psyche of a crazy person. There are moments when you can sense a passage of sanity and it becomes interesting, but next sentence it is loony again. I did not get humor or sorrow from this. It was not poetic in the slightest but that is a matter of opinion. About halfway through reading, I felt like I had to put it down because it was draining me. There are also lines that get repeated and it started to make me feel just as mad as the writer.
This is maybe getting a bit more credit than due and will definitely appeal to people who like to read into things. Maybe I just lack the depth to appreciate the efforts but this was a shit.


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The Resurrectionist Book Review

The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The book goes back and forth between two protagonists Jacob of present day and Nemo of the mid 19th century. Jacob is the medical school PR guy after being put on probation for bad behavior and Nemo is a slave bought by the medical school to perform a dirty deed.
As a reader I never knew about these atrocities that occurred in the past so the book was captivating. The whiskey barrel scene awed me and the final medical experiment traumatized me. The recreation of the era past was the best part of the story and so well told. Slow moments mostly fell on the office moments with Jacob. While I understand how Jacob was integral to telling the whole story as a character he wasn’t that remarkable. Even with his connection to the past and his ties to the school there wasn’t much there. Also there are a couple of romances with one being completely unnecessary and the other giving just a bit of hope. I really enjoyed this and found it an intriguing read.


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Release July 8, 2013

Anonymous Sources Book Review

Anonymous Sources by Mary Louise Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Reporter Alex James is tasked with finding out what she can in the death of Grad student Thom Carlyle only to get caught in a terrorists bombing scheme. James comes off as ordinary and not much of a likable character in my opinion, but then there is this whole bit thrown in about her dilemma as a teen that is suppose to make me feel bad for her, but I don’t. She is not wholly unlikable, but let’s not pretend that she is a great person and I want to be her best friend. Best characters were the tough stand their ground guys, like her boss Hyde, Officer Galloni, and General Carspecken. I guess the thrill comes from what happens next yet this story is not full of action it’s mostly journalism, drinking, reminiscing on teen problem, and being evasive. I’m not usually interested in thrillers, but this one was enjoyable but I found the story unremarkable and it felt like an episode NCIS or similar. It was good, I liked it. Nice in-flight read.

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Release Date: June 18, 2013 Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Book Review - Death in the Vines by M.L. Longworth

Death in the Vines: A Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal Mystery by M.L. Longworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wine thief and murderer are on the loose in Aix-en-Provence and Judge Verlaque takes a personal interest in both cases.
Although this is a mystery, as I was reading I wasn’t thinking whodunit, but oh this is so vibrant. One is easily swept away in the vivid imagery. From the clothing to décor, architecture, and conversation, everything is so accurately described, yet not over detailed, that I feel as though I know it. Never having been to France I am walking the streets of Aix and seeing the pompous Pauline d’Arras. The smaller characters and their relevance to the crimes were just the right combination of humorous and clever. It is only after the crimes are did I have an aha moment and began really thinking about the past events
There were some slow moments and the relationship between Verlaque and Marine Bonnet was dreary and I didn’t care for the medical issue which seemed thrown in. Bonnet really doesn’t become very relevant till later in the book if at all. This book was a great trip and I was entertained most of the way through. If you love humorous mysteries or French countryside, this is the book for you.


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Release Date: May 28, 2013 Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Parallel Book Review

Parallel by Lauren Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Parallel by Lauren Miller © 2013
Release date May 14, 2013
 Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Teen
 Abby just got for a major Hollywood film and regrets missing her final days as a senior and the beginning of freshman year at Northwestern. The night before her 18th birthday she falls asleep only to wake up the next day at Yale living her parallels life.
Our central character Abby is an insecure, methodical, critical, wish-washy teenager. Not all at once, however these do seem to be her central traits. I had a hard time liking her only because most of the time she was a bit high-brow, but then after showed the weakness of a teenager. Yes she is a teen, but like most teens they think they are little adults and have most everything figured out if it all falls to plan. In knowing that she is a teen and with credit to Miller for accurately portraying that, Abby was easier to handle, just not likable. The only characters worth a damn are her Yale roomy Marissa and astronomy professor Dr. Mann.
What Dr Mann proposes is that in a parallel world we may take a different journey, but all roads lead to a final destination. In the story that chapters go from year 2008 to year 2009, with the parallel a year before and the next being the result Abby experiences a year after. The timeline is very important, some may have a hard time following the timeline, but if you pay close attention to the dates it’s straightforward.
The lure of the book is the sci-fi aspect of worlds colliding and the stars and ideas of multiple universes. That all get pushed aside for teenage melodrama and the struggle of choosing which brother to date and supermodel gorgeous yet brainiac best friend. On the whole this is more like a teenage soap opera with a sci-fi element thrown in and used only as a means to rack up the drama and make it seem more insightful. That could only mean I liked it. They say you should never underestimate the knowledge of a teenager, but I can’t help but feel that this is something that would appeal mostly to an under 23 crowd. It is enjoyable just not praiseworthy.


View all my reviews Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.