Peter and the Starcatchers, Book One by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

As an adult fan of both Barry and Pearson I couldn't resist picking this one up...

Published in 2004 by Hyperion Books for Children.

Dave Barry has long been a favorite of mine and Ridley Pearson is on my list of writers to look for as well so when I saw that they had taken on the Peter Pan storyline and created a prequel,  I knew that I just had to read it.

Happily, I was not disappointed. Peter and the Starcatchers is fun, escapist fiction at its best. The book works on multiple levels - adults will understand several double entendres while kids will love the quick pace and high adventure.

The plot revolves around a group of people called Starcatchers, people who collect starstuff, glowing magical stuff that falls from the sky and makes the people that use it superhuman. Michelangelo, Attila the Hun and Zeus are all historical figures that have found and used starstuff. The Starcatchers try to capture it to keep it out of the hands of evil people.

I am more than happy to recommend this one to readers of all ages. Well done Barry and Pearson.

This is the first of the Starcatchers Series.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Reviewed on May 17, 2006.

A Crooked Man by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Great potential but fails to deliver

Originally published in 1995.

A Crooked Man features U.S. Senator Nick Schlafer who has proposed to decriminalize drugs across the United States. Soon afterwards he is caught up in a confusing maelstrom of drug power players who may or may not want the bill to be passed, including the Drug Czar and mafia-types.

Schlafer's difficulties are complicated by a messy family background, including a daughter whom police believe slit her wrists while high on drugs. Family politics and national politics become intertwined and the book really starts to lose its focus. Schlafer is confused about who to trust and family secrets are exposed that shake him to his foundations. However, so many different things are going on that Lehmann-Haupt does a poor job of keeping all of the strands moving forward in a credible and meaningful way.

While a breeze to read, I was not terribly impressed.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: A Crooked Man by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt.

Reviewed on May 11, 2006.

Thereby Hangs A Tail (A Chet and Bernie Mystery #2) by Spencer Quinn

The Second in a Nifty Series

Published in 2010.

I read the first book in the Chet and Bernie series as part of the Amazon Vine program, meaning I was given a pre-publication copy of the book for free. I thought the series had a good hook to it (Chet is a dog, his owner Bernie Little is a private detective - the only detective in the Little Detective Agency. The story is told entirely from the point of view of Chet) but I doubted it would have staying power. I am pleased to say that I was mistaken - not only does this series have legs, but each of the two follow up stories are better than the original.

Chet is a completely trained police dog who will only say that he washed "out on the very last day, a long story, but it's not secret that a cat was involved!" Bernie and Chet are now partners in the best sense of the word - Chet often is well on his way to solving the mystery before Bernie has anything figured out due to his superior sense of smell and hearing, but it is so hard for a dog to explain things to humans (and sometimes Chet does not even know he has solved it because it is so hard for dogs to concentrate and use those higher level thinking skills).

Spencer Quinn and his dog

In Thereby Hangs a Tail, Chet and Bernie are hired to protect a prize-winning tiny dog as she competes in a dog show. But, Chet's enthusiasm and impulsiveness when it comes to dog treats causes the prissy owner to fire Chet and Bernie, only to be kidnapped hours later. Her husband hires the Little Detective Agency to find both the owner and the dog and that's when things start to get real complicated....

This is a truly fun series. I hope that Spencer Quinn keeps up the high quality and the great insights into dog behavior and psychology as he continues to tell Chet and Bernie's stories.

Click on the 'Spencer Quinn' or 'Chet and Bernie' tags below to see my reviews on books 1 and 3 in the series.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Thereby Hangs A Tail (A Chet and Bernie Mystery #2) by Spencer Quinn.

Reviewed June 20, 2011.

H Is for Homicide (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) by Sue Grafton

From an occasional reader of the Kinsey Millhone series

Originally published in 1991.

 I am only an occasional reader of this series as you can probably tell since I am reading H Is for Homicide more than 15 years after it was first published. I have no idea what letter Sue Grafton has worked her way to by this point but I am more interested in catching up after reading this installment.

Sue Grafton

Lots of fast-paced action keeps Kinsey thinking on her feet throughout the book. Ostensibly, she is undercover to expose a car insurance fraud ring (they cause low speed accidents and fake serious hard-to-prove injuries such as 'back pain') but mostly she's trying not to get killed as things spiral out of control as she goes undercover with some very tough people.

Good job. I give this one 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on May 7, 2006.

The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate (audiobook) by Gary Chapman

Fill your mate's "love tank"

Published by Northfield Publishing in 1996.
4 hours, 46 minutes.
Read by the author, Gary Chapman.

Gary Chapman

The author, Gary Chapman, does an excellent job of narrating the audiobook version of  The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.

Chapman's thesis is, simply, that we all have a love tank, and it is best filled by two of 5 different love languages. If your spouse expresses his or her love to you in a love language that you don't speak than you will both be frustrated and your love tank will not be filled and eventually you will look for other ways to fill it.

The five love languages are:
-Quality Time
-Words of Affirmation
-Gifts
-Acts of Service
-Physical Touch

Chapman provides plenty of concrete examples so that most listeners will be able to identify themselves or their spouse.

He includes a section about expressing love to one's children as well using his love language theory.

Very interesting. Makes total sense to me. Chapman has a website where you can test yourself and see what love languages work best for you. Click here.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.

Reviewed on May 7, 2006.

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

A more "grown up" fairy tale

Published in 2003.

Inspired by a friend's son who wanted DiCamillo to write a story about "an unlikely hero...with exceptionally large ears," The Tale of Despereaux is both dark and joyful. It is a story of fear, hate,sadness, greed and the awful things of life as well as being the story of love, kindness, pity and courage.

There are many vocal detractors of this book. I am not one of them. I am not entirely happy with the book. For example, no one mourns the jailer and the rat is essentially pardoned for his death for it is not brought up at the end of the book - but I don't hate it - its many strengths greatly outweigh its weaknesses.

For those that don't like its themes of abuse, servitude and death I would refer you to this lengthy, but appropriate comment from C.S. Lewis:

"Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can't bear to think of. Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil. If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the...atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker."

Kate DiCamillo

I'd rather my daughter know that danger exists and it is up to us - the little mice of the world to go out and rescue the princess. As the book notes, there is no knight coming to the rescue. It's also useful to know that there are people easily misled and used (Mig) and those who commit evil because they feel they are justified in doing so (the rat).

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread.

Reviewed on December 23, 2008.

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (audiobook) by Maryanne Wolf

Brilliant. One of the best books I've encountered this year.

Published by Highbridge Audio
Read by Kirsten Potter
8 hours, 21 minutes
Unabridged.

Filled with everyday examples but also full of technical explanations about how the brain actually works when it reads, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain is a bit of history, a bit of science, a bit of philosophy, a bit of educational theory and a whole lot of learning bundled into an entertaining package.

Maryanne Wolf

I may be an ideal reader for Maryanne Wolf since I am a foreign language teacher, a history teacher, I love reading, and I am very much interested in how boys, in particular, suffer from reading difficulties (Wolf cites biological research that is buttressed by others who say we start too early to try to teach our students and we label students too early as having reading difficulties).

Wolfe explores the early history of writing and reading, the different types of writing and how the brain reacts to them, the dangers and positives of written text, how the brain actually physically reads, reading difficulties such as dyslexia and postulates on the future of reading in our new digital age. Wonderful stuff - all of it.

Audiobook notes: Well-read by actress Kirsten Potter, the audiobook lasts about 8 hours and 21 minutes. Oh, and yes I do appreciate the irony in listening to the audiobook version of a book about reading.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

Reviewed on December 23, 2008.