June 19, 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness

StartrekIntoDarknessDirector: J.J. Abrams
Staring:
Chris Pine as James T Kirk
Zachary Quinto as Spock
Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura
Karl Urban as Leonard (Bones) McCoy
Simon Pegg as Montgomery (Scotty) Scott
John Cho as Hikaru Sulu
Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov
Bruce Greenwood as Chris Pike
Leonard Nimoy as Spock

Some have said that J.J. Abrams has rewritten Star Trek history. As a long time fan (since T.O.S.) I don’t agree with this. Yes some things have changed, the star ships are bigger and slicker (bridge seats have restraints on them, something I always thought they should have), and Vulcan was destroyed, (Vulcan was destroyed by a villain from the future, this has changed things in this timeline) but the foundation of the Star Trek universe remains. What made Star Trek great was the people, and the people are true to character. Kirk is still a womanizing cowboy who only obeys the rules he thinks apply to him, while at the same time is fiercely loyal to his friends; Spock is infuriatingly logical and honest “Vulcans don’t lie”, but at times perversely illogical and is also fiercely loyal; Sulu is diabolically ruthless; Chekov is excitably cute aboard his ‘wessel’, with his Russian “We can do whatever we are asked to do”; Scott is a miracle engineer and Bones although a crusty old man has apparently learned faith-healing (see IMDB Goofs); and Uhura is well Uhura. Spock is different since this Spock witnessed the destruction of Vulcan and the death of his mother. There is a romance between Uhura and Spock, which was a little unexpected but not unwelcome, in fact I’m looking forward to a future Star Trek with brown skinned half-Vulcan kids running around. Children whose legs are longer than their bodies. Uhura is tall.

This film was a combination of technical wizardry and heart pumping action but every so often the pace slows and we watch the characters interact. When they are on the shuttle going to the planet and Spock is explaining he feels the need to control his emotions, his prose is lyrical and his voice is calm and measured and we sit there transfixed until, WHAM! FORGOT THERE WERE KLINGONS HERE! The plot moves along quickly, but not so quickly that the storyline was lost. The verbal sparring between the characters is priceless and reminds us that Kirk is a new captain, the others still view him as more of a buddy than their leader, while at the same time acknowledging that he is in charge.

I had fun looking for what was different, I kicked myself for not realizing who the villain was before he said his name (Hint: He appeared in TOS and a movie), and I cried, every Star Trek movie has made me cry. But I can’t tell you why *spoiler*. I am however left with a few concerns and questions, the biggest one being: If a Red Shirt changes his shirt on an away mission, does he still die?

Posted by on June 19, 2013 in Fantasy, Movie, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller and tagged .

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June 14, 2013

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

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jackalFormat: Trade Paperback
Pub. Date: 1971
Publisher: New American Library
Type: Fiction ~ Library Book
Pages: 406
Read: 6/14/2013
Rating: Really liked it ♥♡♥

In the forward to this book Forsyth writes that he seeks for ‘interesting, accurate, and feasible’, I would say he has succeeded with this book.

This is historical fiction in that the story is woven around people who actually existed and events that happened. French President Charles de Gaulle was hated by many of the French people and Jean Bastien-Thiry did organize an assassination attempt on 22 August 1962. As for the details of the French police and some events related (kidnappings and torture), those I am not sure of.

At first I thought the book was going to delve into this political stand and that conflicting stand, but we get enough to understand why de Gaulle was hated. What makes this book fascinating is the preparations the Jackal takes to assassinate President de Gaulle and the efforts of the French police to find him, all while operating under a clock of secrecy imposed by de Gaulle. Even the reader doesn’t know the Jackal’s real name but we are taken along with him as he moves toward his goal. We see the utter ruthlessness of the Jackal and the working of the brain of the little hen-pecked detective, forced to stand up to the scorn of the Ministers of the government. This is a fast paced political thriller as Forsyth counts down the days, then the hours up to the assassination attempt. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy thrillers, political and otherwise.

Posted by on June 14, 2013 in 2013, Classic Literature, Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novel, Suspense, Thriller and tagged , , , , , .

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June 8, 2013

Cannibal by Lois Jones

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CannibalThe true story of the maneater of Rotenburg–and his willing victim

Format: eBook
Pub. Date: 1/4/2005
Publisher: Berkley
Type: Non-Fiction, True Crime ~ Library Book
Pages: 215
Read: 6/7/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

This book was recommended to me by several people. I think all the hype is the reason I didn’t love it. It fell short of my expectations. I would still recommend it but there were some parts of it I definitely didn’t like. I’ll get to those later. First the summary.

Armin Meiwes is definitely deranged, but what some people find even more deranged is that his victim wanted to be eaten. He answered an ad and traveled from Berlin to Rotenburg to meet Meiwes for the purpose of ending his life and his body being destroyed. He wanted his body gone but didn’t want it to go to waste. Meiwes was eventually found out and brought to trial.

What I liked about this book was it covers the lives of both men, how they met and the reasons for their actions. I also liked that the procedures of the German justice system are explained to those who are not familiar with it. What I didn’t like was it read like a novel. The thoughts and motivations of the killer, victim, and even spectators of the trial are given but Jones doesn’t say how she got them, in other words there are facts but not much documentation.

However a search of the internet shows that the facts of the book are accurate and it was an interesting read, some have said the ‘butchery parts’ are a little hard to read. I didn’t find that to be so, but then ‘squeamish’ is not a word that has ever been used to describe me. The book ends with Meiwes serving 8-½ yrs for manslaughter.

Update: According to BBC NEWS (9 May 2006) a judge ruled the sentence too lenient and ordered a retrail. In this trial he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

A psychologist said Meiwes, who had admitted he still had fantasies about devouring the flesh of attractive young people, could reoffend.

A video which Meiwes filmed during the acts of cannibalism was central to the prosecution’s case.

It said the video proved that Meiwes killed his victim for his own sexual pleasure.

Meiwes’s lawyer admitted his client had a fetish for human flesh, but claimed he was no danger to society.

Considering Meiwes was caught when he started trolling for a new victim, I tend to agree with the psychologist.

Posted by on June 8, 2013 in 2013, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , .

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May 28, 2013

Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott

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GoodWivesFormat: eBook (Kobo)
Pub. Date: 1869
Type: YA Fiction Series, Classic Literature
Read: 5/28/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know LMA had written this book. After reading it I realized that the “Little Women” movies I have seen combine this book with “Little Women”.

This book picks up with Meg’s wedding, which happens 3 years after “Little Women” ends. It goes on in much the same way as “Little Women”, telling girls lives, Meg as a young wife and mother, Amy the artist going abroad with family, Jo the favorite Aunty and struggling writer, and beloved sweet Beth, even though I’m pretty sure most of the free world knows what happens, I’m not going to say it here, just in case. (No spoilers)

When this book ends the girls are married women with babies. The ending sets up the next book in the series “Little Men”. This book is much like “Little Women”, the characters with their trials and faults, moral lessons learned. Just a sweet story, gently told.

Posted by on May 28, 2013 in 2013, Classic Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novel, YA Fiction and tagged , , , , , .

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May 27, 2013

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott,

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LittleWomenFormat: eBook (Kobo)
Pub. Date: 1868
Type: YA Fiction Series, Classic
Read: 5/27/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

The first time I read this book was many years ago. After getting into a conversation with a friend online, I decided to reread, one of the reasons was there were more books in the series than I remembered. At first I was going to borrow them from the library, but when I saw I could get all four books in a one volume set for a pittance, I bought them for my Kobo.

“Little Women” was just as charming as I remembered it. The book introduces us to the Marches, a formerly prosperous family that has fallen on hard times and is now poor. The four girls are teenagers when the story begins and cover a little over a year if I remember correctly.

Their father is away at war, the two oldest girls are working to help the family make ends meet. We learn their hopes, dreams, and personality. The book ends with Meg’s engagement to John Brooke.

Read first time: < 1980

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Posted by on May 27, 2013 in 2013, Classic Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novel, YA Fiction and tagged , , , , , .

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May 22, 2013

Baseball’s Natural by John Theodore

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???????The Story of Eddie Waitkus
Format: Hardbound
Pub. Date: 2002
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
Type: Non-Fiction, Baseball ~ Library Book
Pages: 136
Read: 5/20/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

When The Natural (starring Robert Redford) was released in 1984 I went to see it with my best friend. I liked baseball and I liked Robert Redford. While I may have been aware that it was based on a book (“The Natural” written in 1952 by Bernard Malamud), since a lot of movies are, I was not aware there was a real life inspiration for the character of “Roy Hobbs”.

Eddie Waitkus was a first baseman for the Cubs, he was known for his slick footwork on the field and the ability to catch almost any ball thrown to him. His baseball career was interrupted by WWII, following the war he became one of the most popular players of the time. He lead the Cubs in hitting and was one of the best first basemen in the National League. However the Cubs traded him to the Phillies in December 1948.

The next June the Phillies were in Chicago, Waitkus was lured to a hotel room by a young woman named Ruth Steinhagen who proceeded to shoot him. She made no attempt to escape and was judged insane and confined to a mental hospital.

In this account we have a brief history of Eddie Waitkus and Ruth Steinhagen, Steinhagen’s is rather sketchy but Theodore reveals at the end of the book he was not able to talk to her or her sister. The bulk of the book is about Waitkus baseball career, how he got started and his recovery after the shooting. Theodore gets his information from interviews with surviving members of Waitkus family, fellow servicemen, teammates, reporters who covered the team and friends of his. There are also excerpts from letters written.

Waitkus suffered from PTSD from the trauma of the shooting and from his years at war, he never got help for this, choosing instead to self-medicate with alcohol which may hastened the end of his baseball career, he suffered physically from the shooting and surgeries to repair the damage. His marriage ended and he was hospitalized with what was diagnosed as a nervous breakdown, after he left the hospital he never got any follow up care. He died in 1972, he was 53. Ruth Steinhagen died last December 2012, she was 83.

I felt this was a well researched and well written book. I found it to be very interesting, I think anyone who enjoys biographies and memoirs would find it interesting, you don’t need to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book.

Posted by on May 22, 2013 in 2013, Biography, Historical True Crime, History, Memoir, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , .

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May 21, 2013

Library Loot: May 22 to 28

LibraryLoot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire fromThe Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Feeling kind of lazy this week, thus the picture of what I got from the library, a documentary of Rasputin ‘The Mad Monk’, to go with the book I borrowed last week and The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world’s most heavily guarded man.

One man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.

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Posted by on May 21, 2013 in Biography, Crime Fiction, Fiction, Thriller and tagged , , , .

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May 18, 2013

Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan

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9306975Format: eBook
Pub. Date: 7/24/2010
Publisher: Self-published
Type: Fiction, Horror/Fantasy
Pages: 214
Read: 05/12/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

Jenny Morton has a killer touch, literally. When she touches someone they die. After an unfortunate incident in elementary school she was dubbed “Jenny Pox”. To keep everyone around her safe, she is always covered up, including wearing gloves. This has given her the nickname “Jenny Mittens”, also unpleasant but Jenny reasons, better than Jenny Pox. Not being able to touch anyone and not being able to tell anyone, makes for a lonely life for Jenny. Then she meets Seth, who has the opposite power, the power to heal and Jenny can touch him, unfortunately Seth has a girlfriend who also has a power, Ashleigh is also manipulative and ruthless. To keep Seth and to survive, Jenny must learn how to use her “Jenny Pox” to fight Ashleigh.

Not recommended for readers under eighteen.
Book contains profanity, depictions of sex and other adult situations.

I thought this was an interesting ‘power’ for someone to have and I thought the story was carried out in a reasonable way, by having Jenny cover up and wear gloves you see how she is coping, you also see and feel her loneliness. It makes her jumping into a relationship with Seth believable. I didn’t get what Ashleigh was up to, but her actions were well thought out and carefully planned and her objective becomes clear in the end. Also in the end you receive an explanation of sorts of where the powers are coming from. Just as you see Ashleigh plans, you also see how Jenny grows in confidence, having Seth to love her and as she learns to control her ‘power’. I originally thought this book to be YA but there is an advisory with it. This is the first book in a series and I plan on looking for the next book.

Posted by on May 18, 2013 in 2013, Fiction, Horror, YA Fiction and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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May 17, 2013

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

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UnderNeverSkyA MILLION WAYS TO DIE. ONE WAY TO LIVE.
Under the Never Sky #1

Format: eBook
Pub. Date: 01/03/2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Type: Fiction ~ Library Book
Pages: 268
Read: 5/11/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

Still searching for a dystopian novel I checked this book out, only to discover that it is also not dystopian but post-apocalyptic. Actually I might be wrong about that since I don’t remember any mention of a war destroying this world. No matter, this book is better than Arena One.

In the world Aria lives on there are enclosed cities where others like her live, the area where she lives is called a pod, all of their recreation happens in the Realms, which are virtual environments accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. It all ends after a tragic accident that Aria is blamed for and she is thrown into the outside, called The Death Shop, where there are a million ways to die. Except Aria doesn’t die, Perry, an Outsider, saves her and keeps her alive, they stay together through their mutual need for each other. Aria to get back to her home and Perry to get inside to rescue his nephew. You know what happens next, their grudging respect turns to love.

Some Outsiders have enhanced senses such as hearing, seeing or smelling. Perry is able to smell danger, good and emotions. The atmosphere is called Aether and Aether storms are deadly. Perry is able to sense when an Aether storm is coming.

Good character development and a good story line made this book easy to read. Ms. Rossi doesn’t waste time explaining things (like what is Aether?), just writes about them and you come to understand them or don’t but just enjoy the story. It was a quick read, suitable for older teens I would say, it has some violence and adult situations. This is the first book in a series, unfortunately I could find any others but I will continue to look for them.

Posted by on May 17, 2013 in 2013, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, YA Fiction and tagged , , , , , , .

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May 16, 2013

Protected: Arena One by Morgan Rice (with spoilers)

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Posted by on May 16, 2013 in 2013, Fiction, Manhattan, YA Fiction and tagged , , , , , , , .

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