Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

Midnight Crossroad (A Novel of Midnight, Texas)

I hoped that a new series was what Charlaine Harris needed to get her author mojo back.  Spin-off series is probably more accurate, as Manfred from the Harper Connelly series  is the major character here.  

Nope.  First, there is such a thing as too descriptive.  The first 5% or so (the prologue, not even chapter one)  nearly bored me so much that I was ready to return it to the library without making it to the first chapter.  But that wouldn’t be fair, the story hadn’t begun.  Everything was all this building looks like this, this person lives here, this store has a candy dish on the counter, etc.  I skimmed and couldn’t possibly remember where everything was two minutes later because I simply didn’t care. 

Also, maybe it’s just me, but it feels like race is handled awkwardly:

“Perhaps her ancestors were from Somalia, because she is tall, there is a reddish cast to her brown skin, and her nose is thin and high bridged” <— that sounds more like an author plotting a character sheet (It doesn’t seem natural in the story.  How often do you look at someone and say “Well she’s got a thin nose and some red in her skin, I bet she’s got some Somalians in her family tree").

And

“Like Chuy, he’s of Hispanic origin, but otherwise the two men are nothing alike.” <- after this it goes on to explain the physical differences.  Like it had to prepare us for hey this guy is Hispanic too but sometimes people who are Hispanic look different from one another!

The gay couple is dealt with equally awkwardly: "After five minutes, Manfred forgot that Joe and Chuy were men who had sex with each other." That came right after being shocked that men could arrange a home nicely but before the phew they can cook.  Oh, also Manfred had already known and spent time with the couple, it wasn’t as though they had just sprung that they are gay on him at that dinner.

Still I pushed through that and still, nope.  There's a cast of characters with names like "Bobo", "Fiji", "Creek", and "Teacher".  There's the paranormal aspect (witches, psychics, and vampires).  And that is all there is.  Well, okay, there’s an unsolved murder mystery and a bunch of extremists.  But that is all handled so awkwardly.  None of it seems possible, but if it were possible, the dialog and the way that it is pushed to the side in such a small town, well… it just doesn’t work.

There is a very unique cat, with personality, even it couldn’t save this story.  No character development beyond this one is young, this one is gay, this one is a witch.  BORING.   There’s supposed to be some romantic interests but none of that feels natural.   

I loved Charlaine Harris during the early Southern Vampire books and through Harper Connelly, but I think it’s time we went our separate ways.  Shame, she used to tell a decent story.

I read YA and I'm not ashamed.

Recently Slate posted a story which explained that adults who read from the 'young adult' genre should be embarrassed.  Their story can be found here.

I read YA way more than adult and I am not ashamed.   Especially as someone who prefers what generally gets categorized as "Fantasy".  Magic, vampires. etc.  Since every book has to be a series now (my biggest book pet peeve) YA is especially important. Too often the adult series turns to crap and/or smut by book 3, losing the fun of the story.  YA can actually be equally as trashy but generally, they tend to stay a bit more innocent with the love stories and more often it's a background storyline while the actual fantasy is still up front and center. 

One should not be ashamed of what they read.  At least we're reading.

Love Me by Rachel Shukert

Love Me (Starstruck #2)  by Rachel Shukert

 When I finished this book, I was torn as to wether or not it was better than/ worse than/ or the same as Starstruck.  In the end I decided it is in some ways superior, in some ways not quite as good, but overall still a 5 (or maybe more like 4.5).

The first book was more focussed on Margo.  This, I think was meant be to Amanda heavy, but it was a bit more balanced than Starstruck in the time it gave the different girls.

It is basically Mean Girls or Gossip Girl set in the golden age of Hollywood.  The meanness is perhaps more subtle but selfishness is always happening here.

Relationship dramas amid family dramas against studio drama.  It’s all drama all of the time for these girls.  Even when they are at the top of their game they find some reason to envy their friends (and enemies).

Several important events happen in this book - maybe too much as some of it ends up a little rushed.  Still this isn one of the rare times when I don’t mind a series.  A series that leaves you with cliffhangers.  These types of books have been my #1 book pet peeve for awhile.  Here, it feels right.  Like some ongoing soap opera with so many plots that you need more than one book to get it all in.  If it goes on too long, it does run the risk of feeling stale (there's only so many twists you can give to Hollywood Starlets in the 30s), but for now I’m all in.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Rules of Civility: A Novel

I knocked this down to 4 stars just because it felt like it was missing something, I'm not sure exactly what.  A little more story to connect some of the secondary characters maybe.  I felt like I was missing out on some of their bonds, which is weird for such a character driven story.

That's the bad.  The good is almost enough to just bump it up to 5 anyway.  It's the style here.  The writing.  The way you feel like you're really in NYC in the late 30s.  Not many books can truly make you feel like this is all authentic instead of some writer's imagination.  This book is one that feels real.

The story is basically just a few years in the life of Katey.  That's it.  A young lady just trying to make it (and preferably get ahead)  in the city of NY during some rocky times.  We meet her friends, her loves, her co-workers.   We surely all have that (at least) one person in our life that gets described as a real character.  That is all of the people connected to Katey, each in different ways.

Story wise it's not bad.  Style wise it really is one of the best books I have read in awhile.

Handbag Workshop by Anna M. Mazur

Handbag Workshop: Design and Sew the Perfect Bag

To be released: October 14, 2014

If, like me, your idea of making a purse has thus far been sticking an outside fabric and a lining together, adding a zipper, and a plain strap AND you find that you might be able to go a LITTLE more advanced — this book is not for you. 

The beginner section is more like intermediate.  There’s leather, suede, frames, hand stitching details like chains onto the bag.  Not really something that most “Beginners” would be comfy with. 

That said,  if you are more advanced and not afraid of tougher fabrics, lots of little tweaks, etc you could use the patterns (18 total) to make bags as nice or nicer than some designer bags. 

* Disclaimer: I received this book at no cost in order to review it. I offered no guarantee of a positive review, though I only request books I think I'll like because why read a book you think you’ll hate?

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

 I try really hard to only read books that I think I will like, no matter how I get them (buy, borrow from the library, advanced copies from publishers). This one I was unsure of, but the library had it available and I am not opposed to reading something trashy or catty or pretentious so hey why not.

 Turns out this was just mean, selfish, stupid people and little story. All you need to know is that Andy works for Miranda. Miranda is a fashion editor -- THEE fashion editor. When she says jump, everyone does. When, like Andy, you are one of Miranda's assistants you're supposed to know that she will say jump 10 seconds before she does and already be in the middle of the jump when her lips open. Assistants to Miranda generally try to do 1 year and if they have made it that far then Miranda helps them get virtually any job they want anywhere. That's pretty much why Andy had taken the job -- it could mean so much for her writing career.

 The main point of the book seems to be for Andy to explain just how stupid and horrible her rich, famous, powerful boss is. And yup Miranda is miserable BUT Andy is too. A story like this needs to be snarky and fun to work. This, as I said, is just mean. No one is really likable in this story, not even Andy's perfect everyone loves him boyfriend -- not that there is much wrong with him but just her saying he is a saint means little. We didn't get to know him very well. We did get to know Miranda and Andy. While I am sure we are meant to hate Miranda, I found Andy as bad or worse. She's a whiner. She's selfish.

 There is no one to root for here. There is no story. There is just meanness, whining, poor me, ignoring of those who actually matter. Oh and a happy'ish ending that is about as dull as they rest of the story.

Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making

Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making: From Color to Quilting: 10 Design Workshops by Your Favorite Teachers

The first lesson in this book is on color — dissecting colors, explaining hues / values / etc.  It was something I must admit, I skimmed.  The best advice here was to consult color wheels and a reminder that there are no rules (though you do want to stay within tasteful ranges, hopefully). 

The second lesson follows up on the first lesson by explaining what solids can offer.  This course seeks to remind you that solids can enhance prints or can be used to create patterns.

Lesson three takes a different approach, focussing on prints.  

Lesson four teaches us about improvisational patchwork.  Probably my favorite chapter.  It encourages sort of an organized chaos kind of quilting.  Good for people like me who only barely sew and who find advanced techniques either intimidating or too time consuming and frustrating.  This chapter/lesson really screamed “I am for everyone”.

Next up was The Alternative Grid.  There was a lot of negative space here as well as traditional quilting spaces tweaked just slightly to look more modern. 

Circles and curves was up next.  A chapter where the title along frighted me.  This lesson did little to make me feel more comfortable about working with things like circles but for those who love torturing themselves with such things, there are a few nice ideas here, though nothing here is a  super memorable standout.  

Paper Piecing - this is probably the best eye candy chapter.  Instructions here will show you how to do things like make a dress and stiletto heel out of fabric.

Large Scale piecing -  This focussed on blocks that were larger than 12”.

Modern Machine Quilting - here they focus on the ability to do some fancy stitching — some of which is more complicated than others.  While I am in total awe of some of the stitching patterns here, I don’t think I feel any more confident about actually trying them just from reading this.  

A study of Modern Quilts - pictures and blurbs of 50 quilts.  Could be inspiring or just filler… 

Overall I am unsure of who this book is for.  For advanced quilters this would be quite the unnecessary book.  For beginners it seems either too boring or too advanced.  Perhaps for the intermediate quilter or those who like eye candy and the occasional tip and trick (those do exist here but I am not sure there’s enough unique  ideas here). 

A decent book but not a must add to most collections, 

* Disclaimer: I received this book at no cost in order to review it. I offered no guarantee of a positive review, though I only request books I think I'll like because why read a book you think you’ll hate?