• (5/28) What No One Tells the Bride by Marg Stark.
  
  Funny and intimate non-fiction book about all the good and bad that comes with a marriage. Initially, I expected this to be about all the stuff that can go wrong at your wedding and was disappointed to discover it was actually about the marriage itself. I sort of feel like my fiance and I have been together for so long now (seven years) that most of the things new spouses get tripped up by won't really be a problem for us. But as I was reading it, I did identify a few things we do now that we probably ought to be doing differently. I also got a lot of great ideas on how to keep the good stuff coming and the bad stuff from developing. The book is personal, full of anecdotes about both the author's marriage and a dozen other womens', and while there were whole chapters that weren't really relevant for us, I still feel like I got a lot from the parts that were. There is also a list of recommended reading at the end that I found interesting and will probably explore more in the future. So, all in all, a book I think any engaged or newlywed woman can get something positive out of, despite the fact I found it a little alarming that the author quotes Dr. Laura not once, but twice. Yeech.
  [NON-FICTION]

  (5/19) Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain.
  

  Wonderful memoir/expose about Bourdain's early years as a chef. This book is packed full of all the things you expect from a chef: arrogance, recommendations about good pots and knives, name-dropping, and descriptions of foods you've never even dreamed of. But it's also loaded up with juicy tidbits about the behind-the-scenes stuff -- stories about chefs snorting massive amounts of cocaine and drinking on the job, stories about mob-related gun sales in the back room, stories about accidentally-amputated limbs and fingers, etc. Some of the stuff might make you think twice about ever eating out again, but Bourdain's philosophy won't allow for that response. He says eating out should be a culinary adventure and what's adventure without risk? Just don't eat fish on Mondays and never EVER eat sushi advertised as "cheap." While it's hard to believe Bourdain's experiences are indicative of what all chefs go through (if it were, I can't imagine there would be as many chefs still alive today), it's a blast getting to read about what he's been through. I may never eat swordfish again, but the book did inspire me to get more excited about my own cooking (and eating). I'll be adding a great chef knife to the list of kitchen stuff on my wedding registry, that's for sure. Recommended to anybody who likes cooking, eating, and funny, good writing. Incidentally, Bourdain is also the author of two mystery novels, which I'll be looking for ASAP.
  [NON-FICTION]

  (5/15) On the Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark.
  

  Pretty good thriller by Clark, whose books I'm not a major fan of but have always enjoyed when I've picked them up. In this one, a lawyer, Emily Graham, is running from a miserable year spent testifying both against her ex-husband, who was trying to get his hands on some of the millions of dollars she'd just made in the stock market, and a crazy stalker. To get away from it all, she takes a new job in New York City and buys her great-great-grandmother's old childhood home in the small, sleepy town of Spring Lake.

  Since she has a few months off before her new job is set to begin, and since the stalker is finally behind bars, Emily decides to spend her free time relaxing and getting to know her new neighborhood. So, you can only imagine the horror of suddenly finding out there are two bodies buried in her backyard and that five women total have vanished from the town in the past century.

  When it turns out that one of the bodies found is that of her ancestor, Madeline Shapley, and the other is the body of a young woman killed the same month and day as Madeline, but over 100 years later, Emily becomes intrigued. She begins to study the history of the Shapley case. At the same time, however, she has begun receiving notes and photos from someone mysterious -- the same sorts of items she had been getting from her old stalker. Soon, a second girl disappears and is found buried with another century-old body, starting rumors that the old killer has been reincarnated and is bent on reenacting his old crimes. Who will the sixth and final victim be? And is the killer the same person sending Emily the creepy notes?

  As usual in Clark's novels, the story is engrossing but the characters are kind of wooden and there are too many of them. I also have to tell you that in this one, at least two loose ends are never fully tied up, something that makes me absolutely NUTS. However, this is a pretty entertaining thriller, despite some of its flaws, something pretty much true in general of all of Clark's novels. It ain't literature, but it's not half bad. Recommended to anyone looking for a light book for the weekend or a vacation.
  [MYSTERY]

  (5/12) The Custom of the Sea by Neil Hanson.
  

  Harrowing non-fiction book about a small yacht that goes down in the middle of the Atlantic in 1884. The four survivors, Captain Tom Dudley and three of his crew, are left with a 13-foot dinghy, two pounds of turnips, and a few navigational devices. And that's it. After struggling to survive after nearly two weeks with no water and virtually no food, Dudley, swollen-mouthed and barely alive himself, tells the crew their only option for survival is to resort to the "custom of the sea" -- anthropophagi (or, cannibalism). The weakest crew member, a young lad who had given in and drunk several pints of sea water, is selected by the captain as being the obvious choice. The boy probably has less than 24 hours to live anyway and if they wait for him to die, his blood will congeal and they won't be able to drink it. Because their thirst is the most critical problem they have, one of the other two crewmen agrees to help the captain, while the second hides under the seat. As soon as the boy is dead, however, he emerges to drink his share and four or so days later, the dinghy is rescued by a German ship and all three men survive.

  As soon as they land at shore, however, the captain, convinced he had done the right thing, immediately confesses everything that had happened, including the fact that the boy was chosen by him instead of by the usual "custom" of drawing lots. Immediately, all three men are accused of premeditated murder, the Victorian Court hoping to make them an example to all other sailors who might one day find themselves facing the same decision. Yet the public is overwhelmingly on the side of the captain and his crew, who, they argue, have obviously suffered quite enough, thank you. This was certainly not the first time the "custom of the sea" had taken place, and it most likely would not be the last. If convicted, the men will surely be hung. But what is the "right" thing to do? Allow the "custom of the sea" legal protection? If so, how is the court to decide just when it is okay for sailors to eat their crew-mates? Or should the men be punished, saying they ought to have given their lives for the sake of their morality?

  I was fascinated by this book, not because the topic was so gruesome, but because the writing is fantastic and the book is full of extra information regarding sailing in the 1800's -- what life was like for the crewmen, what they typically ate and drank while at sea, and even why, exactly, drinking sea water will make you insane and then kill you. The book is full of historical documents, photos, drawings, and editorial cartoons from the papers during the trial, as well as a ton of evidence supporting both sides of the arguments. By the end, I was desperate to find out what the fate of the three survivors would be. Unlike the book I read recently on the Donner Party, the characters in this book were drawn so well, I actually felt some degree of their internal and external suffering and was deeply concerned about what the outcome of the trial would be. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in old-time sailing stories and courtroom dramas.
  [NON-FICTION]

  (5/10) Disobedience by Jane Hamilton.
  

  When high schooler Henry Shaw innocently hacks into his mother's e-mail and finds evidence that she's having an affair, his entire outlook on life is turned upside down. He keeps mum, instead becoming obsessed with tracking every message and movement his mother takes. Meanwhile, he begins having his own romantic liaison, his first, which gradually begins to complicate his feelings about his mother's transgression. On the one hand, he can't believe she would do such a thing to her family. Yet, on the other hand, he is beginning to understand why the pull of love is so hard to ignore. And blah blah blah blah blah.

  Why the blahs? Because despite the possibilities the premise provides, this book is dull dull dull. First of all, Hamilton has made Henry, the 17 year old son, the narrator of the story. But I was completely unconvinced by his narration -- he certainly didn't seem like any 17 year old boy I've ever known. And, even worse, he's prone to long passages of confused musings repeated over and over again. Gosh, I can't believe my mom is having an affair. Did I mention my mom is having an affair? I just don't know how to feel about the fact my mom is having an affair. Oh, I DID mention, didn't I, that my mom is having an affair? Yawn. Even the parts of this novel that were more interesting (essentially all the scenes involving Henry's younger sister who is obsessed with Civil War reenactments) weren't strong enough to hold my attention. None of the characters in this novel are three-dimensional or even interestingly drawn. I was surprised by the poor quality of the writing, the story itself, and the repetition -- Hamilton's previous novels have all been ones I greatly enjoyed. If Hamilton came out and said she wrote this novel while she was sitting on the sofa watching television, I wouldn't be surprised. It's got the same rushed, half-hashed feel to is as this book review does. Cuz the ball game is on and this book was so ho-hum I can't even concentrate on explaining why. No matter -- just take my word for it. Reread "The Book of Ruth" or "Map of the World" instead.
  [FICTION]

  (5/8) Dreamcatcher by Stephen King.
  

  What is it with me and aliens this month? I dunno. But it's got to stop. As you may or may not be aware, this is King's latest thriller, written while he was recovering from his car accident last year. Anyone who was worried King might have been unable to crank out novels like he used to after coming that close to death can rest assured now -- this is a novel that has Stephen King written all over it (literally and figuratively). Not only is it a great story (it's got: aliens, contagious disease, fungus, boys becoming men, death, murder, AND lots of blood and guts), but King once again delivers a cast of the most amazingly well-drawn characters I've encountered in a novel in quite awhile. Even when the story is weak (which it is several times during the 600+ pages), the characters are so real, you hardly notice the crap you're wading through to get back to them. By less than a quarter of the way through this book, I loved the four main characters as much as I love friends of mine in the real world. I cared about what happened to them. I feared for them. I worried about them when I put the book down. Now, some of this is just me -- I'm an absolute nutcase and everybody knows it. But the rest has to do with King's writing. They don't call him a "master" for nuthin', you know.

  The plot is pretty straight-forward -- a group of four buddies meet once a year to go hunting in the woods together as a way to maintain their ties (they were best friends growing up). This trip, though, they encounter two strangers in the woods, both of whom seem a little off and are also quite ill. When they both end up dead, but not before a gigantic worm-like thing has busted out of their bodies (think "Alien"), the boys realize they're in big trouble. This is driven home even more when, after turning to run, they bump smack-dab into a group of little gray men with big oval eyes. Just like on the X-Files. The story is enthralling and, unlike in Cook's book, pretty believeable. The weak parts occur mostly in the middle of the book, when the military gets involved in trying to contain the contagion being spread by the gray men. But you can just skim those chapters and get back to our set of heroes and their totally cool Down's Syndrome friend "Duddits," waiting for them back in their hometown. It's a long book, but well worth the time it will take for you to get through it (especially if you skim, as I recommend). If you are a King fan, and you like a good ET story, pick this one up. Recommended!
  [FICTION]

  (5/1) Abduction by Robin Cook.
  

  Disappointing novel about a group of oceanographers and divers who are abducted by a race of beings who live under the ocean. Usually I really enjoy Cook's novel -- while he's not the best writer I've encountered, he's a pretty good storyteller -- but this book, despite its attempt to mix in real science in true Cook form, just seemed completely far-fetched to me. In fact, the real science stuff he brought up seemed forced into play, as though he were desperate to convince me that it really WAS possible, based on what we know right now. Instead of interesting me however, as the science in Cook's books usually does, it annoyed me instead. It made this book neither fun fantasy nor good science fiction. It was just plain ol' silly. And to top it all off, the plot is cliche and preachy and the characters are all stereotypes. I read the whole thing, half-hoping it would improve, but it never really got up any steam. All and all, pretty dull. Skip this one, folks!
  [FICTION]

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