Book Review: UNDER THE DOME (Stephen King)

This is a guest review from Julia and Corduroy. Sarah's diving into it this weekend! Click on the title of this posting for a ton of information about the book from Stephen King's Web site.

Slobbers,
Finn

UNDER THE DOME by Stephen King

I am a whimpy utopian reader. I like happy books with happy endings.  But for some strange reason I have been dying for Stephen King’s new book “Under the Dome” to be released and I was at the book store on Tuesday morning to snap it up.  If there had been a midnight release party for it I would have been there with bells on.  Which is Sooooo unlike me. Not the midnight release party involvement but I tend to avoid horror books like the plague.  My imagination is just too fertile to give it sharp implements to play with. 

I’ve read a few of his (King's) books over the years--Carrie, the Stand, Cujo, the Green Mile--but the last one I picked up, Lisey’s Story, I gave up after the first 75 pages without a clue what was going on.  However, I sucked down “Under the Dome” in just under 48 hours.  Not an inconsiderable feat considering it is 1072 pages and must weigh in at 3 pounds.  I took cat naps in order to be able to keep reading until the early hours of the morning.  It’s FABULOUS! 

The concept is Brilliant and really funny in a weird Stephen King sort of way.  The characters are memorable and the evil ones are truly evil but totally believable because we all know someone that fits each role.  The only character that wasn’t totally believable was the hero who was a little too all knowing but that’s ok, it works.  I LOVED this book even though it contained everything that I don’t like reading about, rapes, child abuse, child abandonment, stupid people with power, racial slurs and evangelical Christians. 

“Under the Dome” is great like the movie “1408” is great.  It’s creepy, disturbing on too many levels to count but seriously great.  In fact, I think it’s Stephen King’s best book ever.

Wags,
Julia and Cord

Adult's Halloween Pick! Faerie Tale

Want a scare this Halloween? Check out Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist.

I reread Faerie Tale every October to put me in the mood for my favorite holiday. It's packed with suspense, terror, and a Bad Thing that I really never want to meet.

Mr. Feist is the author of another of my favorite series, The Riftwar Saga (Magician: Apprentice is book #1), but this is something different.

Faerie Tale is the story of a family that moves into the mountains of upstate New York. It is a beautiful place that is just coming alive with the colors of autumn. Unfortunately, something else is stirring as well. At first, only the kids notice it. Then...well, read and find out.

BOO!

Click on the title of this post for a Q&A with Raymond Feist about this book.

Enjoy!
Sarah

NOTE: Finn thinks this one might be too scary for him.

Book Review: FOOL by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore is a funny, funny man. He is also irreverent, bawdy, and borderline sacrilegious. If that sounds like someone you might like to have a beer with, then come on in --- the water's fine :)

FOOL (published Spring 2009) is my favorite in a line of utterly fantastic books. Mr. Moore writes stand-alone novels (not every book needs to be a series, you know), but they all fit together like a matched set of poetry. Magnetic poetry. You know, the kind that you stick on the fridge and then your friends rearrange the words into a crude or completely obscure speck of wisdom?

FOOL tells the the story of King Lear, the most tragic of Shakepeare's heroes. Lear remains the crazy old man we loathe and love and his daughters are...well...not very ladylike. But somehow, Mr. Moore has turned the tale into a hysterically funny comedy. It takes the point-of-view of Pocket, his court jester (you know, the fool), and it's incredible what a simple change of perspective can do to a story.

If you are a fan of David Sedaris, Jen Lancaster, and your sense of humor runs toward sarcasm and silly puns, give FOOL a chance.  And then if you love it, try LAMB, A DIRTY JOB, BLOODSUCKING FIENDS. 

Don't take my word for it, Mr. Moore has posted the first chapter on his Web site. Here's the warning he starts the book with. Just click on the title of this posting and you'll go straight to the rest of Chapter 1.

WARNING: 

 This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as non-traditional grammar, spit infinitives, and the odd wank. If that sort of thing bothers you, then gentle reader pass by, for we only endeavor to entertain, not to offend. That said, if that’s the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened onto the perfect story! (Excerpt from FOOL by Christopher Moore)


Enjoy!
Sarah

Great Gift Ideas!

Hi again,

Sarah and I have been having fun pulling out some books that would make really fun gifts for everyone in the family this holiday season! Here's a short recap and just ask us if you're looking for more ideas!

• Fiction: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (Gordon Dahlquist)
• Science: Einstein (Walter Isaacson)
• Science: This is Your Brain on Music
  
• Fantasy: The Tawny Man Trilogy (Robin Hobb)
• Mystery: Murder at Whalehead (Joe Ellis)
• Memoir: Three Cups of Tea (G. Mortenson)
• Action/Adventure: Battle Royale (K. Takami)
• Paranormal Romance: The Dark Brotherhood Series (JR Ward)
• Contemporary Romance: Tall, Dark, & Dead (Tate Halloway)
• Teens: Twilight Series (Stephenie Meyer)
• Teens: Cirque due Freak Series (Daren Shan)
• Chapter Books: Holiday Inn (James Howe)
• Chapter Books: The Sister's Grimm Series (Michael Buckley)

Read these BEFORE you see the movie! :)
(Yes, the books are ALWAYS better...)

• Alex Rider Series (Anthony Horowitz "Stormbreaker")
• Inkheart Series (Cornelia Funke "Inkheart")
• **The Dark is Rising Series (Susan Cooper "The Seeker")
• The Chronicles of Narnia Series (CS Lewis "Prince Caspian")
• Inheritance Series (Christopher Paolini "Eragon")
• His Dark Materials Series (Phillip Pullman "The Golden Compass")
• The Black Cauldron Series (Lloyd Alexander "The Black Cauldron")

Love and slobbers,
Finn

Beach Reads: Books to Try!

The Outer Banks Guide to Duck, Corolla and the Northern Beaches has put together a list of books to try this summer! Finn and I haven't read them all yet, but I'm betting that they're all pretty great.

Here's a short recap, but you can go to www.outerbanksguides.com for the complete list.

• "Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" (Merrill Markoe, Villard, $22.95)
  
• "Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam" (Skye Moody, Sasquatch Books, $16.95)
  
• "Abundance" (Sena Jeter Naslund, HarperCollins, $26.95)
  
• "The Book Thief" (Marcus Zusak, Random House, $16.95).
  
• "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (Riverhead, $25.95), is here!
  

Happy Reading!

Top 10 Summer Reads!

(Finn’s curled up in the back room for his morning nap, so he asked me to take over this part of his blog. Enjoy! –Sarah)

These are the Top 10 books that are most likely to be full of sand and water-logged from the hot tub!

Read below to see if your “Corolla classic” made the cut. Then add any other favorites and personal reviews in the “comments” section!

Adult
1. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Kim Edwards)
2. Marley and Me (John Grogan)
3. My Sister’s Keeper (Jodi Picoult)
4. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
5. Running With Scissors (Augusten Burroughs)
6. Goodnight Nobody (Jennifer Weiner)
7. Something Borrowed (Emily Giffin)
8. Velocity (Dean Koontz)
9. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
10. Skinny Dip (Carl Hiaasen)

Young Adult
1. Gossip Girl series (Cecily Von Ziegesar)
2. The Clique (Lisi Harrison)
3. Summer Boys (Hailey Abbott)
4. Twilight (Stephanie Meyer)
5. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment (James Patterson)
6. Nightmare Academy (Frank Peretti)
7. Small Steps (Louis Sachar)
8. Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
9. Good Omens (Terry Pratchett/ Neil Gaiman)
10. Hoops (Walter Dean Meyer)

Grades 3–6
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
2. Peter and the Starcatchers (Dave Barry)
3. Inkheart (Cordelia Funke)
4. How to be a Pirate (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III)
5. The Mystery of Blackbeard the Pirate (Carole Marsh)
6. Pirateology (Dugald Steer)
7. The Lightening Thief (Rick Riordan)
8. The City of Ember (Jeanne Duprau)
9. Stormbreaker (Anthony Horowitz)
10. Thunder from the Sea (Joan Harlow Hiatt)

Early Readers
1. Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon (Lisa Papademetriou)
2. The Magic Treehouse (Mary Pope Osborne)
3. Junie B. Jones (Barbara Park)
4. Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag (Marjorie Weinman Sharmat)
5. A to Z Mysteries (Ron Roy)
6. Sky the Blue Fairy (Daisy Meadows)
7. Little Bear (Else Holmelund Minarik)
8. Frog and Toad are Friends (Arnold Lobel)
9. Oliver Pig and the Best Fort Ever (Jean Van Leeuwen)
10. The Dog That Pitched a No-Hitter (Matt Christopher)

Picture
1. Bats at the Beach (Brian Lies)
2. Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs (Giles Andreae)
3. How I Became a Pirate (Melinda Long)
4. Do Pirates Take Baths? (Kathy Tucker)
5. Beach Day! (Patricia Lakin)
6. Punctuation Takes a Vacation (Robin Pulver)
7. T is for Tar Heel (Carol Crane)
8. Arnold the Smiling Horse (Karine Nguyen-Tuong)
9. Curious George Goes to the Beach (Margret Rey)
10. Clifford and the Missing Beach Ball (Norman Bridwell)