Jenn’s Books

Let books be your dining table,
And you shall be full of delights
Let them be your mattress
And you shall sleep restful nights.

~Author Unknown

Posted on August 7th, 2006

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

~P.J. O’Rourke

Posted on August 6th, 2006

If anyone was at the Fremont Art and Wine festival today, could you please tell me who the super yummy Raspberry Hard Cider was made by? It was so good. I hate the taste of alcohol, and this one didn’t have any taste of it that I could find. It was like bubbly raspberry juice. So if you could let me know who makes it, and if they have a website, that would be awesome. Thanks!

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy.

~Edward P. Morgan

Posted on August 5th, 2006

Live from WordCamp 2006 San Francisco!! Big thanks to Matt, creator of WordPress. He threw an awesome conference. Great BBQ, lots of very informative speakers, and neat venue. For those that were there, I was the girl in all black on the light colored cane. For those that I did get to talk too, please send me a comment with your blog so that I can blogroll you! For those that just picked up my card, contact me anyway! I am always looking for new ideas and people. Otherwise, thanks again to the entire WordPress team and I hope to see you all next year!

I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.

~Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, Pensées Diverses

Posted on August 4th, 2006

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.

~Oscar Wilde

Posted August 4th, 2006

I’m sorry!!! I was caught up with school stuff and my mother. Books are my love, but school is a necessity. But for my screw-up, you get two quotes today!

There’s nothing to match curling up with a good book when there’s a repair job to be done around the house.

~Joe Ryan

Posted on August 2nd, 2006

This one seemed appropriate for today. The house is a mess, and I spend most of the day reading. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Title:Menus in Minutes Author: Better Homes and Gardens Format: Hard Spiral Bound

This is the best idea for a publisher of recipes I have ever seen. So first it’s spiral bound. Next it has all of the main courses on the top, and then on a different flap it has all of the sides. So you can turn to page 109 on the top half and get Ravioli With Vegetables and then turn to page 133 on the bottom half of the book and get Fruit Kabobs for dessert. Nutritional facts are there for the main course, but not on the desserts. I think that is the one failing point of the book. Other then that, I think it is a really cool addition to any kitchen.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:My Side Of The Mountain Author: Jean Craighead George Format: Mass Market

Almost everyone has thoughts of running away from home, yet very few think about it after reading a book. Usually, it’s after a fight with one of the “adults.” This book still makes me want to run away, and I am 22. Sam Gribley goes further then most young kids. Most of us make it to the end of the block; the real determined ones go as far as their best friend’s house. Yet our Sam goes up into the mountains of New York and sets up home. He learns to be dependent on only himself and nature. While everything is pushing him to go back home, he will not. In the process of living out a year in the woods by himself, he grows up quite a bit more then that. I love this book and put it up there with Where the Red Fern Grows, although this one is not nearly as sad. If you need a present for a ten year old, this is it.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:Tick Tock Author: Dean Koontz Format: Mass Market

This is one of the most hilarious horror books I have ever read. Most have a dark sense of humor, but this one has a bright, glass-half-full, happy-go-lucky, side kick character. Our hero, Tommie Pham, has just quit his full time job to write detective novels. The book starts with him buying a brand new blue Corvette, the car he has dreamed of since immigrating to America as a boy. Now he has to face his mother, the thing all children dread. The thing I love about this book, is how many authors have the balls to total a Chevy Corvette by the THIRD chapter? I can understand by the two-thirds mark, but three chapters. As the daughter of a mechanic, my heart just broke when I read that, but at the same time I found it so funny. He hooks up with Deliverance Payne, part-time waitress, full-time millionaire. This book reads like a modern day Dick Tracy with a clown car. I fully enjoyed this book and would suggest it to anyone.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:The Black Swan Author: Mercedes Lackey Format: Mass Market

So, as I have said before, I like new twists on old tales. This is a new rendition of Swan Lake. Yet we are not following the princess, but the sorcerer’s daughter as she tries to find her own place within this world. She also can wield magic like her father, but he doesn’t seem happy when she follows in his footsteps. He is happy when she can use her magic for more feminine things, like cleaning the tapestry. The sorcerer changes each night into a owl and flies out to find “wicked” women. Any woman that has disobeyed her father or husband is then turned into a swan and taken back to the sorcerer’s castle. So the question is this: does the daughter continue doing what she has always done, and ignore the captives, or does she risk becoming one to save them? I have found that I do like Lackey’s stand alone novels much more then I like her series. I would suggest this title to anyone that has wandered away from Lackey in the past, or would like an intro to her works.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.