Book 194 Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates

Little Bird Of Heaven: A Novel
Little Bird of Heaven - Kindle Edition
806 books to go!

Summary:
This novel follows the aftermath of  the brutal murder of Zoe Kruller. Her former husband Del Ray Kruller and last known lover Edwward Diehl are suspects in her murder, the novel spans a time period of roughly 25 years and is told through the viewpoints of Edward Diehl's daughter Krista and Zoe's son Aaron.

Opinion:
I appreciated this book for the artistic writing, I haven't read Joyce Carol Oates' work before but I wasn't really a fan of the ultimate ending of the book. The timeline bounced around and at times she made it work at other times I felt it was unsuccessful.

Why I chose to read this:
I actually found a hard copy of this book sitting in the courtroom when I was on grand jury. I read about half of it in court but left it behind when my service was over for someone else to find and hopefully read. I read the rest of the novel when I checked it out on the kindle cloud reader through the library.

Book 193 Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman
807 books to go!

Summary: 
This book was published in 1984, it contains an introduction and afterward commenting on Sherman's work as well as many plates of her photographs from 1977 to 1984.

Opinion:
Definitely my kind of art book. I always feel art is very subjective and when I pick up a book about the artist I'd rather see many plates and be able to browse through them and think about my own opinions or conclusions about the work. This was more plates, less text which I dig when looking at art. Text is informative though and great to learn from so a little bit of text is good.

Why I chose to read this:
This is one of the few books the library I work for actually has on Sherman. I'm planning on requesting more of her books but I can't do that until July because our art book budget recently ran out for the fiscal year.

 

Book 192 Stirred by J.A. Konrath and Blake Crouch

Stirred (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels/Luther Kite Thriller)
Stirred (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels/Luther Kite Thriller) - Kindle Edition

808 books to go!

Summary: 
This may or may not be the conclusion to the Jack Daniels series, depending on if Crouch and Konrath scheme up something else. It is the sequel to the book Shaken. In shaken Jack Daniels is caught and tortured by Luther Kite for the first time, in this sequel she's nine months pregnant, about to give birth and Kite is after her again.

Opinion:
This book was fantastic. The conclusion was happy, but there were many surprises in the book that I would have never expected. I was on the edge of my seat many times, eagerly tearing through the pages of the book to find out how it was going to end and what was going to happen. The humor was awesome, I laughed out loud a few times.

Why I chose to read it:
I've been waiting to get my hands on this conclusion for a long time. I'm addicted to the Jack Daniels stories even though I no longer drink the whiskey!

Book 191 Sloppy Seconds by Tucker Max

Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers
Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers - Kindle Edition FREE!

809 books to go!

Summary:
This short book is a mish mash of leftovers from fratire author and originator of the genre Tucker Max. He features three of his stories from his previous books, some new stories, and some random writings.

Opinion:
Not bad, not as funny or crazy as his other books but he did write in the introduction that these stories weren't going to be so funny. He actually gives this book away for free on the kindle. You can get it for nothing even if you don't have a kindle because you can always read it on the kindle cloud reader, which is how I read books at work most of the time. I actually finished this book while I was on my trip to Delaware to visit my cousins. I have to give Tucker Max props for giving the book away for free, most authors don't do this. I'd like to make money off my writing, enough to eventually just be a writer full time, but writing is a labor of love and most of the time I end up writing for free when it comes down to my blogs, but it doesn't matter to me because I am at least writing and getting to do what I love. If I do get to be an author and actually publish some books I might follow Tucker's lead and give a story away for free to my readers. It's a great way to thank fans, and without fans a writer, actor, show, band, book...they're all nothing without a fan base so you do have to thank your fans somehow.

Why I chose to read this:
Number one reason honestly is it was free on my kindle but I would have checked it out at the library if it was for purchase.

 

Book 190 Cindy Sherman: Retrospective

Cindy Sherman: Retrospective
810 books to go!

Summary: 
This book is part analysis of Sherman's work, part plates of her photography.

Opinion:
Pretty nice book, got to delve more into her work and see a lot of it, she's my favorite photographer so it's good to get a look at more of her stuff.

Why I chose to read it:
I went through the library's catalog in Nassau and requested any books I found about her, this is one of the books I requested.

 

Book 189 Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy (50 Shades Trilogy)
Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy - Kindle Edition

811 books to go!

Summary:
This is the happy conclusion (okay maybe it's not so happy for all the fifty shades addicts that have been springing up - myself included) to the fifty shades trilogy. In this last book Christian and Ana are newly married. They face some big exciting trials together, they also face some minor fights and not so major problems together as well. Ultimately the book ends with a pretty happy ending, the copy I had from the library also had extra bonus material at the end which was some writing told from Christian's point of view. These two brief chapters were his first Christmas in the Grey family household and his first two encounters with Ana.

Opinion:
The drama in this book was much more real and less over the top then the drama in the second series of the trilogy. I was reading like a maniac to find out what was going to happen. At some point in the book I thought Ana was being a whiny bitch but eventually her character developed even more and redeemed herself to be forgiven for the whininess.SPOILER She was married to Christian, rich as fuck but still complained after he gave her the company she started working for that he bought. Let's just complain because we have more money then God and now own a company, rich people lol SPOILER Other then Ana's momentary whining the book was pretty good, had the usual amount of hot sexy scenes. I probably should have stuck to reading my PDFs instead of checking 1 and 3 out of the library. One more thing the BDSM aspect of the book, it's pretty light since Christian mostly goes with vanilla style to be with Ana anyway.

Why I chose to read this:
I wanted to know what all the fuss was about, glad I decided to read them. I will fondly remember Christian and Ana as one of the best love stories I've read.

Book 188 - American Vampire Vol. 3 by Scott Snyder

American Vampire Vol. 3

812 books to go!

This is probably getting annoying because I keep writing it but I definitely think I'm going to be down to under 800 books before the wedding and as summer is starting to wind down. I really don't know how I'm even managing to read this much when I have a zillion things to do.

Summary:
This is the third installment in a new graphic novel series Shawn and I have both set out upon devouring. This one takes place during WWII, the main cast of characters, Pearl (the vampire Skinner Sweet created), Skinner Sweet, Henry, and Miss Felicia Book.

Opinion:
This was okay, I liked the story with Felicia Book better then the story that took place involving Pearl, Skinner and Henry.

Why I chose to read it:
Just another graphic novel we are keeping up with.