sanddanz

ISBN: 0976633949
Format: Hardback, 239pp
Pub. Date: August 1, 2006
Genre: Horror
Dates Read: 03/05/07-02/10/07 (6 days)
Not part of a series
Bought on Amazon.com for $25

From the Publisher

Alex stared at the red pocketknife shown to him by his daughter. A pocketknife owned by somebody he hadn’t seen in years… CHILDREN They met first in boarding school at age twelve. Alex Fletcher, shy and scared. Darren Rust, always furiously scribbling away in a private journal. It was not an immediate friendship, but then one night Darren convinced his roommate to sneak off school grounds to see something glorious. There was a sleazy strip club, you see, and every once in a while the back door opened just long enough to maybe catch a quick glimpse… Though a bond was formed from their pre-pubescent interest in completely naked women, Darren had another interest. A morbid curiosity about death. A curiosity that turned into something much more sinister. FRIENDS They crossed paths again in college and became the best of friends. But Darren wasn’t just looking for a friend. He had dark, ghastly urges squirming around in his mind, and he believed he saw the same things – the urge to hurt, the urge to kill – in Alex. He was looking for somebody who understood. A partner. But Alex could never become a monster. Not even when Darren tried to bring out his friend’s most deeply buried feelings of rage. Not even when Darren tried to show him the euphoria of having that much power over another human being. It just couldn’t happen…right? ENEMIES Now Alex has a wife and a daughter. And Darren is back. He’s hiding. He’s patient. His mind is twisted in the worst possible way. And he’s seeking a soul mate.

My Opinion of the Book

Jeff was right when he said this book isn’t like his others. I’m a huge fan of his comic/horror Andrew Mayhem series and I do think that I enjoy that writing-style of his more so than that of PRESSURE, but I did enjoy PRESSURE and would read other books by Strand written in this style. It’s nice to see authors having various writing styles and being able to pull them all off! :) PRESSURE is a very weird book and Darren is just a f’ed up character. I hope I never meet anyone like him! shudders

ISBN: 1594264538
Format: Trade Paperback, 186pp
Pub. Date: July 7, 2006
Genre: Comic Fantasy
Dates Read: 03/03/07 – 03/04/07 (2 days)
Not part of a series
Purchased at Amazon.com for $12.00

From the Publisher

From the creative genius who would have brought you Hamlet, The Scarlet Letter, and a less-boring Moby Dick (if he’d been born on time) comes this outrageous comic fantasy. It’s a tale filled with so much adventure, so much excitement, so much vocabulary, that all who read it will suffer a fit of giddiness that will freak out everyone in their general vicinity.

It’s the saga of Randall, a squire assigned to escort the lovely Princess Janice on a diplomatic journey of utmost importance. Then she gets killed. Now Randall must overcome desperate odds and ridiculous dangers in his quest to bring her back to life…before the entire Generic Fantasy Land falls into the evil clutches of The Dark One!

Packed to the bursting point with unrestrained silliness (so be sure to hold it a safe distance from your face when reading), How to Rescue a Dead Princess is the novel all the really cool people are reading this year, an epic fantasy for your family to cherish approximately forever.

My Opinion of the Book

So I get addicted to MySpace because I found that I can actually talk to authors on there, which got me extremely excited! I come across Jeff Strand (whose books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed thus far) and end up chatting it up with him. This leads me to tracking down even MORE of his books and went a bit crazy on various sites trying to find his books. At any rate, Jeff is a fantastic guy and author! DEAD PRINCESS was just the book I needed this weekend because I was having a very depressing weekend. Thanks to Strand’s book I was able to laugh my way through all the stress and avoid yet ANOTHER migraine! I don’t want to spoil anything from the book by commenting directly about anything inside, but I’m going to highly recommend this book to any and all that need a good laugh… yes, it’s a bit silly, but we all need silly from time to time. I still think his Andrew Mayhem series is better, but this one is not far behind them!

“Oh defecate!!!” (one of my fave lines from DEAD PRINCESS) I almost forgot, you should go check out Jeff Strand’s website:

JeffStrand.com

ISBN: 0385729367
Format: Hardback, 328pp
Pub. Date: January 9, 2007
Genre: Teen Fiction
Dates Read: 02/24/07-03/01/07 (6 days)
Series: #4 in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Cheriepie loaned this copy of the book to me as she snagged it on BookMooch, but has yet to read the others in the series.

From the Publisher

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer.

Lena: Immerses herself in her painting and an intoxicating summer fling, fearing that the moment she forgets about Kostos will be the moment she sees him again.

Carmen: Falls under the spell of a sophisticated college friend for whom a theatrical role means everything and the heritage of the Pants means nothing.

Bridget: Joins a dig for an ancient city on the coast of Turkey and discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except one.

Tibby: Leaves behind someone she loves, wrongly believing he will stay where she has left him.

Join Ann Brashares’s beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel about a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee, and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

My Opinion of the Book

I think this is the first Traveling Pants book that didn’t make me cry, which is a wonder since I’ve been so depressed lately (hence this is only my 9th read of the year), but I did get goosebumps several times and I was quite a bit sad about the ending of the book because I’m not sure that there will be any more books put out in this series. :( Anyway, I loved it just as much as the other books and do hope that there are more to come or else Ms. Brashares goes off into another storyline that’s just as good.