Mini-Review: Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas

My Thoughts

Picking up where the Veronica Mars movie left off, this novel has everything I loved about the series and the film: Veronica’s personal brand of snark, the Neptune locals we know and love, and a mystery that wasn’t difficult to solve, but keeps us entertained, even so.

Fans of LoVe be warned: this novel takes place during Logan’s deployment, so don’t expect to see much of him.

Do expect a few lovely (and some not-so-lovely) surprises, and a good amount of Dick Casablancas being, well, Dick.

I’m not sure if this novel counts as canon – though since it was co-written by series creator Rob Thomas, it totally should, but even if we take it as a slightly alternate universe, it’s worth the read, and it’s an excellent way for people, (like me) who binge-watched the entire series before the movie was released (I’d seen it before, but my husband hadn’t) to get their latest “fix.”

Goes well with: a double-scoop of ice cream on a sugar cone, eaten at the beach.

Mini-Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

I have a love-hate relationship with Neil Gaiman’s work. I loved both of his episodes of Doctor Who, but his books are more hit or miss.

American Gods, for example, is a novel I failed to get into. Something about it was just too uncomfortable for me to read. Stardust and Neverwhere, on the other hand, both entranced me from the first few words, and remain favorites years after my first encounters with them.

Still, with so many of my friends talking about his latest offering, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I had to read it. Since my library (which I don’t like to visit in person, because it smells like unloved old people and I find the silence oppressive) now has eBooks available, I picked this as my first digital check-out.

I was not disappointed. While rather dark, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is engaging, interesting, and quite gripping. We want the little boy to figure everything out, but we also want him to be okay. It’s a book of magic and mystery and moonlight, and is a great fairy-tale for adults who still retain enough childhood to believe in the possibility of dark creatures and fantastic happenings.

Goes well with Snickerdoodles and chai tea lattes.

Mini-Review: The Help, by Karen Stockett

The Help
Karen Stockett

This book is more than three years old and has been made into an awesome film, so I’m not going to bother with the product description. It’s been on my Kindle for over a year. I finally saw the movie last month. I finally finished the book just last week (I was reading stuff for review and needed a break from the stuff I HAD to read), and loved it.

I liked that each character had her own voice, that Skeeter was distinct from Hilly and Celia, and that Aibelene and Minnie had their own voices as well.

I loved the references to who did or didn’t have a/c. And to Skeeter lugging that typewriter EVERYWHERE.

It was a deeply satisfying read about a deeply troubling time in American history.

Mini-Review: The Authoritative Guide to Safer Sex

I’ve been happily married for almost eighteen years (which makes me sound ancient, I know, but I got married before I was actually born – it was this whole wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing…) so I don’t really need a guide to safer sex, especially since I own a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves which is probably the best guide to women’s health (sexual and otherwise) ever written for non-medical folk.

I also don’t have much use for dating sites, though I have no problem with them.

Nevertheless, when Kaitlin Moore asked me to check out her co-written Authoritative Guide to Safer Sex and maybe linked to it here, I said I’d check it out.

It’s an excellent guide to the basics of safer sex, and if you’re in the dating world, you should totally read it.

(And for a deeper understanding, check out Our Bodies, Ourselves, as well. It’s a classic.)

NOTE: Kaitlin asked me if I’d stick a link to the Guide on the blog. I will do so later this week, but I think everyone – male or female – is obligated to protect themselves, hence this post, which is unsolicited.