Jean Lorrah
I’ve been a Star Trek fan since birth, practically, to the point where, when I was a kid, the only television I was allowed to watch before 5:00 PM was reruns of classic Trek.

I was in junior high, or high school, when I started reading the novel tie-ins, and by the time I married Fuzzy, I had almost all the TOS novels, and a good portion of the TNG ones. At that point, I hadn’t begun to collect DS9, and Voyager didn’t exist.

When we left South Dakota, I gave my collection to Fuzzy’s brother, who also collected them. I think his collection is now complete, but I still like to revisit the series from time to time, and have contemplated beginning my collection anew.

In any case, my favorite TNG character is Picard, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Data, so when I saw the TNG novel Survivors, by Jean Lorrah, who had also written some of my favorite TOS novels, I had to have it.

It’s an episode expansion, of a sort, dealing with some of the events in the episode Skin of Evil (the one where Tasha is killed by the sentient oil slick), and also expanding the relationship between Data and Tasha, and talking about Tasha’s background. It’s also very EARLY TNG-fic, because Data is using contractions all over the place, and at one point Deanna Troi tells Tasha that Data has feelings.

Still, as fluff reading goes, it’s fun, and the insight into Tasha rounds out a character we never really got to know.

The Moor

29 June 2004 by Melissa

Laurie R. King

I’ve been a Sherlock Holmes fan for as long as I can remember, first because I read the stories, and second because of the Granada Television series starring (the late) Jeremy Brett. Because my reading patterns tend to be immersion-style (I read everything I can find by one author, all at once, then move on), when I was introduced to Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, I read the first three over the space of a weekend. I bought The Moor, started it, then apparently didn’t finish it – probably my reading mood changed mid-way through.

I finally picked it up again the other night, needing something to distract me for a while, and I finished it this morning. As with all the Mary Russell novels it’s fairly formulaic, but then, the original Holmes stories were, as well. The lead character – Holmes protege and wife, several decades his junior – is a bit too perfect at times. Yes, she gets hurt, but she still comes off as a Mary Sue too often. Still, the novels are enjoyable, written in a style very like the original Arthur Conan Doyle creations.

One note: While they can be read singly, these novels are full of in-jokes and references to previous adventures. If you haven’t read the original canon, or if you don’t read these books in order, much of it won’t make sense.

Catching Alice

17 June 2004 by Melissa

Clare Naylor

Sometimes chick-lit can be completely engaging and entertaining. A perfect example of this is Catching Alice, the story of a young woman who loses her boyfriend and her job, and is dragged to LA for a life-makeover.

While some of the situations stretch the envelope of plausability, the dialogue is good, and the depiction of the Hollywood publicity game is completely believable.

The Right Address

17 June 2004 by Melissa

Carrie Karasyov & Jill Kargman

I picked this up as an impulse buy because I’d seen a blurb about it in some magazine that compared it to The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada both of which I enjoyed for the guilty pleasure froth they are.

Alas, this book is nothing like either of those. Yes, it’s about a similar segment of society, but the characters in Prada and Nanny Diaries were at least reasonably three-dimensional, and there were some moments of normalcy.

The characters in this book are total cartoons, and there are no real moments of connection. It’s better, I suppose, than reading the back of the tampon box, but not by much.

Sushi for Beginners

13 June 2004 by Melissa

Marian Keyes

When I want to read a good story that includes not just a plot, but also fashion and other girly stuff, I pick chick-lit books. Marian Keyes’ Sushi for Beginners is just such a book. I finished it last night, and wanted more.

It’s fairly typical for the genre – women protagonists in their late twenties and early thirties, seeking better jobs and stable relationships, while wearing fabulous clothes and getting manicures. This time, the story is set in Ireland, and involves starting a new women’s magazine.

The characters were fairly realistic, and there were some sections that were moving, albeit in a predictably pc sort of way.