The paid companion by Jayne Ann Krentz (as Amanda Quick). This book was fairly good, actually. It only had two quick explicit scenes and the "romance" was neither overdone nor unbelievable. It even had the makings of a minor mystery. The characters were likeable; the plot was acceptable. The writing style was even pretty good. Still mainly smut, but ok.
Passage to dawn by R.A. Salvatore. Quite the adventure this time. I think I liked this book more than a good many of the previous ones. The Harpulls make all the difference. Nothing else changed. Easy reading, no thinking required, very basic story. What else can I say?
The penultimate peril by Lemony Snicket. As good as ever, but getting darker. It colors my views of the previous ones.
Perfect by Judith McNaught. If you don't look at it as a romance, as some kind of portrayal of real life, but as an unrealistic comedy, it's absolutely grand. The story was rather lame, although the writing was actually pretty good. I have read more poorly-written (referring to sentence structure, etc., alone) books that were able to make me cry. This book gave me only belly laughs at the absurdity of the entire thing.
The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book brings up a long of topics high schoolers will find relevant, so I think they will like it and be able to relate to it, and it would be a good book to teach from.
The boy in this book really reaches out to grab the reader, but gradually. He makes you wonder.
The phantom tollbooth by Norton Juster. Not only will kids get a kick out of itt, but I loved it, too! It's a basic quest story, but the writing, the puns, were absolutely amazing. My hat is off to you, Norton. Incredible.
The physician by Noah Gordon. Whether or not it's possible or likely that the events in this book happened does not seem relevant. They are presented as if they did, believably.
I enjoyed the author's writing style. Our main character developed nicely. What I really disliked, though, was how everything just kind of fell away at the end. All the detail is suddenly gone and entire years are skimmed over in the space of a few paragraphs, as if the author desperately wanted to be done with the book and is just wrapping things up for the reader's benefit. I may not have to read any more by this author.
Pirates of the Thunder by Jack L. Chalker. The story continues to be good and fairly believabe, considering the fact that it is pure sci-fi. I remember the author being a bit more crude than came across in the first book, but it came out more here. Also, I noticed some of his personal ruts-- like, any time someone new is introduced, one of the first things is the author gives a physical descriptions. Obviously you need to describe your resident aliens, but he has a pattern and sticks to it.
The plains of passage by Jean Auel. I'm not sure if her books are getting more boring or if I'm just getting tired of them. While I enjoy description and detail, these 5-page history essays thrown in are getting annoying.
I wouldn't recommend this book, or the series at all. (That doesn't mean I won't finish them, though.) The first one was pretty good, but they are definitely going downhill.
Pope Joan by Lawrence Durrell. This was a text-book-turned-novel that filled in the historical gaps with reasonable assumptions. It was marvelous, as far as the story (plot) goes, but it revealed a side of the Catholic church and monastic life that is not often displayed, and for good reason. I loved how the author addressed the reader.
The negative implications brought to mind such things as Angels and demons, The red tent, and other books that bring dogma or church history into sharp relief against reality.
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. I don't think this book can really stand alone. With its predeccesor, however, it is an interesting social commentary. It is for younger teens, though, so older readers might not find it challenging enough, either in terms of context or reading level.
Prince charming by Julie Garwood. This is pretty high quality smut, this is. It had, of course, the unlikely relationship, the lust/hate combination felt by both parties, the mind-blowing sex (if only it were that good), and the realization that the two cannot live without each other. This one had a fair adventure/near-detective story subplot. Overall, the story was better than most of its kind, but had a few instances when details or side stories added nothing except maybe confusion.
A trait all these romance novels share that I find annoying is how dense all the guys are when it comes to their relationships. Dude are not actually this thick, right? Also, there is always a height difference of like a foot, but the girl magically floats up 8 or 10 inches for all kisses and for sex. They never have any awkward moments. Unrealistic. Grr.
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