Breathless with Anticipation

This trailer has left me breathless. I keep forgetting that Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea is getting made into a movie, and then something surfaces to remind me. If you haven't read this nonfiction book, do so! It is physically harrowing and psychologically fascinating. (Plus, it's not very long. You won't be saddled with a tome.) This will be a double-whammy, bibliophile film. Not only is it based on a book, it's about true events that inspired the American classic Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The movie version comes out in March 2015 which gives me time to reread and savor both the non-fiction and the fiction.

Review: A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife

by Robert Goolrick

Two words: erotic and morose. A book that is popular to recommend but definitely not for everyone. The sexuality is overwhelming - maybe that's your thing and maybe it isn't. The story is about the tension of revenge vs. reconciliation, and a woman-with-a-past is caught between those two forces. At times, I could predict where the plot was going, but overall, a complex enough style to keep me riveted. Kept me up late into the night to finish it and left me dwelling on the characters. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review(s): Bad Cat & Bad Dog

Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties and Cats Gone Bad by Jim Edgar

Not much to read in this book, but it is wicked fun! I enjoyed this more than Bad Dog because cats, for some reason, have a natural flair for posing.(Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Bad Dog : 278 Outspoken, Indecent, and Overdressed Dogs
by Harry Prichett, Rob Battles, and R.D. Rosen

I liked this book, but not as much as Bad Cat. The dogs' outfits are so embarrassing, it's painful. (Originally posted at PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: Dexter in the Dark

Dexter in the Dark (Dexter, Bk 3) 

by Jeff Lindsay

I devoured this book in two days! I found myself thinking about the tension during work and couldn't wait to get back to it. Felt that the ending of this story was a bit of a let-down, but I forgive that considering how thoroughly I enjoyed the build-up. My favorite so far in the Dexter series. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: Under a Flaming Sky

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894

by Daniel James Brown

Ditto what the previous reviewer said, "This book is not for the faint of heart." The book's narrative follows people fleeing - successfully and unsuccessfully - from a firestorm that raged across Northern Minnesota. I was "name-dropping" this one to my fellow Minnesotans weeks after I read it. Really got my adrenaline pumping. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: I Thought My Father Was God

I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project
Edited by Paul Auster

One night, I started to read this thinking it would be good 'bedtime material.' Each micro-memoir was like a cliffhanger that kept me turning pages. I ended up devouring half the book that first night. My pace slowed down as I came upon the darker stories in the War, Love, and Death chapters. Even the introduction is an interesting backstory about how the National Story Project started on National Public Radio. The 179 stories in this book are organized into thematic chapters (Animals, Objects, Families, Slapstick, and so on...) which serves 'mood-reading' very nicely. Very enjoyable book that keeps me coming back. (Originally posted as SquareSpot at PaperBackSwap.com.)