Curtain by Michael Korda

This book was referenced in Martin Gottfried's awesome biography of
Danny Kaye, so I requested it from the library, and despite the fact that it's taken
me something like 6 weeks to read, I'm glad I got it. The biographer Gottfried
came down firmly on the side that the great comedian Danny Kaye was
heterosexual, but in this novelized account of the sometimes rocky friendship
between Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Danny Kaye, Michael Korda has his
Kaye analog lead Olivier into a homosexual liaison, which makes the Leigh
character Kaye's lifelong enemy.

In this novel, Korda calls the great Shakespearean actor who represents
Olivier "Robert Vane, n and Leigh gets the moniker "Felicia lisle." Most of the
book is concerned with the tension between these two, caused initially by her
inability to get a divorce from her husband even though they are openly living
together, their joint careers in Hollywood and on the British stage through the
middle, and interwoven with his waning sexual desire for her. The book
chronicles her breakdowns on stage, and looks at how the couple perform well
together, but how in their heart of hearts, they want to out-act the other.

Because my interest lies mostly with the character Randy Brooks, the
early part of the novel is more interesting to me. I'm sure if I knew more about the
careers of Laurence Olivier or Vivien Leigh, more of it would seem relevant to me
and I would understand all the references. But since I'm coming at the story from
the background of knowing more about Danny Kaye than the other two
thespians, there are characters who don't click for me, like showman Marty Quick
with whom Felicia has an affair and then kills near the end of the book. It would
be more interesting if I knew who he was supposed to be in real life.

However, that said, the book is very well written, and even if it does seem
crude at certain points, there is a strong enough storyline here to keep me

. interested through the impossibly long 776 pages. I recognize that Korda throws
a twist into the Danny Kaye narrative when he has his analog, Randy Brooks, die
is a plane crash during 'WWII, a mission he volunteers for rather than have his
homosexuality be revealed to the public by promoter Quick. As Kaye did not die
in a plane crash, I'm not sure how much of the Olivier story mimics their real
lives. As I've stated before, since I haven't read a biography of Laurence or
Vivien, I don't know where Korda's story turns into fiction: with Vivien's affair with
her uncle?; with Vivien murdering Quick?; Or at the heart of the thing, with the
Olivier-Kaye affair?

What I do know, is despite the ordeal it was to read through the mountain
of material here, the Korda novel was almost always entertaining, and read very
much like the juicy insider's story that, to a large extent, it probably is. I would not
mind reading more of what he has written, as well as having someone tell me
how it compares to the Olivier's actual lives.

Submitted by Gerti

Madison Avery Series by Kim Harrison

One of our patrons recommended that I read Kim Harrison's adult series but I wound up reading her young adult series first.  Her adult series sounds really good too but Madison just spoke to me and I ended up reading her first.  Madison's story starts out in Prom Nights from Hell.  I had really nice prom experience.  My prom date was a guy I grew up with and we went with two other couples.  We had an awesome time, unlike Madison Avery.  Madison is new to town.  She was sent to live with her dad after getting caught causing trouble one too many times.  She is at the prom with a boy, Josh, that she finds out is a pity date.  His dad works with her dad and they set the date up.  How humiliating is that?  So when Madison dumps Josh she is swept off her feet by a handsome pirate.  Did I mention the prom had a costume theme?  Anyway the handsome pirate ends up being bad news and Madison ends up dead.  The only thing keeping her somewhat alive is the amulet she steals from around the handsome pirates neck.

What you soon find out is that there are light reapers and dark reapers.  A dark reaper takes a soul before they do something evil while a light reaper tries to save the soul from the dark reaper.  Dark reapers believe in fate and light reapers believe in choice.  Madison didn't get culled by an ordinary dark reaper. She's going to be taking over management.  I really liked these books and the characters.  I am looking forward to Something Deadly This Way Comes coming out May 24th.

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

The first books I read by Ms. Estep were her young adult Mythos Academy series books.  Unfortunately the library does not own them.  If you want to read them I suggest putting in a purchase request.  They were really good.  Anyway after reading them I found out about this series and yeah the library does own them.

The Elemental Assassin series is about Gin Blanco.  She is the most feared assassin in the South and she is known as the Spider.  When shes not busy killing people you can find her at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland.  Gin is a Stone elemental.  She can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath her feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains.  She also has Ice magic which comes in hand to make the occasional lock pick or knife.  But she doesn't use her powers on the job unless she absolutely has to, call it professional pride.

When Gin takes on a job that seems almost to good to be true, it ends up being that way.  She ends up double crossed and her handler, Fletcher Lane, ends up dead.  Since her handler was also like her father having taken her in off the streets at 13 she wants revenge and to find out who is behind everything.  With the help of Finn, Fletcher's son and her adopted brother, and sexy Detective Donovan Caine Gin sets out to get her man or woman as the case may be.

I have really enjoyed this series so far.  I'm on book 4 right now.  Six books have been published so far.  Book 7 is coming out really soon and she will be writing 3 more after that.

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult
(5 out of 5)

Desires of the Dead is the second book in The Body Finder Series.  This books starts out a few months after The Body Finder.  Violet right away finds a body of a little boy and she starts getting calls from a Sara Priest of the FBI.  Sara and her associate Rafe know Violet has some sort of ability and want her to work with them.  Violet doesn't want to get involved.  She has kept her secret this long and doesn't feel like sharing now.  Then she becomes the object of someones dangerous obsession.  Normally she would turn to Jay but he has started hanging out with the new kid Mike more and more and since becoming a couple she feels like their relationship has changed a lot.  When Violet starts digging into Mike's tragic family history she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Violet and Jay stumble a little in their relationship in this book but I think that's normal when you go from being best friends to being girlfriend and boyfriend.  I think Violet overreacted a little.  Your partner isn't always going to agree with you and that can hurt.  You can't break up with them over everything they disagree with you about.  I know this was a big thing but she should have talked with him sooner then she did.  Because he did end up being right about part of it.  You learn as you go and every relationship has their trials.  I liked this one just as much as the first one and I am anxiously awaiting the third one.  There will be a fourth book.  Yeah!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult
(5 out of 5)

I really really enjoyed this book.  Once I read the excerpt provided on the authors website I couldn't even wait to get it at the library I decided to buy the e-book.  I read a lot, so it's not like I haven't read this type of story before but it was the way she told the story.  It drew me in and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  I had to wait a whole day to buy it since my computer decided to get a virus and it was a Saturday/Sunday thing and the book wouldn't be in the library until Monday.  But my husband fixed my computer and on Sunday I bought it and I had it read by that night and I had to read the next one.  Thankfully I had the forethought to order that one with the first one.  I was able to pick that up on Monday.  Since I was off that day I had that read in one day.  These books are just that good.  Or at least I think so.  Now I have to wait for book three since the library doesn't have it. 

Violet Ambrose is a typical sixteen year old when it comes to her first issue.  She is crushing hard on her best friend Jay Heaton.  They have been friends since childhood and she's not sure what do about these new feelings she has towards him.  Then when it comes to the second issue it isn't so typical.  She is able to sense dead bodies.  Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.  At first it was only dead animals that called to her.  But then when she was eight she found a murdered young girl.

Violet never has thought of her power as a gift but now that her town is being terrorized by a serial killer she may be the only one able to stop him.  With the help of Jay she sets out to find the killer.  She may even end up falling in love along the way if she doesn't become prey herself.

I think that the New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray says it best about this book, "You'll be drawn in by the love story-and kept up all night by the suspense." from the front cover.

Enthralled by Various Authors

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I came across Enthralled because I wanted to read the story in it by Kelley Armstrong.  Then after I kept reading it because it had so many great stories by the other great authors.  My only complaint is that I hate short stories.  They are just too short.  They just start to get really good and then they are over.  But this anthology has quite a few authors in it that have short stories from their series.

Kelley Armstrong's Facing Facts continues Chloe Saunders story from The Darkest Powers series.

Melissa Marr's Merely Mortal has Keenan and Donia from her Wicked Lovely series.

Jeri Smith-Ready's Bridge is about Logan from her Shade trilogy.

I found a great new book series and author Kimberly Derting (reviews to come) her story Skin Contact is wrapped in the world of her Body Finder Series.

Rachel Caine's Automatic is about Michael from her Morganville series.

There are several other great stories and they may have to do with series but I'm not familiar with them.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

The Calling is the second book part of the second trilogy in the Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising series.  Let me try and break it down.  The Darkest Powers series started with Chloe.  Those books were The Summoning, The Awakening, and The Reckoning.  In this trilogy you learned about the Edison group and Project Genesis, which happened to be Chloe, Derek, Simon, Tori, and the other kids.  Chloe is a necromancer, Derek is a werewolf, Simon is a wizard, and Tori is a witch. 

Then I was excited to find out that there is a short story called Facing Facts continuing right after The Reckoning in the anthology Enthralled.  If you go here http://www.darkestpowers.com/blog/ and start with May you get to read a free story from Derek's point of view that starts off from the story in Enthralled.  But you better hurry because I don't know how much longer it will be on the blog for free.  And it's a good story.  I love these characters.  I wish she would write more about them.  That's probably why I like the Darkness Rising series so much because it's same world and at the end of this book it hints towards a run in with these characters.  My fingers are crossed.

In  the first book The Gathering you meet Maya.  You find out that Maya lives in a relatively small community that is also run by the St. Clouds which are part of the Edison Group.  Maya has a best friend Daniel and then she meets Rafe and finds out she is a skin walker.  She can shift into a cat.  At the end of The Gathering there is a forest fire and Maya, Daniel, Rafe, Nicole, Haley, Samantha, Corey, and the Mayor which is Nicole's dad are airlifted out in a helicopter.  That is how The Calling begins.

When The Calling begins it becomes apparent right away that the pilot isn't taking them where he says he is and it quickly spirals out of control.  Rafe falls out of the plane, the plane crashes, and the mayor dies.  Now they are stranded in the middle of nowhere hunted but people they don't know.  The kids soon find out that they were experiments in Project Phoenix and that Project Genesis was a failure. Oh and Maya's biological father is one of the men after them.  Towards the end of the book all have been captured but Maya, Daniel, and Corey.  All they have is a contact name and no way of knowing how to find him.  I am so ready for the third book but unfortunately it probably won't be out until next year.  I always seem to be waiting.