Del Rey, 2010
ISBN: 9780345522603
Available: New
Yet another literary mash up, Little Women and Werewolves is the classic tale of Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy, four girls trying to grow up, once rich, now poor, their father gone off to the Civil War and with werewolves running around. Unlike other mash ups there is no tongue-in-cheek take on the original, just a telling of the traditional tale with the occasional line, or scene, about werewolves crammed in. If someone spliced frames from a slasher flick into a high brow romance then peppered in some morals, you’d get the same effect.
Grand mimics Alcott’s style very well, even rounding the edges a bit. Readers who loved the original will likely enjoy this tale (particularly because Alcott also wrote gothic style novels, thus the set up of this being the “original” version of Little Women that was rewritten into what we know today is fitting). While it has a certain charm it also is unlikely to appeal to the contemporary audiences of most paranormal and horror books because of an overdose of generally repressive morals and a lack of plot. The book encompasses about six years in the girls’ lives, and a lot happens. Although the writing is often lovely, it seems as if just when the good stuff is about to get going, the narrative shies away for another lesson about being “a good little woman”. Overall, despite promising prose, I found myself disappointed. Those acquiring for public collections should be assured that there are better mash ups out there. However if the library’s patrons seem to have a taste for Little Women or the “new classics”, no doubt they’ll love this.
Contains: violence and some gore

ISBN: 978-9652294685
I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reader’s Program.

Of all the nonfiction I have been asked to review this thick tome is the first to meet all the criteria for a great reference book. First off, the work is authored by thirty experts in the Psychiatric field, including the editor Dr. Levav. There is no fluff, no anecdotal nonsense and no speaking down to the reader.

As the title states the book covers psychiatric and behavioral disorders in Israel. The studies that the book is based on take many things into account that many people would not think to, such as the economic environment, the influx of immigrants, war and sexual trauma in the region. Also the studies compare side by side the differences between men and women as related to the topic, and where relevant, the social and financial situations of the subjects. The studies in this work are thorough and conclusive.

On the down side there is the length. You are looking at 333 pages of hard, dry data and there are “out there” studies, like an attempt to find the link between obesity and schizophrenia.

Again I say that Dr. Levav’s book is of incalculable worth for anyone in the psychiatric field or any serious mental health worker, for the layperson, not so much. The heft of the work has ensured that it will not turn up on my reread pile, but I will keep it around for future research and I will use it as the yardstick by which I will compare any similar book.

Warning: I am rating this book DNF.

The premise has potential, Livvie is a Soul Catcher, gifted with the power to magically summon demons via painting them then banishing them by burning the painting. She is also a multi-reincarnated soul who is haunted by a soul mate and a demon who refuses to let them be together.

In execution though the book fails on nearly every level. Livvie is a character straight out of addict recovery show, rambling about relatively unimportant things one minute, setting up scenes the next only to ramble some more and finally update the reader on what they missed while she was rambling. It’s like the author and character have teamed up to avoid actually showing the story. Not to mention Livvie’s horrible drug use is more like Tylenol PMs and wine.

Apparently in the first few scenes Livvie dreams of Pig Face, the demon who has been killing herself and her soul mate for countless lives. Instead of burning the painting the painting flies out of Livvie’s hands in a sudden and fortuitous gust of wind. This of course means Pig Face escapes the painting. However the only way I knew that this is what happened, and that it was a major plot event, is because I read other reviews that explained this. These “major events” are written in a style that makes them seem convoluted, utterly unimportant and routine.

Pig Face apparently possesses the body of a man Livvie shows interest in, gains her trust after a few exchanged lines of dialog and leads her outside where he beats her and rapes her. The actual action (not that I’m eager to read that scene) is all off screen and only explained after a chapter break in brief retrospect, much like all the action in this book so far.

Livvie receives aid from her landlords, who, as Livvie is barely conscious, sum up everything that’s happened so far in the book (apparently they are all-knowing NPCs) in explanation to each other. These two go on to call what happened to Livvie “a downer” and explain that they are some sort of soul friends who know all about her, what she is, and who Pig Face and Ian are too. Rather than taking Livvie to a hospital to, you know check for brain damage and internal injuries, they just stitch her up themselves in their spare bedroom.

The hot mess of a plot continues to ramble on, with more actual on screen scenes, that don’t make much more sense, until about fifty pages in when Pig Face attacks Livvie again (in a police station, with a bunch of cops nearby, where they were accusing her of killing a guy she worked with, who killed himself in public, and who had no other link to her). Only this time Livvie calls to Ian (who I’m assuming is haunting her) for help and Ian ends up possessing the body Pig Face raped Livvie with.

I gave up on this book not much after, when more rambling started. I personally despise rape-as-romance plots. No amount of this style of writing or these flat characters was going to redeem this book for me, especially if it continued to spend the next two hundred pages alternating between “Livvie is crazy”, “Pig Face is brutally and gorily attacking everyone she’s ever known” and “Livvie needs to trust this guy who raped her in the second chapter because they are true loves”.

This book was just too convoluted, with Livvie’s completely unlikable nature, Pig Face’s cruel torturous slaughter for no reason other than he could, and the constant distractions from every ghost, animal, “boon” and spirit talking to Livvie (seriously, two spirits in the form of flies tried to protect her by buzzing around a cop’s head to distract him). The world building is so confusing I never had any solid picture of the characters, the places, or even the rules of the magical world. I cannot recommend this book, because I cannot think of a single avid reader that I know of who would find it an exciting, enjoyable read.

ISBN: 9781932603774

First off, the subject matter narrows the reader pool down to those living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and the people who care for them. But that is where the problems end. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Living with a Spinal Cord Injury is written by leaders in medical research and successfully avoids, or explains where needed, medical jargon. But the writing also isn’t dumbed down to the point of being patronizing either.

At first, I was skeptical about how useful this 200 page tome would be, but with the clear, helpful illustrations and truly useful tips about life style changes that will be beneficial no matter the degree of damage sustained by the patient, my mind has been changed. The unique thing about this title is that the authors did not focus solely on the effects SCI has on the patient’s spine, the book also thoroughly explores the effects SCI has on the patient’s other systems, such as cardiac, nervous and digestive. It also sheds light on the psychological effects on patients and caretakers. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Living with a Spinal Cord Injury is a pleasant, easy read, suitable for anyone affected by an SCI.

This book was donated to the Primal Faith Foundation by author Michele Lee.

Manny Rupert, an addict, a cop kicked off the force, an the ex-husband of a murderer, is back for round two. This time he’s been hired to go undercover in San Quentin and determine whether a sick old man in for vehicular manslaughter is really who he claims to be—the infamous Nazi Doctor of Death, Joseph Mengele.

That’s where Pain Killers starts, but where it goes is on an insane, gritty, noir venture through the darkest parts of society. Pain Killers is a humorous black romp if by humorous you mean “Oh my God they went there” and by romp you mean going by limo from prison snail back love shack to Christian porn sets to meth houses and mansions and back again. This novel is, to steal a line, truly, truly outrageous.

Stahl’s humor is not for everyone, possibly not for anyone that possesses an iota of sensitivity about religion, psychology, the human condition, addiction, sex, or just about any subject. But there’s a sort of victorious feel to seeing character so truly messed up still intelligent and stubborn and taking on the face of human evil. There’s more talking than action, so the pace is not forceful or fast. At times the conversations while interesting and amusing come off as off topic, when the point is to solve a mystery. And the WTF factor is, at times, very high. But it’s a wild ride, different from everything else out there which certainly has an audience in today’s marketplace.