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December 30 2007: Reviews In Ten Words: December 2007

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Non-Fiction

  1. Sean Astin - There And Back Again: An Actor’s Tale, A Behind-The-Scenes Look at The Lord of the Rings: Much focus upon the individual, not enough on the production.
  2. Jancee Dunn - But Enough About Me: From Eighties Geek To Rock’n'Roll Chic - Adventures in Celebsvillle: Family girl sucked into the whirlpool of a rock lifestyle.
  3. Belle de Jour - The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl: Ex-prostitute gives an undeserving, cheating, ex-boyfriend one too many chances.
  4. Frank McCourt - Teacher Man: Train-of-thought recounting of teaching adventures in a high school classroom.
  5. David Morgan - The Gospel According To Monty Python Speaks!: Witty and entirely Python-esque tribute to the greats of comedy.
  6. George Orwell - Down and Out in Paris and London: Poverty is no longer just a concept, it’s a person.
  7. Marianne Pearl (with Sarah Crichton) - A Mighty Heart: Spreading the message of peace and acceptance of differences globally.
  8. Helena Frith Powell - Two Lipsticks and a Lover: French style essentially boils down to their insouciance and attitude.
  9. J. Randy Taraborrelli - Once Upon A Time: The Story Of Princess Grace, Prince Rainier and Their Family: Modern fairytale finds its true happy ending in middle age.
  10. Xavier Waterkeyn - Celebrity Crimes: The Dark Side of the Limelight: Entirety of Hollywood’s dark, seamy, murderous, drug-addled side is exposed.
  11. Alek Wek - ALEK: Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel: Autobiography with substance, celebrity obviously hasn’t lost sight of reality

Fiction

  1. Marta Acosta - Happy Hour At Casa Dracula: Continues urban myth that vampires are devastatingly charming and sexy.
  2. Jennifer Apodaca - The Sex On The Beach Book Club: Predictive, but amusing depiction of unexplainable lust, with some mayhem.
  3. Linda Berdoll - Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley: Pale imitation of a pale imitation, though with much sex.
  4. Elizabeth Bevarly - Express Male: Cliched spy drama, even lacking in a decent sex scene.
  5. Daphne du Maurier - The Glass-Blowers: The backdrop of the French revolution lends it much suspense.
  6. William Goldman (abridged by) - The Princess Bride, S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: Fanciful fairytale, complete with mishmash of characters, genres, and eras.
  7. Kate Harrison - The Self-Preservation Society: Charming morality tale of importance of living vicariously without fear.
  8. Georgette Heyer - Envious Casca: It’s always the bumbling fool you ought look out for.
  9. Georgette Heyer - The Foundling: Entirely captivating coming-of-age story involving the ridiculously wealthy.
  10. Georgette Heyer - The Quiet Gentleman: Written proof that you cannot always trust all family members.
  11. Georgette Heyer - The Toll-Gate: Romance, intrigue, mystery - to be expected of a Heyer novel.
  12. Christina Hopkinson - Cyber Cinderella: Internet terminology abound in this case of romantic whodunnit.
  13. Heather H. Howard - Chore Whore: Adventures of a Celebrity Personal Assistant: Can money make up for the humiliation of personal dignity?
  14. Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic And Baby: Being pregnant can only widen your market for shopping sprees.
  15. Karen Quinn- Wife In The Fast Lane: Woman as SAHM extolled, to the detriment of other options.
  16. Allison Rushby - allmenarebastards.com: From an internet-savvy POV, the details are entirely off-base.
  17. Patrick Sanchez- Tight: Too hesitant to take an actual stand on plastic surgery.
  18. Annie Sanders - Goodbye, Jimmy Choo: Title doesn’t actually reflect story, lack of delectable Choo descriptions.
  19. Plum Sykes - Bergdorf Blondes: Vapid excuse for chick lit, with sadly one-dimensional characters.

Movies

  1. Arachnophobia (1990): Unbelievably fake and deadly Venezualan spider hybrids attack in America.
  2. Atonement (2007): Confusing changing timeframes, punctuated with random bursts of typewriter clacking.
  3. Beauty Shop (2005): Classic “triumph against the odds” story, with an Afro-American twist.
  4. Beetlejuice (1988): Sadly dated special effects, like a kitschy fifties horror film.
  5. The Darjeeling Limited (2007): Deadpan retelling of a spiritual journey of brothers across India.
  6. The Fast and the Furious - Tokyo Drift (2006): Cars and babes, the staple of installments of this franchise.
  7. Mean Girls (2004): Hugely entertaining depiction of how bitchy teenage girls can be.
  8. Napoleon Dynamite (2004): Quirky and mellow exploration of a teenage outcast’s defensive attitude.
  9. The Notebook (2004): Romantic exploration of enduring love brings tears to the eye.
  10. War of the Worlds (2005): Severe plot lag problems, with action never reaching a crescendo.

6 Responses to “Reviews In Ten Words: December 2007”

  1. Wait did you read and see all that in just December? OMFG. Very nice and concise though.

    Reply: When I’m working seven days a week, I manage to get through about fifteen books a week…or two a day. I just read when there’s no pregnant women in store. Plus, most of these are flimsy chick lits…January’s list won’t be as long because I have some heavy biographical tomes earmarked to get through. :P

    Rilla on December 30 2007 #

  2. You are lucky you get to read at work. When there is nothing to do, we have to stand there and look pretty if we are cafe or walk around the store and straighten things if we are bookside. Note that we are a bookstore and if each of our people read two books a day, we would be much better salespeople.

    I read a lot on my own (not as much as you for above reason) and Ive noticed that I get sent many a customer when the associate they went to had no idea what book they were looking for (if the had description, not title) or if they anted a book suggestion. hmph.

    Skye on December 30 2007 #

  3. I just saw The Notebook too. Bawled like a baby at the ending. And to think, I was so sure it would be a completely clichéd movie - but the frame of the old retiring home kept it from becoming that. The acting was terrific too.

    Wish I could’ve read while working, but a grocery store just has too many customers for that. :3

    Mari on December 31 2007 #

  4. [...] Library—I’m definitely one for books, so it’s cool to have this page. But a way to make it more interesting for people to read would be to add little summaries (they wouldn’t have to be more than a sentence or two long; it could even be something like this). [...]

    Mobile Reviews » Review #30: Haecceity on February 19 2008 #

  5. [...] Library—I’m definitely one for books, so it’s cool to have this page. But a way to make it more interesting for people to read would be to add little summaries (they wouldn’t have to be more than a sentence or two long; it could even be something like this). [...]

    Review #30: Haecceity - Mobile Reviews on February 23 2008 #

  6. [...] Library—I’m definitely one for books, so it’s cool to have this page. But a way to make it more interesting for people to read would be to add little summaries (they wouldn’t have to be more than a sentence or two long; it could even be something like this). [...]

    Mobile Reviews on October 20 2008 #

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