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Hi all! I generally read two or three books a week, and figure it can't hurt to post some mini-reviews here. Here's the first, reposted from the books forum:

I just finished Cell by Stephen King. It was an interesting book dealing with the idea that terrorists rigged cell phones to make people go crazy, creating a worldwide apocalypse. Overall I enjoyed the story, but I think it's probably my least favorite Stephen King book I've read so far.

Most of Stephen King's books start deliberately, building up to the plot. This one shoves you into the middle in the first couple of pages. It is gripping, but it doesn't have the same character development I'm used to in King's books. Usually he inserts background even for minor characters. here, even Clay, the main character, seems a little flat. You don't get as full a picture as usual, and I think this hurts the story.

I am alwas interested in the person a story uses...Stephen King typically writes in 3rd person limited, but switches between characters so that you get multiple viewpoints. Duma Key, King's most recent, is in 1st person, which is different, but works well. Cell uses 3rd person limited, but sticks with Clay, creating a much more narrow world than usual. Weirdly, it does switch to one of the othe rcharacters to relate a dream, but only briefly. I think the entire rest of the story is from Clay's viewpoint, and I am not sure why the one aberration was included.

As an aside, I like the regional descriptions. I grew up in Massachusetts, and this book begins in Boston. One character even says "That'll get you a stretch in Walpole..." meaning the Walpole State Prison, right next to where my Dad used to work. Just neat stuff if you're from the area.

Thanks for the reviews. I was wondering what Cell was about. I don't think I've read a Stephen King book yet, but my husband likes them.

i am reading dream a little dream by susan elizabeth phillips and it is fantasic! i got into her characters in the first thirty pages and i cryed for them in the first sixty. its about this single mother who is spurned from this town because she was the wife of a televanglist who became corrupted and screwed(sorry if this offends any one) this town over. the main man is a troubled man whose wife and child died. she needs work to feed her son, he need help but doesn't want a woman to work. so he pays her slave wages to keep her there but also gives her a place to live, clothes, a car to borrow, and other things that help her and her son. shes sassy but sweet when she needs/wants to be. she helps some of the minor characters who get a smaller story inside the big story but its still really good. the woman is a shy doormat that comes out of her shell when she's been spurned by her crush of many years (a pastor). its really good i recomend anything from her

To Reign in Hell by Gene Wolfe, one of the greatest writers I've had the pleasure of reading.

This is a new spin on a very old classic we all know, the banishment of Lucifer and friends from heaven. If you have an open mind about religion then this thing is awesome! It takes you through a not so utopian heaven and shows how even holy beings can fall prey to very human emotions. It still tickles me to this day how one insignificant angel mucked everything up.

Sorry for the bad review but all my friends have told me I just kill talking about this book.

I might try to read that one. It sounds up my alley biggrin Sadly my two libraries I go to don't have it. They have plenty of other things by Gene Wolfe. You also made me want to read The Mist. I can find that one easily.

What's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle about exactly? You didn't really give a summary.

OK, I finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. As I've said elsewhere, I am not a huge fan of Dan Brown, but even so I was greatly disappointed. There's a "national security crisis" that 400 pages later fizzles into an anticlimax, as well as he secret mysteries...which are finally revealed in pages of meaningless blather. What a waste of paper.

I've heard of the Stainless Steel Rat books but never read one.

I just finished The Chocolate Cat Caper, which is a "cozy" mystery where the main character is working at her Aunt's chocolate shop...and one of the chocolates end up poisoning someone.

I wouldn't say it's great writing or a great story, but it was a quick, light read and I have nothing bad to say about it. As I posted elsewhere, the reason I looked this book up was that the author shared my last name...but then I found out it's only a pseudonym. Oh, well.

I just finished The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. It's not much like his usual writing. It's a short novel, and is mainly a couple of old guys who put out the small weekly newspaper telling the story of an unexplained local mystery to the young woman interning with them.