A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle

Rating: 3.5

T.C. Boyle certainly has a talent for writing. I love his style but sadly, I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as some of his other works.

This book alternates between the near future of 2025 and the not too distant past of 30 years ago....and a little bit of the time between. The main character is Ty Tierwater. In the year 2025 he's an older fellow who works for a rich musician. His job is to take care of the musicians menagerie of ugly animals....the animals that nobody else seems to care about. And mammals in the year 2025 are a pretty rare thing. See, there is really no biodiversity left because of global warming, and the earth seems to be on a fast downward spiral. Boyle does not paint a pretty future in this tale. I think it was well researched though and unfortunately seems all too plausible. So this story alternates between this bleak future and Tierwater's past, when he was an eco-terrorist. He broke the law, spent quite a few years in prison, lost his daughter (in more ways than one) and he did it all for the earth and the animals. Was it all in vain? Does he have any regrets? I won't give it away.

I thought this was an interesting tale. It's definitely not a cheerful story....though it does end in a slightly optimistic way. For some reason though (it wasn't the writing) I just didn't really get into this book all that much. Not as much as I thought I would anyway. I'm a big fan of T.C. Boyle so I was expecting to really lose myself in the story. Not so. A Friend of the Earth is sort of intriguing and a decent diversion but I guess I was just expecting better.

I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan

Rating: 4.0

I, Lucifer is positively brimming with wit and irreverent, really irreverent, humor. That's what saved this book when it threatened to get bogged down in one too many digressions. It was amusing even when I was slightly puzzled about what the heck was going on.

This story is told from the perspective of Lucifer, a.k.a. the"Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies....." you get the point. So, 'Luce' gets the opportunity to reenter Heaven with full forgiveness if he can live out a moral life as a human on Earth. I think moral is the key word here. As you can imagine, this is a little difficult for Lucifer. And besides, he's not so sure he even wants to do the whole Heaven thing again anyways. Regardless, he enters the body of one Declan Gunn for this little experiment of walking among us mere mortals and things take off from there. His deviations and ramblings from the plot are more entertaining that the actual plot. Actually, I'm not even sure there is much of a plot. But anyway, amidst the varied digressions are the real story of Adam and Eve, what it was like at the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ (or as Lucifer prefers, Jimmeny Christmas or Junior), and many more trifling anecdotes like what a dog's foot smells like and why the London Underground depresses God. If you are intrigued, want to know the outcome, and are not easily offended, then I suggest reading this narrative.

I, Lucifer is an interesting, if sometimes confusing, read. It's clever, comical and very British. I can't say I loved it, but I did get a kick out it. The end.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Rating: 5.0

A Walk in the Woods is my third, and favorite thus far, Bill Bryson book. It is laugh out loud funny as Bryson and his unfit and overweight friend Katz attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. Sprinkled in between all the hilarious hiking narrative are generous amounts of anecdotes relating to the trail and it's history. As the publisher says, "Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this fragile and beautiful trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, a lament, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is destined to become a modern classic of travel literature." I am placing this wonderful travelogue in my 'favorite books' category. It's that good.

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Rating: 5.0

I'll confess. I bought this book because of it's amusing title. But I'd read and enjoyed a couple of Mackler's other books so I pretty much knew what to expect. I was not disappointed.

The heroine of this story, 15 year old Virginia Shreves, is overweight and has major self confidence issues. She doesn't fit in with the rest of her family, who are slim and popular over-achievers. Everything changes for Virginia when she learns that her older brother, who she worships, is suspended from Columbia University for doing something pretty horrible. Virginia's earth shatters but she learns a great deal about her family and herself.

This book really comes from the heart. Virginia is a character a girl could really sympathize with. Publisher's Weekly says, ""The heroine’s transformation into someone who finds her own style and speaks her own mind is believable — and worthy of applause." When I read this it was just what I was in the mood for. A nice quick read with a happy ending.

Floating Dragon by Peter Straub

Rating: 4.5

Floating Dragon is a very hard book to describe so I'll just insert the blurb here:

Two monstrous evils.

This quiet suburban town of Hampstead is threatened by two horrors.

One is natural. The hideous, unstoppable creation of man's power gone mad.

The other is not natural at all. And it makes the first look like a child's play.

I enjoyed the book overall. It was a little hard to get into though. The beginning felt very unfocused and there were so many characters and places that it was hard to keep things straight. Once the story got rolling though it was very interesting. There are scenes in this book that are very memorable and creepy. I really liked how the effects of the man-made virus were so various and unpredictable. It did different things to different people and that made the story entertaining. I especially liked the man who painted his whole house (including the windows and roof) hot pink. The effects on many of the other people weren't so benign. If you are up for a long tale of the mysterious, bizarre and chilling, that takes some concentration then I would recommend Floating Dragon.

The Twilight Zone by Rod Serling

Rating: 5.0

I've always been a fan of The Twilight Zone with it's twisted and often dark tales. This book contains nineteen fantastic stories written by the brilliant Rod Serling. The course many of these stories takes leads to man being the true monster. I suspect some of this may be due to it being the early '60's. I think these are the scariest stories of all though. My favorite tales in this book revolve around what man does to himself and others. Take for instance The Monsters are Due on Maple Street. It's a story about how quickly neighbors and friends turn on each other when they think disaster has struck. Prejudice shows where it didn't before. Or another of my favorites, The Shelter. In this tale the neighborhood doctor pleads with his friends and neighbors to build a bomb shelter in case the worst should happen. They blow him off and spend their free time playing cards and having barbecues. When the worst threatens to happen, the friends and neighbors turn into animals trying to get into the doctors shelter. These are the kinds of stories that give me chills. There is balance though with tales of magic and wonder, like The Night of the Meek. In this story, a burnt out old store Santa finds a burlap bag that turns out to be much more than that. His wish comes true and he is able to bring happiness to the poor people down at the mission and the children who have nothing. I could go on and on about these stories, they all were fun to read, but I'll stop here. In this collection, "Rod Serling continues to leave us spellbound with his imaginative and unsettling tales."

Off Season by Jack Ketchum

Rating: 5.0

Off Season is a gruesome look at what happens when a small group of tourists meet with a band of cannibals in the Maine woods. And when cannibals are involved, you know it's going to be pretty grisly.

A group of six young people are relaxing in a rented cabin in the woods of Maine. Along come a sinister family of cannibals who live in these woods. They reside in a cabin and live like animals. The cannibals snatch one the tourist women and roast her like a pig and that's when the gory action starts. The rest of tourists try to barricade themselves inside the cabin...but that only works for a time. While this action is going down, a small town sheriff is in slow pursuit of the cannibals. The big finale, with the sheriff, the cannibals and the remaining tourists, is in the cannibal cave and is very....memorable.

I love this story. Being hunted down by a pack of cannibals is just plain creepy. The children cannibals with their little mouths working and their little teeth chomping especially got under my skin. But in a good way. I enjoy a good scare and this book definitely fits that bill. "Horror critic Winter calls the book one of 'remarkable elegance,' and indeed it's drum tight. Equally impressively, Ketchum uses the devastation of a group of tourists by a band of cannibals not to pander, as so many horror writers after him have done, but to explore with intelligence (and ferocity) the nature of evil and of the human spirit that can resist it."