Nekkid in death

This was my foray into JD Robb's world with Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Rourke in her IN DEATH series. NAKED IN DEATH(Berkley, c1995, ISBN 0-425-14829-7) is set in New York City in the year 2058. I am not a fan of science fiction books or fantasy so I avoided these books although they were touted as mysteries. After reading glowing reviews consistently I thought I'd pick up the first one. Only twenty-two books to go! This book contained politics, prostitution(legal!), blackmail and murder. What more can you ask for?
Oh yes. You can ask for the first sentence:

She woke in the dark.

Look for more on the Eve Dallas/Rourke books here as I will surely be reading the rest of the series.

Who let the dog out?

This morning before work I finished ANYONE BUT YOU (HQN, c1996, ISBN 0-373-77146-0), a quick and delightful read by Jennifer Crusie.

The book presents Nina Askew, a just-turned forty-year-old recently divorce and trying to decide if she can love and be loved with her forty-year-old self. Living downstairs from her is Alex Moore, a sexy, just-turning-thirty ER doctor with a family dynamic of drunk career doctors with tons of money, zero love.

And then there's Fred. Fred is the heart of the story. He's one of the most adorable matchmakers I've ever read in a book and for me, the book wouldn't have made it if not for Fred.

I've written about Crusie before because I think she writes great character-driven stuff and she has my vote for some of the best first sentences.

This book's first sentence was okay, but not my favorite:

The last thing Nina Askew needed was Fred.

Next up, JD Robb's NAKED IN DEATH...

Man Camp

This morning, before coming to the library, I finished reading MAN CAMP by Adrienne Brodeur(Random House, c2005, ISBN 1-4000-6214-4), a light and humorous story about men and how women must learn to live with them.

Lucy Stone and Martha McKenna are two thirty-somethings living in New York. Lucy is a biologist with a strong grasp on the animal species, all those except for her boyfriend; Martha is an acress and a woman tired of bad dates who starts a business called FirstDate, teaching men what not to do on first dates and what they can do to improve their situation to move on to their second. When things are looking hopeless for the population of all men around them, they half-jokingly create Man Camp, a place to leave the lattes behind and learn about manly things like jumper cables and handguns. They turn to Lucy's oldest college friend Cooper Tuckington who owns a dairy farm in West Virginia where they accompany several of Martha's recruits to learn how to be "real men" and find out some things about themselves in the process.

The first sentence:

As usual, Lucy Stone is waiting for Martha.

This was an enjoyable albeit fast read at only 212 pages, although I had some difficulties at times as it was written in third person, present tense which didn't have the same flow for me as third person, past tense does.

Being the fat kid

My latest read over the weekend was FAT KID RULES THE WORLD by KL Going(GP Putnam's Sons, c2003, ISBN 0-399-23990-1)set in the lower East side of Manhattan, starring Troy Billings and Curt MacCrae.
Troy is a seventeen-year-old fat kid (topping in at almost 300 lbs.) and is contemplating suicide when he first meets Curt, a sometimes-homeless boy taking up space in the subway stations at times. The two form an unlikely bond when Curt asks Troy to be the drummer to his guitarist in a rock band called Rage/Tectonic which gives Troy a new look on life.
The first sentence:

I'm a sweating fat kid standing on the edge of the subway platform staring at the tracks.

Although a book written for a teen audience, I really enjoyed this book in a "people aren't perfect, everybody has flaws" sort of way. I look foward to reading more of her work.