Yay for Books!! - Some long overdue reviews...

Thunder rolls across the heat-ravaged city.  Lord please let this mean there will be rain to bring us some relief...



Indian Maidens Bust Loose by Vidya Samson (Book # 29 of 2012)

      This was a fabulous and witty look into the lives of modern-day 20-something Indian women.  I absolutely adored every word!  The first person narration comes from Nisha (a girl obsessed with romance novels) who still lives with her parents and grandmother, along with her sister Vinita (a girl who registers on the genius scale).  Her family is actually living in her grandmother's (Naani's) house, and throughout the story, you can see the ramifications of this as the father slowly grinds on everyone's nerves.  Apparently, this living situation is fairly standard for young women in India, even though both of the sisters had already graduated from college.  Their parents, especially the father, have made it their mission to match them with a husband.  But this isn't even the funniest part, their cousins and aunt (mom's sister) come to visit from the US and most of the ridiculous and lol occurrences are due to Nisha's efforts to entertain her kin and the hijinks that the cousins somehow always manage to be a part of.  It's difficult to completely capture all that occurs in this novel without rewriting the whole thing, as it's a never ending roller coaster ride of crazy happenings, blunt honesty, and melt-your-heart romance (this last one is more towards the end of the book - but it's wonderful).  The ending is 100% perfect and I couldn't have asked for more in a fun, out-of-my-usual read.
      The only thing I had any problems with was the broken English used by the older people in the story, but the reasoning was deftly explained and the whole notion of broken English just became a necessary part of this tale.  Essentially, it was the older people's way of trying to up their social status - and Nisha and Vinita frequently knocked their elder's mistakes, which just added to the honesty and witty frustration inherent in this 5/5 novel.

Note:  I received this in a member giveaway on LibraryThing.  All of the above is 100% honest.


The Storm is Coming: An Anthology edited by Sarah Holroyd (Book #30 of 2012)

If you enjoy reading super depressing and fairly disturbing stories...then this is the book for you.  It certainly was NOT for me.  I'm not sure what I really expected after reading the synopsis, but this wasn't it...  I think it was the last sentence of the synopsis that hooked me - "But, as is always the case after a storm passes, you will also find life beginning anew."  Yeah...maybe a couple of the stories have a victorious ending, but the vast majority of them just left me feeling extremely uncomfortable.  Also, even though the synopsis makes it seem as if at least half of the stories are storm related, most of them are about abusive spouses and horrible human beings.  I guess having gone through the big tornado on April 27th of last year, I was looking for an anthology that focused on the sunshine after the storm and how the human spirit and "Mother Nature" have an incredible ability to bounce back from adversity.  If that's what you're looking for too, then don't look here...

Note:  I received this in a member giveaway on LibraryThing.  All of the above is 100% honest.

Zombies of the Apocalypse by Kevin Michael and Lacy Maran (Book #31 of 2012)
This one was great!  Talk about a man's man's novella lol.  It's like a hardcore version of Spike TV in book form.  A much-welcome mindless romp through a zombie-infested country.  Be aware: profanity, slight-male chauvinism, and a shoot 'em up attitude abound - hence the Spike reference.  Still definitely fun though, and short too, so you'll finish it in no time.

Note:  I received this in a member giveaway on LibraryThing.  All of the above is 100% honest.






"Real Lies" by Liana Brooks [Free for Kindle] (short story - so still #31)

Hmmm...this was a very short story and was fairly intriguing, but so much more could've been done with it.  I felt a little gipped by the ending and wished that it had been fleshed out a little more.  Oh well, it was free, and at least thought provoking.