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Saturday, April 11, 2009

"Wicked" Review

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
I would have given it five stars honestly, but I have to confess some of the sexual stuff was distractingly out there for me. It's much darker than the musical, but if you put aside any expectations of similarities, I found it a fascinating take on the whole story of Elphaba. It's much more cynical and political. Other than Fiyero being married at the time of their affair, I enjoyed their romance more in the book than the musical, if only because you get to see it develop more. Of course, it makes their story sadder. I thought the story got the most interesting at the onset of the affair and found it even more fascinating in some ways after Fiyero is discovered in Elphaba's flat. I really enjoyed it, but don't know who I could recommend it to.


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"Presidents of the Church" Review

Presidents Of The Church: Insights Into Their Lives And Teachings Presidents Of The Church: Insights Into Their Lives And Teachings by Truman G. Madsen


My review


rating: 5 of 5 stars
Madsen brings a conversational tone to his biographies - no surprise considering his books are usually based on series of lectures. He has had personal interactions with many of the Prophets and apostles and descendants of those prophets who died previous to his lifetime. Some stories are ones that are widely known among members of the Church, but many may not be.

I felt inspired by each biography. These were exemplary men, sacrificing for what they believed in, charitable, uncomplaining, full of faith, hope, and love. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about good upstanding men, or who might be interested in learning what kind of men have been called to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I like that Madsen doesn't feel it necessary to portray them as perfect, but he also doesn't go out of his way to dwell on perceived shortcomings - it is a positive look at them, but not a glorified worship of them.


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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

One of those dumb-funny jokes

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young
husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance
policy
on his wife with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her
killed.

A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side
underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie.'

Artie then explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a
spouse was $5,000.

The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't
have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money.

Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened
his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested inside. Artie
sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to accept the dollar as down
payment for the dirty deed.

A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Super Wal-Mart
store. There, he surprised her in the produce department & proceeded to
strangle her with his gloved hands & as the poor unsuspecting woman drew
her
last breath & slumped to the floor.......

The manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder
scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol' Artie had no
choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.

However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the
hidden security cameras & observed by the store's security guard, who
immediately
called the police Artie was caught & arrested before he could even leave
the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole
sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless
husband who was also quickly arrested.

The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared ...








(You're going to hate me for this ... )






'ARTIE CHOKES 2 for $1.00 AT WAL-MART!'

Oh, quit groaning, I didn't write it.

Friday, April 3, 2009

"Eon: Dragoneye Reborn" review

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman


My review


rating: 5 of 5 stars
I've got to stop picking up books when I'm not done with other ones. Definitely read this in 2 days and it's over 500 pages. No romance to speak of (sorry, ladies), but I was on edge the ENTIRE book and HAD to know what was going to happen next. The tension just keeps mounting and you wonder how on earth it's all going to work out. It just barely came out, but there's a sequel in the making for sure. I only got frustrated at "Lord Eon" for taking sooooooooooo long to figure out what language the Mirror Dragon stuff was written in. This was a fantastically written novel with real characters and great intrigue and action!


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