Coming Clean

There's no other way of saying this, so I'm going to get straight to the point. I want a Kindle. And not just any Kindle, I want the Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, preferably in graphite. In the past, I've come off as pretty anti-Kindle - you know, by pointing out their flaws. But ever since downloading the app for my Blackberry Curve, my PC and netbook, I've had this itch to own one. And the itch, now that X-mas is just around the corner, has escalated into a full-fledged rash. 

So why the Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device and not, say, the Kindle Wi-Fi or the Kindle DX? Or an iPad or a Barnes & Noble Nook? Well, first of all, I'm not a buyer into the hype of Apple computers. I have a Blackberry Curve and not an iPhone for a reason. Secondly, iPads aren't reading devices, even though they can be used as one. Not only are they an eye sore for me, they'd probably be a distraction. As for the Barnes & Noble Nook - well, let's just say they failed to hear my calls when the Amazon Kindle didn't offer an app for my Blackberry Curve.

To answer the first question, I refer to the chart found at Amazon:

Click to enlarge

While Kindle Wi-Fi's battery life is longer than the Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, it lacks one important thing - the FREE 3G service! As for the Kindle DX, well, price plays a major role in that decision. I could perhaps look into other readers - I have been known to stare at the Sony Reader from time to time. But I know what I want and what I want will make me one happy reader. Hopefully Santa Claus will leave it underneath the tree this year. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Peccavi: The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen

With The Surgeon, Tess Gerritsen gave us a killer with the fondness of blood. In The Apprentice, Warren Hoyt returns to haunt Jane Rizzoli's life - teaming up with another brutal killer. Rizzoli also partner's up with a new pathologist, Maura Isles. The Sinner brought us a desperate man wanting to hide his secrets. With Body Double, we learn of the monsters that lurk in our past. Vanish shed some light on the brutality of human trafficking and conspiracy theory. Now with The Mephisto Club, Gerritsen takes us into the dark world of mythology and dead rites. 

Peccavi, Latin for "I have sinned," is found at a grisly crime scene on Christmas Eve. The victim, Lori-Ann Tucker, is laid out in several locations in the house. It's the sort of crime scene that Detective Jane Rizzoli never wants to witness again. Along with partner Detective Barry Frost, Jane leads pathologist, Dr. Maura Isles, down the path of a madman, one they've never encountered before in their two-and-a-half years as friends. Digging deeper, they're led to an almost unknown group of people - The Mephisto Foundation - whose sole mission in life is to hunt demons. When members of their group start to fall victim to the madman, they fear the worse: They feared that their greatest fears has arise from the depths of Hell.

Gerritsen brings back a few old friends from novels past, including Father Daniel Brophy - as Maura Isles's love interest - and Dr. Joyce P. O'Donnell - the bitch who seems to turn up in every even number novel of the series. New characters include Anthony Sansone - multimillionaire member of the Mephisto Foundation - Gottfried Baum - also a member - and Lily Saul - who is running from a dark past.

The novel is deeply rooted in Christian, as well as other, mythology - mostly concerning demons and the Nephilim - the hybrid offspring of angels and humans. You don't need any background to these subjects to enjoy the book, luckily. Adding in characters who studied the significance into the plot line, Gerritsen made it easy to grasp (no matter your dogmatic preference).

Background of our killer is included in the text - much like Warren Hoyt's thoughts in the first two novels and Mila's (although she wasn't the killer) in Vanish.

At first, I wasn't too impressed with the idea of the Mephisto Foundation and its work. However, the open ending of the new team leaves me wondering if Tess Gerritsen ever plans on giving them their own series (which would be great). While the novel's plot line ends, several of the subplots are left unresolved - such as, Jane's parents' marriage and the relationship between Daniel and Maura.

All in all, the novel is worth the read - especially as someone gets her just desserts and two people fall at the hands of human nature.

I'm off to start the seventh book in the Rizzoli and Isles series - The Keepsake. Until next time, keep on huntin'!

Trudge

Took a walk today, Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library bound - that was a mouthful. It was a toss up between reading and writing at Apollo Park - or any park, actually - or trek my way down the streets of Edinburg to the library. I wound up at the latter because kids creep me out. Besides, the weather was cool and I really didn't feel like making failed attempts to read as my sinuses were sure to act up - they did, and the walk was horrible. But at least I got to see parts of the city I never see. 

Upon stumbling into the library, a young man greeted me. He was surrounded by my weakness - books! Gasping for air - from the sight of the books, not from my journey - I did my best to ignore him. I went straight for the new release shelf hoping to find George W. Bush's (true crime) memoir, Decision Points, there but it was all wishful thinking. And as if calling to me from a greater point of existence, I spot Elmore Leonard's When the Women Come Out to Dance. 

"I like your shirt," the young guy says to me as I pounce on my find before the lady browsing could take it from me. Nervously - why was I nervous? I haven't got a clue - I said thanks. I was - am - wearing my blue Nirvana smiley face shirt (a bad replacement for the black and yellow version of the shirt). 

Snooping around some more, I spotted Julian by Gore Vidal. Dunno why it spoke to me, but it did and I purchased it. The total price was only seventy-five cents!

I picked up the current issues of Writer's Digest and Psychology Today and flipped through them before walking around to find a good movie - with purchasing two books, I thought my book hunting at the library was over (and I made sure to keep it that way). I decided on watching a movie, considering it is Friday and all. What to pick, though? It isn't as if the library is known for its large selection of DVDs. I did happen to find a copy of a childhood favorite - Wargames, starring a young Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. The movie, FYI, is as old as I am. But what really sold me on the idea of checking out DVDs from the library was a foreign film entitled BenX. Because I'm bad at summary, here's what the case says:

Ben is a bit different. His life is full of strange rituals, and a mild form of autism prevents normal communication with others. As a result, he often seems to be living in another universe - while he is a courageous hero in the computer gaming world that consumes him, Ben is tormented by classmates and ignored by apathetic teachers in his daily life. As the bullies' relentless attacks push him over the edge and out of control, his online dreamgirl, Scarlite, steps in to help him devise a perfect plan to make them pay for their persecution. Director Nic Balthazar's dazzling debut blends fantasy and harsh social realism to bring us an utterly original and important film.

The film is about 90mins long, comes from Belgium - Flemish with English subtitles. It also includes a short film by director Ben Shelton entitled, My Name is Lisa. Running time is six minutes, and here's its description: Short mostly from the vantage point of an online computer diary, a young teenager deals with her mother's increasingly deteriorating mental state caused by Alzheimer's disease. The two films complement each other - they're both tearjerkers. However, you don't have to check out BenX - but you should - to watch My Name is Lisa. You can watch it here:

I'd say it was a good day. Now off to watch Wargames and relive my childhood. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

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Internet Shopping will be the Death of Me

You've got mail books! I ordered a copy of Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen on eBay about a week ago. It was just released this summer, but already someone was selling it for $2.49 plus shipping and handling - a total price of $5.47. Being the eighth novel in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series (seventh, if you don't include The Surgeon), it was a must have. I received that in the mail yesterday. 

This morning, I was treated to another book shipping - Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. There are two more books on their way from the same seller I purchased this from: On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict. The seller I purchased these latter three was Better World Books, a company known for funding literacy by selling books online. They also happen to be one of my favorite sellers on Amazon. No matter the price, if they happened to list an item I'm looking for, they're the ones I select to purchase from. Even if said item is slightly more than the other sellers - never too much, I think the most I've paid for an item was about fifty cents more.

I don't want to make this post about Better World Books, though. I'll probably make a failed attempt write something that glamorizes them - even though they don't need it. However, X-mas is coming up and I will have to purchase some gifts. And they are having a sale - 3 books for $10 or 4 books for $12. 

I'll "refudiate" this later

I stray from politics on this blog because I feel it offers no insight with books - except when they deal with politics, of course. I don't want to read Decision Points by George W. Bush because I think it'll be comical. I do want to know what went on inside of the man who managed to ruin this country's economy, our foreign relations and our education system. I also want to know how he makes an attempt to justify his war crimes. I also hold a morbid curiosity when it comes to Glenn Beck's Common Sense and anything by Ann Coulter. Not because I think they're liars - they're sensationalists who have no business making commentary on current politics - but because I like to know what the other side has to say.

I think the worse thing that came out of the 2008 Presidential Elections wasn't the mudslingers or the muckrakers, but a female vice president candidate. Sarah Palin has been a thorn in my political side. The "mis-educated" think she's a step forward. Others know she's several steps backwards. For the country and its women.

Comedian Tina Fey said it best in her acceptance speech for her Mark Twain Prize:

And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women-except, of course-those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape 'kit 'n' stuff.' But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years-whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know-actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster.

Of course, PBS cut it out due 'to time restrictions' and not something like political correctness. Luckily, the clip has been posted online and you can watch it here:

Watch the full episode. See more Mark Twain Prize.

Nothing good or intelligent has ever spewed from Sarah Palin's mouth. And I'm not saying this as a liberal, I'm saying this as an American. Yet, people consider her a great role model, the future of politics. Unlike Ann Coulter - someone I secretly suspect knows all her crap is just that - I think Sarah Palin believes everything she says is fact, despite the evidence against it. She's done more harm to the GOP than she has good, though I'm sure they ignore that.

When the cable network TLC gave her a nature show, I thought they might've been joking about it. What insight can she offer? How to destroy the environment? What shocked me the most was Oxford English Dictionary electing the made-up word "refudiate" as the word of the year. For years I have respected the OED, but now I'm questioning their decision. Wondering what goes into it. Are they attempting to make her more popular, lovable? Is this an attempt to make seem "smart" by insisting she's a word maker?

I fear the worse for the future of education and politics if Sarah Palin somehow manages to get elected as a presidential candidate. More so if she wins.