Nirvana by Everett True

I am still not sure how I felt about this biography of Nirvana.

Nirvana is undoubtedly my favorite 90's band. Probably my favorite band of all time. Kurt Cobain's songs were amazing. The band was amazing.

I found a lot of this book very interesting. The basic story was good, although every Nirvana fan knows the bones. The pictures were excellent.

My problem was this journalist told his version of the truth as the ultimate truth. The truth about the band, about Kurt and Courtney, about everyone involved with Nirvana during the years True was associated with the band.

It seemed self-indulgent to me. In some ways I felt he was as bad as the management scum he railed about in his book. Maybe he was a friend to Courtney, to Kurt, and the rest of the band, but he was also a hanger-on. It was clear he was juiced to be part of the cool kids clique.

When he could be objective, it wasn't actually horrible. He writes well, and he juxtaposes the quotes from musicians and friends of the band in ways that made sense, rather than the usual "insert quote from former roadie" crap. He sometimes had a hard time being objective, though. He writes like there is a little part of him who still wants to be Courtney's friend.

My other problem with the book is it is being presented as the biography of the band, but it's really about Kurt and Courtney. Toward the end, the author refers to the two of them as Kurtney, a term I find personally offensive . It trivializes both of them. In spite of the co-dependant oddness they had going, they were individuals.

Courtney was an artist on her own before she met Kurt. It has always irritated me she was painted with the villaness brush. I don't know her, but she has always seemed strong and troubled.

If she was such a big part of the book, where were Krist and Shelli? Where were the profiles of Shelli, and how she felt about things, and how Krist felt. How did Shelli handle Kirst becoming so famous, so fast? Dave, a latecomer to the band, is more prominent than those two. Don't get me wrong, I like Dave Grohl. But Krist is hardly mentioned. Maybe nuances of the Courtney thing again.

Remembering the truth over ten years after the fact is difficult, if not impossible. Even journals of events are from the point of view of the writer, not necessarily the whole picture. Remembering events is difficult. Especially in a fog of substance consumption and euphoria. Most people just don't remember events that well.

I didn't appreciate the author bashing people and bands he didn't like. I don't really give a crap he didn't like Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains, or Soundgarden. Haters have never appealed to me. If you don't like it - don't flipping listen to it. Snobs don't appeal to me either. Especially reverse snobs who only like bands four people outside of the family and friends of the band have ever heard of. Yes, there are amazing bands out there in the nether, even now. But there isn't any reason to be a snob about it. So boring.

I did read the whole book. I was planning to stop, but I couldn't. In a way, I suppose that is a statement in itself.

No matter where I finally decide I stand on the book, the facts remain. They are insoluble. Kurt's songs were amazing. The story of a band that began in Aberdeen, went to Olympia and became the BIGGEST BAND in THE WORLD for a while was compelling. The truth, well, we all know about the truth.

I hope the writer gets what he wants out if it. It sounds like he had a good time.

Joe Hill

Heart-shaped Box

Rocker Judas Coyne collects strange artifacts. When his assistant sees an online auction for a haunted suit, Jude buys it, for the full price. The suit is not only haunted, the ghost is both malevolent and murderous. Jude and his current girlfriend, who he calls Georgia, battle both the ghost and their own demons during the fight for their lives, and maybe souls.

I like a good horror novel, and Heart-Shaped Box was both creepy and well-written. The main characters were sympathetic without being gooey. I have to say, this was probably one of the best books I've read in the last month.

I give it a UUU
Three tub rating.

Watch this Space

New book reviews coming soon.

As soon as I read something worth reviewing.

It's all been fertilizer, lately.

Even the fluff has had an oder to it.

Charlaine Harris, Kelly Armstrong

Definately Dead
Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse, mind-reading cocktail waitress and ex-girlfriend of vampire Bill Compton has been called to New Orleans. The Vampire Queen of Louisiana wants her to settle the estate of her cousin Daisy, a vampire who had been the Queen's favorite before her marriage. While Sookie is dealing with the dead guy in Daisy's closet, she encounters the intriguing were-tiger Quinn again. She is pleased to realize he wants to date her - and not just because of her psychic ablilities.
The Southern Vampire mysteries are always a kick to read; Sookie is a likeable barmaid next-door who just happens to read minds, and her sense of humor and spirit keep me coming back to read more.

UUUUU = Five Tubs

BubbleBath tip #6
Always make sure you have everything you'll want
on hand before you step into the tub

Broken
Kelley Armstrong

Elena is bored. She is waiting for the birth of her child, and has been anxoius about them for her entire pregnancy. No female werewolf has ever been known to bear children. Clay, the father of her baby, and the rest of the pack are very concerned, both for the health of the babies, and for Elena's mental well-being.
When the Pack is asked to help retrieve a stolen letter, an apparently simple project for werewolves, the Pack agrees to help, not just to return a favor, but also to distract Elena from her concerns.

However, what seems to be an innocent letter turns out to be something quite different - the letter opens a portal that Elena and her Pack must close, as it is unleashing the horrors of the 19th century on a modern world. Not to mention the killer zombies....

I anticipate the Women of the Underworld books a great deal - and Broken does not disappoint.

UUUUU = Five Tubs

Wen Spencer, Julie Czerneda

Wolf Who Rules
Wen Spencer

This continues the non-stop adventures of Tinker, girl genius inventor. In this universe, the Elven world and the human world connect periodically. Tinker's grandfather designed a gate that would anchor the two worlds through Pittsburgh - which most of the time is on the Eleven dimension. The vicious Oni, from a still different dimension, were hoping to force Tinker to create a gate that would allow their armies to come through and inhabit both Elvenhome, and the human world. Tinker constructed her gate to self-destruct.

In this volume, Tinker hopes to repair the difficulties created by her gate, and comes to understand a few of the many differences between Elven and human cultures.

Non-stop action is a given; but the author is also able to show Tinker mature and change. The secondary characters are not as nicely fleshed out, however hopefully they will be in future volumes; there is a lot of material in the world Wen Spencer has created.

While many mysteries are solved, others remain for at least one more sequel, and I am already looking forward to Tinker's next adventure.

UUUUU = Five Tubs

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Bubble Bath Book Tip #4

If you are staying in the tub for a long soak, don't run the water too hot. Overheating in the tub can be just as bad as sun stroke, causing dizziness and dehydration.

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Species Imperative #1; Survival

Julie Czerneda

Dr. Mackenzie Conner, Mac to her friends, is a biologist specializing in salmon. She lives and works in a research station far to the north; an isolated area strictly controlled by land conservationists. She is displeased when her work is interrupted by a visit from an alien. And not just any alien, one of the Dhryn. It is the first time one of the beings has ever visited earth. Brynn, one of the few members of his species to venture far from home, is on a mission.

A mysterious and deadly force has begun to travel in space. It's advance is inexorable and un-stoppable. It turns verdant worlds into aseptic deserts with no life and little water. Archaeologist Brynn believes Mac's research holds the key to finding the mystery of the Chasm, worlds beyond his home world that have been bereft of life for centuries, just as the worlds in the path of this force are not being decimated.

During Brynn's visit the research station is attacked by other aliens, the invisible beings known only as the "Ro", arch-enemies of the Dhryn. During the attack Mac's best friend Emily is kidnapped, and the station is damaged, researchers are killed. The focus of the attack is Mac herself, who is whisked away by an interplanetary Force, which includes the mysterious and attractive Nikolai.

Suddenly the Earth-loving Mac finds herself on the Dhryn world; accepted as one of them, and privy to the mysteries of that world. Mac hopes to help Brynn discover the answers to his mysteries, but even more, she hopes to rescue her friend.

Julie Czerneda is herself a biologist, which may be what makes these books so enthralling. The aliens are both interesting and, well, alien. I like complex characters and Mac is very well drawn; a woman focused on her research but still very human and loyal to her family and friends. I bought this book and it's sequel some time ago, as I am a fan of Ms. Czerneda's other work; Web Shifters series, Trade Pact Universe, and others. I hadn't had a chance to read it until now, and I am so glad the last book is coming out in the next month or so; finally I won't have to wait to find out what happens!

Anyone who finds aliens and biology interesting would probably enjoy this book.

UUUUU

Meg Cabot, Patricia Briggs

Size 12 Is Not Fat
Meg Cabot

Heather Wells, former pop princess has recently run into a few difficulties. Her mother has flown to South America with both her manager and money. Heather has dumped her cheating rock-star boyfriend, and added a few pounds. But Heather is an optimist, no matter what happens.

In a cute beginning to a new mystery series, Meg Cabot introduces a bouncy, blonde, and slightly more curvaceous heroine than the norm. Heather is determined to make her life work again, on her terms. She's become a dorm director to take advantage of the free class tuition for college employees. She wants to get the education she missed. Her ex-fiance's brother, the family pariah, offers her free room and board in exchange for clerical work. When female students start dying in supposed elevator surfing accidents Heather becomes suspicious. Elevator surfing is a boy thing. When another girl dies, Heather starts investigating on her own, and the killer comes after her.
Light, fluffy, and fun.

UUUU 4 Tubs

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Bubble Bath Book tip #3 - Watch out for the cat when you are immersed in the tub. Sometimes cats don't realize there is water under all that foam...Ouch!

*

Mooncalled

Patricia Briggs

I read the description of this book online, and ordered it from the library. What a mistake! Urban Supernatural fiction is very popular right now. While it's one of my favorite sub-genre's, it is also on the verge of being over-done. However if the first book is an indication, this series (hopefully it will be a series) is going to be a favorites. Mercy is the owner and head mechanic - make that only mechanic - of an auto shop. The world she lives in is changing. The Fae have "come out" after centuries of hiding from humans. Now werewolves are on the edge of coming out as well. DNA testing has made keeping pre-natural secrets very difficult. Mercy has a secret of her own; she a shape-shifter - she can turn from woman to coyote whenever she wishes. Mercy just wants to be left alone, to fix cars and live her life in peace. She is happy with her quiet life, and if her neighbor Adam is the area's head werewolf, she can live with that.

However, her peace is destroyed when Adam is attacked, and his daughter kidnapped. Mercy takes the badly injured werewolf to the only safe place she knows - her foster family- who just happen to be under the jurisdiction of the "King" wolf of North America.

Well done, with interesting characters abounding, Mooncalled is going on my to-buy list, and I will be looking for the sequel - hopefully soon!

UUUUUU 6 Tubs

Haven Kimmel, Jennifer Crusie

She Got Up Off the Couch

Haven Kimmel

Haven Kimmel is an incandescent writer. When I picture the scenes in her books, I always visualize them filled with light. Her first book, A Girl Named Zippy, was about her young childhood. She Got Up Off the Couch is the sequel she never thought she would write. Taking place during the years leading up to her adolescence, as her life and family are changing dramatically. One of the most dramatic changes is the one made by Zippy's mother Delonda. For most of Zippy's life she's been ensconced on the couch with her bags of snacks and numerous dogs, but one day she gets up. She resolves to go back to school. After Delonda finds ways to deal with transportation, tuition, and clothing, she's off the couch for good. It turns out, Zippy's mom is brilliant. Her father is less than supportive, and even hostile to the change in his placid wife.

Among with the big changes in her family, Haven writes about the small things as well. A run-in with a mother cow. Her broken arm, and how it happened. When her family begins the finale stages of disintegration, her eye and voice remain clear, with wry humor, and pride in her mother's accomplishments, as well as love for her father. I will look forward to anything she writes, fiction or non-fiction, but I hope she continues her memoirs someday. I want to know what happens next.

UUUUU

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Bubble Bath Book Tip #2 - Bookholders designed for tubs don't work. They are likely to come unstuck right in the middle of the bath, and give your book a dunking.

Anyone But You

Jennifer Cruisie

This book was published previously. Even with the limitations of the series romance format, Jennifer Cruisie's storytelling will make you laugh out loud. If you're a fan of romantic comedy, I would recommend any book by her. Her characters are sympathetic, but definatly not perfect, her stories just weird enough to ring true. Anyone But You is known to her fans as "Fred's book." She explains in her forward, and it's a fact; the dog steals the show. Fred, the smelly, garbage stealing mutt Nina rescues from the pound is a winner. We may like the main characters; 40 year old Nina, just escaped from a boring life as a corporate wife. Hot, 30 year old downstairs neighbor Alex, the kind of guy that runs like a rabbit at the first sign a girl is getting serious. Alex's brother Max, even more of a ladies man, and Nina's "loser at love" best friend Charity add to the fun. One of the things I like about Jennifer Cruisie is her secondary characters are as interesting as her primaries, no cardboard cut-outs here. While "Anyone But You" is not her most complex book, it's certainly a fun read, and I was very happy to find it on my "Soon to be Released" list.

UUUUU 5 Tubs