Pretty in Ink

One thing about this series that really bothers me is how fat-phobic and offensive the books portray Joel (aka the “fat” character). In the first book (which I read about 6 months ago but can’t remember the title right now), the author and main character seem to bend over backwards to knock down stereotypes and narrow-minded thinking (particularly about people with tattoos and little people like the Bitsy character). Brett is not just a tattooist and tattooed “freak,” she’s an artist with an art degree and people with tattoos aren’t scary, blah blah blah. Yet every time Joel is mentioned it’s as fat, eating, or being lazy because he’s just a fat slob who is stuffing his face every five seconds. I swear in one scene he didn’t want to walk the main character to her car when she was being stalked because 1) walking made him tired (because he’s a lazy fattie, and 2) he wanted to stop at the ice cream shop and get a cone !!!

Ok, on to Pretty in Ink. Unfortunately it’s the same old story. I don’t remember a time when his character was mentioned that his fatness or stereotypical “fattie” behavior wasn’t also mentioned. He hugs the main character and she was a little uncomfortable with the weight of his body against hers, she’s annoyed at him in another scene because he’s stuffing his face with a donut and got powdered sugar over her drawing, she brought a box of chocolates to work and he gobbled them all up and then went out to lunch, he’s on a diet program and of course cheats at every turn and of course drops out because he’s such a fattie he can’t stop eating, and to top it all off she has to describe how his fat girth was squished into squares in the ER at a hospital. It’s ridiculous.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Just when I think I’ve heard of everything.

In a Strange City

I needed something to listen to at work, and this title popped up on the netlibray.com’s home page so I decided to give Lippman a try. I enjoyed reading a mystery on the Poe toaster on Poe’s birthday, a ritual I’d never really paid attention too, but I managed to pick out whodunnit way too early.

This year was the first year since 1949 that the toaster didn’t show up at Poe’s grave. hopefully he’ll be back next year or someone else will pick up the tradition.

Doom with a View – Psychic Eye #7

I thought this one was very fast paced, but it worked and liked it better than the last couple books in this series. Worth the read if you’ve read the first 6.

Thriller 2

One great thing about this collection is that the stories are new, that can be a big deal if you read a lot of anthologies like me and keep seeing the same story in 5+ different books. I don’t think the stories were as good as the first, but their newness made up for that. An enjoyable read and nice variety of authors.

Happy Hour of the Damned

I think this book would be oodles better without the footnotes – they’re a little too precious for me – and I’d love it if the author scaled it back a notch. That said, I probably would pick up the second book in this series (if there is one and if my library carried it), at least to check out the first couple chapters.

King Baby

Hilarious!

I loved the Pale Force shorts in the dvd extras too!

Adventureland

Not even the magnificent Bill Hader and blast from the past ’80s tunes made this one worth while for me. :( I liked some parts, but not enough.

Killer Cuts: A Dead-End Job Mystery

Here’s another series that seems to get progressively worse, the dialogue in this one was awful. This has been a fun series with different dead-end jobs in each one (many of which I’ve had, so that adds to the lolz), but I’m hoping the series wraps up with Helen’s wedding. Probably not for 1 or 2 more books, but soon.

Undead and Unwelcome (Queen Betsy Book 8)

I think I need to stage an intervention and myself and just stop reading these. The writing is too awful, and it’s a shame because it’s a fun idea.