What Looks Like Crazy by Charlotte Hughes

What Looks Like Crazy by Charlotte Hughes was a fun read. I give it three and a half stars. *** 1/2.

I think the first paragraph of What Looks Like Crazy was one of the best paragraphs I've ever read in a book. I was hooked right away. What Looks Like Crazy follows the professional life of Dr. Kate Holly as well as her love life. She is a psychologist and has a lot of crazy patients. Her secretary/friend Mona is a trip, and her family is hilarious. This was a light read which kept me smiling throughout.

What keeps me from giving it a little higher rating is that the characters were funny, but some of them were a little too out there for me. In particular, I couldn't find much affection for Thad's character. He is another doctor and is a former lover and friend of Dr. Holly's. I expect the patients to be a little nutty but Thad's behavior, especially with his brother Thomas is a little too much for me. It was cute at first but annoyed me the further into the novel I read.

It took me about two weeks to read this book, but the reason had nothing to do with the pacing of Hughes' writing. I used this one as my book to read during lunch when I had free time at work. It's only 261 as mass market paperback, so it was easy to keep in my purse and to carry with me.

There is a sequel titled, "Nutcase," but I don't think I'm going to read it. I enjoyed the plot and characters, but not enough to invest myself in another novel.

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson is the second book in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. I listened to the audio book version of Kiss the Girls. When it arrived in the mail, I received two cassette tapes, which took me two days to listen to while driving to and from work. From the beginning, the I was swept into the plot of this thriller because I already felt like I knew Alex Cross and because Patterson is an expert story teller.

Unfortunately, I was thoroughly disappointed with how Kiss the Girls was abridged. When ordering the audio book copy, I didn't realize I was buying an abridged copy. In my opinion, abridged versions of thrillers should be illegal because I felt cheated at the end. I'm pretty sure I know where the gaps in the story were because I felt jolted when suddenly Alex Cross and Sampson find the underground "House of Horrors."

Abridged version aside, I think I would have given the unabridged version five stars. I found myself wanting to drive around just to hear more of the audio book while in my car. Also, Time Warner Studios chose two different narrators. The voice of Alex Cross was very different from the other person reading the rest of the book. There were other sound effects adding to the drama of Alex's race to find his niece, Naomi.

Why did I choose to listen to Kiss the Girls before Along Came a Spider? Kiss the Girls arrived before Along Came a Spider did through the mail. Like Cross (see my earlier review), I felt this plot was self contained and didn't leave me confused by not having read Along Came a Spider first.

Cross by James Patterson

Cross by James Patterson was a delightful read. I give it five stars *****. Cross is the 12th book in James Patterson's Cross series. I read the mass paperback version and was enthralled from start to finish. I read it under two days. It was so good that I immediate went out and bought books one and two of the series, Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.

This book had several things going for it. I appreciate Patterson's use of short, straightforward sentences during scenes in which a lot of action occurs. He writes using short chapters. Many of the chapters were two or three pages long. I love this in a murder mystery because it adds to the, "I'll just read one more chapter before going to sleep" mentality of the reader. Patterson alternates in this series between first person narrative for Alex Cross' chapters and third person narrative for the chapters in which the killer is present.

From the sell copy of Cross, we learn that Alex Cross' wife is murdered in this book, and Alex has to find her killer. Wow. That alone drew me into buying the novel. As I mentioned, I plucked this novel from the middle of a series, and I wasn't in the least confused by what was going on. Cross is a self contained book, and I didn't feel cheated by not reading the preceeding books in the series.

Also, a lot of action happens in Cross. It was paced as excellently written thriller.

Crossing Over: One Woman's Exodus from Amish Life by Ruth Irene Garrett with Rick Farrant

Crossing Over: One Woman's Exodus from Amish Life by Ruth Irene Garrett with Rick Farrant is nonfiction. As such, I'm going to review it a little differently than I have the fiction works. Especially in the case of an autobiography, I think there have to be slightly different rules to measure a person's story. Unlike fiction, nonfiction writers don't change the details of the story just to make the plot more coherent or parallel.

With that said, I give Crossing Over four stars **** because it was a fascinating read. The style in which it is written is simple and to the point. I read the book in less than two days. At 190 pages, it wasn't a long book, but it was a good one. The inclusion of bits and pieces of the letters Garrett's parents wrote to her after she left the Old Order Amish community in Kalona, Iowa made the book even more personal than it already was.

I can't imagine the emotional turmoil Garrett had to go through in order to join outside society. To lose one's family and to have to start from scratch in learning how to live life in modern society must have been an utter shock for her. I learned a lot from this book, and I was especially pleased to read a first person account of the author's life after leaving the Amish because I feel too many times the Amish are romanticized in literature and in modern society in general. Garrett paints a picture of realism.

One of the things that made me stop and think after reading the book was that she didn't have many photographs by which to remember her childhood and family. There are so many things I take for granted in modern life that I can't fathom not having photographs of my family from years ago.

I think the thing that cemented Crossing Over at 4 stars for me is that the story itself and the way it was told was compelling. I felt like I knew the author as I was flipping through the pages. There aren't many books that come across so clearly for me.

And yes, I'm on an Amish kick right now.