Book Review: South Park FAQ

Katie September 26, 2014 0 Comments

South Park FAQ is 300+ pages of everything you may want to know (or perhaps already know) about the show South Park.  The book dissects episodes and what it is that makes the show so popular and remain popular over 10+ years!  There’s even a list of a bunch of the celebrities that have been imitated on the show (poorly).   One chapter is a break down of who is who in south park with details about some of the lesser known and well known characters that have been on the show.  The next few chapters follow with the A, B, Cs of South Park.

Probably one of the most thorough books about a cartoon that you’ll ever see – but if you’re a fan of the show or just want to catch up on what you’ve been missing for the past 10+ years, then look no further than South Park FAQ to find out the answers to all your questions and everything you’d ever want to know (or not know) about the show and its creators.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

There are few modern animated television shows that could survive over a decade and a half and remain as funny… or as stupid… or as sick… or as depraved… today as when they started. Even fewer can claim to cater to “mature” audiences, while their critics complain that everything about the show is immature. And fewer still where, for the first decade or so, one of the main characters was killed off every week. Then returned, no worse for wear, seven days later.

That, however, is the world of South Park, and South Park FAQ is a book about that world. A journey through the lives, times, and catastrophes that have established the tiny mountain town of South Park, Colorado, as America’s favorite dysfunctional community. A voyage into a universe where Barbra Streisand is reborn as a Japanese monster movie; where Kentucky Fried Chicken is a registered drug; where Canada is forever on a footing for war; and where we discover that even feces love Christmas. From Zebulon Pike to Chef, from Brian Boitano to Mel Gibson, from “Super Best Friends” to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, it’s all covered in South Park FAQ. Featuring A-Z coverage of the all the characters readers have come to know and the stories behind the episodes, it also includes an episode guide and an appendix of all of the songs featured in South Park.

Nothing is sacred and nobody is safe. Even physical and emotional disabilities are just another banana skin for someone to slip on, and the term “politically correct” has been translated into “oh good, you’re getting annoyed.” It is a place where … you get the picture. This is not Bambi!

Book Review: The Greatest Show on Dirt

Katie September 26, 2014 0 Comments

The Greatest Show on Dirt was written by the same author who wrote Nine Bucks a Pound, which I enjoyed reading, so I figured that The Greatest Show on Dirt would be a good read as well. It was a nice escape from the baseball romances that I’ve been reading.  This book is based on Lane – who after a night out with his guys ends up over sleeping and missing an important meeting at work.  This ends up with him getting fired, but his pal Rich works for the Durham Bulls and is able to get him a job there for the summer.

There is quite the cast of characters, aside from the baseball team, who help make the ball park run and tick.  Of course with so many people working, there are bound to be some personalities that clash as well.  There are several sub-plots going on throughout the book – there is a bit of a mystery when items are being stolen from the locker room and no one can pinpoint just who it might be.  Lane and his girlfriend end up breaking up because she doesn’t get to see him any more with the hours he works at the job and she shows up with a rich new boyfriend who seems to be a bit suspicious.  One of the interns seems like she may be interested in Lane, but her childhood friend (boyfriend?) keeps coming around to see her even though she thinks that he is immature and wants nothing to do with him.  One of the groundskeepers is only 12 years old and answers to “Spanky”…

Overall an interesting look in a day in the life of a guy who works at the baseball field and though I probably didn’t do it justice in my recap, a great story. Although I will admit when it ended I kind of wanted to know a bit more of “what happened next” (but don’t I always?)

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Minor league baseball is the land of dreamers, where young men endure months on the road, long bus rides, bad food, and constant pressure while they hone their craft and reach for the next rung up the ladder. Like the players on the field, the men and women who work for the teams put in long hours for low pay to be part of the game they love. It doesn’t take Lane Hamilton long to understand the appeal. When he’s fired for sleeping through an important meeting at the bank where he works, Lane hooks on as an operations assistant with the Durham Bulls. Every day at historic Durham Athletic Park brings something new, and despite the grueling hours, Lane’s too busy ducking jealous co-workers and amped-up relief pitchers to ever get bored. 

Set in the same beloved old stadium where Bull Durham was filmed, The Greatest Show on Dirt provides a look at baseball from a different angle. Players come and go, but there would be no games without a front office to sell the tickets, groom the field, and open the gates to let the fans in. A former Bulls employee who later spent six years covering the minor leagues for Baseball America, James Bailey has crafted a realistic, yet often hilarious, account of a young man’s indoctrination into life in the bush leagues.

Reviewers have lauded the colorful cast of characters, from foul-mouthed, 12-year-old groundskeeper Spanky Paul to subtle middle-aged cougar Faith Andrews, who’s looking to peddle more than t-shirts out of the team’s souvenir shop. Ben Steelman of the Wilmington (N.C.) StarNews says, “Lane’s co-workers are colorful enough to make Damon Runyan’s characters look like the cast of a Henry James novel.” And Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says, “[I]t’s not just believable, but is easy to imagine as being the starting point for a movie script–even with Bull Durham already a classic. Bailey doesn’t use baseball locker-talk for shock value, but keeps the reader moving at the right pace, fully locked and loaded, trying to figure out how this crumbling old minor-league park will somehow expose the secret to life for at least one person who feels disconnected, but is willing to listen to see if it’s speaking his language.”

Book Review: Resisting the Musician (a Head Over Heels Novel)

Katie September 26, 2014 0 Comments

This book took me a while to get through.  I thought once the story got moving I’d get more into it, but it never really ended up getting moving.  Lori owns a shoe company with her sister.  Her sister falls in love with a rock star – which seems to be no problem, right? WRONG.  He was originally the fiance of one of their clients and now he is her fiance… Oops! With all the bad PR they are trying to figure out what to do to turn things around.  Lori turns to Dash, an old bandmate /friend of Jake, Callie’s fiance for help in a gift for Callie to give Jake at the wedding – a song.  He’s a bit stubborn at first, but eventually they work out terms and he begins to teach her to play the guitar so that they have the music for a song for Callie to sing (Callie would write the lyrics).  Of course – then things get a little hot and heavy between them.  There’s some other drama too with Dash thinking that Lori may be using him and his name in order to get some good PR for the company.

This seemed to be a more realistic story than some others I have read, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t get into it. It had all the elements of a book that I should love – musicians, romance, etc. but for whatever reason it took me several days to read (and I fell asleep reading it at least twice!)  I’ll probably give another book in the series another try just in case this one was a fluke though.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Bridal shoe company owner Lori Hanover is in way over her head. First, her designer sister has fallen head over heels for the rock star fiancé of a client – talk about bad PR! Now her business is falling apart. Lori’s only hope in saving her company is making the world believe it was true love, even if she’s not so sure herself. Her best bet? A song. For this she turns to the most frustrating musical recluse in America, Dash Mills, a man who could pass for Thor’s sexier brother. And even though this former rock superstar agrees to help, it comes at a price…

When Lori agrees to Dash’s terms, he thinks she’s the one in for a challenge. But the more time he spends with this spitfire bombshell, the more tempted he is to play her—in more ways than one. But Dash left behind the rock and roll life for a reason. And seductive as Lori may be, if she drags him back into that world, this time he won’t forgive himself…or her.

Book Review: Embellished to Death

Katie September 26, 2014 0 Comments

Embellished to Death is the 3rd Faith Hunter mystery.  I don’t know what it is about Faith that all these murders seem to be occurring and somehow her scrapbooking business Scrap This is somehow always somehow involved!  Who knew scrapbooking could be so dangerous! 😉

In this book, she and her boyfriend are attending a crop and bringing supplies from Scrap This! to sell to the ladies participating. On the way there, her name comes up because her information is found in an abandoned car and the police think that it may be owned by someone who is committing identity theft. When she arrives, she is almost hit by a car and another woman is hit by a car and is killed.

Of course, Faith can’t keep her nose out of it and decides to try and help figure out what the heck is going on.

While it’s been a while since I read the other two books, this one seemed to have more death and action and more going on than the other two.  I think this one is my favorite of the three  don’t want to talk about too much of what happened at the crop retreat because I don’t want to give anything away!

If you are a crafter and a lover of good mystery books then you should definitely check out this series!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

“A delightful mystery no person who loves crafts should miss. A little town, a little romance, a little intrigue and a little murder. Join heroine Faith and find out exactly who is doing the embellishing—the kind that doesn’t involve scrapbooking.” – Leann Sweeney, Author of theNew York Times Bestselling Cats in Trouble Mysteries

When Faith Hunter agrees to help PI Bob Roget find an identity thief at a local scrapbook retreat, her friendly croppers’ weekend quickly morphs into a dangerous one. As croppers share their own memories, a killer collects them for her new identity, and doesn’t appreciate Faith in the picture.

Faith struggles to balance her professional, detecting and personal lives as threats and secrets keep her off-balance. Things turn deadly when a woman is killed and Faith is blackmailed. Truth and lies collide when Faith discovers croppers aren’t the only ones embellishing, and the results might end her life.

Books in the Faith Hunter Scrap This Cozy Mystery Series:

CROPPED TO DEATH (#1)
DESIGNED TO DEATH (#2)
EMBELLISHED TO DEATH (#3)

Part of the Henery Press Mystery Series Collection, if you like one, you’ll probably like them all…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery series brings together Christina Freeburn’s love of mysteries, scrapbooking, and West Virginia. When not writing or reading, she can be found in her scrapbook room or at a crop. Alas, none of the real-life crops have had a sexy male prosecutor or a handsome police officer attending.

Christina served in the JAG Corps of the US Army and also worked as a paralegal, librarian, and church secretary. She lives in West Virginia with her husband, children, a dog, and a rarely seen cat except by those who are afraid or allergic to felines.