Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am...

Sometimes, there's nothing like a good action movie novel.

I don't read them very often, but when I do, they tend to be pretty exciting. Steve Berry's latest novel The Jefferson Key falls in this category.

My sources were correct in telling me that despite it being a 7th installment in a series about the ass-kicking Cotton Malone, the story was still very accessible to me. (And it's a good thing too... because this book has armed me with a host of pirate-torture techniques I'm not afraid to use on people who cross me. Except they're really graphic and gross, and I would definitely never be able to stomach seeing them performed in person considering I could barely read those parts. Which reminds me... Disclaimer: This book is not a good read for the faint of heart or weak of stomach).

That was the only "problem" with the novel; it reads like a movie, so if you're like me and create pictures of everything in your head while you read, you're in for a treat. Normally this isn't a problem (and it really isn't one here), unless you enjoy visualizing eyeballs popping from their sockets. (I wasn't joking about the gruesome happenings).

Seriously though, it was a great story, with exciting insight into modern day piracy, US Intelligence politics and corruption, and just enough great one-liners to keep you reading into the next chapter long after you vowed to put the book down for the night.

That's the Wham, Bam.

Now, for the Thank You, Ma'am.

Next up off my bookshelf is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Another one of those novels that found its way bumped up on the "To Read List" because of an impending movie due for release later this summer. (I've always been a "read first, watch later" kind of person. It takes longer to read a book than watch a movie so since I invest much more time in reading than I will watching, I don't want to know how it ends when I sit down to read... But that's just me).

I should admit though, that although I've seen the book in the bookstores for quite some time, it wasn't until I saw the trailer for the film that I was so enticed to read it.

The novel follows the story of three women who come together in a 1962 Mississippi town to make a change.

"In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t."

After all the swashbuckling in The Jefferson Key (okay, there wasn't any of that, but I needed to use the word once when writing about a book that highlights piracy), I think I'm due for a more emotional read.

Sometimes I just can't help (nudge, nudge) but want to read something closer to the Chick Lit variety.

Happy Reading!