Mean Streets - Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green, Thomas E. Sniegoski

This is a compilation of four short stories by these four authors centered around one of their major book series with the idea being to draw in a reader who already likes one of the other authors and interest them in a new one. Being as each story is completely different, different realm, different world, different rules, I'll go through each one individually.
Butcher - I wasn't impressed and thought overall it wasn't a good representation of his books because the story was so short it had nowhere to go, but is was in the proper styling. Meh.
Richardson - I didn't like the first book I read by her, and this is the same character. It was written ok, but kinda boring. The best character was the dog who did nothing but follow her around.
Green - I destroyed Green in my first review of him. This was a different set of characters in a different realm, but it still sucked. I just don't like anything this man does. I have similar complaints to the last time, poorly written with jumps where I got lost, weird and kinda pointless story, cliched characters. This ensures that I won't be reading any of his other stuff. (ha, the opposite of the desired effect)
Sniegoski - I'd never heard of him before. The story and characters were ok. The dog talks, I like that. I might pick up one of his books, but it hasn't rocketed to the top of my list either.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

Holy cow! EVERYONE needs to read this book! Henrietta Lacks is the origin of the HeLa cells, which are the first immortal human cell line cultured, and the research done on them has touched every single one of you in some way. They lead the way for creation of the polio vaccine. They are the reason we figured out that HPV causes cervical cancer (exactly what happened to Henrietta). They caused the biggest scientific set back ever when they contaminated lots of other cell lines. Yet, despite all this, Henrietta's family didn't even know about it until decades later, was never monetarily compensated, and I would imagine that none of her children ever even understood/understand what any of it means.
This book is a fascinating look into the history of cell culture, consent and the terrifying experiments burdened by the poor that are only now coming to light.
A book like this, spanning so much time, so many places and such a broad range of characters, I thought would be boring or at least difficult to follow. It is neither. It is fun and fascinating and frustrating, all at once. I may be showing my nerd side a little too much here, but I really thing you should read it.

Bad Girls Don't Die - Katie Alender (Bad Girls Don't Die, Bk 1)

This was a totally at-random selection.  The characters were ok, but a bit overplayed. The pace was good. The plot, while obvious, didn't have any gaping holes. The styling was very good. I believe this is the author's first book, and that being the case, it's reasonable. Not horrible, but certainly not one I'd run around recommending to anyone because it is too simple. Young readers might enjoy it, but I don't know any of those. This is the type of book I would have loved at age 11 or 12.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

This book should be titled "Why Everyone Needs a Job" or "Why Being a Housewife is Unsatisfying to all but the most Simple of Minds". From the beginning, Madam Bovary is looking for meaning in her life and keeps trying to find it in one of the few outlets a woman has access to in this era. Today she could have a career, or travel. But during this time, she could only look for it in men, which, unsurprisingly, doesn't work. This mistake is still repeated today: Others cannot give meaning to your life. You must find it yourself. It is the perfect example of how the human spirit withers without the passionate pursuit of goals.  In her search for something to give her life meaning, to find excitement, she devolves into the most pathetic of creatures.
Also, if I hear/read the work "eunni" ONE MORE TIME, I'm gunna lose it!

Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

Steinbeck is capable of creating a beautiful picture. I love his descriptions of the natural world in this book. It's too bad he messes it up with a pointlessly meandering story about nothings doing nothing. I wish he could have written something captivating. He had the potential. He squandered it on uselessness the same way the characters of this book do.

Caribbean - James Michener

This book is a series of short historical fiction stories based across the islands in the Caribbean.  It begins with the native Carib and Arawak peoples all the way up to the Cuban immigration into Miami in the 80's. Once you hit the 20th century, it gets pretty boring, but prior to that, I would absolutely recommend it to near anyone. Because it has short stories spread across different times and different islands, you could pick it up and put it down anytime and not lose anything because the stories are concise and separated from each other.
I was particularly fond of the politics of the islands during the periods of slavery. No matter how much I read on the subject, I cannot imagine justifying slavery.  Every slave revolt had the potential to succeed and I'm always surprised more didn't.
A great read, and recommended to everyone.

The Desert Spear - Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle Series, Bk 2)

I definitely enjoyed the first of this series. However, this book starts out in the southern region of this fictional land and I did not like that part.  It was necessary to build the story of who Jardir was and where he came from and why he thought he was the Deliverer, but I detest the culture of the area and consequently wanted to read as little about it as possible. I took a long time getting through the first third of this book because it was only about that character. Once the story moved north, I was back to my normal pace and finished the book quickly.
There were some surprises and fantastic plot twists, as always good pacing. I will enjoy continuing with this series.