Thursday, March 13, 2008
And Now You Can Go by Vendela Vida
The new Tournament of Books list really shamed me into finally reading Vendela Vida's debut novel (her latest is on the list). I got it as a bargain book at some point a couple of years ago, and though it's a slender novel, I just haven't gotten to it yet. I busted through it yesterday and a little today. It's a quick read for capital-L Literature. The premise really grabbed me: Ellis, a 21-year old college student, is held at gunpoint. She escapes from the experience unharmed, but completely changed. The encounter occurs at the very beginning of the novel, so the story is really about how she responds--in unpredictable, conflicting ways. She does everything a victim is supposed to: she files a police report, collaborates on a sketch of the assailant, looks at mug shots, sees a therapist. But her world has been turned upside down, and she flounders, avoiding her boyfriend's calls, telling outrageous lies to strangers, and turning to a few solicitous men for answers. She flies home to see her parents and ends up in the Philippines on a medical mission with her mother (a nurse). This could have been a gloomy, depressing book, but Vida's sense of humor is finely tuned. Ellis's roommate (not a friend, Ellis tells us, just someone from whom she rents a room) leaves little poems accusing Ellis of shirking her chores, and these are hilarious. Rather than dismal, I found it a hopeful book, and a surprisingly light read for such heavy subject matter. Oh, and Ellis is an art history student, Holly, so though it's not a huge part of the book, there are references to art history throughout. I definitely recommend this book and will have to check out her second novel.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Tournament of Books 2008
The Morning News has published their lists of books for the Tournament of Books 2008. And here they are:
Run by Ann Patchett
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Petropolis by Anya Ulinich
Ovenman by Jeff Parker
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem
New England White by Stephen L. Carter
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
Some interesting ones on there. Anyone read any of them? Run by Ann Patchett pops up here again. And I might take a look at The Shadow Catcher, a fictional book that uses Edward Curtis, a photographer whose goal was to document Native American cultures as part of the background story. His photographs were somewhat controversial because he would dress his subjects up in traditional costumes with traditional props, even if the people were more assimilated into the "modern" world. I wrote a grad school paper on him so I think it would be interesting to see how this book portrays him, even if its fictionalized.
Run by Ann Patchett
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Petropolis by Anya Ulinich
Ovenman by Jeff Parker
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem
New England White by Stephen L. Carter
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
Some interesting ones on there. Anyone read any of them? Run by Ann Patchett pops up here again. And I might take a look at The Shadow Catcher, a fictional book that uses Edward Curtis, a photographer whose goal was to document Native American cultures as part of the background story. His photographs were somewhat controversial because he would dress his subjects up in traditional costumes with traditional props, even if the people were more assimilated into the "modern" world. I wrote a grad school paper on him so I think it would be interesting to see how this book portrays him, even if its fictionalized.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin
Wow. I just finished this book. I hardly know where to begin. What an amazingly interesting story. Greg Mortenson is a man who decided a little over a decade ago to single-handedly take on changing the Middle East. During a failed attempt to summit K2, Mortenson wandered lost into a small village in Northern Pakistan. After being entranced with these impoverished people, Mortenson promised to build their children a school. At the time, they would kneel in the dirt and practice their multiplication tables writing with sticks in the dirt. This one promise of a school turned into what is now the Central Asia Institute founded by Mortenson.
Three Cups of Tea details his tremendous journey from the side of a mountain to building many schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to secularly educate the children of the region. His belief is that if we help educate the children there, they will have options and will not have to be educated in schools run by religious extremists. Therefore, the ideals of the Taliban and other extremist groups of that region will simply die out with future educated generations. Mortenson's influence in the area has not only built schools, but women's vocational centers, and proper water supplies. He actively promoted education for girls and women so they would not have to live naively in their husband's shadow. They could become empowered and whatever they wanted to be.
The book was incredibly interesting and filled with details about the cultures Mortenson encounters regularly on his trips to the Middle East. I learned more about the Middle East from this one book than anything the American media has published since before 9/11. The story was moving and really makes you want to support Mortenson's cause. The old saying goes, "one person really can make a difference." Well, it is truly amazing what this one human being has accomplished and continues to accomplish. The book is pretty long and I felt like maybe there were a few details that could have been more glossed over or condensed. But because the overall effect of the book was so intriguing, it makes you keep reading on. Read this book. And then tell more people to read it.
I have long ignored nonfiction books as something to read in my spare time. I think often I look to books to escape stress from everyday life so I typically don't want to read things that I find difficult, sad, "boring" or disturbing. Yet, I've enjoyed the last several nonfiction books I've read and found them to be none of the above. Perhaps I need to rethink my preconceived notions about the nonfiction genre. :-)
Edited to add: I meant to mention that Mortenson spent much of his childhood growing up in Africa with his family. The whole section about his childhood reminded me of the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my all-time favorite books. I've also had the book Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi on my bookshelf for a couple years now. I may get around to reading it now. It is about a small group of women in Iran who gathered secretly to read forbidden Western classics.
Three Cups of Tea details his tremendous journey from the side of a mountain to building many schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to secularly educate the children of the region. His belief is that if we help educate the children there, they will have options and will not have to be educated in schools run by religious extremists. Therefore, the ideals of the Taliban and other extremist groups of that region will simply die out with future educated generations. Mortenson's influence in the area has not only built schools, but women's vocational centers, and proper water supplies. He actively promoted education for girls and women so they would not have to live naively in their husband's shadow. They could become empowered and whatever they wanted to be.
The book was incredibly interesting and filled with details about the cultures Mortenson encounters regularly on his trips to the Middle East. I learned more about the Middle East from this one book than anything the American media has published since before 9/11. The story was moving and really makes you want to support Mortenson's cause. The old saying goes, "one person really can make a difference." Well, it is truly amazing what this one human being has accomplished and continues to accomplish. The book is pretty long and I felt like maybe there were a few details that could have been more glossed over or condensed. But because the overall effect of the book was so intriguing, it makes you keep reading on. Read this book. And then tell more people to read it.
I have long ignored nonfiction books as something to read in my spare time. I think often I look to books to escape stress from everyday life so I typically don't want to read things that I find difficult, sad, "boring" or disturbing. Yet, I've enjoyed the last several nonfiction books I've read and found them to be none of the above. Perhaps I need to rethink my preconceived notions about the nonfiction genre. :-)
Edited to add: I meant to mention that Mortenson spent much of his childhood growing up in Africa with his family. The whole section about his childhood reminded me of the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my all-time favorite books. I've also had the book Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi on my bookshelf for a couple years now. I may get around to reading it now. It is about a small group of women in Iran who gathered secretly to read forbidden Western classics.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Trying to get caught up...
Very recently, I had 12 books on my stack from the library. I'm down to 4 now because I've been very diligently reading. What else is there to do w/snow on the ground and frigid temps?
I've read a couple books that were on the best seller list. I read LOTS of best sellers. Sometimes I wonder how they got on the list. I think it's because some author's last book was a best seller so they get a free pass on to the list w/the next one.
Beverly Hills Dead by Stewart Woods is the latest in a LONG series of his best sellers. I liked this one because it gave some of the back story on a number of his characters that have appeared in his other books. I agree w/Allison when she says that the writing tends to get a little mediocre once an author has written several books in the same series. Woods is like that in this Vance Calder,(his character), Hollywood series about Hollywood, actors and their wealthy existences. There's ALWAYS a murder or two and always lots of comments on clothes, homes , cars, restuarants etc. of the rich and famous characters. Beverly Hills Dead is one of Woods' better efforts in his typical trash for the masses fashion.
The Senator's Wife has been on the best seller list recently as well. It was OK. Apparently, Sue Miller, the author, has written other best sellers. After reading the wife, I'm not eager to read her others. The Senator's Wife is all about how she copes w/her charming but philandering politician husband and builds her own life beyond all his affairs. The wife has a profound influence on a young newly married woman who moves next door who later has a profound influence on the Senator's wife! I imagine extra marital affairs can be life altering but the book was all a bit too dramatic.
On to the non best sellers. The very best book I've read recently is My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young. Set in Nazi Occupied Holland, it's about a young girl who finds herself pregnant. She doesn't know where to turn and manages to get into the Nazi sponsored program for spreading the Aryan race called the Lebensporn(I think). The girl goes off to an unwed mother's home set up by the Nazis to take care of girls who are priviledged enough to be carrying their offspring. While at the home, she receives the best of care all while trying to figure out how to escape to save herself and baby before she gives birth. A really spellbinding read.
Robert Harris has written historically based novels like Fatherland and Enigma which were set in WWII. They were fascinating. His new book, The Ghost, is set in today's world of U.S./ British politics/Iraq. I hung in there through his rants concerning the CIA and waterboarding torture as well as others, hoping the book would become a wee bit more intriguing but he had more to say about the current state of our world than I really wanted to know. I read to escape not to have the current world political mess thrown in my face. I just wish someone else would read this book and let me know if it's Harris' thinly veiled view of Tony Blair/ George Bush and Halliburton's roles in our world.
I've read two books in the last week that had psychics as main characters. Apparently, in the psychic world there are "listeners", "healers", "finders" and others w/different psychic gifts. It was a happy coincidence that I read Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen and Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper right after one another because I could understand the psychic jargon used in both books. Johansen has written tons of murder thrillers in a long career and I've loved them all. Each book is stand alone w/new characters and new thrills. I always wonder how prolific authors come up w/all their ideas for vastly different books. I've just discovered Kay Hooper who has written a murder series about a special unit in the FBI that uses psychics to solve crimes. Blood Dreams is the first book I've read by Hooper. I had a hard time putting it down while reading about a nasty serial killer and the psychics' efforts to catch him. The ending was a real disappointment where she didn't even identify her killer and very blatantly set up her next book in the series. Too many loose ends and too commercial for me.
I think I need to request Hiaasen's Hoot and Flush from the library. I know I'll be entertained and have a few laughs. I just have to get through the last four books in my pile first....
I've read a couple books that were on the best seller list. I read LOTS of best sellers. Sometimes I wonder how they got on the list. I think it's because some author's last book was a best seller so they get a free pass on to the list w/the next one.
Beverly Hills Dead by Stewart Woods is the latest in a LONG series of his best sellers. I liked this one because it gave some of the back story on a number of his characters that have appeared in his other books. I agree w/Allison when she says that the writing tends to get a little mediocre once an author has written several books in the same series. Woods is like that in this Vance Calder,(his character), Hollywood series about Hollywood, actors and their wealthy existences. There's ALWAYS a murder or two and always lots of comments on clothes, homes , cars, restuarants etc. of the rich and famous characters. Beverly Hills Dead is one of Woods' better efforts in his typical trash for the masses fashion.
The Senator's Wife has been on the best seller list recently as well. It was OK. Apparently, Sue Miller, the author, has written other best sellers. After reading the wife, I'm not eager to read her others. The Senator's Wife is all about how she copes w/her charming but philandering politician husband and builds her own life beyond all his affairs. The wife has a profound influence on a young newly married woman who moves next door who later has a profound influence on the Senator's wife! I imagine extra marital affairs can be life altering but the book was all a bit too dramatic.
On to the non best sellers. The very best book I've read recently is My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young. Set in Nazi Occupied Holland, it's about a young girl who finds herself pregnant. She doesn't know where to turn and manages to get into the Nazi sponsored program for spreading the Aryan race called the Lebensporn(I think). The girl goes off to an unwed mother's home set up by the Nazis to take care of girls who are priviledged enough to be carrying their offspring. While at the home, she receives the best of care all while trying to figure out how to escape to save herself and baby before she gives birth. A really spellbinding read.
Robert Harris has written historically based novels like Fatherland and Enigma which were set in WWII. They were fascinating. His new book, The Ghost, is set in today's world of U.S./ British politics/Iraq. I hung in there through his rants concerning the CIA and waterboarding torture as well as others, hoping the book would become a wee bit more intriguing but he had more to say about the current state of our world than I really wanted to know. I read to escape not to have the current world political mess thrown in my face. I just wish someone else would read this book and let me know if it's Harris' thinly veiled view of Tony Blair/ George Bush and Halliburton's roles in our world.
I've read two books in the last week that had psychics as main characters. Apparently, in the psychic world there are "listeners", "healers", "finders" and others w/different psychic gifts. It was a happy coincidence that I read Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen and Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper right after one another because I could understand the psychic jargon used in both books. Johansen has written tons of murder thrillers in a long career and I've loved them all. Each book is stand alone w/new characters and new thrills. I always wonder how prolific authors come up w/all their ideas for vastly different books. I've just discovered Kay Hooper who has written a murder series about a special unit in the FBI that uses psychics to solve crimes. Blood Dreams is the first book I've read by Hooper. I had a hard time putting it down while reading about a nasty serial killer and the psychics' efforts to catch him. The ending was a real disappointment where she didn't even identify her killer and very blatantly set up her next book in the series. Too many loose ends and too commercial for me.
I think I need to request Hiaasen's Hoot and Flush from the library. I know I'll be entertained and have a few laughs. I just have to get through the last four books in my pile first....
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
More Mysteries
I re-read the first three Jane Jeffry mysteries by Jill Churchill--Grime and Punishment, A Farewell to Yarns, and A Quiche Before Dying. I read these ages ago, so I'd forgotten who the killers were. Anyway, I enjoyed reading them again. Jane is a widowed stay-at-home mom with three kids, and ends up involved in mysteries in her Chicago suburb. She and her friend Shelley poke around, digging up gossip and domestic facts that elude the police. In the first one, it winds up being important that most people vacuum with their back to the door (something that doesn't even occur to hottie detective Mel VanDyne). Grime and Punishment is about the murder of Shelley's cleaning lady, A Farewell to Yarns starts with a visit by Jane's friend, a master knitter (and Jane crochets an afghan throughout), and her horrid (uninvited) son. In A Quiche Before Dying, Jane and her visit mother (and Shelley as well) take a writing class that ends in murder by poisoned quiche (more common than you might think!). Lilah loves these books, too, incidentally, because they all have kitty cats on the covers. She'll carry one around, happily saying "Kitty cat, kitty cat, meow." So cute. She will also climb into her chair and "read" them.
Anyway, these were (I believe) some of the earliest cozy mysteries, first published in 1991 (I think--Lilah wandered off with the book and I'm not sure where she put it). Jane and Shelley are entertaining, and the housekeeping/childrearing content isn't the least bit boring (at least to me, since it's stuff I do, too). Jane's budding relationship with Mel VanDyne is handled well, I think, and her kids are great. The mysteries get less tight and the editing a little less stringent as this series goes on. I'm not sure I've found a series where this isn't true, though, and favorite series for me are often as much about visiting old "friends" as they are about reading a great mystery novel. Even less stellar entries in the series (I think she's on #16 or so, so it's a while before they lose a little something) are fun for me.
I'm now reading Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige, the third Victorian Mystery. I love it. It takes place at a house party, which is so Gosford Park (one of my favorite films ever). Expect a review soon!
Anyway, these were (I believe) some of the earliest cozy mysteries, first published in 1991 (I think--Lilah wandered off with the book and I'm not sure where she put it). Jane and Shelley are entertaining, and the housekeeping/childrearing content isn't the least bit boring (at least to me, since it's stuff I do, too). Jane's budding relationship with Mel VanDyne is handled well, I think, and her kids are great. The mysteries get less tight and the editing a little less stringent as this series goes on. I'm not sure I've found a series where this isn't true, though, and favorite series for me are often as much about visiting old "friends" as they are about reading a great mystery novel. Even less stellar entries in the series (I think she's on #16 or so, so it's a while before they lose a little something) are fun for me.
I'm now reading Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige, the third Victorian Mystery. I love it. It takes place at a house party, which is so Gosford Park (one of my favorite films ever). Expect a review soon!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
I'm Back!!
Boy, Howdy! It's only been at least a year since I've posted anything but guess I'm back in the mood. It isn't that I haven't read anything because that will never happen. Being very uncomputer savvy certainly has a lot to do w/it.
I just finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Read it in one day! It's a beautifully written, captivating story about a group of wealthy, mostly business people who attend a dinner party and are all kidnapped by a bunch of "socially responsible" terrorists. One of the dinner guests is an opera diva who pretty much rules the kidnapped roost. There's romance and intrigue in big doses w/an ending twist I never saw coming. If anyone else has read Bel Canto, I'd love to know what you thought of the ending. Ann Patchett has a new book out called Run which I'm eager to read. The only reason I read Bel Canto was because it was mentioned in the review for Run. If Run is as good, it'll be a real winner.
I also recently finished 6 Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly. This is a sequel to his swashbuckling adventure 7 Deadly Wonders. Both books are david vs goliath stories where the underdogs perform death defying feats and manage to succeed. Well, mostly. The Deadly Wonders had one huge suspense filled adventure after another much like the Sinbad the Sailor movies I saw each Saturday afternoon when I was a child. 6 Sacred Stones picks up where 7 ended but the ending most definitely leaves you clamoring for more.
I read two of Carol's recommended Susan Kandel books featuring the LA ditzy biographer cum detective. Unlike Carol, I thought her clothes the best part of the books; they books really weren't my cup of tea but they passed a couple wintry afternoons.
Three Shirt Deal by Stephen Cannell, yes, of TV series scriptwriter fame, was a quick entertaining LA cop murder mystery. For a while, it was hard to tell the good guys from the bad but Shane Scully, the main cop character, sorts it all out even while dangling from a roller coaster by his belt!
One last comment for Allison. I LOVE any and all Carl Hiaasen books and look forward to reading both Hoot and Flush. Thanks for reminding me Hiaasen had written these young adult books.
I just finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Read it in one day! It's a beautifully written, captivating story about a group of wealthy, mostly business people who attend a dinner party and are all kidnapped by a bunch of "socially responsible" terrorists. One of the dinner guests is an opera diva who pretty much rules the kidnapped roost. There's romance and intrigue in big doses w/an ending twist I never saw coming. If anyone else has read Bel Canto, I'd love to know what you thought of the ending. Ann Patchett has a new book out called Run which I'm eager to read. The only reason I read Bel Canto was because it was mentioned in the review for Run. If Run is as good, it'll be a real winner.
I also recently finished 6 Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly. This is a sequel to his swashbuckling adventure 7 Deadly Wonders. Both books are david vs goliath stories where the underdogs perform death defying feats and manage to succeed. Well, mostly. The Deadly Wonders had one huge suspense filled adventure after another much like the Sinbad the Sailor movies I saw each Saturday afternoon when I was a child. 6 Sacred Stones picks up where 7 ended but the ending most definitely leaves you clamoring for more.
I read two of Carol's recommended Susan Kandel books featuring the LA ditzy biographer cum detective. Unlike Carol, I thought her clothes the best part of the books; they books really weren't my cup of tea but they passed a couple wintry afternoons.
Three Shirt Deal by Stephen Cannell, yes, of TV series scriptwriter fame, was a quick entertaining LA cop murder mystery. For a while, it was hard to tell the good guys from the bad but Shane Scully, the main cop character, sorts it all out even while dangling from a roller coaster by his belt!
One last comment for Allison. I LOVE any and all Carl Hiaasen books and look forward to reading both Hoot and Flush. Thanks for reminding me Hiaasen had written these young adult books.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
I Am So Boring!
I am, it's true. I read two more books, but just two more in the Pauline Sokol series by Lori Avocato. Nip, Tuck, Dead and Dead On Arrival. I hope it's not super annoying, but as I review books in a series, I don't like to reveal too much. That way, if you decide to pick up the first one, I haven't revealed something that happens in Book #11 that spoils something in #1. Anyway, I enjoyed both of these. The series begins with A Dose of Murder. Reading the whole series in quick succession, I'm probably more critical than if I had read one per year. It's more obvious how limiting the insurance investigator job is from a mystery standpoint, since all the murders are going to have to do with insurance fraud. Avocato's Ranger counterpart, Jagger, is very mysterious and doesn't have a ton of character development because, well, that's what happens when you have a character whose big thing is being mysterious. She did reveal something about him in Nip, Tuck, Dead, but the implications still haven't been revealed in Dead On Arrival, so I think she's trying to get a lot of mileage out of this tidbit. But these are minor quibbles in what I think is a pretty entertaining cozy/humorous mystery series. Also, Pauline is attracted to Jagger, but she has one guy per book she's also interested in. This is a little doofy, but that's okay. If you can't wait for Fearless Fourteen to come out, pick up A Dose of Murder and see how you like Pauline!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Vacation Reading Round-Up
Lilah and I got the stomach flu on our travels to California, so I read A LOT for two reasons. I didn't feel well enough to do much of anything else, and Lilah was feeling crummy and wanted to be held while she napped, and she napped a lot. So here it is!
Death at Gallows Green by Robin Paige: This is #2 in the Kate Ardleigh series by Robin Paige, the nom de plume for Susan Wittig Albert and her husband. Beatrix Potter is a character, and I wonder if the research for this inspired Albert's Beatrix Potter mystery series that I love so much. I enjoyed the first, Death at Bishop's Keep, but liked this one even better. I'm told that this series eventually gets a bit tiresome, but not yet. A constable is murdered, and Kate and her new friend Beatrix Potter pursue an investigation, as does Sir Charles. The authors do a good job of invoking Victorian England, and the historical setting is not distracting in the least. Kate is very likeable, and the subplot about Kate's various admirers is sort of fun, given all the misunderstandings. Kate's friendship with Beatrix is fun, as are the references to Beatrix Potter's stories. The mystery is well-constructed, not obvious, but not out of the blue either. You could certainly read this one without reading the first, but you wouldn't have the background on how Kate comes to live at Bishop's Keep in the first place.
The Stiff and the Dead, One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest, and Deep Sea Dead by Lori Avocato: Since these are #2-4 in the Pauline Sokol series (beginning with A Dose of Murder), I'll review them together. I read A Dose of Murder quite a while ago, and was fairly entertained. This is the thing. This series was probably pitched as "Stephanie Plum but with a nurse-turned-insurance-investigator instead of a lingerie-buyer-turned-bounty-hunter." It is really derivative. You could write a list of characters in the Stephanie Plum books and find a corresponding character in the Pauline Sokol books. Instead of Grandma Mazur, there's Uncle Walt as the token elderly sometimes-sidekick. Instead of Lula, the plus-size retired 'ho, there's Goldie, the Creole transvestite. Instead of Joe Morelli, the "normal" love interest, there's Nick Caruso. Instead of Ranger, the mysterious, dressed-in-black master bounty hunter who serves as mentor/love interest, there's Jagger, the mysterious, dressed-in-black master investigator who serves as mentor/love interest. Instead of a Hungarian mother who has dinner on the table right at six, there's a Polish mother who has dinner on the table right at six. And these are just the similarities off the top of my head. Avocato doesn't do wacky/madcap as well as Evanovich, but the books are entertaining anyway, if you can get past the Plum parallels. In The Stiff and the Dead, Pauline goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud at a hospital. In One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest, she goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud at a mental institution. And in Deep Sea Dead, she goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud on a cruise ship. So you can see that the insurance fraud investigator job is more limiting than a bounty hunter one. And these are written as traditional mysteries, unlike the Stephanie Plum books, and you KNOW the murder has something to do with insurance fraud. Either participants in the fraud are killing each other, or someone found out and is killed, etc. All this might make it seem as though I didn't like the books, but they're actually enjoyable. Avocato writes snappy dialogue and engaging characters, and the books are a nice diversion if you're waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out. Good fun!
Bubbles A Broad and Bubbles Betrothed by Sarah Strohmeyer: The first in this series is Bubbles Unbound, which introduces Bubbles Yablonsky, a single mom who is trying to parlay her eight years of education at Two Guys Community College into a reporting career. Bubbles was born in bred in her steel-town home of Lehigh, Pennsylvania, and her fashion sense runs to big hair and spandex. Strohmeyer has a gift for wacky humor, and Bubbles is a lot of fun. She's brash, street-smart rather than book-smart, and so darn motivated and earnest you just want to hug her. These two entries in the series (#4 and #5) are entertaining reads. Bubbles's skill as a reporter is improving, her relationships with other characters in the series progress, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. This is a fun series.
A Watery Grave by Joan Druett: Joan Druett is the author of many non-fiction books related to nautical history, and she decided to parlay this knowledge and research into a mystery series. Half-Maori Wiki Coffin is the sleuth, though he's briefly suspected of the murder. Once he's cleared, the sheriff deputizes him to do some detective work as he joins the fleet of the American expedition to explore the South Seas. The expedition is actually real, though Druett explains in an author's note that she invented several characters and one ship for the purposes of the novel. Her research is clearly thorough, which makes for occasionally dry reading, but lends authenticity to the proceedings. Wiki is a well-written character, and he has to deal with racism from several quarters, including the sheriff who makes him a deputy! The plot is well-wrought, with lots of red herrings and plot twists, and the solution is not in the least obvious, though there are lots of "a ha!" moments as you realize that various occurrences and details are connected. I enjoyed this, the first mystery in the Wiki Coffin series, and I'll be looking for #2, Shark Island.
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig: This is the "authorized" sequel to Gone With The Wind (to distinguish it from that non-authorized gem of modern literature, Scarlett). I should have put a sarcasm alert before the Scarlett reference. Anyway, I imagine the Margaret Mitchell heirs are hard-up for cash and authorized this book to drum up sales for GWTW. One review I read said something like, "Was it strictly necessary to re-write GWTW from Rhett's point of view? No. Is it fun anyway? Yes." and I agree. I thought McCaig did a nice job. I probably wouldn't have picked this up myself, but my mom had it lying around and I was running through books like crazy during the stomach flu thing. We learn a lot about Rhett's background that isn't in GWTW, and no doubt many liberties are taken. I do have the urge to read or rent GWTW again, as it's been years and things were hazy for me. I thought the book moved well and I was sucked into the plot and historical setting quite well. Great literature? Eh, not so much. But a diverting read. I read one amazon review that was basically an impassioned defense of Melanie. The reader gave the book one star because of one scene in which Melanie does something the reader insists she never would have done. Hoo boy. So, if you liked GWTW too much, you might not like this book, but if you didn't like it at all, you won't be interested. If you're in that narrow category of "Yeah, I read GWTW and it was good," I recommend this book. Otherwise, you're in for 500 pages of either boredom or anger. And I'd wait till it's in paperback, too.
Bell, Book, and Scandal by Jill Churchill: This is a late entry (#14?) in a well-established cozy mystery series, possibly one of the first in the genre. I used to read these Jane Jeffries mysteries and came across this one in Borders. I picked it up because I had vaguely fond memories for Jane Jeffries books, liked the title, and liked the setting (a mystery writers conference). I wasn't disappointed. The first few chapters are a bewildering account of Jane buying a new car and preparing for the conference. They meander and don't really seem to belong. I think they're pages that in earlier books, back when her editor still actually edited her books, Churchill would have written for herself as background but not published. Eh, that can happen in long series, and I was willing to overlook it. The story really gets going a few chapters in when Jane and best friend Shelly arrive at the conference, and this part is so much fun, you won't care about the clunky opening. Jane and Shelly are likeable sleuths and the conference is a fantastically fun venue for a mystery. Lots of crazy suspects, and Jane's attempt to get her mystery novel published is character-advancing and interesting. The first in the series is Grime and Punishment, and if you're looking for a light cozy mystery series, you can't go wrong with Jane Jeffries. I have to pick up some of the others I've missed.
Skinny Dipping by Connie Brockway: This is a contemporary romance novel putting on airs by calling itself "women's fiction," whatever that is. I think that's the PC way of saying chick lit. Mimi, a tele-medium who reports to callers what their dead friends and relatives tell her, is in her forties and well into a life of "letting it slide," with no real relationship, few possessions, and her life's only constant, a summer home on a Minnesota lake where her crazy extended family spends a few months every year. To say it's obvious that Mimi will find a guy and some kind of ambition is an understatement, but that's okay. Mimi herself is hard to relate to, since most of us want things, which she doesn't seem to do. The imminent sale of the family home, Chez Ducky, pushes her into close quarters with a workaholic, germaphobic businessman and his son. There's not a ton of suspense here, but this is a surprisingly enjoyable read because the extended family on the lake sections are so engaging. The ending drags a bit with a clunky denouement, but if you're looking for contemporary romance with humor and a fun wacky family setting, this one is worth picking up.
Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline: Scottoline does legal thrillers, which I read from time to time, and she's very good at suspense. This one has all the plot twists you could possibly want, and more, and was hard to put down, despite a sometimes-annoying subplot about her interfering family and frankly annoying boyfriend bogging things down. Nat Greco is a law professor waiting for tenure. Her colleague Angus asks her to guest-lecture at his class for prison inmates. While Nat and Angus are there, a riot breaks out and Nat finds a dying prison guard whose last words are "Tell my wife it's under the floor." Nat gives the wife the message, and the wife is later shot, her house ransacked. Evidence points to Nat, who with Angus's help, bolts from the police and the killer at large. The premise is intriguing, and the plot moves fast. I enjoyed this one, though I tended to skim the parts with Nat's interfering family and was relieved when she finally kicked the boyfriend to the curb (among his many endearing qualities is a scene in which Nat calls him from jail, only to have him answer with a "We're in the middle of a game. Call you later!" and hang up without asking what she wanted. Seriously, ESPN rules this guy's life (and the lives of her brothers and father), and it's pretty obvious she's going to dump him eventually). Anyway, it was a good diversion from the stomach flu.
Death at Gallows Green by Robin Paige: This is #2 in the Kate Ardleigh series by Robin Paige, the nom de plume for Susan Wittig Albert and her husband. Beatrix Potter is a character, and I wonder if the research for this inspired Albert's Beatrix Potter mystery series that I love so much. I enjoyed the first, Death at Bishop's Keep, but liked this one even better. I'm told that this series eventually gets a bit tiresome, but not yet. A constable is murdered, and Kate and her new friend Beatrix Potter pursue an investigation, as does Sir Charles. The authors do a good job of invoking Victorian England, and the historical setting is not distracting in the least. Kate is very likeable, and the subplot about Kate's various admirers is sort of fun, given all the misunderstandings. Kate's friendship with Beatrix is fun, as are the references to Beatrix Potter's stories. The mystery is well-constructed, not obvious, but not out of the blue either. You could certainly read this one without reading the first, but you wouldn't have the background on how Kate comes to live at Bishop's Keep in the first place.
The Stiff and the Dead, One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest, and Deep Sea Dead by Lori Avocato: Since these are #2-4 in the Pauline Sokol series (beginning with A Dose of Murder), I'll review them together. I read A Dose of Murder quite a while ago, and was fairly entertained. This is the thing. This series was probably pitched as "Stephanie Plum but with a nurse-turned-insurance-investigator instead of a lingerie-buyer-turned-bounty-hunter." It is really derivative. You could write a list of characters in the Stephanie Plum books and find a corresponding character in the Pauline Sokol books. Instead of Grandma Mazur, there's Uncle Walt as the token elderly sometimes-sidekick. Instead of Lula, the plus-size retired 'ho, there's Goldie, the Creole transvestite. Instead of Joe Morelli, the "normal" love interest, there's Nick Caruso. Instead of Ranger, the mysterious, dressed-in-black master bounty hunter who serves as mentor/love interest, there's Jagger, the mysterious, dressed-in-black master investigator who serves as mentor/love interest. Instead of a Hungarian mother who has dinner on the table right at six, there's a Polish mother who has dinner on the table right at six. And these are just the similarities off the top of my head. Avocato doesn't do wacky/madcap as well as Evanovich, but the books are entertaining anyway, if you can get past the Plum parallels. In The Stiff and the Dead, Pauline goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud at a hospital. In One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest, she goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud at a mental institution. And in Deep Sea Dead, she goes undercover to investigate insurance fraud on a cruise ship. So you can see that the insurance fraud investigator job is more limiting than a bounty hunter one. And these are written as traditional mysteries, unlike the Stephanie Plum books, and you KNOW the murder has something to do with insurance fraud. Either participants in the fraud are killing each other, or someone found out and is killed, etc. All this might make it seem as though I didn't like the books, but they're actually enjoyable. Avocato writes snappy dialogue and engaging characters, and the books are a nice diversion if you're waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out. Good fun!
Bubbles A Broad and Bubbles Betrothed by Sarah Strohmeyer: The first in this series is Bubbles Unbound, which introduces Bubbles Yablonsky, a single mom who is trying to parlay her eight years of education at Two Guys Community College into a reporting career. Bubbles was born in bred in her steel-town home of Lehigh, Pennsylvania, and her fashion sense runs to big hair and spandex. Strohmeyer has a gift for wacky humor, and Bubbles is a lot of fun. She's brash, street-smart rather than book-smart, and so darn motivated and earnest you just want to hug her. These two entries in the series (#4 and #5) are entertaining reads. Bubbles's skill as a reporter is improving, her relationships with other characters in the series progress, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. This is a fun series.
A Watery Grave by Joan Druett: Joan Druett is the author of many non-fiction books related to nautical history, and she decided to parlay this knowledge and research into a mystery series. Half-Maori Wiki Coffin is the sleuth, though he's briefly suspected of the murder. Once he's cleared, the sheriff deputizes him to do some detective work as he joins the fleet of the American expedition to explore the South Seas. The expedition is actually real, though Druett explains in an author's note that she invented several characters and one ship for the purposes of the novel. Her research is clearly thorough, which makes for occasionally dry reading, but lends authenticity to the proceedings. Wiki is a well-written character, and he has to deal with racism from several quarters, including the sheriff who makes him a deputy! The plot is well-wrought, with lots of red herrings and plot twists, and the solution is not in the least obvious, though there are lots of "a ha!" moments as you realize that various occurrences and details are connected. I enjoyed this, the first mystery in the Wiki Coffin series, and I'll be looking for #2, Shark Island.
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig: This is the "authorized" sequel to Gone With The Wind (to distinguish it from that non-authorized gem of modern literature, Scarlett). I should have put a sarcasm alert before the Scarlett reference. Anyway, I imagine the Margaret Mitchell heirs are hard-up for cash and authorized this book to drum up sales for GWTW. One review I read said something like, "Was it strictly necessary to re-write GWTW from Rhett's point of view? No. Is it fun anyway? Yes." and I agree. I thought McCaig did a nice job. I probably wouldn't have picked this up myself, but my mom had it lying around and I was running through books like crazy during the stomach flu thing. We learn a lot about Rhett's background that isn't in GWTW, and no doubt many liberties are taken. I do have the urge to read or rent GWTW again, as it's been years and things were hazy for me. I thought the book moved well and I was sucked into the plot and historical setting quite well. Great literature? Eh, not so much. But a diverting read. I read one amazon review that was basically an impassioned defense of Melanie. The reader gave the book one star because of one scene in which Melanie does something the reader insists she never would have done. Hoo boy. So, if you liked GWTW too much, you might not like this book, but if you didn't like it at all, you won't be interested. If you're in that narrow category of "Yeah, I read GWTW and it was good," I recommend this book. Otherwise, you're in for 500 pages of either boredom or anger. And I'd wait till it's in paperback, too.
Bell, Book, and Scandal by Jill Churchill: This is a late entry (#14?) in a well-established cozy mystery series, possibly one of the first in the genre. I used to read these Jane Jeffries mysteries and came across this one in Borders. I picked it up because I had vaguely fond memories for Jane Jeffries books, liked the title, and liked the setting (a mystery writers conference). I wasn't disappointed. The first few chapters are a bewildering account of Jane buying a new car and preparing for the conference. They meander and don't really seem to belong. I think they're pages that in earlier books, back when her editor still actually edited her books, Churchill would have written for herself as background but not published. Eh, that can happen in long series, and I was willing to overlook it. The story really gets going a few chapters in when Jane and best friend Shelly arrive at the conference, and this part is so much fun, you won't care about the clunky opening. Jane and Shelly are likeable sleuths and the conference is a fantastically fun venue for a mystery. Lots of crazy suspects, and Jane's attempt to get her mystery novel published is character-advancing and interesting. The first in the series is Grime and Punishment, and if you're looking for a light cozy mystery series, you can't go wrong with Jane Jeffries. I have to pick up some of the others I've missed.
Skinny Dipping by Connie Brockway: This is a contemporary romance novel putting on airs by calling itself "women's fiction," whatever that is. I think that's the PC way of saying chick lit. Mimi, a tele-medium who reports to callers what their dead friends and relatives tell her, is in her forties and well into a life of "letting it slide," with no real relationship, few possessions, and her life's only constant, a summer home on a Minnesota lake where her crazy extended family spends a few months every year. To say it's obvious that Mimi will find a guy and some kind of ambition is an understatement, but that's okay. Mimi herself is hard to relate to, since most of us want things, which she doesn't seem to do. The imminent sale of the family home, Chez Ducky, pushes her into close quarters with a workaholic, germaphobic businessman and his son. There's not a ton of suspense here, but this is a surprisingly enjoyable read because the extended family on the lake sections are so engaging. The ending drags a bit with a clunky denouement, but if you're looking for contemporary romance with humor and a fun wacky family setting, this one is worth picking up.
Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline: Scottoline does legal thrillers, which I read from time to time, and she's very good at suspense. This one has all the plot twists you could possibly want, and more, and was hard to put down, despite a sometimes-annoying subplot about her interfering family and frankly annoying boyfriend bogging things down. Nat Greco is a law professor waiting for tenure. Her colleague Angus asks her to guest-lecture at his class for prison inmates. While Nat and Angus are there, a riot breaks out and Nat finds a dying prison guard whose last words are "Tell my wife it's under the floor." Nat gives the wife the message, and the wife is later shot, her house ransacked. Evidence points to Nat, who with Angus's help, bolts from the police and the killer at large. The premise is intriguing, and the plot moves fast. I enjoyed this one, though I tended to skim the parts with Nat's interfering family and was relieved when she finally kicked the boyfriend to the curb (among his many endearing qualities is a scene in which Nat calls him from jail, only to have him answer with a "We're in the middle of a game. Call you later!" and hang up without asking what she wanted. Seriously, ESPN rules this guy's life (and the lives of her brothers and father), and it's pretty obvious she's going to dump him eventually). Anyway, it was a good diversion from the stomach flu.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Lamb by Christopher Moore
The full title for this book is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, which is good, since if you are offended by the title, you can just skip this book. The "author's blessing" at the beginning of the book says something like: "If you came here for humor, may you laugh; if you came here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil," which I thought was really cute. I really enjoyed this one. Christopher Moore is sometimes a bit juvenile with over-the-top scatological and sexual humor, and there were some parts in this (as with all his books) at which I rolled my eyes. But overall, I enjoy his humor, a melange of satire and one-liners, and I did in this book as well. Here's the premise: A slightly inept angel named Raziel is charged with resurrecting Biff who is called Levi, who is asked to tell the story of Jesus (here called Joshua, after the Hebrew rather than the Greek form of Jesus' name) as he knew him in childhood. Raziel and Biff stay in a Holiday Inn, where Raziel becomes addicted to television and Biff sneaks the Gideon Bible into the bathroom to get caught up on what he's missed. Biff begins to tell his story, interspersed with modern day scenes with Raziel. To be honest, I expected Biff's bible-reading to lead to some sort of conflict, but that well was left untapped. That was fine, since there was plenty to keep my attention in Biff's gospel. Biff is the less-than-holy sidekick in this story: he happily helps Joshua understand sin by experiencing the joys of an array of harlots, and he (sometimes reluctantly) accompanies Joshua on his trip to self-discovery via eastern religious figures. I found myself getting caught up in the journey, and I thought it was well-told. Clearly, Moore did a lot of research to make his narrative ring true, and as the Passion approaches, the story turns surprisingly earnest.
In short, if the title makes you chuckle, I recommend this book to you. If the title makes you angry, and you enjoy a good bout of self-righteous indignation, I also recommend this book to you.
In short, if the title makes you chuckle, I recommend this book to you. If the title makes you angry, and you enjoy a good bout of self-righteous indignation, I also recommend this book to you.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen...and more
I've been reading, just not getting around to posting about it. :-) Our book club pick for January was Water for Elephants. I was glad to be pushed into reading this one. I have been meaning to get around to it for months now and just needed a little incentive. All I really knew about it was that it was the story about a man being in the circus.
It's actually a very well-written tale of a man's life in the circus circa 1930. As a young man, Jacob Jankowski leaves his studies at Cornell after losing his parents in a car accident. He runs away and hops the rails which turns out to be a train for a fledgling circus. The book alternates between present day with Jacob as a very old man and his past days in the circus. The flow is pretty smooth and the characters, including the animals exceptionally well developed. A love story emerges that leaves you hoping the characters end up together.
As I've said before, I enjoy learning about new things while reading fiction. There was an author interview in the back of my book revealing the in depth research the author did on the history of the circus in America. And many of the animal characters and things that happen at the fictional circus were taken from actual events. The elephant in the book is a combination of two elephants Gruen read about. It makes the story that much more interesting to know these things really happened (including an elephant sneaking off and drinking the whole supply of lemonade). A word to any animal activist readers: there are several scenes of animal cruelty in this book. While I wouldn't say you shouldn't read it, you might want to prepare yourself for that part of the story.
I definitely recommend this one. And everyone I've talked to who has read it, loved it, including everyone in my book club who read it.
I've finished the second Percy Jackson book, Sea of Monsters. This was a very good sequel, almost better than the first because it concentrates a little less on character development and more on the story. In this story, Percy must battle a Cyclops in order to return the Golden Fleece to Camp Half-Blood. Another fun update of Greek mythology. And I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I received The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim for Christmas. I am really enjoying this book! It has a different tidbit of knowledge for each day of the year. Each day of the week has a particular subject (Monday=History, Tuesday=Literature, etc. The book starts with ancient history and works its way toward more modern trivia as the year progresses. Each day covers a particular topic such as Plato, Alexander the Great, Venus de Milo, The Harlem Renaissance, etc. The section defines the topic, puts it into the context of its time period and at the end gives fun facts about the topic. I've found it very interesting and a nice review of things I learned about in school. Or I'm learning about things I should have learned about in school. ;-)
I also finished a really great book about sensory processing issues called Sensational Kids by Lucy Jane Miller. The book discusses Sensory Processing Dysfunction (SPD). It explains the different types of sensory processing disorders, and then goes into a-day-in-the-life story of a child with each type. Very fascinating and educational. I have read a few books on the subject to educate myself in the wake of learning my daughter Ella has sensory issues. I found this one to be most informative and very well-written for a parent's understanding.
Okay, I think that has me all caught up. I've been listening to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer on audiobook. I'm about 2/3rds through it and enjoying it. I only listen to it every now and then so it'll take me a while to finish it. But I'm finding this book much easier to listen to than The Accidental (I was one of the only people on the planet to not like this one).
Now, I'm in the position of deciding what book to read next... :-)
It's actually a very well-written tale of a man's life in the circus circa 1930. As a young man, Jacob Jankowski leaves his studies at Cornell after losing his parents in a car accident. He runs away and hops the rails which turns out to be a train for a fledgling circus. The book alternates between present day with Jacob as a very old man and his past days in the circus. The flow is pretty smooth and the characters, including the animals exceptionally well developed. A love story emerges that leaves you hoping the characters end up together.
As I've said before, I enjoy learning about new things while reading fiction. There was an author interview in the back of my book revealing the in depth research the author did on the history of the circus in America. And many of the animal characters and things that happen at the fictional circus were taken from actual events. The elephant in the book is a combination of two elephants Gruen read about. It makes the story that much more interesting to know these things really happened (including an elephant sneaking off and drinking the whole supply of lemonade). A word to any animal activist readers: there are several scenes of animal cruelty in this book. While I wouldn't say you shouldn't read it, you might want to prepare yourself for that part of the story.
I definitely recommend this one. And everyone I've talked to who has read it, loved it, including everyone in my book club who read it.
I've finished the second Percy Jackson book, Sea of Monsters. This was a very good sequel, almost better than the first because it concentrates a little less on character development and more on the story. In this story, Percy must battle a Cyclops in order to return the Golden Fleece to Camp Half-Blood. Another fun update of Greek mythology. And I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I received The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim for Christmas. I am really enjoying this book! It has a different tidbit of knowledge for each day of the year. Each day of the week has a particular subject (Monday=History, Tuesday=Literature, etc. The book starts with ancient history and works its way toward more modern trivia as the year progresses. Each day covers a particular topic such as Plato, Alexander the Great, Venus de Milo, The Harlem Renaissance, etc. The section defines the topic, puts it into the context of its time period and at the end gives fun facts about the topic. I've found it very interesting and a nice review of things I learned about in school. Or I'm learning about things I should have learned about in school. ;-)
I also finished a really great book about sensory processing issues called Sensational Kids by Lucy Jane Miller. The book discusses Sensory Processing Dysfunction (SPD). It explains the different types of sensory processing disorders, and then goes into a-day-in-the-life story of a child with each type. Very fascinating and educational. I have read a few books on the subject to educate myself in the wake of learning my daughter Ella has sensory issues. I found this one to be most informative and very well-written for a parent's understanding.
Okay, I think that has me all caught up. I've been listening to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer on audiobook. I'm about 2/3rds through it and enjoying it. I only listen to it every now and then so it'll take me a while to finish it. But I'm finding this book much easier to listen to than The Accidental (I was one of the only people on the planet to not like this one).
Now, I'm in the position of deciding what book to read next... :-)
Monday, January 28, 2008
I Just Can't Stop!
Sorry to totally monopolize the blog lately! I read two more kids' books (I love reading below my grade level--it goes so fast) that I can heartily recommend.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen: I really enjoyed Hiaasen's first YA novel, Hoot, and I suggest that if you enjoyed Hoot (and if you haven't read it, go find a used copy), you will also enjoy Flush. Hiaasen brings his trademark zany humor and Florida settings to YA novels quite well, so if you've enjoyed his adult novels, give his YA ones a try. I felt the environmental message was handled well, not too preachy. What the bad guys are doing is so heinous that even people who wouldn't describe themselves as "green" will cheer when they get what's coming to them. Noah and his younger sister Abbey (a former biter, which comes in handy) become drawn into their father's passion for protecting nature. Their father is in jail for destroying a casino boat--Dad insists that the owner is dumping his sewage into the water instead of paying for it to be properly contained and treated (ew), but there's no proof. Noah overhears his mother discussing divorce and he and Abbey set out to prove Dad right. A number of encounters with an entertaining cast of adult and junior bad guys (the casino owner's son is a bully) lead to Noah's hilarious idea for proving the illegal (and very gross) dumping. An unlikely alliance with Shelly, the scary ex-girlfriend of a worker on the casino boat, makes the kids' success more believable. A funny, fast-paced juvenile novel with a message.
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson: I've been on an Ibbotson kick lately. I really enjoy her fantasy novels, which are funny and warm. I summed up the book for Matt--there's a secret entrance to a magical world through a platform in King's Cross station--and he laughed and thought it was a Harry Potter rip-off. But this book was written in 1994. Anyway, the King and Queen of the magical world have an infant son. His nurses take him through the gump (the gateway between worlds that opens every nine years) and he is kidnapped by the horrible Mrs. Trottle who has no child of her own. She decides to go away and return with the baby, pretending he is her own. The gump closes before a rescue can be mounted. For nine years, the King and Queen mourn and plan a rescue at the next opening. A motley crew of magical folk go through the gump to recover the lost prince. They find a charming, wonderful boy at the Trottle home, but he turns out to be a servant. The prince is a spoiled, horrid boy, but they have to bring him back, anyway, as he is the prince. His mother learns of the plan and whisks him away. The rescuers have to track him down (with Ben's help). The plot twist is glaringly obvious, but I think the story is a lot of fun, anyway, and it ends very happily. Ibbotson's books are easily found used on amazon or bn.com for basically the price of shipping, and are usually in the amazon 4-for-3 promotion, in case you want to start collecting them.
I've bounced around between books, trying to find the right one, and I've settled on Once a Thief by Suzann Ledbetter for now. It's not grabbing me the way her Hannah Garvey series did (the one that starts with East of Peculiar), but it's mildly entertaining. I've read so much YA lately, but that may just be what I feel like right now. I've been working down the stack of books in my room. I have stacks of books everywhere. I have a shelf of books I haven't read yet up in the guest room, then I have another in the closet. And I have the books I think I'll read soon stacked in our bedroom by my nightstand. Matt's really nice about all this, and every once in a while will request that maybe I could relocate some books when they begin to take over the floor :) After this book, I may hit the literature shelf upstairs for something more substantial.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen: I really enjoyed Hiaasen's first YA novel, Hoot, and I suggest that if you enjoyed Hoot (and if you haven't read it, go find a used copy), you will also enjoy Flush. Hiaasen brings his trademark zany humor and Florida settings to YA novels quite well, so if you've enjoyed his adult novels, give his YA ones a try. I felt the environmental message was handled well, not too preachy. What the bad guys are doing is so heinous that even people who wouldn't describe themselves as "green" will cheer when they get what's coming to them. Noah and his younger sister Abbey (a former biter, which comes in handy) become drawn into their father's passion for protecting nature. Their father is in jail for destroying a casino boat--Dad insists that the owner is dumping his sewage into the water instead of paying for it to be properly contained and treated (ew), but there's no proof. Noah overhears his mother discussing divorce and he and Abbey set out to prove Dad right. A number of encounters with an entertaining cast of adult and junior bad guys (the casino owner's son is a bully) lead to Noah's hilarious idea for proving the illegal (and very gross) dumping. An unlikely alliance with Shelly, the scary ex-girlfriend of a worker on the casino boat, makes the kids' success more believable. A funny, fast-paced juvenile novel with a message.
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson: I've been on an Ibbotson kick lately. I really enjoy her fantasy novels, which are funny and warm. I summed up the book for Matt--there's a secret entrance to a magical world through a platform in King's Cross station--and he laughed and thought it was a Harry Potter rip-off. But this book was written in 1994. Anyway, the King and Queen of the magical world have an infant son. His nurses take him through the gump (the gateway between worlds that opens every nine years) and he is kidnapped by the horrible Mrs. Trottle who has no child of her own. She decides to go away and return with the baby, pretending he is her own. The gump closes before a rescue can be mounted. For nine years, the King and Queen mourn and plan a rescue at the next opening. A motley crew of magical folk go through the gump to recover the lost prince. They find a charming, wonderful boy at the Trottle home, but he turns out to be a servant. The prince is a spoiled, horrid boy, but they have to bring him back, anyway, as he is the prince. His mother learns of the plan and whisks him away. The rescuers have to track him down (with Ben's help). The plot twist is glaringly obvious, but I think the story is a lot of fun, anyway, and it ends very happily. Ibbotson's books are easily found used on amazon or bn.com for basically the price of shipping, and are usually in the amazon 4-for-3 promotion, in case you want to start collecting them.
I've bounced around between books, trying to find the right one, and I've settled on Once a Thief by Suzann Ledbetter for now. It's not grabbing me the way her Hannah Garvey series did (the one that starts with East of Peculiar), but it's mildly entertaining. I've read so much YA lately, but that may just be what I feel like right now. I've been working down the stack of books in my room. I have stacks of books everywhere. I have a shelf of books I haven't read yet up in the guest room, then I have another in the closet. And I have the books I think I'll read soon stacked in our bedroom by my nightstand. Matt's really nice about all this, and every once in a while will request that maybe I could relocate some books when they begin to take over the floor :) After this book, I may hit the literature shelf upstairs for something more substantial.
Friday, January 25, 2008
And again with the kids' books!
So, I read two more kids' fantasy books and enjoyed both:
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress: At first, I wasn't sure what I thought of this book. I blame the publisher, who chose a rather misleading (though very cool) title and cover, which implied that this was a pirate adventure. We learn very early in the story that the Ironic Gentleman is a pirate ship, but much of the book is Alex *getting to* the pirate ship. So, because I was assuming it was a pirate adventure, the side stories on the way seemed meandering and off-topic. But what a fun journey! Kress's voice is enjoyable, earnest and adding fun asides in the Dear Reader tradition. The story seems timeless and placeless, and whimsy added to even the mundane aspects (Alex's interrogation at the police station, for instance) make the story move along easily and encourage suspension of disbelief. I had a lot of fun reading this. In a nutshell, it's the story of Alex, a 10 and a half year old girl (often mistaken for a boy due to her bowl haircut and name) who sets out to rescue her sixth grade teacher, a descendent of pirates who has been kidnapped by the descendent of rival pirates (still with me?). Along the way, she encounters a number of original and funny obstacles and meets truly memorable characters, like the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, who is a frustrated actor, Giggles the cat, and a quintet of scary old ladies. I had a lot of fun reading this. The pirate Steele is a complex villain and Alex is a fun heroine who manages very well on her own against all these obstacles.
Iris, Messenger by Sarah Deming: Holly brought this book to my attention. It's another Greek god juvenile fantasy, but is really completely different from the Percy Jackson series. For one thing, I could be wrong, but I don't think it's the start of a series. All the loose ends were tied up at the end and it seemed like a self-contained story. We'll see. Deming is a very good writer and Iris is an engaging girl. (By the way, here's another publisher-related annoyance--the cover shows Irish being held by a boy--it looks like he's rescuing her or something, but that NEVER happens in the book. What? There's actually a girl who can stand on her own as the hero of a book, and the publisher has to make it look like a boy is actually the hero?) Iris is a dreamer who doesn't have friends at her middle school. She is sent a mysterious birthday gift, a copy of Bulfinch's mythology, with directions on how to find the Greek gods (who now live incognito in suburban Pennsylvania), who need her help. Each god she meets tells her a story (an actual myth from Bulfinch, but with funny asides and dialogue) that leads her to an unexpected truth. This was a fun, well-written fantasy and really enjoyable.
I also read a romance series by Susan Mallery. It's the Buchanans series, four books, each one about one of the Buchanan siblings (if you've read trilogies by Nora Roberts or the like, you know the drill). The Buchanans own restaurants, which is an interesting milieu. They're pretty good, with some wildly unbelievable plot twists, but hey, they're romance novels, so whatever. They're not laugh-out-loud funny like Janet Evanovich, but there are some chuckles. The first one is Delicious, then Irresistible, then Sizzling, then Tempting. (Holly, I'll be sending these your way along with knitting mysteries.)
I'm reading Flush, Carl Hiassen's second YA novel right now and enjoying it. His first, Hoot, was a Newbery Honor Book, and I really liked it. I'll put up a review when I'm done.
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress: At first, I wasn't sure what I thought of this book. I blame the publisher, who chose a rather misleading (though very cool) title and cover, which implied that this was a pirate adventure. We learn very early in the story that the Ironic Gentleman is a pirate ship, but much of the book is Alex *getting to* the pirate ship. So, because I was assuming it was a pirate adventure, the side stories on the way seemed meandering and off-topic. But what a fun journey! Kress's voice is enjoyable, earnest and adding fun asides in the Dear Reader tradition. The story seems timeless and placeless, and whimsy added to even the mundane aspects (Alex's interrogation at the police station, for instance) make the story move along easily and encourage suspension of disbelief. I had a lot of fun reading this. In a nutshell, it's the story of Alex, a 10 and a half year old girl (often mistaken for a boy due to her bowl haircut and name) who sets out to rescue her sixth grade teacher, a descendent of pirates who has been kidnapped by the descendent of rival pirates (still with me?). Along the way, she encounters a number of original and funny obstacles and meets truly memorable characters, like the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, who is a frustrated actor, Giggles the cat, and a quintet of scary old ladies. I had a lot of fun reading this. The pirate Steele is a complex villain and Alex is a fun heroine who manages very well on her own against all these obstacles.
Iris, Messenger by Sarah Deming: Holly brought this book to my attention. It's another Greek god juvenile fantasy, but is really completely different from the Percy Jackson series. For one thing, I could be wrong, but I don't think it's the start of a series. All the loose ends were tied up at the end and it seemed like a self-contained story. We'll see. Deming is a very good writer and Iris is an engaging girl. (By the way, here's another publisher-related annoyance--the cover shows Irish being held by a boy--it looks like he's rescuing her or something, but that NEVER happens in the book. What? There's actually a girl who can stand on her own as the hero of a book, and the publisher has to make it look like a boy is actually the hero?) Iris is a dreamer who doesn't have friends at her middle school. She is sent a mysterious birthday gift, a copy of Bulfinch's mythology, with directions on how to find the Greek gods (who now live incognito in suburban Pennsylvania), who need her help. Each god she meets tells her a story (an actual myth from Bulfinch, but with funny asides and dialogue) that leads her to an unexpected truth. This was a fun, well-written fantasy and really enjoyable.
I also read a romance series by Susan Mallery. It's the Buchanans series, four books, each one about one of the Buchanan siblings (if you've read trilogies by Nora Roberts or the like, you know the drill). The Buchanans own restaurants, which is an interesting milieu. They're pretty good, with some wildly unbelievable plot twists, but hey, they're romance novels, so whatever. They're not laugh-out-loud funny like Janet Evanovich, but there are some chuckles. The first one is Delicious, then Irresistible, then Sizzling, then Tempting. (Holly, I'll be sending these your way along with knitting mysteries.)
I'm reading Flush, Carl Hiassen's second YA novel right now and enjoying it. His first, Hoot, was a Newbery Honor Book, and I really liked it. I'll put up a review when I'm done.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A few short reviews
Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson: Heckie can turn anyone into an animal and Dora can turn anyone into stone. The two are best friends until a falling-out over a hat. They end up each getting duped by a furrier looking for a cheap and easy way to get exotic pelts, but join together to make everything right in the end. Not her best effort, but a cute story nonetheless.
Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. Tired of waiting for the next dark wizard to take his place, Arriman the Awful decides to marry. He auditions all the local witches with a contest--whoever performs the darkest magic wins. Belladonna desperately wants to win, but flowers and fluffy bunny rabbits tend to spring up all around her and she finds dark magic impossible to perform. With the help of an orphan named Terrence, she comes up with a plan. This one is really cute and charming. Terrence is adorable, and Belladonna's inadvertent white magic is very funny. Arriman is a hoot. This is one of my favorite Ibbotsons, and that's really saying something.
Books 2 and 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first is The Lightning Thief (the author is Rick Riordan), and 2 and 3 are NOT a disappointment. If anything, they're even better than the first. I really don't want to say too much and give anything away, so go read them!
I also read Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich. Everyone says the between-the-numbers Plum books are not as good, and they're right. But this was still fun. Grandma Mazur at the slots, Lula modeling underwear, a guy who thinks he's a leprechaun...what's not to like? And it's a fun diversion while waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out.
Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. Tired of waiting for the next dark wizard to take his place, Arriman the Awful decides to marry. He auditions all the local witches with a contest--whoever performs the darkest magic wins. Belladonna desperately wants to win, but flowers and fluffy bunny rabbits tend to spring up all around her and she finds dark magic impossible to perform. With the help of an orphan named Terrence, she comes up with a plan. This one is really cute and charming. Terrence is adorable, and Belladonna's inadvertent white magic is very funny. Arriman is a hoot. This is one of my favorite Ibbotsons, and that's really saying something.
Books 2 and 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first is The Lightning Thief (the author is Rick Riordan), and 2 and 3 are NOT a disappointment. If anything, they're even better than the first. I really don't want to say too much and give anything away, so go read them!
I also read Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich. Everyone says the between-the-numbers Plum books are not as good, and they're right. But this was still fun. Grandma Mazur at the slots, Lula modeling underwear, a guy who thinks he's a leprechaun...what's not to like? And it's a fun diversion while waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
This is the third Picoult book I've read. As with the others (Salem Falls and My Sister's Keeper), it was a quick, easy, and engaging read. A young Amish girl has a baby in the middle of the night without anyone knowing she was pregnant. The next morning, the baby is discovered dead in the barn and not hidden very well. The girl is the main suspect and put on trial for murdering her baby. In the middle of all of this, a high powered attorney from Philadelphia goes to her aunt's house in the country to relax and reevaluate her life. She ends up wrapped up in the Amish girl's life as her friend and attorney. Forced by the court to live with the Amish family, she spends months getting used to their beliefs and way of life, while building her case to defend the Amish girl.
The book is strong in character development. I felt the story was good, but did slow down in a couple sections. Maybe it was a little longer than it needed to be. And the ending was not too earthshattering. But I found learning about the Amish way of life interesting. And even though this is a fiction book, I take to heart that the author did her research and is protraying their world accurately.
The book is strong in character development. I felt the story was good, but did slow down in a couple sections. Maybe it was a little longer than it needed to be. And the ending was not too earthshattering. But I found learning about the Amish way of life interesting. And even though this is a fiction book, I take to heart that the author did her research and is protraying their world accurately.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
More kids' books
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: Holly reviewed this book extremely well here. I had such a great time reading this book. And I took one of my Christmas B&N gift cards and ordered 2&3 right away. And probably I'll be pre-ordering #4. This was such a fresh take on juvenile fantasy. And such a sneaky way to get kids interested in learning about Greek mythology. There are two ways to go with this sort of story; either put the hero into a magical world or bring the magic into this world. Harry Potter goes the first way, and the Percy Jackson books go the other. Matt asked what I was reading and I told him "post-Harry Potter juvenile fantasy." He laughed and asked if we were already at the post-Harry Potter age of literature. I guess I just think of juvenile fantasy written since Harry Potter became an unstoppable force as inevitably influenced by it (at least authors publishing new books, especially series--authors who were already writing don't really have this problem). And Riordan really could have pitched this to his publisher as "Harry Potter, but in New York and with Greek gods." But his writing is crisp and witty, Percy is an immensely likable hero with whom kids will love to identify (especially kids who tend to not like reading, those with dyslexia and ADHD, both of which Percy has as a result of being half-blood), and the book was just plain fun and action-packed to the hilt. He's charting Percy's hero journey, and the necessary archetypal elements make comparisons to Harry Potter inevitable. It didn't bother me, though, because Riordan's story is original and inventive, and the ways he finds to bring Greek gods into modern-day America are endlessly creative. I can't wait to read the next installment.
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson: Madlyn and Rollo go to spend the summer with distant relatives who live in Clawstone Castle, a crumbling money pit opened to the public to raise funds to preserve a herd of white cattle. The children audition ghosts to help bring in more visitors, but a terrible fate befalls the cattle, leading to their quest (together with the memorable collection of ghosts) to save them. Ibbotson has written several ghost stories with a twist. In the tradition of Dial-a-Ghost and The Great Ghost Rescue, the ghosts are good guys and the bad guys are very human. She has subtle anti-animal-cruelty and environmental messages in the text, but nothing preachy or extreme. Madlyn and Rollo are good kids who want to help out their great-aunt and great-uncle as well as the cattle. Ibbotson, as always, is very, very funny in a dry, witty way that I really enjoy. I would definitely recommend this, as well as her other books.
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson: Madlyn and Rollo go to spend the summer with distant relatives who live in Clawstone Castle, a crumbling money pit opened to the public to raise funds to preserve a herd of white cattle. The children audition ghosts to help bring in more visitors, but a terrible fate befalls the cattle, leading to their quest (together with the memorable collection of ghosts) to save them. Ibbotson has written several ghost stories with a twist. In the tradition of Dial-a-Ghost and The Great Ghost Rescue, the ghosts are good guys and the bad guys are very human. She has subtle anti-animal-cruelty and environmental messages in the text, but nothing preachy or extreme. Madlyn and Rollo are good kids who want to help out their great-aunt and great-uncle as well as the cattle. Ibbotson, as always, is very, very funny in a dry, witty way that I really enjoy. I would definitely recommend this, as well as her other books.
Mystery!
I read Died in the Wool and Knit Fast, Die Young by Mary Kruger. I thought these were fun mysteries, not the best, but enjoyable reads. I'd pick up #3 once it's in paperback, but I wouldn't rush out to buy the hardback. In Died in the Wool, Ari discovers the body of tightwad customer Edith Perry in her shop, and she sets out to help the police solve the murder. In the second, Ari is at a wool festival when she stumbles into the well-hated knitting magazine editor as she's dying (stabbed by a knitting needle). With yarn an important clue, Ari is in a better position than the police to find the culprit. Ari is likable enough and Josh, the cop in charge of the case, tries to keep her in the real world. I have a few gripes: there's almost no comic relief (except some extremely bad puns), in each book, there is a second murder that seems really unnecessary (almost as though Kruger got halfway through the first book and thought the death count was too low and so threw in another), and in each, Ari confronts the killer Jessica Fletcher-style. However, unlike a lot of cozy mysteries these days, the writing is very good, the book is well-edited, and I thought the character development was well-done. If you enjoy cozies and/or knitting, chances are you'll like these. I thought they were better written and the characters more fleshed out than in the Maggie Sefton knitting mysteries.
I also read The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood, the third Beatrix Potter mystery by Susan Wittig Albert. These have all been utterly charming. As a bonus, you could easily read these to kids, as there's no adult content of any kind. The first is The Tale of Hill Top Farm in case you're looking to start these. Talking animals, nosy villagers, charming children looking for fairies--if that sounds saccharine and cheesy to you, well, you might not like these. They're gentle tales that evoke Miss Potter's own charming tales for children, and the mysteries take a back seat to the intrigue of the village and of the animal communities. If you're looking for pulse-pounding suspense, this is not the mystery for you. But if spending a couple of hours in the company of a cast of charming characters, both human and otherwise, then light a fire in the fireplace, make some tea, and sit down with one of these novels.
I also read The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood, the third Beatrix Potter mystery by Susan Wittig Albert. These have all been utterly charming. As a bonus, you could easily read these to kids, as there's no adult content of any kind. The first is The Tale of Hill Top Farm in case you're looking to start these. Talking animals, nosy villagers, charming children looking for fairies--if that sounds saccharine and cheesy to you, well, you might not like these. They're gentle tales that evoke Miss Potter's own charming tales for children, and the mysteries take a back seat to the intrigue of the village and of the animal communities. If you're looking for pulse-pounding suspense, this is not the mystery for you. But if spending a couple of hours in the company of a cast of charming characters, both human and otherwise, then light a fire in the fireplace, make some tea, and sit down with one of these novels.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Vacation Reading
I was recently in the Florida Keys on vacation and had ample time to read. In fact, I finished the three books I brought with me and picked up four more while I was down there. The three I brought with me were books recommended by the bloggers - Not a girl detective by Susan Kandel, The Penguin who knew too much by Donna Andrews and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. I read I dreamed I married Perry Mason before I left so knew Not a girl detective would be an easy read. I've also read the other Meg Lansdowne novels, so enjoyed this one, too. And, yes, I've read the previous two books of the Peter trilogy, so really looked forward to reading it.
I have to admit I'm not that enthralled with the leading character in Susan Kandel's books. She's just too involved in clothes for me to identify with her. Ask my sister about that. I also think the plots are just a bit far fetched, but then they're based on a biographer of mystery writers, so what would one expect.
The Penguin who Knew too much was similar to the rest of Andrew's Meg series - crazy family members and I loved the medical examiner and his claustrophobia! It's not laugh out loud like Evanovich's books, but you do chuckle from time to time.
I loved Peter and the Secret of Rundoon and hate the fact that it is the last book of the trilogy - although there are enough loose ends that I can see a new Peter adventure on the horizon.
I've also read Inkspell and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - another recommendation by Alison which were terrific reads.
So, after I ran through the above and still had a week of our vacation, we went to the discount book store and I purchased four action thriller books and, of course, I can only remember two of them. The first book I read was The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor. I hadn't read anything by him before and picked it up because it was at least 400 pages. I like long books when I'm on vacation. It was extremely action packed and I actually had a hard time putting it down. I've since requested a few of his books from the library and will let you know if they're as good as his first.
I then read Icon by Frederick Forsyth (best known for The Day of the Jackal). This started out very slowly as there were a ton of Russian names to deal with in the beginning. It always scares me when you have a list of all of the characters in the book and it's longer than three pages. And yes, I did refer to it in the beginning. Thankfully, after the first 100 pages, it was limited to ten to fifteen characters. Also, after the first 100 pages, it really got interesting. I'm a sucker for a good spy novel and this was one of them.
I can't remember the last two books other than they were also of the action spy thriller genre and were at least 400 pages. For some reason this year I was into the action genre on vacation.
So, when I returned home last weekend, I went to the library and picked up books by Frederick Forsyth, Patricia Cornwall, Ken Follett and James Patterson.
I just finished Cross by Patterson and other than the very grisly murder scenes (which I started skipping after the first five or so), it was an interesting read that finally identified Alex Cross's wife's killer.
Here's to a Happy New Year of many new and old books to read! Enjoy!
I have to admit I'm not that enthralled with the leading character in Susan Kandel's books. She's just too involved in clothes for me to identify with her. Ask my sister about that. I also think the plots are just a bit far fetched, but then they're based on a biographer of mystery writers, so what would one expect.
The Penguin who Knew too much was similar to the rest of Andrew's Meg series - crazy family members and I loved the medical examiner and his claustrophobia! It's not laugh out loud like Evanovich's books, but you do chuckle from time to time.
I loved Peter and the Secret of Rundoon and hate the fact that it is the last book of the trilogy - although there are enough loose ends that I can see a new Peter adventure on the horizon.
I've also read Inkspell and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - another recommendation by Alison which were terrific reads.
So, after I ran through the above and still had a week of our vacation, we went to the discount book store and I purchased four action thriller books and, of course, I can only remember two of them. The first book I read was The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor. I hadn't read anything by him before and picked it up because it was at least 400 pages. I like long books when I'm on vacation. It was extremely action packed and I actually had a hard time putting it down. I've since requested a few of his books from the library and will let you know if they're as good as his first.
I then read Icon by Frederick Forsyth (best known for The Day of the Jackal). This started out very slowly as there were a ton of Russian names to deal with in the beginning. It always scares me when you have a list of all of the characters in the book and it's longer than three pages. And yes, I did refer to it in the beginning. Thankfully, after the first 100 pages, it was limited to ten to fifteen characters. Also, after the first 100 pages, it really got interesting. I'm a sucker for a good spy novel and this was one of them.
I can't remember the last two books other than they were also of the action spy thriller genre and were at least 400 pages. For some reason this year I was into the action genre on vacation.
So, when I returned home last weekend, I went to the library and picked up books by Frederick Forsyth, Patricia Cornwall, Ken Follett and James Patterson.
I just finished Cross by Patterson and other than the very grisly murder scenes (which I started skipping after the first five or so), it was an interesting read that finally identified Alex Cross's wife's killer.
Here's to a Happy New Year of many new and old books to read! Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. Wow. After I finished it, I sort of sat for a few minutes, then decided I needed to read something fluffy (Died in the Wool by Mary Kruger--thank you, Holly!!!). This is a rather slim (under 250 pages), poetic novel about family secrets and betrayal. It was literally relentless, with no chapter breaks, which made it even more difficult to put down. Three voices are balanced (ambitious for such a short book): Iris, a young woman who discovers she has a great-aunt in an institution (for whom she is now responsible), Esme, a woman committed to an asylum over 60 years ago as a young woman for being difficult and inconvenient for her family, and Kitty, Esme's sister who is now afflicted with Alzheimer's, and always spoke of being an only child. This could easily have been a mess of a book in less capable hands. O'Farrell's writing is stunning and she handles the three voices brilliantly. The book doesn't so much have plot twists as revelations that gradually tease out family secrets to reveal the betrayals of Iris's family. The pacing is flawless. I wanted to find out what had happened, but I didn't really want the book to end. It's haunting and horrifying and beautiful. I can't recommend it enough. To my delight, O'Farrell has written three previous novels, which I will have to look into.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
End of the Year Reading
I finished up two books in the last couple weeks. The first, Momzillas by Jill Kargman was a quick entertaining read. Hannah moves from California to New York City with her husband and young daughter. She is thrown into the rich, socialite world of NYC Park Avenue stay-at-home-moms. It's a typical fish-out-of-water tale about how Hannah doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere in her new location and the ups and downs of that. It all comes together in the end. Nothing too profound. The rich moms are very annoying, but I think there is probably a small amount of truth to their behaviors just from my experience being a stay at home mom. At least, I can see how some of these characters could exist in real life. I would compare this book to The Nanny Diaries or The Devil Wears Prada in terms of the type of story and flow of the book. Typical chick lit. I signed up to receive emails from my library with a few chapters of a different book each week. I found Momzillas through one of those emails.
The last book of 2007 for me is The Woods by Harlan Coben. Again, another quick and easy read. This book is typical Bestseller fare. The story is not incredibly profound, but interesting and entertaining so worth the read. Twenty years ago, four murders take place at a summer camp. The main character's sister is one of the victims. He becomes a county prosecutor and things begin to pop up involving his sister's case that bring that summer back to him and a few others who were involved. Secrets are revealed. The truth of what really happened that summer comes out. This would be a great book to read on vacation or at the beach. It's very popular right now. I requested it from the library in August and I was #414 on the list at the time.
Happy reading in the New Year!
The last book of 2007 for me is The Woods by Harlan Coben. Again, another quick and easy read. This book is typical Bestseller fare. The story is not incredibly profound, but interesting and entertaining so worth the read. Twenty years ago, four murders take place at a summer camp. The main character's sister is one of the victims. He becomes a county prosecutor and things begin to pop up involving his sister's case that bring that summer back to him and a few others who were involved. Secrets are revealed. The truth of what really happened that summer comes out. This would be a great book to read on vacation or at the beach. It's very popular right now. I requested it from the library in August and I was #414 on the list at the time.
Happy reading in the New Year!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
This book is the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I really enjoyed this youth novel a lot. It's the story of 12 year old Percy Jackson who discovers he is not who he thinks he is--a normal human. He is in fact a demigod, born to a mortal mother and a Greek god father. Percy has dyslexia and ADHD which is explained by being part-god. Dyslexia is caused because Ancient Greek is his native language, so as a result he has a hard time reading standard English. And where his ADHD makes him a little distracted and unfocused in the classroom, it makes him great in battle because he is hyper-aware of what is going on.
I don't want to say too much about the storyline to give anything away. Basically, according to the book, the Greek gods still exist today, ruling over the world. Mt. Olympus simply changes locations to accommodate changes in the world/culture. They are in the Age of Western Civilization now and Mt. Olympus is currently located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. The Underworld is currently located in West Hollywood, CA. The gods take on less classic appearances. In one of my favorite chapters ("I Settle My Tab") toward the end of the book, Riordan describes Poseidon and Zeus' current looks, all very amusing.
Through a series of events, Percy finds himself at Camp Half-Blood and is sent on an important quest to save the world from an impending World War III.
Overall, a great book, story and characters. I loved the theme of Greek Mythology. I always loved learning about mythology in school and this was a fun refresher of the various myths and who was related to each other, but with an updated twist. My only gripe about the book is how MUCH it is similar to Harry Potter. First let me say, I had no idea what this book was really about other than the description on Amazon. I was not searching to fill my Potter void or anything like that. Potter was not on my mind at all. However, as I was reading, things in the book kept striking me as very Potter-esque. So much, that it was very distracting to me and I began to keep a list of these comparisons in my head.
First, we have a boy who thinks he's normal until the pre-teen years when he discovers he is far from normal. Then, he is taken to a place that will both teach him and keep him safe from outside evils. He befriends both a boy and girl, with eerily similar personalities to Ron and especially to Hermione. The three set off on a quest in which they discover a power the gods thought to be extinguished fighting its way back to power. Then the gods ignore the fact that the power has a plan and is getting stronger (ie: Voldermort). Hmm.....I could be talking about Potter or Percy, they are so similar. Oh yes, there are also prophecies, swords, invisibility items, hearing voices in dreams, rivalry between cabins or god families (aka like the houses at Hogwarts). I know Rowling used mythology as part of a basis for her Potter world. Maybe, I didn't realize just how much was based in mythology or how much of Potter was a magical retelling of myths.
I don't mean to steer anyone away from The Lightning Thief. It really is a great book and I would recommend people read it. I was just so distracted the first half of the book by the Potterisms. The second half of the book was much easier to get into and stay focused on the Percy story. If you are a Potter fan and can forgive the similarities, I think you will really like this as a new series to read in the wake of Potter's end. There are three books published so far with the fourth due out next year. The Lightning Thief is also being produced as a movie with Chris Columbus directing (he also directed Harry Potter 1 & 2).
I don't want to say too much about the storyline to give anything away. Basically, according to the book, the Greek gods still exist today, ruling over the world. Mt. Olympus simply changes locations to accommodate changes in the world/culture. They are in the Age of Western Civilization now and Mt. Olympus is currently located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. The Underworld is currently located in West Hollywood, CA. The gods take on less classic appearances. In one of my favorite chapters ("I Settle My Tab") toward the end of the book, Riordan describes Poseidon and Zeus' current looks, all very amusing.
Through a series of events, Percy finds himself at Camp Half-Blood and is sent on an important quest to save the world from an impending World War III.
Overall, a great book, story and characters. I loved the theme of Greek Mythology. I always loved learning about mythology in school and this was a fun refresher of the various myths and who was related to each other, but with an updated twist. My only gripe about the book is how MUCH it is similar to Harry Potter. First let me say, I had no idea what this book was really about other than the description on Amazon. I was not searching to fill my Potter void or anything like that. Potter was not on my mind at all. However, as I was reading, things in the book kept striking me as very Potter-esque. So much, that it was very distracting to me and I began to keep a list of these comparisons in my head.
First, we have a boy who thinks he's normal until the pre-teen years when he discovers he is far from normal. Then, he is taken to a place that will both teach him and keep him safe from outside evils. He befriends both a boy and girl, with eerily similar personalities to Ron and especially to Hermione. The three set off on a quest in which they discover a power the gods thought to be extinguished fighting its way back to power. Then the gods ignore the fact that the power has a plan and is getting stronger (ie: Voldermort). Hmm.....I could be talking about Potter or Percy, they are so similar. Oh yes, there are also prophecies, swords, invisibility items, hearing voices in dreams, rivalry between cabins or god families (aka like the houses at Hogwarts). I know Rowling used mythology as part of a basis for her Potter world. Maybe, I didn't realize just how much was based in mythology or how much of Potter was a magical retelling of myths.
I don't mean to steer anyone away from The Lightning Thief. It really is a great book and I would recommend people read it. I was just so distracted the first half of the book by the Potterisms. The second half of the book was much easier to get into and stay focused on the Percy story. If you are a Potter fan and can forgive the similarities, I think you will really like this as a new series to read in the wake of Potter's end. There are three books published so far with the fourth due out next year. The Lightning Thief is also being produced as a movie with Chris Columbus directing (he also directed Harry Potter 1 & 2).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
