Ratskellar Reads

19th Century Values Shape the Lives of Two Remarkable Women

2009-12-17T08:56:00.001-05:00

How about some interesting historical fiction to start off the new year? Well, best selling author Tracy Chevalier is back with a novel set in 19th century England, full of fossils and friendship.

Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures" focuses on two historical women--Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, and tries to flesh out the historical accounts of the lives of these women that exists in the scientific record. The book begins when Philpot has just moved to the town of Lyme Regis, and first meets Anning. Philpot, in her late 20s, is already a spinster, and moving to Lyme from London gives her the freedom to pursue her unladylike passion for fossils. Anning has a natural gift for fossil hunting, and Philpot is quickly drawn to her. Over the next two decades these women will develop a close bond and make many fossil discoveries together. But will a force bigger than themselves--love or fame--eventually draw them apart?

In "Remarkable Creatures" Chevalier has done a good job of taking real historical figures and crafting an interesting story around them. I had never heard of either Anning or Philpot, but I actually had seen some of the collections of fossils they contributed to at the British Museum. The novel quickly introduces you to these two women and their world, and does a good job of helping you to see the world through their eyes. I thought the most interesting dynamic of the story was how the men treated Philpot and Anning, especially how they were considered just "hunters" not real scientists because they were women. Some of the novel, particularly the love stories and jealousy did seem a bit forced, but not so much so that they ruined the rest of the story.

I would recommend this book to readers interested in women's lives during the early 19th century and to general fans of historical fiction. It was well done and an interesting quick read.

Too Much Sorrow Drags Down a Potentially Interesting Story

2009-12-14T20:48:00.003-05:00

Have you ever read a book that was just so buzzed about you couldn't wait to read it, only to find it a big let down in the end. Well, that was pretty much my experience with "A Gate At the Stairs". Maybe it was just that the ending of the book left such a cold taste in my mouth, but this will definitely NOT be on my top ten list!

Lorrie Moore's "A Gate at the Stairs" follows a year in the life of Tassie, a 20 year old college student. Tassie is from a small town in rural Wisconsin, and her world is expanded exponentially over the course of the novel, first by her experience in the college town of Troy, then by her employment as the nanny for a young adopted mixed race girl, and finally by her brother's experience in the military. Through all of these experiences Tassie is forced to reexamine the perspective that has shaped her life and decide who she is and what she believes.

When I started reading this book I was excited--it had received all around rave reviews and I enjoyed Moore's previous work. It soon became clear however that Moore's strength lies in short stories, not in novel length works. I felt like the different sections of this novel--the book doesn't really have chapters, but rather longish sections--weren't really connected to each other, and although the characters were the same there was no continuous narrative thread to hold all of the pieces together. Not that I didn't love some of the sections--particularly the part about Emmie, the little girl Tassie nannies--put the disconnect between them was too much for me. I also finished this novel deeply depressed, which I think skews my opinion of the work as a whole. Since the fictional Tassie and I are roughly the same age, it was extremely discouraging to see one of my peers (even if she is fictional) so negative and bleak at such a young age. I know the novel is set in a dark time and there are tragic events, but the end of this novel is discouraging and so depressing, it overweighs the rest of the story.

I would have a hard time recommending this book to others because it is so dark. Yes, there are some beautiful and uplifting parts, but the end of the book left me cold and depressed. Reader beware.

A Nail Bitting Novel with a Big Mystery--"The Weight of Silence"

2009-12-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

Do you ever read a book that just totally sucks you in and twists your emotions? Well this was one of those books for me, which is surprising, because a lot of times I feel like first time authors just don't have that kind of power. But this was definitely a good one, which I would recommend to fans of Jodi Picoult or Anita Shreve.

"The Weight of Silence" Heather Gudenkauf's debut novel, is a real nail bitter, full of drama and suspense. In a small Iowa town, a young girl Callie has not spoken in 4 years. Callie awakes one morning and surprises her drunk father, who drags her into the woods. Callie's best friend also disappears the same morning, setting off a day of frantic searching and high emotions from the parents of both girls. When the girls are finally found, both have injuries and questions swirl as to what happened to them. Only Callie can provide the answers, but will she talk?

I was impressed with this debut effort from Gudenkauf. The novel is fast paced and full of emotion, but does not feel overwrought like some other similar novels that I have read. I thought it was interesting how Gudenkauf switched between the perspectives of the different characters, because it allowed the reader to see the action from different perspectives without revealing the twist at the end of the novel. It also allowed her to explore how different members of the families reacted to the events, which really gave the characters and the novel as a whole a satisfying depth.

If you enjoy books by Anita Shreve and Jodi Picolt, I would recommend that you try Gudenkauf. I'm interested to see what this promising author produces next.

Welcoming December with a Flashback to Summer--Elin Hilderbrand's "A Summer Affair"

2009-12-05T18:46:00.002-05:00

Happy December! The holidays are upon us, and life is even crazier than usual. But make sure you take time out to read a good book! I find that for me, books are my most relaxing form of relaxation--something that is sorely needed in the craziness of the holiday season.

Let's start December off with a flashback to lighter summer days, with Elin Hilderbrand's "A Summer Affair." Although this book sounds super light and fluffy, I actually found it a little bit heavier than I thought and an enjoyable read.

"A Summer Affair", Elin Hilderbrand's seventh novel, follows Claire, a mother of four and artist in her late 30s who is struggling to deal with the realities of her life. After an accident in her studio, Claire delivers her fourth son prematurely, and her husband forces her to give up her art, which leaves Claire feeling adrift. When Claire accepts a position as a co-chair of a local charity gala, she hopes that it will give her some direction in her life. Little does she know it will lead to her beginning a relationship with Lock Dixon, the Executive Director of the charity. As the gala draws closer, will Claire be able to keep herself and her family together, or will she chose to flee her former life.

When I started this book, I thought it was going to be an airy light and candy coated fiction, where a woman has a carefree summer affair. I was surprised to find out that this book was much more complex, and really explored why Claire was involved in the affair, her guilt, and her emotional struggles with her life. The way Hilderbrand got into the head of her main characters was really interesting, and she did a great job building to the tension of the actual event and running multiple story lines at once.

This was the first Elin Hilderbrand novel I had ever read (I had always been turned off by the fluffy covers) but I think now I'm interested to read more. This was definitely better than I expected!

A Wonderful Prequel to Little Women--Geraldine Brooks' "March"

2009-11-25T18:10:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was reading an article somewhere (it seems I read so many online publications these days it's hard to keep them all straight) and the article referenced a Pulitzer Prize winning prequel to Little Women, my all time favorite book.* How had I MISSED a prequel to Little Women? Especially a Pulitzer winning one? I jumped onto Amazon and ordered this book up for my Kindle immediately. Luckily I had a day of jury duty right around the corner in which to read this wonderful story.

Geraldine Brook's "March" envisions the world before the classic novel "Little Women". She explores how Mr. and Mrs. March met, and why they are the people we know in "Little Women." The book also explores Mr. March's service during the Civil War, including the incidents leading to his injury and recovery.

Geraldine Brooks does an excellent job rounding out classic characters in "March" and making them into much more than what the reader of "Little Women" knows about them. She explores Mr. March's character as a young man, and creates for the reader the events that made him into an abolitionist, and eventually led him to invest his life earnings in the schemes of John Brown. She shows us Marmee, as a fiery woman with a fierce temper who is passionately committed to the Underground Railroad and the independence of women. Brooks' narrative is beautiful, and I felt transported to her locations throughout the first half of the 19th century. She also has a wonderful way of getting inside the heads of these characters that I thought I knew to give me a whole new perspective.

If you are a "Little Women" fan, I highly recommend that you read this book. I think it will reintroduce you to the world of "Little Women" a create a new perspective for you on why the novel is how it is.

*When you're named after a character in a book like Little Women, it basically HAS to be your all time favorite!

An Unnamed Thing Cannot Conquer Love--Joshua Ferris' "The Unnamed"

2009-11-23T17:59:00.002-05:00

Sometimes you read something so far outside of your normal reading habits, that its almost like a breath of fresh air. I read a lot of books by women and about women, often in the historical fiction category. Rarely do I find myself picking books by men, often because I feel like they lack the emotional element I really love in my books.

In October, I decided to pick up The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris from the Amazon Vine program. I remembered that I had wanted to read Ferris' first book Then We Came to the End but I had never gotten around to it. So I decided to take a leap and try this book. I was so glad that I did, because this book was really different than everything else I've been reading this fall, and may be one of the more interesting books I've read this year.

"The Unnamed" follows Tim, a high powered New York lawyer who has an unnamed disease. Tim's disease causes him to drop everything at a moment's notice and take off on long, meandering walks. Tim's wife, Jane, stays at his side as he has bouts of the disease, even though they last up to a year. Tim has seen every doctor that money can buy, but none of them can offer an explanation for the disease that plagues him. Will Tim and Jane's love be able to overcome the disease, or will it, and the miles it causes Tim to put between them, ultimately lead to their undoing.

"The Unnamed" is a puzzle of a novel that sucks its reader in from the very first page. Tim and Jane appear to be a fairly normal suburban couple, until Tim's disease reveals a whole subtext to their relationship that is complex and unexpected. Ferris uses the disease to explore his character's inner thoughts and emotions, and the disease operates as a stand in for the realities of modern life--long separations and distractions due to work, children, and other relationships--that can tear apart a marriage. I liked how Ferris made the point that Tim's money can't save him, anymore than it can save his relationships. Although Tim, Jane, and their daughter Becka change significantly over the course of the novel, Ferris always brings them back together in a way that makes them human and accessible to the reader.

This novel really made me think, and it is really much more complex than it seems on the surface. I think ultimately this novel could stand as a metaphor for our times. And although overall it is bleak, Ferris leaves his reader with some hope at the end that like Tim, maybe we could find a way to overcome our unnamed.

A Vivid Journey Through the Turbulent Mexico and America of the 30s and 40s--Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna"

2009-11-13T09:24:00.000-05:00

I love Barbara Kingsolver, and just about everything she's ever written. So when I heard she had a new novel coming out this fall, I was a bit anxious. I've had a bad run of favorite authors turning out disappointing novels recently, so I didn't want my expectations to get too high, only to be dashed by a poor showing.

Oh Barbara, why did I ever doubt you! This novel is fantastic. It has all of the rich language you've come to expect from Kingsolver, with a riveting story to match.

Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel "The Lacuna" is the story of Harrison Shepherd, a young man with a split identity--he's half Mexican and half American and feels like he doesn't truly fit in either country. After being born in America, Shepherd's mother takes him to Mexico, where he spends much of his childhood, before going back to America to finish school, then shortly going back to Mexico, where he starts working for Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo. Meeting the Rivera's sets Shepherd's life on a course from which he will be unable to escape, despite his eventual fame and fortune.

"The Lacuna" is a novel so sweeping, it's difficult to describe. Kingsolver has structured the novel as a series of journals written by Shepherd over the course of his life and edited by his secretary Violet Brown. Although this seems like a difficult structure to work with, Kingsolver uses it to really get inside of Shepherd's head and to use him as a unique type of first person narrator. His perspective on Mexico in the 1930s and America in the 1940s and 50s is unique, and unlike anything I've read before. The story is thoroughly engaging and Kingsolver's beautiful language takes this novel to a whole other level.

I really enjoyed this novel. If you are a fan of Kingsolver's previous novels, I would recommend you pick up this one, because it is not one to be missed!

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for providing me with a review copy of this book.

A Journey to France with Julia--Julia Child's "My Life in France"

2009-11-09T09:15:00.003-05:00

After reading and really enjoying "Julie and Julia" I felt like I HAD TO READ Julia Child's "My Life In France." I felt like not reading it was like reading a sequel without reading the original. So after several foiled attempts (why does a book suddenly become unavailable in Kindle edition? I mean it's not like they run out of copies or something), I managed to download this book. It was WONDERFUL. Like being transported to Paris with Julia Child. If you're a fan of Julia or you simply love Paris, French Food, or just plain food--you MUST read this book!

"My Life in France" is a wonderful autobiography. Julia Child recounts the joys of her life in France, and it's easy to see why her experiences led her to love both the food and the country. She also discuses how she came to become the famous figure we all know and love--from her modest expectations for her first cookbook to her first TV show. Throughout the narrative it is clear that this was a life well lived by someone who truly loved her life.

While I really enjoyed this book--what fan of Julia Child wouldn't love it--it's not the best written autobiography and at times I felt like I was reading a technical cookbook rather than an autobiography. I supposed Julia was simply writing in a style that she was comfortable with, but these more technical passages lessened some of the joy in the rest of the narrative.

This book is a must read for Julia Child fans. If you're interested in reading this because you enjoyed the film "Julie and Julia" I don't think you'll be disappointed with the original!

Keep Halloween Going a Little Longer with a Spooky Read--Sarah Waters' "The Little Stranger"

2009-11-01T20:16:00.002-05:00

Happy November! This month officially kicks off my favorite time of the year--the holiday season. The only bad thing about the holidays--it cuts into my reading time!

In case you're in the mood to keep the fall and Halloween creepiness going a bit longer, today's review is from a gothic novel from Sarah Waters.

Sarah Waters' "The Little Stranger" is set in rural England in the years immediately following the Second World War. A country doctor, Faraday, is called to the isolated country house of the Ayres family to treat their maid. This simple and routine house call pulls Faraday into the peculiar world of the Ayres family. The Ayres' fortunes are not what they once were, and their great country estate, Hundreds, is falling down around them. Slowly, each member of the Ayres family becomes ill--either by a family mental illness or under the influence of an evil presence that is haunting the house. Faraday tries to save the family before the illness effects the Ayres' daughter Caroline, who he has become engaged to. Will Faraday be able to save the family and Hundreds before it's too late?

In the tradition of great Gothic novels, Waters paints a thoroughly creepy mystery in "The Little Stranger." Her portrayal of the Ayres family is excellent, as is the mental picture she gives her reader of Hundreds, the manor house past it's prime. My problem with this novel was the timing. Waters would build a sufficient amount of suspense and energy in her story, and then instead of sustaining it to build a truly great Gothic story, she would let the suspense fade and the pace of the novel would slow WAY DOWN. This unevenness made it really hard for me to remain engaged in this nearly 500 page book. I also found the ending and the characters other than Faraday disappointing.

If you're a big fan of Gothic novels I would recommend this book, but if you are only a casual fan, I recommend that you read something else.

A Long And Twisted Trip Beyond Twisted River

2009-10-18T16:55:00.002-04:00

So I was really, really excited when I got an advance copy of the new John Irving book through the Amazon Vine program. Too bad the book turned out to be a total dud. I think true Irving fans should give it a read just to see how Irving's work has changed, but I would not recommend this to the casual reader.

John Irving's "Last Night in Twisted River" begins in the mid 1950s in the isolated logging town of Twisted River. A cook and his son are about to be drawn into a series of events that will change their lives forever. After the events, the cook decides to take his son on the run, and the next 50 years of their lives are shrouded in tragedies related to the events of that one fateful night.

I felt like "Twisted River" was an apt title for this book--since as a reader I felt like I was being twisted and turned on a wild goose chase that lasted for 500 plus pages. The book was long, it was meandering, and it simply is not Irving at his best. The core of the story is simple--the cook makes a decision after a misunderstanding to save his son, and the two of them spend the remainder of the book running as a result. However, the book lingers on this point for too long, and I felt like the characters never grew beyond their actions. Also, the book is broken into segments set in each decade following the 1950s, but instead of focusing on the events happening in that decade, it typically jumps back to events that happened previously. This made it hard for me as a reader to follow the book, since I never knew exactly where in time I was. When coupled with the slow moving plot, this made the book almost unreadable in sections.

If you are an Irving fan, I would recommend that you read this book to see how his approach to writing has changed. If you are considering this as your first experience with Irving, I would suggest that you start instead with one of his classics, such as "A Prayer for Owen Meaney" or "The Cider House Rules".

Happy Birthday Ratskellar Reads!

2009-10-12T13:42:00.002-04:00

So turns out today is a big day! Not just because I'm off work to celebrate Mr. Columbus, but because when I opened my calendar this morning I discovered that this little blog is officially 1 year old today!

When I started a year ago, I was turning to blogging more as a way to keep track of what I read for me than for anything else. Now, a year later, I think that blogging has turned into a great way for me to share my thoughts on books with my friends and family. I know many of you have asked me about books that I've reviewed, and a few of you have even read some of them! It's always nice to think that people are reading my reviews!

So to commemorate this day, a review of one of my favorite recent reads. I'm hoping that this anniversary will encourage me to post a bit more regularly (I'm still reading, I just am having a hard time updating!).

"Julie and Julia" is Julie Powell's memoir about the year she tried to cook all of Julia Child's recipes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (MAoFC). Much like the movie with the same name, the book is as much about Julie's life--her marriage, her friendships, her thankless job--as it is about cooking. Unlike the movie, this book is really just about Julie, there is very little "real" Julia Child in this book. The only Julia in this book is the one in Julie's head, who almost like an imaginary friend, cheers Julie on as she make her way through MAoFC and helps her to discover an inner passion for cooking and how it brings people together.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought Julie was honest and funny about the challenges of being young and direction-less in modern urban America. I found it interesting to see how Julie used the project to discover a real passion in herself and to provide herself a purpose that ultimately led her to fulfilment (and an extra 15 pounds of butter weight!). That being said, I don't agree with everything that Julie said or did, and yes she could be a little self centered at times. But this is her memoir, so she has a right to share the world from her perspective.

If you are drawn to this book because you loved the movie--be warned, this Julie is a much more colorful (in both language and personality), well drawn character than the Julie in the movie, who in my opinion was sanitized into a typical romantic comedy heroine. Yes there are a lot of incidents that were in the movie that are also in the book. But the book is really about Julie and her life, not Julia Child. That being said, I loved both the book and the movie, but recognize them as two distinct works.

If you're interested in reading about how one woman found herself through the completion of an unreasonable project that most people would never even think of undertaking, this book is for you. It shows Julie's project as it was--with all of the messes, curses and challenges that it contained. If you go into the book knowing that, I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

A Classic Love Story Set Against the Niagra--Cathy Marie Buchanan's "The Day The Falls Stood Still"

2009-09-22T20:33:00.002-04:00

So I seriously have not had much time for reading recently. Fall, that season I thought was going to be slower, seems to be flying by just as fast as summer did. And my evenings for the last week or so have been totally devoured by my other blog project, which just relaunched on www.990square.com. But hopefully now that it's done I'll have more time for reading! I have a couple of books I'm really excited about waiting for me--so that should be a good incentive.

This book had been on my TBR pile for a while, and I finally made time for it about two weeks ago. It was a pretty engaging read, even if it did feel a little too light on the history to be categorized as historical romance.

"The Day The Falls Stood Still" follows the life of Bess, a 17 year old rich girl who lives in Niagara Falls, Canada in 1915. After a chance meeting on a trolley car, Bess falls hard for Tom, the local riverman. They court in secret and ultimately Bess defies her family to marry Tom. Tom then ships off to World War I, and when he returns, nothing in Niagara Falls is the same as he left it. Will Bess and Tom be swept up in the change that surrounds them, or will they resist in an attempt to save themselves and the river they love.

"The Day The Falls Stood Still" is a classic love story--rich girl meets and falls in love with poor boy--mixed with the history of the eras around World War I and industrial change. Although much of the plot was predictable--if you've read one of these stories before, you can pretty much figure out what is going to happen--the historical element really provided an interesting twist, and I found myself completely sucked in to this story. I do feel like it was uneven at times, with some passages being completely riveting page turners, but others slower and more mellow. I really liked how the river itself was integrated into the story, becoming almost another character and companion for the protagonists.

If you enjoy historical romance this would be a good read for you. I am interested to see what else Cathy Buchanan writes, since this was a pretty strong first effort.

And the Greatest Hit of the Fall Continue On--Anita Shreve's "A Change In Altitude"

2009-09-15T20:49:00.003-04:00

Our fall of bestsellers to be continues on with Anita Shreve (who I love) and "A Change in Altitude". I was quite disappointed by the last Shreve book, but this one did not let me down!

"A Change in Altitude" Anita Shreve's new novel, follows a young wife, Margaret, to Kenya in the mid-1970s. A few months after arriving in Kenya, Margaret and her husband agree to join two other couples on a mountain climbing expedition. While on the mountain a disaster strikes, and its repercussions threaten to tear Margaret's marriage apart. The rest of the novel follows the next year in her life, but will she and her marriage survive life in Kenya?

I really enjoyed this book from Anita Shreve. I've been a fan since at least "Fortune's Rocks" and I think I've read just about all of Shreve's novels. I was very disappointed by her last work "Testimony" and I found "A Change in Altitude" to be a return to the Shreve I know and love. Like many of her previous novels, "Change" gets inside its protagonist's head and stays there for the duration of the novel, exploring her thoughts and emotions and she tries to overcome the challenges of young married life in a strange and distant country. I thought Shreve did a good job of capturing the unique experiences of a young marriage, particularly how individuals can still be learning about each other early in their union. She also paints a vivid picture of Kenya in the 1970s--from the soaring vistas to the political turmoil rocking the country.

If you're an Anita Shreve fan you should definitely pick up this book. And if not, I think this might be a good one to try her out on. Although not as strong as "The Pilot's Wife" or "The Last Time They Met" this is one of her better recent offerings.

My Most Anticipated Book of the Fall! Audrey Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry"

2009-09-10T21:00:00.002-04:00

So I'll be the first to admit that I was very late coming to the Audrey Niffenegger fandom. I was probably the last woman in America to read "The Time Traveler's Wife" (I only read it this summer after I stole a copy off of a friend's bookshelf!) but I still LOVED it. So how excited was I when the buzz started circulating about Niffenegger's new book. And how ecstatic was I when a review copy showed up on my doorstep. I think there was much squealing and jumping around here at the Ratskellar.

So did it live up to my expectations, and will it survive all of the hype. I think yes and yes. This is an excellent sophomore effort and I just can't wait to see what Ms. Niffenegger gives us next!

Audrey Niffengger's second novel "Her Fearful Symmetry" focuses on the Noblin family and it's two sets of twins--a mother and aunt to two teenage sisters--and the terrible secret that ties them all together. When the two teenagers are left an apartment in London by an aunt they've never met, the girls believe the apartment is their chance to escape their mundane life in the suburbs of Chicago. But soon after moving to London, the girls realize there is something not right with their apartment. With the help of their reclusive neighbors, the girls discover the building's secret and ultimately must make decisions about their own lives based on what they discover.

I loved this second effort from Niffengger, author of the bestselling "Time Traveler's Wife". The book is genuinely creepy as a ghost story, and Niffengger does a great job of weaving the different elements of the novel together to create a creepiness throughout the narrative. There are enough twists in the plot to keep you guessing, and Niffengger's obvious talent as a novelist is once again on display. Niffengger spends a great deal of time sketching each of her characters for the reader, so this book really has the feel of an ensemble piece rather than a novel with just a few central characters.

Some of the elements that worked so well in "Time Traveler's Wife" are back again, including Niffengger's use of fantastic/scifi elements to add a unique dimension to her work. Niffengger's strong narrative voice is also back, and it does a good job of pulling the reader right into this story.

I think if you enjoyed "Time Traveler's Wife" you will also enjoy this novel. Be warned that it's very different from "Time Traveler" but in a good way--you don't really want to read the same story twice!

A View of the Dystopic Future--Margaret Atwood's "The Year of the Flood"

2009-09-07T18:32:00.002-04:00

So I was listening to the radio in the car yesterday, and there was a piece on about how this fall is the season where publishers are pulling out all the stops. There was speculation that its because the new Dan Brown book is expected to pull readers into bookstores, so publishers are rushing books by other big authors to market so they will also be bestsellers.

It was like it all clicked in place for me. I guess I have read books by a lot of big authors so far this fall. And overall, it's been a mixed bag. Some are good, some not so much. It will be interesting to see how they all do in stores.

But enough editorializing and on to today's book. This is one from one of those "big authors" mentioned in the story--Margaret Atwood--and she takes us to one of her familiar future dystopias for her new novel "The Year of the Flood."

Margaret Atwood's new novel "The Year of the Flood" returns her readers to the future dystopian world she created in 2003's "Oryx and Crake". A super virus created by human scientists as a pleasure drug has quickly killed almost all of the human race. A few survivors remain, but they must fight against each other and the animal super splices created by humans before the virus, to survive. This book focuses on two women--Toby and Ren--both former members of the God's Gardners cult who each believe they are the only person left on the planet. As Toby and Ren fully discover the horrors of their new world they realize what a struggle it will take to survive.

This novel is a classic Atwood dystopian nightmare, where some of the scariest aspects of modern society of gotten loose to disasterous effect. Similar to in Oryx and Crake, what is loose here is genetic engineering and corporate greed, which together have left human society vulenrable to a super virus. If you have liked Atwoods previous works along this line (Oryx and Crake, the Handmaid's Tale) then you will enjoy this novel. If not, then this is probably something you should skip.

Personally I find Atwood's novels to be a terrifying vision of what a future American society could be, and a wake up call regarding current societal excess. I only wish that this novel had a more concrete ending, it felt like it should have had a to be continued page. But overall, this was well worth the read.

2009-09-03T19:50:00.003-04:00

So have you ever read a book where, overall, you really like the book but there was just something that bugged you about it? Like you would have really loved it if only something had been right instead of the way that it actually was in the book?

Well this was one of those books for me. And there were two things that bugged me. First off the cover. Don't but a redhead on the cover when the protagonist is supposed to have dark curly hair!! We dark curly haired girls need all the love we can get! Second, this novel reached a point where there were just too many bad things happening to the main character. No one has a day that bad, and it just got to be a bit too much.

But after I was able to set aside those two things, I really enjoyed this book. It's a good mother-daughter, coming of age story.

Laura Moriarty's "While I'm Falling" follows Veronica, a junior in college at the University of Kansas as her life slowly unravels in the late fall. Veronica is trying to do it all--succeed as a pre-med major, work as an RA, keep a healthy relationship with her boyfriend Tim, and stay on the sidelines of her parent's messy divorce. But when Veronica agrees to drive a coworker and his girlfriend to the airport one icy morning, an innocent car crash sets of a series of events that will cause Veronica's neat life to unravel. But ultimately her troubles will be superseded by her mother Natalie's problems. The experience draws the two women closer together, but how much will they have to give up to survive?

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was my first encounter with Moriarty, who is obviously a gifted storyteller with a talent for telling the emotional side of everyday American lives. I felt like my heart was twisting with every turn of Vernoica and Natalie's lives, and I was really cheering for them to make it out okay in the end. The emotionally relationships between the different characters in the novel was really rich, and I enjoyed how Moriarty fit the family together as a whole over the course of her novel.

If you enjoy stories about everyday women in difficult times with a focus on their emotional struggles, this is a book for you.

An Honest Account of One Man's Struggle with Food Frank Bruni's "Born Round"

2009-08-24T20:41:00.007-04:00

I seem to be having pretty good luck with the review copy gods right now. They are putting some really good/exciting titles in my way and I simply have no choice but to snatch them right up!

This was one ARC that I was super, super excited to get my hands on. I've always enjoyed Bruni's columns in the New York Times, and glad to see that he was offering this book up as a consolation prize since he's leaving the food critic's job. The book was full of Bruni-esq wit while being brutally honest. It's good to know that some famous-ish people have problems just like the rest of us. And now for a review...

Frank Bruni's new memoir Born Round chronicles the longtime New York Times columnist's lifelong struggle with food. Born into a large Italian family where cooking is a contact sport, Bruni begins to struggle with his weight as a child, and continues to struggle with it into adulthood and beyond. He tries all manner of fad diets and even eating disorders and drugs before discovering his holy grail for consumption in his mid-30s--eat food in small portions and exercise constantly. He finally has his weight and his life under control when he embarks on a great food journey--becoming the food reviewer for the Times.

I loved this memoir, and I'm not usually a huge memoir fan. Bruni gives overeating and excess weight a very human face that anyone who has ever struggled to balance a love of food and weight can appreciate. The same wit that made his columns must reads in the weekly Times food section (and I don't even live in NYC!) make this a wonderful read. The book is at times laugh out loud funny, and at other times deeply emotional. It helps that Bruni has led a very interesting life and his tidbits about life as a reporter--particularly while on the campaign trail with President George W. Bush in 1999 and 2000--just lend more color to this already very colorful book.

If you're looking for an enjoyable and fast read, I would recommend this book. However I will warn that the book contains material about eating disorders, so if you are sensitive about this subject, or fad dieting, you might want to avoid. Bruni does not advocate these things, but he is honest about his experiences.

Landing in the Middle of August with a Dud--Hester Browne's "The Finishing Touches"

2009-08-20T20:59:00.002-04:00

So after starting August with a bang, I slowed down a bit because I had a bit of a dud. No need to go into how it was a dud here--I'll let the review speak for itself.

Hester Brown's "The Finishing Touches" is set at an English finishing school in London that has seen better days. The school's spiritual leader Franny has just died, and the school's old fashioned ways has left it with just four hopeless and spoiled students. When the owner of the school asks his adopted daughter, Betsy, to try to figure out how to bring back the school's old glory, she decides a rapid modernization campaign is necessary to bring the school back to life. But will Betsy save the school before it's too late?

"The Finishing Touches" was a cute concept, but I feel like it needed more substance. The main characters--Betsy, her friend Liv, and the girls at the school--all seemed interesting enough, but I kept wishing that they would actually DO something. The novel felt like exposition, exposition, and more exposition, with very little action until the very end. When the action started it was very good and I enjoyed reading it, I just wish it had started on page 50, instead of on page 350. Ms. Brown is obviously a talented writer, and she did a great job developing the relationship between Betsy and Liv and Betsy and her adopted mother Franny. I just wish she had put some of that talent into developing an interesting and cohesive narrative throughout this novel.

Old Favorites with New Novels--Jennifer Weiner's "Best Friends Forever"

2009-08-06T20:11:00.002-04:00

I've been a longtime fan of Jennifer Weiner's, so I was super excited when I heard she had a new book coming out this summer. I think Weiner is as good as chick lit gets, and who doesn't enjoy some frothy reading along with all those other joys of summer.

I wasn't dissapointed by this book at all--in fact, I was glad that Weiner decided to branch out some and try something a little bit new. Her Jewish girl in Philly thing was getting a bit old, so it was good to see a different setting, different pace, different approach to the central story.

Jennifer Weiner's 7th novel "Best Friends Forever" is set in a suburban town outside of Chicago. Addie Downs has been an outsider her whole life, and now in her early 30s she is single and friendless. That is until Addie's old best friend Val shows up one night on Addie's steps. Val quickly pulls Addie into her world, which forces Addie to reflect on why their friendship had dissolved 15 years earlier. As the two women come back together Addie is forced to examine her own life and wonders if her best friend might just help her find what she's been searching for.

I'm a big Jennifer Weiner fan, and I was worried that Ms. Weiner might have lost some of her trademark wit and human touch after her last novel, Certain Girls. Well, I'm happy to report that Ms. Weiner is back in full force with Best Friends Forever! The novel's central heroine is a classic Weiner girl, but she's far enough away from her previous characters that you don't feel like you're reading the same story you've already read. There are parts of the novel that are among the most touching things I've read in Chick Lit--Addie caring for her dying mom, and her handicapped brother, to name a few.

This is a super quick read with it's pseudo crime and chase plot, but it's a fun summer read. If you're looking for a carbon copy of Ms. Weiner's previous books, this isn't it. But if you're looking for something a little bit different that still has Ms. Weiner's signature flair, I would recommend this book.

Starting August Off With Right--With Reading!

2009-08-01T18:47:00.002-04:00

So, in an attempt to make August a bit more of a successfull reading month than July, I'm taking advantage of this quiet weekend to get some reading in. Yay! Which means I managed to power through the last 200-odd pages of Pat Conroy's new novel "South of Broad" in the past 24 hours. And watch Marley and Me and the new Harry Potter (finally!). It's amazing how much you can get done with insomnia!

Anyways, on to "South of Broad". As I say in the review below, this was a really mixed read for me. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, because there were parts of the novel that I love. But then there were other things that made me say "no way, this is ridiculous!". So read my recap below and make a decision for yourself--this is expected to be one of the biggest books of the fall and it will be released on September 15.

Pat Conroy's "South of Broad" focuses on the life of Leo King, a newspaper columnist in Charleston, SC, and his close knit group of friends. The book focuses on two periods in Leo's life, his senior year in high school 1969-1970 and a tumultuous year 20 years later in 1989-1990. Although Leo is blessed with a large and generous circle of friends and deep religious faith, his life is filled with a series of trials and heartbreaks that are recounted in this sweeping epic of a novel.

This was my first encounter with Pat Conroy, and I mostly picked up the book because it was much buzzed about as one of the biggest books of the fall. I think the word that best describes this work is uneven. There were some parts of this novel that I loved, where the story was rich and the writing matched some of the best I have ever read. But then there were other parts that seemed contrived and unrealistic to me, and by the end of the novel so many things happen to Leo that I felt like Conroy had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at me. When put together, these contrasts diminished the book for me. Conroy obviously has a gift for capturing human emotion and the richness that is found in relationships between people. But I think this book simply tries to do too many things. The essence of 3 or 4 really great stories lie in this novel, when put all together they just make one jumbled whole.

Perfection? Well Not as a Reader This Month Anways.

2009-07-27T19:11:00.002-04:00

So what ever happened to those summers of my childhood, where I would spend days upon days curled up with seemingly endless stacks of books? Apparently, like so many of the sweet things that fill our childhoods, those days went the way my American Girl dolls and watercolors. Being a grown up--at least for me--means being uber busy and uber delinquent in my reading. Not that I'm complaining about spending a week at the beach and then a week in Europe, but I do have to admit a bit of guilt as I see my TBR pile grow and grow...

But luckily during my trip I did manage to finish one book and start another (time on an airplane can be good for that!)

Julie Metz's "Perfection" is a memoir of the time in her life immediately after her husband Henry's death. A few months after being rocked by Henry's sudden death, Julie discovers something even more earth shattering--that Henry had carried out a number of affairs, including a long term affair with one of Julie's friends. As Julie unravels the secrets surrounding Henry's infidelity, she must come to terms with what this means for the lives of her and her daughter and decide how she will go on living.

This book is catharsis as memoir. The emotions in this memoir are raw, rich, and at times, painful to read. Metz does not hide any of herself from her reader, and you can see the characteristic 12 steps of grief as she recovers from the dual blows of losing her husband and then losing his memory. I found her emotional response moving, but only to a point, and then the memoir seems to shift into self pity. As the self pity begins, I just wanted to shake Metz and tell her to look at all of the good things she has in her life. Ultimately she realizes this herself and moves on, which gives the memoir an uplifting, you-can-overcome tone at its end.

I thought this was one of the more interesting memoirs I've read. I would caution readers that this is an emotional work and it may be too much for you if you are sensitive about the subject matter.

Beach Reading and a Reading Spin

2009-07-14T20:59:00.003-04:00

So, we just got back from a week at the beach. And what is the beach great for? READING! I'm not so much of an ocean person, so much of my beach vacay was spent in one of these guys, curled up with a good book!

And what a great book it was--Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin." Yes, the book is dense, it takes a long time to get into and it is not exactly light beach reading. But McCann has really created something amazing in this book--with its emotions so rich and raw they simply jump off the page. This book is sure to be in contention for all of the big awards at the end of the year--it's already made Amazon's Best of the Year So Far List--so if big literary novels are your thing, I suggest you read this now so you know what all the buzz is about!

Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin" follows the lives of a group of individuals immediately before and after Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. Although the book does not feature Petit as one of its central characters, the lives of all of the main characters intersect with Petit's walk in a key way, creating a neat puzzle around the event. The book looks at people from all walks of life in NYC in the 1970s--from Bronx hookers to a Park Avenue matron. As the lives of each of these people comes together you wonder who will survive this vicious city, where people and souls seem to be eaten alive.

This was the first work I had ever read by McCann, and wow, was I impressed. McCann is a master storyteller and the way he weaves words together creates such vivid pictures, you feel like you can smell the smoke from the burning Bronx. While this novel wasn't my typical style--it is much darker and rawer than what I typically read--McCann's literary gifts can only leave a reader in awe. I did have a few problems with the structure of the novel--the jumping from character to character sometimes felt jumpy and abrupt, but I think this technique was intended to jar the reader--mimicking the realities of life in 1970s New York. The ending also felt out of place to me.

While this is not exactly light summer reading, I would definitely recommend this book to fans of great english literature. This work has marked McCann as one of the greats of the modern world, and I can't wait to see what else he produces.

A Little Vacation Reading

2009-07-06T11:46:00.002-04:00

So we're on vacation this week at the Delaware seashore! I love it down here--so peaceful and fun. Of course vacation does give me a chance to catch up on all of that reading that I didn't get done in June. What a relief!

I've been moving a bit away from review copies recently to read some books recommended to me by friends. I always enjoy recommending books to others, and I'm interested to see what others recommend to me. This review is of a wonderful book that I practically snatched from Elizabeth's bookshelf when I saw she had it, since I had wanted to read it for a while. And like I say in the review--I don't know why I waited so long! Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes for the movie coming out later this summer--leave it to Hollywood to much up a great book like this.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" follows the life of Henry, a man with a strange genetic mutation which makes him travel through time spontaneously. The one thing in life that makes Henry's life worth living is Clare, his wife, who he lives with in the present and visits through time. Although Henry and Clare's love is complicated and challenged by Henry's time traveling, in some ways it makes their bond stronger. This beautiful love story gives a whole new angle to "I will love you forever".

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book--it was fantastic! The time traveling aspect of the novel does take a little getting used to--but I found that I got used to it pretty quickly. Niffenegger's writing style is vivid and emotional, which does a great job of pulling the reader right into Henry's world. The book reads fast, which left me quickly wishing there was more of it to enjoy!

Happy July and An Oldie But A Goodie!

2009-07-02T07:41:00.004-04:00

Happy July! I'm excited that July is finally here, because it means we're leaving for our annual beach vacation on Saturday. woohoo!

But first up, a review of a book that I think everyone but me read in the late 90s, Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys". This book got a lot of attention then, since it was selected for the Oprah Book Club. I don't know why it took me so long to read, but finally the recommendation of a friend got me started. After a slow start to the book where I wasn't really sure if I was going to like it, I was so happy I devoted the time to this novel. In the end it was powerful--a real picture of human emotional suffering. I know what you're thinking--great beach read, huh? But it really was great, and I thank Jen for recommending!

Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys" follows the fallout in the lives of the Mulvaney family of upstate New York as the result of one fateful night. February 14, 1976--the Mulvaney's only daughter, Marianne, attends the prom at the local high school and high on her popularity makes a mistake and ends up being raped. Marianne's unwillingness to face her accuser in court ultimately rips the family apart--alienating the three Mulvaney sons, disolving the parent's marriage, all as Marianne struggles to find an identity for herself as the exiled fallen hero of the family. The novel follows the family for 20 years--and leaves the reader wondering throughout--will they be the Mulvaneys again?

This is an excellent and powerful work from Oates. The story is told primarily from the perspective of three of the children--Judd, Patrick, and Marianne--although Judd is introduced as the primary storyteller at the outset of the novel and both of the parents, Mike and Corinne, have their own chapters. The emotion in this novel is raw--the event damages each of the Mulvaneys in their own way, and no one of them will ever be the same. But there is redemption in the way that each of the children ultimately overcomes the event and comes into his/her own as an adult. Their struggles against the ghosts of their past are not easy, but the journey is an emotional one that Oates shares intimately with the reader.

This is an excellent book if you are interested in a rich character study. A wonderful lyrical storyteller, Oates makes parts of this novel sing with rich language and settings. If you enjoy literary fiction, this is a book for you.

The Fishing Fleet and Finding Meaning in Life--Julia Gregson's "East of the Sun"

2009-06-27T18:31:00.003-04:00

Wow what a weekend! And it's only half over! I've been indulging in my other passion this weekend--baking--making a baby shower cake with my buddy Eileen. I didn't realize piping icing could be such hard work! But it was well worth it! I think tomorrow I'm going to give myself a break and focus on reading, which I'm woefully behind on here at the end of June.

But for now, a book that I think would make a pretty fun summer read, Julia Gregson's "East of The Sun". I find that I'm often drawn to books set in the far east, and I really liked the angle in this book--British expats, looking for meaning in their lives in India as the empire begins to unwind. Check out my review below!

Julia Gregson's "East of the Sun" follows three young English women to India in 1928. Rose is set to be married to Jack, a young army officer. Tor, is hoping to find a husband to escape her awful mother. And Viva is returning to the country where she spent her youth, looking for adventure and hoping to quiet the ghosts of her family members who died in India long ago. Over nearly 600 pages these women find love, danger, excitement but most of all friendship, as they transition from young women into adults, all as Britain's imperial power begins to wind down in a bittersweet way. This book is really a page turner, and pulls you in right from the first chapter. Although the book captures the stories of all three women, it is mostly about Viva, who's complicated life makes for fascinating reading as she fights her instincts and emotions to make peace with herself in India. The whole novel is richly drawn, and I felt like I could see all of the different settings as the women move around the Indian subcontinent. Gregson also does a wonderful job of mixing in the larger societal context of the time--you get a sense of the poverty and political unrest in India, and how it effects the British expats running the country. If you're interested in India, or in the experience of British expats, I would recommend this book to you. Or if you're just looking for an interesting story of women's lives, this is a good one!

Iran in the 1970s--Pre Revolution (How Appropriate!) "Rooftops in Tehran"

2009-06-23T20:24:00.004-04:00

I've been in a little bit of a reading rut recently. I don't know if it's the busy-ness of summer, my baking explosion last weekend (a boston cream pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and an apple hand pie all in one weekend was probably too much), or the fact that time just seems to be getting away from me recently. Like now, I just looked down at my clock and said "what?! it can't be that late already!" It certainly can't be because I'm watching more tv, since we LOST HALF OUR CHANNELS AFTER THE DTV SWITCH! BAH!

But here's a review of something I did manage to finish in the last week. Hopefully I'll finish more before the fourth and our big trip to the beach!

I did think it was interesting that my reading of this book coincided with the recent political turmoil and voting irregularities in Iran. I couldn't help thinking about the injustices described in this book as I was hearing about fresh injustices in the news.

"Rooftops in Tehran" follows Pasha, a 17 year old boy living in Tehran through one summer that will forever change his life. Pasha lives in a middle class alleyway in Tehran, and is surrounded by friends. When he falls for Zari, the fiance of his idol, Doctor, Pasha begins to question some of the traditions of the Persian people. After Doctor is arrested and killed for subversive activities, Pasha and Zari become closer, until one fateful day when Zari makes a decision that will change their lives forever. Will Pasha recover enought to pursue his longtime dreams in America? Or will the Iranian state drag him down too?

"Rooftops in Tehran" is a hearwrenching story, different from some other novels about Iranian oppression because it is set during the rein of the Shah, rather than after the Iranian revolution. The novel is vehemently anit-American at points, which is historically accurate, but still interesting and brave in a novel marketed in the US. Although overall I enjoyed the book, I did have a couple of major problems, including the ending (which I found extremely unrealistic) and the narrative voice, which was simply too choppy for me to get really comfortable with. There is a lot of time jumping in the first part of the novel which really threw me off, as well as the very stacatto voice of our first person narrator Pasha.

I would recommend this book to others who are interested in Iran during the period before the revolution. The book does not shy away from some of the more brutal parts of the regime, so it really does provide an interesting look.

It's a New York Themed Day!

2009-06-13T08:28:00.003-04:00

So, as you all know, we took a little trip to NYC at the end of May. Before we went, I made a list of things I wanted to see that related to my two favorite things, reading and baking! Sadly, as always happens, this trip ended up going a bit too fast and I ran out of time before I ran out of things to do on my list! But good for you readers, I managed to do a few more things on the

reading sights list than I did on the baking list. But then, there's always the next trip :-)

First up, the famous NY Public Library in beautiful Bryant Park:

I loved how they had little book kiosks in the park:

And of course, no book lovers visit to New York is done without a visit to the famous Strand bookstore (18 miles of books!):

So I came home loving New York, and needed something to extend the feeling. I chose a book set in revolutionary New York, a period which I'm always interested in:

Christine Blevins' "The Tory Widow" opens 10 years before the revolution when Anne, a young woman, is getting married to a much older, and meaner, man. After her wedding, Jack Hampton a young printer kisses her spontaneously, causing Anne to fantasize about what her life could have been if she had been allowed to marry someone like Jack. Ten years later and Anne is a widow when she meets Jack again when he torments her for being a Tory. Anne soon becomes a Patriot, and along with the help of Jack and others, carries out espionage against the British during the occupation of New York. Will Anne and Jack be able to evade the British, or will their Patriot actions be foiled?

Overall, I enjoyed reading "The Tory Widow" although I will admit that the book was uneven, and there were parts that I enjoyed more than others. I wish Blevins had stuck with telling the story from Anne's perspective, instead of switching between Anne and Jack. Blevins had a stronger voice and seemed like a better writer when writing from Anne's perspective. I got a little bored during Jack's sections, since I read the book because I wanted a woman's perspective, not a mans. I think Blevins did a lot of research, and her portrayal of the period feels accurate. I just would have preferred if she had stuck with a single perspective.

If you are interested in the Revolutionary period, especially in New York City, I would recommend this book. It's a fun romance romp through the revolutionary period, just be warned if you don't like shifting narrators.

So what do you think, Lower Manhattan looks a little different than in Anne's time, no?

Itteh Bitteh Kitteh Committeh Summer Reading List

2009-06-11T08:14:00.002-04:00

Too cute not to post.

http://cuteoverload.com/2009/06/10/kitten-summer-reading-list/

What's not to love? It's Kittehs and Books!

Just a Quick Update...

2009-06-10T08:49:00.002-04:00

...To let you all know that Katherine Howe has a guest post on Devourer of Books today! I really enjoyed "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" and it's interesting to see a little bit of Howe's story about writing the book!

A Trip to the Far East, The West Coast, and Through Sisterly Trials in Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls

2009-06-01T21:06:00.003-04:00

Update on NYC pictures: I promise they're still coming, I'm just having a few technical difficulties with Picasa (really, I'm just out of space) so they've been delayed.

But to tide you over, a review of one of the most talked about books this summer season, from the wildly successful author of "The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan."

Lisa See's latest novel "Shanghai Girls" opens in Shanghai in the late 1930s. Pearl and May Chin are beautiful girls who pose for calendars. One day, their lives changes suddenly when they discover their father has sold them as brides to brothers from America, all to cover his gambling debts. The girls eventually make it to America, only after narrowly escaping the Japanese invasion and the US Immigration Station at Angel Island. The girls enter America with a terrible secret, one that will pull them apart and push them together over the next 20 years of their lives.

This was the first Lisa See book that I've read, and I thought the plot was interesting, along with the perspective of the sisters of their life in America and the discrimination they faced. However, I thought the story was lacking in some of the richness I've come to expect from authors with as much buzz around them as See. The novel felt sparse in places, and would have benefited from some description of the people and places surrounding the women. I also disliked the pacing of the novel in places--it seemed to move much to slowly in the first half, and too quickly in the second half. And the story ended with a real cliff hanger, which left me feeling frustrated as a reader. I enjoyed the time I spent with these characters, so I hope See does a sequel, but it was a let down at end.

If you are a fan of See, I would recommend this book. I would also recommend this if you are a fan of Asian Gothic stories, or if you are looking for a good summer read. There are serious topics in this book, but it shouldn't be too heavy for a summer read.

New York--In Real Life and Books!

2009-05-26T15:22:00.003-04:00

So Noel (that's Mr. Reader) and I just returned from a trip to New York City, and boy was it wonderful. I often feel like I read a lot of books set in the Big Apple, so it's good to get to see the places I've read so much about. I'm working on putting together a little post on the reading related sites we saw in NYC, but for now I simply have a New York themed review for you!

I finished "The Late, Lamented Molly Marx" immediately before we left for New York, and I kept thinking I spotted characters from it as we tooled around the city. It could just be that Koslow does a good job capturing the city, or that I really enjoyed the book, but it made the trip a little more fun imagining the characters in the city this past weekend. And now for the actual review...

"The Late, Lamented Molly Marx" features the title character retelling portions of her life and observing the actions of the people she loved from the Duration--her version of the afterlife. Molly slowly unfolds the path that led her to be Mrs. Marx, a mother, and ultimately a woman involved with another man. As she, along with the people she is still following on earth, find out how she died Molly discovers who she really was in life, along with her strengths, weaknesses, and friendships.

Although from the summary it sounds like "Molly Marx" might be totally depressing, this book is actually funny, warm, and at times touching. The emotion the author describes as Molly looks down on those she left on earth feels real, and the story offers an interesting technique for the author to use to allow a woman to consider her life as a whole, including her faults. The characters were not all likable, which made them all more realistic. I really enjoyed this book, and the way the author unfolded the story, even if I wish it had ended slightly differently.

I would recommend this as a good summer beach read. It's a quick read and a great example of smart chick lit.

And Now Just In Time for Summer--Witches!

2009-05-21T18:53:00.002-04:00

For my first review of the summer reading season, I chose the much hyped "Physick Book of Deliverance Dane". This book is seriously everywhere--People, Real Simple, Entertainment Weekly--not to mention it was an advance read for both Barnes and Noble and Amazon's Vine Program. I don't know about all the hype. While the book was enjoyable, it is a bit heavy for a real summer page turner. Check out my review below and see what you think.

"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" follows Connie, a PhD candidate in history at Harvard as she spends a summer trying to clean out her grandmother's old abandoned house in Marblehead MA. Soon after arriving at the house, Connie finds a key with the strange name of "Deliverance Dane" attached. Strange things start happening to Connie as she searches for facts about Deliverance, who Connie coincidentally thinks might make a good subject for her dissertation in American Colonial History. After a whole bunch of twists and turns, Connie discovers her family's long hidden secret, and knows she must embrace it to save the ones she loves.

I like the premise of "Deliverance Dane" and I think Katherine Howe's experience as a historian makes her a vivid storyteller, particularly in the sections of the book set in the 17th and 18th centuries. The scenes with Deliverance and her daughter Mercy, in particular, were excellent, and I felt like I could almost smell the fire smoke in their cramped cottage. Howe has an interesting take--what if witches were real--of this often over analyzed period in American history.

The downfall of this book, however, was the storyline set in the present day. The story with Connie, while strong at points, felt a bit contrived, and the book definitely took a hard turn towards fantasy in its last 100 pages. This isn't exactly what I was expecting in a book where the main character is a historian, and I probably could have gone with it if the story had not gotten so wild at the end. There were certainly some charming elements, and the threads of a good story, but I think the book needed more detail in parts to really flesh it out and make it feel more complete.

I am interested to read other works by Katherine Howe, especially her historical work since she did such a great job portraying historical scenes. I would recommend this book to you if you want a quick summer read and you don't mind the fantastical.

Finally An Update!

2009-05-18T20:47:00.003-04:00

Due to an unforseen circumstance known as life, it's been a while since I've posted. I've still been trying to read and review, things just weren't making it onto the blog. But I'm back! So look for a few extra reviews over the next few days as I try to catch up!

"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" is the first installment of a mystery series featuring Flavia de Luce, an 11 year old chemist and detective. In the book Flavia comes to the aid of the local police when a mysterious murder and stamp heist occurs on her family's crumbling English estate. Flavia quickly raps up the mystery, all while successfully tormenting her older sisters.

I think that perhaps this book is not my ideal "piece of pie". There were parts of "Sweetness" that were quite clever and funny, but there were also parts that I found just dull and mundane. The chemistry and details of stamp collecting in particular, really felt like they weighed down the story, and didn't really seem like things that an 11 year old girl would discuss in detail, for long stretches. I understand that this is part of what makes the book funny, but it was also something that bored me as a reader because of the excruciating detail used to describe it.

All in all, my feelings about this book were just lukewarm. I didn't love it, but I also didn't think it was terrible. It could make an entertaining beach read, since the plot is very straightforward and easy to figure out. I think I would read another Flavia de Luce book out of curiosity, and I think if you're into mysteries, this could totally be your thing.

2009-05-03T12:33:00.004-04:00

"The House at Riverton" opens in the years before the First World War, with Grace, our narrator, beginning her career of service as a housemaid at Riverton, a great English country estate. Grace is immediately drawn to the children of Riverton--David aged 16, the eldest, Hannah, a boisterous girl of 14, and Emmeline a shy 10 year old. Grace feels an immediate connection with the children, and longs to be included in their secrets. Over the next several years she becomes closer to them, first as they visit the house, then after the death of their grandfather and uncle in the Great War, which leads them to take up permanent residence in the house. Hannah marries soon after turning 18, and decides to take Grace with her as a ladies maid. After marrying, Hannah's life slowly unravels, and she takes Grace with her into her decline. Grace escapes, but only with the knowledge of a terrible family secret.

Kate Morton is an excellent storyteller, and she does a fantastic job slowly unfolding the secrets of "The House at Riverton." I thought I had figured out the "twist" in this book, but was surprised in the end to find out I had gotten it wrong. Her description of life during and after WWI in England feels authentic, and she does a great job capturing the emotions of the different characters. I do wish she had given us a little bit more about Grace--throughout the novel Grace hints at all of the wonderful things she has done in her life, and I would have liked to read more about them, instead of the novel focusing exclusively on Grace's interactions with the doomed Hartford sisters.

I came to this novel after reading Morton's more recent "The Forgotten Garden". If you enjoyed that book, I think you won't be disappointed by this one.

How Do You Put a Broken Life Back Together? Cristina Henriquez's "The World In Half"

2009-04-28T19:17:00.001-04:00

"The World in Half" follows Miraflores a college aged girl from Chicago as she travels to Panama to find her father, and her past. All Mira knows about her father is that he was from Panama and he worked at the canal--her mother, who returned from Panama disgraced and pregnant with her, never shared the details of her parentage. After arriving in Panama City, Mira befriends a worker at the hotel where she is staying Hernan, and his nephew, Danilo. Together with Danilo, Mira will not only learn the truth about her father, but also about her mother and herself.

The World in Half is beautifully written, especially for a first novel. Henriquez transports her reader to Panama City, describing everything from the vastness of the canal to the poverty in corners all over the city. Her use of geology--Mira's academic love--as a metaphor for Mira's life works nicely as a framing technique and feels original and natural. The novel asks questions that it doesn't quite come out and answer for the reader, which leaves you thinking about this novel once the story is over.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for an interesting and relatively quick read. It was an enjoyable one, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from Henriquez.

A Disjointed Structure Handicaps a Smart Character Study--Joanna Smith Rakoff's "A Fortunate Age"

2009-04-24T14:36:00.004-04:00

"A Fortunate Age" follow of group of friends from the Oberlin class of 94 in the late 90s and early 00s as they pursue their dreams in NYC. The novel centers around 6 friends, Lil, Beth, Emily, Sadie, Tal, and Dave--and slowly works in their larger circle of friends and family. As the novel progresses, each of the characters realizes the dreams and ideals they developed in their late 20s are unattainable--whether its a career, a great love, or an art. Eventually, in the shadow of 9/11 they all come to terms with their personal failures after a personal tragedy shakes them all.

Joanna Smith Rakoff has a wonderful way of capturing people, so this book--her first novel--has rich character descriptions and wonderfully captures the way relationships ebb and flow between people over time. However, the novel lacks the continuous narrative thread that I feel is critical to a real great work. Instead of feeling like one book, A Fortunate Age felt like a collection of short stories told by different characters, an effect that was heightened by the long chapters--there were only 15 in 400 pages of text. At the end of each story, there was no resolution of the character's narrative, and even though you would expect important story elements to be resolved in the next chapter, it never happened, leaving this reader feeling confused and the story disjointed. By the end of the novel I was frustrated because I felt like their were just too many gaps in the story for me to be able to really enjoy it.

I would be interested to read other, perhaps shorter works by Rakoff, because I think she is a talented writer. However, the structure of this novel just didn't work for me.

2009-04-24T09:01:00.002-04:00

Someone at work brought my this article a couple of days ago from the print version of the Wall Street Journal. I think the concept explored in the article is fascinating--that ebook readers will one day make book reading something more akin to internet surfing. I do think it would be sad if there is no deep focus reading, but I'm also intrigued by being able to look up anything in a book instantaneously. Pretty cool.

A Review and A Prize!

2009-04-20T20:12:00.005-04:00

Okay, so first off, let me say how excited I was to see that Olive Kitteridge (which I reviewed here ) win the Pulitzer Prize for literature today! I first became interested in Olive Kitteridge after seeing the collection of short stories show up on several "best of 2008" lists. And I was not dissapointed. The stories were interelated enough that the collection felt more like a novel than a short story collection, and they were really rich, which I always love. Definitely one worth checking out.

And now a review. This is an older book, which is a little unusual for me, but I actually received this book as a gift way back when I got my Kindle 1 in December 2007, but I never got around to reading it. Not really sure why I put it off so long, but now that I have my Kindle 2, I was anxious to read something on it, so this book was a natural pick. It was good, although it did take me a long time to read since I've been super busy this past week. So here goes...

Philippa Gregory's "The Boleyn Inheritance" picks up three years after the end of "The Other Boleyn Girl", Gregory's blockbuster novel about Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary. Many of the characters from the earlier novel make a return appearance here, but the story is told from a different perspective--with three narrators, Anne of Cleaves, Kitty Howard, and Jane Boleyn. These three narrators give a very different perspective on Henry VIII's court than is seen in the earlier novel, although all three women are subject to Henry's rapidly changing temper. The court is now one of fear instead of the golden court of the earlier novel, and everyone has to watch her back to keep from getting caught up in the Boleyn Inheritance. As first Anne, and then Kitty become Queen and then quickly fall, the treachery of the English court is explored with all of Gregory's usual detail and intrigue.

Although I don't think this book was as good as "The Other Boleyn Girl" or "The Virgin's Lover" it is definitely a strong addition to Gregory's "Boleyn" series. The novel is a fast paced and easy read, and it keeps moving to keep the reader interested. I wished frequently that Gregory would have spent more time getting into the head of each of her characters--sometimes the chapters felt a little rushed. But overall I did feel like this was an enjoyable read that captured the spirit of the Tudor period and life at court.

I would recommend this book to fans of the Tudor period or people who enjoyed Gregory's other works.

A Young Woman, Caught Between Two Worlds--Colm Toibin's Brooklyn

2009-04-13T09:31:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn begins with Eilis, a young Irish woman, preparing to leave her small town in Ireland in the early 1950s to emigrate to Brooklyn. When Eilis arrives in America, she is overwhelmed, by the size of New York, the different types of people, and her new life. As she slowly adapts to her dull job as a shop clerk and her night classes at a local college, she begins to feel comfortable in this new life and her life in Ireland feels distant and strange. She even meets and falls in love with Tony, a young Italian American. When Eilis is suddenly recalled to Ireland after a family tragedy, she is re-confronted with her old life and must choose, is she the old Eilis or the new?

Although Brooklyn is a slow, quiet novel, and it took me a while to get into, in the end I loved this book. Toibin has a great way of capturing the everyday details of life and making them poignant and often beautiful. Nothing extraordinary happens in this book, but Eilis does have to make a huge decision that will alter the course of her entire life. The way Toibin presents this choice feels authentic without being overwrought, which is what makes this novel so good. In the end I was sad to see this novel finish, and I wished I could glimpse just a bit more of Eilis' world.

The novel also does a suburb job of capturing the attitudes and prejudices of first and second generation immigrants in Brooklyn in the 1950s. The changes that are about to fundamentally change America are beginning to take route, and Toibin addresses them quietly, as subtle changes in the everyday lives of his characters. Toibin's attention to these issues made the novel feel very authentic, and added to its quiet charm.

Lots of Love and Intiruge in Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean

2009-04-06T18:41:00.000-04:00

Palace Circle follows Delia, a Virginia belle who marries into the British Aristocracy, and her family, including her two daughters Petra and Davina, and their lovers, Jack and Darius, from the dawn of the 20th century to WWII. Each of the five characters narrates a section of the book, making for an interesting perspective on the historical events that frame the lives of these wealthy members of the elite British palace circle. The novel takes place in London, Virginia, and Cairo, so there is certainly enough going on to fill the 400 pages. There is tons of intrigue--both political and romantic--throughout the forty odd years covered by the novel, as well as any number of fashionable balls and brushes with royalty and other famous people.

Palace Circle is a fast, light read, that gives you a different perspective on a fairly well known period in modern history. It was very enjoyable, but at times a little shallow, and the rotating narrator makes all of the characters other than the narrator of any given section feel a little flat. This novel would make for a good vacation or beach read--it's full of enough historical detail and famous faces to keep a smart reader interested, but its also light enough with lots of romance and partying. It's not great literature, but I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through elite Britain.

A Great Intergenerational Mystery--Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden"

2009-04-04T11:53:00.003-04:00

Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden opens in Australia in 1913. A young girl has been left alone on a dock and has nowhere to go. This scene opens a mystery that the reader will chase for the next 500 pages. The unfolding of the mystery spans nearly 100 years, two continents, and three generations of women--one in the early 1900s, one in 1975, and one in 2005. As the secret that ties these women together is revealed, Morton weaves a fascinating story of love, jealousy, and the need to find a place where one belongs.

I really loved this book and I couldn't put it down. Morton is a great storyteller, and she does a wonderful job of slowly unfurling the mystery surrounding her characters so that the reader isn't really sure what the conclusion will be until the final pages of the novel. I feel like Morton also did a good job of representing the different times and places in her novel, while giving all of the women a certain familiar sense. The jumps between time periods were not confusing for me, and I actually thought they heightened the mystery and gave the story the satisfying sense of a slowly assembled puzzle.

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, gothic novels, and intergenerational family tales. I can't wait to see what else comes from Ms. Morton.

----------

I just found out this book was also selected as one of Amazon's "Best of the Month" for April! Check out what they have to say:

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Like Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved classic The Secret Garden, Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden takes root in your imagination and grows into something enchanting--from the little girl with no memories left alone on a ship to Australia, to the fog-soaked London river bend where orphans comfort themselves with stories of Jack the Ripper, to a Cornish sea heaving against wind-whipped cliffs, crowned by an airless manor house where an overgrown hedge maze ends in the walled garden of a cottage left to rot. This hidden bit of earth revives barren hearts, while the mysterious Authoress's fairy tales (every bit as magical and sinister as Grimm's) whisper truths and ignite the imaginary lives of children. As Morton draws you through a thicket of secrets that spans generations, her story could cross into fairy tale territory--if her characters weren't clothed in such complex flesh, their judgment blurred by the heady stench of emotions (envy, lust, pride, love) that furtively flourished in the glasshouse of Victorian society. While most of them ache for a spotless mind's eternal sunshine, the Authoress meets the past as "a cruel mistress with whom we must all learn to dance," and her stories gift children with this vital muscle memory. --Mari Malcolm

A Little Giant in a Little Story--Tiffany Barker's "Little Giant of Aberdeen County"

2009-03-30T16:24:00.001-04:00

Tiffany Baker's "The Little Giant of Aberdeen County" is set in the second half of the 20th century in the small town of Aberdeen, New York. The story focuses on the life of Truly, a girl in Aberdeen who has a disease that makes her grow unusually fast. Her size makes Truly an outcast her entire life, a problem that is compounded when the town insists on comparing Truly to her perfect and beautiful sister Serena Jane. Truly leads a difficult life, and it is only made more challenging by decisions others make for her. It is only once Truly decides to take her life into her own hands, that she is able to escape the stigma of being the "little giant" and find happiness.

I think my opinion of this book suffered from the over-the-top praise that I read about it before I actually got around to reading the book. From what I had heard others say, I thought this book was going to change my perspective and introduce me to a completely new and wonderful character. Instead, "Little Giant" is filled with miserable people who are downright cruel to each other. Only at the very end of the novel does anything even remotely uplifting happen, but by that point the novel is so dark it's hard to redeem. I feel like I can't say too much without giving away the plot, but I found myself continually frustrated by the passivity of the characters--they knew they were miserable, but they did nothing to try to change their circumstances. There was no great lesson for all of this suffering, and at the end of this novel I felt sorry for its characters but I also felt a little empty--I couldn't figure out what the purpose of the story had been.

This novel is still kicking around in my head--I think I'm still trying to figure out why the author wanted to tell this story--so I can't say it wasn't worth reading. Baker also has a gift with language, and she has some wonderful turns of phrase that made sections of the novel beautiful to read. But I am puzzled as to much of the praise for this novel--but I would still likely recommend that if you're curious about this buzzed about book, go ahead and give it a read.

A Journey to 15th Century London--Vanora Bennett's "Figures in Silk"

2009-03-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

Vanora Bennett's "Figures in Silk" follows the life of Isabel Claver, a young silk merchant in late 15th century London. Isabel's father, a famous silk trader, marries her off at age 14 to the son of the silk trader Alice Claver. Isabel is widowed within a year, but because of a chance encounter with a mysterious young man, she decides to stay with her mother in law to learn the silk business. Isabel becomes a brilliant silk trader in her own right, using the connections of her sister Jane Shore, who is mistress to King Edward, to rise to the top of her field. Isabel also re-encounters her mysterious man, only to discover he is Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Will Isabel and Richard end up happily ever after, or will the politics of the War of the Roses get in the way?

I don't know a lot about this period in English history, but I thought "Figures in Silk" did a good job of capturing the atmosphere of late 15th century London. Yes there are some things in the novel that are a bit of a stretch--commoner sisters being mistresses to Kings for one--but I also thought there was a lot to like in this novel. Isabel is spirited and free minded, but like so many women, she can also be blinded by irrational love. She's very real, and it is interesting to see her balance her business interest and the role of a freed woman during this period in London. I found this book difficult to put down--I always wanted to know what was coming next--and it has made me interested in this period in English history.

I would recommend this book to fans of Phillippa Gregory, because it has the same type of courtly intrigue and strong female characters as her books.

Another Tale of Strong Women and Their Relationships--Kristin Hannah's "True Colors"

2009-03-19T19:24:00.003-04:00

"True Colors" is Kristen Hannah's 27th novel, but it sure doesn't feel that way--it's still so fresh! The novel tells the story of the Grey sisters, successful but unlucky in love Winonna, perfect Aurora, and beautiful Vivi Ann. When Vivi Ann falls hard for a ranch hand, Dallas, on her family's ranch her life is forever changed. A few years into their marriage, Dallas is accused of murder. After a trial where he is defended by an incompetent lawyer, Dallas is convicted and sentenced to life in prison, leaving Vivi Ann on the outside with their young son, Noah. Will Vivi Ann be able to free Dallas, who she believes is innocent, without tearing her family apart?

Like Hannah's other novels, "True Colors" is rich with emotion and drama. The three sisters are torn apart and come back together multiple times over the course of this nearly 400 page novel. You find yourself identifying with different sisters at different points in the novel, and each has her strengths and her flaws. The real star of the novel is the relationship between these ordinary women whose lives and torn apart by an extraordinary event and the resulting tragedy. This novel has a happier ending than some of Hannah's other stories, but it is no less emotional.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about strong women and the bonds between them. This is a great, fast read.

A Story of Star-Crossed Young Loves in WWII Seattle--Jamie Ford's "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet"

2009-03-15T11:38:00.003-04:00

Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet follows Henry, the son of Chinese immigrants in Seattle in both 1942 and 1986. The story starts in 1986, when Henry hears a news story about the personal items of Japanese internees discovered in the basement of the nearby Panama Hotel. His curiosity spiked by an item he sees brought out of the hotel, Henry, a recent widower, decides to go to the basement of the hotel to look around. The story then moves into flashback, and Henry remembers 1942 and his friendship with Keiko, a 12 year old Japanese-American he met at school. As Henry and Keiko get closer, Keiko's family gets closer to "evacuation" to an internee camp. When they are evacuated, both Henry and Keiko are devastated, but promise to remember each other. Will their memories hold, or will the war tear them apart?

Overall, I thought Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was a wonderful story of two teenagers caught up in turbulence and hatred aimed at Asian-Americans in general and Japanese-Americans in particular during WWII. The novel does a good job of capturing the emotions of the evacuation of the Japanese from Seattle and of young Henry losing his best friend and young love. The characters and emotion are not as strong in the 1980s, but there is plenty to catch a reader in the 1940s story. At times Ford does rely on cultural stereotypes, particularly with the African-American characters and with Henry's father, a staunch Chinese nationalist. But this rough characterization is overshadowed by the strength and emotion of the story.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone--and lovers of historical fiction especially. This was a good debut novel, and I will be interested to see what else Ford writes.

A Wonderful Family Saga--Nafisa Haji's "The Writing on My Forehead"

2009-03-08T22:38:00.001-04:00

The Writing on My Forehead is a family history told from the perspective of Saira, a young woman who has grown up in LA and is the daughter of immigrants from India and Pakistan. The novel starts with Saira looking in on her young sleeping niece and then flashes back to Saira's own childhood. The novel then traces the next 30 years of Saira's life--from childhood to adulthood--and her struggles against the rigid Muslim and Indo-Pakistani traditions of her family. As Saira learns more about her family history, she is more set upon defying the traditions that surround her. By the time Saira has reached adulthood she is a successful journalist hiding a huge family secret that will blow up in the turbulent days following 9/11.

Nafisa Haji's writing in this novel is crisp and fluid--she moves easily from one topic to the next and her descriptions make the reader feel as though she is traveling Saira's life journey with her. Haji does a wonderful job of unfolding Saira's personal story and her family's larger story on parallel narrative threads. The interaction between the generations is wonderful, and you get a sense of the complicated task of growing up in a large interconnected family. The novel has wonderful pacing until the last 50 pages, when it feels like the novel is rushed to the end. I wish the author had spent more time with the conclusion of the story, because it was so rich, I reached the end wanting more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you enjoyed The Kite Runner or The Namesake, you will enjoy this book.

An Update, and Belated February Recap

2009-03-05T21:13:00.003-05:00

So i've been away from reading for a while (I know it's a shock). Well I shouldn't say away from reading, but away from full novel reading and reviewing. Instead, for the past two weeks i've been participating in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) program as an expert reviewer. This basically meant that I had 12 days to read 40 10-page excerpts. Phew! It was a lot of work! But I got exposure to some really interesting new fiction. I encourage all of you to check out the contest when Amazon posts the finalists--they will be open for public reading and reviewing www.amazon.com/abna .

And now, for my best book from February--even if it is a little bit late. My pick is "Firefly Lane" which was totally a fluffy, chick lit tear jerker, but I totally devoured it and now I have Kristin Hannah's new book "True Colors" in my to be read pile. From a more literary bent, I also enjoyed "Delicate Edible Birds" but short stories are always harder for me than full length novels.

A Friendship that Stands the Test of Time--Kristin Hannah's "Firefly Lane"

2009-02-24T21:58:00.001-05:00

Kristin Hannah's "Firefly Lane" begins in 1974, when two fourteen year old girls meet because of chance. Tully, a beautiful, outgoing girl, has moved to a small town outside of Seattle to try to reconcile with her estranged mother. Kate, an awkward girl who has lived in the town her whole life, is struggling to find herself in the middle school hierarchy. After a night of tragedy, Tully and Kate are thrown together and become fast friends. Through high school and college they are inseparable. After school, their lives start to take different shapes, as Tully becomes a successful newscaster and Kate marries and starts a family. Eventually, the difference in their lives comes between them--but when tragedy strikes again, will they be able to call on their shared pasts to build a future together.

I really enjoyed "Firefly Lane"--it's a coming of age and best friends story all wrapped into one--and it does it all without feeling forced or fake. Hannah does a great job of capturing the lives of these two very different women, including the challenges and emotions that fill their lives. By the end of the novel, you feel like these women are your friends too and you feel their struggles. The end of the book is very emotional--have your tissues at the ready--but the book leaves you feeling happy to have met these women and shared in their life journey.

This was the first book I read by Kristin Hannah, but I think I will be seeking out more, because I enjoyed her style and the way she connects the reader to her characters. I would recommend this book to any woman looking for a great book about ordinary women.

I normally can resist these, but this one was about books!

2009-02-23T18:00:00.002-05:00

"The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?"

Instructions:
Copy, paste, put an 'x' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (X)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien ()
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (X)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling ()
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (X)
6 The Bible (X)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (X)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (X)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ()
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens(X)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (X )
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller(X)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I think everything except for Lear)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier ()
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien ()
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ()
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger(X )
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot ( X)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (X)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (X)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens ( i tried and failed)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy ()
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams ( )
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ( )
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll ()
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame ()
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (X)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ()
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis ()
34 Emma - Jane Austen (X)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (X )
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis ()
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini ( X)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ()
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (X)
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell-(X)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (X)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (X)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ()
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ()
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (X)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (X)
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (X)
52 Dune - Frank Herbert ()
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ()
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (X)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ()
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ()
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (X) I think i'm the only person in America who love this book
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (X)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon ()
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (X)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ()
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt ()
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (X)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ()
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac ()
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy ()
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (X)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie ()
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (X)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (X)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker ()
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson ()
75 Ulysses - James Joyce ()
76 The Inferno - Dante (X)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ()
78 Germinal - Emile Zola (X)
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (X)
80 Possession - AS Byatt (X)
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ()
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker ()
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ()
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (X)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ()
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom ()
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ()
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ()
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad ()
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery ()
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ()
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams ()
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ()
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute ()
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas ()
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (X)

53!! Not bad at all! Although I do think I was forced to read half of these in Great Works (a full year's worth) in college....

okay, now back to reviewing!

A Wonderful Collection of Varied Stories about Women--Lauren Groff's "Delicate Edible Birds"

2009-02-16T08:47:00.000-05:00

Lauren Groff's "Delicate Edible Birds" is a collection of nine short stories that deal with the intimate details of women's lives in the face of adversity. Unlike many story collections, each of Groff's stories is unique--they are all told by women of different ages, perspectives, and stations in life--so you don't feel like you are reading the same short story retold multiple times in a single volume. Groff gives each of her women a strong narrative voice, rich with the emotions attached to their situations.

My favorite stories in this volume included Lucky Chow Fun, in which a small town ripped apart by a sex scandal is chronicled by a high school girl; Majorette, which traces the life of an under-appreciated young woman as she uses baton twirling to aid her growth into a capable woman who raises a confident daughter; and Watershed, the story of a reckless love affair that ends in tragedy. All of the stories in this volume are as different and rich as these three, and they each leave you wishing for just a little bit longer glimpse into these women's lives.

I would recommend this volume of short stories to anyone who enjoys reading stories about strong women in the face of adversity. These stories are rich and memorable. I can't wait to see what is next from the obviously talented Groff.

Chit Lit that Tries To Be Sex And The City--But Falls Short--Sarah Dunn's "Secrets to Happiness"

2009-02-09T17:20:00.002-05:00

Secrets to Happiness follows a year in the life of a group of thirty and forty something New Yorkers. The group is connected through Holly Frick, a woman in her late 30s who works as a writer on a kids tv show. Holly is certain her life is on the decline--she's recently divorced with no relationship prospects, her career is wanning, and she's lost out on much of the promise NYC holds for young people. Soon Holly's life begins to look up. But just as all of her friends lives also start to look up, Holly's falls apart again. Will these loses help her to figure out the secrets to happiness?

Secrets to Happiness is a mixed bag of a book. There are parts of the book that are laugh-out-loud funny, but then there are parts that are completely unnecessary that drag down the whole rest of the narrative. The strongest parts of the novel are the segments that deal with Holly, and those that deal with her ex-boyfriend Spence. Other sections, that focus on Holly's writing partner Leonard and her distant friend Betsy, just feel forced. The first part of the book is pretty slow, and it only picks up when the narrative focuses more tightly on Holly in the second half of the book. I think Dunn has obvious talent as a comic writer, but she should stick to writing what she knows--the experience of a 30 something woman--instead of trying to broaden her story to other characters like gay men.

This was okay chit lit, but definitely not the best out there. I would suggest this to someone looking for a casual read if they've exhausted some of the better chit lit options.

A Jumpy Plot and Dense Reading--Nicole Helget's The Turtle Catcher

2009-02-05T21:09:00.001-05:00

The Turtle Catcher follows the Richter family in New Germany, Minnesota, from the late 19th century to 1920. The novel begins with a terrible event--in 1920 the three Richter brothers drown their handicapped neighbor, Lester, after they believe he has violated their sister, Liesel. The rest of the novel is a flashback--from the mother of the boys, Magdalena, leaving Germany as a young unwed pregnant woman, to her eventual birthing and raising of five children, including the one who eventually kills her, the coming of age of those children in the early years of World War I, and the eventual tragedies of the Great War that rip the family, and the town of New Germany apart. Throughout the novel, Liesel conceals what she believes is a terrible secret--she's a hermaphrodite--and she convinces herself that Lester, handicapped from his father's relentless beatings--is the only man who could ever love her. As the events surrounding Lester's death come to the surface, the reader discovers the demons of the Richter family and their small town.

Although the story in The Turtle Catcher was rich--I enjoyed all of its detail, its complicated levels--the execution and writing style of the novel really killed the story for me. There were times where the language was so dense, and the story so convoluted, that I was ready to give up on this book--something that I almost never do. This book had a lot of potential, and I do think it did a good job of capturing farm life in rural Minnesota at the turn of the century, as well as the political conflict between the German immigrants in the town and the other residents.

If I could give half stars, this would really be a two and a half star review, because the book did have some good things going for it. But I don't know if I would recommend this unless someone was really interested in America before/during WWI or in turn of the century life in the Midwest.

January Recap

2009-02-01T10:29:00.003-05:00

So January was quite the reading month for me. I read a total of seven books (well above my normal pace of about 5 a month). I'm going to attribute my faster than usual pace to the brutally cold weather we've been having here in Baltimore--when you really don't want to go outside, there's definitely extra time to spend curled up with a book!

There were a couple of good ones in the mix, but I had a hands down favorite this month, which is odd for me, since I can never seem to commit to one thing (I can't even pick a favorite color for crying out loud). So January's book of the month was "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I read this 400+ page book in about 3 days and I was very sad there wasn't more when I reached the end. This is an ARC I'll be passing around, so if you want to read it, let me know!

Women Helping Bring Racial Understanding in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi--Kathryn Stockett's "The Help"

2009-01-28T09:58:00.001-05:00

Kathryn Stockett's The Help is a wonderful debut novel. The Help follows three women in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962-64--Aibileen a 50-something black woman who has worked a a maid her whole life, Minny another black maid in her 30s, and Skeeter a 22 year old white woman who has just finished college at Ole Miss and dreams of being a writer. Desperate to jump start her writing career, Skeeter comes up with an idea to capture the experiences of 12 black maids working in the homes of white women. Skeeter convinces Aibileen, the maid of her best friend Elizabeth, to work on her project. Aibileen then convinces Minny, and other maids to join in the project, despite the potentially brutal consequences if they are discovered. As the women work to complete their book on a tight timeline from a New York publisher, the racial tension heats up in Jackson. Will they be found out, or will they publish their work and show the world the unique relationship between white and black women--where they are all just people--in Jackson.

Stockett alternates among the three main characters as narrators, giving this novel a unique story that is told from the perspective of both the white employer (Skeeter) and the black maids (Aibileen and Minny). As the three women come to understand each other you see the discovery from both perspectives, which gives the novel a deep emotional feel. The relationship that forms among these women is strong, and by the end of the novel I felt like I was one of them. Although the novel has an optimistically happy ending, I found myself crying at the end of these women's remarkable journey.

I think this book has the potential to become a "must read" on race relations in the South, especially for young women. As someone who grew up in a big Southern family, I can say that Stockett's voice is authentic, and she does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the time. I will definitely be recommending this book.

An Excellent Picture of the Antebellum South--Where Are All Women are Some Type of Property--Valerie Martin's "Property"

2009-01-24T11:02:00.001-05:00

Valerie Martin's Property takes the reader into the head of Manon, a wealthy white woman living near New Orleans in the late 1820s. Manon is married to a slave holding planter that she despises because of his open relationship with a household slave, Sarah, and his especially brutal treatment of his field slaves. As a series of tragedies befall Manon, the reader accompanies Manon as she assesses her place in the world and the value of her life. By the end, the reader and Manon are left contemplating the "property" of the title--is it simply slaves like Sarah, or in a way is at all women, who are defined as property in this regimented and cruel society.

Property is a captivating read, but it is also a depressing look at a dark time in American history. There are no heroes in this story--everyone is guilty in this society built on using other human beings--but the narrative gives you an honest look at the emotional strain on a woman during this period. Martin does an excellent job of not imposing 21st century sentiments on Manon, who I believe is portrayed with stunning realism. Rarely do you find historical fiction from a woman's perspective that is this rich and well written. This book will make you think, and like Manon, you may not come to a happy conclusion.

Lots of Art, Religion, But Little Romance--"The Miracle of Prato"

2009-01-21T21:10:00.001-05:00

The Miracles of Prato tells the story of Lucrezia Buti, a young woman who has just entered a convent against her wishes in 15th Century Prato, a town outside of Florence. Lucrezia's family had fallen on hard times, so she has been denied the marriage she always dreamed of and has to become a nun instead. Soon after entering the convent, a depressed Lucrezia catches the eye of Fra Fillipo, the convent's chaplain, and a famous monk-painter. Fillipo is intrigued by her beauty, and--seeing her as his new Madonna--asks her to model for him. The two quickly fall in love, and marry in secret after Lucrezia is the victim of a terrible crime. But what will the Church do, allow the monk and young nun a life together, or take it away?

Despite an excellent subject and a strong start, The Miracles of Prato fell a little flat for me. The authors do an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of a small convent in Italy in the 15th century, and the art they describe is beautiful. But the characters that populate this beautiful world are extremely one dimensional, and they react to their situations in a consistently helpless fashion. I know I may be a modern reader imposing my views of the past, but I like my historical romance with a bit of spunk and passion, which is lacking in Miracles. Instead, the novel is full of stereotypes, from the greedy man at the head of the church to the fallen virgin who is still a repentant angel. Although the novel is in part based on fact, these flat representations make it feel unbelievable.

Although I didn't love this book overall, there were parts that were enjoyable, full of beautiful settings and scenes. It gives you a real feel for church life in Italy, and the struggles of young women at the time. I would recommend this book to fans of the Renaissance period in Italy, or students of art history, with a warning about the characters.

This was fun :-)

2009-01-18T10:59:00.001-05:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
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A Journey To Old Hong Kong--Janice Lee's "The Piano Teacher"

2009-01-14T19:44:00.000-05:00

The Piano Teacher takes place in Hong Kong in two distinct periods--one before and during World War II (1941-1942) and one after (1951-1952). At its center are two women in love with one man. Claire, a newly wed young Englishwoman has just arrived in Hong Kong with her new husband in 1951. As she tries to adjust to life in this foreign city, Claire takes a job as a piano teacher in the home of a wealthy Chinese family, the Chens. At their house, Claire meets another Chen family employee, Will Truesdale, a chauffeur who never seems to drive anyone. Will and Claire fall into a passionate romance, and soon Claire begins to discover Will has a complicated past with the Chens, and one of their relatives, a former love named Trudy. As Claire and the reader discover the horrors of Will's past during the war, she comes to realize who she really loves. Will she be able to accept the crimes of those around her during the war?

This book grabs you in the first chapter, and I absolutely had a hard time putting it down. The author's juxtaposition of the two time periods, slowly unfolding the central narratives in each makes for a captivating read. I found the characters and the motives for their actions intriguing. The author's description of the setting was rich--at points I felt like I could feel the humidity (maybe its just because its pretty humid where I live) and smell the streets of Hong Kong. And although this book sounds like a fairly standard historical romance, some of its plot elements kept me guessing to the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romance, because its one of the best i've read in a while. I know its early in the year, but I have a feeling The Piano Teacher is going to stay on my best of the year list.

An Emotional Set of Short Stories about Surviving Life--Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge"

2009-01-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

Olive Kitteridge is a series of twelve short stories set in a small town in Maine. Each of the stories features Olive Kitteridge, a tempermental middle school math teacher. In half of the stories Olive is a main character, in the others she is a minor player, but all of the stories share a deep emotional core which captures the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Although the events in many of the stories are everyday--weddings, deaths, illnesses--the characters in each show rich humanity and deep emotion. As the stories loosely trace Olive through almost 40 years of her life, you find yourself liking this extremely unlikable woman, and enjoying following her journey through life.

Elizabeth Strout does a fantastic job capturing all aspects of the human spirit in Olive Kitteridge. Her stories capture people's deepest emotions during trying times, and the pictures she creates are excellent. That being said, if you're a reader that needs to love the main character in a novel, this is not a book for you. Olive Kitteridge is a difficult person--tempermental, opinionated, and sometimes, just downright mean. But despite her faults, Olive's perspective on life is fascinating, and by the end of the novel, I found myself empathizing with her situation. As Olive encounters all sorts of challenges in her life she proceeds with purpose and a serious face, and nothing shakes her unique outlook on life.

This was an excellent collection of short stories and I would recommend it to those who enjoy literary fiction. This is the first work by Elizabeth Strout that I've read, but it won't be my last.

A "Land of Marvels" But No Emotion

2009-01-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

Barry Unsworth's "Land of Marvels" is set in the Middle East in 1914, in an area that would become Iraq. The novel takes you into the desert with Somerville, an archaeologist searching for his big discovery. Somerville is in a race against time and circumstance--the railroad is about to be built through his dig site and all of Europe--and by extension, the Middle East--is on the edge of war. Will he make his big discovery, or will forces larger than him--the war, the railroad, the quest for oil--get the better of him.

Unsworth's novel is full of historical detail and political intrigue. It is well written and complex. However, it is missing, for me, a critical element--character development and emotion. Unsworth's characters are flat--nothing that happens to them over the course of the novel changes them at all. This surprised me, for Unsworth is a novelist that was praised for his character development. The characters in the novel also lack emotional depth. It was unbelievable to me that any of these characters cared about each other because they were all so cold and unfeeling.

I would recommend this book to people interested in Iraq before WWI and the political intrigue of the era. However, if you like books with more emotion and heart, I would recommend that you look elsewhere.

The Musician's Daughter--A Fun YA Read in 18th Century Vienna

2008-12-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

Susanne Dunlap's "The Musician's Daughter" tells the story of 15 year old Theresa, who--after the mysterious murder of her father--finds herself removed from the everyday routines of a young lady and thrust into a world of court politics, music and political intrigue. As she helps to solve the mystery of her father's murder, Theresa finds her true loves in life, music, family, and a young musician/wronged nobleman named Zoltan. The stakes are high as Theresa risks everything to help solve her father's murder and the reader is left wondering whether it will all be worthwhile in the end. I chose to read Dunlap's novel before I realized it was considered young adult fiction--I thought the plot sounded interesting and I was impressed with Dunlap's background as a historian, so I thought the novel would be good. In my opinion, this book did not read like YA fiction--the language is mature and the historical context is rich--even if it does have a teen appropriate storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed this book--it was probably the best YA fiction i've read in years. The pacing is good, the narrative kept me interested and the characters are well developed. I would recommend this book to mature teenage readers looking for good historical fiction, or even adult readers that are interested in the time period.

Blindspot--A Great Historical Romance Set in Pre-Revolutionary Boston

2008-12-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

"Blindspot", a collaboration between Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, is a wonderful historical romance. The novel has two narrators--Fannie Easton, a fallen Boston woman of aristocratic birth who disguises herself as Francis Weston to move freely in Boston society; and Samuel Jameson, a Scottish painter who has come to America to flee debtors prison in Britain. Fannie answers Jameson's ad for an apprentice, and Francis Weston becomes Jameson's apprentice. A comedy of errors ensues, as Fannie and Jameson--who believes Fannie is a young boy--fall in love, become involved in a murder investigation, and paint all of Boston society.

This book is smart and enjoyable. The book uses a diary/letter style to make the use of two narrators easy for the reader--there is no confusion about who is narrating at any given point. As you would expect from two college professors, Kamensky and Lepore did a thorough job researching their work, and their portrayal of Boston immediately before the American Revolution feels authentic, from the scenery to the language. This book really pulls you in, and you want to figure out what is going to happen in all of the different storylines--with the romance, with the mystery, with the other characters in the novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romances. The romance and the mystery plots are both captivating, and you will keep turning the pages on this great book.

A Disjointed Story with a Shocking Twist--"The Lace Reader"

2008-12-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Brunonia Barry's "The Lace Reader" is a complicated novel. It tells the story of Towner, a thirty something year old woman who has returned to Salem, MA from California after her beloved great aunt has gone missing. The reader quickly discovers Towner fled Salem after a series of traumatic events, which she begins reliving soon after coming to town. A series of violent events begin happening to people close to Towner, and it soon looks like Towner herself may be the next victim. A fantastic twist at the end of the novel leaves everyone--including the reader--in shock at the magic and mystery that surrounds old Salem.

"The Lace Reader" is a hard novel to get into, and then to follow. Three characters narrate different parts of the novel, the story does not follow a linear time sequence, and several of the characters are constantly changing their version of the story. On top of these obstacles, Barry's language is choppy and often confusing making it hard for the reader to follow the complicated story line. This novel would have benefited from a good editor and some enhancement of the central storyline, which at times becomes so vague the reader isn't sure what's happening.

Overall, the story in the "The Lace Reader" was interesting, but too disjointed to really like. I would recommend this book to people interested in Salem or in witchcraft, but not necessarily to the casual reader.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville--A Heartwarming Memoir

2008-12-05T18:46:00.001-05:00

Amy Dickinson's "Mighty Queens of Freeville" recounts Dickinson's life with her daughter Emily, after her divorce when Emily was a toddler. Dickinson--of Ask Amy fame--has a humorous way of telling the trials of her life, and a heartening way of describing how she is always drawn home to the tiny upstate New York town of Freeville, where she grew up. Dickinson's narrative invites you to join her family of loud opinionated women, and you see where she learned the advice she dispenses in her daily syndicated column.

I don't know exactly what it was about "Mighty Queens"--maybe its that I also grew up in the DC area, that my parents are also divorced, or that I'm only 10 or so years older than Dickinson's daughter--but I really loved this book. So many of the experiences Dickinson described reminded me of my own childhood, that I felt like I was reliving part of MY past. I usually don't love memoirs, but I loved Dickinson's warm story.

A Literary Puzzle of One Family's Insanity

2008-11-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

Kirsten Menger-Anderson's "Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain" traces one New York City family from their arrival in New York in the early 17th century to the modern day. But the family history has a twist--all of the family members share two things--a medical curiosity the leads them to become doctors and a tendency to go crazy. As Menger-Anderson traces the family through history in short vignettes, the depths of the family's insanity becomes clear, as does the fact that no one can escape it.

Menger-Anderson's story is intriguing, and the author has a style that keeps you reading to the very end. Each short story begins with a puzzle--why are these people in this situation--and then quickly builds to a climax that keeps you asking more questions. The author takes different approaches to introduce the central family in each story, and each individual's story adds to the overall family puzzle.

I really enjoyed this book, and I often enjoy interwoven short stories. But this book may not be for everyone--the narrative thread is only loosely carried from story to story and some of the characters are not very likable. But I would recommend this book--it's a great thinking story.

Twilight--Entertaining, but Not Great

2008-11-21T22:17:00.000-05:00

After several years of bugging by my younger sister, and all of the recent media hype, I finally broke down and read "Twilight" the first book in Stephanie Meyer's wildly popular Twilight Saga. After reading almost 500 pages in less than a week, I have a couple of things to say about Twilight.

1. It really does pull you in. Yes, there are parts of the book that are cheesy, and after a while you do get tired of hearing the vampire and teenage girl confess their love for each other, over, and over, and OVER again. But there is something about their pure teenage love that is kind of cute, in the same way that teen love is cute in teen movies.

2. There could be more character development. Both of the main characters, Edward and Bella, are pretty flat--Edward is perfect and Bella is swoony. But they're not overly annoying. I will be interested to see if they're still not annoying in three books.

3. Meyer uses a number of elements from other vampire books--especially stuff from Anne Rice, that I thought was a nice homage. I love Rice's vampire books, and it was good to see a tribute here.

Overall, I thought Twilight was okay. I didn't love it, but it did keep me reading, and I've been known to put down bad books. I will likely read the other three books in the series, and I'm not a tween. This is good clean vampire fun--worth a read by vampire fans and young readers.

Something Different from Anita Shreve--Testimony

2008-11-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of Anita Shreve, and I've read all of her books. When I saw her newest novel, Testimony, in stores I picked it up immediately. What I discovered was that Testimony is a story different from Shreve's other novels. Most of her novels deal with a woman who falls in love in some life altering way--but Testimony is definitely different.

Testimony still deals with a life changing event--but instead of love its a sex scandal at a tony private school. The book uses short passages from about a dozen characters connected to the scandal in different ways to reveal how it happened and its repercussions. Even though the scandal seems pretty straightforward from the start, there are some twists that happen through the course of the narrative that make the story much deeper than a ripped-from-the-headlines teen sex scandal story. In Shreve's usual style, Testimony keeps you turning the pages--I didn't want to put this book down.

I will warn readers that there are some graphic scenes in this novel--it does deal with a sex scandal. I enjoyed the book overall, but I was a little disappointed since I had enjoyed Shreve's earlier novels so much and was hoping for more of the same. But overall I think this book is worth reading--its a good story about the consequences of seemingly harmless actions.

Patrick Taylor's "An Irish Country Christmas"--Light Holiday Reading Fun

2008-11-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

Patrick Taylor's "An Irish Country Christmas" is a tale of a fictional town in Northern Ireland at--you guessed it--Christmastime, 1964. The town is picturesque, full of all of the characters you would expect to find in Ireland, and amazingly, without any religious strife. The novel focuses on two country doctors and their quiet lives.

Overall, this book is a slow, but enjoyable read. It really captures the spirit of a small town at Christmastime--you can almost see the Norman Rockwell paintings (even though Rockwell is American, not Irish). But it is SLOW. The whole book covers a period of less than a month and it's almost 500 pages long. You won't have any trouble understanding what is going on in this book if you haven't read the previous two in the series, because the author seems to recap everything from the two earlier books. But the discussion of medical techniques and patient care feels authentic, since much of it is based on the author's experience as a country doctor in Ireland during the same period.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for a light, holiday themed read. But it's definitely lightweight, lighthearted material.

Laurel Conrad's "The Four Seasons"

2008-11-06T17:31:00.001-05:00

Laurel Corona's "The Four Seasons" tells the story of two orphaned girls who are brought up in a cloistered girls only home/school in 18th century Venice. The specialty of the school is music--and when Vivaldi, the great 18th Century composer--shows up at the school and recognizes the girls' talents, their worlds are turned upside down. The novel follows the girls for almost 40 years as their lives change and intersect with Vivaldi's.

Corona's story is interesting, but underdeveloped. She picks a rich historical period, and she lovingly describes both Venice and the music which fills her novel, but she has a harder time with characters. Most of the characters--including the two heroines--are flat, one dimensional, and frankly, a little dull. I kept expecting one of them to do something unexpected--it is VENICE after all--but they are both just so good, and unwilling to stand up against the world. I know a lot of this characterization is what was "expected" of women during that period, but this is a NOVEL and it would be good to have some excitement. Without real excitement, the novel seems to plod along at times, simply telling the passage of time and not a story.

If half stars were an option, I probably would have given this book 3.5 stars, since I did enjoy most of the story. But it can be slow at times and its not the best written historical fiction I've ever read. I would recommend this book to Vivaldi fans, fans of the period, or Venice fans (yes there are courtesans).

Arawad Adiga's "The White Tiger"--Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize

2008-11-02T11:49:00.001-05:00

Arawad Adiga's "The White Tiger" is a fascinating story about the underworld of modern India. Unlike the India that is common in Bollywood films and the Western media, "The White Tiger" creates a portrait of a country that is brutal, corrupt, and cut throat. The narrator Balram separates Indians into two groups--the rich and the rest--and describes how he realizes its worth sacrificing everything to escape poverty and become one of the wealthy.

The novel is written as a series of seven long letters from Balram to the Premier of China. This unconventional style took a little getting used to, but after I did the novel was very gripping. Agida's style is sharp--he often uses the names of his characters or objects to ridicule them--but you also can really understand Balram's frustrations.

I would recommend this book to someone who wants to get a different perspective on modern India--one that isn't exclusively focused on shiny new skyscrapers and outsourcing. The hunger of the characters in this novel is alarming--you can see why India has quickly become a challenger on the global stage.

The White Tiger on Amazon

Review--Kira Salak's "The White Mary"

2008-10-20T21:40:00.003-04:00

Kira Salak's "The White Mary" is a gripping first novel about one woman's journey to the end of the earth--otherwise known as Paupa New Guinea--and back. Salak's heroine, Marika, goes to PNG looking for the famous war reporter Robert Lewis. A war reporter herself, Marika goes into the jungle expecting an adventure, but instead undergoes a near death experience that changes her life. The novel flashes back and forth between Marika's time in PNG and her life in Boston before her trip, slowly exposing the heroine's demons to the reader. When Marika is forced to face who she really is in the depths of the jungle, the reader is pulled along through her emotional journey.

I think Salak's novel is so gripping because the author herself is a war reporter, and many of Marika and Lewis' experiences are based on things the author experienced. When she describes the jungles of PNG or the African plains, you feel like you are really there. This realism does warrant a warning though--some passages of Salak's novel are graphically violent, so sensitive readers should beware.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a story about a strong woman, or a story of a woman finding herself. This is very much a modern "Heart of Darkness" so be ready!

Nominated for the National Book Award--Rachel Kushner's Telex from Cuba

2008-10-15T17:42:00.002-04:00

Although I originally published this review before I launched Ratskellar Reads, I am republishing it now since 'Telex' has just been nominated for the National Book Award! I loved 'Telex from Cuba'--it was probably my favorite book this summer--so I'm rooting for it hard!

---------------------------------

Rachel Kushner's "Telex From Cuba" is an excellent first novel, probably the best one I have read this year. The novel creates a vivid view of pre-Castro Cuba--a country full of life, color, and dark secrets.

Despite the description on the book flap, "Telex" is really an ensemble tale, covering the six years before Castro's Revolution in Cuba through the eyes of a group of Americans that are in Cuba working for American companies. The novel's storytellers are mostly women and children, whose collective naivety of the strings holding up their comfortable lives in a tropical paradise brings an interesting perspective to the story. As the story progresses all of the characters become more aware of the oppressive conditions that make their lives possible, and of the rebel cause that exists beyond their picturesque doorstep.

Although the novel jumps around a lot between characters and their distinctive narrative voices, it does not feel choppy. Kushner does an excellent job of timing the increasing awareness of her characters along with the progression of the rebellion so that both crescendo at the same time, creating an excellent pace and intensity in the novel. Even though as the reader you know how the revolution and the story will ultimately end, Kushner's narrative style keeps you engaged throughout.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling read, or anyone with an interest in Castro's Revolution or Cuban history. The book certainly made me more interested in several of its central subjects--the United Fruit Company, Castro's Revolution, US Government involvement in Cuba--and gave me a new perspective on the consequences of Cold War politics and American Imperialism.

Telex from Cuba's Amazon Page

"Frozen Pancakes and Fake Eyelashes" Review

2008-10-13T18:27:00.001-04:00

G. Pearl Mak's "Frozen Pancakes and Fake Lashes" is fairly standard chick lit fair. A woman who has everything (in this case a lawyer about to make partner at a big LA firm, with a fancy car, a rich best friend, and a gorgeous husband) suddenly has a wrench thrown into her best laid plans--she gets pregnant. Chaos ensues as she adjusts to being a new mother and finally makes a life changing decision to balance her new family and work responsibilities.

The problem with "Frozen Pancakes" is not this rather typical and predictable chick lit plotline, but rather the execution. All of Mak's characters, including her heroine Angela, are flat. There is no character development in this book AT ALL, so its hard to get emotionally involved at the critical points in the story. In addition, good chick lit relies on smart, witty dialogue to portray its formulaic story in a new way. Mak's dialogue is not smart or witty--which makes it hard to believe that the heroine is a top young lawyer--and it's hard to take a book seriously where all the characters keep saying "tee-hee" or "ha-ha".

Although the plot is predictable, "Frozen Pancakes" wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. If you're looking for good chick lit, there are better options out there.

My First Review--Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife"

2008-10-12T23:04:00.003-04:00

Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife" is a wonderful read about an ordinary woman who finds herself married to the President of the United States. The book tells the story of Alice Lindgren, a small town girl who grows up to become a librarian before falling hard for wealthy jokester Charlie Blackwell. Alice stands by Charlie as he struggles with alcoholism, then buys a baseball team, before becoming governor of Wisconsin, then President. Throughout Alice questions whether she made the right choice in marrying Charlie--a conservative, born again Christian--whose political ideas clash with her own liberal opinions. If you've been thinking that this story sounds familiar, that's because Sittenfeld's Alice is a close double for Laura Bush. The similarities between these two women, as well as the author's professed "love" for Laura, cannot be ignored as you read this novel, and its hard not to let your opinion of Laura cloud Alice. But Sittenfeld's portrayal of her narrator is so sympathetic, you find yourself really liking this woman, even if you do wish she would push back a little harder against her husband and his family as they continually steamroll her. I found this book extremely readable, and the first three sections in particular read very quickly. Although the final section of the book, which takes place in 2007, felt a little rushed and forced, it provided a nice conclusion to the contradictions of Alice's life. I would recommend this book to any woman--friends and foes of the current administration alike. Just remember, this isn't actually Laura Bush--just a stylized view of what she could be.

Welcome to Ratskellar Reads!

2008-10-12T22:54:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Ratskellar Reads, a book blog about what's being read at the Ratskellar.

What is the Ratskellar exactly? Well, it's our humble home in Baltimore, Maryland. Me, my other half, and our two cats, Ariadne and Chelsea. I'm an avid reader, and I want to share my book insights with the world. So enjoy.