The Bookshelf

Book Review: Hunger Games Trilogy

2011-04-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

I finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins this weekend. I finished The Hunger Games on the airplane I rode home for my ten-year high school reunion, and I wanted to read the next book, Chasing Fire, so badly that I downloaded it on my Nook while I was waiting at the baggage claim carousel.

You've probably heard of these books, so there's no need for me to go into a long description. The basic set up is that the books are set in the post-apocolyptic, future North America. The current government is called Panem, and it is divided up into 14 districts. Districts 1 though 12 exist solely to provide the Capitol district with supplies. Everyone in the numbered districts lives in near poverty while the residents of the Capitol live in excess. This scheme is maintained because, 74 years ago, District 13 rebelled and a huge war broke out. District 13 was annihilated, and to force the other districts to recall their fate, the Capitol puts on the Hunger Games every year. Each district has one boy and one girl chosen at random, and they travel to the Capitol to participate in the games. Basically they put all the kids in an arena and make them fight to the death. The winner gets to live in luxury, and everyone in their district gets more food.

Needless to say, the heroine of the book, Katniss, ends up going to the Hunger Games. That part of the story is interesting on its own, but you know me, I'm a sucker for romance. Luckily there's a bit of that, too, because the boy that is chosen from her district, Peeta, has been secretly in love with her since they were little children. I pretty much kept reading for the Katniss-Peeta storyline. I just love Peeta. He would do anything to protect Katniss, and he is so inherently good that eventually she can't help but want do to do the same for him. Even though she doesn't return the intensity of his romantic feelings for him, she can't help but care about him.

I really enjoyed these books. The last book, Mockingjay was my least favorite, and it took the story somewhere I wasn't happy for it to go. But I think in the long run it was necessary to get the satisfactory ending that I wanted. So, read these books! They are addicting. Dark and sad, but still addicting.

Book Review: A Discovery of Witches

2011-03-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

I first heard about Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches in People Magazine when they gave it a four-star review. It has also been marketed as a romance, so I thought I would give it a try. I even bought it in physical, hardback form. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this book.

Briefly, the story centers around Diana Bishop, an American historian who is at Oxford University studying in preparation for a presentation she is to give as a convention. Diana is a witch, but she hasn't used magic since she was seven years old and her parents, both witches, were murdered. The book begins with Diana at the Bodleian Library, where she recalls an ancient book from the stacks during her research. While she's at the library, Harkness describes the world the book is set in. There are four kinds of people in this world—humans, witches, daemons, and vampires. They all live amongst each other but don't really interact. After she reads the ancient book, however, Diana is suddenly the focus of attention for all sorts of creatures who believe there is a significant secret to their worlds hidden in the book's depths. One of those creatures is Matthew Clairmont, a vampire.

To make a long story short, Diana appears to be the only person who can recall this book, and so everyone wants a piece of her. Matthew, it appears, wants to protect her. And the two of them are quickly attracted to each other.

I can't even begin to describe how much this look reminded me of Twilight. Matthew is overly protective of Diana. Matthew withholds sex from Diana. There is a council of creatures that doesn't want vampire and witches mixing. Etc, etc, etc. It's not necessarily Harkness's fault; I think of lot of these elements are present anytime there is a male vampire involved with a female non-vampire. But at the same time, a lot of the general elements to the story felt familiar and unoriginal.

A Discovery of Witches also reminded me a bit of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane in that the heroine was an academic from a family of witches who was looking for secrets within ancient books. As you may or may not recall, I did not like that book in large part because the heroine was such an obvious extension of the writer. The same is true here. Harkness is a scientific historian, and Diana's area of historical expertise is also science, particular alchemy. When this is the case, I feel like I get a glimpse into Ivy League academia, and I don't really like what I see. It all feels so... self-absorbed and out of touch. For instance, Diana spends day after day after day just sitting in a library reading old books. Then she goes and rows in the river. She also likes to ride horses. All rich people luxuries. It gets kind of annoying after a while.

But my biggest problem with this book was the fact that it didn't have an ending. Clearly there is going to be a sequel, but it would have been nice to know that before I started reading it. Seriously, I am pissed. At least in Twilight there was some closure at the end of the first book. Sure, the story was wrapped up, but if a person wanted to stop reading they could have. Not so here. We are left completing hanging. Grr.

Sorry

2011-03-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

So, I've been away from my book blog for a looong time. Sorry about that. Now that I am back at work (rather than in school) I have not been reading as much as I usually do. I bought a Barnes and Noble Nook last fall, though, and I absolutely love it! When eReaders first came out I was convinced that I would hate them because I love physical book so much. But I was wrong. Instant access to books is great, but not turning page is also great. Reading on the treadmill at the gym is so much easier with an eReader.

Anyway, I have mostly just bought romance novels on my Nook, and none of them really moved me to blog. But I just finished a book, and I have something to say about it.

Book Review: Happy Ever After

2010-11-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

You know that old saying about the definition of insanity? That it's doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results?

Well, when it comes to Nora Roberts' Bride Quarter, I am certifiably insane.

You may recall how I felt about Savor the Moment. And Bed of Roses. So a very legitimate question would be, why do I keep buying the books in this series?

The short answer is because I don't realize how intensely I dislike the women in this series until I read their individual stories. After reading the previous three books, I thought that I'd like Parker's story best of all, mostly because she seems to be considerably less annoying than the other women. Also, I really liked Malcolm in the previous books, the man who was obviously going to be Parker's match. But once again, Nora Roberts managed to disappoint me in this asinine, asinine quartet.

I'm sure there are a lot of readers out there who just love hearing about all the weddings that these women plan, but I am not one of them. I'm reading these books because I want to know about the characters, whether I like them or not. I don't give a shit about some minor, insignificant character's wedding. And yet Roberts spends so. much. time. on these wedding details. It's so boring.

But once again, my real complaint is how the romance/relationship of the story does not feel genuine and has no real substance, which just feel like an excuse to write about wedding after wedding after wedding. Did Roberts elope or something, and how she's full of regret? Why's she so obsessed?

The schtick with Parker and Malcolm is pretty simple: they are attracted to each other, so they eventually hook up. But upon closer examination, there are just so many things that don't make a lot of sense. For example, Malcolm pursues Parker. He wants to be with her. When his friend, her brother Del, tells him, "If you hurt her or screw with her..." he tells Del, "I'll let you." And when Del says it again after Malcolm and Parker have started sleeping together, Malcolm says, "If I hurt her or screw with her, she'll hit me herself," or something to that extent.

Now to me, if man makes those representations, is attracted to the woman inside and out and is willing to start fucking her even though she's his close friend's sister, it would seem that he's viewing their involvement as more than a roll in the hay, right? Wouldn't you think that there was a chance for a deeper involvement? Yet when Malcolm starts to really feel something for Parker, he's taken aback as if he never considered it. Are men that dumb? Maybe they are, because I don't understand how a guy could not realize how he felt. It is extra confusing because Malcolm is very perceptive and sensitive to things.

That issue aside, Happy Ever After just confirmed for me that you cannot write a romance novel that is centered solely on a standard, run-of-the-mill relationship. It's so dull. As dull as Laurel, the heroine from Savor the Moment, who in this book continues to have no thought that doesn't relate to her fiance, Del. (Seriously, every other sentence out of her mouth is "Del says" or "Del thinks." GET A LIFE, LOSER.)

And finally, I just got really tired of hearing about how Malcolm "grabbed" Parker and pushed his mouth on her. I mean seriously. Once can be sexy. Twice is tiresome. Every single time he kisses her is manhandling. Not cool.

Book Review: Perfect

2010-09-10T22:14:00.001-07:00

What did I think of this book?

Blurgh.

I don't like romance novel heroes that are movie stars. Who would want to get with a famous actor? Not me! But apparently I'm in the minority because there are a lot of romance novels about movie stars. So, this book had a knock against it from the start.

What's that? I'm sorry? This movie star is also a convicted murderer who escapes from prison and takes the heroine hostage? Make that two knocks.

Seriously, romance novelists. Being taken hostage at gunpoint is not sexy. I don't care if he is a movie star.

The third and final knock is the heroine. There's nothing wrong with her, but the reasons why the hero falls in love with her are annoying. She's pure! A minister's daughter! And, she's not too into her career. SHE WANTS BABIES! His evil ex-wife DIDN'T WANT BABIES! She wanted a career most of all. HOW DARE SHE NOT WANT TO GIVE IT ALL UP AND HAVE HIS BABIES!

Lame. The worst McNaught book I've read.

Retraction

2010-08-15T14:12:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I take back anything negative I might have said about Sandra Brown in my previous two posts. I don't care how wacky her storylines are, I LOVE IT. She always comes up with these ridiculous plots and manages to write them in a way that make them seem not-so-ridiculous. I'm reading Smash Cut right now. It doesn't disappoint.

Oh, Sandra

2010-08-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

I love Sandra Brown books. These days I'm kind of over buying them in hardcover, but I still feel the need to take a peek at the book jacket whenever I see a new release. If for no other reason than to see what whacked-out hero name she has come up with this time. Here are a few examples:

The Crush - Wick
White Hot - Beck
Chill Factor - Dutch
Smoke Screen - Raley
Play Dirty - Griff
Where There's Smoke - Key
Exclusive - Grey
The Switch - Chief

Sure enough, her latest release Tough Customer did not disappoint. The hero's name? Dodge.

Hindsight Is 20/20

2010-08-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Do you have any favorite books from years ago? Have you ever reread them?

This is exactly where I am with Mirror Image by Sandra Brown. The first time I read this book, I freakin' loved it. I thought it was so awesome. Granted, I was really young at the time, probably around fourteen. (I know.) But still, I thought the characters were so cool. Now I realize that the entire plot is just completely ridiculous.

If you've never heard of this book, let me give you a brief synopsis: the heroine is a television reporter who is in a plane crash. She happened to be sitting next to the wife and daughter of a senatorial candidate. The heroine and the wife look a lot alike, so when the plane crashes and the heroine saves the daughter and is found holding daughter, everyone assumes she's the wife. Oh yeah, and she's badly injured in the face. Before she can recover enough to speak, they've already given her reconstructive surgery to make her look like the wife. AND someone comes into her hospital room while she's recovering and talks about a death plot this person and the wife are in on... to kill the husband/candidate. SO OF COURSE the heroine decides that she will pretend to be the wife until she can find out who is trying to kill the candidate.

It is such bullshit. She and the husband start getting it on, and he never figures out she's not his wife until the very end of the book. Back in the day I guess I believed that everyone looked the same naked, but clearly that's not the case.

Anyway, it's ridiculous. And it got me thinking about other books that cause the same reaction. Danielle Steele's The Promise is another.

What about you? Do you have any books that you feel the same way about?

Book Review: An Unforgettable Lady

2010-07-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

What a unfulfilling book. I picked it up at Target while I was out of town and bored in my hotel room. It was the only book there that I cared to read, and since I've read some of J.R. Ward's books and thought they were alright, I gave it a shot.

I didn't even finish it. Just completely lost interest.

Book Review: One Dance With a Duke & Twice Tempted By a Rogue

2010-07-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

I was really impressed with Tessa Dare's debut series, and so I thought I'd give her new series, The Stud Club (she makes fun of that name herself, don't worry), a chance. Well, as far as the first book, One Dance With a Dukegoes, I wasn't disappointed. This is a great book!

Spencer is a duke who grew up in the wilds of Canada until his uncle summoned him back to England to prepare him to take over the duchal responsibilities. He is not particularly sociable, and thus he has developed quite a reputation. His mysterious reputation increases due to the fact that he shows up at ton events precisely at midnight and then selects one young woman to dance a single dance with.

Amelia is the only daughter in a family of poor aristocrats. Her brother Jack is four hundred pounds in debt to the duke, and so when he arrives at a ball one night, Amelia takes matters into her own hands and essentially forces him to dance with her so that she can discuss her brother's debt. Except that happens to be the night that the leader of the Stud Club, Leo, is murdered. The Stud Club is rather simple. There are ten tokens that represent ten ownership shares to a valuable stallion. Each token holder has breeding rights to the stallion. Tokens can only be transferred by gambling them away. As it turns out, Spencer has been making it his mission to win all ten tokens. When Leo is murdered, there are only three other owners: Spencer, Rhys, and Julian. When Rhys and Julian show up at the ball to tell Spencer that he has to help them break the news to Leo's sister Lily, Amelia is present and insists on accompanying to give Lily some female support. By the end of their evening together, Spencer has decided that he wants to marry Amelia.

What I liked about this book was this: it was a speedy marriage, but it wasn't a marriage of convenience. Spencer asked for Amelia's hand because he was immediately attracted to her. And Amelia accepted because she was a spinster and because she was attracted to Spencer, too. Not only that, but Spencer is simply a nice guy. A really good guy. It can be hard for authors to create a hero that is both an alpha male and not a jerk. But Dare did a great job, here. The way that Spencer's history and character is revealed as the book goes on makes it so there is no need for silly plot devices.

Admittedly, the book falters a bit at the end and wanders into cliched territory. But that doesn't negate what came before. A simple, enjoyable little romance novel.

Because I liked One Dance With a Duke so much, I was excited to read Twice Tempted by a Rogue. But it just didn't deliver.

This book is about Rhys, a scarred war hero who inherits his father's baroncy. The book begins when he goes back to his lands, which are not much considering that the manor house burned down over a decade ago and the family abandoned the area. When Rhys returns, he meets Meredith, the daughter of his family's former stablemaster. Meredith is a widow who married the local innskeeper and now runs the inn in an effort to bring more commerce to her struggling community. Rhys believes in fate because, as he sees it, he's tried to kill himself for years by getting into fights, charging the front lines during battle, etc, and he's stil alive. It is his fate to survive. And when he sees Meredith, he figures that it's his fate to marry her. He tells her that a lot.

Now, Meredith is attracted to Rhys. She's had a crush on him her entire life, and she'd like nothing more than to jump into bed with him. But she's not interested in marriage because she doesn't want to give up her inn, and she thinks Rhys won't stay in the area despite his assurances otherwise.

And... there you have it. That's about it as far as the compelling story goes. Somewhere along the line, however, Rhys and Meredith's roles reverse, and to me, that felt very sudden. Rhys gives up on fate and Meredith decides she wants to be with him. To be honest, I just kind of raced through the last fourth of this book, so I don't really know what was behind this switch. All I know is that I found it very confusing.

The biggest problem, though, was the lack of chemistry between the characters. Spencer and Amelia from One Dance With a Duke had plenty of chemistry, but I just didn't feel it between Rhys and Meredith. As a result, I didn't care about what happened to them. Oh well, even the best writers have to stumble sometimes. There was nothing wrong with the writing in this book, though.

Book Review: The Brazen Bride

2010-07-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first time in Stephanie Laurens' Black Cobra quartet, the name of the book actually makes sense. (This was not the case in either The Untamed Bride or The Elusive Bride.) As it turns out, the heroine in this book was a little brazen.

The whole premise of this Black Cobra quartet is pretty ridiculous, really. Which is too bad, because although these books are romance novels, the reader can't forget that the main point of each book is to further the overarching story. That story being that the four heroes are attempting to return to England so they can bring down the evil mastermind (the Black Cobra) who has been wreaking havoc in the Indian colony through the sadistic Black Cobra cult. The first book started out more like a traditional romance novel, but as the series has progressed, the relationship seems to take a bit of a backseat.

I feel like Laurens tried to counter that a bit in The Brazen Bride, because the first third of the book is removed from the whole Black Cobra controversy. This was accomplished through the magic of... AMNESIA! The hero, Logan Montheith, was shipwrecked on his journey back to England and washed ashore on the Channel island of Guernsey, where he was found and nursed back to health by Linnet Trevission. Of course, it takes him like a week to remember who he is, but the week is not wasted because it takes Logan and Linnet like a freakin' day to start getting it on, in true Stephanie Laurens style.

As cliched as the amnesia was, and as overloaded with sex scenes as any Laurens book is, I think this format worked well for a book in the Black Cobra series. It was a nice change of pace from the constant traveling and fighting that was present in the previous book. And I genuinely liked Linnet. Laurens generally writes female characters that I like, but I felt like Linnet actually got the opportunity to live out the potential that is always there in Laurens heroines, but rarely realized. For me, she didn't disappoint.

We learn a little bit more about who is behind the Black Cobra cult, but I still have a hard time giving a shit. I mean, really, at this point, the reader gets it. The Black Cobra is evil. The cultists want to kill the four men who are trying to bring the evidence of the mastermind back to England. Blah blah blah. Once the initial romance stuff is covered, Laurens just writes the same fight scene again and again. IT'S SO BORING. I skipped over most of them.

Book Review: Insatiable

2010-06-30T16:36:00.001-07:00

I was so excited to read Meg Cabot's Insatiable when I heard that it was kind of a spoof on the current vampire craze in pop culture. Meg Cabot is one of my favorite humor writers; her Boy series is so funny. Maybe my expectations were too high, because I didn't really think that Insatiable was all that great.

Meena Harper is a dialogue writer for a soap opera called Insatiable. She also happens to have a supernatural ability to know how a person is going to die when she meets them. (Although what she sees can change if they change their course, which they often do based upon advice that she doles out.) Obviously this makes relationships of all types difficult.

Here's one more fact about Meena--she is sick and tired of the vampire craze. A rival soap opera, Lust, features a vampire plot that is killing in the ratings. So when the higher-ups tell Meena that they are going to incorporate vampires into their storyline, she's even extra pissed.

On the bright side, she meets a Romanian prince named Lucian, and she doesn't have any visions regarding his death! Amazing! Well, there's a reason for that; she can't see how he dies because he's already dead. He's a vampire. But Meena doesn't find this out until after she's slept with him. Oops. And she learns this tidbit from a Vatican-employed vampire hunter named Alaric.

To me, the storyline was pretty average. If she was spoofing the current vampire craze, I didn't really get it. She employed most of the same plot tricks that vampire writers use. Only at this point, it's all been done before.

Even worse, I didn't feel that the humor in this book was anywhere near the level that it was in The Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, or Every Boy's Got One. I don't remember laughing out loud even once, something that is pretty rare for a Meg Cabot novel.

All in all, I'd say that this book is worth the read, because it is mostly lighthearted and fun, but I'd wait until it is out in paperback. Especially because there is a sequel, which of course made this book disappointingly lack closure.

Book Review: The Endless Forest

2010-06-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

After reading five books in the Wilderness series, reading The Endless Forest was a little bittersweet. And while it was glad to have some closure, overall I felt a little let down by this book.

The Endless Forest tells Daniel Bonner's story, and to be honest, most of it felt like a romance novel. Except there wasn't much tension. Unlike a lot of other books in the series, you know right away that his match is Martha Kirby, a girl from Paradise whose parents have played significant roles in previous books. Not only that, but Daniel and Martha get married pretty early on. I think that was part of the reason why I felt like there wasn't much conflict between the two main characters. There was conflict among the secondary characters, but it just didn't feel like enough to keep me really invested in the book.

I enjoyed reading about Daniel and Martha, though, I won't deny it. But most of what I wanted from this book was, as I said, closure. Most of the closure here comes in the form of newspaper articles placed at the end of the book. The articles are snippets from the future, years after the text of the text of the book has ended. That's when you find out who has had children, who has died, and when they have died. A couple of the choices Donati made there were upsetting. I would have preferred that she just ended the book where the text/story ended and left the rest to our imagination.

I hate to say it, but in a lot of ways, this story could have ended with Queen of Swords...

A Genre Switch

2010-06-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much a life-long romance reader, but lately I find that I've grown rather tired of the books set in early 19th century England. (Basically a huge sub-genre in modern romance.) I used to love those books. But in the past few months I've passed on two new Mary Balogh books and a Julia Quinn book, authors who I used to count among my favorites. I've enjoyed discovering new authors like Tessa Dare, but all in all I'm tired of the English regency era novel.

After reading Sara Donati's Wilderness series, what I find myself really wanting to read are books set in America, especially the American west. For instance, I have gotten a little bored waiting for The Endless Forest and Insatiable to arrive, so I dug through storage for some of my old romance novels. My top choices were those classic Westerns from Elizabeth Lowell (Only His, Only Mine, Only You, Only Love, Autumn Lover, and Winter Fire). I've always loved that series. Another top choice was the Clayborne series from Julie Garwood (For the Roses, One Pink Rose, One White Rose, One Red Rose, and Come the Spring).

I wish I knew of other great western romances, but it's not a sub-genre I'm familiar with other than those that I've listed. Any recommendations?

Book Review: Queen of Swords

2010-06-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

Queen of Swords is a bit of a departure from the other books in Sara Donati's Wilderness series because none of the book takes place in New York state. In fact, most of the action in this book takes place in New Orleans during the War of 1812.

At the end of Fire Along the Sky Jennet had been kidnapped by some bad dude, and her lover Luke Bonner set off to find her. When he didn't find her right away, he recruited his half-sister Hannah, a half-Mohawk physician, to come with him. It takes a year, but they eventually track her down to the Caribbean, to an island in the French Antilles. Unfortunately, their reunion is not complete because Jennet had given birth to Luke's son three months prior, but had been forced to smuggle him away out of fear for his life. As it turns out, she chose a poor foster parent, because the man's family claims the child for their own and takes him to New Orleans. So Luke, Jennet, and Hannah follow.

Now, this book is slightly annoying because I never felt like I got a satisfactory answer as to why Jennet was abducted. Maybe I skimmed over that part, but it just felt like some cheap plot device in order for Donati to write a book set in New Orleans. But whatever, I got over that.

Really this book belongs to Hannah. Luke and Jennet are reunited, and I have to say, a little too conveniently. They both have issues from the year-old abduction, and Donati doesn't try to sweep it under the rug, but at the same time I just felt like, realistically, that would be too much strain for any relationship. But again, whatever, I got over that.

And again, Donati surprises the readers in Queen of Swords. I felt like I couldn't predict what was going to happen. I gotta hand it to her, though, she is not afraid to rake her characters over the coals. I mean, hell, poor Jennet was abducted and forced to give her child away. Luke spent a whole year chasing her down only to learn that he had a son who was now missing, too. But Hannah really gets it in this book. It's extra sad, too, because she's already had a rough go of it.

Luckily for Hannah, there's a hunky man who is perfect for her. Donati can write a sexy hero, I will give her that. Both Hannah's mate and Lily's mate in Fire Along the Sky were well done.

I felt like this book just dragged on and on and on at times. I'm not sure that it was really necessary, either. But it was still enjoyable to read. I find that I'm anticipating the next book The Endless Forest more, however, because I like the books that are set back in Paradise, New York. Although I liked Hannah's story, I also like when there are multiple protagonists and antagonists going on.

Book Review: Fire Along the Sky

2010-06-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

So, it's pretty obvious from my recent posts that I'm charging through Sara Donati's Wilderness series. It was a slow start, but things really got moving in Lake in the Clouds. And I'm happy to report that Fire Along the Sky is my favor of the series thus far.

Here's a quick synopsis: the whole series centers around Elizabeth Middleton Bonner, a late 18th century Englishwoman who was raised by her aunt in England. When she's in her late 20s she moves to Paradise, New York, a small town founded by her father, the local judge. Her father intends her to marry Richard Todd, the local doctor, but she falls for woodsman Nathanial Bonner instead. Nathanial is the son of Hawkeye and Cora (basically like Last of the Mohicans). Hawkeye was raised Mohawk, so Nathanial kind of was, too. His first wife was Mohawk, and they had a daughter, Hannah, before his wife died. Into the Wilderness centers around Elizabeth's marriage to Nathanial, through which they save the Bonner's home, Lake in the Clouds, from Richard Todd's clutches. At the end of that book, the family learns that Hawkeye's birth father was the brother of a Scottish earl. That connection brings the family to Scotland shortly after Elizabeth gives birth to her twins, Daniel and Lily, all of which takes place in Dawn on a Distant Shore. In that book we learn that Nathanial has a son, Luke, that he never knew about from a short relationship he had when he was only about 17 or 18. Luke ends up staying in Scotland with the family there. Lake in the Clouds picks up eight years later, and mostly centers on hijinks that take place in Paradise. Hannah is now 18, and Richard Todd has been mentoring her as a physician. He sends her to Manhattan to study smallpox vaccinations so she can come home to vaccinate the people in Paradise. I hesitate to say more because I don't want to give stuff away.

Fire Along the Sky picks up about ten years after Lake in the Clouds ended. Elizabeth and Nathanial have another son, Gabriel, and the twins are now 18. Lily is desperate to leave Paradise to study art somewhere, but mostly she wants to leave because she's fallen in love with a married farmer in Paradise. Daniel is eager to join the American forces against the British in the War of 1812. Luke has been back from Scotland for a number of years, and he left because he was in love with the earl's daughter, Jennet, who was forced to marry a man she didn't love. (Jennet and Hannah became good friends as girls in Dawn on a Distant Shore. Once Jennet's husband dies, she sets off for Montreal (and Luke), and Luke brings her to Paradise. I forget why. Anyway, Lily goes back to Montreal with her half-brother, and Daniel joins the war. Hannah has returned to Paradise, but she is wrestling with inner demons.

The most enjoyable parts of the book, for me, were about Lily. What I love about Sara Donati is that she's unpredictable; you don't know what is going to happen. Even when it comes to the romances in the series, you don't really know who is going to end up with who. I've been wrong a number of times. I like that she allows her characters to fall in love more than once in their lifetimes, because it feels really realistic, especially when they make mistakes. Lily's love life came as a surprise, but a pleasant one. I really liked it. Also, she's not afraid to let the villains win a few. There is one Paradise woman, Jemima Southern, who causes trouble in Lake in the Clouds and in this book. It's maddening for someone who is used to the good guys always winning, but at the same time, it makes things more believable and more interesting.

Luke and Jennet's relationship is enjoyable, too, but it's less of a focus in the book. Hannah's medical practice is really emphasized, but that's okay, because I like Hannah, even though it is sad to see the change in her from when she was a girl. (She's been through a lot.)

Book Review: Lake in the Clouds

2010-06-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm finally hooked on Sara Donati's Wilderness series. Why? Well, as it turns out, Nathanial and Elizabeth Bonner's offspring are more interesting than their parents.

Lake in the Clouds itself feels a bit like a space-filler book, because there's not a lot of significant action going on. However, I get the feeling that it sets up the rest of the series. This is the first book where Nathanial's half-Mohawk daughter Hannah is an adult. I get the impression that Hannah is going to play a significant role in the rest of the books.

Like I said, there's not a whole lot of action going here, per se. Elizabeth and Nathanial get caught up in operation that helps runaway slaves escape to Canada while Hannah goes to Manhattan to study smallpox inoculation, and then they all return to Paradise where trouble brews. One prominent character is Liam Kirby, a man who was taken in by the Bonner's as a young boy in In the Wilderness but who disappeared while the family was in Scotland during Dawn on a Distant Shore. It was always obvious that there was a special friendship/relationship between Hannah and Liam, and it's obvious in this book that Liam is still in love with Hannah. What I like best about this book is the way that Donati makes the reader uncomfortable. There is some complicated shit going on between Hannah and Liam, stuff that made me mad, but I still can't help but feel that someday it's all going to come full circle. I look forward to reading the other books to find out how this all plays out.

Book Review: Dawn on a Distant Shore

2010-06-16T17:27:00.001-07:00

If anyone pays attention to the "What We Are Reading" box on the right side of this blog, they'd know that it took me a long time to read Dawn on a Distant Shore. Mostly it took me a while because the book starts off kind of slow, and I just kept encountering other books that I would rather read.

I still had mixed feelings about Sara Donati's Wilderness series after reading this book. Like I mentioned in my review of Into the Wilderness, I like Elizabeth and Nathantial Bonner, but there's just something that keeps me from loving them. Even though I do genuinely like Elizabeth's character, there is something off-putting about her. She's just a little too perfect for my liking. But, that could be said of all the Bonners.

But the story in this book was more likeable than I thought it would be based on the book's description. The story does take the Bonners from upstate New York to Scotland, but it doesn't force a separation on Elizabeth and Nathanial like I thought it would. (There is a separation, though.) Actually, I think I ended up liking it better than if the story had been set in Paradise, where most of Into the Wilderness took place.

I say that because I'm currently reading Lake in the Clouds, the next book in the series, and damn if those Paradise people aren't driving me crazy. But in a strange way, that is good, because finally I am having strong reactions to the characters. That was lacking in the first two books.

Book Review: Practice Makes Perfect

2010-06-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

Man, I am super impressed with Julie James. The first book of hers that I read, Something About You, was really good. And I think her previous book Practice Makes Perfect is even better.

One of the things I liked best about Something About You was how the hero and heroine had a history prior to the book's beginning. In other words, their relationship was believable because it didn't feel like something that just developed overnight. The same is true in Practice Makes Perfect. Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson are both eighth-year associates in the litigation group at a big Chicago law firm. Both are up for partner, but because their firm has always been about giving partnership to worthy attorneys, there's really no competition. They both put in a lot of hours, and they both excel in their specialties--his is class action lawsuits and hers is labor law and discrimination suits. Because they work on different kinds of cases, they rarely have to work together. And that's a good thing, because the two of them don't get along. Payton is a vegetarian, feminist liberal, and J.D. is a Harvard-educated, country-club member conservative.

But then their firm gets the chance to land a big corporate class-action gender discrimination lawsuit, and their boss orders them to work together to lure the client in. It is only after Payton and J.D. suck it up to do just that that they learn only one of them will be promoted to partner--all because the firm is worried about age-discrimination lawsuits (because other firms have been sued for forcing older attorneys out to make room for new partners).

Hijinks ensure. Well, not really, because Payton and J.D. are pretty professional, but they do get the occasional petty digs and acts in. And all the forced interaction starts to make them realize what was really the root of all the tension they'd had for eight years.

What I like about James' books is that it's clear she's smart enough to write smart characters. No dumb bimbos for her, no one-dimensional chauvinists. Payton is smart and funny, and J.D. is charming and nuanced. It was just fun to read about them. Sure, the ending was a little predictable because, really, there was only one way it could end. But she did throw in a few things to spice things up. I really enjoyed reading this book. I have only two problems. The first being how depressed this book make me about working in a law firm. We don't really know much of anything about Payton and J.D. outside of their work... and there's a reason for that. Neither of them really have a life outside of their work. Sounds awful. And second, I'm not a fan of the names James uses for her heroines. They all seem really yuppie/preppy to me. In this book it was Payton (obviously). In Something About You it was Cameron. And in her other book Just the Sexiest Man Alive, it's Taylor. I don't have a problem with any of those names individually, but collectively, they just seem too trendy. Throw in a Claire or a Liz or something.

I kind of want to read Just the Sexiest Man Alive on account of how much I've liked James' other two books, but the hero in that book is an actor (who was voted Sexiest Man Alive), and I just never like books where the characters are Hollywood stars. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is always writing about celebrities, and the ones where they are actors/actresses are always my least favorite.

Book Review: Surrender of a Siren

2010-06-10T23:12:00.001-07:00

Well, it's finals week, which of course means that I have been prodigiously reading romance novels. This is what I do people. We all have our avoidance/stress management methods. Some people drink, some people smoke pot. I read romance novels.

And this romance novel was special, because it was the first full-size ebook I read! How exciting! I read the whole thing on my iPhone! I initially resisted this whole ebook phenomena because I really like print books, but I gotta tell you, this is some awesome shit. No going to the bookstore, no searching all over town for a particular book. I can be at home, in my apartment, wearing no pants, and instantly have a book at my disposal. Amazing. (Not so amazing are the ebooks that expect you to pay full (print) prices. Nice try, assholes.)

Anyway, onto the substance of the book. Surrender of a Siren is the "sequel" to Goddess of the Hunt." I put sequel in quotation marks because they are independent stories even though the heroine shows up in both books. At the end of Goddess, Sophia Hathaway had jilted her fiance and ran off to God knows where. Siren picks up with Sophia boarding a ship bound for the West Indies with six hundred pounds of her inheritance strapped to her chest. She books passage on the Aphrodite owned by Mr. Grayson, known as "Gray." Of course, Gray is hunky.

Most of this book takes place on the ship between London and the West Indies. It's a pretty common romance novel scène à faire, and it reminded me of one of my favorite modern romance classics, The Gift by Julie Garwood. Gray and Sophia are attracted to each other, but it takes them a while to act on. Gray is reluctant to take a move because he promised his brother, the ship's captain, that he wouldn't touch her. Turns out, Gray and his brother were privateers during the Napoleonic wars, and now they are attempting to set up a respectable shipping business. The last thing they need is for Gray to seduce a young passenger. Oh yeah, did I mention that Sophia is traveling under an assumed identity? Probably because she conned a bank out of giving her an advance on her inheritance and dumped a man a few weeks before their wedding. She doesn't want to be found.

I just read this book less than a week ago, but I'm having a hard time conjuring up any strong impressions. Maybe that is an impression in itself. I liked this book. Tessa Dare's writing is good enough to keep your interest, and the characters are all likable. Gray was a nice romantic hero. Manly, but also vulnerable, but not an asshole on account of his vulnerabilities. You genuinely believe that he fell for Sophia. Sophia is a fun little character, too, mostly because of the stuff she starts in Goddess that carries over to Siren in part.

At the end things get kind of annoying because no one just TALKS to each other. But that's to be expected because otherwise where would the conflict be? However, I actually kind of believe the obstacles standing in their way. At least I believed that the characters believed them. So, well done.

Book Review: Goddess of the Hunt

2010-06-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare is a fun little book. It is lighthearted without being silly, but it also has a serious side. And best of all, it's just a straight-up romance novel. There's no mystery or whatnot to distract from the story.

The story centers around Lucy Walthram, younger sister to Harry. For eight years, Harry and his three best friends have been spending holidays at Harry's family home. Because Harry and Lucy are orphans with only a senile old aunt to watch after Lucy, Lucy has been following after the men for much of her life. She fancies herself in love with Toby, but everyone knows that Toby will soon become engaged to Sophia, sister-in-law of Felix. Lucy decides that she has to seduce Toby into falling for her, but first she needs to practice on Jeremy, the only other bachelor in the group. And of course, you can guess what happens.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the conflict, which is pretty much centered around Jeremy's past. I love me a tormented hero as much as the next girl, but I didn't completely buy Jeremy's torment here. Parts of it felt contrived, but not so much that I couldn't enjoy the story. Besides, the writing was good enough that I didn't really care about the flaws. Good writing is such a delight to stumble across in a romance novel!

Book Review: Married by Morning

2010-06-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

Le sigh...

It's really not Lisa Kleypas's fault. It was bound to happen eventually. It's like me and country music; I used to love it and listen to it almost exclusively. But after a number of years, listening to a genre that doesn't change or evolve is just bound to get tiring. I'm starting to feel this way about my old bastion of go-to historical romance authors. They're just not cutting it for me anymore.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Married by Morning, but there's nothing particularly right about it, either. This book is the fourth book in Kleypas's Hathaway siblings series, which, full disclosure, I have not enjoyed. I was thinking this book would be different, though, because there is more back story. The hero is Leo, the only Hathaway brother. At the beginning of the series he inherits a title and lands extremely unexpectedly, but he is a total reprobate and has been since he lost his childhood love to scarlet fever. At some point he comes to terms with those demons and starts living a better life.

The heroine is Catharine Marks, paid companion/governess to the youngest two Hathaway sisters. And, as we learn in the third book, half-sister to hotelier Harry Rutledge (who marries Poppy Hathaway). We find out in the third book that Catherine is hiding her true identity, but we don't know why. What we do know is that Leo and Catharine pester each other and bicker a lot. So naturally that means they will eventually fall in love.

And course that's what happens in Married by Morning. Everything is exactly as you would expect. She's got a problem, and he (being the titled, rich male) will fix it for her.

You know what? I take back what I said about it not being Lisa Kleypas's fault. It is her fault, really, for just relying on the tired, standard formula of a damsel in distress. And I am really tired of it. I'm tired of the virginal heroine being rescued (in some way or another) by the hero. I'm tired of the heroine who relies on the hero for her sexual awakening instead of taking charge of it herself. IT'S BEEN DONE.

Now that I think about it, I can understand why there has been an explosion of paranormal, urban fantasy, and even male-male romance novels lately. We are all tired of just reading the same thing again and again.

It doesn't have to be this way, though. A standard genre plot can be done with a compelling emotional story, humor, or excellent writing. Authors like Lisa Kleypas have this ability. Her book Again the Magic is one of my favorites. This is why I am all the more intolerant when good writers get lazy and rely on their name to sell books. As a reader, that is really frustrating.

New Jane Eyre Movie

2010-05-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

I am very intrigued by this new Jane Eyre movie that is supposed to come out next year. So far I like the casting news:

Jamie Bell (a.k.a. Billy Elliot) as St. John Rivers

Seems a little young, but it could definitely work.

Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Reed

I love Sally Hawkins! Have you seen Happy-Go-Lucky? You should; it is an utterly charming film. She is also seems a bit young, but I think it will be great.

Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre

I don't know much about this actress (I didn't see Alice in Wonderland. But from the pictures I've seen of her, I think she's got the look! She's the right age, too.

Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester

As we all know, the casting of Mr. Rochester is the most important part of any Jane Eyre film adaptation. From the looks of this photo, I approve!

Book Review: Wicked Becomes You

2010-05-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

This was the third Meredith Duran book I've heard. I read her first book, Duke of Shadows, after hearing so many gushing reviews. But I wasn't crazy about it. Duran continued to get so much praise that I decided to try again with Written On Your Skin. Again, I just didn't connect. There was something about her writing and her storylines that I found... confusing. I always felt like I was missing something, like there was more there to the story, but for some reason it wasn't getting across to me.

Well, finally, after Wicked Becomes You, I can relate to why Meredith Duran gets so much praise in the romance genre. This book is simply a great genre book. It follows the basic formula, but at the same time, it feels original. And the characters are just plain likable.

The heroine, Gwen, was born to a very wealthy merchant family. Her parents wanted Gwen and her brother Richard to be able to move around in high society, so they essentially farmed out their children to ensure that that occurred. Gwen devoted her life to being the perfect young lady, and finding a titled man to marry and start her own family with. After her parents and brother die, she's left as the heiress to a $3 million pound fortune (in 1890, at that). It would seem that any number of fortune hunters would be all too eager to marry her, except that she's been left at the alter not once, but twice.

Alex, Richard's best friend, always saw through Gwen's act. (Basically he saw that it was an act, even when she didn't.) For that and other reasons, he's long been somewhat attracted to her. But because he works in trade, he's rarely at home. He is home in London to witness Gwen's second jilting, however. And he's there when she proclaims that she's done being the good girl.

The plot doesn't sound all that original, but it works, mostly because it's all believable. Gwen's actions and motivations are particularly believable. And the story moves from London, to Paris, to Monte Carlo, and back to London. Along the way a real relationship develops between Gwen and Alex.

Mostly I liked this book because I liked the characters. They were flawed, but not too flawed. And they are both simply good people. It didn't rock my world, but it did provide a nice day of entertainment. I do believe I will give Duran's other book a try now.

Book Review: Savor The Moment

2010-04-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I finish a book, I can't help but feel that the experience has made me better in some way. Maybe that sounds really cheesy, but it's true. That's one of my favorite things about reading great classic literature: it just leaves you awestruck. I loved the wildness of Wuthering Heights, the subtle, brilliant emotions of Jane Eyre, the intricate story of A Tale of Two Cities, and the straight-up genius wit of Les Liaisons dangereuse. There are modern writers who can move me, too, like in My Sister's Keeper. Avid readers know this. This is why we read.

And then there are some books that, after you read them, you feel like part of your brain has been lobotomized. I give you Nora Roberts' Savor the Moment:

Maybe that sounds harsh, but I think it's justified. I like Nora Roberts, I really do. I've read almost all of her books. I've come to expect a formulaic, predictable story from her, but I'm okay with that. Hell, that's precisely why I read the romance genre in general. What I'm not okay with her trying to sell me shit. And I'm sorry, but that's what she's doing in this Brides Quartet.

I wasn't particularly kind to the last installment in this series, Bed of Roses, but again, I was justified. Emma was effing annoying, and the way that Roberts expected the reader to accept that her behavior was rational and not insulting to all women was insulting to all women. I had hopes that the rest of the books would be better because my biggest problem with Bed of Roses was Emma's perfect life. Laurel, the heroine in Savor the Moment, is not perfect. But does Roberts delve into Laurel's issues in any depth? Does Roberts show us ANYTHING about Laurel outside of her love for the hero, Del? No. Seriously, guys, she doesn't. Laurel apparently has a background that I would have liked to learn about. But I never got that chance.

(I will now segue into a letter to Nora Roberts.)

Come ON, Nora. It's bad enough that you're writing four books about freakin' weddings. As if the wedding industry in this country isn't absolutely ridiculous in the way that they put all the focus on ONE DAY, you give us four women that make their livelihood out of catering to these self-absorbed people.

**SIDE RANT** Not only that, but you present them in a REALLY annoying way. These women never make freakin' mistakes. EVER. They always know exactly how to talk down a bride, or exactly which flowers they'll like, or exactly what cake they'll want. Every. Single. Time. Throw in some screw-ups every once in a while and we'll talk. The worst is Mac, the photographer. This woman sounds like the kind of photographer that makes me hulk out. In the first book she did a pregnancy session where she made the pregnant lady get naked. Anyone who knows me knows I hate those kind of pictures with a passion that will never die. And I'm sorry, Nora, but it sounds like Mac has little to no imagination as a photographer. The bride is a florist? Let's shoot her in a garden! The groom is an English teacher? Let's shoot him with books! The couple met as children and shared a fondness for cookies? Let's shoot them with cookies! Please. I know wedding photographers that do amazing, amazing work and never result to that unimaginative shit.

But your worst transgression is the complete and utter failure to portray these women in a real way. They are obsessed with weddings, and in Savor the Moment particularly, there is nothing to Laurel other than her love of Del. Even when the four friends are together, all they talk about is work or relationships. Oh, yeah, and sex. These bitches NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT SEX. When they have it, they have to make mention of it. When they're not having it, they make mention of the others having it. Seriously, I don't know women like this. Don't they ever talk about important stuff? Current events, the economy, feminism, celebrity gossip, books they've read, etc? Nope. Just men. And weddings. And sex with men. This is an insult to women, Nora.

Look, I get that you've got a theme here. Each woman in this series needs to get a man in each installment of the series. But for the love of God, what is wrong with dating for a while? Emma and Laurel were with their respective men for about two months tops before they're distraught over whether or not the men want to be with them forever. For fuck's sake, what is the rush? And why can't a couple admit that they're in love more than five minutes before a marriage proposal?

As you can tell, I did not like this book. At all. But I will still read the last book, because I'm a masochist. And an optimist. Parker, the last heroine to be paired up, has the potential to be more multi-dimensional than all her friends. She also comes across as truly independent and strong, unlike her man-crazy friends.

But Nora, you've gotta step it up. You're getting lazy, here. Don't think we haven't noticed.

Lindsey's Grade: D

Movie Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2010-04-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

All of you readers out there: how often is it that you go see the movie version of a book you've read (and liked) and leave the theatre thinking, "Wow, that was great?"

I don't know about you, but that is not a common occurrence for me. What is even more rare is enjoying the book better because of the movie. But that is exactly what happened when I walked out of the theatre after seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I had mixed feelings about that book. I like it, liked the story, but I wasn't crazy about the writing. I didn't connect to the characters as much as I would have liked. If you had a similar experience with this book, then you need to see the movie as well. Because there are some things that have to be seen and not read.

There are some pretty intense things that happen in the book, mostly to Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth is a really unique character, but I had problems connecting with her because she seemed like an automatron a lot of the time. As a result, I read these intense scenes with kind of a detached attitude. The movie makes that impossible. Seeing what happens to Lisbeth in such graphic detail really enhanced her character for me.

Also, the movie (it is a Swedish production, so subtitled in the U.S.) does an excellent job of sticking to the book. Sure, there are things that are omitted and changed, but nothing that detracts from the story. And all the important details are still there, I think. Because they got that right, the movie ends up being a wonderful complement to the book. Honestly, I think you need to see the movie to fully appreciate the book.

What pissed me off, though, are the rumors that Hollywood is going to do a version of the story. There is even an imdb entry that has Carey Mulligen rumored to be playing Lisbeth Salander.

No. No, no, no. That is just wrong. WTF, Hollywood? Lainey over at Lainey Gossip put it best. Just leave it alone, Hollywood. The Swedes already did it, and they knocked it out of the park.

Book Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

2010-04-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, Stieg Larsson fans, was anyone else pissed about the ending of this book? I'm sorry, but if I'm going to spend my entire morning finishing a book instead of doing all the homework and writing all the papers I need to, then I expect to get some fucking closure. (Pardon my French.) (Also, didn't you used to be able to wrap text around images on Blogger? What am I doing wrong? I cannot figure this out for the life of me.)

As far as the Millennium books go, I am torn on which one I like better. I don't think I would necessarily say that The Girl Who Played with Fire is a better book, or even a more interesting book. I much preferred the mystery of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But at the same time, I found this book more enjoyable to read.

I gotta tell you, though, I'm a little worried for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest or whatever the heck the third book is called. If it ends as abruptly as this book, I am going to be pissed, because Larsson is dead, that's the last book he wrote, and I need my goddamn closure.

Book Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2010-04-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

There is hardly a literary bandwagon I don't jump on at some point in time. I may not have read Harry Potter until long after ~~Deadly~~ Deathly Hallows was published, but I got there eventually. Same goes for Twilight. So of course I had to jump on the current Millennium trilogy bandwagon, too.

I used that book cover because that is what my copy of the book looked like. I bought my copy in the Amsterdam airport because I'm just THAT cool. Okay, not really. If I were really cool, I would have known that I should have bought the last book in the trilogy because it was just sitting there on the table in the airport shop, available for purchase. Because guess what? The third book is not available in the United States yet. Damn it! I lost my chance.

Oh well. It's not such a bad thing because, to be honest, I'm not nuts about this series. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I didn't guess the ending (which is always nice in a mystery). I'm even reading the second book right now, The Girl Who Played with Fire. But I'm not really having any kind of emotional reaction or attachment to these books or to the characters.

I think part of the problem is the language barrier. My favorite books tend to be ones written by American, British, or Australian authors, mostly because I like to read books in their original language, and I am embarrassingly monolingual. Nevertheless, some books are beautifully, effortlessly translated. Les Liaisons Dangereuse blew me away; I never would have guessed it wasn't originally an English-language book (other than the fact that that author is French, it is entirely set in France, and the characters are all French, of course). But other times translated books come across as dry. Sadly, I'm putting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in this category. In my opinion, it read like a book translated into another language.

But aside from the translation, I think that I'm just not a big fan of the mystery genre. I like characters and character-driven stories. I think that mystery novels are, by their nature, more plot-driven. Even though the two main characters of the Millennium trilogy, Mikel Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, certainly are three-dimensional and interesting, I just feel like thus far in the series it's been more about what they do than who they are. Maybe that will improve as I continue with The Girl Who Played with Fire. I'm slightly optimistic.

Also, did anyone else who read this book feel like it took more than half of the book to really get the story moving? I felt that way.

2010 so far + A poll

2010-04-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hey there! It's Jen! I'm not much of reviewer, so I'm going to keep this short.

Books I've read so far in 2010, and a one word review:

1. Special Topics In Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl GREAT!
2. Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus Eh...
3. The Greatest Disaster Stories Ever Told Terrifying!
4. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood Strangegood
5. The Believers by Zoe Heller Overworked
6. I Drink for a Reason by David Cross Egotistical
7. Speak Up by Cyndi Maxey Informative
8. The Little Book by Seldon Edwards Betterthanithoughtitmightbebasedonthedescription
9. Forever by Pete Hammil Interesting
10. Man or Mango? A Lament by Lucy Ellmann Quirky

Currently reading: Man out of Time by Michael Hogan

Now, the poll: (which I expect at least ONE person to reply to?)
Last year about this time I dove into Les Miserable - so I'm thinking it's time to hit the classics again. I'm debating between two longish ones, and thought I'd get an opinion, if anyone has read them both.

(side note, anytime i delete anything and then start typing again, it's in BOLD. i'm getting sick of changing it.)

Anyway: Option one is Vanity Fair, and option two is The Count of Monte Cristo. The thing is, I've already read the second one, but really really liked it, so I kind of want to read it again. But, should I try something different? Anyone?

Alright. Happy "spring" (she says as it snows outside for the second straight day in APRIL.)

Ta ta!

Book Review: The Monsters of Templeton

2010-03-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'll just come out and say it: The Monsters of Templeton is an enjoyable book, and I recommend it. I found it engaging and easy to stick with from beginning to end. The book is essentially the story of Willie Upton, a young woman who returns home to Templeton, New York, after she has an affair with one of the married professors in her graduate program. While she's home, she learns for the first time that her father is not who she thought he was. Well, she never knew her father, but she had always been told that it was one of three men that her hippie, teenage mother slept with in a San Francisco commune. As it turns out, that was a lie. Her real father is someone from Templeton. While she's biding her time back home, Willie decides to set out and find out who her real father is. All her mother will tell her is that he is a descendant of Marmaduke Temple, the founder of the town.

A little background: Groff is from Cooperstown, and she essentially models Templeton on Cooperstown. I've never read any of James Fennimore Cooper's work, but apparently some of it is set in Templeton? I don't really know, but I think it was very clever of Groff to write about her hometown in this way. Willie and her mother are legitimate descendants of Marmaduke Temple and his son, the famous American author Jacob Franklin Temple (Fennimore Cooper's fictional counterpart, obviously). They're also illegitimate descendants through the slave that Marmaduke fathered a child with. When Willie finds out that her biological father is also an illegitimate descendant of Marmaduke, she understandably wants to find out where that branch of the family tree budded from---if for no other reason than to assure herself that's she's not a complete inbred. So Willie devotes her summer to researching the family history and finding which adulterous ancestor spawned her father's lineage, hoping to work her way down in order to identify her father.

From that point on, the book alternates between historical accounts, diaries, letters, etc, of various Temple ancestors. There are a number of interesting stories that are told along the way. All very entertaining. the only downside was that Willie was very hard for me to relate to, but she was still very likable. I think that is attributable to Groff's skill as a writer. I think I read in the reading guide at the back of the book how Groff wrote Willie thinking of the kind of wild, adventurous girls she always admired from afar. After reading that, I was able to view Willie in a more favorable light. I don't know why, but that made a difference. I guess I could accept Willie's faults easier knowing that Groff wasn't necessarily advocating or condoning her actions, just writing about a character. (Funny how that's hard to do. I think that's what sets me apart from writers. I have a hard time writing about things I don't know or don't like. Again, a testament to Groff's talent.)

Book Review: Something About You

2010-03-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

I first heard about Julie James's Something About You through the "Save the Contemporary" promotion over at Smart Bitches. I kept hearing all sorts of positive reviews so I decided to give it a try. I actually really like contemporary romance novels---when they're done right. And this one was done right. (I don't know how to fix this space...)

The heroine, Cameron, is an Assistant United States Attorney. As a lawyer myself, it is sometimes frustrating to read about characters who are also lawyers because sometimes it is just so poorly done. See Christina Dodd, Trouble in High Heels. However, I think Julie James is a lawyer herself, so she knows what she's doing. And as someone who worked for a federal public defenders office for a year, I can attest that she knows what she's doing with an AUSA.

Hero, Jack, is an FBI agent who used to work with Cameron years ago until she dismissed one of his cases and he bad-mouthed her to the media. His punishment was to be transferred from Chicago to Nebraska for three years. But when he moves back to the Chicago office, the two of them run into each other again.

The way Jack and Cameron's story was set up really worked for me. I like that they have a history together. Too often in romance novels the relationship moves so quickly that it is hard to believe it. By assuring the reader that the characters know each other well from a multi-year professional working relationship, it makes their eventual romance seem genuine and believable.

Also, the action/mystery aspect of this book never overshadowed the romantic relationship; it flawlessly moved it along, however. I've read enough books to know that that is not always easy to do. For all of these reasons, I'm really impressed with Julie James. My biggest complaint about contemporary romance novels is that the heroines are usually not very intelligent. I think that Nora Roberts' success is due in large part to the fact that she knows how to write an intelligent female character. Even though I really like Rachel Gibson's writing, I usually don't like her heroines because we usually hear more about their shopping and clothes habits than their smarts. Cameron is a great balance. I think that's due in large part to Julie James's own education and intelligence. Jack is great, too. A fun book!

Mullet City!

2010-03-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

I would really like to know what Lynsay Sands did to piss off the art department at Avon. Seriously, look at the hairdos on those men. Mullet. City. I wish I could find the inside cover art online, so you could see how much worse it gets. Taming the Highland Bride's inside cover doesn't escape the horror, either.

I don't get it. Is there some kind of historical record that establishes the popularity of the mullet in 13th century Scotland? (Or whatever century these books are set in?)

It's really a shame. I've only read one of Sands' books (Devil of the Highlands), and it was pretty good! Poor lady doesn't deserve the awful cover art.

Book Review: Testimony

2010-02-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors, and I bought Testimony shortly after it was released, but I didn't get aroudn to reading it until now.

Each chapter of this book is written from the perspective of one of the multiple characters. Most chapters are written in first person, some in third person, and there's even one written in second person. Each character is giving their testimony of the events that surrounded a sex scandal at a private secondary academy in Vermont.

The problem with this book centers on the sex scandal. It starts when Mike, the principal, is given a videotape that was filmed in one of the dorm rooms. In the video, a fourteen year-old female student performs oral sex on an eighteen year-old male student, then she has sex with another male student (who is either seventeen or eighteen), while a nineteen year-old males student watches and masterbates. Everyone appears to be drunk.

Yes, it is statutory rape, and that is a crime, but I just had a really hard time accepting the magnitude of this scandal. Shreve describes it as so big and receiving so much media attention that Anderson Cooper and Brian Williams types camp out at the school. One characters recalls that the small town of one thousand doubled in population.

Come on. Even if the scandal was compounded by the school's attempt to keep it quiet, I don't think a reader can reasonably be expected to believe in all this. I went to a private boarding academy, and sexual stuff went on all the time. There were even some crimes committed, and we didn't even get local news attention.

This was disappointing to me, because it really affected my ability to enjoy this book. What I love about Shreve is how much she can convey with her simple style of writing. Body Surfing is an excellent example of this. Also, I just had a hard time connecting with her characters in Testimony. I didn't feel the emotional connection like I did in Light on Snow, for instance. This is not one of her best works, in my opinion. If you've never read Shreve before I would recommend starting with Body Surfing, Light on Snow, Resistance, or Fortune's Rocks.

Book Review: Ravishing In Red

2010-02-13T22:31:00.000-08:00

Oh, yeah, I forgot that I read this book, too. Not bad, but not great, either. The plot is coherent and kinda interesting, so that's a plus. The characters are believable and likable, another plus. But for me, no emotional connection. Bummer. I'm kind of intrigued by the next book in the series though, Provacative In Pearls. (I know, ridiculous titles.)

Book Review: A Reliable Wife

2010-02-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

This book... confuses me. I wish I could take a picture of the back cover so you could see the description and reviews that made me super eager to buy this book. "Thrilling," "suspenseful," "intoxicating," etc, etc, etc.

Seriously? No. (And I'm not alone. The customer reviews at Amazon.com are all over the map. Some love it and some, like me, thought it was pretty bad.)

The description is what sucked me in. Ralph Truitt is a lonely man who places an add for "a reliable wife." The woman who responds, unbeknown to him, plans on killing him and taking his money after they wed.

I'm a sucker for shit like that, what can I say? And in the hands of one of my favorite romance novelists, I think it could have been a damn good story.

But this was not. The writing, my God, the writing. It is praised and praised and praised, but I thought it was not very good. It just felt forced, like the author was trying really hard. A lot of the negative customer reviews at Amazon.com point out that it is repetitive, and YES, it is! And really, this book is ALL about sex.

Ralph is simultaneously obsessed with sex and celibate for twenty years. Maybe that's not so contradictory, but the way Goolrick writes it, it seems that way. We hear all about what a libertine Ralph was as a young man. But we also hear all about how he is convinced that his lust is evil because he uber-religious, crazy mother told him so as a child. Now that I thought made no sense. There's no indication that Ralph believes anything else his mother ever told him, or anything else about religion, yet for some reason he's had this skewed view of sex his whole life. But even though he thinks it's evil and will only hurt people, I wasn't sure how that supposedly affected him. He's promiscuous as a young man, then goes completely celibate after losing his wife. Then when Catherine, his new wife, arrives he is again obsessed with sex. I don't know, it just all felt very disorganized and contradictory to me.

Catherine was certainly more likable, but she was utterly predictable. As was the plot. There were no shocking twists and turns, despite what the reviews say. There were a few things held back from the reader, but they didn't blow my mind when they were revealed.

Let me just give you an example of what I'm talking about as far as the sexual obsession and not-so-good writing goes:

He wanted to slice her open and lie inside the warm blood of her body.

Jesus. What the fuck is that? That shit is straight out of Star Wars.

In the end, I guess I just can't enjoy a book that's essentially about the constant sexual thoughts of a fifty-some year old man. Ick. This book is not very original and not well-written. I'm really, really pissed that I bought this one instead of Roses.

Book Review: Into The Wilderness

2010-02-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

When I first started reading this book, I was really excited. I went to the bookstore in the mood to read an epic romance, and this book pretty much fit the bill. As a bonus, it's loosely based on The Last of the Mohicans, and who doesn't wish they were Cora to Daniel Day-Lewis's Hawkeye? I DO.

Into the Wilderness is the story of Elizabeth Middleton and Nathaniel Bonner. The book is set in late eighteenth century New York state. Elizabeth's father is a judge and landowner in the small town of Paradise. Elizabeth was raised in England by her father's sister, but she and her brother move to America to live with their father when Elizabeth is twenty-nine. She plans on starting a school in the town, but until she arrives she doesn't know that her father plans on her marrying Richard Todd, a wealthy doctor. The judge has worked out a plan that when Elizabeth marries Richard, he'll deed a portion of his land in return for Richard paying off the judge's debts. But Elizabeth isn't too keen on that plan, especially after she meets hunky Nathaniel Bonner.

Nathaniel's father's name is Daniel Bonner, but he goes by Hawkeye. His wife was Cora, and his father is Chingachgook. That's about it as far as The Last of the Mohicans go. But from the physical descriptions of Nathaniel, I think it's safe to say that Sara Donati had Daniel Day-Lewis in mind. Anyhoo, the Bonners and their Mohican family happen to live on the parcel of land that is at issue in the wedding plans. When Elizabeth and Nathaniel develop feelings for each other, they hatch a plan to pull a fast-one on the judge and Richard: Elizabeth will pretend to agree to marry Richard, and thus she'll sign the deed giving her the land. But in the small window between the conveyance and her wedding, she'll elope with Nathaniel. After their marriage, the land will go to her husband.

I'm not giving anything away by telling you that they carry out their plan. And then the book goes on. And on. And on.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I was certainly interested and entertained the entire time I was reading. There is plenty of action moving the plot along. But I was a little disappointed because I never really became attached to Elizabeth and Nathaniel. I cared about them, but their love story didn't move me. Elizabeth comes very close to being too perfect to like. She does have one MAJOR screw-up that I think was well done on Donati's part. (It makes me think she knew readers were going to dislike this lady if she continued being perfect.) But all in all the book is well-written, consistent, and enjoyable. It just didn't capture my emotions. Bummer.

Book Review: The Elusive Bride

2010-02-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Laurens is an auto-buy author for me. I buy her books no matter what they are about. Her books aren't always great or the kind of story that I will remember and re-read, but I pretty much always enjoy the reading experience. There are some romance novelists that seem like lazy writers to me, and I would never put Laurens in that category. Her books may be very similar to each other, but I can usually tell that she has put serious thought into the plot.

So I'm a little disappointed to discover that I didn't really enjoy reading The Elusive Bride. It's a bummer because I was really looking forward to it as it is the second in her Black Cobra quartet and the sequel to The Untamed Bride, which I enjoyed.

Laurens does step outside of her formula a bit in The Elusive Bride, so maybe that's what did it. Instead of being set entirely in England, the books spans the characters' journey from India to England by land and by sea, and thus there was considerable focus on the journey and events along the journey instead of the romantic relationship.

I gave a synopsis of the basic plot of the quartet when I reviewed The Untamed Bride, so I won't repeat it. Suffice to say that the Black Cobra cultists are chasing the heroes of the books because the heroes have something they want. That's fine, I get it, but The Elusive Bride is pretty much nothing but cultists attacking the traveling party again and again and again, always unsuccessfully. Not a single member of the traveling party perishes and only one is ever injured. Boooring.

There were a few deviations from the standard Laurens' formula when it came to the characters, I suppose. Gareth, the hero, came across as a little more vulnerable than her traditional alpha hero. He was not the pursuer, the way Laurens' heroes usually are. That should have worked for me, but I don't think Laurens fully exploited the opportunities she set up there. Something about it just didn't feel right. I think it might have been that the reader didn't know enough about Gareth to really connect with or understand him. The heroine, Emily, was very likable, I thought. And the reader got to know her well. But again, something was missing, and I think it was genuine conflict.

This is a romance novel, as such, standard genre elements should be followed (I think.) The conflict in this book was all about the traveling party being attacked by cultists. Any conflict between Gareth and Emily felt forced or contrived. Definitely not genuine. Also, Laurens kind of deviated from her usual sex scenes, too. They seemed much shorter than usual. That's not necessarily a bad thing (as she tends to overdo it in that department), but it just made it feel even less like a Laurens' book.

Finally, after reading The Untamed Bride, my sister complained about the misleading title. The same thing happens here! Emily is the pursuer in the romance, no question about it. The whole relationship aspect is predicated on her determination to discover if Gareth is "The One" for her and then convincing him that she is "The One" for him. Not exactly my definition of "elusive."

Some Thoughts On Series and Sequels

2010-02-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago I found myself wanting to read a book but not just any book. I wanted to read an epic or adventure story. One that spans time, geography, etc. And of course, one that features some kind of love story.

It was kind of a weird urge to suddenly have such a specific desire for a book, but I had just finished re-reading Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and that book is kind of epic. I freakin' love it, and wanted something similar.

The problem is, those kinds of books are hard to find in the romance section of a book store. Historical romances these days tend to be pretty limited to the courtship stage, and they're usually all set in England, where the characters stay. Besides, it's been a while since I read a genre romance that I really enjoyed. So when I went down to my local Barnes & Nobles looking for something, I just walked around the Fiction & Literature section until something caught my eye. I ended up with Sara Donati's In the Wilderness, which was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Yay!

Now, I'm still reading the book so I will review it later, but since starting it I've discovered that there are at least five other books in this "series." And for some reason, that bothers me a little bit.

I'm not sure how to explain it exactly, but sometimes the knowledge that the story is going to go on and on is kind of . . . disappointing. Sometimes it's better to introduce a reader to the characters and then end the story somewhere, after which the reader's imagination can take over. The more an author tells us about them after the initial happily ever after, the more likely it is that the author will take the characters somewhere I don't want to go.

Does that make sense? It's almost like a soap opera in some ways. The best example I can think of comes from Days of Our Lives. I used to watch that show a lot. And for years one of the big stories was Austin and Carrie. Austin and Carrie loved each other, but Carrie's sister Sami tricked Austin into bed and got pregnant. After that, Carrie had to watch the man she loved with her sister, and Austin was stuck with a woman he didn't love. This went on and on, and viewers like me just wanted Austin and Carrie to get together, until finally it was revealed that Austin's brother Lucas was the real father of Sami's baby. Sami was a rotten liar, and Austin and Carrie could finally get together. But it's a soap opera, so happily ever afters aren't allowed. Conflict is interesting, so no long after Austin and Carrie's love story was finally realized, Carrie leaves Austin for Mike Horton. WTF?

The same goes with books. If an author is going to continue his/her characters' story into another book, then he/she is going to have to put some conflict in there in order to make it worth the read. But then that just makes the previous books' happily-ever-after feel . . . ruined, to some extent. See Meg Cabot, Queen of Babble in the Big City. I just feel like the more details you add to the sequel, the more you take away from the original reading experience.

This is one reason why I think many epilogues in romance novels are limited to showing how the hero and heroine have gotten married and had children. There was a very legitimate commentary on Smart Bitches about how happily-ever-afters in romance novels are often conditional on having children (looked for the post but couldn't find it to link to), but in some ways, that's not such a bad way for an author to go. It shows the reader that the characters' lives are evolving, but it is generic enough that it doesn't restrain imagination.

For me, it just comes down to less being more. When I finish this story about Elizabeth and Nathaniel, I'd like to believe that they are able to live out their lives happily. But from what I've read of the next book, it sounds like there's a whole lot more hardships for them to go through. Ugh.

Finally, I will just add that I think this is in part what is being my disgust of Pride and Prejudice sequels. I'd like to leave Darcy and Elizabeth's life together to my imagination, thanks. I don't want anyone writing about how it turns out he's a vampire or whatever. That just takes away from the original. And, it's dumb. (Don't even get me started on this shit. If ever there was a need for perpetual moral rights in artistic works, THIS IS IT.)

My Year in Books 2009

2010-01-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

I'm stealing the idea of posting all the books I read in 2009 from Jen. By my count, I made it to fifty-two, so one book per week! I would feel a lot better about that if the majority of them weren't easy-to-read romance novels...

1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
4. Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
5. Les Liasions Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
6. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
7. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters
8. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
9. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
10. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
11. Run by Ann Patchett
12. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
13. Mistress of the Monarchy by Alison Weir
14. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham-Smith
15. The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti
16. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
17. The Trial of Queen Caroline by Jane Robbins
18. Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change by Stephen Kinzer
19. The Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne
20. Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
21. Let It Be Love by Victoria Alexander
22. A Visit From Sir Nicholas by Victoria Alexander
23. Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
24. Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
25. Indiscreet by Caroline Jewel
26. Scottish Brides Anthology
27. Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress by Elizabeth Boyle
28. Confessions of a Little Black Gown by Elizabeth Boyle
29. The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens
30. Mastered By Love by Stephanie Laurens
31. Temptation and Surrender by Stephanie Laurens
32. First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh
33. Then Comes Seduction by Mary Balogh
34. At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh
35. Seducing An Angel by Mary Balogh
36. A Precious Jewel by Mary Balogh
37. Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
38. Vision In White by Nora Roberts
39. Black Hills by Nora Roberts
40. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
41. What Happens In London by Julia Quinn
42. To Beguile A Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt
43. To Desire A Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt
44. True Love and Other Diasters by Rachel Gibson
45. Written On Your Skin by Meredith Duran
46. This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James
47. A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
48. By Love Undone by Suzanne Enoch
49. Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch
50. Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell
51. Death Angel by Linda Howard
52. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

Random Romance Reviews

2010-01-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd write a quick blog to review the books I read over the Christmas holiday. First up: Believe by Victoria Alexander. Now, Alexander is a writer I enjoy. I am almost always pleasantly surprised after I read one of her books. So even though Believe is a re-issue, her name alone was a selling point for me. Another selling poing was the cover.

Come on, is that or is that not a holiday-themed cover? I bought this book because I wanted to read a Christmas story. BUT THEY TRICKED ME! This was a freakin' time travel book. I hate time travel! The only Christmas stuff that was involved was that it was Christmas time when the heroine travel back to King Arthur's court. Yeah, that's right. And who is the hero, you ask? Galahad.

I got about halfway through this book before I quit. The heroine's use of modern language and Galahad's acceptance of it was too much, but also I was just bored. Time travel is dumb, authors. Stop using it!

Next up, A Precious Jewel by Mary Balogh. This is another re-issue by an author I like. There's nothing wrong with this book, per se, but it didn't appeal to me. The heroine is a prositite who becomes the mistress of her favorite client, the hero. Strangely, the fact that the heroine was a prositite didn't bother me much at all, but the fact that the hero was not very smart did bother me.

I guess I'm just really stuck in romance novel cliches, or maybe I'm just enforcing my own view of what is attractive onto the story, but I like the uber-capable manly hero. For instance, in one scene the hero is struggling to keep his estate books, and when the heroine looks over his shoulder, it takes her about five minutes to figure it out. It takes the hero two hours, though.

There's nothing wrong with that, really, but I guess I just didn't think that there was a whole lot else about the hero that made up for that. The heroine disagreed and saw beyond his weaknesses, but she's a better person than I am, I suppose.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is another favorite author. Her books always seem so effortless written. But I do have one complaint: she really seems to like writing about famous people. Think about it! Pro football players/owners/agents, pro golfers, computer moguls, first ladies, and actors.

That last group is my least favorite. I know actors are real people with feelings and problems, etc, but I just can't relate to these characters. I especially dislike it when she writes about child actors grown up, people that have always been famous. That is who What I Did For Love is about. The heroine and hero are both actors. In fact, they rose to fame as teenagers when they started in a hit sitcom together. It ran for eight seasons until the hero's bad-boy behavior brought the show to an end. Georgie, the heroine, grew up to marry an action star, but he left her a year later for a glamorous do-gooder actress.

Yes, it is a blatant rip-off of Brangelina. The similarities were impossible to miss, and I found myself getting annoyed at how pitiful Georgie was portrayed. The last thing Jennifer Aniston needs is someone writing a romance novel based off her life that portrays her as a insecure, baby-hungry lady. (Even though in this book, the Brangelina couple does not come off well.)

Anyhoo, Georgie is so sick of being pitied in the tabloids that when she accidentally marries her former co-star in Vegas (after they're both roofied) she begs him to remain married to her for the good press.

And you can guess what happens next. Again, there was nothing wrong with this book, and I found it really entertaining to read, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about the problems these famous beautiful people have. Everyone has problems. I don't like it how romance authors try to endear famous characters to us by showing up how fucked up their lives are. It never really works out, though, because the authors can't make them too messed up, otherwise they're unlikeable. But to me, they're unlikeable merely because they're so privileged (and don't seem to acknowledge it).

Thoughts on Re-reading

2010-01-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

I am not really a re-reader of books. Well, let me add a caveat to that. I am not really a re-reader of non-romance novels. I can re-read my favorite romance novels again and again and again. I probably read my favorite romance novel, Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss, once a year. Stephanie Laurens and Julie Garwood are two more authors I like to re-read.

But for some reason I never seem to pick up my other favorites more than once. I got to thinking about this recently when I watched the film adaptation of A.S. Byatt's Possession, my favorite contemporary work. I read that book at least eight years ago and haven't read it since.

This made me think about why I read the books I read and why they become my favorites. Stephanie Laurens and Julie Garwood write fun stories that I like to revist, just like I like to re-watch fun movies like Bring It On and Anchorman. Books like Possession appeal to me for different reasons.

I have always been an avid reader, but for most of my life I was a very one dimentional reader. Growing up I read Sweet Valley High, etc., and then I moved into romance novels and read those almost exclusively.

But something changed when I read Possession. Even though it's been years, I can still remember how awed I was by the writing. Not just the plot or the characters, but the actual writing of the book. I think that was the first time that I became consciously aware of good writing.

And for some reason, I don't have much of a desire to revisit those kinds of books. It's like Brokeback Mountain; I loved that movie, but I just don't want to see it again. In both cases, my first exposure provoked a strong emotional reaction. I wonder if maybe I don't re-read or re-watch because I'm afraid of diluting that memory in some way. Does that make sense?

I thought I'd write one this because lately I've been thinking that I do need to re-read some works that I haven't read in years. For instance, I watch the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice so much that I was turned off by coldness and arrogance of Darcy and Elizabeth in the BBC version. It made me realize that I need to re-read the book in order to accurately remember what it's about. Maybe I should made a resolution to re-read all of my favorite books that were adapted as films in order to keep the purity of the book in mind. I guess I'll have to add The Power of One, Atonement, Wuthering Heights, and Cold Mountain to that list.

Book Review: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

2009-12-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

At last, I have finished Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Now I have read a book by each of the Bronte's sisters. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with me, but I think that Anne Bronte is the lesser known sister for a reason.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall begins with the narration of Gilbert Markham, a young farmer from a small English village. When a young widow and her son move to the village, she and Gilbert clash a bit because she is very solitary and protective of her son. But Gilbert is rather persistent, and eventually friendship and more develops between them. But the widow, Helen, resists any romantic relationship and, amid rumors that she is her landlord's mistress, she tells Gilbert her story.

Helen married when she was very young to a handsome and charming man who soon proved to be a reprobate. Much of the book is about her miserable married life to Arthur Huntingdon. I did feel for Helen, and I think that given the time the book was written in, the subject matter of a disastous marriage was pretty scandalous. But I didn't find it all that compelling of a story.

But the book did have its moments. There is one character, Walter Hargrave, who I found to be one of the most dispicable characters I've read about in a long time. He is a friend of Helen's husband, Huntingdon, but he repeatedly tries to win Helen's heart. He makes sure to take every opportunity to point out every bad thing that Huntingdon does wrong, how awful he is, as if that will induce Helen to throw aside her own morals. I'm not describing this very well, but he's gross. So gross. Helen rejects him at every turn, but he won't leave her alone, no matter how clear she makes it that she wants nothing to do with him other than a polite friendship.

Hargrave's behavior is part of the reason why I didn't really like Gilbert, because he kind of does the same thing. He continues to pursue Helen even after she makes it clear she's not interested in a relationship. And even after he finds out that she's still married, he uses Hargrave's logic that Huntingdon's adultry releases her from her duty of fidelity. I couldn't understand why Helen responded to Gilbert's attention, but I suppose he does have redeeming qualities. He's a good man (even though he is at times prone to jealous rage!) and he doesn't drink and whore around like Huntingdon and his friends did.

But Gilbert and Helen were both a little bland. I think that is one reason why the novels by Anne's sisters are more famous. There's just more going on with the characters and with the plots that makes them interesting and memorable. I mean, I'm glad that Helen gets to have her happy, pious life eventually, but it's boring.

Book Notes

2009-12-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to make my way through The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but it is tough! I've got a lot on my plate between now and Christmas break, but not only that, so far the book is kinda boring. I'm judging you by your sisters, Anne Bronte! I need something alone the lines of a secret, crazy, Creole wife or at the very least some head-banging-against-a-tree-in-agony. So far this Gilbert dude is about as appealing as a dog shit casserole. I actually liked Helen until she started to return his feelings.

In other Bronte news, I finished watching the newest film adaptation of Jane Eyre, and it's HAWT. Me likes. I don't care if you sexy up my classic literature, that's A-okay with me! Like Colin Firth's pond scene in Pride and Prejudice or Matthew Macfadyen's cavat-less early morning walk to the Bennett residence in the later version. The sexier the better! I got more upset over Mr. Rochester not losing his hand. WTF? That's his penance to be paid for trying to incriminate Jane in his bigamy plot!

Finally, we read a case in my law school class today that involved the Hindenburg explosion. I'm sure most people who think of the Hindenburg think of that reporter guy who squawked on and on, "Oh the humanity!" Me? I thought of Julia Marks Wakefield.

Julia Marks Wakefield? You ask, Who the heck is that?

Only Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's great-grandmother who tragically perished in the Hindenburg diaster, leaving her husband and young son behind! Come on, you don't remember that from Sweet Valley Saga: The Wakefield Legacy? Then perhaps this will refresh your memory! (Finding that website pretty much made me week. Scroll down to the inside cover picture and you'll see what I mean about the Hindenburg.)

Man, I want to get my hands on one of those books so bad. I wonder how they would seem to me now. Fifteen or so years ago I couldn't get enough of them! (Obviously, as I still remember the plot.)

Book Review: Rebecca

2009-11-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have mixed feelings about Rebecca. It was certainly entertaining, but there were so many frustrating things about it, too. But then, I'm pretty sure that I was supposed to find those things frustrating. I guess I can sum it up by saying that du Maurier certainly knows how to evoke certain emotions from her readers.

For those who are not familiar with Rebecca, it is the story of the second Mrs. de Winter. (The reader never knows her first name.) She is young, shy, and gauche when she marries Maxim de Winter, a man old enough to be her father, after a whirlwind "romance" in Monte Carlo where they met on vacation.

Things are going well until the newlyweds return to Manderley, Maxim's family home in Cornwall, England. Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, drowned in a boating accident ten months prior to the second marriage, and the staff there are constantly telling the new wife "Mrs. de Winter did it this way," "Mrs. de Winter did it that way," etc. It's pretty rude that these servants keep reminding the new wife that she is taking someone else's place. The housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, is particularly bad, and she takes an immediate dislike to the new wife.

You want to just scream at the new wife to grow a spine and put these rude servants in their place, but she doesn't do it. It is understandable why she doesn't—she's practically fresh out of the schoolroom, and she has no experience managing a household, etc. She needs to rely on the servants to tell her how to get stuff done, but all they can do is bring up her husband's dead wife. And it's not just the servants. Maxim's sister, his grandmother, and others are constantly bringing up Rebecca.

To make matters worse, Rebecca was everything the new wife is not. Beautiful, witty, outgoing, etc. So it's not surprising that the new wife develops a crippling complex. She worries constantly that people will gossip about her and her marriage. And she eventually becomes convinced that Maxim will never love her the way he loved Rebecca.

My annoyance with the new wife was hard to overcome at times, but I think that is an integral part of the story. You really, really want her to stand up for herself, and even she wants to stand up for herself, but she's so terrified of making a false move that she just plays it safe. I thought it was a very realistic portrayal, as unappealing as it was.

There is an air of mystery to the book, too, but I can't really discuss it without giving too much away. So warning: SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP! (For those of you who are not going to continue reading, just trust me that the story is a very fun read.)

[Oh my goodness, can I just say that it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out how to do this "read more" thing? Because it did.]

Anyway, as it turns out, Maxim is not heartbroken over his first wife. In fact, she didn't drown after all: HE MURDERED HER! He murdered her because she was an awful woman, a master manipulator that he just couldn't live with anymore, especially after she told him she was pregnant with her lover's child and that child would one day inherit Manderley. So he shoots her, locks her body in the cabin of her small sailboat, and capsizes the boat in the cove by Manderley. It's not until after his second marriage that the sailboat and body are discovered by a diver who is looking for hull damage in a ship that ran aground in the cove. It is quite campy fun.

But there are some real head-to-desk moments. For instance, after Maxim confesses to his new wife that he shot Rebecca, all his wife can think is "Thank goodness he doesn't love her! He loves me!"

Really?! That's what comes to mind? Not "oh my God, I've married/slept with A MURDERER?" And he didn't just kill anyone, HE KILLED HIS WIFE! It is some crazy shit. But on the positive side, the new wife finally finds her backbone after she learns this.

Also, I have to admit that it's hard to despise Maxim despite the fact that he's a killer. He lies shortly after Rebecca's death by falsely identifying a body that washed ashore as hers. But after Rebecca's actually body is discovered, he keeps the lying to a minimum. He just doesn't admit anything. And he doesn't impede the investigation at all; in fact, he actively cooperates and is willing to accept the consequences should the truth be learned. So I respect him for that. Also, he was quite tortured by what he'd done. His torment is what kept him emotionally distant from his new wife, so after he confessed their relationship strengthened. (Inexplicably. BECAUSE HE'S STILL A MURDERER.)

Status Update

2009-11-22T00:54:00.000-08:00

Oh my God, ya'll. This book Rebecca just got CRAZY! Crazy good!

Book Reviews: Romance Novels

2009-11-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

So now all the smugness I felt about reading Jane Eyre has faded as I reveal that I read four romance novels in between reading the classic. Hey man, it’s midterm time. I have a history of this.

To Desire A Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt
I was pretty disappointed by this book. The hero returns from the dead (actually he just returns from North America where he’d been held captive by Indians for the past seven years but believed dead by those back home) and asserts his right to his family title, which had passed to the heroine’s uncle.

The romance in this was too much too fast. This guy was held captive for seven years and, at some point, tortured. And although he has some mental health issues from the ordeal, they didn’t really seem too bad. He was ready to jump into bed and into love with the heroine. It just felt like a ruse to me. If an author is going to make the readers anticipate a book (this is the final in a four-part series) because of the whole back-from-the-dead ploy, then she’d better be genuine about how she’s going to resolve it. Any real person that went through what the hero went through would be pretty fucked up in the head, and a pretty little Englishwoman would not be a panacea.

This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James
I quit reading Eloisa James after the first book in this six-part series, Desperate Duchesses. I intensely disliked that book. But after a few years I caved and read her again. Overall I liked this book even though I totally called the ending about a quarter of the way through. I like the hero and heroine, who are a married couple trying to reconcile after a nine year estrangement. (He’s a duke and needs an heir, hence the reconciliation.)

What I didn’t like was what took the couple so freakin’ long! She loves him, he appears to love her, they have open communication, but for at least half the book they’re just circling around each other. It felt forced to me.

A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
I liked this one better than its predecessor. It was a pretty standard romance. I don’t recall there being anything that really jumped out at me, good or bad. Oh yeah, except the fact that the hero was a blockhead about a certain matter. The hero has been a fixture in all six books in the series, and even though I’ve only read two of the previous books, it just seemed like his thought processes in this one did not match the man he appeared to be in the earlier books. That felt forced, too.

By Love Undone by Suzanne Enoch
I thought this was a cute little book. I really believed the affection between the hero and heroine, and I believed the conflict that posed a barrier to their happiness. It’s not an earth shattering piece of literature, but it was good enough for me.

I'm back! With 3 books!

2009-11-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm back, and with a vengeance. Though I've made my way through 33 books this year so far, (yes, I kept track!), I have to start somewhere, and I'm not going to start at the beginning. Instead, I'll start with the 3 books I've read this week.

1. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
This book was by far the best of the 3 I read this week. This is the first Jonathan Lethem book I've read - much to the dismay of one his biggest fans, my lovely husband Aaron. He's been trying to get me to read one of his books for about 5 years. I actually started this book before, but sort of lost interest and abandoned it. But I'm glad I came back.

This is a detective story at heart, but it has much more than a typical who-done-it story line. What made this book so compelling was that the "detective" suffers from Tourette's syndrome, and he is just such an interesting and funny character to follow. Lionel Essrog & several other boys, all orphans, were enlisted by Frank Minna to do various & mysterious jobs around town. They grew up doing this work, and eventually became Minna Men - employed by Minna, but kept in the dark about a lot of his dealings. Minna is killed early on, and Lionel spends the rest of the book discovering his secrets, and tracking down his killer.

The characters are truly compelling, and I think there's a pretty good pay-off in the end without all the plot-twisting cover up look this way while the mystery is that way that you typically find in a mystery story. I am looking forward to reading more of Lethem's books, and I highly recommend this as a great place to start.

2. Envy by Anna Godbersen.
This is the 3rd in a series that I borrowed from Lindsey. I think she's reviewed these before, so I'll keep it short. Basically this is Gossip Girl in the early 1900's. Silly & predictable "scandal". But still somehow enjoyable. I get a kick out of thinking that this was right around the time my great grandma was born. Although, I'm sure "out west" was a very different place than New York in this era, so she probably didn't live anywhere near as scandalous a life. Bummer.

If you feel like a silly fun read that you can finish in a couple of hours, go for it. And don't let your husband's scoffs at the type of books you read deter you.

3. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.
Like the book above, this is a pretty mindless read. And another one I was made fun of for reading. But oh well. I read it anyway.
This follows pretty much exactly the same path of the last 2 Dan Brown books. Robert Langdon finds himself plucked out of his everyday life and "surprise!" he has precious few hours to reveal a mystery hidden for the last xxx years by the xxx group to save xxx's life. Will he do it! Can he survive!

I usually like Dan Brown's books until the endings, which are all just sort of... there. It's usually a bunch of scandal and surprise at some group being misunderstood and a big reveal as to who the bad guy really is, and this book was just the same.

The story itself was less compelling than The DaVinci code, but that might be because it wasn't set in Europe, which is always more interesting to me. I think that this book is a good fast paced read, which is at times suspensful (predictable or not). I always like puzzles and codes, and the like.

What I find most annoying about Brown's books, though, is the way he uses Langdon to spew his own obnoxious pretentiousness. (is that a word?) Langdon always points out these words that have alternate meanings or clever origins, whatever. I think Brown uses Langdon, though, to try and sound smart & well researched as an author, and that bugs me.

Anyway... Is it worth the read? Maybe. Fast paced mindlessness doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you, you probably already know not to read a Dan Brown book, and you don't need me to tell you that.

So there you have it! My week in books so far. I forgot how terrible I am at reviewing books, but oh well! Who cares! I'll be back with more mindlessness at a later date. ta ta.

Book Review: Jane Eyre

2009-11-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

Hooray! I finished Jane Eyre about a decade after I first tried to read it! I don't know about you, but I always feel such smug satisfaction after reading a work of classic literature. I can feel my snobbery increase.

And alas, I must confess that I actually enjoyed Jane Eyre quite a bit. Ten years ago I found the title character to be boring, but I think I quit reading too early. She didn't really win my respect until after Rochester proposes. There were certainly signs of her feisty independence prior to that point, but I was unconvinced. Then she really turned it on:

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you.

Poor Jane! You give it to that big, rich oaf you're sure is cruelly teasing you! And what do you know, little Jane Eyre turned out to be quite the budding feminist:

"Oh comply!” [the inner voice] said. “Think of his misery, think of his danger, look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature, consider the recklessness following on despair; soothe him, save him, love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?

Still indomitable was the reply. “I care for myself.

Love it. You've got to love Jane, if for no other reason, because she really knows how to stick to her guns. She is not immune to emotion and temptation, but she is a strong enough woman to make her own choices.

After reading Jane Eyre, I feel I am now well-versed in the great romantic literary heroes from the first half of the nineteenth century: Darcy, Heathcliff, and Rochester. (Was Pride and Prejudice written before 1800? Well, let's pretend here that it wasn't.) It seems like I read somewhere that Rochester was voted the most romantic literary hero. I guess I can see that. He's more passionate than Darcy, but less crazy than Heathcliff. Not a bad combo.

Like Jane, Rochester also had to grow on me as the novel progressed. It was very well done of Bronte, I must say. I loved this little description that really seemed up sum up Rochester's feelings towards Jane:

Mr. Rochester had sometimes read my unspoken thoughts with an acumen to me incomprehensible; in the present instance he took no notice of my abrupt vocal response, but smiled at me with a certain smile he had of his own, and which he used but on rare occasions. He seemed to think it too good for common purposes; it was the real sunshine of feeling—he shed it over me now.

It's so romantic! He gives her his special smile! Sure, Rochester has some MAY-JA flaws, but as with Heathcliff, I'm willing to forgive them because I know his history. And poor Rochester! Married to a crazy lady for four years before he finally decides that he deserves to have a life of his own. But he can't escape her, and Thornfield becomes tainted with her presence:

The glamour of inexperience is over your eyes,” he answered; “and you see it through a charmed medium; you cannot discern that the gilding is slime and the silk draperies cobwebs; that the marble is sordid slate, and the polished woods mere refuse chips and scaly bark.

It is so tempting to hate Rochester for what he does to both Bertha and Jane. But I found that I couldn't hate him. In fact, the way he treats his mad wife is actually kind of endearing (once you remind yourself that mental health professionals at that time probably couldn't have done anything more for Bertha):

I could have lodged her safety enough, had not a scruple about the unhealthiness of the situation, in the heart of a wood, made my conscience recoil from the arrangement. Probable those damp walls would soon have eased me of her charge; but to each villain his own vice; and mine is not a tendency to indirect assassination, even of what I most hate.

My favorite passage in the book occurs after Jane and Rochester's wedding is thwarted, when he confesses to her in private. He pours out his heart to her describing the misery he's lived with and the hope that Jane brought into his life. It's so well done that you can easily forgive him for wanting to marry Jane despite the fact that his wife was still alive. He loves Jane so much!

Contrast that with the proposal Jane gets from St. John Rivers. Charlotte Bronte, I bow down to you. If the reader was unconvinced about Rochester's love for Jane, then this sealed the deal. When St. John bumbles his proposal so massively, you start to see how accurately Rochester saw Jane. Unlike St. John, Rochester looked past the exterior to the real person within, and that is who he loved. I was indisputably on Team Rochester at that point. When he said the following to Jane, telling her that he would continue to love her even if she went mad like Bertha, I audibly sighed:

Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken it would be my treasure still . . . . In your quiet moments you should have no watcher and no nurse but me; and I could hang over you with untiring tenderness, though you gave me no smile in return; and never weary of gazing into your eyes, thought they no longer had a ray of recognition for me.

Is that not the sweetest thing ever? And how ironic that Rochester is so willing to be Jane's nurse, but after he is blinded and maimed he doubts that she would want him in his state.

As far as the writing goes, I think Jane Eyre beats Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. It is so beautiful and vivid. But as far as the love story goes, I say it comes in third. I don't know; I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't fall in love with it.

BTW, I added the film version to Netflix queue, the one starring the actors in the picture I chose. Is it just me, or are both of them a wee too attractive to be Jane and Rochester? I mean, considering that the book hits us over the head again and again with the fact that they're both ugly? I don't care, I still want to see it. I'll just tell myself that what was ugly back then is seksi now. Kind of like when people used to tell me that I would have been the epitome of beauty two hundred years ago because I'm plump and pale. Gee thanks, that really helps me now in the twenty-first century.

(I really have to get this shirt now.)

Literacy Characters You'd Sleep With?

2009-11-13T23:34:00.001-08:00

Some website has compiled a list of 15 Literacy Characters We'd Totally Sleep With. (The list is apparently compiled by women or gay men, because they are all male.) It made me wonder, who are the literary characters you'd sleep with?

I'm trying to think of others who would be on my list. I'm thinking Sidney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities. I don't know what it was about him—certainly not his chronic depression—but I liked him a lot. It must have been that whole redeeming-himself-at-the-end thing.

I read so many romance novels, which are pretty much written around male characters women would want to sleep with, so I'm having trouble limiting it down to specific characters. Ha.

Anyone else want to chime in?

The Twilight Craze Hits Classic Literature

2009-11-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

The other day I was browsing through Barnes and Noble when I happened to stop by a display of books with Twilight-inspired book covers. Figuring that someone had decided to capitalize on the Twilight craze, I looked closer and, lo and behold, the books were Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and Romeo and Juliet. Ah, public domain. Sometimes you're not so great.

Now, I have to admit that I think the Twilight series cover art is quite good. It's simple, but at the same time all a person has to do is see a book cover with an image against a black background to conjure up a Twilight association. (For example, this is the Wuthering Heights cover that tipped me off.) So well done on that account.

But something about this doesn't sit well with me. I googled this phenomenon yesterday, and many people have already chimed in, so I'm not going to repeat a lot of what I've heard. I just thought I'd share my own reaction.

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting turned onto classics through pop culture references. Heck, that's how I learn about most classics. I saw Clueless before I'd ever heard of Emma. I was first introduced to Kate and Bianca through 10 Things I Hate About You. And I enjoy performances of Twelfth Night because I think She's The Man is one of the greatest films ever made.

But those are modern retellings of classic stories--an obvious homage. Wuthering Heights is just a reference in the Twilight series.

If you look closely at the book cover in the link above, you'll see that it advertises Wuthering Heights as "Bella and Edward's Favorite Book." That's going a little too far. That's turning Wuthering Heights into an homage to Twilight, and that's just wrong. Furthermore, I can't imagine that Stephenie Meyer would ever want anyone to think that she's comparing herself to Emily Brönte.

But ultimately I'm uncomfortable with all this because I think it's rather patronizing to the young (and not so young) readers of Twilight. Slap a similar cover on and they'll suddenly want to read it? First of all, the girls reading Twilight are readers, clearly. So they've probably heard of Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and Romeo and Juliet. If they haven't read them yet, they probably won't be moved to read them by fancy new covers. They know what they are--classics written in centuries-old, sometimes difficult to understand language. Heck, there's a reason they're reading Twilight and not Moby Dick. Similarly, even if Twilight did inspire in them a desire to read Wuthering Heights, Twilight has been out for years now. They have probably picked it up on their own already.

I know I just wasted a lot of energy critiquing the advertising world, because the whole point of its existence is to try to manipulate consumers, but it still pisses me off because I do not fall for that shit. I roll my eyes and groan every time I see some Austen sequel/tribute in the bookstore. Classic literature is, in my opinion, sacred. It shouldn't be used as a gimmick to get us to buy some modern crap. It's even worse in a case like this, where the author of the new work has not brought this upon her/him, but instead some idiot marketing person dreamed it up.

Book Review: Supreme Courtship

2009-11-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

I picked this book up from a display at Barnes and Noble and after reading the summary on the back cover, I was hooked.

This is really all you need to know to grasp how fun the plot of this book is:

The President of the United States has dismal approval ratings. He vetoes every spending bill that comes across his desk. Congress has drafted a constitutional amendment limiting presidents to a single term; they hate him that much (even though he's a good guy). When a Supreme Court justice goes bonkers and is forced to retire, the President nominates two eminently qualified judges.

Both are destroyed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by a Senator who wanted (and even asked for!) the nomination himself.

Fed up, the President says "what the hell" and nominates Pepper Cartwright, TV judge along the lines of Judge Judy, to the United States Supreme Court.

I know, right? 'Nuf said. I bought it.

But it gets even better. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court cast the deciding vote in a case that legalized gay marriage across the United States. A few days later, his wife left him for another woman.

Now you know where the "courtship" in Supreme Courtship comes in.

This was a fun and funny book that I read in less than a day. It's a not-so-subtle satire, which was nice because it meant that I got the satire (unlike in On Beauty). I recommend!

Lindsey's Grade: A-

Book Review: Bed of Roses

2009-11-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

For me, reading a Nora Roberts book is usually like watching a romantic comedy. I know I’m going to like it, because it follows a specific formula, but I’m probably not going to love it, because it follows a specific formula. And usually, that’s okay with me. I know what I’m getting into.

It’s even easier to tell what you’re getting into with Nora Roberts books because she often writes in trilogies. In this case, it is a quartet based on four friends who run a wedding coordinator (and more) business. First of all, let me just say that I find it highly suspect that childhood friends would each grow up to excel at their own distinct interests that just so happen to be exactly what you would need for a wedding. For instance, Mac is a fantastic photographer, Emma is a fantastic florist, Laurel is a fantastic cake designer, and Parker is a fantastic organizer/planner whose family estate is the perfect wedding venue. There’s just no way this could happen in real life.

Which gets me to my complaints about Bed of Roses, the second book in the quartet. This is Emma’s book. Let’s talk about Emma a bit. She is apparently drop-dead gorgeous. Men ask her out all the time, so much that she can now effortlessly deflect or attract men with skill. She lives in a guest house on her friend Parker’s estate where she has her own studio to do her floral arrangements. Her parents are still madly in love with each other. She went to a posh private academy in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she still lives. She works with her three lifelong best friends every day. Their business is successful beyond their expectations. And her girlfriends will drop everything, no questions asked, to be there when she needs them.

Enter Jack, the hero of the story. He’s a smokin’ hot piece of man meat. Built, blonde, and green-eyed. He’s also smart and successful. He went to Yale, and he has his own architecture firm in Greenwich. And he pretty much wants to have hot sex with Emma whenever she wants it.

Are you seeing my problem here?

EMMA’S LIFE IS FUCKING PERFECT! It seriously is. I can’t really hold it against Emma because she knows it. At one point in the book she tells her friend that she’s the luckiest woman in the world because she kind of is. But I can hold it against Nora Roberts because she should know better! Sure, romance novels are supposed to be fantasy escapism, but I like a little realism in there, too. All of the other women have at least something going on in their lives that makes you think that it wouldn’t be completely awesome to be them. Mac’s mother is a crazy bitch and her father moved on to his second family. Laurel’s father did something to lose all the family money when she was a teenager so she went from rich girl to make-it-on-your-own at a very vulnerable time in her life. Also, she’s in love with a man who sees her as his sister. And Parker owns her awesome family estate because both of her parents were killed in a plane crash, which probably is why she’s such a control freak. But Emma? Nope. She’s perfect. Beautiful and bubbly with her loving nuclear family.

I suppose that’s a fair choice for Roberts to make, Emma being perfect and all that, because it does add diversity to the group of women. But it’s just not fun to read about. Where is the conflict? Seriously, the entire conflict of this book is Jack’s fear of commitment which I did not think was all that irrational. The climax of the story takes the form of a fight he and Emma have and, to be honest, I was on Jack’s side. Who doesn’t think that a declaration of love and happily ever after is not so crazy to hold back on if you’ve only been dating for two months? And what Emma does to spark the fight was pretty dumb, I thought. She knows this guy, she knows the issues he has with space and commitment, but instead of talking to him to test the waters, she just goes and does something only to explode when he doesn’t react the way she wanted him to. Also, I kind of resented the way that Emma’s friends completely took her side on the issue, too. My friends, and my mother, would point out everything that I did wrong. But then again, I’m a spinster and Emma’s boinking hot dudes.

So I guess in the end I was jealous of Emma, but in my defense it was really hard not to be. Yeah, I would like to have her wonderful life. So thanks, Nora Roberts, all you’ve done is made me feel even worse about being a plain Jane, chubby single gal.

Lindsey’s Grade: C

Book Quotes

2009-11-01T21:36:00.003-08:00

One of my favorite things about reading is coming across a passage that just grabs your attention and really speaks to you. The last few years I've been trying to remember to write down such passages. I don't always remember, but I have accumulated a small collection, and I thought I'd share from that.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
She was borned in slavery time when folks, dat is black folks, didn’t sit down anytime dey felt lak it. So sittin’ on porches lak de white madam looked lak uh mighty fine thing tuh her. Dat’s what she wanted for me—don’t keer what it cost. Git up on uh high chair and sit dere. She didn’t have time tuh think what tuh do after you got up on de stool uh do nothin’. De object wuz tuh git dere. So Ah got up on de high stool lak she told me, but Pheoby, Ah done nearly languished tuh death up dere. Ah felt like de world wuz cryin’ extry and Ah ain’t read de common news get.

Sigh. I love that. This passage occurs as Janie is explaining to her friend why she left her second husband, a wealthy storeowner who basically treated her as an ornament. This is such a beautiful, wonderful book.

All She Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
I count you among the most fortunate of persons to have felt so strongly for another human being, however unhappy the outcome. Is this not the point of our existence?

This passage really speaks to me because it makes me think about my first love and my first broken heart. I remember how badly I hurt, but I also remember how grateful I was that I had the chance to love someone like that.

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon
He didn’t teach me that with some people what seems to be real, isn’t real at all. I used to trust what I saw. He taught me that if I could see a thing and touch it, and if it behaved as I hoped it would, then these were true qualities. But I find that men aren’t like that, so how do I know what I can trust?

I think that this passage by itself is wonderful. But it also is an amazing synopsis of the book. The heroine was raised by her scientist father, and she lived with him until she met a man who seduced her, married her, and took her away from her sheltered life. I just love how McMahon was able to capture her book in this single passage.

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazer
Maybe I should have packed up and gone to Washington for good, used my friends there to find a position. Put that Wayah Town behind me. There are many who can make new selves at a moment's notice. Slough a skin, dismiss memory, move on. But that is not a skill I ever acquired.

Like the character in this book, I have never acquired that skill either. I remember reading this and thinking of the people I know who seem to be able to move to another stage of their life and abandon the old one. And I thought about how much I value the people I've met at each stage of my life and how I hope to never lose those connections.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.

This is so powerful. It is a distinction I think a lot of modern mothers are not able to make. When I read this I recalled the feeling I got when I read The Feminine Mystique for the first time. I remember being overcome with the need to call my mother and thank her for never sacrificing her own identify for me. That, in my opinion, is the best gift a mother can give.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Oh, Wuthering Heights, where do I start? The romance in this book is unparalleled—it moved me more than any love story ever has. I cry when I reread these passages. (Yes, I'm that lame.) There are so many passages that make me cry and take my breath away. Here are my favorites.

What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger; I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.

Two words would comprehend my future—death and hell; existence, after losing her, would be hell. Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton’s attachment more than mine. If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years as I could in a day. And Catherine has a heart as deep as I have; the sea could be as readily contained in the horse trough, as her whole affection be monopolized by him.

“You teach me how cruel you’ve been—cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort. You deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and cry, and wring out my kisses and tears; they’ll blight you—they’ll damn you. You loved me—then what right had you to leave me? What right—answer me—for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will, did it. I have not broken your heart—you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me, that I am strong. Do I want to live? What kind of living will it be when you—oh, God! would you like to live with your soul in the grave?”
“Let me alone. Let me alone,” sobbed Catherine. “If I’ve done wrong, I’m dying for it. It is enough! You left me too—but I won’t upbraid you! I forgive you. Forgive me!”
“It is hard to forgive, and to look at those eyes, and feel those wasted hands,” he answered. “Kiss me again, and don’t let me see your eyes! I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer—but yours! How can I?”

May she wake in torment!” he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. “Why, she’s a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there—not in heaven—not perished—where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you—haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!

Yes, I know Heathcliff and Cathy love past the point of madness, but I still eat it up. Swoon!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Mrs. Allen was one of that numerous class of females, whose society can raise no other emotion than surprise at there being any men in the world who could like them well enough to marry them.

An observation only a single woman can truly appreciate, I think.

River Lady by Jude Deveraux
Immediately, Wesley knew there was only one cure for her misery: he was going to make love to her.

And sometimes I write passages down because they are just too ridiculous not to.

Book Review: The Untamed Bride

2009-11-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

Full disclosure: I like pretty much everything Stephanie Laurens writes. This summer when I was purging my book collection for a yard sale, her books were absolute keepers. So my love of her work probably makes me biased when I review her books.

The Untamed Bride is the first in Laurens's new four-part series about the Black Cobra Cult and the four Englishmen who are tasking with bringing it down. The four men are army officers who have been stationed in India since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. (Laurens ties these men to the Cynsters—the family that most of her books are based on—by explaining that they fought with the Cynster men at Waterloo.) The governor of India turns to the four men when he needs help in bringing down a villainous cult that follows a man called The Black Cobra. These cultists are essentially terrorists who go into villages and murder, rape, and pillage for no purpose other than to cause civil unrest. The British government has surmised that the Black Cobra himself is an Englishman who is capitalizing on the general feelings of anti-imperialism. The four men (actually five, as I'll explain) finally find the man they believe to be responsible after a few months of investigation. But this man is the son of one of the most powerful peers in England, an earl who essentially has the Prince Regent's ear. So they cannot accuse the son of being an evil cult leader without solid, irrefutable evidence. It is only after one of the five is murdered by the cultists that the other four discover their fallen comrade managed to attain this crucial evidence before he died. And he passed it on to them.

Royce, the Duke of Wolverstone (a.k.a. Dalziel from Laurens's Bastion Club series) is England's ex-spymaster, and he devises a plan for the men to bring the evidence safely back to England where he will then publicly expose the public. Three of the men will carry a copy of the evidence and one will carry the original—but no one will know which is which. Each man is to travel by a separate route back to England—but they will not know each other's routes. Only Royce knows the routes, but even he does not know who is going which way. Each man resigns his military commission and goes on his way. That is essentially the introduction to the whole series. And of course, because this is a series of romance novels, each man will undoubtedly acquire a lovely young lady along the way.

The Untamed Bride is Derek's story. Derek (or Del as he is called because of his last name that I can't remember—Delborough, maybe?) is the oldest and highest ranking of the men. He travels by sea back to England, and although there are a few threats on his life along the way, he makes it safely to Southampton. But there is a letter waiting for him at Southampton from his only living relatives—his aunts—telling him that they have arranged for him to escort a Miss Deliah Duncannon to her home (which is in the same county as Del's family home). His aunts, of course, don't know that Del has more pressing matters on his plate. He tries to avoid the responsibility of escorting Deliah, until she quite by chance happens to save his life from a Black Cobra assassin. Because the assassin saw her, she is now at risk, and Del agrees that she will join him. Oh yeah, and Deliah is a stone-cold fox.

A lot of people complain that Laurens's heros and heroines are all the same. And... they are. But in this book, I think it works. Deliah is returning to England after seven years away in Jamaica where she was sent by her family after she had an affair with a man that did not do the honorable thing (i.e., he slept with her and refused to marry her). She's a very headstrong character who basically tells Del what he's going to do and when he's going to do it. But her sexual desires and strong personality have left her feeling like she does not fit in among polite society. When Del tells her that she is going to meet all of the Cynster wives (oh, yeah, there is totally a Cynster reunion in this book) which includes a duchess, a countess, and a lot of rich married women, she is understandably very nervous and worried about fitting in. But, because she's just like all the other Laurens heroines, it is actually a wonderful experience for her to find a group of women that see all her characteristics as strengths and not flaws. I thought that was very well done of Laurens. I also thought it was a bit of a response to her critics, as if she was saying, "There's a reason they're all the same, you know." I liked the fact that Deliah could be a strong woman who still had a lot of insecurities because it made it easier to relate to her.

Also, I gotta say, I actually liked that the hero and heroine jumped into bed with each other (not right away) with little prior thought or planning. If you've ever read a Laurens book, you know that the build-up to the nookie is often ridiculously drawn out. That was one aspect that made this book feel different than her others. All in all, this wasn't my favorite Laurens book, but it was still a fun read. In the back of the book there is a sneak peak of the next book in the series, The Elusive Bride, and I'm really looking forward to that one, too. The heroine, Emily, was with the fifth officer when he died, and she is the one that passes the evidence on to the other four men. Should be a good read!

Book Musings

2009-11-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

I was in Barnes & Noble today, and I noticed a few things:

1. Am I the only one who gets depressed in bookstores because there are so many books you want to read but never enough time?

2. Why do parents let their kids scream repeatedly in B&N? I think it's akin to a library. (Not that public screaming is okay in any store, but bookstores seem worse somehow.)

3. They have issued a deluxe edition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It has painted illustrations and a gorgeous hardcover. I'm pretty pissed because I want it bad but I already have the original paperback edition! Urgh! I mean, I understand that they couldn't come out with that edition until they knew the book would be a success, but still! I want! (Family members, take note for Christmas!)

4. I have decided to give Jane Eyre another try. Mostly because I totally want this shirt, and I need to decide if Mr. Rochester is on the same playing field with Heathcliff, WHO I ADORE. (BTW, check out Kate Beaton's comic that the shirt is based on. It is awesome.) Last time I tried to read Jane Eyre, I was in high school and generally had poor literary tastes. I think I quit before Jane even met Rochester because as I recall it was quite depressing. I already know the ending, though, so hopefully that doesn't ruin the experience. I don't think it will because I've come to realize that I enjoy the classics for the amazing writing more than the pure story. I have my beloved romance novels for the stories.

Book Review: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

2009-10-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

If you've seen the movie "Dangerous Liaisons" or "Cruel Intentions," then you have a pretty good grasp of what Les Liaisons Dangereuses is about. But I would still recommend reading the book because it's awesome.

Don't you love how my book reviews read like ~~6th~~ 3rd grade book reports? I thought so.

Okay, I will say more. Les Liaisons Dangereuses is set in France during the 1780's (pre-Revolution). The format of the book is 175 letters written between the various characters. The two principle characters are the Vicomte (Viscount) de Valmont and the Marquise (Marchioness) de Merteuil. The book revolves around them and their relationship. Valmont is generally known as a rouge, a rake, a man who seduces women for sport. The Marquise, however, is a wealthy aristocratic widow who has maintained an air of social respectability. But she is the really the one to watch out for.

Valmont and M. de Merteuil meet when their respective lovers cast them aside in order to "hook up," for lack of a better term. The two of them form their own attachment (and by "attachment" I mean sexual dalliance) after the experience, and remain friends after they part ways. M. de Merteuil, however, holds quite a grudge against the man who cast her aside, the Comte (Count) de Gercourt. When the opportunity to get back at him presents itself, she takes advantage of it.

A distant relative of hers, the Madame de Volanges, has a fifteen year-old daughter fresh out of the convent, named Cecile, and she has arranged a marriage between her daughter and Gercourt. M. de Merteuil is outraged and insulted when she discovers this, in part because it adds insult to injury that she should in any way to related to Gercourt. So she hatches a plan to cuckhold Gercourt by ensuring that his innocent bride-to-be is not-so-innocent when she marries him. For this, she needs the assistance of her friend and legendary seducer-of-women, Valmont.

But Valmont has a scheme of his own. He is visiting his aunt's country home when he meets the Presidente de Tourvel, a beautiful and virtuous woman who is renowned for her faith, piety, and fidelity. What better challenge could there be, what greater claim to greatness could he acquire, than if he were to seduce the Presidente and gain her submission? He turns down M. de Merteuil's offer to seduce Cecile Volanges in order to focus on the Presidente. But M. de Merteuil does not give up, she just uses other means to accomplish her goal. Particularly she looks to a young chevalier (knight), Danceny, who shares a mutual affection with Cecile.

But when Valmont's efforts are hindered after Madame de Volanges tells the Presidente about his reputation, he decides to take his revenge upon Madame de Volanges by taking on the seduction of both the Presidente and Cecile.

Valmont and the M. de Merteuil are absolutely ruthless. They lie effortlessly in letters to their victims, then gleefully relate their successes in letters to each other. I love the letter format of this book because it beautifully demonstrates their duplicity and utter lack of shame. And although Valmont is the character who does most of the work in this book—he is the one doing the on-the-ground seduction—this book belongs to the M. de Merteuil. She's a fascinating character, and I think Laclos is an absolute genius for creating her and knowing exactly how she would act and react in certain situations. My favorite line of hers comes when she is describing her latest boy toy and how he wants their relationship to be exclusive: "He must rate me lightly indeed, if he believes he has worth enough to make me constant!" God, is that the story of my life or what?

Valmont's character development is certainly a crucial plot point of this book (and if I recall, it seemed to dominate the movie Cruel Intentions, too) as he begins to fall for the Presidente. But the M. de Merteuil is always one step ahead of him. She sees where he is heading long before he does. She knows just what buttons to push, exactly what to say in order to get Valmont to do what she wants him to do. She's not immune herself, however. The events she and Valmont have put into motion also drag her along a path she never intended to go down. But she was never manipulated. Unlike the other female characters in the book, she falls victim only to herself and her own weaknesses. Despite how evil she is, I love her for that. I respect her for it. She is a one-of-a-kind woman, and she knows it:

Oh! keep your advice and your fear for those delirious women who call themselves sentimental; whose exalted imagination would make one believe that nature has placed their senses in their heads; who, having never reflected, persist in confounding love with the lover; who, in their mad illusion, believe that he with whom they have pursued pleasure is its sole depository; and truly superstitious, show the priest the respect and faith which is only due to the divinity. Be still more afraid for those who, their vanity being larger than their prudence, do not know, at need, how to consent to being abandoned. Tremble, above all, for those women, active in their indolence, whom you call women of sensibility, and over whom love takes hold so easily and with such power; who feel the need of being occupied with it, even when they are not enjoying it; and, giving themselves up unreservedly to the fermentation of their ideas, bring forth from them those letters so sweet, but so dangerous to write, and are not afraid to confide these proofs of their weakness to the object which causes it: imprudent ones, who do not know how to discern in their present lover their enemy to be.

But what have I in common with these unreflecting women?

Above all else, Laclos's story is exquisitely crafted. And the translation I read by Ernest Dowson was also great; everything flowed wonderfully, and each character had their own tone that remained consistent throughout the book. There are parts of this book that made me laugh out loud and parts that made me gasp in disbelief at just how debase Valmont and the M. de Merteuil could be. As far as classics go, it is one of the most entertaining books I've read. If it weren't for the sexy sexy sex all throughout the book, I would have wondered why this isn't more standard school reading. Loved it.

Lindsey's Grade: A+

Book Review: On Beauty

2009-09-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

Anyone who even tangentially follows book news will remember that when Zadie Smith's On Beauty came out a few years ago, it was basically hailed as a masterpiece. It made all sorts of "Best of" lists, and I think it won some awards, too. So when I was looking for a book to read at Charles de Gaulle airport this summer, before a long flight home to the States, I picked this one up. (Also, I had a few euros I needed to get rid of.) I anticipated a reading experience that would knock my socks off.

Not so much.

I truly, honestly think that I am not intellectual enough to "get" this book. The reviews on the cover and all that talk about how funny and hilarious it is. Uh, not funny. Not hilarious. Apparently it's a satire. Of what, I'm still not sure, but I think maybe intellectuals and intellectualism. I am not an intellectual. I will admit that without hesitation. So I think that's why I wasn't able to pick up on the satire.

Zadie Smith, however, is an incredible writer. There's nothing I hate more than reading a book where the author's efforts are so obvious. Good writing is effortless, and Smith's writing is effortless. Unfortunately, I just didn't care about the people she was writing about. The book centers around a family in Massachusetts—the Belseys. The father, Howard, is an art professor at a small college in the town where they live. The mother, Kiki, is a nurse/health administrator. Their three children are Jerome, Zora, and Levi. Everyone has their own story in this book, and most of them are interconnected. I liked Kiki and the kids, but Howard... gross. No. Didn't like him at all. I think he was being satirized, but like I said, if you don't know what is being satirized, it's not funny. (Like that whole New Yorker cover of Michelle Obama during the campaign.)

I read a lot of reviews of this book on Amazon.com, and a lot of people seemed to agree with me that this book was not all that and a bag of chips, as the industry reviews would have led us to believe. So it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who found this to be a rather forgettable book. I guess that in the end I'm not sorry I read it, though. Maybe someday I can have a pseudo-intellectual conversation with someone about how I'm not intellectual enough to enjoy it.

Book Review: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

2009-09-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and as one would expect from the title, it was amazing. When people expressed puzzlement over what the book would be like, I responded with, "It's Pride and Prejudice. With zombies." And a big part of what made the book so enjoyable was reading familiar dialogue that had a whole different meaning. For instance, my favorite example of this is when Lady Catherine questions Elizabeth about her education, etc. In the original novel, Lady Catherine is of course asking about the standard education for young women of gentility. She expresses shock that five girls have been brought up without a governess. In P & P & Z, the "education" they discuss is their martial arts education (aimed of course at how to defend oneself against zombies). Lady Catherine expresses shock that they have no ninjas, if I recall correct.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but the whole concept of the same, traditional dialogue having a new, zombie-related meaning, was my favorite thing about the book.

After reading P & P & Z, I anxiously awaited the release of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Now, Sense and Sensibility is actually the only one of Austen's books that I have not actually read, but I own two separate film adaptations, and I love both of them.

But I didn't find S & S & SM to be nearly as enjoyable as P & P & Z. Mostly because the story had much more significant deviations from Austen's story than P & P & Z did. Apparently this was intentional. I read in an article by S & S & SM's author that the feedback on P & P & Z asked for less of Austen's original text. (As the article reports, 85% of P & P & Z was Austen's text.) So the publisher gave the author of S & S & SM permission to embellish significantly more. Blasphemy, I say.

Not that there aren't high points to S & S & SM. The scene where Lucy Steele tells Elinor about her engagement to Edward is pretty awesome. And there was one line by Mrs. Jennings that was utter delight, but all in all, I didn't find as much humor here as I did in P & P & Z. I think there may be another reason for that, however, apart from the dialogue/text. Pride and Prejudice is just full of characters ripe for parody; Sense and Sensibility, less so. Mrs. Jennings and Sir John were pretty much it as far as humor goes in S & S & SM. But in P & P & Z we had Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, Lydia, Wickham, and Charlotte Lucas (hands down the funniest).

I'm curious to see what Quirk books will tackle next, however.

Book Review: Birdsong

2009-09-03T22:32:00.001-07:00

It seems to me that the majority of war movies and war novels that I've encountered have dealt with World War II. I don't know why that is exactly, but I suspect it has to do with a few things: (1) It is seen as the "noble" war because of Hilter and the Nazis; (2) There are so many high-profile things to come out of WWII such as the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, and Hiroshima/Nagasaki; and (3) Many people have known people who are still alive that fought in the war.

World War I, on the other hand, doesn't seem to get much attention. That is one thing I liked about Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks—it pays the proper homage to the men that fought in the trenches. This book is pretty intense. When Faulks takes his characters through the Battle of Somme in July of 1916, I had to stop reading and take a break. It was just too much for me. Normally I don't have a problem watching or reading about horrible things, but somehow this was different. I think that when you read a work of fiction that deals with a homicidal psychopath, or even hear about something like that on the news, it is not so difficult to take in because, although you know these things happen to actual people, you can assure yourself that it's rare and isolated.

You can't do that when you read about the lives of the soldiers in Birdsong because these experiences were not rare and isolated. A generation of men lived through this hell, and it was hell.

Once more in ragged suicidal lines they trudged toward the pattering death of mounted guns. Bloodied beyond caring, Stephen watched the packets of lives with their memories and loves go spinning and vomiting into the ground. Death had no meaning, but still the numbers of them went on and on and in that new infinity there was still horror.

It feels real because it is real. Great Britain just lost its last WWI veteran about a month ago, and the knowledge that a man who had experienced all of this lived on this earth with me is pretty powerful. I didn't much care for Part I of this book, which involved the pre-war experiences of the main character, Stephen Wraysford, because I felt that it was a pretty run-of-the-mill romance. But I suppose it's necessary to set you up for Stephen's experiences during the war. There are also a few portions set in 1978 with Stephen's granddaughter that I could have done without, but they also just serve to amplify the other portions of the book.

As far as war novels go, this is one of the best I've ever read. This was supposed to be "The War to End All Wars," and I can certainly understand why. How anyone who lived through that could ever want to enter into another war twenty years later is beyond me.

Summer Book Clubs

2009-09-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

I joined two books clubs this summer, and between the two clubs I read four books. (I did not read a fifth book club book due to a longer-than-expected recovery from wisdom teeth extraction surgery. Ouch!) But anyway, here they are.

I don't even know where to start with this book. It is (inexplicably) set in 1991, and it centers around Connie, a doctoral candidate in history at Harvard University. Connie has just been granted candidacy and has to start thinking about thesis subjects when her mother asks her to look after an old house about an hour from Cambridge that belonged to Connie's grandmother. While Connie is exploring the old house, she finds a piece of paper with the words "Deliverance Dane" on them. Because she's curious and seems to want to avoid her thesis work, Connie starts investigating and discovers Deliverance Dane was a witch (at least ruled to be one) that bequeathed a book to her daughter, who then passed it on, etc, etc. Connie searches for this book for the rest of the novel.

Don't waste your time reading this book. I personally don't think it ever goes anywhere interesting. The ending is predictable, and Connie is a fucking idiot. We're supposed to believe she's this brilliant scholar, but the damn woman doesn't even realize what her own name is. Seriously. I'm not making that up. I figured out what her name actually was and what significance it held before she did. Lame. Katherine Howe seems to think that her readers are retarded and will put up with Connie being so dumb.

But what I disliked most about The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was that is so obviously full of smug. Howe is clearly a New Englander who did graduate work at Harvard, because, from the way she writes this book, she seems to think that Connie's life is pretty normal. Not only that, she is always throwing in little comments about grad school, Harvard, New England, etc, to prove to the reader that she's an insider or something. It's so annoying, because I really felt like the privilege of her life was completely lost on Howe. I know people say to write about what you know, but most of the world doesn't give a shit about some lame-ass grad student from 1991 who wears a lot of turtlenecks and spends her summer doing NOTHING worthwhile. Meanwhile, people are losing their homes and children are going hungry.

Don't read Sarah's Key if you don't want to shoot yourself in the head afterwards. Okay, that's unfair. But this book is super depressing.

It is mostly set in modern Paris. The main character Julia is an American who is married to a Frenchman and has lived in Paris for years. She works as a journalist, and one day she is assigned to write about the anniversary of an event in Paris history when the French government collaborated with the Nazi occupiers to detain and deport Parisian Jews. From one of the first deportations, most people went to Auschwitz and a staggering percentage of them died.

I forget how Julia makes the connection, but she eventually links the apartment she and her husband have inherited from his grandmother to a Jewish family that lived there before being taken away, particularly their young daughter. The incredibly sad story revolves around this girl.

I did like this book, but at the same time I didn't. I liked it because it alerted me to a part of French history that I really didn't know about. The author's characterizations of the French people in the book and the way they reacted to it was very interesting, and I got the impression it was something she'd experienced firsthand. A lot of French people do not like to talk about these events because it is a very shameful part of their history. This was not Nazi's knocking on doors, rounding people up, and busing them to their deaths—this was French police and French people. But on the other hand, Julia's reaction to events 60 years in the past that she had nothing to do with struck me as very manufactured. You'd have to read the book to know what I mean, but it just seemed unnatural to me how emotionally involved Julia got.

Fun tidbit: I got a little worked up at the book club discussion of this book after a woman in the group shared her thought that "religion is to blame for all bad things," or something along those lines. I'm all for laying blame at religion's feet when it's due, but I hardly think that the Holocaust can be laid at the feet of religion.

Here's what I will say about Run: it was a good story, but I didn't really take away any deeper message. The story revolves around an incident in Boston during the winter. Tip and Teddy are black, biological brothers who were adopted by a white couple. When they were very small, their adopted mother died of cancer, and they were raised by their father, Doyle, who eventually becomes mayor of Boston. They have an older brother, Sullivan, who is their parent's biological child.

When they're older, Sullivan is the black sheep who lived through a scandal that damaged his father's career. Doyle has poured all of his energy into Tip and Teddy with aspirations of them going into politics, but neither is interested. Tip just wants to study ichthyology (his major in college), and Teddy is interested in the priesthood (their mother's uncle is a Catholic priest). The three of them (Doyle, Tip, and Teddy) go to a Jesse Jackson lecture Doyle forced them to go to, and as they're leaving a car nearly hits Tip as he's not paying attention. He is saved when a woman knocks him out of the way, only to be hit herself. Her ten year-old daughter Kenya witnesses it. It's not really a spoiler if I tell you that the woman is Tip and Teddy's biological mother, and she's severely injured.

The rest of the book is basically about the aftermath of the accident, and Kenya. Like I said, I really enjoyed the story, but I was not really moved by it, in the sense that I'll remember this book for years to come. Not a bad read, though.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, however, is great. A very, very good book. It is centered around two woman from Afghanistan, and their stories are so sad. It is a great way to get a better grasp on what life is like for Afghani women, even though this book spans a couple decades.

Crazy For The Storm

2009-06-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this book at Starbucks, and even though it seemed over-exposed and generic, I thought it sounded like a good read….it was.

It is the true, autobiographical story of Norm, an 11-yo California kid with divorced, but attentive parents. He just won the state championship for down-hill skiing and is flying back to pick up his trophy when his plane crashes, killing the pilot and his beloved father. The book flashes back between the crash and past experiences with him and his father as he was growing up.

At first, I felt like Norm was just a spoiled, un-appreciative kid that didn’t know what a good life he had. I think the author did this on purpose in order to juxtapose the reality of his situation before and after the crash. The scenes from the crash were kind of hard to picture (I just skipped over most of the descriptions because they didn’t make much sense). It was still very engrossing, and I had to keep reminding myself that he was only 11 years old!

My only beef was that I felt like there was a big chunk missing from the book. After telling the story of the crash, he takes the timeline up until he is about 13 years old, and he still hasn’t come to terms with his father’s death. Then he leaves all these issues unresolved and jumps up to when he is in his 40’s with a son of his own. While I enjoyed and was strangely touched by the scenes with his own son, I would have liked to know if he got counseling, why he chose to go to UCLA (instead of Yale or Harvard like his dad wanted), if he ever skied professionally again.

Love the one you're with

2009-06-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Emily Giffin really has a talented writing style. She makes you identify with the characters in her books to a degree that I have not experienced with any other author. Her other books include “Something Borrowed” and “Something Blue”. I really liked this book a lot. It was a little bit hard to read because I hate anything that has to do with adultery. This book is about a woman who has been happily married for only 3 months when she runs across her old boyfriend, the one who got away. She never fully understood why they had broken up, but he makes it clear that he wants to turn back the clock when he sees her again.

As the character progresses through the story, rationalizing and making decisions that place her closer and closer to her ex, however innocently, I inexplicably find myself thinking that I would have done the same. I won’t spoil the ending for all you readers because it is a great book that feels very real-to-life, don’t miss it!

Careless in Red

2009-06-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve read every book that Elizabeth George has written. She is the best mystery/suspense writer out there. Her novels are not so much “scary” mysterious as they are “intellectually” mysterious. This is her latest book. Her hero, Detective Lynley is hiking along the England coastline, still reeling from the senseless and tragic murder of his wife and unborn child when he finds a body. Against his will, he is drawn into the investigation. While I wouldn’t rate this as one of her best books, I was pleasantly surprised. I had all but written George off because I loved the character of Helen, Lynley’s slain wife. I didn’t see how the story-line could be continued without her. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I still cared for the other characters enough to remain interested. I think George was laying the groundwork in this book for Lynley’s recovery and in future books there may be new romantic possibilities? There is one in this book, but he just isn’t ready. I’m looking forward to her future writings.

Born to Run

2009-06-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

I can’t remember where I first heard of this book, but I never would have picked it up and paid full price if I hadn’t gotten a tip that it was good. But it wasn’t just good….

…it was amazing! It starts off with a 50-something guy who suffers from running injuries. He is told by multiple doctors that he was not built to run and needs to stop. This isn’t a option for him because he loves running and wants to complete an ultra-marathon (50-miles). He embarks on a journey to unlock the secrets of long-distance runners. Along the way he exposes the athletic-shoe industry and the marketing that duped us all into thinking we need ultra-padded, ultra-air/gel shoes to cushion this unnatural human activity…running. In reality, the human body was built for long distance running, most of us just go about it the wrong way. In fact, it may be our running prowess that gave us the evolutionary edge against the Neanderthals.

The author manages to transform himself into an injury-free distance runner with the help of a good coach, a new stride and an old, worn-out pair of shoes. The book climaxes with a secret 50-mile race through the Mexico mountains, pitting the greatest ultra-marathoner in the US against the greatest ones in the world, the Tarahumara Indians. While I can definitely guarantee that I’ll never run an ultra-marathon, I found this book to be inspirational to the human spirit and an excellent read, even if you aren’t an athlete…yet!

Book Review: Blue Smoke and Murder

2009-05-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Good news! Blue Smoke and Murder is classic Lowell and not the disappointing piles of poop The Wrong Hostage and Innocent as Sin were. This book is more on the scale of Always Time to Die (which I enjoyed).

It still centers around St. Kilda Consulting, which I think it totally weird, but whatever. The heroine, Jill, is a river guide who saves the life of a son of two St. Kilda operatives. In payment, his father tells her that if she ever needs help, to call him. Scarcely a month later, Jill's great-aunt dies in a suspicious fire, one of twelve family paintings is destroyed, and Jill's life is threatened. So she calls in her favor, and hottie operative Zach shows up to help her out.

The story really centers around the painting, and Lowell goes on and on about Western art. (If you've ever read an Elizabeth Lowell contemporary, you know how she tends to do that with art, jewels, minerals, etc.) But it isn't as boring as it usually is.

Also, there is real, genuine chemistry between Jill and Zach. That was something that was definitely missing in Innocent as Sin.

It was an entertaining read.

Book Review: Death Angel

2009-05-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Started off interesting.

Ended boring.

Too much internal contemplation by the characters.

Not enough dialogue.

Book Review: At Last Comes Love

2009-05-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Turns out, this review is a bit like the last one, given that I'm reviewing the third book in a series. This time it's Mary Balogh's Huxtable series. (I think there are going to be two more.) The series is about a family of siblings, the Huxtables, who grew up modestly as the children of a clergyman. Margaret is the oldest, then Vanessa, then Katherine, then the only son, Stephen. In the first book, First Comes Marriage they are living in a small village, all under the same roof except Vanessa, who married a local man and was widowed a year later. She lives with her in-laws until a nobleman shows up in the village one day and announces that Stephen, at seventeen, is now an earl due to the death of some distant relatives.

I can't exactly remember why the nobleman (I'm going to call him Elliott, because that's his name) decides that he's going to marry one of the Huxtable sisters, but he does. And he settles on Margaret, who is the oldest and also very beautiful. But Margaret has been in love with her childhood sweetheart for years, and he's been away at war for four years. Vanessa knows that her sister is waiting on her long-lost love, so she intervenes and offers herself to Elliott.

The rest of the book deals with their relationship, and I liked it, but that's probably because I like all Mary Balogh books. Vanessa has some issues she needs to deal with due to the fact that she's the ugly duckling among her beautiful siblings. And I can't remember Elliott's issues, but I seem to remember that he said some, too. I liked this book.

Then Comes Seduction is Katherine's story. It starts when she unfortunately becomes the object of a bet by Jasper, a young, rakish baron. He bets that he can get her to surrender her virginity in a fortnight, and he almost succeeds. But at the last minute he has an attack of conscience, and steps away.

Three years later, they encounter each other again, and because the bet was made publicly in a gambling house, the men of society know about their past. A scandal threatens, and Katherine reluctantly agrees to marry him.

I liked this book, too. Balogh's books are hard to describe because they focus so much on the relationship between the hero and heroine. There's usually not a whole else going on externally. I seem to remember, however, that Jasper had a motivation for entering the marriage, as well. He has a younger half-sister, and he shares guardianship with her cousin, who wants nothing more than to have full-guardianship (and access to her fortune). A respectable wife would help Jasper's cause in that area.

I think it is at the end of First Comes Marriage that Margaret finds out that the man she's been waiting for, Crispin Dew, married a Spanish lady when he was away at war. Naturally she's very hurt and feels betrayed. She's thirty when she encounters Crispin for the first time, and because he has wounded her pride, she lies and tells him that she's engaged. She actually expects to get engaged soon, because she has a male friend who has proposed many times but that she has always turned down. But lately she had been thinking that she wants to accept and start her own family, instead of just being aunt to her sister's children.

Unfortunately for Margaret, the night she plans on accepting him is the night her friend announces his engagement to someone else. So Margaret finds herself at a ball with Crispin and no fiance. Lucky for her, when she flees the ballroom she runs into a man who conveniently agrees to be her fiance. As it turns out, he's been a social outcast for the past five years due to the fact that he left his bride at the altar and ran away with her married sister-in-law.

Like I said, Balogh's books are all about the relationships, so there's not much more to say other than I liked this book, but I didn't love it.

Book Review: Always a Scoundrel

2009-05-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just recently finished reading Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch, the third book in her Notorious Gentlemen trilogy. The series follows three male friends in Regency England who fought together in the Peninsular Wars. The hero of the first book, After the Kiss, is Sullivan Waring, the illegitimate son of a nobleman. The hero of the second book, Before the Scandal is Phinneas Something-or-Other, the younger brother of a nobleman. And this book is about Bramwell Johns, the second son of a duke. Perhaps it's the fact that the three of them lack the responsibilities that go along with a title that makes these guys act so "notoriously." Sully is a housethief, Phin is a highwayman, and Bram copies Sully to become a housethief himself.

I actually really enjoyed After the Kiss. I read a lot of Regency romance novels, so it's not uncommon that I'll read a book without really engaging in it in any way. But that didn't happen this book. I thought that the romance between the hero and heroine was sweet and genuine. Also, the development of their relationship came across as very natural, not rushed, as often happens in romance novels.

Before the Scandal, however, must have been very forgettable because I basically forgot everything about it. I couldn't even remember what the heroine's name was when I was reading Always a Scoundrel. Oops.

I would say that After the Scoundrel was better than the second book but not as good as the first. Bramwell Johns is supposed to be the ultimate bad guy, totally beyond redemption. He's friends with the worst guy in the ton. (I can't remember his name.) The two of them don't really have a real friendship because no one is really friends with the other guy. Also, Bram is not quite the lost cause his friend is because when he finds out that his friend is blackmailing a young lady to marry him, he feels the need to prevent the marriage.

As it just so happens, he falls in love with the lady himself.

What was hard for me to buy about the story was Bram's reformation. I'm kind of tired of that storyline. And, I didn't understand what it was about Rosamund that changed his mind. Smart Bitch Candy would attribute it to Rose's magic hoo-haa. Despite the fact that she's perfectly ordinary, he is dying to have her. It's a little hard to believe.

And there's another reason why I don't like that tired storyline. These rakish heroes are always total manwhores before they meet their heroines. And almost without fail, the women that they sleep with are portrayed as slutty, vindictive, moral-less women. Meanwhile, the heroes just move on to the virginal heroine.

That really bothers me. It takes two to tango, but it is only the women who have sex outside of love who are so villainized. They are written as really, really terrible people. It makes you wonder why these men even bothered with them to begin with, and why they seem to be capable of redemption but the women don't. It just makes me uncomfortable that they are always passed over for the pure virgins.

But all in all, Always the Scoundrel was a pretty good book if you can get past Bram's transformation from rakehell to devoted husband.

Book Review: Mistress of the Monarchy

2009-04-11T14:20:00.001-07:00

The first book I ever read by Alison Weir was The Wars of the Roses. I had just taken History of England in my freshman year of college and the people and events of the time period captivated me. After I read the book, I was also captivated by one historical figure in particular, John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III of England.

There is just something about John of Gaunt that draws you in. I probably took notice of him because, although he himself was never king, his direct descendants peppered the throne of not just England but Europe. Every English king starting with Henry IV is a direct descendant of the greatest nobleman in England. The Wars of the Roses are essentially his descendants battling it out. John of Gaunt married Blanche of Lancaster and became the Duke of Lancaster, so obviously the Lancastrians are his descendants. But Richard of York was also his great-grandson by virtue of his bastard daughter, Joan Beaufort. So his blood ran through the Yorkists as well. And not only was Henry VIII his great-great-great-grandson, but Catherine of Aragon was his great-great-granddaughter.

The progeny of John of Gaunt is captivating, but even more so because the Beauforts were his bastards with his mistress, Katherine Swynford. And the Beaufords were pretty bad-ass themselves. Katherine was the daughter of a lowly herald in Edward III's court, but her direct descendants include Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III (through her daughter Joan Beaufort); Henry VII and all the Tudors (through her son John Beaufort); and also James I and the Stewarts (though both her grandchildren John Beaufort and Joan Beaufort). Her son Henry Beaufort became a cardinal and apparently just narrowly missed being appointed Pope.

So long story short, Katherine Swynford is interesting, particularly because she was John of Gaunt's mistress for nine years before he married her after his second wife died. Mistress of the Monarchy is purportedly about her life, but really it is about her and John. Because she was of rather inconsequential birth, most the information Weir has about Katherine comes from John. For instance, Weir estimates the birthdates of the four Beaufort children based upon substantial gifts John made to her. Any insight into her personal feelings and thoughts is just conjecture, but one thing becomes abundantly clear: John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford loved each other very much. It's just a classic love story—the rich, powerful, noble hero and the beautiful, intelligent heroine. What more could you ask for?

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2009-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say about this book by Seth Graham-Smith. "Magical" comes to mind.

This book is essentially Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen with zombies thrown in. And it is done is such a brilliant fashion that I was immensely entertained.

The Bennet girls are all highly trained zombie killers who studied with a martial arts master in China at the direction of the father. Their mother is mostly concerned with getting them married. When Elizabeth Bennet first meets Mr. Darcy as a county dance and hears him tell Mr. Bingley that she is "not handsome enough to tempt me," she starts seeing red. She is about to bust out her knife and slit his throat in defense of her honor when she is stopped by "unmentionables" (i.e., zombies) who break in through the windows and start eating people's brains. She and her four sisters immediately take the positions and form the "Pentagram of Death."

Need I say more?

Book Review: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

2009-04-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine is the fifth book in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. The series is based around an American graduate student names Eloise who goes to England to work on her dissertation/thesis. She is writing about spies during the Napoleonic Wars, post-French Revolution era. (Think the Scarlet Pimpernel.) When the matriarch of a noble family allows her access to the family papers, Eloise uncovers a whole group of flower-named spies. Eloise also catches the attention of the matriarch's nephew, Colin.

The books are light on Eloise's story, and heavy on the historical stories of the people she's researching. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, but I haven't been too crazy about the others. Mostly because so much time elapses between each publication, and I don't reread them, that I forget who is who and what went on in the last book. That's partially why I liked this book more than most.

The heroine in this book is Charlotte, who is a close friend of Henrietta, the heroine of The Masque of the Black Tulip and sister of the hero in Pink Carnation. So there is a connection to the previous books, but really this story stands on its own.

Charlotte was the daughter of the Duke of Dovedale, who died when she was young. Her distant (distant) cousin Robert inherits, but he is very young (I think fifteen) and runs away to join the army in India. It could be that he runs away before he actually inherits, but I don't remember. He isn't much interested in being Duke so he leaves things to Charlotte's grandmother, the Dowager Duchess. But years later when his mentor in the army is murdered by a fellow soldier who then hightails it back to England, Robert vows to avenge his mentor. That requires him to enter society as the Duke of Dovedale.

When he returns, Robert takes immediate notice of his lovely cousin, and Charlotte has harbored a secret tendre for Robert since they were children. But in true romance novel fashion, noble Robert messes things up because he doesn't think he can pursue Charlotte and the killer at the same time.

Willig has a lot of elements going on in this story, which makes it interesting. Charlotte loves to read romantic novels and she soon has to face the reality that life does not always turn out the way it does in her books. And Robert is haunted by the ghost of his reprobate father and has all sorts of "I'm not worthy" issues. I just bought the Twilight DVD and I've been watching it recently, so that is probably why I felt like there were similarities between Robert and Edward Cullen. Both of them think that they're no good when obviously that's not the case. But that's a pretty standard device in romance novels, I guess.

Anyway, it's not a bad book. But beware, romance novel readers: THERE IS NO SEX. I know, right? That's ridiculous. Even more ridiculous that Eloise and Colin didn't get it on. What are you doing, Willig? Stringing us along until the very end? (I've heard it's meant to be a six book series.) I guess so. Damn it.

Book Review: The Purity Myth

2009-03-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

I was pretty excited to read this book when it came out. The author, Jessica Valenti, has a blog called Feministing that I frequently read. And also, I grew up in a culture that placed heavy influence on saving yourself for marriage (i.e., no pre-marital sex). When I was younger I bought what was taught to me hook, line, and sinker, but since getting older my views have changed. So this is a subject that I'm very interested in.

Valenti's main position is that the obsession with "purity," "chastity," and "virginity" is harmful to young women because it creates a dichotomy that allows women to be only either virgins or whores. She does a good job supporting her position, and even if it is not a perfect representation of society, I think she raises a lot of good points that really require us to think about.

I had only one beef with this book. There was virtually no discussion of how the purity myth harms the women that buy into it as well. There were a couple of allusions to how sex can't magically go from being evil and dirty to being wonderful after a person is married, but I wish that she had explored that a little more. The basic idea was there, but never developed. But of course, a book can't cover everything, so it's not necessarily a weakness. It's just something that I would have appreciated. I think that the purity myth can be harmful to women even if they don't "mess up" and have pre-marital sex, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

We're (at least I'm) Back!

2009-03-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a really long time since anyone posted on here. Does anyone read us anymore? Probably not.

Well, I'm going to start posting again whether we have readers or not (although I'm not sure we ever had readers, come to think of it...)

Here's a rough list of the books I've read since I've been gone (at least the ones that I can remember. One star (*) is not so good, and five stars (*****) is excellent!

(In reverse chronological order)
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (*****)

What an amazing book! I am more than a little pissed at myself for not reading it in high school when it was assigned to me, but oh well. I probably would not have appreciated it as much if I had read it then.

Not only is the plot of ATOTC engrossing, the writing is outstanding. I have a slight beef with Lucie Manette being so uninteresting and bland. (Her greatest characteristic is that she can nurture.) But I think Dickens redeemed himself somewhat with Terese Defarge and Miss Pross, as far as female characters go. Madama Defarge was everything Lucie was not, and despite her evilness, you kind of have to respect her—she's undeniably badass. And that scene at the end of the book between Madame Defarge and Miss Pross? AMAZING. I could feel the tension.

Also, I fell a little in love with Sydney Carton. In real life I would blow him off, because, COME ON. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I think the guy had clinical depression now that I think about it. But as a character he's great. I cried during the final scene (even though I knew what was going to happen!!!) Love, love, love the closing line of the novel. It's beautiful.

2. The Trial of Queen Caroline by Jane Robbins (****)

I'm giving this book four stars because I have a huge boner for English history, English royal history, and the Regency period. As an attorney, it was really enjoyable to see the workings of the British legal system back in 1820 and how similar it is to the American system today (in some ways).

And, because I apparently develop crushes on the men in books (see supra re: Sydney Carton), I fell a little in love with Lord Brougham, the Queen's counsel. He kicked arse.

3. Privilege and Scandal by Jane Gleeson (****)

This book was about Harriet Spencer, ancestor of Princess Diana and sister to Georgianna, Duchess of Devonshire (wife of the 5th Duke and subject of the book and movie "The Duchess"). Harriet lived a really fascinating life, and I was kind of pissed that she was completely left out of the movie version of "The Duchess." She was smart as a whip, involved in Whip politics, and had a long-term affair (and two illegitimate children) with a younger man who ended up married to her niece. How can that not be interesting?

4. Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change by Stephen Kinzer (*****)

Excellent, excellent, excellent. This book did more to help me understand world politics that anything I've ever read or watched.

Well, that's all I can think of now. I'll be back, though!

Book Review: Breaking Dawn

2008-08-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

In case anyone cares, I'm going to throw out my two cents on the last installment of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. SPOILER ALERT!

I really liked it. I know a lot of people didn't, and I know a lot of people have problems with the entire series. (For instance, Edward is too controlling and possessive.) That would probably bother me if these weren't books about teenage vampires. But since they are, I don't take it all too seriously. Not only is this fiction, it is fiction that could never, ever happen. I will even admit that at first I was a little bothered by the fact that Bella was so willing and eager to give up her life for Edward, but again I decided that I shouldn't take it too seriously. But I honestly feel like Breaking Dawn resolved some of the uneasiness I felt about the whole series.

For instance, I was never crazy about Bella becoming a vampire, even though the romance-novel-reader in me wanted them to be together forever. So when Bella's turning became a necessity instead of just a wish, I felt a lot better about it. Well played, Stephenie.

Also, I never liked Jacob's relationship with Bella because it made me uncomfortable that he was so obsessed with her when she wanted to be with Edward. So the whole imprinting on Bella's daughter was actually a clever solution to the problem, I thought. Yes, yes, some people think that's creepy. To them I say this: we're talking about a werewolf "imprinting" on a half-vampire child. Don't you think we can suspend reality enough in such a situation to believe that there is nothing gross in the relationship? I mean, if you're going to accept that he's a werewolf and she's a half-vampire, it's not too much more of a stretch to accept that their relationship is not within traditional human understanding, is it not? I thought the whole thing was an excellent solution to the problem I'd always had. Again, well played.

Some reviewers are saying Meyer just appeased everyone, but who the hell cares? These are books for teens, really. I really, really thought for a good while there that she was going to kill them all off and have them have a happily ever after in vampire heaven. Because that was kind of a question that lingered through the series--do vampires have an after-afterlife? And at one point in Breaking Dawn Meyer had Bella thinking that if there was an afterlife she could spend with Edward then that would be her "happily-ever-after." Considering that I had already seen that the title of the last chapter was "Happily-ever-after" I was sure everyone was going to die. So I was pleased that everyone didn't die. IT'S OKAY FOR BOOKS TO END HAPPILY, ISN'T IT?

My only complaint is in the biology (how can Edward get a stiffy IF HE HAS NO CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM?), but I can easily get over that. Suspend belief.

I think that people who have serious problems with this book and the whole series need to lighten up. They're inherently silly books, really. I read them for pure entertainment value and I'm glad that the entertainment aspect of them was preserved in the finale.

Well played, Stephenie Meyer. Well played.

Lindsey's Grade: A-

2008-08-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Chit Chat

2008-04-11T11:21:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about book series and what it is that makes a reader continue on in a series. I read a lot of romance novels and a lot of authors within the genre write in series, or at least have characters that are interconnected. What I am not sure about is whether I continue reading in a series because of some strange obligation I feel or because I genuinely like the writing and the stories.

I have to admit, sometimes I feel like I buy books just because they are the next one in the series. Even though I really like her books, sometimes I have felt that way about Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. I really liked The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, but I wasn't crazy about The Deception of the Emerald Ring. So what made me continue? Ultimately I think it was the contemporary story that Willig weaves and spreads out through all her books.

And there are some series that I have to read just because I love the writing and that makes me auto-buys for me. I know a lot of people don't like her, but Stephanie Laurens is like that for me. I don't care what the plot of a particular book is. If it's a Cynster or Bastion Club book, I'll buy it.

I do so many auto-buys on a familiar series that I was concerned that I'm being suckered into buying books that aren't very good just because I read the first one. So I was very pleased with myself when I finally, finally gave up on Eloisa James after Desperate Duchesses. I started out really liking her books, but the last two books before Desperate Duchesses didn't appeal to me at all. After reading the first in her Duchess series, I finally found the willpower to say "no more." It was hard, but I did it.

And then there are books like the Twilight series that I not only love, but I have to read so I can know what happens to the characters! It's very hard to put a series down when there is no real conclusion until the last one.

I'm trying to figure this all out because I'm contemplating continuing on with the vampire series I started out of curiosity/for experiement's sake. I have nothing else to read as far as novels go, at the moment. But I don't know if I should spend the money. I wouldn't mind hearing the stories of the other characters, but am I going to regret it if I commit to five more books?

So I guess I'm just curious--how do you approach series?

Book Reviews

2008-04-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've read all these books in the past few months. And honestly, they were all pretty good. No major complaints.

Book Review: Dark Lover

2008-04-10T14:31:00.001-07:00

Since in the past I have ranted and raved about how much I hate the influx of vampire/paranormal stories into the romance genre, I was a little concerned that I had been too hasty in my condemnation when I discovered I loved a series of books about teenage vampires. So I decided to do a little experiment and yesterday I bought a vampire romance novel that is part of a series that has generated a lot of positive talk in the romance fan world.

Turns out, I'm still not crazy about vampires. The vampires in Dark Lover are very different from the ones in the Twilight series. Indeed, the whole vampire world is different.

I prefer the Twilight version.

Not that this book was bad. In fact, it was entertaining. But I couldn't help but think that I would have liked the vampire hero just as much if not more if he were human.

It's good to know that my original instincts were correct. Phew.

Book Reviews: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse

2008-04-07T14:20:00.001-07:00

I never in a million years would have thought that I would write a raving review about teenage vampire books, but here I am. Perhaps you have heard of these books: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Apparently they are bestsellers. The last book in the series is Breaking Dawn and it comes out in August. I CAN'T WAIT!

I think that part of the reason I enjoy these books so much is because they are set in Forks, Washington, which is on the Olympic Peninsula for those of you that don't know. A lot of scenes also take place in La Push, and I've been to both places. I love, love, love western Washington so reading about these places that I know and like is pretty cool.

The main character in Twilight is a seventeen year old girl names Isabella (Bella) Swan. Bella has lived her whole life with her mother in Phoenix, but when her mom gets remarried to a professional baseball player who travels a lot, Bella moves to Forks to live with her father, Charlie. In Forks she meets Edward Cullen, an incredibly handsome seventeen year old who is the member of a mysterious family in town, the Cullens. It doesn't take long before Bella discovers that Edward and his family are, in fact, vampires!

But the Cullens are unique vampires. Their patriarch, Carlisle, "created' all of them and taught them to live a "vegetarian" lifestyle, which essentially means that they don't drink human blood, only animal blood. They still crave human blood, and as it turns out, Edward happens to crave Bella's blood even more than the average person. Which makes the fact that they fall in love with each other pretty interesting...

But there are other bad vampires out there in the world and when three of them wander into Forks and find Bella hanging out with the Cullens, they're intrigued. And one of them wants Bella. How far will the Edward and his family go to protect Bella, and will it be enough? Ooooohhhh....

New Moon picks up a few months after where Twilight leaves off. This is actually my favorite of the three books that are out so far. Without giving too much away, I will say that there are some really interesting plot twists that occur in this book and that set up the rest of the series. Specifically worth mentioning is Jacob Black, a family friend of Bella's who is a sixteen year old member of the Quileute Indian Tribe in La Push. Tribal legend has told of members who turn into werewolves when vampires are around the community, as well of an ancient treaty between the tribe and the "vegetarian" vampires (i.e., the Cullens). Well, turns out the legends are true! And young Jacob turns into a werewolf, the mortal enemy of the vampires. How is Bella supposed to handle the feud between her true love, Edward, and her best friend, Jacob? Ooooohhhh.... (Tons of other important stuff happens, but I don't to give it away.)

Now we get to Eclipse, the most recently published book. This book is hard to describe without giving too much away about New Moon. There are things about Eclipse that makes me not like it as much as the other two books, but at the same time Meyer does some stuff here that is pretty intriguing. I didn't like what she did, but you know, sometimes your characters have a life of their own and a writer can't really control it. Maybe Meyer planned it all out, but there's a part of me that thinks that a natural progression occurred beyond her control. Let's just say that things get pretty complicated for Bella here. Vampires, werewolves, true love... that's a lot for an eighteen year old to handle.

I can't say why I like these books so much. It's not the vampires because I'm still pretty ambivalent about vampires, but Meyer is just a good storyteller. I care about these characters and feel like I'm a part of their lives. And she's set things up so that there is a really compelling story going on here (partly because Edward is going to be seventeen forever and Bella is... not. Can you tell where this is going?) I don't know how she is going to wrap all of this up in Breaking Dawn but I already feel like she can go a number of different ways and still have it be satisfying.

My one little gripe about these books has to do with the romantic relationship between Bella and Edward, and especially the developments in New Moon. I understand that they love each other and all that, but look, I've been seventeen and in love, too. I too was convinced that it was going to be forever, but as it turns out, it wasn't. There's a part of me that is concerned about the message that these books send about teenage relationships, but I'm trying to ignore that because, well, one of the teenagers is a vampire that was born in 1901, so he's been around the block. Maybe it's possible to fall eternally in love when you're seventeen if the person you fall in love with is a vampire, because really, that's a pretty special circumstance. And heck, I'd be in love with Edward Cullen, too.

I am really getting into Young Adult books, now, I don't know why. I kind of think that I have a Peter Pan complex, though. Young Adult books, High School Musical movies and music, teeny-bopper films, The Disney Channel shows... What's wrong with me?

Book Review: The Far Sweet Thing

2008-03-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't enjoy this book as much as Rebel Angels, but I still liked it.

In this third and final installment of the Gemma Doyle triology, Gemma is starting to come into her own as she is forced to deal with all the creates of the Realms since she is now the sole holder of the magic. (Sorry, that was a spoiler.)

There are some things that annoyed me in this book, too. Mainly all the time spent in the Realms and how Gemma was sooooo dumb for sooooo long about her friend Pippa. (I know, this review is useless to anyone who hasn't read the book. Oh well.) Part of the reason why I liked Rebel Angels so much is that most of the book took place in London instead of at Spence Academy, so there was a lot more going on. And there weren't really any surprises left for The Far Sweet Thing as most of those had been resolved in Rebel Angels. so I felt like I was just waiting to see what would happen for most of this book instead of being actively engaged in the story.

Anyhoo, that's all I have to say. Not a bad trilogy.

Book Review: Rebel Angels

2008-03-27T12:40:00.001-07:00

(Hey! I'm back! Once I finished with that pesky Moot Court stuff I had time to read again!)

I read the prequel to this book, A Great and Terrible Beauty, over a year ago, and I bought this one not long after. But I wasn’t really crazy about the first book so I put off reading this one until just a few weeks ago. I was rather surprised to discover that I liked this one much more!

These books center around the life of sixteen (then later seventeen) year old Gemma Doyle around 1895. Gemma grew up in India with her British parents, but after her mother died a mysterious death she and her family moved back to England and Gemma was enrolled in Spence Academy for Young Girls. It is at Spence that Gemma starts having mysterious visions and learns about a group of women sorceresses called The Order. The background information is all set up in the first book, so maybe that’s why I felt it was dry. By the second book Bray was really able to delve into the secrets of The Order and The Realms (a magical world that only members of The Order are able to access).

There are a lot of things about Gemma that annoyed me at first--mainly that she has an uncanny ability to trust the wrong people. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that is probably very true to life. A young girl without a mother who suddenly finds herself possessing magical powers and being hailed as the next High Priestess would probably be a little confused. Moreover, she is so young and faces so many tough choices and responsibilities that she was probably overwhelmed!

By the way, I should mention that these are YA (young adult) books, but I don’t really care. I AM STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO READ YA WITHOUT SHAME, DAMN IT.

Anyway, if you like books that have magic and stuff you might like this series.

Book Links

2008-03-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Pleasures and Perils of Chasing Book Thieves

Q & A with author Tracy Chevalier

The Fug Girls try not to discuss books. Their new book is out now.

An upcoming reading challenge. I'm thinking of trying at least one this year and this one may be it.

Booking Through Thursday - Hero

2008-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead character?

Well, I can say that I don't have any favorites. I rarely read books with male lead characters--sorry. I finished reading His Dark Materials and I enjoyed Will's character more than Lyra. His maturity level and common sense kept me interested in the book. If he wasn't introduced in book two I most likely would have stopped reading since I began to find the story dull.

I enjoyed reading Harry Potter and watching his character develop over the years. I remember struggling with his character development at times, thinking he was too selfish or overconfident, and realizing that it bothered me. I think it was the first time I had been so involved with a character, like a friend, that I was concerned.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

2008-03-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891)

First, check out the painting that was on the cover of my book. It alone caused me to want to read this book. She looks so sad. The painting, by Francis Danby, is called "Disappointed Love". I find it haunting.

I will admit that I am a thief. I have had a high school copy of this book since 9th grade Honors English. I can remember glancing at the book thinking it looks too hard to read. It's not. In fact I loved it. I'm actually surprised since I usually don't enjoy fiction, let alone classical fiction. Tess is hands down the most depressing character I have ever met in a book. Nothing goes well for Tess. She was deceived by a man at an early age and works so hard to bring herself out of poverty and despair, but soon finds herself back in it. I hated Angel Care, Tess's husband. I hated that he could have premarital sex and yet not forgive Tess for being raped as a teenager. Stupid men. I also despised him when he asked another woman to run away with him after not being able to forgive Tess. This was while still being married to Tess. Even though he doesn't go through with it he still is scum in my mind. Her rapist, Alec, also is a piece of work. A lot happens in this book and I don't want to ruin the ending for future readers **AHEM, LINDSEY AHEM**.
This is not a happy novel. It is the kind of book which makes you reflect upon humanity and a woman's role in society. It also reminds one to be grateful for what they have.

Kim's Grade: A

Almanac of the Dead update

2008-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

Remember when I spoke about my reading goal for the year? Well, a correction is needed. The book is only 762 pages, not over a 1000 pages long. This surprised me because I've been able to speed through other lengthy books like Anna Karenina and the Harry Potter series. But this book takes forever.

First let me describe the layout of the book. There are six parts with a total of 19 books within the parts.
The first part takes place in the United States. We are in Tucson at Zeta's house where we meet several key(?) characters. Ferro is the son Lecha abandoned and Zeta claimed. He is obsessed with guns. Paulie is the attack dog caretaker and an ex-con. Lecha is addicted to Demerol, codeine and is a well-known psychic, dying of cancer.
Sterling, the gardener, left his rez and accidentally goes to Tucson. He subscribes to Police Gazette and True Detective magazines. He mentions the story of loss of the Stone Idols and the "finding" of them later in a museum. This loss has been difficult for his reservation. "Found" artifacts have always been an interesting argument of ownership. Should the artifacts be returned to the original owners? Or should they be kept on display? How can you even argue ownership? The dispute over how artifacts are given, sold, stolen, etc alone is questionable.
Lecha was returning to Tucson to get things in order before her death. She hired Seese to aid her in transcribing her old notebooks into a word processor and to act as a nurse if anyone should question the drugs or injections. Seese is a recovering(?) coke addict who takes the job because she wants Lecha (the psychic) to find her baby.

Sounds like a classic episode of Maury Povich if you ask me.

I have a feeling this one sentence has set up the rest of the novel, "Nothing happens by accident here". We shall certainly see!

Library of Lost Dreams

2008-02-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

I'm behind in my reviews. Sorry. I do have an interesting story on an abandoned Detroit School Book Depository. Its worth reading and viewing the photographs. I was amazed.

The Feminine Mystique

2008-02-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan 1963

I tried, I really did. I've wanted to read this book for such a long time and when I finally settled down to read it I found that I couldn't. I had difficulty getting into her use of language. We just don't talk like that anymore, nor do we read that way either.

Another issue I had was that Friedan was preaching to the choir. I understand her perspective. I still find her overall argument relevant today. I see women turning to Oprah, book clubs, gyms, shopping, cooking classes as ways of finding themselves. Granted this isn't the entirety of Friedan's message it is a portion of it.

I feel horrible that I couldn't finish this. I mean, I graduated with a BA in Women's Studies and I can't finish such a pivotal work in Women's Studies! Something must be wrong with me. There are just so many books I want to read that I've got to put my foot down at times in order to spend my time reading something else. Don't you ever find yourself doing that?

Interview with Haruki Murakami

2008-02-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

I received 14 books for Valentine's Day one of which is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I've wanted to delve into his writing for some time now and have heard this is a good place to start. The plot sounds fascinating:

"The story begins with the disappearance of Toru Okada's wife's cat, which is immediately followed by the disappearance of the wife, herself. Mild-mannered Toru sets out to find out where they went and why. He discovers much more than he bargained for: a precocious teenager, a pair of psychic sisters, a haunted veteran of Japan's war in Manchuria, a perfectly corrupt politician, and a strangely appealing well in a neighbor's yard. In his quest, Toru only succeeds in raising more perplexing questions, but his discoveries do shed startling light on the roots of the Japanese malaise." (Powell's)

While surfing various Japanese pop culture sites I found an interview with Murakami. They are rare since Murakami is a very shy, private man. So here are the links to the four part interview. Its well worth the read.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The Geography of Bliss

2008-01-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

I want to read this book, but our library doesn't have it and I'm not about to spend 25 smacks on a book. I know, I'm cheap. I have enjoyed this review though, and its just enough to hold me over until I breakdown and buy it. The review was on Powell's Book Review of the Day. I love that site!

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

by Eric Weiner

Happy Talk
A Review by Daniel Gilbert

In the last two decades, psychologists and economists have learned a lot about happiness, including who's happy and who isn't. The Dutch are, the Romanians aren't, and Americans are somewhere in between. Eric Weiner -- a peripatetic journalist and self-proclaimed grump -- wanted to know why. So with science as his compass, he spent a year visiting the world's most and least happy places, and the result is a charming, funny and illuminating travelogue called The Geography of Bliss.

From the Persian Gulf to the Arctic Circle, Weiner discovers that happiness blooms where we least expect it. Who knew that the long, dark Icelandic winter gives rise to a magical, communal culture that has done away with envy and sobriety? Or that the Thais so prize "fun" that their government has created a Gross Domestic Happiness Index to ensure they get enough of it? Or that Moldovans are miserable because they "derive more pleasure from their neighbor's failure than their own success"? Or that the wealthy citizens of Qatar lead pampered, joyless lives in a "gilded sandbox" while the poor citizens of Bhutan are cheerfully obsessed with archery tournaments, penis statues and feeding marijuana to their fat (and presumably happy) pigs?

But Weiner does more than report on the lifestyles of the delighted and despondent. He participates -- meditating in Bangalore, visiting strip clubs in Bangkok and drinking himself into a stupor in Reykjavik. These cultural forays are entertaining, but the real focus of his story is on the people he meets in cafÃƒÂ©s and on buses, the people who rent him rooms and give him directions, the people whose conversations, confessions and silences reveal the deep truths about their lands and lives.

Weiner asks an Icelander whether he believes in elves, and the man replies, "I don't know if I believe in them, but other people do and my life is richer for it," leading Weiner to conclude that Icelanders "occupy the space that exists between not believing and not not believing. It is valuable real estate." He meets a widower in Slough -- a small town outside London with little to recommend it -- who explains that he's thought about moving away but that in the end "you come home because this is where you live." Weiner realizes that when our relationships end, "the place is all that remains, and to leave would feel like a betrayal....He doesn't love Slough, but he loved his wife, loved her here, in this much-maligned Berkshire town, so here he stays." Memory, like bliss, seems to have its own address.

Weiner has studied the scientific literature on happiness, too, and weaves it into his narrative, which he leavens with a steady stream of clever quips. We learn that "Bhutan has made tremendous strides in the kind of metrics that people who use words like metrics get excited about" and that "hairpin turns, precipitous drop-offs (no guardrails), and a driver who firmly believes in reincarnation make for a nerve-racking experience."

Weiner, a correspondent for National Public Radio, is an American who unapologetically indulges his ethnic stereotypes ("Watching Brits shed their inhibitions is like watching elephants mate. You know it happens, it must, but it's noisy, awkward as hell and you can't help but wonder: Is this something I really need to see?"), but if you want to wag a politically correct finger in his direction, you'll have to stop laughing first.

Weiner's book is so good that its occasional flaws stand out in sharp relief. He is smart and funny but doesn't always trust his readers to know that, which leads him to step on his punch lines and belabor his conclusions. Sometimes, he settles for clichÃƒÂ©s ("Happiness is a choice") and platitudes ("Some things are beyond measuring") instead of reaching for richer and subtler insights. And while he expertly brings us into the lives of every stranger on a train, he plays his own cards close to the chest. He tells us a lot about his obsession with satchels, for instance, but only in passing does he mention that he's a father. After traveling so long and so far together, we should know him better than that.

One of the ineluctable laws of travel is that most companions are beguiling at the beginning and annoying by the end. Weiner's company wears surprisingly well. It takes a chapter or two to decide you like him, and another to realize that you like him a lot, but by the time the trip is over, you find yourself hoping that you'll hit the road together again someday. The Geography of Bliss is a journey too good to be rare.

Hmm....

2008-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here is something interesting. I don't know what I think quite yet.

Book Review: Captain Jack's Woman

2008-01-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Pretty much your standard Stephanie Laurens. I enjoyed this book. 'Nuff said.

Book Review: Shadow Music

2008-01-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, one thing is for certain. Okay, two things. The first is that Julie Garwood's writing is just not the same as it was during the first half of her career. And by not the same I mean not as enjoyable. But the second thing is that despite the fact that I don't like her recent stuff, she is still much better at historical novels than contemporaries.

Shadow Music is Garwood's first historical since Ransom and her voice is just so much more better suited for this kind of book. I don't really want to write a long review, so I'll just say that this book is about a Highlander laird and an English lady (like most of her books). There were some things I didn't like about it, particularly how the romance seemed a little hurried, but overall I thought it was alright. It was coherent and interesting, in my opinion. But at the same time, I wouldn't have bought the hardcover if I hadn't have purchased it with a gift certificate.

Lindsey's Grade: C

Book Review: The Winter Rose

2008-01-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book, honestly. I found the plot engrossing and the 700 pages went pretty quickly, but at the same time I had some problems.

This book starts in 1900 London with the graduation of India Selwyn Jones from a female medical school. She grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic family, but is somewhat estranged from her family because of her decision to pursue medicine. India is determined to make a difference in the poorer parts of London, particularly the East End, but once she starts working she realizes that she knows nothing about the people there. The high morals standards and health habits that she'd been taught and had been preaching didn't seem to have much place in Whitechapel. It takes a while for her to realize that, and she does it with the help of Sid Malone, the most infamous crime lord in the East End.

When India was young she lost the boy that she loved in tragic circumstances, so she is determined never to love like that again. That's the reason why she settles and accepts the proposal of her childhood friend, Freddie, a young MP who is blazing a trail for himself through Westminster. But Sid Malone makes her feel things that Freddie never did, and suddenly India starts to believe that Sid might be worth taking another chance on.

There is way, way more going on in this book, but I don't want to to give too much of it away. I was really impressed by the effort that went into the plotting, and Donnelly clearly has a real talent for coming up with gripping stories. But at the same time this book was filled with so many coincidences that it was just hard to believe all of them. After reading this book you would think that there were only a dozen people living in London's East End in 1900 because of the rather remarkable connections between all of these people. But I've read The Classic Slum. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case. When those coincidences and connections start spanning the globe, it gets even more ridiculous, I thought. But hey, it is a novel, so I guess I can excuse that for the sake of entertainment.

My other complaint is Donnelly's writing style. I always hesitate to criticize the writing style of the authors I review because I know I could never in my wildest dreams do what they go, so who am I to judge? At the same time, there is something to be said about a writer who can tell you something without coming out and telling you in a sentence that looks like something a third grader would diagram (noun, verb, etc.). Donnelly isn't quite to that point in her own writing because there were so many blunt statements that lacked any kind of lyrical quality which I consider to be the mark of fine writing. This is only her third book and only her second adult novel (she wrote a YA novel as well). I really think my complaints in that department have more to do with that than anything else. I'm sure that a couple books down the road she will really have come into herself because this book shows a lot of talent.

So in conclusion, I'd say that this was an engrossing historical novel that I enjoyed reading, but it was far from flawless.

Lindsey's Grade: B

NPR and Nancy Pearl

2008-01-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here is another NPR Book Lust interview with Nancy Pearl. I have always enjoyed her recommendations. I also like the idea that I could visit her when in Seattle.

Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl returns with another set of what she calls "under-the-radar" books — titles you really, really should be reading but haven't (yet). The latest batch features the story of three royal cousins, tales of wild animal adventures and a pun-filled picture book for younger readers.

'King, Kaiser, Tsar'

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King, Kaiser, Tsar by Catrine Clay, hardcover, 432 pages

Although I was vaguely aware of the interconnectedness of the European royal families, I never really appreciated quite how close they actually were until I delved into Catrine Clay's eminently readable biography, King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War. Making excellent use of newly translated and recently discovered letters and other materials, Clay explores the events, both personal and public, that led up to World War I, focusing on the lives of the three cousins of her title: George, who became King of England, Nicky, destined to become Tsar of All the Russias after the death of his father, Alexander, and Wilhelm (known as William to his English relatives), who grew up to be the final Kaiser of Germany.

To what extent did the characters of these three men lead inexorably to the war? Of what significance were other, more impersonal, factors? Did the very forms of government in their respective countries make war likely, if not inevitable? As Clay makes clear, despite the physical distances that separated them as they were growing up, the three developed close relationships with one another. They spent vacations together, "visited each other's homes, played together, celebrated each other's birthdays, danced with each other's sisters, and later attended each other's weddings. They were tied to one another by history, and history would tear them apart." She comes to the conclusion that "the relationships between the three, their personal likes and dislikes, did indeed contribute to the outbreak of hostilities." This is an excellent choice for both fans of biography and history.

'Cold Comfort Farm'

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Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, paperback, 256 pages

Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm has the mixed blessing of being among the very few books that have been made into equally good films. But, even if you've seen the movie (with Kate Beckinsale and Rufus Sewell among the stellar cast of characters), don't let that deter you from reading the book (which, however good the movie, still has something more to offer) — it's quite simply one of the funniest satirical novels of the last century. When Flora Poste is orphaned at the age of 20, leaving her an income of a paltry hundred pounds a year on which to survive, she decides to go live with her relatives, the Starkadders, at Cold Comfort, their dilapidated, perennially failing farm in Sussex, located just outside the town of Howling.

There she discovers one extremely quirky family. Aunt Ada Doom, her mother's sister, has pretty much refused to come out of her bedroom for almost seven decades, ever since the day that she saw "something nasty in the woodshed." And Aunt Ada Doom's children and grandchildren are not much better. Flora's cousin Judith is depressed (well, who wouldn't be, in such a situation?), while Amos, Judith's husband, ignores the farm in favor of the hell-and-damnation preaching he does for the Church of the Quivering Brethren. Their three children, Seth, Reuben, and Elfine, are equally eccentric, each in his or her own way. Then there's Adam, the handyman, who uses a twig to wash dishes with and adores the cows he milks, whose names happen to be Graceless, Pointless, Feckless and Aimless.

Once Flora gets the lay of the land, so to speak, she decides that she could manage her relatives' lives better than they've been doing themselves — and she takes it upon herself to do so. How she succeeds — or not — in clearing Cold Comfort Farm of the gloominess and foreboding that envelops it (and whether we ever learn what it was that Aunt Ada Doom saw in the woodshed all those years ago) makes for a deliciously entertaining read.

'The Animal Dialogues'

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The Animal Dialogues by Craig Childs, hardcover, 336 pages

I have long been a huge fan of Craig Childs' nature writing, and I was delighted to discover his newest offering, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild. This is a book to read slowly and savor, accompanying Childs one chapter at a time as he travels through the rain forest of Washington's Olympic Peninsula to the Arizona desert, from the mountains of Colorado to the rapids of the Colorado River, from Alaska to New Mexico, and sharing his experiences — vicariously, of course — with the animals he meets along the way. (I have to say that, for much of this book, I was in a state of extreme anxiety on Childs' behalf though he seems to have undertaken the (to me) daunting excursions described here with no more worry than I might feel, say, crossing a street against the light. At times, I felt there needed to be a warning label on the book: "Author is a trained professional. Do not try this on your own." But then, I have never claimed to be an outdoorsy sort of gal, and perhaps I was overreacting.)

There are sections on a wide variety of animal life: the Great Blue Heron and the Blue Shark, ravens, coyotes, camels, owls, and jaguars, to name just a few. If I had to choose my three favorite chapters, they would include the description of Childs' mostly futile attempts to get rid of the (uninvited) mice that are sharing his tipi (where he lived for quite a while) in the snowy Colorado mountains; his tense standoff with a mountain lion (even knowing, obviously, that the author survived didn't keep this part from being a heart-pounding experience for me); and his discussion of grizzly bears, which includes this marvelous description: "Most animals show themselves sparingly. The grizzly bear is six to eight hundred pounds of smugness. It has no need to hide. If it were a person, it would laugh loudly in quiet restaurants, boastfully wear the wrong clothes for special occasions, and probably play hockey." Pick the species you want to know more about and read on.

'I Capture the Castle'

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I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, paperback, 352 pages

American readers probably know the British writer Dodie Smith best — if they know her at all — as the author of the book The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which was made into the popular 1961 Disney animated film. (As entertaining as the movie is, the book is much better.) In I Capture the Castle, first published in 1948, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain begins her account of her family's life in a dilapidated castle with these lines: "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." And write she does, all about her unpredictable, often irascible father, who published one critically acclaimed novel many years ago but developed a terrible writer's block and has been unable to produce anything since; her stepmother, Topaz, an artist's model who loves to commune with nature sans clothing; her older sister, Rose, who dreams of escaping the family's poverty; her younger brother, Thomas, who together with Cassandra schemes to get their father back to writing; and Stephen, the orphan (son of their deceased housekeeper) raised by the Mortmains. But when an American family moves into the estate next door, life for each of the Mortmains, as well as Stephen, changes in dramatic ways. Cassandra continues writing, through heartache and happiness, giving us a book that's perfect for any woman with even a scintilla of romance in their hearts, from the ages of 12 to 112.

'Wise Children'

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Wise Children by Angela Carter, paperback, 240 pages

If it's true that, as Homer (and others) have said, "it's a wise child that knows its own father," then septuagenarian identical twins Nora and Dora Chance can be called wise. Unfortunately, as Dora relates in Angela Carter's Wise Children, she and her sister have never been able to persuade Melchior Hazard, the man they know to be their father (Grandma Chance told them), and the finest Shakespearean actor of the 20th century, to admit — publicly or privately — his paternity. Instead, he refers to them as his nieces, daughters of his twin brother, Peregrine, adventurer and bon vivant. (Just to complicate matters, Saskia and Imogen, the twin girls who believe that Melchior is their father, and vice versa — he was married to their mother, after all — are mistaken. They're actually Peregrine's daughters. Two other sets of twins in the Chance-Hazard extended clan also make brief appearances here. It's all somewhat like a play by Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde.)

Illusion and reality blend in this novel as it ranges from the vaudeville halls of the 1890s to Hollywood in the 1930s to the British home front during World War II, from the death of Dora and Nora's mother immediately following their birth to their singing and dancing childhood and adolescence under the benign, loving, and frequently inebriated eye of Grandma Chance. The last, priceless scene takes place at Melchior's 100th birthday party (which happens to be Dora and Nora's 75th birthday as well). Carter was a brilliant writer, and in this, her wickedly entertaining final novel before her untimely death at age 52, there are numerous quotable sentences to savor: Grandma Chance's toast as she downs a glass of the bubbly: "Champagne to all here, real pain to the other bastards," Dora's assertion that "comedy is tragedy that happens to other people," and "It is every woman's tragedy that after a certain age, she looks like a female impersonator."

'By George'

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By George by Wesley Stace, hardcover, 400 pages

In By George, author Wesley Stace weaves together the life stories of two different Georges — one is human and the other is a wooden ventriloquist's dummy. In 1973, 11-year-old George Fisher, who comes from a long line of show-business folks, is sent off to boarding school because his famous actress mother is going on an extended tour starring in Peter Pan. George is heartsick at being separated from his adored mother, but he can't bear the thought of leaving his beloved 93-year-old great-grandmother, Evangeline, who once performed as a successful ventriloquist, and bequeathed that talent to her son, George's grandfather, Joe.

School is just as bad as George fears, until he's befriended by the headmaster and by the school's groundskeeper, who presents him with a how-to book on ventriloquism, a gift that will change the direction of George's life. Meanwhile, the wooden George relates his own experiences of working with George's grandfather, especially those years during World War II when the two, ventriloquist and dummy, were sent overseas to entertain the British troops. Neither of the two Georges is aware of the existence of the other, until a series of events brings them together and forces long-buried family secrets to come to light. This inventive novel rewards the reader with its intelligence, its wit, its poignancy, and its splendid writing. By George, I loved this book!

'Gimme Cracked Corn'

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Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share by Kevin O'Malley, hardcover, 32 pages

You can always count on Kevin O'Malley for an entertaining picture book — his Little Buggy has long been a favorite of mine. But even by the standard of his past work, Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share is something special. In the spirit of the book and its barnyard setting, I'd go so far as to say that it's something eggstra special. Although it's clearly aimed at 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds who are just beginning to appreciate the possibilities of language and the pleasures of playing with words, this groanworthy, pun-filled picture book will delight the grownups in their lives, as well.

"One night," the book begins, "Chicken had a dream. He dreamed that in a beautiful barn, buried under a great pink pig, was a treasure of cracked corn — all the corn that any chicken could ever want." When he tells his friend George, George says, "You must be yolking," and "What are you — a comedi-hen?" Nevertheless, when Chicken sets out the next morning to follow his dream, George agrees to go with him, explaining that he's been "feeling a little cooped up lately." An adventure, and further wordplay, ensues. Readers, young and old, will get every yolk and probably cackle with amusement as they follow Chicken and George's eggstrordinarily entertaining adventure.

'Fowl Weather'

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Fowl Weather by Bob Tarte, hardcover, 306 pages

If you're longing for a book that will make you laugh out loud, then run, don't walk, to the nearest library or bookstore and pick up a copy of Bob Tarte's Fowl Weather. There are animal lovers, and then there are REAL animal lovers, and then there's a higher class altogether, consisting of Bob and his wife, Linda, among very few others. (Among the others is Gerald Durrell – don't miss his comic masterpiece, My Family and Other Animals.) Just take a look at the (much necessary) cast of characters listed at the front of the book; it includes some human animals, true, but it's primarily animals who are winged, feathered and furred.

Whether he's engaged in an altercation with a duck, dealing with a master gardener who doesn't know his flowers from his weeds, hand-feeding a spider, worrying over the health of Stanley Sue, an African Grey parrot, fretting over Bertie the Bunny's missing puff of a tail, extricating himself from a pesky former classmate who somehow knows the fate of everyone in their old elementary school, as well as unsavory facts about Linda's now long dead pig, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, or trying to cope with his dad's death and his mother's growing dementia, Bob's tone is self-deprecating, humorous, and totally winsome.

Book Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

2008-01-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

People love this book. Even good people like those at the New York Public Library who named this one of the books of the century. The latter is what led me to read this book. I would also like to be able to say that I am somewhat versed in good literature. It took me awhile to get through. I found the plot somewhat slow. The story surrounds Francie's coming of age at the turn of the 20th century. In many respects it is similar to other coming of age books in that Francie struggles to learn who she really is in the midst of providing for her family.

I grew to identify with Francie in several ways. She stepped up to the challenge of helping her family instead of attending college. She kept her goal of a good education within focus even in times of hardship. She daydreamed and wrote stories that were never published. She was a voracious reader and lover of books. And she loved her troubled father.

In addition to identifying with Francie I found the description of Brooklyn in the early 1900's fascinating. The class structure, the marketplace, the types of labor mentioned led to a better understanding of the Brooklyn's economy up to WWI. The fact that Smith grew up in Brooklyn and drew upon her own experiences make this book all the better. I can definitely see why this would be an honored book of the century.

Kim's Grade: A A good, entertaining read for young women.

A Year of Almanac of the Dead: A Goal

2008-01-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned my disdain for "Year of" books? You know, the type of books where the narrator attempts to live a life without [insert noun] or attempts to live [insert adjective]? Well, I think its kind of stupid, and in ways shows a lack of creativity. So in an attempt to be uncreative (is that a word?) I am making it my 2008 goal to read Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko. This will be my third attempt, with the last attempt being a bet with Erik that I could finish it before him. I think there was a bar involved in the bet too but I can't remember...hmm....

The book is over a 1000 pages long and can be described as a Twin Peaks like soap opera. Jason just gave me back my copy and said that YES I SHOULD STRUGGLE UNTIL THE END. So, dear readers, we are about to begin my Year of Almanac of the Dead: A Goal. I will submit updates of my reading and utter confusion of the plot. I will attempt tree diagrams to understand the character connections. I will practice patience. I will succeed!

Nora Ephron and her Neck

2008-01-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

When I read that Nora Ephron wrote When Harry Met Sally I knew I had to read more from her. There are too many classic moments in that movie and it remains one of my favorites. However, I'm not sure if I like reading that style. I mean, I can watch the movie just fine. The dialogue is smooth and everything flows but I had a difficult time reading the same style that is found in I Feel Bad About My Neck. I'll also admit that while I found the stories humorous I'm not THAT old. There I said it. I'm not at the age where I have children and those said children are eighteen. I'm not at the age where my significant other has potentially left me for another. I'm not at the age where I feel bad about my neck. So I couldn't relate well enough to the stories. This isn't to say that there are those of you out there that may find this book entertaining. I think it would make a nice theater experience. I think it would make a nice gift for my mother. I think I sold it back to Powell's on a recent trip--so I suppose I should end this review.

Kim's Grade: B Read if older than I.

Book Review: Einstein Defiant

2008-01-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

If reading this book did anything for me, it reinforced my long-held belief that the physicists of the early twentieth century were some of the most brilliant people who have ever lived.

Niels Bohr once said that "anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." That quote is essentially what this book is about. The characteristics of quantum theory that Bohr found so shocking are precisely the same characteristics that Einstein so defiantly refused to accept. This book focuses on Einstein, but much of it is centered around disputes between the two giants of the quantum revolution, Einstein and Bohr. That's probably why the front cover of this book reads "Einstein Defiant" (obviously the title of the book), and the back cover reads "(Bohr Unyielding)."

I'm not going to pretend that I understand quantum theory—I don't. It's way over my head. When I took Modern Physics in undergrad I would frequently leave class and spend the walk to my next class crying in despair because I could not understand what was going on. (Why didn't I drop it, you ask? It was a graduation requirement, unfortunately.) My cousin used to complain about classes in which he could barely understand his foreign professors. Well, imagine a class where your professor didn't lecture with an accent, didn't just lecture in a different language, but lectured with something that isn't even verbal! Quantum theory is explained through mathematical equations, and I'm not a mathematician.

So in that respect I can sympathize with Einstein. The strength of this book lies in the way that Bolles reinforces the different views taken by Einstein and Bohr regarding physics. Neither of them were particular enamored of mathematics. Both saw math as a way to explain what was happening. But while Bohr was satisfied with mathematics merely describing a workable theory, Einstein wasn't satisfied until that theory could describe actual physical phenomena. It was perhaps Einstein's (only?) failure that he ended up on the wrong side of the debate. Modern physics seems to have accepted Bohr's stance that there is no physical reality that can be understood beyond the theory. (Bohr would say the complementary theory; Heisenberg said the Uncertainly Principle.)

I have a few complaints with the book, mainly that Bolles is overly and often annoyingly fond of analogies. After a while you get sick of them. But I can overlook all that for the excellent way he laid out the philosophical differences between Bohr and Einstein. I came away from this book with an enormous respect for Einstein, and my view of Bohr (who I often proclaim as my favorite scientist) was slightly marred, I must admit.

A minimal (if superficial, in my case) familiarity with physics and quantum theory is required to really enjoy this book, I think. But if you are a lover of scientific history like I am, and especially of early twentieth century physics like I am, you'll love this book. It describes the quantum revolution in terms of the personalities involved, which is always more interesting than the hard science, from a historical perspective anyway. All the big names are present: Einstein, Bohr, Schrodinger, Born, Planck, Heisenberg, Pauli, de Broglie, Lorentz, Compton, Dirac, etc.

Lindsey's Grade: B+

Book Review: A Kingdom of Dreams

2008-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me a lot of Julie Garwood's glory days. What romance fan doesn't love a story about a strong, brave warrior who just so happens to have a heart of gold and is vanquished by a woman?

Basically this book is about a young Scottish countess, Jennifer Merrick, who is kidnapped by soldiers of Royce Westmoreland, Earl of Claymore. Royce is a legendary English warrior nicknamed "The Black Wolf." Stories of his battlefield brutality abound. But of course, he is instantly captivated by the proud, stubborn, red-headed woman who is brought as a captive to his camp.

The story is pretty simplistic, but sometimes that's better. There's nothing absurd that gets in the way of the romance, and I appreciate that. I don't know why, but I didn't expect to like this book when I picked it up, so I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and enthusiastically I finished the book.

Lindsey's Grade: A-

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

2008-01-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

This book looks great. I was surprised to find a review of it in Ms. magazine because it sides on romance but maybe Ms. is loosening up a bit. As I was reading the review I was reminded of one of my favorite books, The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. The notion of a foreigner in new places, learning new cultures and new aspects of identity has always been a theme I've identified with, however this book looks heavenly as is.

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

Love in a Second Language
A Review by Gail Tsukiyama

In the last 20 years, the proliferation of Asian writers in Europe and the Americas has grown into a lovely chorus of voices, opening our eyes to the lives of people and cultures we've only known from a distance. Xiaolu Guo's debut English-language novel takes us a step further into the complicated landscape of the immigrant experience.

We immediately recognize the alienation of 23-year-old Zhuang Xiao Qiao, known as Z to Westerners who can't pronounce her name, as she arrives in London for a year to study English. Frightened and alone, her broken English no help when seeking housing from Arab landlords with equally limited language skills, Z finds London a "refuge" camp. Her parents, who own a shoe factory in rural China, believe their daughter will "make better life through Western education." What she will also receive is an education in love.

Z soon sees that "the loneliness in this country is something very solid, very heavy." In a city where everything is new and foreign, where the most precious reminders of her old life are gone, she gradually makes a place for herself, a process Guo cleverly describes through Z's steadily improving English. Word by word, month by month, her insight into this new culture grows until, at the cinema, she meets an older Englishman, a part-time sculptor, and embarks on a relationship that will change the way she sees the world.

What begins as a blossoming of love, sex and freedom gradually finds Z questioning the different ways in which each views their life together. Their relationship unravels when his growing need for solitude and his lack of commitment conflict with the closeness and community for which Z yearns. The collective society she left back in China values family and tradition; this Western concept of individuality and living only in the moment is hard for Z to understand. She is left to reconcile their essential difference: "'Love,' this English word: like other English words it has tense. 'Loved' or 'will love' or 'have loved.'...Love is time-limited thing. Not infinite....In Chinese, Love...has no tense. No past and future. Love in Chinese means a being, a situation, a circumstance. Love is existence, holding past and future."

In her quest to find herself in the West, Z realizes just how Chinese she is -- and that learning to speak a language doesn't necessarily mean being able to communicate. Guo, also a filmmaker, has written an inventive, often humorous and poignant story of a woman's journey over cultural and emotional borders. While books with similarly suggestive titles may fall into the chick-lit genre, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is so much more.