tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30809647387393394542024-03-12T20:10:53.201-04:00An Unexpected Book Blog...Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-33314963176232422322014-08-06T16:24:00.001-04:002014-08-06T16:24:33.478-04:00The End...Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
I'm sure you noticed that it's been about two months since I've posted a book review. In June, I was crazy with ending the school year and moving and then July has been all about settling into my new place and preparing for the end of summer arrival of our first baby. I've been reading a lot: Jennifer Weiner's newest, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Fall-Down-A-Novel/dp/145161778X">All Fall Down</a></i>, the first of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0440212561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407356450&sr=1-1&keywords=outlander">Outland<span id="goog_1062166064"></span><span id="goog_1062166065"></span>er</a> books, etc, but I just can't seem to keep up with blogging. I've lost the motivation. At first, I loved sharing book summaries and reviews with people. It has touched me so much when people told me they scroll through my blog to find new books to read. I'm really honored by all the viewers I've had. However, blogging has become a chore. It started to feel like I was required to do it and as my life got busier, I just did not have the time to devote to writing. I'm going to miss the idea of processing a book through reviewing it, as well as the connections I've made with readers, but I'll still be reading (well as much as a newborn will let me), and maybe some day I'll come back to writing about the books I've read.<br />
<br />
So thank you all for visiting my blog and keep reading!<br />
<br />
Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-76533433639573478852014-06-19T15:22:00.001-04:002014-06-19T15:22:25.970-04:00Bittersweet Review <img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378707056l/18339743.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<br />
<i>Bittersweet</i> follows Mabel Dagmar, a "plain" girl whose roommate in college is the gorgeous Genevra Winslow from a wealthy, blue-blooded family. Mabel unexpectedly becomes friends with Ev and is invited to spend the summer at the Winslow family compound, Winloch, in Vermont. For more than a century the Winslows have spent summers in Winloch, generations of gorgeous, blonde people with interesting names (Galway, Indo, Birch, etc). Mabel is desperate for the chance to escape her own family and dark secrets and moves into Ev's cottage, named Bittersweet, for the summer.<br />
<br />
The beginning of the summer goes well. Mabel and Ev are essentially alone in the compound before the whole family shows up. They clean Bittersweet from top to bottom for an "inspection" by her parents, which Ev insisted was necessary to Mabel staying for the summer. Mabel also has an embarrassing encounter early on that gets her noticed by Galway, Ev's older brother. Ev disappears frequently, off with a couple different men, including the family handyman, John. Left to her own devices, Mabel befriends Ev's younger sister Lu and her eccentric aunt, Indo, who sets much of Mabel's summer into motion by asking her to research some of the family history. There's a rare painting, a Van Gogh, that Indo claims belongs to her. However, Birch (Ev's father and Indo's brother) has the painting hung in his home. Indo essentially promises to leave her cottage to Mabel in exchange for learning some of the mysterious secrets about the family, a task that Mabel finds frustrating.<br />
<br />
Ev and John's relationship grows closer, although remains a secret from most of the family and Mabel is shocked when Ev reveals that she is pregnant and planning to run away with John. Around the same time, Mabel is drawn to Ev's older brother, Galway, who she launches into a passionate relationship with. She can't help but notice some of the strange elements at Winloch: Ev's mother's coldness, Indo's outcry against her brother's controlling ways, the bolts that are inside Ev and Indo's cottages, etc. Everything comes to a head one night in July when something horrible happens to one of the characters, sending Ev and Mabel into a total tailspin for the remainder of the summer and setting up their futures once and for all.<br />
<br />
All this time Mabel was desperate to be a part of this family, wishing to hide from her own past and longing for what she perceives as the comfort of beauty and wealth. However, she slowly starts to expose the dark secrets that haunt the Winslow family and her opinion of them will change forever. Question is, is it too late for her to escape? Despite being set during the summer on a lakeside compound, this definitely is a gothic novel. The characters aren't always likable and the pacing is uneven (sometimes way too slow and then a lot happens at once), but in general, it's a good novel for long, hot summer days. I definitely recommend it!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mirandabw.com/books/">Author Website </a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bittersweet-A-Novel-Miranda-Beverly-Whittemore/dp/0804138567">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bittersweet-miranda-beverly-whittemore/1116530675?ean=9780804138574">Barnes and Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-37702484031313287242014-06-17T14:58:00.004-04:002014-06-17T16:29:22.812-04:00Until You're Mine Review<img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377566412l/18240246.jpg" height="320" width="210" /><br />
<br />
Someone on amazon commented that a pregnant woman should not read this book. And as a pregnant woman who read the whole thing, I can say that is probably the case. However, I was in the mood for a thriller and this seemed like the perfect thing. Head's up: I am going to discuss the ending of the book so if you don't want spoilers, don't read beyond the "Spoilers Below" section. I'll do the basic intro first, though.<br />
<br />
The plot follows three different women: Claudia, Zoe and Lorraine. Claudia is towards the end of her first pregnancy. After suffering through many miscarriages and stillbirths, she is finally pregnant with a little girl. She is also the stepmother to young twin boys, whose mother died of cancer when they were newborns. Her husband, James, is a naval officer who spends much of his life at sea. She is a social worker who does not intend to give up her job after the baby is born. She and James decide to hire a nanny to help out at home.<br />
<br />
Zoe seems younger than she is (she's probably in her early 30s). She is perfectly competent with the boys and helpful around the house, but she is also nervous and skittish and comes off as a bit sketchy to Claudia, who is already nervous about relinquishing control around the house to Zoe. Something about her is definitely off to the reader. Both Claudia and Zoe's chapters are told in first person, but Claudia's perspective seems more honest and open than Zoe's... at least at first.<br />
<br />
The third point of view in the book is Lorraine, a detective coping with her husband's recent affair and her daughter's impulsive engagement at far too young an age. Lorraine and her husband (another detective) are investigating two gruesome attacks on pregnant women. In both cases, the child did not survive, but the second young woman did, although was unable to give too much information after her attack (I think it happened later in the book, if I'm remembering correctly). Lorraine's story is told in third person, and frankly to me seemed the most disconnected. I would have been more interested in her storyline if it had been more focused on the attacks on pregnant women, but she was caught up in her husband's infidelity and daughter's drama. I'm not sure if that was purposeful to direct the reader's attention away from the rest of the storyline, but it seemed like an unnecessary tangent, although the infidelity does end up being connected, albeit briefly, to one of the later reveals of the story.<br />
<br />
Reviewers on amazon gave this book great reviews. And I definitely liked it. The last line of the book, in particular, was haunting. Again, I found the change in voice (between first and third) was a bit odd, but in the end, it was interesting to see how the reader was fooled by the characters themselves, particularly Claudia and Zoe. The novel was suspenseful and had lots of twists and turns. As I said, the ending was quite a surprise. It wasn't a particularly challenging read but was engrossing and fast paced and I recommend it if you like thrillers.<br />
<br />
And now onto the spoilers. Do NOT keep reading if you do not want to know the ending.<br />
<br />
Zoe is definitely sketchy. She searches Claudia's home when Claudia is out, stumbling on her employer's box of sad mementos from her past pregnancies (this was very difficult for me to read having gone through seemingly endless fertility treatments and not being quite 20 weeks when I read this book) which ended in miscarriages and stillbirths. She also keeps trying to get into James' study to investigate something. It's unclear what. She also has a strange sister who is desperate for a child of her own. So it appears obvious that Zoe is behind the attacks on the pregnant women and that Claudia is next.<br />
<br />
Except that this is all a red herring to distract the author from Claudia. Claudia, who had access to these woman through her social services job. Claudia, who has faced devastation after devastation in her quest to have a child. Claudia, who is an extremely unreliable narrator, as the readers discover at the end, when she attacks her own friend in the hopes of stealing her daughter. Because, you see, Claudia isn't actually pregnant. She never was. She wore an expensive, custom made suit under all her clothes that mimicked pregnancy, even down to fetal movement. She told her husband, who was rarely around anyway, that sex was off the table due to her difficult history so he never knew. Claudia, who seemed so stable, was behind it all. And Zoe, who turns out was an undercover cop, came to the rescue just in time. She was investigating some financial situation involving James' late wife, which is why she was posing as the nanny. And the connection to Lorraine? Zoe was the one who'd had a brief affair with her husband.<br />
<br />
The creepiest line was at the very end, when Claudia is interviewed by the police. The first woman she attacked turned out to be having a boy, not a girl, which is what she told her husband she was having (ignoring the fact that ultrasounds aren't 100%). The second woman was having a child who was half black, so she couldn't pass her off as her own. And then finally, Claudia sighs and says, "do you want to hear about the others?" CREEPY!<br />
<br />
So who knows how long Claudia had been attacking other women. We never found out how often she had been pregnant before or if she had been previously married. I really felt for her husband and the twin boys she was raising with them. Claudia clearly was nuts all along but having gone through a lot to get pregnant, I can see how the desire for a child could drive you off the deep end.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I didn't love the idea of an unreliable narrator. I felt a little conned by the author but the story wouldn't have had such a shocking ending without that type of narrator. Definitely an exciting read.<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Until-Youre-Mine-Samantha-Hayes/dp/1780891482">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/until-youre-mine-samantha-hayes/1114284694?ean=9780804136891">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-75538694977180164752014-05-28T21:22:00.000-04:002014-05-28T21:22:15.242-04:00The Museum of Extraordinary Things Review<img src="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1392575125l/18144053.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<br />
I've only ever read one Alice Hoffman book, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_Magic_(novel)">Practical Magic</a></i>, and remembering not loving it, especially since the movie was so fun. I guess it was a little too wordy and literary for my college brain and I dismissed Hoffman as one of those literary writers whose plots disappear in wordiness. But the description of <i>The Museum of Extraordinary Things</i> was intriguing. I've never been super interested in US history, probably because my parents were obsessed with the Civil War while I prefer castles and anything pertaining to Hellenic or medieval history. But a few years ago, I taught electives on <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gangs_of_New_York_(book)">The Gangs of New York</a></i> and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime_(novel)">Ragtime</a> </i>and became interested in the history of New York City around the turn of the century. There are so many fascinating characters from Harry Houdini to PT Barnum who existed during that time (many historical figures are woven into <i>Ragtime's</i> narrative, which is a fantastic novel that I can't recommend enough).<br />
<br />
Anyway, <i>The Museum of Extraordinary Things</i> takes place in 1911 in Coney Island. The titular museum is owned by Professor Sardi, who displays "living wonders", including his daughter, Coralie, a gifted swimmer who happens to have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndactyly">webbed fingers</a> and can therefore pose as a mermaid. However, one summer, when she is a teenager, interest in her exhibit has waned and her father forces her to swim at night in the water around Manhattan, disguised as a mysterious monster so people will spread stories. One of those evenings, she is carried off course by the current, and ends up meeting a young, handsome photographer, Ezekiel Cohen, a former Orthodox Jew who abandoned his tailor father to follow his own destiny.<br />
<br />
The book takes place in the same year as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire">Triangle Shirtwaist Fire</a>, which forms the background of the novel's mystery. Ezekiel, who now goes by Eddie, is a photographer who ends up at the factory, photographing girls as they were rescued or leapt to their death to escape from the flames. Later, many families came to him to look at the pictures while they tried to identify their dead. One of the fathers who approaches Eddie is from his old neighborhood. He is sure his daughter did not die in the fire and asks Eddie to track her down.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, Coralie is being cruelly treated by her father, who forces her to perform lewd sexual acts in the tank where she performs as a mermaid during the day, in front of strange men. She is deeply unhappy and tries to investigate into her father's mysterious past. She is also continually forced to swim in the Hudson to pretend to be a monster to attract attention to his fading business.<br />
<br />
Eddie and Coralie eventually come face to face (which takes way too long) and immediately fall in love. Her father is an obstacle to their relationship, as is Eddie's obsession with the wealthy factory owners who he worked for as a child. All of these forces come together by the end of the book, tying together the missing girl, Coralie's father and the wealthy factory owners. The culminating moments of the book were drawn from actual history, when the amazing amusement park called <a href="http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/dreamlandfire.htm">Dreamland</a> in Coney Island caught fire and burned to the ground. This was probably one of the more exciting scenes in the book, made even more fascinating because the traumatic scene is part of New York's history.<br />
<br />
The writing itself was a bit odd. In each chapter, there was an italicized section that initially filled in both main character's backgrounds and childhood before launching into the main part of the story. This was interesting at first because the reader learned what made Eddie and Coralie who they were. But as the actual story moved forward, those italicized sections dragged a bit. Also, the mystery of the missing girl was solved pretty quickly and wasn't as exciting as I thought they would be.<br />
<br />
I think this book had an interesting premise and I really enjoyed reading about New York in this time period, but a lot of the momentum of the novel got lost in literary flourishes. Still, I think it was a good read, if you're not expecting a super gripping and exciting plot that is a bit slow at times.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/books/review/alice-hoffmans-museum-of-extraordinary-things.html">NY Times Review</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Museum-Extraordinary-Things-Novel/dp/1451693567">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-museum-of-extraordinary-things-alice-hoffman/1115884807?ean=9781451693584">Barnes and Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-83294303053990715502014-04-15T14:52:00.001-04:002014-04-15T14:52:06.424-04:00The Thoughts & Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals Review<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WK6lgxSpP_4/UDM2-RavYtI/AAAAAAAAAc8/KkRSkFEsJyQ/s320/wilfred.jpg" height="320" width="209" /><br />
<br />
This book got great reviews, but personally I found it a little boring. The title is what my husband refers to as a "Dorothy title" - long, ridiculous and probably British. And he's entirely correct. I forgot how I stumbled onto it but the title and synopsis immediately appealed to me. A comedy of manners set in Wales during the 1920's? Perfection! But then, not quite. I found this book to drag until about halfway through and then it just got odd.<br />
<br />
Wilfred Price is a young funeral director living in the small town of Narbeth, in South Wales. On a picnic one day, he is overcome by his companion, Grace Reeves', beauty and spontaneously proposes. She accepts and not long after, he panics. He quickly tells her that he doesn't really want to marry her, especially after her meets Flora, a young woman grieving for the recent loss of her father (whose funeral brings the couple together) and the long ago death of her fiance in WWI.<br />
<br />
However (<b>SPOILERS FOLLOW</b>): Grace has a secret. Seemingly out of the blue, she tells her father she is pregnant. He immediately assumes the child is Wilfred's and demands the young man marry his daughter. Wilfred goes along with the loveless marriage because he knows that he if he refuses, he will leave Grace is disgrace and will lose his business and possible be run out of town since he abandoned a pregnant woman carrying a child everyone assumed was his. However, he refuses to consummate the marriage, given his love for Flora, who is the only one he tells the truth to.<br />
<br />
At this point, I was like, WTF? There was no indication that Grace was pregnant. It seemed to come completely from left field. Even worse, it is later discovered that the child is a product of Grace being raped by her own brother, Madoc. He was introduced in only one scene, which gave no hint that he was a sinister, twisted character. So while the plot moved along faster once the pregnancy was confessed and the marriage took place, it was also so random that I thought I accidentally skipped a chapter somewhere.<br />
<br />
The rest of the book follows Wilfred's struggles over what to do and his eventual rebellion against his domineering father-in-law. By the end, he is able to annul the marriage and the book ends with a hopeful scene between Wilfred and Flora. However, poor Grace leaves her family in disgrace and without them knowing the father of her child. Her parents seem to disown her but her father slips her a note encouraging her to write. Wilfred also gave her quite a bit of his savings. And then that was it. She's gone off to try and make a living and support her child while Wilfred gets his happy ending. I suppose that's the reality for a woman in her situation, but still, she gets kind of shafted: friendly, alone and pregnant. She doesn't even know where she is heading when she leaves.<br />
<br />
The biggest issue to me was the lack of development between Wilfred and Flora. They are quickly attracted and drawn to each other, but they don't see each other all that often and seem to spend much of their time together silently cuddling, until he gets up the nerve to confess his marriage. So for the reader, it's not easy to see what makes them so into each other, which makes their eventual ending feel a bit meaningless.<br />
<br />
Still, Wilfred is an interesting character and he has a sweet relationship with his widowed father who raised him after his mother died in childbirth. He also has dreams of expanding his funeral business into selling paints and wallpapers. I'm not sure how the two are connected but I would have been interested to see where that went, although with him giving Grace a lot of his money, I don't think that would have gone very far.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I found this book to be a let down. It got good reviews on amazon, though, so don't take my word for it. You might love it!<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Happenings-Purveyor-Superior-Funerals/dp/1780335814">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-thoughts-and-happenings-of-wilfred-price-purveyor-of-superior-funerals-wendy-jones/1108935375?ean=9781609451851">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
<br />Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-85623181012849374292014-04-09T11:16:00.001-04:002014-04-09T11:16:14.305-04:00Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line Review<br />
<img height="320" src="http://static2.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/VERONICA-MARS-COVER.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<br />
I've been a huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_Mars">Veronica Mars</a> fan since friends at my old job got me to start watching halfway through the airing of the first season in 2004. For those of you who aren't Marshmallows (fans of the show), Veronica Mars followed the title character in her last two years of high school and first year of college. Veronica is an intelligent, witty, cynical private detective in training. At the start of the series, she is a social outcast who is trying to solve the mystery of her best friend's murder the year before. Throughout the series, Veronica solves a mystery every episode, but also follows a larger, season long mystery. The show only lasted three seasons but featured unforgettable characters and relationships that stuck with me ten years after the show premiered.<br />
<br />
Last spring, the creator, Rob Thomas, launched the most successful <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project">Kickstarter campaign</a> in the site's history to make a movie that continued the series. Season 3 ended on a depressing, unfinished note, because Thomas was desperately trying to get renewed by the CW by hooking fans, which didn't work. Anyway, I think they met their goal of 2 million dollars in ten hours. So clearly, the show has passionate fans. The movie was released about a month ago, in theaters and also on demand. As an avid fan, I've been rewatching the show from the beginning (season one is literally one of the most perfect television arcs that I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Seriously. Watch it.) and then finally saw the movie a couple weekends ago. I'm not sure if the movie appealed to non-fans, but I loved how it brought Veronica back to Neptune after 10 years of being away and reunited her with her father, Keith, friends Mac, Wallace and Weevil and long lost love, Logan. The movie set up some other plotlines that might seem ill-advised given that another movie won't necessarily be made, but that's where the book comes in.<br />
<br />
Apparently Rob Thomas originally wrote the plot of the novel for the movie, but realized that fans would want to see what brought Veronica back to Neptune, CA in the first place. So, along with Jennifer Graham, he wrote (well, I don't know how much he actually wrote beyond coming up with the initial plot) a novel that picks up right where the movie left off. <b>MOVIE SPOILERS TO FOLLOW</b>. Veronica is living in Neptune, having decided that being a PI is more appealing to her than being a high powered New York City lawyer. Her father, Keith, isn't exactly thrilled by this news, but he is dealing with recovering from a major car crash from the movie. While he is healing, Veronica takes over his cases, given her something to focus on since her love, Logan, is two months into a six month tour in the navy.<br />
<br />
She is hired by the Neptune Chamber of Commerce to find a girl who disappeared while partying on spring break in Neptune. During the course of the investigation, the disappearance of a second girl brings Veronica into contact with a face from her past, which leads to some interesting tension and emotions for our girl. The novel follows a lot of the same pacing and beats as the show did. There are red herrings, dangerous situations for Veronica to get herself out of and tons of twists and turns. Graham does a good job of getting into Veronica's head. A lot of fans were disappointed that the book was written in third person because the show focused on voice overs that put us in Veronica's mind. However, we still got into her thoughts, and she was still the protagonist, so this didn't bother me. It was impossible to read the book without visualizing the actors from the show, so like the movie, I don't think this would appeal to people who didn't know the show, but for fans, I thought the book was a great continuation of Veronica's world. Would I prefer a movie? Sure, but just like how I love the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_Season_Eight">Buffy </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel:_After_the_Fall">Angel </a>comics for continuing Joss Whedon's world, if I can't have a movie, or even a reboot of the show that picks up from where the movie left off, this is a great option.<br />
<br />
Of course my one complaint is that Logan wasn't in it enough. He does appear in Skype conversations, but his absence was noted, although it did give Veronica time to process her feelings for him after a decade apart. Also, I would have loved more Mac and Wallace. Mac ends up quitting her high paying tech job at Kane Industries and becoming the technical consultant for Mars Investigations, which is an interesting move, but I wanted more of her working with Veronica on cases. Finally, the plot that was briefly introduced in the movie about Weevil being accidentally shot by Celeste Kane and then having a gun planted on him wasn't continued at all. It seems to me that a "season long" mystery following class warfare and corruption in the sheriff department was introduced in the movie and then dropped here. Weevil's big scene in the movie was at the Neptune High reunion, where he joyfully introduced Veronica to his wife and talked about his little daughter and how he's totally out of gang life and owns his own shop now. But then at the end of the movie, he's back on his bike, leading his old gang in the wake of being framed by the sheriff department. I really wanted more of that in the book, but Weevil only makes one tiny appearance.<br />
<br />
However, a second novel is in the works and should be published late in 2014. So maybe that story will be picked up then and hopefully Logan will be back. Overall, this novel was a breeze. Clearly I'm in the midst of a totally V Mars obsession with the show and the movie, so I just ate this book up, getting through it in only a couple days. Again, I have to reiterate that this book probably is not going to appeal to non-fans, nor would the movie, but if you're looking for an awesome show to binge watch, I can't recommend Veronica Mars enough. It's available on amazon prime and probably iTunes. Kristin Bell is awesome as the lead and the rest of the cast is also fantastic. And if you get as hooked as I am, then I definitely recommend the movie and the book. If you got through this review, thanks for reading. Now go watch!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/86889/veronica-mars-rise-reveals-how-much-has-changed-since-the-days-of-nancy-drew">Great article about the evolution of the "girl detective" archetype from Nancy Drew to Veronica Mars</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Mars-Original-Mystery-Thousand-Dollar/dp/0804170703">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/veronica-mars-rob-thomas/1118863499?ean=9780804170703">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-53576259466771315942014-04-09T10:36:00.000-04:002014-04-09T10:36:05.598-04:00Dust Review<img src="http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/2940148800866_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG" height="320" width="209" /><br />
<br />
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've probably read my other posts on Hugh Howey's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool_(series)">Wool</a> </i>series. I linked to the Wikipedia page because Howey initially published his series in several novellas, which were eventually collected into longer novels. I figured checking out the Wikipedia page was easier than linking to all of my individual reviews, but if you'd like to read those, do a search of my posts for Hugh Howey or any of the titles found on the Wikipedia page. There's a little search box on the upper left hand side of the blog. I entered Hugh Howey and found all my previous posts... which is good because I can't exactly remember all the plotlines!<br />
<br />
<i>Third Shift</i>, the previous installment, took the three prequels up to the present time as Donald, a former congressman who helped created the Silos, caught up with Juliet's timeline in Silo 18. Donald is dying, still suffering from the effects of his attempted suicide at the end of <i>Second Shift</i>, when he went outside Silo 1. He is also still pretending to be Senator Thurman, running Silo 1, helping his sister Charlotte discover what the world outside the boundaries of the silos is like and finally, coaching Lukas in Silo 18 to figure out the purpose of the silos. He's juggling quite a lot. All this time, there are nanobots in his body trying to kill him (I assume he picked those up outside Silo 1) and other nanobots inside that are trying to keep him alive (from before he went in the silos? I'm not sure). The nanos are fighting each other and using his body as a battlefield, slowly destroying him from the inside out.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, Juliet, now mayor of Silo 18, is trying to force her people to dig through the walls to get to Silo 17, where Jimmy and the kids are still trying to survive. This takes time and leads to a lot of fear and anger on the part of the people in her silo. However, she is successful. And yet, her success leads to disaster as it was timed with the discovery that Donald isn't Senator Thurman, who actually survived being shot and was woken from his cyropod to take over his dastardly plan. <b>Spoilers to follow</b>: Thurman turns the gas on in Silo 18, killing most of the inhabitants, but a few hundred from the lower levels, including Silo, the kids and Juliet manage to get through the Silo 17 and the hole between the two silos is sealed off.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the dying Donald is in jail and Charlotte is desperately trying to finish making a drone that is capable of seeing beyond the boundaries of the silo to find out if there is fertile land somewhere. Back in Silo 17, Juliet realizes that there are not enough resources for the survivors of 18, especially as people start fighting over the limited gardens and food that had been growing in them. She introduces a bold plan: to make suits that will allow the survivors to leave the silo and survive to get beyond the nuked air around the silos. Some survivors support her, others are simply not interested, but Juliet knows that if they stay, eventually resources for all silos will run out (I think the limit was 500 years) and only one will emerge as the "winner" to repopulate society.<br />
<br />
Juliet and her gang make it out, as does Charlotte, who has her own suit. They get to an area of Georgia beyond the silos where they find another silo that is stocked with supplies. The idea was that the surviving silo would be able to use these resources while they rebuilt. The book ends with Juliet's group deciding to travel to the sea and see if there are other people in the world. I would have liked to see an epilogue from further down the line to see what would have happened to the characters, but I think it ended on a rather hopeful note. I'm glad Juliet and Charlotte survived to see the world beyond the silos. This book was far more interesting than the previous three and did a good job of tying everything together. Overall, a good ending to a solid series.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.hughhowey.com/">Author's Website</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Silo-Saga-Hugh-Howey-ebook/dp/B00CYNGPTG">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dust-hugh-howey/1114744353?ean=2940148800866">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-62419246196183688532014-02-17T16:46:00.001-05:002014-02-17T16:51:48.268-05:00Someday, Someday, Maybe Review<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" /><br />
<img src="http://www.readbreatherelax.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/someday-someday-maybe-by-lauren-graham.jpg" height="320" width="217" /><br />
<br />
After all the crying that accompanied my reading of <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-fault-in-our-stars-review.html">The Fault in Our Stars</a></i>, my husband told me I had better read something light next. I've had a sample <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Graham">Lauren Graham</a>'s <i>Someday, Someday, Maybe</i> on my kindle for ages so it seemed like the perfect book to read next. I love Lauren Graham. I was a huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilmore_Girls">Gilmore Girls</a> fan. I used to babysit on Tuesday nights during college and started to catch some episodes or parts of episodes after whatever else I was watching that night. However, it wasn't until I was working at Soap Opera Digest that I watched the whole show from beginning to end. I must have watched the early episodes at the same time as the current episodes but I can't exactly remember. I just know I've seen every episode at least once and just loved the whole premise. I tried to follow Graham to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parenthood_(2010_TV_series)">Parenthood</a> when it started in 2010 but didn't get sucked in although it's supposed to be fantastic, so I'm thinking of watching it next year (once I'm done rewatching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer">Buffy</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(TV_series)">Angel</a> and watching all of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)">Fringe</a>). And yes, this is supposed to be a book review blog, but I'm also a bit of a TV junkie.<br />
<br />
Which is appropriate, given the subject of <i>Someday, Someday, Maybe</i>. The novel focuses on 26 year old Franny Banks, a struggling NY actress in the mid-1990s (not so coincidentally the time that Lauren Graham was a struggling NY actress). Franny is the daughter of a teacher from Connecticut whose mother passed away when she was in middle school. Due to this loss, Franny dove into acting as it was a place where she could pretend to be someone else. Despite having a serious college boyfriend and the possibility of a teaching career, she moved to NYC and gave herself a three year deadline to find some sort of success. She isn't someone who dreams of being a huge Hollywood star; she wants to be a successful theater actress who eventually can host an evening at the <a href="http://www.92y.org/">92nd Street Y</a> in the city.<br />
<br />
At the start of the novel, her three year deadline is quickly approaching and she has little to show for her work. She has been accepted into a well known acting class and she had one commercial job, but little else has come to fruition. She works as a waitress for a comedy club to make ends meet but still struggles to pay her third of the rent in a Brooklyn apartment that she shares with two friends - Jane who is trying to become a producer and Dan, who wants to write science fiction or screenplays. Her father wants her to come home and become a teacher. However, Franny is determined to make it.<br />
<br />
After a showcase through her acting class, she is approached by two possible agents: one a total character who has worked in the biz for years and the other a flashy agency. While she prefers the older agent, the flashy agency books her in a job almost immediately. She signs with them, even though as a reader, one knows that this wasn't the best move. At first, she gets auditions, but an offer for a bit role in a zombie movie that includes being topless really throws her off. And then the calls start drying up. She can't even reach her agency. In the meantime, romantic tension develops between her and Dan and she is on the verge of losing her comedy club waitressing gig while being desperate for money. She begins dating one of her classmates, a gorgeous actor who has already "made it" to some extent and develops a bit of a rivalry with one of her classmates, Penny.<br />
<br />
Through a variety of circumstances, Franny of course, realizes what she really wants out of her career and possibly out of her love life as well. Towards the end of the novel, she begins to make the right decisions and starts to be recognized for her unique talents and looks. The story ends with hints at the good things to come for the plucky up and coming actress and while I don't need a sequel, I would have liked a bit more of a definitive ending to her story. However, I suppose ending on a hopeful note is the next best option. And besides, if Franny really is modeled after Lauren Graham, she got the career in the end and has done quite well for herself! <i>Someday, Someday, Maybe</i> is a good vacation read - light but not dumb and quick to get through. Throw it in your bag if you're heading somewhere warm this winter!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-jen-chaney-reviews-lauren-grahams-someday-someday-maybe/2013/04/26/0c0cc718-a902-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story.html">Washington Post Review</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/08/16/scoop-lauren-graham-novel-someday-someday-maybe-in-development-for-cw/">TV possibility? </a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Someday-Maybe-A-Novel/dp/0345532740">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/someday-someday-maybe-lauren-graham/1113784220?ean=9780345532749">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-68539660453138799832014-02-10T21:24:00.002-05:002014-02-10T21:34:22.856-05:00The Fault in Our Stars Review<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg" height="320" width="218" /><br />
<br />
Oh, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Green_(author)">John Green</a>. Why are you one of the greatest voices of our generation and why do you make me so so sad? Let me back up. Several years ago, some of my female students raved about John Green. I'd never heard of him, but I like to be aware of what my students are reading so when the 8th grade English teacher chose <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Towns">Paper Towns</a></i> to read in the spring, I took a copy and devoured it. John Green was a bit of a cultish author at the time. He was known but not voraciously read except by a select group of students, typically girls with fangirl tenancies. However, my 8th graders devoured the novel. I will never forget taking the bus on a school trip that spring and looking back to check on the kids and just seeing most of them curled up reading the novel. That image has stayed in my mind and definitely pushed me to keep exploring Green's writing.<br />
<br />
I can't remember if I read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Abundance_of_Katherines"><i>An Abundance of Katherines</i></a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_for_Alaska"><i>Looking for Alaska</i></a> next, although I had a feeling that I waited on <i>Alaska </i>because my kids warned me that it was so sad, which it was, although in the end, I think I ended up liking it better than <i>Katherines</i>. When <i>The Fault in Our Stars </i>came out in 2012, I had read about the new Green book, but frankly I wasn't very interested. My mom was in the process of being diagnosed with Acute Myelodysplasia and would need a stem cell transplant. We had no idea how that was going to go so I was not exactly in the right frame of mind to read a book about teenagers with cancer. Of course, cancer has touched most of our lives in one way or another. Many of us had older family members who faced cancer, which of course is difficult and sad, but it's a whole different ball game when the sick person is a kid.<br />
<br />
Now, of course, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars_(film)">film</a> of the book is coming out this summer. So many people told me that I had to read this book. And then I saw the trailer. And I cried. Literally over a movie trailer. After seeing it, I opened the book on my kindle (I've had it since last year), read the first line and wanted to start the book immediately. Of course I had to finish <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-hollow-city-review.html">The Hollow City</a></i> first, but that made me push through it to jump into <i>Stars </i>(I may have rushed through the end of <i>Hollow </i>a little too much, but it was worth it).<br />
<br />
<i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> is John Green's first novel with a female narrator. Hazel Grace Lancaster is a 16 year old with thyroid cancer who also faces issues with tumors spreading in different parts of her body and fluid accumulation around her lungs (my mom faced this a few times and trust me, it's very scary). Hazel needs oxygen all the time. She doesn't have much of a life outside of her parents. She has been out of school for three years and having already received her GED takes college classes a few times a week. Her parents want her to have as normal a life as she can and push her to attend a cancer support group so she can meet kids facing the same issues she is. During one of these sessions, she meets Augustus Waters, a cancer survivor, former basketball star and amputee (his leg was removed during his fight with bone cancer). Augustus is immediately drawn to Hazel. She returns the attraction, but is a little more hesitant. However, they continue to bond, especially after Hazel shares her favorite book with him. <i>An Imperial Affliction </i>is Hazel's obsession: a book about a girl that has cancer which ends...well without an ending, really. For ages Hazel has written to the author, a recluse who never wrote anything else and who lives in Amsterdam, desperate to learn what happened to the characters. He has never written back, but Augustus persists and tracks down Peter van Houten through his agent. Thus begins a lively correspondence between the author, Augustus and Hazel. van Houten refuses to answer Hazel's questions about how the characters ended up over email or the phone but he invites them both to Amsterdam for an in person sit down.<br />
<br />
Hazel's medical conditions make travel difficult, but even after a week in the hospital due to fluid accumulation around her lungs, her doctor approves the visit. Augustus surprises her by using his wish (from a company like Make a Wish) that he has held onto since his amputation to get them a trip to Amsterdam. At the same time, Hazel starts to pull away from Augustus. She learns that he has already lost one girlfriend to cancer and doesn't want to put him through such a loss again so while she is fine with being friends, she is hesitant to move forward to a more romantic relationship. Regardless, along with Hazel's mother, they fly off to Amsterdam, thrilled to have the chance to meet van Houten.<br />
<br />
As much as I would love to go on and on about the Amsterdam trip, I hate to spoil things here... which is a bit ridiculous since I'm going to write about the ending in a little bit, but there's something magical about reading about their trip that I wouldn't want to ruin. Let's just say the trip is life changing for both Hazel and Augustus. Van Houten isn't quite what they were expecting and it seems clear that Hazel will never get the answers that she so desperately wants. She is aware that the book ended abruptly because the main character, Anna, probably died or got too sick to keep narrating, but what Hazel is really concerned about is what happens to Anna's mother. Did she marry a man she was dating? Did she have other children? What happened to Anna's friends and her hamster? It becomes clearer that Hazel is very aware of her own shortened lift span and fears what will happen to her own parents and her friends when she is gone, especially her mother, who has devoted years to her care. While dealing with van Houten is emotional and also a moment that fires Hazel up, the real magic of the trip lies in the further development of Augustus and Hazel's romantic relationship. Who knew Amsterdam was such a romantic place? Or that the Anne Frank museum could be such a lovely setting for a blossoming relationship.<br />
<br />
Of course, the trip to Amsterdam changes everything between Augustus and Hazel in a few different ways. It would have been unrealistic for both teens to miraculously be cured and go on to live a happy life together. <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> follows classic novel plotting: Amsterdam is the high point and everything goes downhill from there.<br />
<br />
Time to discuss the end... please do yourself a favor and go read this book. Then come back and join me in talking about the ending. It is such a beautifully written, poignant, funny, smart and devastating novel that deserves to be read by anyone. So please, go read it and then come back here.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW...<br />
<br />
Like I said, it would have been unrealistic for the story to have a happy ending. John Green wouldn't cop out like that. He wouldn't give into the commercial desire for a book that ends perfectly happily. And trust me, that's a good thing. I vacillated for a while about who I thought might die. But really, Hazel is the protagonist of the novel and I doubted that it would be her unless there was a shift in narrative voices. It worked in (SPOILER) <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/allegiant-review.html">Allegiant</a></i>, but that book had multiple perspectives so killing off one of those voices was okay. Plus, Augustus was technically healed. He had been cancer free so having him get sick and die was a not entirely surprising twist. He confesses at the end of the Amsterdam trip that he got a PET scan (an imaging test that looks for traces of disease in the body) and that he "lit up like a Christmas tree." And from then moment on, the book is obviously going to be devastating. And it is. Green doesn't hold back in describing Augustus' decline and how Hazel copes with his dying. Cancer is a messy, devastating disease. Having an front seat to my mom's treatment and recovery really gave me a personal perspective that made this difficult to read. Around 85% into the book, I started crying and could not stop. I must have read the first page of one chapter around that point over and over. Fortunately, even after the tragedy, the story still ends in a somewhat hopeful place. Sort of. Hazel's prognosis isn't good and the fact that the book ends on an abrupt note echoes van Houten's <i>An Imperial Affliction</i>. Hazel probably will get much sicker or eventually die (she wouldn't even be a good candidate for a lung transplant - I kind of kept hoping Augustus or Isaac - who lives - would leave her their lungs and insist she use them to replace her own lungs. I know, wishful thinking, right?) but unlike Anna's mother, Hazel is left feeling more secure in what will happen to her parents after she dies. So in the end, she knows life will go on after she dies. And really, what more can you ask for?<br />
<br />
Please read this book. I hope you did before you read this last paragraph, but seriously, it's a lovely, wonderful book and I know you'll love it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/">John Green's Website</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/books/review/the-tenacity-of-hope.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">NY Times Review</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/02/how-john-green-wrote-a-cancer-book-but-not-a-bullshit-cancer-book/273441/">The Atlantic Review</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/145903081/star-crossed-when-teens-with-cancer-fall-in-love">NPR Review</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ItBvH5J6ss">Movie Trailer</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Fault-Stars-John-Green/dp/0525478817">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fault-in-our-stars-john-green/1104045488?ean=9780525478812">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-33562115401503337002014-02-05T13:27:00.003-05:002014-02-05T13:38:09.770-05:00The Hollow City Review<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jqK7ElXN0xs/UlMS4sbTlzI/AAAAAAAAS30/nAAUhIjJc24/s320/HOLLOW-CITY-COVER.jpg" height="320" width="208" /><br />
<br />
In 2011, I read <i><a href="http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Family/Media/book-reviews/m/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children.aspx">Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children</a></i>. In all honesty, I don't remember much about the book and I read it before I started this blog so I had to turn to the internet for the plot. Essentially, in the present time, Jacob Portman visits Wales to investigate his grandfather's mysterious past (after the old man's death). He ends up meeting the Peculiars, children with special powers, who are protected by a ymbryne (a witch of sorts) in a time loop (where one day happens over and over to act as a sort of haven for these children). He ends up back in 1940, where he learns that he is also a Peculiar, one who can see "hollows" or "hollowgasts". Again, I don't really remember all the details here but hollows hunt Peculiars and are controlled by Wights, creature who appear human but have white eyes. Jacob gets to know the other children and becomes attached to them to the extent that when he learns they are in trouble, he knows he can help. Apparently Peculiardom is threatened by these Wights who want to use the Peculiars in dreadful experiments. Jacob is able to save his friends from an encounter with a hollow but when they return to the time loop, they find that Miss Peregrine, their ymbryne has been kidnapped. The children attempt to rescue her, leading to a showdown in (or around, I can't quite remember) a submarine. At the end, they rescue Miss Peregrine, find she is stuck in bird form and they need another time loop or they will all start ageing forward and eventually die.<br />
<br />
Thus begins <i>The Hollow City</i>. The children row their way from the island they lived on to the mainland, threatened by bad weather, rough seas and attacks from wights (in the form of soldiers). I think they are currently in the 1940's. Once they make it to shore, they are still chased until they manage to find another loop with the help of a set of Peculiar fairy tales that suddenly come in handy. They wind up in Miss Wren's loop and meet her strange menagerie, but Miss Wren has gone off to London to investigate the disappearances of her fellow ymbrynes and the attacks on other loops and Peculiars. Without another ymbryne to change Miss Peregrine back, she will become stuck forever as a bird and revert to an animal state. Most of the children decide to forge ahead to London, not knowing what they will find there. Along the way, they continue to be chased. They wind up with a band of gypsies for a bit, are captured by Wights in disguise as soldiers (it is the 1940s) and end up taking a first class train to London. There, they need to follow clues in the fairy tales to find Peculiar pigeons that will guide them to Miss Wren. Of course, London is being pummeled by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz">Blitz</a> at the same time, making their journey even more dangerous. Along the way, they encounter other Peculiars, including some who survived an attack on one of the London loops. With their help, they are able to get into a strange loop, dominated by a carnival where Miss Wren has been hiding out and gathering Peculiars from around the world to build an army.<br />
<br />
There, the children learn the extent of the Wights' plan. All Peculiars have a second soul, from which their power emanates. The Wights are removing the second soul (this part reminded me a lot of severing the link between children and daemons in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Compass">The Golden Compass</a></i>) and using it to feed hollows so they can gain access to the loops (any "normal" without a second soul who attempts to go through a loop will wind up insane). I don't quite understand what the Wights' endgame is. Maybe I missed something in there but I'm sure all will be revealed in the third book. <i>The Hollow City</i> was entertaining even if the whole book seemed to be kids on the run (sort of akin to Frodo and Sam in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Towers">The Two Towers</a></i> and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_King">The Return of the King</a></i>). It dragged a bit in places and as I said earlier, I really wished I remembered the first book in the series better or that I had waited to read them until all three were out, but I'm interested in continuing. By the end of this book, Jacob has come to terms with and learned more about his power (he can tame hollows to some extent) and is on the run with Emma and a talking dog (Addison, I think) to try to free the rest of their friends and save the ymbrynes and Peculiardom.<br />
<br />
The most intriguing idea behind these novels is that they are inspired by vintage found photographs that sprinkle the books themselves. I put a link to an article about the photos below. The cover of all the books and the images inside are all photos that the author started collecting at flea markets about three years before he started writing <i>Miss Peregrin</i>e. He wasn't sure what to do with them, initially considering something like Edward Gorey's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Gashlycrumb-Tinies-Edward-Gorey/dp/0151003084">The Gashlycrumb Tinies</a>, </i>but his editor suggested using them to write a novel. Eventually he worked with other found photography collectors to gather even more images. For the first novel, he looked at 100,000 photos, pulled out 300-400 that he wanted to use and narrowed that down to 44 that appeared in <i>Miss Peregrine.</i> The pictures are strange and sometimes disturbing but Riggs manages to weave the images into the story in a way that makes a lot of sense even if I sometimes didn't want to look at the pictures for too long. I'll definitely read the third book, especially to see the images, although I hope there isn't as long of a gap between novels this time around.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/05/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-ransom-riggs.html">Found Photos Article </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ransomriggs.com/blog/2013/12/31/announcing-the-hollow-city-tour.html">Ransom Riggs' Website </a><br />
<br />
Buy on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hollow-City-Peregrines-Peculiar-Children/dp/1594746125">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hollow-city-ransom-riggs/1117650157?ean=9781594746123">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-42926420244312169562014-01-23T17:11:00.002-05:002014-01-24T09:35:50.879-05:00The Dead in their Vaulted Arches Review<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oedxWFDedic/UldshDkJUTI/AAAAAAAAVUM/UhoC8H53pZM/s320/Dead%2Bin%2BTheir%2BVaulted%2BArches,%2BThe.jpg" height="320" width="213" /><br />
<br />
If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I adore Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. He publishes about one a year and is up to book six with this current release. Flavia is an almost 12 year old daughter of a formerly wealthy family who lives in a crumbling estate in England. She has a distant father, two resentful sisters and a mother who disappeared in a mountaineering accident when she was only a baby. Flavia is intelligent, headstrong, independent and obsessed with chemistry, especially the making of poisons. The series has taken place over the course of about a year during which time Flavia has been involved in six mysteries, usually involving a dead body. Left mostly to her own devices, Flavia seems to raise herself and both causes and gets out of trouble relatively easy. She's a true, unique voice and an intriguing protagonist.<br />
<br />
Anyway, about a year ago, I was sitting in the Trenton train station waiting for my mother-in-law to pick me up for my sister-in-law's rehearsal dinner. She was running late, so I got to finish the previous Flavia de Luce mystery, <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/speaking-from-among-bones-review.html">Speaking from Among the Bones</a></i>. It ended with a spectacular cliffhanger, which (SPOILER ALERT), I am going to talk about in this review since A. the book came out over a year ago and B. the cliffhanger is central to the plot in this novel. This review is going to be pretty spoiler heavy so please, read at your own risk if you haven't picked up the book yet.<br />
<br />
Another reminder - SPOILERS BELOW!<br />
<br />
<i>Speaking from Among the Bones</i> ended with Haviland de Luce, Flavia's father, calling his three daughters together and announcing that their mother, Harriet, had been found. I completely freaked out when I read this in the train station, especially when I learned I had a year until the next book came out. I wrote in the review of that book that this wasn't exactly a surprise. Harriet has been a lively and mysterious presence in the books since the beginning. The family's financial issues are even tied up in the fact that Harriet did not leave a will and the property does not just automatically revert to the father or the girls. So it wasn't a surprise that she would resurface, since her body had never been found. However, the more I thought about this new novel, the more I wondered how Harriet's presence will affect Flavia. Of course her return will solve the financial woes of the family and they will no longer lose their beloved family estate, Buckshaw, but how will Flavia cope with having a more present parent?<br />
<br />
I was completely let down by the end of the first chapter. The whole family is gathered together, along with most of the townspeople, at the long out of use Buckshaw train station, which has been repaired for this special train visit. Haviland refused to go to London to meet Harriet since they first met at Buckshaw so it was more appropriate for them to meet again at the station. It doesn't take long before I realized that the train full of dignitaries and important members of the government (Winston Churchill himself shows up!) was not escorting home a live and healthy Harriet, desperate to reunite with her family. Instead, it was carrying her body, which had been found preserved in a glacier after ten years. I should have known Harriet wasn't found alive. It would have solved too many problems to easily and Flavia's story would lose momentum. Harriet's actual death makes for a much more interesting plot.<br />
<br />
On the platform, Churchill approaches Flavia and says something strange to her about Pheasant Sandwiches. She has no clue what this means. A little while later, a very tall man walks up to Flavia and whispers something to her about the Gamekeeper being in danger and the Nide. She again is confused but is swept up in the moment of her mother's coffin being unloaded from the train. Before the de Luces begin the trek back to Buckshaw, the tall man winds up dead beneath the wheels of the train. Flavia hears someone exclaim that he had been pushed but is quickly ushered back into the family car and heads home to begin the mourning process. Harriet's body is laid out in her bedroom, which has been untouched for ten years and each member of the family from Haviland, to his sister Felicity to the three de Luce girls are charged with standing vigil over the coffin.<br />
<br />
Flavia, of course, decides to use her hours to resurrect her mother using some complicated chemical reaction. She has to sneak off to get the equipment, but as usual, she is hardly missed by the family. Alone, finally, with her mother's grave, she cuts through the layers of the coffin and for the first time, sees her mother's face, perfectly preserved and looking remarkably like Flavia herself. She also manages to retrieve a leather purse from her mother's clothing which contains what appears to be Harriet's will. However, before Flavia can continue her experiment, representatives from the Home Office (the branch of the British government that deals with immigration, security and law and order) release her from her vigil to conduct an autopsy.<br />
<br />
Flavia also uses her chemistry skills to develop a roll of cinematic film that she found in the attic (or in her laboratory - I can't remember which). It reveals Harriet flying her plane, Blithe Spirit, while pregnant with Flavia, playing with her older daughters and having a picnic with Haviland. She also mouths the words "Pheasant Sandwiches" to whoever was filming when her husband's back was turned. Clearly Flavia's interest is peaked. The various funeral events slow up her investigation as she gets the opportunity to fly in her mother's old plane (twice) and get sidetracked by her annoying young cousin, Undine, the daughter of Harriet's cousin, Lena. However, due to various circumstances, Flavia begins to suss out the truth about her mother.<br />
<br />
The big revelations: Harriet was a spy. She was sent to Japan during WWII, where coincidentally her husband was interned in as a POW. Her job was to identify a mole in the British government who was passing on information. On her way home, she went through the Himalayas and met her end (fell or pushed?) She actually came face to face with Haviland while as a guest of the Japanese government (they were showing off their captured British officers) but they could not acknowledge each other. How heartbreaking that this was their last view of one another. Harriet, and possibly Haviland, were part of a secret MI group referred to as the Nide (a group of pheasants). The phrase "Pheasant Sandwiches" acted as a warning about the spy.<br />
<br />
The double agent, as it turns out, was Lena de Luce, Harriet's cousin. I was suspicious of her from the start so I sort of figured she was from the "dark branch" of the de Luce family tree, especially when she asked to meet with Flavia alone towards the end of the book. This never actually happened because the police also were onto Lena who during Harriet's funeral tries to flee and ends up meeting a nasty end while attempting to jump through a stain glass window. Yuck.<br />
<br />
The other big turn of events is that the youngest daughter of the de Luce families are given certain privileges and responsibilities. Flavia has always been given free reign to explore her own interests. Turns out her father was always keeping an eye on her and allowing her to have freedom, despite others' recommendations. He was also helping to keep her laboratory stocked with the supplies she needed. This explains why her sisters have always resented her - they sensed that she is involved in something they are excluded from. It also explains why Harriet ended up leaving her Buckshaw in the long missing will, and why Churchill approached her at the train station. By the end of the book, Haviland tells Flavia that he has neglected her education and that she is being enrolled in the same school her mother went to. Flavia truly is being groomed to take on her mother's role in the family.<br />
<br />
The ending made me think that there might not be another book, but according to Bradley's wikipedia page, he was originally contracted to write six books in the series, but that was pushed to ten just recently, which is awesome. I don't know what will happen next, though. Will the upcoming novels take place in Buckshaw during school holidays or away at the school in Canada (where the chemistry mistress is an acquitted husband killer!). I'm intrigued by the idea that Flavia's world will broaden and she will have to navigate a whole new set of rules. A school has to be more rigorous than her free life at Buckshaw. Also, I'm interested in the idea that she is being trained to take on an important government role like Harriet was. This is going to give Bradley the opportunity to reset the series if he wishes too, which should be interesting. So far, there is nothing on his website indicating the next title or when it will be released but I'm hoping Bradley will stick to his annual book releases because I am dying to know what will happen to Flavia next!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://metronews.ca/voices/just-saying/511199/flavia-de-luce-your-new-favourite-book-series-that-isnt-game-of-thrones/">Great article about the series</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Dead-Their-Vaulted-Arches/dp/0385344058">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-in-their-vaulted-arches-alan-bradley/1116240603?ean=9780385344050">Barnes & Noble </a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-87659442190107535962013-12-30T14:37:00.001-05:002014-01-07T20:57:17.506-05:00The Interrupted Tale (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Book IV) Review<img src="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355958439l/8725930.jpg" height="320" width="215" /><br />
<br />
Last year I reviewed the third book in this adorable series, <a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/incorrigible-children-of-ashton-place.html">The Unseen Guest</a>. Since then, I've been eagerly awaiting the publication of book four and as usual, Maryrose Wood did not disappoint.<br />
<br />
The book opens with intrepid nanny, Penelope Lumley, in a bit of a depression because it is her 16th birthday and no one at Ashton Place is aware of that. Of course everything perks up nicely by the end of the first chapter. She receives an invitation from Charlotte Mortimer, the beloved headmistress of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, to speak at the first annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (CAKE). Lady Ashton grants Penny permission to take the Incorrigibles off to her alma mater where the governess is disturbed to find Judge Quinzy on the board of trustees, making all sorts of unpleasant changes. After the events of previous books, Penelope is still convinced that the judge is really Edward Ashton, supposedly the late father of her employer, Frederick Ashton.<br />
<br />
Penny must care for her rambunctious and intelligent charges, write her speech, navigate the changed school and try to solve the mystery of Judge Quinzy. She learns that the Swanburne Academy is on the verge of being changed completely by the new trustees and must win over the alums and the board by her speech demonstrating her academic talents learned at the school. Of course she has the help of her charges, her former teachers and friends, Ms. Mortimer and Simon, her special friend who appears after a dangerous excursion with pirates.<br />
<br />
The book ends with an Interrupted Tale, as the title suggests, which only goes to further the mystery of the series. What mysterious affliction plagues the Ashton family? Why must Penelope continue to dye her hair? Why does Judge Quinzy refer to "pruning" a bit of his family tree to keep one line strong? Why do I suspect that Penny and the Incorrigibles are related to the Ashtons? There are no straight answers in this novel, but as usual, Wood's writing is witty and entertaining and you can't help but cheer for the plucky governess and her adorably wolfish charges!<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Incorrigible-Children-Ashton-Place/dp/0061791229">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-incorrigible-children-of-ashton-place-book-4-maryrose-wood/1116841058?ean=9780061791222">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-1573527021757720012013-12-16T19:04:00.002-05:002013-12-16T19:04:55.285-05:00The Whatnot Review<img height="320" src="http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9780062195210_p0_v3_s260x420.JPG" width="211" /><br />
<br />
My husband bought me <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-peculiar-review.html">The Peculiar</a></i> last year as a surprise Christmas present and I completely loved it, despite being a bit suspicious of how good it could possibly be since a teenager wrote it. However, as I wrote in my recap of the previous book, <a href="http://www.stefanbachmann.com/home.php">Stefan Bachmann</a> is a wealth of talent and I sincerely hope he keeps writing.<br />
<br />
Bachmann dives back into his alternate London with Arthur Jelliby at a party celebrating the upcoming war with the faeries. The action quickly switches to Hettie, off in the Old Country with the faery butler, and a new character, a street urchin known as Pikey Thomas, who lives in London. Hettie's brother, Bartholomew takes the back seat in this adventure, showing up about 30% into the book and leading Pikey in an attempt to rescue Hettie. Arthur Jelliby, one of the protagonists in the first book makes only the most minor of appearances here. Most of the book follows Pikey, whose eye was stolen some time before by a fairy. Instead of a human eye, he has a grey eyeball that sometimes catches glimpses of the Old Country. When Hettie, in the Old Country herself, picks up a pretty necklace from which hangs something that looks like a human eye, a connection is established between the two. Bartholomew needs Pikey's help in getting into the Old Country to rescue Hettie and he is also comforted by the occasional glimpses of Hettie that Pikey sees.<br />
<br />
Hettie, meanwhile, gets taken in by a fairy noble, who seeks to make the little girl's life miserable. She wants Hettie to be her Whatnot, or living toy of a sort. The girl doesn't realize how long she has been gone. There are references to her having been missing for years, but the exact amount of time is unclear. Hettie is smart, stubborn and resourceful so despite the twists and turns that her storyline takes, it's clear that she's a survivor, who is willing to sacrifice herself if need be. It seems that between the books, Bartholomew became the ward of Jelliby and spent all of his time and money searching for his sister. Bath, where the majority of the action took place, is barely mentioned, while even London takes a back seat. The Old Country is vividly described by Bachmann, especially the creepy, constantly changing manor house where Hettie lives for a time.<br />
<br />
Eventually Pikey and Hettie's storylines converge, as London preps for a major war against the faeries that they've hated for so many years. Everything comes to a head as the faeries from the Old Country find a way into London. The ending is very satisfactory and wraps the plot up nicely, if a little quickly. I felt bad for the kids' mother, who seems to have no role in any of this. I wonder if Barth ever went home to check in on her. <i>The Whatnot </i>is billed as a companion to <i>The Peculiar</i> and seems to have wrapped up the plot nicely. I know Bachmann is writing a third book, but it's unclear if it will be connected to this world or not. All in all, this was a fast paced, enjoyable novel that lived up to the promise of the first.<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Whatnot-Stefan-Bachmann/dp/0062195212">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-whatnot-stefan-bachmann/1114298554">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-25399061111227956292013-12-09T09:49:00.003-05:002013-12-09T09:49:30.581-05:00An Old Betrayal Review<img height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zDkG_jYC68w/Uk9WhMc20EI/AAAAAAAACf4/9IJOWmlXAIY/s320/An+Old+Betrayal.jpg" width="205" /><br />
<br />
Just about every November, there's a new Charles Lenox mystery released by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Finch">Charles Finch</a>. I recapped his last two last year: <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-burial-at-sea-review.html">A Burial at Sea</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-death-in-small-hours-review.html">A Death in the Small Hours</a>.</i> This newest book finds Lenox in London, continuing his very busy work as a member of Parliament. Since the last book, he has risen in the ranks to become a very important MP. He spends much of his time on the benches, in meetings and reading blue books of information. He is still happily married to Lady Jane and is a doting, although quite Victorian, father to little Sophia, who is mostly being raised by a nanny as was typical of the time.<br />
<br />
As always, Lenox manages to find time to investigate crimes. He remains a mentor to John Dallington, former playboy aristocrat and current detective. Dallington spends the early part of this book gravely ill, which leads to Lenox stepping in and setting off the mystery of the chapter. A plea for help to Dallington leads Lenox to a train station cafe early one morning where he watches for the anonymous person to show up looking for help. He is surprised to discover that the man he was looking for was actually a woman. The woman sees someone who frightens her and flees from the scene before Lenox learns who it was. She was startled by a young man who Lenox speaks with briefly. It quickly appears that this young man is impersonating a nobleman who lives in the country and blackmailing the young woman, who works for the queen.<br />
<br />
This one moment at the train station leads to a much larger mystery involving land titles, vengeful nobles and an attack on the queen herself. The woman from the station, Grace, plays only a minimal role, although it seems as though she would be more important. Lenox works with Dallington, while also meeting with two other London detectives. There's also a new investigator on the scene, Miss Strickland, who Lenox is convinced is really a man hiding behind a woman's name or using a woman as the front of the agency. Miss Strickland's agency shows the first hints of modern detecting, employing a fingerprinting expert as well as medical examiners to help solve crimes. Rather than one man acting alone, Strickland's group uses the talents of many different people. Strickland herself isn't exactly what Lenox was expecting but at the end, the surprise itself was a pleasant one with hints of a even more pleasant arrangement for Dallington.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Lenox deals with Parliament, nasty rumors about his secretary, Graham, and the Prime Minister, Disraeli himself. His dear friend Thomas McConnell and his wife Toto are struggling with their marriage again and of course Lenox's brother, Edmund, makes an appearance. Like the previous books, the mystery itself is wrapped up around 80% into the book and the rest of the novel ties all the little pieces together and sets Lenox on a new course of his life, one which should be quite interesting in the next book. Graham's life also takes on a possibly fascinating new course, so I'm looking forward to seeing what ends up happening to Lenox's former butler.<br />
<br />
I was interested to read in the back of the book that Charles Finch wrote a contemporary novel called <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Enchantments-Charles-Finch/dp/1250018714">The Last Enchantments</a></i>, which will be coming out early in 2014. However, early reviews do not look too good. I'm hoping he doesn't abandon Charles Lenox, as this series always gets good reviews and continues to be engaging even 7 books in.<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/An-Old-Betrayal-Charles-Mysteries/dp/1250011612">amazon</a> & <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-old-betrayal-charles-finch/1114258489">Barnes and Noble</a>.Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-66593753421200173142013-11-20T12:49:00.001-05:002013-11-20T12:49:13.979-05:00The Rosie Project Review<img height="320" src="http://img2-2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/08/15/The-Rosie-Project.jpg" width="208" /><br />
<br />
<i>The Rosie Project</i> was one of amazon's best books of October. It sounded intriguing and as it was totally different in tone from <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/allegiant-review.html">Allegiant</a></i>, I went for it. The novel is by Graeme Simsion, a brand new author from Australia, where the book is already very popular.<br />
<br />
<i>The Rosie Project</i> follows Don Tillman, a socially challenged genetics professor who works at a university in Australia. Don readily admits that socializing isn't his thing. But yet, he decides that he is ready to get married. He wants a partner but is beyond obsessive about what that wife will be like. After a few dates, he decides to come up with a questionnaire for his future spouse, including their BMI, view on smoking and alcohol. He relies heavily on his friends, Gene and Claudia, a couple in an open marriage. Their relationship and Don's reaction to it causes a lot of unintentional humor. Gene is on a quest to sleep with one woman of every nationality. Because Don is so direct, he keeps telling Claudia what Gene is actually up to when he claims he is working or whatever.<br />
<br />
Despite their own problems, Gene and Claudia help Don on his quest. Gene ends up sending a woman named Rosie to Don's office. Don assumes that she is a candidate for the wife project, which Gene was helping to sort. He also automatically dismisses her as being totally unsuitable for a variety of reasons (she is a "barmaid", as Don calls her, so she isn't intellectually equal to him, plus she smokes). However, when Rosie asks Don for help in identifying her birth father, he ends up spending more and more time with her. Soon, Rosie is shaking Don out his routines. Don had previous had a standardized meal plan where he made the same dinner on the same day every day of the week. Rosie quickly changes that as well as introduces Don to making cocktails, dancing and traveling outside of his comfort zone in more ways than one.<br />
<br />
Don is quite the character. It seemed clear to me that he has Asperger Syndrome or some other form of high functioning autism. In fact, early on in the book, he takes on a lecture that Gene was supposed to give to children with Aspergers and their families and I kept waiting for him to realize, oh wait, I have all of these characteristics too. That does eventually come up in the book, but it takes a while. Rosie is a bit of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl">Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype</a> but she is still a lot of fun and it's enjoyable seeing Don's world turning upside down.<br />
<br />
One of the best parts of the book is that the author has links (at least in the kindle version) to all of the recipes that Don makes in the book. I'm dying to make his <a href="http://www.teageezard.com/news/teage-ezard/2013-04/life--love-and-lobster-on-tuesdays">lobster and avocado salad</a>! Anyway, this is a sweet, quirky romantic comedy. Apparently Simsion is writing a sequel. I'll probably read it although I felt like <i>The Rosie Project</i> wrapped up really nicely and doesn't really need a second book. But in any case, it's a fun read!<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Rosie-Project-Graeme-Simsion-ebook/dp/B009VIZDLI">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rosie-project-graeme-simsion/1113741061">Barnes & Noble</a>.Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-8713768347830740582013-11-03T20:15:00.000-05:002013-11-03T20:15:10.550-05:00Allegiant Review<img height="320" src="http://static.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/allegiant-book-cover-high-res.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<br />
SOME SPOILERS BELOW...<br />
<br />
Last winter I read Veronica Roth's <a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/divergent-and-insurgent-reviews.html"><i>Divergent</i> and <i>Insurgent</i></a>, the latter of which I did not enjoy as much as the former. Before I started <i>Allegiant</i>, I checked out <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Transfer-Divergent-Insurgent-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00DG261BG/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1383525951&sr=8-9&keywords=veronica+roth">The Transfer</a></i>, a short story set before the series started that focused on Tobias on his own choosing day and then in his first moments as a Dauntless initiate. It's the first of three short stories starring Tobias. <i>The Transfer </i>was a good reminder of the Divergent world before I dove into <i>Allegiant</i>, which picks up in Chicago right after the events of the last book. Tobias is his mother Evelyn's right hand man, helping her control the city with her factionless followers, while Tris is in jail and faces a trial. This part is over quickly, though, and Tris is freed and approached by the Allegiant, a group of residents who want Chicago returned to the way it was, factions and all.<br />
<br />
The Allegiant decide to send some of their group, including Tris, Tobias, Uriah, Christina, Cara and Tris' betraying brother Caleb out of Chicago in search of the people who left the video saying that they needed the help of the Chicago residents. Once they get out of the city, they are quickly approached by some people who take them back to a former airport, near the city, that is now the seat of a branch of the government. The Chicago crowd learns that years before this, genes started to be identified as causes of behavior and scientists worked to eliminate those genes. However, removing certain genes (or rather working to emphasize certain genes), like the <a href="http://www.williamlanday.com/2010/05/11/the-murder-gene/">murder gene</a>, had unintended consequences. So people who had cowardice removed became aggressive and sometimes murderous. Those who were super intelligent often lost compassion. A war broke out between those who were genetically damaged and those considered genetically pure. Eventually the experiments started. Chicago, as it turns out, was a giant experiment to see if the genetically damaged would eventually be cured. Tris, as a divergent, is genetically pure since her genes started to heal themselves, giving her personality aspects of the different factions.<br />
<br />
Tris accepts this, but Tobias is torn apart by being considered genetically damaged, a diagnosis that brings to the surface his childhood abuses at the hands of his father. This drives a wedge between Tris and Tobias (yet again), especially after Tobias lets himself get dragged into a terrorist attack on the airport by those fighting for the rights of the genetically damaged. Unfortunately this attack led to the near fatal injury of one of their group. Tris, meanwhile, learns interesting information about her mother, and gets asked to take a seat on the bureau's council. In that way she learns that the federal government wants to shut down the experiment in Chicago, which is one of the only remaining of the original experiments trying to cure the genetically damaged. The bureau's response is to wipe the memories of everyone in Chicago in order to reset the experiment and keep it going. Since Chicago is an experiment, video cameras monitor all the action there 24/7, just like <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show">The Truman Show</a></i>. The Chicago group is upset about this decision, except Tobias, who secretly wishes his parents' minds would be wiped. Tris and Tobias manage to mend fences (finally consummating their relationship) and team up with their friends with a plan to inoculate some of their family members and friends in Chicago, while also attempting to steal the memory serum from the airport's weapon's lab in order to wipe the bureau workers' minds. This way they can teach the government that genetically damaged people aren't bad and deserve equality.<br />
<br />
I had read before this book that it had a shocking ending, which I completely agree with. I certainly was not expecting what happened, given that this is a YA novel. Even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katniss_Everdeen">Katniss</a> got a happy ending in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingjay">Mockingjay</a>. The ending was certainly hopeful for many of the characters but not all of them make it to the end. Let's just say that the selflessness of Abnegation ran strong in some of the protagonists even to the very last moment... even when it mean sacrificing themselves. While <i>Allegiant</i> really only touched on the actual Allegiant group briefly and most of the action took place outside of Chicago, this novel was much better than <i>Insurrection</i>, the second book in the series, but still not as good as <i>Divergent</i>. I'm intrigued by the movie that is coming out next March. One of my friends reminded me about it today so now I'm excited to see it with her next year. Overall, <i>Allegiant</i> was a satisfying end to the series, even if it did have a shocking twist for the characters.<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Allegiant-Divergent-Trilogy-Veronica-Roth/dp/006202406X">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/allegiant-roth-veronica/1116804370">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-33533340156438063182013-10-21T16:18:00.000-04:002013-10-22T10:05:27.098-04:00Mad About the Boy Review <img height="212" src="http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2087997.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/bridget-jones-main-2087997.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
(Warning, mild spoilers to follow...)<br />
<br />
When I was 19, I lived in Australia for six months. I vividly remember being upset that I couldn't pack too many books and that I didn't have a lot of money to buy too many. This was pre-kindle days, of course. At one point, I ended up in a bookstore where I bought <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Jones's_Diary">Bridget Jones' Diary</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Jones:_The_Edge_of_Reason">Bridget Jones: The Age of Reason</a>. I absolutely fell in love (like much of the world) with flighty, zany, unlucky in love Bridget. I devoured both of those books and read them over and over for a long time. Granted, I probably haven't picked up either book since college or not long after, but I remember the plots pretty well. I did see the first movie, but really wasn't crazy about it (although maybe I should rewatch. I do love Colin Firth) and therefore never saw the second one. I remember reading that Helen Fielding had written some articles around 2005/6 where Bridget was still involved with both Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy. This led to a pregnancy of a little boy, who ended up being Daniel's son. She wound up living with Daniel, but Mark had apparently offered to adopt the baby, suggesting that he was still around.<br />
<br />
This plot was abandoned for the third novel, <i>Mad About the Boy</i>. Bridget is older but still a ditz who drinks and eats too much. She is a 51 year old widow (it's no spoiler to reveal that Mark Darcy died five years before the present story - Fielding revealed that in several interviews) with two young children, Billy and Mabel. Bridget could barely take care of herself in the previous novels and now she has two children to manage. Their life is happy but disorganized and messy. Mark left her enough money that she doesn't need to work but they live in a small, comfortable house where a nanny cares for the children often and Bridget spends her time writing. She is working on an updated screenplay for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Gabler">Hedda Gabler</a>, which she mistakenly believes was written by Chekov instead of Ibsen. Her friends, still ridiculous, boozy and offering terrible advice, call her a born again virgin since she hasn't had sex since Mark's death. Bridget also struggles with school drop off and pick up, the remotes, passwords for all technology and social media.<br />
<br />
As an adult, Bridget is certainly still endearing and her exploits kind of adorable in a hot mess sort of way. I tore through this book in only a few days, a nice change from how long <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/maddaddam-review.html">MaddAddam</a> </i>took me (I loved that book a lot and because of that really took my time and paid attention to it). However, as someone who feels that their life is more or less together at 32, Bridget's flightiness at 51 is a bit exasperating. Get yourself together, lady! The book starts in the present and then flashes back a year to Bridget as a sad, overweight widow, who finally resolves to improve her life by starting to lose weight. Because I bought the original books in Australia, the weight check ins at the start of every diary page were always in "stones" so I never had any idea what Bridget actually weighed. Buying the American version of this book was a nice change. Anyway, after some false starts, Bridget manages to lose about 40 pounds and starts exploring social media. She becomes annoyingly obsessed with Twitter, something I can't stand in real life, so it was a bit irritating that Bridget was so fascinated with it. I was also like, go be with your children (clearly my own infertility issues made me a little annoyed that Bridget had kids at 43 and 45 and neglected them in favor of social media) and stop playing around online. Bridget also has the maturity level of a 5 year old as she constantly talks about farting and vomit. That gets old rather fast.<br />
<br />
But that's Bridget for you. She was always a bit over the top and annoying. But she is also relatable (why is blogger insisting that I'm spelling this word incorrectly?) in a lot of ways. She's an absolute mess who needed Mark Darcy to manage her life (how's that for feminism?) and keep her in line, while also allowing her to lighten his life - which is why they were meant to be. Anyway, the book zips along taking Bridget from one crazy situation to another. Twitter introduces her to Roxster, a 29 year old "toy boy" (as an American, I kept saying "boy toy", "boy toy" to myself). While Roxster certainly helps to reawaken Bridget sexually, the relationship clearly has no staying power, much like Daniel in the earlier books. In the background, Mr. Wallaker, a strict, disciplined teacher at her son's school, lurks. Much like Darcy, Bridget and Wallaker do not start off well but it's clear that something is going to happen between them as Wallaker keeps showing up. So yes, Helen Fielding essentially recreates the Darcy/Bridget/Daniel love triangle with Roxster and Wallaker. And it ends much as you would expect the book to in a romantic, completely satisfying way.<br />
<br />
My husband always makes fun of me for referring to books as breezy, but that's what this way: a deliciously comforting, fun and entertaining read that brings Bridget to a whole new, unexpected (for her) happy ending, one you can't help but feel that she truly deserves after everything she's been through.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/books/review/helen-fieldings-bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy.html">NY Times Review</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bridget-Jones-Mad-About-ebook/dp/B00CNQ7CRI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382380787&sr=1-1&keywords=mad+about+the+boy">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bridget-jones-helen-fielding/1115435451">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-28967941631321369972013-10-21T15:36:00.003-04:002013-10-21T15:43:07.224-04:00MaddAddam Review<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/b7fe5f28b7b10ecd982365aeae083090/tumblr_mmtkbvy3NM1sphxlzo1_500.jpg" /><br />
<br />
I'm a little embarrassed that it's been over a month since my last review. Chalk it up to my new insanely busy schedule. I love my new job but the first year of teaching anywhere is insane. I'm getting used to shorter periods and a longer commute by car rather than subway. The commute means I lose out on reading time. Plus, I used to read at the gym but now I take Zumba classes three times a week so now I don't have that time. Long story short, it takes me longer to read books and I just haven't had time to sit down and process this novel so I can properly review it.<br />
<br />
So here goes. I first read <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oryx_and_Crake">Oryx and Crake</a></i> years ago and absolutely loved it. I'm a big fan of Margaret Atwood. The Handmaiden's Tale was the first dystopian book I ever read. <i>Oryx and Crake</i> is Atwood's first book (I think) featuring a male protagonist. At the time, I had no idea the book would have a sequel, let alone become a trilogy. <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Flood">The Year of the Flood</a> </i>came out before I got a kindle, which I think was around 2009 or 2010 so it's been a while. I loved both of those books, rereading <i>Oryx and Crake</i> once I read <i>The Year of the Flood</i>. Those two novels take place concurrently, with characters who weave in and out of each other's stories. Both novels end at the same scene. Fortunately, <i>MaddAddam </i>picks up with that moment, or a bit after, and propels the story forward. There's a helpful breakdown of the plot from the other two books in the beginning of <i>MaddAddam</i> to remind the reader of what's happening. The basic story takes place in the future, where science has taken people to crazy new lengths (pigs that are bred to carry human body parts for organ transplants and become super intelligent) and corporations create compounds where the wealthy live. The rest of society lives out in the pleebands where crime and poverty run rampant. A genius named Crake looked at the world and decided that people were not worth saving. He designed a pill called BlyssPl<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">uss that wiped out the majority of the population. He also created new bioforms, referred to as the Crakers, who are designed to be better people. The first book focuses on Jimmy, Crake's best friend, who was unknowingly given the vaccine for the pill, allowing him to live as the caretaker for the Crakers. The second book focuses on Ren, a former girlfriend of Jimmy's who grew up in the pleebands (unlike Jimmy, who was raised in a compound) with a group called the God's Gardeners. The two novels go back and forth in time, focusing on first the current time, post-disease and the past as Jimmy (and Ren) grow up.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><i>MaddAddam </i>followed a similar construct. In the present, Toby, a former God's Gardener/friend of Ren's (whose story was also revealed in <i>The Year of the Flood</i>), is living with some former God's Gardeners, as well as people referred to as MaddAddamites, scientists who worked with Crake to design the Crakers. The Crakers have relocated from the seaside to the nature preserve where they live. Life goes on, such as it is in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Toby fears that two escaped Painballers (criminals who survived Painball, an option to prison that sounds a lot like the Hunger Games) will come after them. She also worries about Jimmy, who has been in a coma since the end of the last book, as well as Amanda, viciously raped by the Painballers and accidentally sexually assaulted by the Craker men who thought she was ovulating (Crakers mate in a group atmosphere). Most of all, she struggles over her feelings for Zeb, the gruff former God's Gardener, who is one of the leaders of her ragtag group. Fortunately, Zeb returns her feelings and spends most of the novel telling her HIS story. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Like the previous two books, this novel moves back and forth in time. Zeb was raised by a sadistic preacher father along with his half-brother Adam (who grows up to be Adam One). The two young men eventually escape from home, separate and hide out in the world, away from their dad. Zeb gains a wealth of different experiences and comes into contact with various people from the previous books like Pilar and a very young Crake. Zeb's story weaves into the present as the Crakers grow fascinated by him and Toby tells his life to them as a "bedtime story". The Crakers have turned Oryx and Crake into gods (a fascinating turn of events since Crake wanted to eradicate institutions like religions from the world with his purge) and idealize Zeb as well. There are some very funny misunderstandings with the Crakers, who address everyone as "Oh Toby" or "Oh Zeb". When they hear someone say "Oh, Fuck", they think Fuck is a person and Toby has to invent a story that Fuck is an invisible helper of Crake's. That cracked me up every time I read it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Frankly, not much happens in this book. Like the other novels, I always wanted more from the present. Zeb's story is interesting and a good read but I always just wanted to find out how these little group would survive the world. I think I felt that way about the other books too, but it's been so long since I've read them. I really recommend reading all three consecutively because I know I missed a lot that I didn't remember from the other two novels. I enjoyed reading how Zeb got to be in the God's Gardeners and then how he showed up with this group but I was more satisfied with the climatic scenes at the end between the Painballers, the Pigoons (pigs with human intelligence) and the Gardeners/Crakers/Addamites. And there was a lovely and sad look at what came next for the group. One of the little Craker boys, Blackbeard, became fascinated by writing and learned how to read and write because of Toby, which of course leads to written history and perhaps religious doctrine, defeating the purpose of Crake's purge of humanity. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Atwood creates incredibly three-dimensional, fascinating characters and a gripping story. It's a wonder that the flashbacks are as interesting (even though I wanted to stay in the present more) as the present day. Even though these books are probably classified as dystopia or sci-fi, really the stories are so well-written that I think most fiction readers would enjoy them. You can start with either <i>Oryx</i> or <i>The Year of the Flood</i>, although I recommend <i>Oryx</i> but definitely save MaddAddam for last. Someday, I really hope I have a chance to reread the whole thing to really appreciate the world that Atwood created.</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/13/215749337/atwood-imagines-humanitys-next-iteration-in-maddaddam">NPR Review</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://performance.millikin.edu/LiteratureCasebooks/oryx/shaner.html">Awesome essay about Crake's Attempted Utopia</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MaddAddam-A-Novel-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385528787">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maddaddam-margaret-atwood/1114194268">Barnes and Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-44128805544506291752013-09-14T21:19:00.004-04:002013-10-21T14:43:23.541-04:00Heirs and Graces Review <img height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TziuNuwdSMA/UfvH3wM-hWI/AAAAAAAACfs/PRmVQt05wyc/s320/Heirs+and+Graces.jpg" width="212" /><br />
<br />
Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that I love Rhys Bowen's <a href="http://rhysbowen.com/books/royal-spyness-series/">Lady Georgie</a> series (aka the Royal Spyness series books. The series follows lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne in the time before <i><a href="http://www.kingsspeech.com/">The King's Speech</a> </i>took place. It's the Great Depression and even royals are not immune to the economic disaster. Georgie is the younger sister of a Scottish duke who has gone bankrupt after having to pay his father's death dues. Technically, Georgie should be cared for by her half-brother until her own marriage, but that proves to be more complicated than it would seem given the family's lack of money and her sister-in-law's unfriendly demeanor.<br />
<br />
Throughout the books, intelligent, clumsy (but not in an over the top Bridget Jones way - Georgie is a bit too practical for that) Georgie stumbles on and solves mysteries, while trying to keep herself afloat financially. She refuses to be married off, even to a prince, because she wants to marry for love, and also resists being made an elderly noble woman's companion. Each book puts her in a new position as she strives to live while only having skills taught in finishing school.<br />
<br />
In this book, which takes place about six weeks after the last novel, Georgie is living with her flighty mother, helping to record her memoirs. This doesn't last long as her mother gets summoned to her boyfriend's side for the winter and leaves Georgie high and dry. Lucky, Georgie writes to her cousin, the queen (aka the mother of the king Colin Firth played in <i>The King's Speech</i>) to ask for help and the queen luckily finds something for Georgie to do. Turns out the dowager duchess of a wealthy home (think <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey">Downton Abbey</a></i>) was desperate for an heir after her son (who clearly isn't too into ladies) refused to do his duty of marrying and producing a child. Duchess Edwina learned that her son John, who died in WWI, had been married to a school teacher in Australia, who was pregnant at the time of John died. The son, Jack, was raised on a sheep farm in Australia and while uncouth, is technically the actual heir to the estate, which of course is entailed and needs to pass to a male family member.<br />
<br />
Georgie is enlisted to live at the estate and help Jack acclimate to high society, something she knows quite a lot about. The house is huge and filled with an assortment of family members from Cedric the rather nasty duke and his young male followers, two elderly aunts, Edwina's daughter and her two children and of course a ton of servants. The house is filled with tension once Jack arrives as he is the furthest things from an acceptable duke. <a href="http://downtonabbey.wikia.com/wiki/Matthew_Crawley">Matthew Crawley</a> was at least civilized, while Jack is more comfortable on a horse herding sheep. However, he's a nice young man and while he wants nothing to do with the dukedom, he is willing to try and learn.<br />
<br />
Until, of course, the duke himself is discovered dead with a knife in his back. It's up to Georgie and her fiance, Darcy, to solve the crime with the sort of help of the local police inspector. Of course her friend, Belinda, makes an appearance and her horrible maid, Queenie pops up from time to time. There's a slightly forced appearance by Georgie's beloved granddad, who really has nothing to do with the story. I think that was just a concession to the fans. While the mystery is being solved, Darcy and Georgie grow closer although they aren't any closer to marriage, despite their engagement at the end of the last book. However, it seems as though they are getting there.<br />
<br />
The story wraps up nicely although I wish I knew what happened to some of the characters in the family like the crippled Elisabeth. I had several guesses as to who the murderer would be but was pleasantly surprised by the final reveal. As usual, Rhys Bowen has crafted an entertaining historical mystery. Can't wait until the next one!<br />
<br />
Buy it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heirs-Graces-Royal-Spyness-Mystery/dp/042526002X">amazon</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heirs-and-graces-rhys-bowen/1111880704?ean=9780425260029">Barnes & Noble</a>.<br />
<div style="background-color: #44565a; color: #454c43; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px; margin: 10px 5px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-8961257107382965802013-09-02T17:49:00.003-04:002013-09-02T17:50:07.913-04:00And the Mountains Echoed Review<img height="320" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VqHa8exoL.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<br />
I read <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Kite-Runner-ebook/dp/B000OCXGZA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377527151&sr=1-1&keywords=the+kite+runner">The Kite Runner</a></i> ages ago and really loved it. I've meant to read <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Thousand_Splendid_Suns">A Thousand Splendid Suns</a> </i>for a long time and never got around to it, but I spotted Hosseini's newest novel, <i>And the Mountains Echoed</i> on the list of summer reading books at my new school. They offered a bunch of fiction and non-fiction choices and part of my opening meetings tomorrow include a book discussion. I sort of waited until the last minute to pick this up but fortunately I finished over the weekend, just in time for the discussion.<br />
<br />
<i>And the Mountains Echoed</i> is lovely and heartbreaking in a million different ways. The story begins with a simple fairy tale that a father tells to his young children. However, hidden within that simple story is the devastating choice the father has had to make. Impoverished and with a new (pregnant) wife to support, the father decides to sell his daughter to a wealthy couple who are unable to have their own child. Young Pari is only 3 or so when she is sold, but her brother, Abdullah, is seven years older and is devastated by the loss of his sister.<br />
<br />
<i>And the Mountains Echoed</i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>deals with the ramifications of the father's decision. Each chapter follows a different character in a series of interlocking stories as we learn what happened to Abdullah and Pari throughout their lives. The stories span from the 1930s through 2010 and from Afghanistan to Europe to the US. One of the earliest chapters follows Nabi, Pari's step-uncle, the chauffeur for the wealthy couple who at the end of his life writes a letter explaining his actions and the consequences. Another chapter follows Pari throughout her life in France. Yet another deals with a plastic surgeon who is connected to the house where Pari lived in Kabul.<br />
<br />
It isn't always obvious how these stories are connected. The one about the plastic surgeon in Greece is probably the least connected but each chapter serves to explain something about Pari and Abdullah's life at some point or another from what happened to the town where they were born to how their father ended up with his second wife.<br />
<br />
Most of the chapters except the last two are told in third person but then the narrative switches to first person, which is interesting. Additionally, Hosseini does an excellent job of giving each character a unique voice. Most of the chapters are quite long but the plot winds together nicely leading to a bittersweet but wholly satisfying ending.<br />
<br />
I think I'm going to have to read <i>A Thousand Splendid Suns</i> ASAP as I really loved this book. It's definitely worth the read.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/books/and-the-mountains-echoed-by-khaled-hosseini.html?_r=0">NY Times Review</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/And-Mountains-Echoed-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/159463176X">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-the-mountains-echoed-khaled-hosseini/1113633717?ean=9781594631764">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-50203538447429332562013-08-21T12:20:00.003-04:002013-08-21T12:20:33.061-04:00The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls Reviews<img height="320" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-yonahlossee-riding-camp-for-girls/9781594486401_custom-553d89074bec5dc575e0e9f98f3dc0fdd950a14f-s6-c30.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<br />
<i>The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls</i> has been getting a lot of press this summer and it's well worth the hype. The novel follows Thea Atwell, a sixteen year old during the Great Depression, who has been shipped off to a school in the Appalachian Mountains for reasons unknown at the start of the book. She feels isolated and alone, drawn to a few of the girls at the school, but also to her headmaster, Mr. Holmes.<br />
<br />
Thea's background is slowly revealed over the course of the novel. She lived in Florida with her family: her parents and twin brother, Sam. They lived a quiet, rather isolated existence, broken only by the occasional visits from her uncle, aunt and older cousin, Georgie.<br />
<br />
Thea's isolated childhood leaves her confused about her raging hormones as a teenager. Her desires lead to tragedy within her family and eventually to her forcible removal from her home. Thea is again isolated from her family in the mountains. She finds friends, but holds herself aloof from most of them. Again, she flirts with danger as she draws closer and closer to her headmaster, Mr. Holmes.<br />
<br />
The plot is well paced and intriguing. Thea is similar in a sense to Bettina in <i><a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-chocolate-money-review.html">The Chocolate Money</a></i>, which I read earlier this summer. Both girls had to grow up too fast and have difficult family situations. Both go off to boarding school where their precocious natures get them into trouble. Both girls grow as an effect of their pasts and their time at school. Thea is certainly more likable than Bettina ever was, probably due to their different backgrounds and circumstances (Thea grew up in a loving household while Bettina's mother was not really the warmest).<br />
<br />
<div>
There were things that happened off screen so sometimes the timing was confusing. Thea cuts her hair at one point which is mentioned by another character later in the book but we never saw that happen. It doesn't really matter in terms of plot but there were other instances where I was thrown off by something that happened off page and thought I'd missed a few pages.<br />
<br />
However, besides that, this was a great book to read on a sweltering summer day. I highly recommend it. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/books/the-yonahlossee-riding-camp-for-girls-by-anton-disclafani.html?_r=0">NY Times Review</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Yonahlossee-Riding-Camp-Girls/dp/1594486409">amazon</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-yonahlossee-riding-camp-for-girls-anton-disclafani/1113858050?ean=9781594486401">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
<br /></div>
Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-45301168103580436012013-08-08T19:42:00.004-04:002013-08-08T19:42:54.681-04:00Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book II <img height="320" src="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366897800l/16046748.jpg" width="209" /><br />
<br />
Sorry I've been so MIA this summer. I've had a lot to keep me busy - exploring a new city, etc - and haven't been fully motivated to keep up the blog. Plus I've been reading a lot of graphic novels, which I haven't been reviewing. Anyway, onto my most recent read:<br />
<br />
Last summer I read <i>The Last Policeman</i> and for the most part loved it. <a href="http://anunexpectedbookblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-last-policeman-review.html">Click here for the link to that review</a>. In <i>Countdown City</i>, Henry Palace, white hat extraordinaire is back on the case despite being out of a job. The world is now three months away from the asteroid's landing in the far east. In that time, tons of refugees are seeking shelter in the west, as far from the impact as they can. Of course no one knows how much destruction will arise from the impact so even America isn't entirely safe.<br />
<br />
Hank tries to stick to his daily routine, meeting two of his former colleagues at their old diner, which now only serves tea, caring for his dog, Houdini, checking in on his little sister, Nico, and stumbling into cases. He is asked early on to find the husband of his former babysitter, which takes him on various adventures. He stumbles onto some black market areas of New England and winds up looking for a girl at the University of New Hampshire where the students have overthrown the faculty and established their own Utopian society. Meanwhile, Nico and her group believe they can stop the asteroid from causing serious damage. Along the way, Hank gets seriously injured, and Nico does come to the rescue, lending some credence to her ideas that she might be able to help minimize the effects of the asteroid.<br />
<br />
Like the previous book, I still love Henry Palace. He's just such a good guy. And also like the last book, he put the mystery together rather abruptly. The end was sort of a whirlwind. And then the epilogue seemed to come out of nowhere, although I liked where Hank ended up in the end. I'm curious to see where the third book goes and if Nico and friends are actually able to stop the asteroid from causing serious damage. Hopefully the third book will be out next summer!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://benhwinters.com/">Author's website</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594746265">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/countdown-city-ben-winters/1114590198?ean=9781594746260">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-31906973036175133652013-07-19T13:17:00.004-04:002013-07-19T13:17:48.353-04:00The Chocolate Money Review<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqgz3RwDtDxxgE48erjKbr-1mTBG-pMQ6JkgAzL557sVDn9kaiNA" /><br />
<br />
I read most of this book yesterday while recovering from an IVF retrieval. It was a good distraction and went by fast. <i>The Chocolate Money</i> follows chocolate heiress Tabitha "Babs" Ballentyne and her daughter, Bettina, through their Chicago life. Left her parents' money at a relatively young age, Babs bought a luxurious apartment in Chicago, which she refers to as the aparthouse because of its size. Her daughter, Bettina, is witness to her mother's ostentatious lifestyle and ridiculous rules.<br />
<br />
The first part of the novel follows Bettina at the age of 11. Babs is pretty much a horrific mother - sharing way too many personal details about her sex life, waking Bettina up at all hours to be punished over the smallest infractions and pulling her out of school to go shoe shopping. Bettina is desperate for her mother's love and affection, which so very rarely comes. She ends up forming an attachment to Mack, a married man who Bettina is having an affair with. Even when the affair winds down, Babs uses Bettina to get at Mack and his family.<br />
<br />
Fast forward four years to Bettina's entry into Cardiss, an east coast private school. Part II covers her first two months at the school. Babs doesn't make an appearance until the end of that part but her presence is impossible to forget, especially as you see the damage that she inflicted on her daughter over the years. I found this section to be very similar to my memories of Curtis Sittenfield's protagonist in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prep-ebook/dp/B000FC2QAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374177104&sr=8-1&keywords=prep">P<span id="goog_1744410713"></span><span id="goog_1744410714"></span>rep</a></i>, (which I wrote before reading this description of the novel on amazon: "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As funny as it is scandalous, </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Chocolate Money</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> is </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mommie Dearest</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Prep</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, and </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">50 Shades of Gray</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> all rolled into one compulsively readable book"). </span>Bettina is similarly damaged and disaffected. She is incapable of forming real relationships and seeks out punishment (which is where the <i>50 Shades of Gray </i>comparison comes in) through a pretty messed up relationship to a boy in her school. At Cardiss, she also comes into contact with someone connected to Mack, who she continued to be obsessed with over the years.<br />
<br />
Part III takes Bettina back to Chicago and back under Babs' roof. There the story takes an emotional turn as Bettina tries to figure out how to live her life with or without her mother's approval.<br />
<br />
I liked the novel a lot. Bettina is a bit of a frustrating character because she's so awful in so many ways, but it's clear that this personality was the result of being raised by Babs and therefore isn't really her fault. It's hard to sympathize with either woman, but like many scandalous stories, it's the drama that pulls you in, not sympathy towards the protagonists. I'd say this is a good summer read.<br />
<br />
Review: <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/the-chocolate-money-is-anything-but-sugary">"The Chocolate Money is anything but sugary"</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Money-Ashley-Prentice-Norton/dp/B00B1L8Z7C">amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chocolate-money-ashley-prentice-norton/1108082678?ean=9780547840048">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-56968201623151146302013-07-18T15:15:00.001-04:002013-07-18T15:15:36.374-04:00The Fort Review<img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeBrbo6JJQsTuKBFWf0_RPFSz6vbS36dK0rLxFGnKEqJrcVVjh" /><br />
<br />
This, my friends, was a really good one. I noticed <i>The Fort </i>on a banner on my amazon page and since it was free to borrow for Prime members, I grabbed it. The novel takes place during a summer in the early 1980's in the suburbs. The Vietnam War is still an intense memory for a lot of people and has become the focus of three young boys' summer games. Tim, Scott and Luke built a tree fort in the woods and spend their days playing soldier, using air rifles to shoot at targets on the ground.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, a local detective detective named Van Endel is investigating the ongoing murders of prostitutes, whose bodies are found at a local park. The plot picks up when Tim's older sister Becca comes home from the movies with a ripped shirt and an explanation that rings false. The next day, her friend Molly is reported missing. The kidnapper is revealed early on (the book is told through various character perspectives, which the kidnapper being one of them). He has his own demons as a war vet and preys on women who resemble his sister who disappeared long ago.<br />
<br />
The boys are in the fort one day when they witness Molly, who managed to briefly escape from the kidnapper, being led at gunpoint back to his house. They manage to shoot him (with a real rifle borrowed from Scott's stepdad) in the leg, which sets up many of the issues for the kidnapper later in the book and contact the police. However, when another badly burned body shows up near the drive in where Molly supposedly disappeared, the cops believe the boys are lying to them. Their parents are furious and forbid the boys from spending any more time together. This of course only makes them more determined to prove their innocence and save Molly before she comes to any serious harm.<br />
<br />
<i>The Fort</i> is a great coming of age novel along with a thriller about a serial killer. The story flies by and left me wanting to read Aric Davis' other books (randomly I bought <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Useful-Hurt-ebook/dp/B005TKD6N4/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374174715&sr=1-3">A Good and Useful Hurt</a> </i>back in April so I'm looking forward to reading that), which are all really inexpensive on amazon (all under $5 or can be read for free through Prime). I don't know if he is a self-published author, but he definitely has talent. Even Gillian Flynn, author of last summer's amazing read <i><a href="http://gillian-flynn.com/gone-girl/">Gone Girl</a></i>, agrees, saying: <span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">“Every so often you come across a book with a voice like a blast of pure oxygen. Aric Davis has that kind of voice: crackling, assured, energized.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>
Do yourselves a favor and pick up <i>The Fort</i>. It's a great summer read.<br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Fort-Aric-Davis/dp/1611099390">amazon</a> (only $4.99) and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fort-aric-davis/1114004615?ean=9781611099393">Barnes & Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080964738739339454.post-10096456287238766462013-07-09T18:11:00.000-04:002013-07-09T18:11:07.104-04:00The Ocean at the End of the Lane Review<img height="240" src="http://files.harpercollins.com/WilliamMorrow/Gaiman/oceanwp800x600.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
I've been super behind on writing. We moved out of our NYC apartment on June 15th and relocated to a beautiful big apartment in Philly, so it took a while to get settled. And I took a little break from novels to read a bunch of graphic novels but I finally got back to Neil Gaiman's newest book. My husband has been harassing me to write this review since he's also a huge Gaiman fan and gave me orders to write a non-spoilery review.<br />
<br />
So here goes... the unnamed narrator of <i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</i> is at his father's funeral, feeling a bit lost and he ends up driving to his old house, and then part it to the rambling old farmhouse at the end of the lane to visit a family that he once knew. He asks an old woman there if he can sit out by the pond in the back, the pond that his old friend Lettie Hempstock once claimed was the ocean. She agrees and he goes to sit, only to be flooded with memories of an incident that took place when he was seven.<br />
<br />
He lived with his sister and parents who, when faced with financial difficulties, took in boarders. One of these, an opal miner from South Africa, ended up stealing the family car and killing himself in it. This death led the narrator to spend some time at the Hempstock farm where he met Lettie, who was 11, her mother, Ginny and grandmother, known only as Old Mrs. Hempstock. The Hempstocks are definitely magical somehow, although their role in the world is never fully defined. They determine that the death and other strange occurrences are due to an evil presence lurking somewhere on the Hempstock property (sort of). Lettie takes the boy with her to bind the presence, but in doing so, there is a moment where the boy's guard is down and that opens him up to be a door between worlds, and a means for the creature to access his life and the lives of those around him.<br />
<br />
Gaiman is adept at creating creep characters and disturbing scenes. The children's new governess, Ursula, certainly seems like the other mother in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline">Coraline</a>. </i>She has the same sort of malevolence that children can see, but adults ignore. The presence of the governess kicks off the real adventure. How can the boy seek help from the Hempstocks and how can they save him from his predicament? I'm not going into tons of detail here as per my husband's request, but the main theme of the novel is sacrifice. Is a great sacrifice worth it?<br />
<br />
<i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</i> is a short little book, which is a bit disappointing given how infrequently Gaiman publishes anything these days. However, it is filled with lovely (and sometimes disturbing) imagery. The story isn't really a new one but despite its familiarity, it still feels interesting and unique. The Hempstocks are mysterious figures that like many Gaiman creations are just fleshed out enough to make them interesting but not so fully explained to make them fully understood, if that makes sense.<br />
<br />
The end was sad and sweet and made me want to pick up one of his other novels again. Gaiman is really one of our most gifted writers and I definitely wish he wrote and published more often.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/books/review/neil-gaimans-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">NY Times Review</a><br />
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jul/03/ocean-end-lane-gaiman-review">The Guardian Review</a><br />
<br />
Buy it at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Ocean-End-Lane-Novel/dp/0062255657">amazon</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane-neil-gaiman/1113200718?ean=9780062255655">Barnes and Noble</a>Dorothyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18013700433584018780noreply@blogger.com0