Intro: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil December 27, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Current Read Comments.Tags: John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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“He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like the tinted windows of a sleek limousine- he could see out, but you couldn’t see in. We were sitting in the living room of his Victorian house. It was a mansion, really, with fifteen-foot ceilings and large, well-proportioned rooms. A graceful spiral stairway rose from the center hall toward a domed skylight. There was a ballroom on the second floor. It was Mercer House, one of the last of Savannah’s great houses still in private hands. Together with the walled garden and the carriage house in back, it occupied an entire city block. If Mercer House was not quite the biggest private house in Savannah, it was certainly the most grandly furnished. Architectural Digest had devoted six pages to it. A book on the interiors of the world’s great houses featured it along side Sagamore Hill, Biltmore, and Chartwell. Mercer House was the envy of house-proud Savannah. Jim Williams lived in it alone.”
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Metamorphosis December 26, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, Classic Literature.Tags: Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis
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—4—
Franz Kafka’s short story The Metamorphosis describes the life of salesman Gregor Samsa — after he is transformed into a bug. This work focuses on man’s isolation, as shown through Gregor’s family rejecting him, his boss fleeing from him, and everyone Gregor loved worrying about themselves instead of how Gregor is affected by this sudden change. It is also a comment on materialism in today’s society. And, if you’re like me, it’s a story that will make your skin crawl, because bugs are gross.
4/5
New York Times Bestsellers 12.26.06 December 26, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Randomness.add a comment
HARDCOVER FICTION
Top 5
1. FOR ONE MORE DAY, by Mitch Albom
2. CROSS, by James Patterson
3. NEXT, by Michael Crichton
4. DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks
5. TREASURE OF KHAN, by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
Top 5
1. THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama
2. THE INNOCENT MAN, by John Grisham
3. MARLEY & ME, by John Grogan
4. CULTURE WARRIOR, by Bill O’Reilly
5. PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID, by Jimmy Carter
Year of Wonders December 20, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders
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—4—
First off, I love diseases and plagues. Well, at least reading and learning about them. The Black Death, 1918 Influenza, you name it, I want to read about it. And I love historical fiction. So I knew I’d like Geraldine Brooks’ Year of Wonders from the start.
This novel is based on a 17th century plague outbreak in a small Derbyshire village. The narrator is a young widow, Anna Frith, who struggles, and succeeds in retaining her humanity, while most others around her succumb to the disease or their own fear.
The characters are believable, and even more importantly, their actions during this horrifying time are believable. You could see yourself acting and feeling the same as the members of this community do. The prose is strong and beautiful, and the fear is felt by the reader. Tiny details make this story what it is, and I recommend it fully to anyone who enjoys reading about disease, or enjoys the historical fiction genre.
(4/5)
Intro: Year of Wonders December 20, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Current Read Comments.Tags: Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders
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“I used to love this season. The wood stacked by the door, the tang of its sap still speaking of forest. The hay made, all golden in the low afternoon light. The rumble of the apples tumbling into the cellar bins. Smells and sights and sounds that said this year it would be all right: there’d be food and warmth for the babies by the time the snows came. I used to love to walk in the apple orchard at this time of the year, to feel the soft give underrfoot when I trod on a fallen fruit. Thick, sweet scents of rotting apple and wet wood. This year, the hay stooks are few and the woodpile scant, and neither matters much to me.”
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Clan of the Cave Bear December 20, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
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—4—
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel was one of my latest reads. My dad bought me this and the second in the Earth Children series, Valley of the Horses, at a library book-sale. This book was a best-seller when it appeared in the early 1980s and was often mentioned by one of my anthropolgy professors.
This a very good narrative. It follows Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon girl, who was orphaned at 5 by an earthquake. She is raised by a band of Neanderthals, the Clan of the Cave Bear, at the end of the Neanderthal reign. Her care-takers are confused and often threatened by this young girl and her capacity to think and change. The Clan is forced to adhere strictly to traditions, because they lack the capacity to fathom change. As hard as she tried not to, Ayla breaks every taboo and crosses every sacred line of the Clan’s.
Overall, this is a story of survival and percerverance, as well as a story about change and evolution. Since the 80’s many new discoveries have occurred in the field of anthropology, and many old theories tossed aside, so anyone semi-fluent in this field will notice the descrepencies. However, they remain undistracting because the story flows so well.
(4/5)
P.S. The movie Clan of the Cave Bear starring Daryl Hannah is not much like the book and certainly not worth watching. Yuck.
New York Times Bestsellers 12.20.06 December 20, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Randomness.add a comment
HARDCOVER FICTION
Top 5
1. FOR ONE MORE DAY, by Mitch Albom
2. NEXT, by Michael Crichton
3. CROSS, by James Patterson
4. DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks
5. TREASURE OF KHAN, by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
Top 5
1. THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama
2. THE INNOCENT MAN, by John Grisham
3. CULTURE WARRIOR, by Bill O’Reilly
4. MARLEY & ME, by John Grogan
5. PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID, by Jimmy Carter
Happy Holidays!!
New AND Improved December 28, 2006
Posted by sadiejean in Current Read Comments.add a comment
I’m trying something new. The cover pictures of the novels I read are now links to the reviews and information on Amazon.com!