The Graveyard Book October 20, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction, Holiday Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young-Adult Fiction.Tags: Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
1 comment so far
Halloween Book Review #3!!
—4—
For anyone who hasn’t read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, Halloween is fast approaching and this is a great time to do it! But considering I’m the last one to read it, that may be irrelevant. But I am going to review it anyways, perhaps to encourage the last few of you to pick it up.
Nobody’s family was murdered when he was an infant, but he escaped into the local cemetery. There, the “residents” take it upon themselves to raise and protect Nobody (Bod), and adopt him as their own. Bod is granted full run of the graveyard, which means he acquires some of the ghosts’ abilities, such as being able to fade. He is taught by characters from all different eras of history. His guardian is Silas, a figure who is able to leave the graveyard to gather food and items for Nobody, as well as protect him from the man who is still hunting him.
You would think a story about a boy growing up in a cemetery would be morbid, and at times it is a bit frightening, but overall it is a story about a community, unusual as it is, coming together to love, teach, and raise a child. At first Bod is confined to the graveyard, but he is taught to survive and thrive outside of it as well. And what a wonderful set of characters! Ghouls and a witch, a Roman and a poet, and a little girl from the outside world who befriends young Bod even though her mother thinks him her imaginary friend.
I was definitely stressed at the end when the murderer known as Jack finds Nobody, and Bod must escape him and save his best friend. Besides this, the story is not too frightening or dark. I think it is perfectly appropriate for most children, and is great for adults too! Love it!
4/5
We Have Always Lived in the Castle October 11, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, Classic Literature, General Fiction, Holiday Reviews.Tags: Halloween, Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, We have always lived in the castle
2 comments
Another Halloween Book Review…
—3.5—
I ordered Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle from interlibrary loans, and the copy I received was practically ancient. And I think the ambiance of the story was better off for it. It had that old book smell that makes reading a scary story at night just that much more authentic.
Not that this story was particularly scary; it was more just weird. Really weird. And I’m not quite sure I get everything that happened. But I’m also not sure I was supposed to.
No-one in town likes the inhabitants of Blackwood House. One of its three residents probably poisoned all the other family members that once lived there. Merricat is the only one who ever leaves the house, forced to enter town to shop for groceries and borrow books from the library. She is a young lady who is not at all right, but it is hard to put your finger on exactly why. Her sister Constance is an agoraphobe to the extreme, and Uncle Julian has dementia and a obsession with murder. What exactly is going on in this house? And what happened the day of the poisoning? As these things often go, a stranger brings irreversible change to this house and these haunted characters.
These are weirdo characters. They are unhinged to say the least. And yet, you almost want to sympathize with Merricat, as her world dissolves around her, while at the same time feeling that her world should never have existed in the first place.
There is something about books that I don’t quite get. I feel like they are incomplete when they finish. So this book left me just a bit unsatisfied. But despite that, this book has some of the best dark, macabre humor and some of the most neurotic characters I’ve ever read. More eerie than frightening, this is another good Halloween read.
3.5/5
The Masque of the Black Tulip September 12, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Pink Carnation, The Masque of the Black Tulip, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
add a comment
—2—
I am finally writing a review for the second novel in the Pink Carnation series, The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. Like the first, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, I listened to this on audiobook in the car. And unfortunately, it was more ridiculous than even the first. Another romance pretending to be historical fiction, with a hint of spy-genre. This story line followed one of the supporting characters of the first book and the hunt for the nemesis of the Pink Carnation, The Black Tulip. In the present time, it is graduate student Eloise Kelly researching these figures, and looking for answers among the handsome but frustrating Colin Selwick’s archives.
The romance writing made me uncomfortable, and the rest of the story was preposterous. It seemed parts were trying to be humorous, but overall the plot was too long and too unbelievable. There are several more in this series, but I definitely wont be picking up anymore. The only thing that made me read this one was that I really liked Eloise, the modern day researcher, and I am disappointed that I can’t follow her story and her relationship with Colin without reading the rest of the nonsense.
2/5
Read my review of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.
The Gemma Doyle Trilogy September 11, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young-Adult Fiction.Tags: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Fiction, Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Historical Fiction, Libba Bray, Rebel Angels, Science Fiction/Fantasy, The Sweet Far Thing, Young-Adult Fiction
add a comment
—3.5—
As further evidence of my extreme listlessness, I am combining three book reviews into one! Pathetic, huh. Well, besides my disgusting laziness, there are other reasons for this. First, this is obviously a trilogy, and so I have the excuse of wanting to consume and then review the work as a whole. Second, I listened to these on audiobook, and for some reason this make writing reviews more difficult, especially detailed reviews.
So here’s what I have to say about The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, by Libba Bray. The first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty turned me off a bit, mostly because I did not realize that these stories would involve witchcraft/magic/other realms, etc. It’s not that I dislike those topics, quite the contrary. But do you ever find yourself disliking a book just because it was not what you had expected? I guess I should have read the synopsis. However, by the end, strong-willed Gemma Doyle had won me over.
The trilogy begins with the death of Gemma’s mother, and Gemma’s exodus from her home in India to an English finishing school. Gemma is different from the other girls in many ways, but the biggest is that she has visions and can enter other realms (that’s pretty different if I do say so). Gemma has also been followed, by a young man, Kartik, and he tries to convince her of the danger of her visions and the realms.
The next books continue Gemma’s adventures, as she learns more and more about the realms, and herself. The experiences in the realms bind her to a few true friends, power-hungry Felicity, timid Ann, and beautiful Pippa. By the end of the trilogy Gemma learns the power of the realms, and how much strength she has as well.
I sometimes felt that these books were dragging out the story a bit too much. So much time is spent in the realms, and I began to feel it was getting repetitive. I loved the characters however; every teen girl (or woman who was once a teen) will be able to identify with one of the characters, if not parts of all of them. My favorite of the three was the second, Rebel Angels, because this story takes the reader away from the boarding school and into Victorian London, and we get to learn a little more about Gemma’s family. This was a decent teen trilogy, but when comparing it to series such as the Hunger Games, it still falls short.
3.5/5
Catching Fire September 7, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction, Young-Adult Fiction.Tags: Catching Fire, Fiction, The Hunger Games, Young-Adult Fiction
add a comment
—5—
This weekend I devoured the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. And it was wonderful, and now I’m heartbroken that I must wait for the last in the trilogy. Catching Fire picks up Katniss’ saga where it left off; she has returned home with Peeta, victorious in the last Hunger Games, and now must try to resume life in District 12. But of course things are irreversibly changed, including her relationship with her best-friend Gale, the life of relative ease her family now lives in, and even the mood of the Districts themselves. There is unrest among the oppressed in the Districts, and Katniss unbenowenstly becomes the figurehead for rebellion. And the Capitol can’t have that, so they set another plan in motion to make sure that the uprising, and Katniss herself, are stopped once and for all.
Catching Fire expands on life in the different districts, and so the reader is allowed a better view of the world Collins has created. Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and Gale are all still the magnificent characters they were in the first installment. Katniss is pulled in so many directions, and she must realize what Peeta and her have set into motion cannot be contained, and that they have no choice to help finish what they started. It is deliciously suspenseful!
I can’t wait for the next one! Lovers of The Hunger Games will not be disappointed by Catching Fire.
5/5
And Thanks to www.galleysmith.com for this:
Standing Still August 25, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, Kelly Simmons, Panic Disorder, Standing Still
add a comment
—3—
I read Standing Still by Kelly Simmons in one sitting, while riding on the train to downtown Chicago. It is not a big book, it is not a particularly profound book, but it was an enjoyable read and it passed the time well. We chose this novel for our June book club selection. We all had similar perspectives about the book. None of us were blown away, but we all enjoyed the story for what it was.
A former journalist, with a hidden past continuously alluded to, Claire is now the mom that does it all, all the while suffering from panic disorder. A kidnapper breaks into Claire’s home, and she begs him to take her instead of her daughter. So begins the seven days Claire is held captive. Claire undertakes a journey while in one hotel room, and light is shed on who she has become, the life she now leads, the man who is her husband, and the bond developing with her mysterious abductor.
This is not a novel of action and plot, as is implied through the title. It is instead a window into a character and a life, and a peak at how the decisions we make and relationships we have lead us down very unexpected paths. Claire comes out the other side a new women with a new perspective, but I was left with more questions and a sense of incompleteness. But that may have been intentional; Claire’s new life was just beginning I suppose.
3/5
Mating Rituals of the North American WASP August 24, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, Lauren Lipton, Mating Rituals of teh North American WASP
add a comment
—4—
This is not the type of book I ever read. That being said, I LOVED THIS BOOK. First, The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton has such a cute title! And from there the book remains just as cute and light, and is a fun summer read. It is chic-lit at its finest: smart, funny, and willing to poke a little fun at itself.
It starts as these things do, Peggy Adams wakes up hungover in Vegas married to a stranger. We’ve all had that happen, so we can’t judge. Her new husband is the WASP of the title, Luke, a man under a lot of pressure to live up to his last-name and maintain the family wealth. Luke’s aunt owns a magnificent old house, in which he can only sell if he stays married to Peggy for one year. And Peggy’s business is failing, so she is desperate for the money she would receive with the sale. But of course they don’t get along — until they do — and you know how this goes, and nobody would ever be surprised by this storyline.
But Lauren Lipton is witty, and so this cliched story works. And if it is a sunny day and you have some free time for some girl-reading, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
4/5
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane August 23, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy.Tags: Best Sellers, Ficti, Historical Fiction, Katherine Howe, Salem Witch Trials, Science Fiction/Fantasy, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Witchraft
1 comment so far
—4—
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe was getting a lot of buzz a few months back, so I picked myself up a copy and gave it a go. I had been hearing mixed things, some people really enjoyed it and others thought it did not quite live up to the hype. I was in the first camp; I thought it was quite good.
This novel has the type of storyline I find very alluring. The main character, Carrie Goodwin, is set to find a topic for her doctoral thesis. But while wishing she could concentrate on this overwhelming task her mother requests that she take over the sale of the abandoned home of grandmother. This project at first seems a complete distraction, but turns into a historical mystery, and perhaps a dissertation topic. Within a key, within a 17th century Bible, is a slip of paper with the name “Deliverance Dane”. Connie begins on a path to research the woman, and learn her history, leading her to new revelations about the infamous Salem Witch Trials and the possibility of true witchcraft.
A handsome sidekick of course comes along the way, providing the needed flirtation and fun that the book would suffer without. The story alternates between Connie’s story and the story of several women of the Dane lineage, as the true powers of these women are slowly revealed for us.
This story is somewhere between mystery, suspense, and historical fiction. The ending will not come as a surprise, but that is a minor shortcoming. Connie can seem a little dopey at times, especially considering she is a doctoral candidate, and her love-interest is a bit two dimensional, but the plot and historical details make up for these faults and make The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane worth picking up.
4/5
The Hunger Games July 2, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction, Young-Adult Fiction.Tags: Catching Fire, Fiction, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Young-Adult Fiction
3 comments
—5—
I find it maddening that I struggle to right reviews for the books I enjoy the most. I read Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games MONTHS ago, and I loved it, and I never wrote a review because I could never express how great I thought it was, or put into words the reasons why I felt it was so great. And so I remain idle, and everyone else publishes their review of The Hunger Games and now my task seems even greater because WHAT COULD BE LEFT TO SAY? But by now everyone knows of this book, and most are anxiously awaiting the sequel Catching Fire, so I can just give a quick summary and once again say that this book is wonderful, and then we can all move on.
So here’s the summary.
Katniss is a teen in post-apocalyptic America, trying to hunt and forage enough to keep her mother and younger sister alive. As if that is not enough of a task for a young women, the leaders of land demand that 2 children between the ages of 12 and 18 be taken from their homes in each of the 12 Districts. These young-adults are then forced to participate in reality-tv gone terribly wrong, a fight to the death in which only one will survive. Katniss and a boy her age, Peeta, are sent to The Games, but their chances look grim since they are from the poorest district and have not trained for this as other children have. Their strategy? Peeta and Katniss have to convince the audience that they have feelings for each other in order to win funds that pay for the supplies they need while in the arena. But Peeta is not acting, and Katniss is dense, and Gale, her best friend from home, may be in love with her as well. And all the while children are being massacred!
See what I mean about not being able to convey well books that I loved. It sounds like a trite teen romance plus some gore, but it is not! It is one of the most intelligent YA reads I’ve read in a long time. You are forced to wonder how you would fare in the arena, what your weaknesses would be, and your strengths. Would you lose your humanity in a struggle to survive?
And Katniss is such an excellent and strong female protagonist that she makes you wish you were a little more like her as a teen. And it is breathtaking the way the different Districts are described, some so abundant and wealthly and others in which their citizens barely survive day to day. This is definately an allegory for the United States of the present, and it is chilling and believable.
And just because everyone now compares every teen read to the Twilight series, I will make my obligatory comment. I think Katniss is ten-times the role-model of Bella, and the book is throughougly PG even with the violent storyline.
But, you all know all this because everyone has already read it. And if you haven’t PICK IT UP!
5/5
The Memorist June 27, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, M.J. Rose, Reincarnation, The Memorist, The Reincarnationist
add a comment
—3.5—
I read the follow-up to M.J. Rose’s The Reincarnationist, entitled The Memorist, and I may have liked it just a bit better than the first. It follows Meer, a young woman haunted by what her father believes are past-life memories, a view she vehemently disagrees with. When the reincarnationist association’s leader, Malachai, gives Meer a catalogue previewing a gaming-box once in the possession of Beethoven Meer begins a journey which forces her to confront who she was in another lifetime. An ancient song played on an ancient flute holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of past-lives, and Malachai needs it to validate his life’s work and Meer needs it to validate her present life.
Like The Reincarnationist, The Memorist is a little convoluted and complicated. But I suppose a novel occurring in several eras in which each character is (or was) several people would become fairly complex. I liked Meer a lot, and I feel that is what pulled me through this book faster than the first. I also loved the portions that occurred in 18th (early 19th?) century Vienna, with the eccentric and genius Beethoven. This novel only has one character carried over from The Reincarnationist, and while the first story is alluded to, I do believe this could be read as a stand-alone. I still don’t believe Rose captured the suspense that she was trying for in her writing and plot, but The Memorist was still a compelling read.
3.5/5
