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
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—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
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—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
We Have Always Lived in the Castle August 19, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book News.Tags: Shirley Jackson, We have always lived in the castle
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Reports are that Michael Douglas’ production company Further Films is developing Shirley Jackson’s novel of horror We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I added this to my reading list while purusing Borders last week, and now I’ll have to read it!
Silent on the Moor Book Trailer August 19, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book News, Randomness.Tags: Book Trailer, Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Moor, Silent in the Sanctuary
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It appears I am on a hiatus from review writing, but for anyone still out there reading I WILL be getting back to reviews soon, and never fear I have been reading despite not writing. But real quick I wanted to share the Book Trailer for Deanna Raybourn’s Silent on the Moor. I have read the previous novels in the series, but have not read this one yet. I have to admit once again, the style of the book cover has turned me off a bit, but if it is like the other books, it will be a good read nonetheless. Check out the trailer here.
More Upcoming Book Reviews August 3, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Randomness.add a comment
In addition to the ones mentioned in the July 1st post:
The Rebel Angels
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
The Secret Scripture
… Someday I’ll have the time and energy to write reviews. Sorry everyone!
Blood and Ice July 5, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy.Tags: Antarctica, Blood and Ice, Horror, Robert Masello, Science Fiction/Fantasy
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—3.5—
On a hot summer day picking up Blood and Ice by Robert Masello may make you thankful for the heat. Set in Antarctica, this science fiction/horror thriller chills the reader in more way than one. Two stories ultimately converge within this novel. The first is the story of Eleanor and Sinclair, and soldier and a nurse tossed aside a ship near Antarctica in 1856. The second is of Michael Wilde, a journalist for an eco-travel magazine, who is escaping personal tragedy for the opportunity of a life-time in Antarctica. Sent to document and photograph the harsh conditions and the scientists that make the extreme continent their home, Michael uncovers more than he bargained for, and more than the secluded community may be able to handle.
For a horror novel, the ending was strangely both positive and satisfying. The character Michael has been written as someone anyone would like to count as their friend. He is intelligent and strong, level-headed but compassionate. On the other hand, the book does have its spooky moments! Antarctica is such a terrifying setting because of the deadliness of the climate and the impossibility of escape. In addition, the combination of the past and present stories is done remarkably well.
There were a few points where I wished the story would progress a little faster. I found some of the passages tedious. I don’t know if that was meant to reflect on the setting, but I was often waiting for something else to happen. But overall this was a good read for hot summer days.
3.5/5
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
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—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
Upcoming Book Reviews July 1, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Randomness.1 comment so far
Since I have been reading but cannot seem to get up the energy to write reviews, I will hereby list the Book Reviews that are forthcoming upon my next surge of motivation:
1) The Hunger Games
2) Mating Rituals of the North American WASP
3) Standing Still
4) Survival of the Sickest
5) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
6) A Great and Terrible Beauty
7) The Masque of the Black Tulip
8 ) Blood and Ice
And now that I have listed them, my lack of effort seems embarrassing.
The Memorist June 27, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, M.J. Rose, Reincarnation, The Memorist, The Reincarnationist
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—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
The Reincarnationist June 17, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, M.J. Rose, Reincarnation, The Reincarnationist
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—3.5—
Ridiculous title aside, M.J. Rose’s The Reincarnationist is a fairly entertaining thriller, in the style of Dan Brown. This story follows photojournalist Josh Ryder, months after he began having past life experiences come through to his present. These occurrences have lost him his wife, and have caused him to seek out help from the Phoenix Foundation, a group who researches reincarnation. A tomb has been recently bee opened in Rome, and so Josh goes to explore the site’s significance to past-life research, soon finding he has a personal past-life connection to Rome and this tomb. Inside the tomb are stones that may prove the existence of reincarnation and threaten the foundations of the church. So sets off a plot of murder and thievery, kidnapping and exploration, past and present. The story is told as Josh falls in and out of his past life as Julius, an pagan priest. There is a little romance thrown in for good measure as well.
I enjoyed the premise of the book. While not a believer in reincarnation myself, the book was sufficiently suspenseful for me to ignore my disbelief. However, besides Josh, I did not feel attached to the characters. I thought their decisions too predictable, and that they were overall a bit two-dimensional. I also didn’t feel as propelled through the story as I have with Dan Brown novels, the chapters here are longer and more meandering. Finally, I didn’t feel there was a strong resolution to the story, with our questions answered and the “bad guys” revealed. But perhaps that is were the sequel comes in, Rose’s The Memorist.
3.5/5
And on a side note, Fox has decided to turn The Reincarnationist premise into a TV show, I think beginning next fall!
