The Millennium Series

Pin It

So almost two years ago I listened to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson on audio book and I really enjoyed it.  Up until that point I had surprisingly avoided all the hype so I went into it with no preconceived notions of what it was about and I have to say that I was very surprised it was actually a crime/mystery novel.  I don't know what I was expecting but a 'whodunit' was not on my list of possibilities.  I was quite a fan of the story and the writing.  I loved the characters, and maybe most of all I LOVED the guy that read the book on the audio version.  So why did it take me so long to read {listen} to the next two installments?  I really have no excuse other than the fact that my library never seemed to have them available.  But now that everyone is clamoring for this years "Best Sellers" {click *here* to see what I think about that}, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl that Kicked the Hornets Nest were free for the taking!  Oh, and a bonus for waiting 2 whole years to dig into these two books is that now I get to picture the oh-so-dreamy Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist {*sigh*, but I digress} I thought about reading them the good ol' fashioned way, but I had such a audible crush on the reader Martin Wenner that I had to listen to them too {is there an award comparable to the Oscars or Tonys for people who read audio books???  Because I have their winner} 

So when we left off on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mikael Blomkvist has figured out the mystery, and Lisbeth Salander has done what she did and has left the country {sorry for being so cryptic but I don't want to spoil it for anyone!}  The second book really is a completely different story but just using the same characters.  Nothing from the plot of book 1 plays a big part in book 2 BUT book 2 leaves you in a cliff hanger and nothing gets tidied up until book 3 {are you following me?}  I am not really going to give you a real recap of what happens because people!  That completely defeats the purpose of a crime novel!  Shame on you for trying to get it out of me {you know how I crack under pressure}!!!!  You don't want to know what happens or you shouldn't even be reading it!  So all I'll say is that someone gets killed while writing a book about sex trafficking and Mikael and Lisbeth are back at it {but this time not together} trying to figure out who, what, where, when, and why.  The slight twist is that Mikael and Lisbeth are both searching for different answers to different questions so this makes the story all the more exciting!  So come on people, if you haven't given into the peer pressure yet, please read these books {or listen to them preferably because you are going to love this Martin Wenner guy!  Seriously!  I swear it!}  These books are worth your time and money {unlike another Best Selling Trilogy I know of}.  

If you like to read, than you will like this book {that is my recommendation, readers}.  The only warning I have is that these books center around violence toward women, and it can get a little descriptive when it comes to setting some of the more unsettling scenes.  BUT, the heroine of the story is a VERY strong women that is fighting against the violence, so it is empowering really.  No weepy co-ed, damsel in distress here.  I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did.  I don't know if the hype they made a few years ago was worth it, however, they are amazing reads and probably important in someway as far as modern fiction goes.  They need to go on your "To Read" Bucket List for sure.   

RATING: 4 stars {for the whole series}

2 More Reviews on The Millennium Trilogy:

Freckles and Sunshine

Thots and Expressions

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

{Library Audio Book}

ISBN: 0307577580

16hours 19minutes

Read by Martin Wenner

The Girl Who Played with Fire

{Library Audio Book}

ISBN: 0739384171

18hours 38minutes

Read by Martin Wenner

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

{Library Audio Book}

ISBN: 0739384198

20hours 20minutes

Read by Martin Wenner

If you liked The Millennium Series then read In The Woods by Tana French.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Pin It

So I had seen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer oh so many years ago and I had always had the desire to pick it up and give it a gander but so many other fabulous books would get in my way and I would loose sight of this particular one.  Then my book club decided it was time to explore Foer's novel and so I skipped over to my Kindle pushed the button and voila it was magically in my had {I just love my Kindle}.  I read the first page and then I couldn't help myself and I read like a quarter of the book while my toddler ran around pulling the dogs tail and dumping over his toy basket.  But Y'all I couldn't help it!  This book sucks you in quickly!  It's one of those books where you sit down to read a chapter and then a few hours later you get up and realize you are getting dangerously close to the back cover!

Now how am I going to describe our protagonist to you...  Well, he is 9 years old, wip smart, scared of his own shadow, and it is implied but never really stated that he is slightly autistic.  Also, he has a business card that he hands out to everyone he meets and it reads like this:

OSKAR SCHELL: INVENTOR, JEWELRY DESIGNER, JEWELRY FABRICATOR, AMATEUR  ENTOMOLOGIST, FRANCOPHILE, VEGAN, ORIGAMIST, PACIFIST, PERCUSSIONIST, AMATEUR ASTRONOMER, COMPUTER CONSULTANT, AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST, COLLECTOR OF: rare coins, butterflies that died natural deaths, miniature cacti, Beatles memorabilia, semi precious stones, and other things        

I think that the business card pretty much sums up who Oskar Schell is.  Of course it doesn't say that he lost THE most important person in his life the year before the story starts.  Oskar's father Thomas was in one of the World Trade Center towers when they fell on September 11th 2001.  A year later Oskar is in his fathers closet when he finds a strange key in a blue vase.  The key is in an envelope with the word BLACK written on the front.  This key spurs a journey through the 5 Boroughs of New York searching for the lock that needs this key.  All the while Oskar is carrying an emotional burden so heavy it will break your heart when you find out what it is {HAVE TISSUES AT HAND WHEN YOU GET TO THIS PART}

Now my little synopsis does not do this incredible story justice.  There are so many other story lines going on that my summery could only focus on the main one.  I believe that is exactly what happened in the writing of the screen play.  You have to look at the movie as a completely different creature from the book.  The move is great.  The book is great.  They share the same idea, but they are executed EXTREMELY and INCREDIBLY different {haha, see what I did there}.  Anyway, you need to love the two independently from each other or you won't love them at all.

This book can be discussed to the moon and back so I would highly recommend this to a book club.  I would also recommend this book to anyone who has a love affair with New York City {as I do}, or someone who loves a story from a child's point of view.

RATING:  4 stars

3 more reviews on this book:

Lovely Little Shelf

Reading Matters

Books i Done Read

Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathan Foer

{purchased on Amazon.com for my Kindle}

ISBN 0618711651

Pages 326

If you liked Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer then please read The Store of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and The Courious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.  

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Pin It

Okay.  I give all of you permission to string me up by my toes and throw rotten veggies at me.  I have neglecting you and my blog for WAY.  TO.  LONG.  I have been reading though, but the reason for this hiatus has been because the only reading materials that have passed though my hands in the last few months have been What to Expect When Your Expecting, and The Joys of Breastfeeding and other such reference books.  And while that is very very interesting and enjoyable reading material for a mom-to-be it isn't great fodder for this blog.  I am sure you don't want to know (especially my male followers) my thoughts on birth plans, placentas, and the joys my breasts are going to bring to my future prodigy.  However, I have been able to squeeze in some pleasure reading so I am going to give you a few reviews here in the next few weeks.

Lets start with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  I finally jumped on the Dragon Tattoo bandwagon and picked this story up as an audio book.  I must say that I am pleasantly surprised but a little let down at the same time.  With all they hype around this book and the others in the series I was expecting to fall head over heels in love with this book like I did with Time Travelers Wife.  However, I enjoyed the book immensely but I don't know that it was worth all the hype that it has received in the past few years.  The long and short of it, is the book is a murder mystery.  That is it.  A VERY VERY good murder mystery but a murder mystery non-the-less.  Some how my ears had escaped all spoilers and all synopsis's of this book so I really had NO IDEA what it was about when I started it.  For some reason I thought it was about Swedish stock brokers (I have no idea why) and had no idea it was a thriller/murder mystery (which I must say was a peasant surprise because I just couldn't see what I would like about a book revolving around the Swedish stock market).

So it starts off rather dry and I was thinking "oh hell, how I am I going to get through this whole thing??"  We meet Mikael Blomkvist, he is a financial/political journalist and he has just published an article in his magazine about Hans-Erik Wennerstrom.  When Wennerstrom charges Blomkvist with writing a hurtful article that isn't entirely true Blomkvist is sentenced to prison time.  To clear his head Blomkvist takes a job on the tiny island of Hedeby to write the family history of the prominent Vanger family.  To the public it looks like Blomkvist is writing this families memoirs but in truth he is investigating a murder that happened 40 years earlier on that very island.  The cold case murder happened to a 16 year old girl that lived on the island with her uncle Henrik Vanger.  Along the way Blomkvist and his unlikely friend Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo), unravel the mystery of the missing girl, uncover the serial murderer of dozens of other missing women that span over a 50 year time span, and uncover the truth behind the Wennerstrom Corporation.  

This book really is a whirlwind of plot twists, love connections, and mystery.  The characters are extremely well developed and the story telling style is very interesting and flows very nicely.  I would recommend this book to almost anyone (unless you have a weak stomach when it comes to violence towards women, I know that hits strong nerves with some people).  Book clubs could discuss the heck out of it and it is equally good if you take it on vacation with you or if you are doing some more serious reading.  I am really looking forward to reading the other books in the series, however, I don't think the book lives up to the hype, so don't be surprised if you feel a little let down after you read it.

RATING: 4 Stars

3 more reviews on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

All About {n}

Advance Booking

Lovely Little Shelf

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

{Library Audio Book}

ISBN: 0307577580

16hours 19minutes

Read by Martin Wenner

If you liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo you should also read: The Disappearing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O' Farrell

This is Where I Leave You {Book Club Pick}

Pin It

So I had heard about This is Where I Leave You from quite a few reliable sources and I had heard about Jonathan Tropper in general from quite a few reliable sources so of course Tropper and this book were on my ever growing TBR list.  However, I knew that if I wasn't pushed to read this book I probably never would because even though it was on my TBR list I have so many other books that looked much more appealing to me!  So when my book club decided that this would be the September book I was excited!!!  Just what I needed, a little push in the direction of Tropper and now I am hooked!!!  One of my earlier mentioned "Reliable Sources" is a fellow book blogger Greg from The New Dork Review.  Greg is a big Tropper fan and he said in one of his reviews on Tropper that he is the mans equivalent of Chick Lit.  Well, I couldn't agree with you more Greg.  This is 100% Dude Lit for sure.  Tropper writes an easy to read witty story full of family angst, self image, sex, and betrayal (throw in some Louboutins, and a Dolce and Gabbana handbag and you have full fledged Chick Lit).  Now don't think for a moment comparing this book to Chick Lit makes this book fluff.  It isn't, it is a touching look in to a dysfunctional family and realizing that it really isn't that dysfunctional.  Tropper also builds very 3 dimensional characters, and while the book is easy to read it isn't mindless reading. 

In This is Where I Leave You you meet Judd Foxman at the lowest point in his life.  His dearly loved wife just cheated on him with his Alpha male boss (think Howard Stern).  His Dad passed away after a fight with stomach cancer.  And to top it all off his Mother has called to tell her children that their fathers dying wish was to have the whole non-religious family sit Shiva.  The last thing Judd wants to do is spend 7 days locked in his childhood home with his body image obsessed older sister Wendy (and her Wall Street husband and 3 loud obnoxious kids), his self pitting older brother Paul, who holds Judd accountable for the end of his baseball career (along with his wife Alice who is desperate for a child), his younger brother Phillip who is a play boy with out direction in his life (and his 2 times older girlfriend/therapist), not to mentioned his sexually charged Therapist Mother who may or may not have become a lesbian.  On top of this week from hell his soon-to-be ex-wife shows up to tell Judd she is pregnant.  I mean come on, this book is jam packed with crazy!!!  It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and it is worth every page!!!  I promise you will LOL at least once if not continuously though this whole story!!

I don't know if I would recommend this to book clubs.  It is full of shocking and graphic sexual scenes and where that doesn't ever bother me (or my book club) at all I could see some people getting a little up in arms over the whole thing.  However, I would recommend this book to someone that wants to read something different for a change.  I would recommend it to just about any guy, because I would bet most would love it and tell you that this book pegs the male point of view.

BOOK vs. MOVIE: So this book has been snatched up for a movie in 2011.  I think that the movie will be nothing short of hilarious.  I will be purchasing $10 tickets and $50 popcorn to check this one out for sure.

RATING: 4 stars

3 More reviews on this book:

The New Dork Review

Reading My Books

Beattie's Book Blog

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

{Borrowed from a friend}

ISBN 0452296366

Pages 352

If you liked This is Where I Leave You then try: Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch

The Plague

Pin It

Well with a title like The Plague you know that the book is gonna have a lot to do with pain and pestilence, and mortality.  But would you think it would have to also do with compassion, community, and survival?  Well this book had it all and it was really rather unexpectantly interesting!  Now I have to admit that if I had read this book I would have put it down almost immediately so I am glad I picked it up at the library as an audio book otherwise I would have never experienced this little gem.  The Plague by Albert Camus was published in 1947 and originally it was written in French but was then later translated to English and I feel there was nothing really lost in translation, because the book was quite wonderful and beautifully written.  The novel is believed to be loosely based on a Cholera Outbreak that killed a large percentage of the Algerian city Oran in 1849 following the French colonization (information from Wikipedia).

Now that the little history lesson is over I'll clue you in to what the book is about.  Wait... I bet you can guess...  It's about the bubonic plague (shocking I know).  Anyway, the story takes place in the town of Oran in the 1940s.  First the rats start surfacing.  They are everywhere, in the gutters, in the alleys, in peoples homes, in the restaurants, and they aren't just out and swarming they are out and dying sad little rat deaths.  The people of Oran can't make heads nor tails of this little rat infestation but they are concerned as the Health Department keeps tallying up the little rat deaths and publishing how many they picked up in their morning rat scoop.  The numbers are climbing up to the tens of thousands and then as quickly as they made their appearance they are gone.  Then the first wave of fever, sweats, and buboes start to pop up in the town.  People are dying of some strange horrific death and then the Health Department starts tallying up those deaths too and they are reaching almost as high as the rat deaths.  Doctors are helpless as they watch the town fall to the Bubonic Plague that soon turns into the Mnemonic Plague.  Meanwhile, the town very early on becomes quarantined from the rest of the country so there is the longing for family members that are now separated from their loved ones.  This book isn't just about the plague and the death and destruction of Oran but about the relationships built out of this disaster, and how a community comes together to pick up the pieces of this horrible catastrophe.

I would recommend this book to anyone that really enjoys literature, not just a good read but real honest to goodness literature.  The writing in the book is truly a treat.  Book clubs might want to give this one a try as well.  There would be lots to discuss and I am sure the discussion would get lively.  Or if you just are interested in the Bubonic Plague (like I am) this is a good one to add on your TBR pile for sure.

RATING: 4 stars

1 more reviews on The Plague (I couldn't find any more than this)
Tony's Book World

The Plague by Albert Camus
(Library Audio Book)
ISBN 9780679720218
9 Discs {8 Hours 30 Minutes}

If you liked The Plague then read: The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Pin It

HELLO MY FRIENDS!!!!!  It has been sooooo long and we haven't chatted!!!!  I am oh so sorry, I only have one excuse...  I am 2 and a half months pregnant and all I want to do is sleep and sleep and sleep!  And when I do have time to read, I decide I should tackle my neglected house hold chores because even though my hubby is trying to be super patient and helpful with my non-existent energy he is a HORRIBLE house cleaner (he tries but seriously that man should stick with Firefighting)!  But anyway, I digress, I then realized that I haven't told you about 2 audio books I listened to recently so I simply must share them with you!  And I am almost finished with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins so look for that review in a few days! 

Soooo.... The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell was a very quick story with lots of angles, and lots to like and lots to dislike.  The writing was fantastic, and I love stories that jump back and forth through time and give you multiple plot lines.  However, the content of this story was a little sad and disturbing in both of the said plot lines.  And the ending.... Oh boy if you read this are you in for a surprise!!  Holy cow!  I was just minding my own business and I started to put things together in my mind and was like "no, the story isn't going there is it?  Really....?  Oh my goodness!!  No she didn't!!!  Yes she did!!!"  (Literally that is what I said you can ask my husband he was sitting right next to me in the car.)

OK so here is the story.  Esme Lennox is in an insane asylum in current time. She is a very old lady and has been in this asylum for pretty much her entire life.  When the asylum has to close it's doors they notify Esme's great-grandniece Iris, but Iris has never even heard her family so much as mention Esme before.  She decides to go and see Esme and help by letting Esme live with her until she can find something to do with her.  Iris tries to get answers from her grandmother Kitty but Kitty has Alzheimer's and only gives Iris snippets of who Esme is.  Each chapter is told through either Iris's eyes and these chapters tell of her frustration behind the mystery of Esme, Iris's affair with a married man, and the sexual tension between her and her step-brother (kinda weird).  Or the chapter is told from Esme's point of view and these chapters send you back in time to the 1930s and to Esme's childhood with her sister Kitty and her family in India and later in England.  Or it is told from Kitty's point of view (which in my opinion was the most interesting chapters to read because O'Farrell really caught the mind of an Alzheimer's patient) Kitty's point of view just tells the same story as Esme but from the family's opinion of Esme.  Kitty's chapters also kind of fill in the holes to why Esme was sent to the asylum in the first place.  Then the ending!  You just have to read to find out about the ending.

I really really enjoyed this book.  It wasn't a literary masterpiece but it was very enjoyable and very interesting.  I would highly recommend this to a book club because the discussion would be fantastic!  I would also recommend this book to anyone that enjoys books written in different points of view or historical fiction buffs.  

RATING: 4 Stars

3 more reviews of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox:

On The Shelf

A Rat in the Book Pile

She Treads Softly

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

(Library Copy of Audio Book)

 ISBN 1433209721

6 Discs {7 hours 30 minutes}

If you liked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox then you should read:  The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Borrows

On Folly Beach

Pin It

Well this is an exciting review for me because it is the very first review I have ever done for a publisher!  A few months ago a very nice lady from Joan Schulhafer Publishing and Media contacted me, and wanted to see if I would like to read a few of their new releases and blog to all you wonderful readers about them.  I eagerly accepted her generous offer and then proceeded to blog about all the horrid books I had been reading lately.  I am sure that this wonderful publishing lady was kicking herself in the butt wondering why she gave these books to a snarky blogger that has nothing good to say about anything she had read recently {but what can I say I'm an honest blogger and I'm going to tell it like it is}.  

Fortunately I only have very fabulous things to say about On Folly Beach by Karen White.  The Characters were all delightful, the story was interesting and you wanted to keep reading "one more chapter" before you had to do something else {and then one more chapter after that}.  And like most Southern Literature it made you want to move on down to the deep south and get wrapped up into their easy way of life.  Plus {and this is a big ol' bonus for moi} but half of the story was  in modern time and the other half was in the 1940s during WWII! I had no idea that it would be jumping back and forth between two stories and two time eras and I was quite pleasantly surprised because I heart historical fiction especially anything having to do with WWII! 

So let me give you a little run down so you know what to expect with On Folly Beach.  In the very beginning we meet Emmy {in modern time}, she has just learned that her husband Ben has been killed in Afghanistan, and her life simply stops.  She can't get over his tragic death and her Mom Paige talks her into leaving their family home in Indiana and move to Folly Beach South Carolina to purchase a book shop that is for sale there.  Emmy is a literature and book lover and she has a degree in Library Science, and she begrudgingly takes her mothers advice and heads to South Carolina to start a new life and run the book shop Folly's Finds.  When she arrives she slowly falls in love with the people there, and her new shop, but only through the help of some long lost love letters that she finds between the pages of some of the old books in the shop.  The love letters are written by two star crossed lovers and Emmy is determined to find out who these lovers were and what happened to them.  As the mystery unravels you learn a lot about Folly, the lovers, and Emmy's pain of letting go.  The story jumps between Emmy and her sleuthing and the lovers and their lives on Folly during WWII.

This book is a perfect summer read.  Grab it before your next vacation and find a shady place in the sand with a good drink at your fingertips and enjoy every sentence of this beautiful story.  I highly recommend this to anyone that love Southern Literature, Historical Fiction, Book Club groups.  Enjoy it and review it and let the reading world know that it is a great read!!!

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  No movie but if there were I'd bet it would be a tear jerker!

RATING: 4 stars

3 More Reviews of On Folly Beach:

Cafe of Dreams

Books and Movies

Bermudaonian's Weblog

On Folly Beach by Karen White

{Publisher Copy}

ISBN 9780451229212

Pages 416

If you liked On Folly Beach then please read:  The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

In The Woods

Pin It

Oh Tana French, you better put up your dukes because you and I are in a fight, and I have a mean left hook!  How can you write such an exquisite book and leave us so unsatisfied?  It really is just unfair!  I mean we read and read this semi-chunkster of a mystery novel and the "whodoneit" is riveting, and extraordinarily frightening, and then as the mystery unravels you leave us with more questions than answers!  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I just need one more chapter please!!!  I am begging you, just give me one more little chapter!!!  Maybe an epilogue, another installment, something I beg you!  Please!!  

I must mention here that I don't really like mystery novels but if Tana French wrote another 429 page sequel, or even added another 429 pages to In The Woods I would have devoured every last word.  French is a beautiful writer, this story was heart wrenching, scary has hell, and so real.  In fact {even though Tana and I won't be on speaking terms for a bit, while I try and forgive her for not satisfying my reading experience} I understand why Tana didn't tie up all the loose ends, because in reality life isn't perfect, there are always dangley bits and bad decisions, and cold cases.  And most of the time you don't expect that from a book.  You can start a book and be pretty sure that there will be a "Once upon a time" and a "Happily ever after", but French takes that theory and stomps on it.  And I guess I'm coming around as I write this because I guess I kinda want to say "Thank you Tana" maybe I'm not as mad at you as I was before.  I understand why you left us with more questions than answers.  I LOVED your book dangley bits and all.

So I guess you are wondering what all that was about so I have to give you a little synopsis here.   Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox are Murder detectives in Ireland {oh by the way my Irish brogue got really good in my mind}.  They are given a case of a murdered 12 year old girl in a little town called Knocknaree in County Dublin.  The girl was found murdered and sexually assaulted on an archeological dig site in the town right out side of the forest.  However, Detective Ryan secretly has a strange connection to the case, because about 20 years before hand, Ryan and his two best friends went into those very same woods to play and 2 of them disappeared never to be seen again.  The only one that knows about Detective Ryan's connection to the case is his partner Cassie, and as the two detectives unravel the modern case, detective Ryan is trying to make sense of the old cold case that he had been involved in years before.     

If you like mystery novels, if you like Ireland, if you like things that go bump in the night, if you don't like things that go bump in the night, heck if you like to read, you should pick this book up.  Like I mentioned before, the story telling is exquisite, reading this book was a treat, and Tana French is a jewel of an author.  And even though I am still a little sore with her, I would recommend this book to anyone.  I read this for our book club and we had a great time discussing our theories, thoughts, and opinions.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did despite the fact you might want to cry with frustration at the end.  And Tana, if I ever meet you "in the woods" I'm going to tie you to a tree until you give me some answers!!  I'm just joking.  Maybe.  (:      

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  I am really surprised that this book hasn't been optioned for a film yet.  For a couple of reasons, first, the book would make an amazing movie.  The suspense alone would keep people on the edge of their seats.  Second, the author is actually an actor.  You would think that she would want to have this made into some sort of film.  Maybe even play Cassie {I pictured Cassie looking just exactly like French's picture on the book jacket}.

RATING: 4 starts {I just couldn't give it 5 because I wanted so much more}

3 more reviews of In The Woods by Tana French:

Books i Done Read

Lovely Little Shelf

Des Shoe

In The Woods by Tana French

(Library Copy)

ISBN 9780670038602

Pages 429

If you liked In The Woods then read: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The Mermaid Chair

Pin It

Hello my friends {and I have quite a few new friends it looks like}.  First I wanna say thanks for following and welcome!  Now that little bit is out of the way let me jump right into my review on The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.  The very first thing I have to say is IT IS ABOUT BLOODY TIME!!!!!  I have been reading and listening to tons and tons of horrid books lately and I am sure you all are sick and tired of me writing reviews on books I hated!  But while The Mermaid Chair isn't going to leap to the top of my favorites list, at least it was extraordinarily well written and the story was captivating.  Why I haven't picked up a book by Kidd before is beyond me, but I am so so glad I did!  She paints such a pretty picture and develops her characters so well that I felt like I wanted to move to Egret Island, become part of this little community and raise my unborn children there!  I was enthralled with this book by the first paragraph because it has a very surprising start and I wanted to find out "what the heck??"  Here is the first line...

"In the middle of my marriage, when I was above all Hugh's wife and Dee's mother, one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a Benedictine monk."

So I mean come on...  How do you not read more and figure out how this woman who is happily married falls in love with a Benedictine monk that is cloistered on a little Island off the cost of South Carolina?  I'll give you a little hint but that's it.  It has to do with a purposely severed finger.  A special needs adult that has a knack for knowing the things you are thinking.  A very devout mother.  Mermaids, a chair, and a 20 year old family secret that is resurfacing after all the years it has been buried under the sea.  On top of this intriguing story is the wit and voice of a charming southern woman named Jessie, and I really really liked her!  Most the time, when I read books about unfaithfulness in marriage, I get so mad at the guilty party but I really loved this lady, and felt like I was rooting for her no matter what her decision was.  I really liked her husband Hugh and the Benedictine monk so I didn't really know how I wanted it to end.  Also, I always always figure out what is going to happen on the end of the book, way before the end of the book, but I was surprised when Kidd tied up all the loose ends and some of those little ends weren't exactly what I had thought they would be!  So do you wanna read it?  Huh?  Huh?

I would recommend this book to just about anyone.  It isn't that long and her writing is so beautiful that it is easy to read, so consider this book if you are headed to the beach.  Book clubs would love it and discuss the heck out of it because it is chalked full of literary, religious, and mythical symbolism.  So all in all I am elated that I finally read a book I liked after so many others I wanted to chuck in the bin!  I thought that maybe The Road had ruined it for me and nothing would ever again compare.  I remember feeling the same way after I read The Time Travelers Wife for the first time, it took me a long time to find another good book after that one.  But it looks like I am out of my reading rut because I have another fantastic audio book review for you waiting in the wings, and I am reading 2 amazing books right now!  So in the next few weeks you will see some glowing recommendations!

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  There was a Lifetime movie made on The Mermaid Chair in 2006 staring Kim Basinger.  It didn't really get great reviews but I'd give it a try if I ran across it on TV.

RATING: 4 Stars

3 more reviews on The Mermaid Chair:

The Literate Housewife

A Book Sanctuary

Tillabooks

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

ISBN: 0143057421

10 Hour and 22 Minutes

Eliza Foss

If you liked The Mermaid Chair you should also read: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

 

The Last Days of Dogtown

Pin It

I had tried to read this book a few years back and only got about 2 chapters into it before something else caught my fancy and I wondered that-a-way instead.  I had always meant to go back and read it but as I was perusing the audio book shelf at my library the other day I happened upon it and grabbed it.  Thus bringing me to the realization that most of the books I listen to are books I didn't get through on paper, but I digress.  I very much enjoyed learning about the last days of Dogtown. The entire plot of the book is in the title so there weren't any big surprises there, but the characters were well developed, their stories were interesting, and I was glad to learn some new tidbits to tuck away in the back of my mind for that one day that I might end up on a game show.  The Last Days Of Dogtown by Anita Diamant (author of The Red Tent {one or my favorites}) is a semi-fictional account of the last years of a small community on the outskirts of Gloucester on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Dogtown was a very poor cluster of hovels, a few taverns, a church, and a whorehouse that stood a few miles outside of Gloucester and that had a unique collection of residents as well as a pack of stray dogs.  The little community was very poor and the people in the neighboring towns looked at these people with disdain and pity.

The story starts off when one of the residents is found dead and is brought to Easter Carter's home/boarding house.  The whole community of Dogtown turns out to view the dead man and here begins the introduction of all the characters.  The rest of the story explores each of the members of this little society and how their days ended or how they eventually left Dogtown for a better life.  Each chapter focuses on a particular person and tells a little antidote about their lives in Dogtown.  Toward the end of the book the chapters switch gears and revisits these same characters but it depicts them at the end of their time in Dogtown whether that be death or other circumstance. Along the way all their paths cross each other and you realize the alliances, romances, and animosity among them all.  It is a very interesting examination of the dynamics of a small town in the early 1800s.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Days of Dogtown.  I love historical fiction and this time period and location of history especially.  And like The Red Tent Anita Daimant has done a dang good job of painting a picture with her words.  The book is beautifully written; by the time it is over you really feel a connection with a few of the characters.  I would recommend this book to anyone that has a soft spot for historical fiction as well as book clubs, I think there could be a lot of discussion on this book.  I have been to Gloucester before but now I would like to go back having read this book and visit the remains of Dogtown.  I hear there isn't much to see but you can explore the area and see the foundations of some of the homes.  Some of the characters in the book were based off of real members of this community and it would be interesting to see where they really lived.

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  There isn't a movie (not even one brewing) but if there were I would go and see it.  And really there wouldn't be anything to mess up because this is a story that would only be better if the characters were fleshed out a little bit more.

RATING: 4 stars

2 More Reviews of The Last Days of Dogtown ( I couldn't find 3 reviews!!):

Curled Up

Just Another Day in Paradise

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant

(got at the library)

ISBN 0743550986
9 Discs (10hours 30 minutes)
Narrated by Kate Nelligan

If you liked The Last Days of Dogtown then please read:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows 

The Hour I First Believed

Pin It

Hello everyone!  I am sorry I have been absent for a few weeks but seriously The Road blew me away so much that I just couldn't get into another book and so I was in a little bit of a rut.  And The Hour I First Believed was SOOOOO long that it took me a while to listen to the whole darn thing during my work commute.  But I finished it and so now I must tell you all about it! 

I don't really know what to think about Wally Lamb sometimes honestly.  I like him, I have read all his books, but I always have a moment in all his stories that I ask my self "where in the hell is this going" or "what the hell did I just read".  First of all his books are chunksters and The Hour I First Believed came in at 750 pages (or 20 HOURS on the audio book) so you have to like a hefty read to enjoy any of his tomes.   The writing was beautiful and the stories are poignant and he always tackles hard issues and very heavy topics.  Something that I really enjoy about Wally Lambs fiction is that all his stories take place in the fictional town of Three Rivers Connecticut, and because Three Rivers isn't a very large town apparently, some of the characters from each book kinda make cameo appearance in the other books but by no means do the stories go together as a series.  The other thing that these books have in common are their page count and the fact that Lamb likes to write about disturbed people with a collection of psychological disorders such as schizophrenia (I Know This Much is True), Eating disorders (She's Come Undone), and post traumatic stress disorder (The Hour I First Believed).  And almost all the time there is someone getting committed to some sort of "retreat" to get their act together.  But all in all the books are interesting and SO full of layers that you start to wonder if you are reading an onion and how in the crap are all the layers going to come together in the end.

The Hour I First Believe is about a man named Caelum Quirk, a literary teacher that has an issue with intimacy (he is on wife number 3).  After Caelum's third wife, Maureen, has an affair, they decide to move away from Three Rivers Connecticut and start fresh in Littleton Colorado.  The year is 1999 and I am sure you can see where all this is going (and you are just screaming for it not to go there).  While Caelum is back home in Connecticut making arrangements for his Aunts funeral he turns on the TV to see Columbine High School (the school where he teaches and his wife is a nurse) being shot up by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.  He rushes back to Colorado that night not knowing if his wife is alive or dead.  When he finds her alive he is relieved beyond words but over the next few days he realizes that life as they know it is over for them.  Maureen is suffering from a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Eventually they choose to move back to Three Rivers and move into the Quirk family farm but though things get better for a while Maureen's life starts to spiral out of control as does Caelum's as they deal with this terrible disorder, family secrets, and complicated relationships with each other and their loved ones.

I can't really describe to you exactly what the book is about because the PTSD and Columbine High School and Maureen's issues are only a very small part of this story yet they are the catalyst for everything else in this multi layered book.  There is so much more that you would just have to read it for yourself to understand exactly what I am saying.  I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in psychology, sociology, or anthropology.  I would also recommend this book (and anything by Wally Lamb) to those who like a challenge, as Lamb provides his readers with meaty books not fluff.  On a side note (and one just about the audio version) I LOVED the reader George Guidall.  He brought each character alive so well it was amazing! I will search out other audio books he has read just to hear him again!

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  I don't really think books by Lamb are really movie quality.  You can't get into the dimensions that are in his writing in a 2 hour movie.  Also, I think even though it was so many years ago the Columbine presence in this book would be very disturbing for people to watch.

RATING: 4 Stars

Three More Reviews of The Hour I First Believed:

books i done read

Babbette's Book Blog

Booking Mama

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

ISBN 9780061703034

20 Discs (20 Hours 15 Minutes)

Narrated by George Guidall

If you liked The Hour I First Believed then try reading: I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb           

Shanghai Girls

Pin It

Lisa See just knows how to bring it when she writes a book about the culture of Chinese women.  She caught my interest with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, then I fell in love with her writing when I read Peony in Love and now I want to go steady after reading Shanghai Girls.  I have never experienced books like the ones I just mentioned.  As the reader you can tell that she did the research and wrote each book with so much love.  The subject of each book has love just pouring out of them and you can tell that each one meant a lot for her to write about being a Chinese American Woman (that's right y'all even though she looks 100% causation she is part Chinese, she says that she has hundreds of relatives but only about 12 people in her family that look like her)!  As always this book was beautifully written and the story was a page turner!

When you first meet Pearl and her younger sister May they are high class, fashionable, modern, socialites in Shanghai in the 1930s.  They go to parties, night clubs, shop, and pose for "beautiful-girl" paintings.  Their father has a successful rickshaw business and life is just grand... So they think.  When they find out that their father has gambled away all the families money and had to sell his rickshaw business and his daughters to a Chinese American man in California the girls worlds are turned upside down.  Now they have to come to terms with their arranged marriages, and their fall from high society.  Before they leave China for their new home the Japanese invade Shanghai and the girls must escape the city and find their way to the boat that will take them to Los Angeles.  Then a lot of bad things happen (gotta read to find out) and finally they end up in America!  But when they get here they are imprisoned on Angel Island (the Ellis Island of the West), where they are questioned and detained until the authorities figure out if they are coming here legally.  After months of torment and a wonderful and beautiful thing happens (I'm being vague on purpose) they are finally released and sent to their new family in Hollywood.  Again the girls must adjust to life as daughters-in-law in a very traditional Chinese American Family.  Through out the entire story the even though there are so many things that happen the one thing that is constant is Pearl and Mays love for each other.  They are sisters through and through and even though there is rivalry and harsh words that pass between them they have each other and that is the most important theme throughout the whole story.  

The novel is interesting because it takes place between 1937 - 1957.  The girls not only have to face the Japanese in their home land of China but also in their new home when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.  You also get to see what life was like in Chinatown during this time when the Chinese people had to deal with a large amount of prejudice from the American people.  It was a part of history that I was unfamiliar with so it was interesting to read and research how the Chinese endured these prejudices.  Also, I love how Lisa See always paints such a vivid and realistic picture of her characters surroundings.  When she is describing Shanghai she does a good job of showing the reader that it is glamorous, and glittering, but also that there is poverty, crime, and ugliness.  There is a page in the book that describes the girls riding a rickshaw through the streets of Shanghai and they are describing the city with beautiful boulevards, dirty children begging, expensive cars, and crime, smells of rich food and French perfume, and also the smells of death and decay.  She even goes so far as describing the sisters walking down the street and stepping over a dead baby on the sidewalk just like it was nothing at all.  Though disturbing you get the full picture of Shanghai during this time in history and I appreciate See capturing this picture for us.

BOOK vs. MOVIE: I really really enjoyed this book but I don't think a movie would be very interesting.  I feel like it is a story best told with words.  There is no movie in the works right now and I hope they don't try it.  I feel like it they would ruin it like they did to Memoirs of a Geisha.  

RATING: 4 Stars

3 More reviews of Shanghai Girls:

Coffee Stained Pages

A Novel Menagerie 

Peeking Between the Pages

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

ISBN 9780812980530

Pages: 309

If you liked this then read: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Lolita

Pin It

Oh Vladimir Nabokov you dirty, dirty, witty, genius you.  You had me laughing, you had me gagging, you had me hanging on your every lushes word with your masterpiece Lolita.  I was told that Lolita was a must read and so it went on my list of books to be read in 2010.  I have to admit that when I first realized what the story was about I was pretty much repulsed.  I was listening to the audio book and I almost shut it off but something (probably a perverse curiosity of where the story could possibly be going or the narrators witty and poetic dialogue) kept me from hitting the eject button on the CD player.  I couldn't believe that the content in the book was actually published in the mid 1950s, as it is scandalous even by todays standards!!  With vocabulary that one might encounter in a Harlequin Romance or a dirty movie, you can be sure that I blushed every now and then.  But despite the off colored subject matter I can't say enough how beautiful the words in this book are.  I LOVED the contrast between the ugly story and the beautiful writing.

Lolita is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a European literary scholar that when you first meet him is in prison.  The story that he tells is actually his written statement to the jury that will be used in his trial, where he is being accused for murder and statutory rape.  His statement takes you through his young years when he was 13 years old and living in Europe.  That summer he meets a beautiful girl named Annabelle and he falls in love and enters into a young love affair that starts to become physical as some young relationships do.   But right before Annabelle and Humbert Humbert consummate their young relationship, summer ends and then Annabelle tragically dies.  This affects H.H. so badly that he becomes obsessed with 13 year old girls to replace the feeling he had with his dear Annabelle.  Obviously this starts to become quite a nasty little obsession as he gets older and older.  Soon he moves to the US and struggles with his attraction to young girls (nymphets as he calls them), he finds himself in and out of psychiatric facilities and eventually he finds himself in a small little town and boarding with a single woman Charlotte and her dangerously prepubescent daughter Doloris (Lolita) Haze.  H.H marries Doloris's mother all the while lusting heavily for this 13 year old girl.  When Charlotte dies H.H. jumps at the chance to become Lolita's "Daddy" and he pretty much detains her in his car as he travels around the country for a year with this little girl carrying on an illicit love affair.  Surprisingly precocious Lolita is well versed in physical relationships (some encounters at summer camp) and she becomes a somewhat willing party in this "romance".  Eventually Lolita leaves H.H. and he goes a little insane.

Before you write this book off as Classic Smut I have to say that the writing is superb and as I mentioned earlier the witty dialogue had me riveted despite the content.  I would absolutely recommend this book to certain people (I understand that this isn't everybody's cup 'o tea.)

BOOK vs. MOVIE: This book as been adapted to film twice once in 1962, then again in 1997.  And as shocking as it that the book was written and published in the 1950s I am equally astounded that they made the film version in the 1960s!!!!  I haven't seen either film adaption but I have put them on my "to see" list.  I would like to see both versions so I can compare the different time eras and how they tackle this sensitive subject.

RATING: 4 Stars

3 More Reviews of Lolita:

• The Kea 
• Books for Breakfast, Drinks for Dinner
• Ahab's Quest

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov {Audio Book}

ISBN: 9780739322062

10 Discs {11 hours 32 minutes}

If you liked this book I really don't know what to recommend.

In Cold Blood

Pin It

I wasn't sure what to expect from of this book.  I am not a huge "true crime" fan.  And the only thing I know about Truman Capote is Breakfast at Tiffany's (the movie not even the novella), and I was sure that In Cold Blood wasn't going to give me any quirky characters such as Holly Golightly.  So I had no expectations and because of that I think, I enjoyed In Cold Blood... A lot.  And I added Truman Capote into my medium length list of fabulous writers.  The story was written with such a great voice that I could picture every horrible detail unfolding in front of me.  What I found very interesting is that Truman Capote took a true story and wrote it in novel form (he called it a Nonfictional Novel).  Capote made the real people involved in the event characters with thoughts, feelings, and habits.  Which I find ironic because authors so many times try to make their characters passable as real people.  Capote made this true account into a well rounded story not a dry recollection of interviews and recorded court room scenes.

The plot is very very simple, two bad men, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, kill a prominent well loved family (the Clutters) in cold blood (hence the title) in a sleepy little town in Kansas.  Then these hooligans hop from state to state and eventually get caught, sentenced, and hung.  Don't worry I didn't spoil anything for you because the genius of this book is that you know that what is to come from the very beginning.  You know that yes the Clutters are killed, yes you know who the murders are, and yes you know they get caught before you even open the book.  So it really isn't a "who done it" book but a book about a crime, the criminals, and the events that lead up to their arrest and execution.  Even though you know all the details up front you are still kept in suspense as the little details unfold.  Something that I think is really interesting is that Capote makes you feel a little sorry for one or both of the killers at different points in the book.  Even though these boys did the unthinkable you still are routing for them to maybe not get the death sentence up to the moment they are taking the walk to up the stairs of the scaffold.  At least I was and if you aren't routing for them then please don't judge my character... ;)

All in all I believe I would highly recommend this book to many people.  If you like mystery, history, psychology, or thrillers, I think you would like In Cold Blood.  Also, I am so excited to be introduced (more formally) to the works of Truman Capote.  I will absolutely seek out more of his masterpieces in the near future.

BOOK vs. MOVIE: There as been 2 versions of this story made into a movie.  Once in 1967 and then again in 1996 as a made of TV movie.  I don't think I am going to go out of my way to see either one because I feel like the writing was so vivid that a movie couldn't do it justice.

RATING: 4 Stars

3 More reviews on In Cold Blood:

Sophisticated Dorkiness

Ramblings of a Bibliophile  

Books Books Books Review

In Cold Blood {Audio Book}

ISBN 9780739333648

12 CDs {14 hours 27 minutes}

If you like this book then read: Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Pin It

Just like the book Wicked, Gregory Maguire has taken my breath away once again with his outstanding writing style.  After I read Wicked I could hardly wait to experience another of Maguire's masterpieces but I wasn't sure whether to read one and let my eyes feast on his wonderful words or again listen to one of the audio versions.  In the end I decided to listen to Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and I am glad I did because I now have decided that his writing is such a treat for the ears, that I may never actually read one of his books.  His writing is so clever and so lyrical that everything just flows like poetry yet it tells such a wonderful and rich and detailed story.  I also love how he takes these well known childhood fairy tales and turns them into such deep political adult themed stories.  In Wicked you meet the Wicked Witch of the West and learn about the political climate in Oz.  In Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister you learn of Cinderella and her family and how they suffer economically from the 1630s Tulip Crash in Haarlem Holland.  In both fantastic tales you see the well known stories from the point of view of a not so prominent character.

Obviously from the title you can deduce that this story is going to be told from the point of view of one of the Ugly Stepsisters in the Cinderella tale.  As with every story this one has two sides, and it was quite enjoyable to be privy to the minds of these infamous characters.  The stepsisters names are Iris and Ruth, and in the beginning of the story they are fleeing to Holland with their mother Margarethe after calamity in their home of England.  The story follows Iris, full of spirit, creativity, and a very good heart, but frightfully plain looking bordering on ugly.  She must take care of her older sister Ruth who at first Maguire makes out to be someone who is very mentally challenged.  I pictured Ruth as having Down's Syndrome because of the physical and mental picture that Maguire paints of her.  Their mother Margaretha only wants the very best for her daughters so when they arrive in Holland she begins to look for work as a house maid.  Eventually Margaretha finds employment at the van den Meer household (Haarlem's biggest Tulip trader), and she and her daughters take up the kitchen chores.  One of Iris's jobs at the van den Meer house is to befriend the van den Meer's daughter Clara, because Clara is a very odd and very anti-social little girl.  Eventually Clara's mother passes away and Margaretha manipulates her way into becoming the next Mrs. van den Meer, and so begins the story we all know and love only with a few little twists.  Clara choses to be Cinderella, she wants a life of cloister and a life of house hold work.  Second, she goes unwillingly to the ball and once she is there it is unclear weather she is a willing party in the prince falling in love with her.  Third, Iris and Ruth love Clara very much, the three of them are sisters to the core. Margaretha is however still the evil, over ambitious step-mother from the Disney movie we all know and love.

I love the way Maguire tells not only the fairy tale as we know it, but also tells a story of 1600 Holland, Dutch Art, politics, European superstitions, and financial ruin.  He keeps all the same fairy tale themes but the fairy godmother is the old local crone that dubs herself Queen of the Hairy Chinned Gypsies, and the little mice that make the gown and become the foot men is the local artist's apprentice, Caspar.  I would recommend this book to anyone that loves historical fiction and those that love a good old fashioned fairy tale.  Again I applaud you Mr. Maguire for your fantastic recreation of one of my childhood favorites!

BOOK vs. MOVIE: I would love to see this story as a movie.  There was a made for TV movie of it a few years back and I am going to try and get my hands on it for sure.  I don't know much about seventeenth century Holland so it would be interesting to see what life was like then.  I think Gregory Maguire developed such great characters that it would be easy to develop a script from his writing.

Rating: 4 Stars

3 More Reviews on Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister:

• Trish's Reading Nook
• Renee's Book of the Day
• BFC Book Reviews

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister {Audio Book}

ISBN 978-1-4193-8990-0

11 CDs {11.75 hours}

If you liked this book then read: Wicked by Gregory Maguire