Monday, March 29, 2010

Epic Fantasy

Rating: 5/5



Review: Apparently, this was Marchetta's first Fantasy novel, and let me just tell you, it was spot on. I was completely enthtralled from beginning to end. In fact, I hated for it to end at all. I wanted to keep on reading about Finnikin and Evangelin. Oh how they moved me with their sweet romance. Oh how I worried when one of them came so close to death. There's adventure, magic, intrigue, humor, romance, and yes, even a little darkness to keep the reader on edge. There may have been predictable outcomes here and there, but it didn't matter. I was enjoying this oh so juicy morsel, and would definitely devour it again and again.

Book Description:
Finnikin was only a child during the five days of the unspeakable, when the royal family of Lumatere were brutally murdered, and an imposter seized the throne. Now a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escaped roam the surrounding lands as exiles, persecuted and despairing, dying by the thousands in fever camps. In a narrative crackling with the tension of an imminent storm, Finnikin, now on the cusp of manhood, is compelled to join forces with an arrogant and enigmatic young novice named Evanjalin, who claims that her dark dreams will lead the exiles to a surviving royal child and a way to pierce the cursed barrier and regain the land of Lumatere. But Evanjalin’s unpredictable behavior suggests that she is not what she seems — and the startling truth will test Finnikin’s faith not only in her, but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

First and Last Love

Rating: 4/5

Review: I thought I was in for a good cry by the end of this book, but I somehow held it together. It's a bittersweet love story, and it came to an end far too abruptly I must say. It was an interesting story, too. A little tragic at times. I could see the house where most of it takes place quite clearly in my mind. Mrs. Barrens hardships, her struggles to keep life going at a steady pace. She is a strong woman, left by her husband when he couldn't handle their autistic son, though there was no such word for the boy's condition back then. When Mr. Rainwater comes into their lives, things start to change. It's a slow transformation at first, but eventually erupts into a beautiful affair. Of course there's trials surrounding the peaceful existence at the boarding house. Racial tensions and the tragic results of what was referred to as The Dust Bowl. There are a few horrifying moments involving the mass slaughter of cows, but it shows the hard times many people suffered in those days. There's a story beyond all that, as I've mentioned before, which was quite wonderful to read.

Book Description: The year is 1934. With the country in the stranglehold of drought and economic depression, Ella Barron runs her Texas boardinghouse with an efficiency that ensures her life will be kept in balance. She also cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose misunderstood behavior finds Ella on the receiving end of pity, derision, and suspicion. David Rainwater arrives at the house looking for lodging but Ella senses that admitting him will bring about unsettling changes. However, times are hard, so Mr. Rainwater moves in - and impacts her life in ways Ella could never have foreseen.

The changes are echoed by the turbulence beyond the house walls. Friends and neighbors now face financial ruin and in an effort to save their families from homelessness and hunger, are forced to make heart rending choices. The climate of desperation creates a fertile atmosphere for racial tensions and social unrest. Conrad Ellis — privileged and spoiled and Ella's nemesis since childhood — steps into this arena of teeming hostility to exact his vengeance and demonstrate the extent of his blind hatred and unlimited cruelty. He and his gang of hoodlums come to embody the rule of law, and no one in Gilead, Texas, is safe. Particularly Ella and Solly.

In this hotbed of uncertainty, Ella finds Mr. Rainwater a calming presence. Slowly, she begins to rely on his soft-spokenness, his restraint, and the steely resolve of his convictions. And on the hottest, most violent night of the summer, those principles will be put to the ultimate test.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Word Scars



Rating: 4/5


Review: Disturbing is the first word that comes to mind. Dark is another. Add intriguing to the list, and you find that you just can't turn away. Two girls have been murdered within a year, their teeth removed, leaving a small Missouri town reeling. Who could have done such a thing? Camille, a newspaper reporter, and once a resident of Wind Gap where the murders have taken place, is sent back there to get the story. She receives a luke warm welcome from her mother and step-father. Surprise and interest from others. Soon, the friction begins, and the creepiness that surrounds Camille's life starts to be revealed. She started cutting herself when she was thirteen, just after her younger sister died. I don't mean slicing her skin. I mean carving words into her body. All over her body in fact. The last word she carved, before going to the hospital to recover, was vanish. There are descriptions in the book that completely freaked me out, but it had to do with animal processing for food, rather than the murders Camille was sent to write about. I seriously wonder if the author is a vegetarian. The rest of the story unfolds in twists and turns, keeping the reader guessing as to who the actual killer is. Camille gets involved with a detective on loan from Kansas City who's working on the case. There's no romance there, however, and pretty much everything in Camille's life is raw and gritty. Still, the book is well written, compelling the reader to keep going, til the shocking end.
Book Description:
WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart. Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.
NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg. Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.
HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle. As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

What's a Wife to Do?




Rating: 4/5

Review: I loved the movie starring Meryl Streep, so I was looking forward to reading the book it was based on. It's quite different, of course, but good. I felt sorry for Rachel, a mom of a two-year-old, another one on the way, and having to deal with a cheating husband. The author seems to want her readers to believe that this happens in all marriages. The cheating part I mean. It does make me wonder. Are all marriages doomed in one way or another? Is infidelity only a matter of time? I don't really think so. I've seen plenty of happy marriages where neither spouse cheated, and they are still quite content with one another. This book wasn't all gloom and doom, though. There are some great comedic moments, and even several recipes thrown in for good measure. I may even try making a few. In fact, this may have inspired a new blog. something along the lines of Reading and Cooking. Not sure yet. I'll have to dwell on it for a while. In any case, this book was a brisk and fun read, with a slightly dramatic undertone.
Book Description:
Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron's irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

Friday, March 5, 2010

That's Life

Rating: 3/5

Review: The first thing I thought upon finishing this novel was, wow, I'm glad that's over. What a gritty and dismal story! Poor Harry Morgan and his bad choices. He gets gypped by a rich wannabe fisherman, and is suddenly in need of some cash. What does he do? He gets himself an illegal job, takes advantage of the situation, shocks the heck out of me, and it's all down hill from there. The N word was used quite a bit here, too, which was another shocking point. I suppose that has something to do with the era this book was written in, but shocked me nonetheless. I'm thinking maybe Mr. Hemingway was a crude and unsavory man. Could just be his writing, I don't know. I don't remember watching the movie based on this book, but I believe that it is quite different. So, if you like gritty, hardcore, manly books, you may like this one. It is interesting enough until the last few chapters, which is why I gave it a 3 instead of a 2. The description mentions something about a love affair. Not sure where that was supposed to have taken place. I just remember lots of violence and trash talking.

Book Description:
To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of the wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.