tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27774550841646444662024-02-06T20:42:17.705-06:00The Reading GardenBlooming & Growing in Niles, IllinoisCecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-42856959795721152002013-08-10T09:22:00.001-05:002013-08-10T09:23:28.780-05:00The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFDR8SBFQnhAatX7rOQnI62EBruNzV-KBqjlRgY63giHcxp-b4-Is6T8DhGo4-1rQ0kfLFDGO3AGi1imN4NOoNQmhzKy7JILwwbuVKXu8Iu1AhRsGBWMhowZsBuoEXRJOdEscElXv4tLE6B0q/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFDR8SBFQnhAatX7rOQnI62EBruNzV-KBqjlRgY63giHcxp-b4-Is6T8DhGo4-1rQ0kfLFDGO3AGi1imN4NOoNQmhzKy7JILwwbuVKXu8Iu1AhRsGBWMhowZsBuoEXRJOdEscElXv4tLE6B0q/s320/index.php.jpeg" width="211" /></a>First of all, I need to say that I am an Edith Wharton fan. She is probably
my favorite author ever. So, stating that, I really, really loved this
book, which is historical fiction about her life...and somewhat about her work. <br />
The novel is told from the point of view of both Wharton herself and Wharton's assistant/secretary/confidant Anna, who was more like a mother
to Edith than Edith's own mother ever was. Aside from being a friend and constant companion, Anna helped Edith with her
writing...by typing her pages but also by offering her tips on story structure and character development. <br />
Though Anna is technically a servant, Edith and Anna are quite close...but when
Edith begins to stray away from her marriage into the arms of another man
(who Anna believes is a cad and a gold-digger), Edith begins to question Anna's loyalty.
<br />
Author Jennie Fields does a good job of immersing the reader in Wharton's
real-life world...of luxury, decadence and affluence--summers in the Berkshires (at her home in Lenox, MA),
winters in Paris, other times in-between in New York. I have been to The Mount, Wharton's
Berkshires home, and the descriptions of life on that estate are filled
with all of the true natural beauty of that setting. Fields
really captures the vivid realty of what Wharton's life could have been
like at the beginning of her successful writing career. The character
development between Edith and Anna is realistic and the progression of their relationship is believable. The
ending could have been a little stronger, but for the most part, this is
an excellent story about the lavish and spoiled lifestyles of this
era, much like Wharton used to do in her own novels. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-4231129791262188312013-06-26T20:26:00.000-05:002013-06-26T20:32:39.906-05:00Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FzIEKSdV9A-IVfgDg_xPWguB3oBhdUud-sh0emb8bSqS91EasIvQgcggF_kV2CprYZ67BrLn6L1StgxiFQ02-1B2MMaRJYWjzYxG3J0u5Npz_XHzfGR5iYpsxb1lZk-r_OEYLcs2_XvS6WKT/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FzIEKSdV9A-IVfgDg_xPWguB3oBhdUud-sh0emb8bSqS91EasIvQgcggF_kV2CprYZ67BrLn6L1StgxiFQ02-1B2MMaRJYWjzYxG3J0u5Npz_XHzfGR5iYpsxb1lZk-r_OEYLcs2_XvS6WKT/s320/index.php.jpeg" width="208" /></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I love reading books set in faraway lands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second best thing to traveling is
armchair traveling…and it’s sure cheaper!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, if you, like me, are not finding yourself traveling to Italy this
summer, travel along with Jess Walter and his fantastic book set in Italy, Los
Angeles and Seattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Told in several
different time periods, the Italy-portion of the book starts off in the early
1960s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="readable">Pasquale</span>,
a lonely Italian innkeeper, has his world turned upside-down when a
beautiful American actress comes to stay in his fledgling hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actress, as it turns out, is on a break
from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cleopatra</i> (the 1963 film) set,
which is filming in Rome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actress’
stay in the small hotel changes the lives of everyone involved…including some
members of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cleopatra</i> crew, which
is how some of the story ends up in present day Los Angeles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The Italian storyline in particular is filled with a
plethora of imagery of coastal Italy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Walter, in vivid detail, describes the dilapidated hotel and the even
smaller, more pathetic village it sits in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I was reading, I felt transported to this village, just south of the
Cinque Terre (very popular coastal resort towns in Italy) but not close enough
to be part of that very prestigious tourist mecca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because everyone flocks to the towns of
Cinque Terre, <span class="readable">Pasquale</span>’s village and
his hotel are practically business-free and most definitely tourist-free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With that imagery, I was able to perfectly
picture the town, the hotel and the breathtaking views that the hotel
overlooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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For a good summer, beach read, you would not go wrong with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful Ruins</i>; all of the wonders and vistas of Italy without
leaving home or spending a Euro! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-6755332539465877862013-05-04T12:15:00.000-05:002013-05-04T12:15:08.984-05:00The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7vf9Xl_Cwl1lvqBEck2pLH-DCnCvJ_1pwSikVAHKMzMiqLEh9W4a3O_KmcoPkiI6d3lvlYtKKO4AyvU9l7b_YvXWp62ZVVP7kiOrGB8UfEhWPehv6Jer7L0P9_VNTCgxVFV-jXvSybo8CRvG/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7vf9Xl_Cwl1lvqBEck2pLH-DCnCvJ_1pwSikVAHKMzMiqLEh9W4a3O_KmcoPkiI6d3lvlYtKKO4AyvU9l7b_YvXWp62ZVVP7kiOrGB8UfEhWPehv6Jer7L0P9_VNTCgxVFV-jXvSybo8CRvG/s1600/index.php.jpeg" height="320" width="204" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The idea of this book is great: a man who
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retirement home and embarks on a series of hilarious and dangerous
adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, for the most part, it
is funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it is also told in two
time periods…the present day (where the man is 100) and the past (where the man
in younger but still having adventures).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I LOVED the present day parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are well-written and VERY funny…sardonic, sarcastic, and very, very
dark in its humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the flashbacks
to the past are…part funny, part endearing, and part history lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a while, all of the histrionics of the
flashbacks begins to take its toll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wanted more (all) of the present day story. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The flashbacks play out more like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Being There</i> (the film and originally the
Jerzy <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kosinski book) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forrest Gump</i>…where the man, Allan and
his life and works alter segments of history, such as Los Alamos, actual events
in China, North Korea, etc., where he seemed to have no trouble affecting
international politics just by being himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aside from being in the “thick” of things politically (President Truman
was a good friend), Allan was also high adventurous and enterprising as a young
man (he walked back to his homeland of Sweden over the Himalayas after his
involvement in the Far East was over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the flashbacks part was a overly unbelievable
and less funny than the antics of the 100-year-old Allan and his group of
misfits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These misfits include a thief
who befriends Allan shortly after his “escape” from the retirement home, a hot
dog cart owner (who also has a car that comes in handy), a home owner who just
happens to own the house Allan and his crew stumble upon (the home owner is also
the owner of a stolen/found elephant), and eventually a crime lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want a funny, lively and truly
entertaining read, try this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skim
the flashbacks (they are funny in parts…just too long) but savor the
present-day adventures of a 100-year-old man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></strong></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></b></div>
Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-26176273934621332832013-04-22T15:14:00.001-05:002013-04-22T15:30:44.542-05:00Yellow Birds by Kenvin Powers vs. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
These two books have several things in common: </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2777455084164644466" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Narrators are unreliable.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The main characters are psychopaths or behave
like psychopaths under their circumstances.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The main characters do not possess a moral
compass.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>There is no resolution of the conflict faced by
the protagonists.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>These two books were very difficult for me to
read. I wanted each of them to be finished sooner, but unfortunately both
needed to be as long as they were.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Both books are award nominees. The Yellow Birds was
a National Book Award Finalist and Gone Girl is nominated for an Edgar Award.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Yellow Birds is conflicted in its voice – our
narrator sounds like a soldier when he speaks with other soldiers, but sounds
like a poet in all his description and contemplation. These two don’t fit
together for me. That being said the book is a good read if you want to hear
the painful garbled confession of a combat soldier. I have known several
soldiers who have told me their very difficult stories of what occurred while
they were deployed. Their stories, like Bartle’s in Yellow Birds, brought me to
tears. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Bartle, they too found life
after combat a very difficult adjustment. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Gone Girl is a real page turner and reads like marriage
gone badly under the hands of Alfred Hitchcock. I felt totally manipulated and
occasionally strangely delighted with the author’s dark wit. Her description of
character behavior in so many situations is startlingly accurate and perfectly
described.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the characters are
quite despicable. While I hate the story, I find the book to be very well
written and I choose it over Yellow Birds for that reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Ruth Schuster</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><img class="rg_i" data-sz="f" name="XFEhTUtn9_XAjM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6law5KjS20hfN65ca7M0-JsiSeaj323VUK_GcarUWuiSW8DAx" style="height: 186px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 121px;" /> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14092165278533307162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-63837134450175061962013-04-18T14:20:00.002-05:002013-04-18T14:23:26.824-05:002013 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction<div class="award_description">
<h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi4rwpwDoKVu-30Nuy1xc7XFCjlXaVs4l7SyhyrdPS9tbTP7pSAYkFrG1cbL-RYv-dvwCjkJ-f7w6zXmoZLeoY9wRlyL727VvSP82RH3uPGffqaLMqWcXpqpAOAQtaW0mlcpTOWSNHzIRKYnX/s1600/11529868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi4rwpwDoKVu-30Nuy1xc7XFCjlXaVs4l7SyhyrdPS9tbTP7pSAYkFrG1cbL-RYv-dvwCjkJ-f7w6zXmoZLeoY9wRlyL727VvSP82RH3uPGffqaLMqWcXpqpAOAQtaW0mlcpTOWSNHzIRKYnX/s320/11529868.jpg" width="215" /></a>From: <a href="http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2013-Fiction">http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2013-Fiction</a></h3>
</div>
<div class="award_description">
<br /></div>
<div class="award_description">
<h3>
For distinguished fiction by an American author: </h3>
</div>
<div class="indented">
<br /></div>
<div class="indented">
Awarded to <b><i>The Orphan Master's Son </i>by Adam Johnson</b>, an exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on
an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and
into the most intimate spaces of the human heart. </div>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Finalists:</span></h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank," by Nathan Englander
(Alfred A. Knopf), a diverse yet consistently masterful collection of
stories that explore Jewish identity and questions of modern life in
ways that can both delight and unsettle the reader; and "The Snow
Child," by Eowyn Ivey (Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown), and
enchanting novel about an older homesteading couple who long for a child
amid the harsh wilderness of Alaska and a feral girl who emerges from
the woods to bring them hope. </span></h4>
Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-87678120472797393142013-04-02T09:27:00.003-05:002013-04-02T09:27:43.271-05:00The Chaperone vs The Flight of Gemma Hardy<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;">By Dodie</span><br />
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<br style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THE CHAPERONE by Laura Moriarty: This work of historical fiction is set in Wichita, Kansas in 1922. The reader is pulled right into this era with all of the period details - orphan trains, Prohibition, Flappers, and the onset of the Depression. Cora Carlisle, aged 36 and a rather ordinary Wichita housewife, agrees to be the unlikely chaperone for 15 year-old Louise Brooks who is headed to New York to attend a summer session with the prestigious Denishaw School of Dancing. (Readers might recognize the name of Louise Brooks who goes on to be a silent star in the early years of the movie industry.) This journey changes the lives of both women - in totally unanticipated ways. Two very different women - one a middle-aged empty nester and the other an adolescent on the brink of coming into her own life - find the answers they're looking for in New York City. This book looks at the myriad assortment of family relationships and their impact on the two characters' lives. </span><br /><br style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cora is a character I fell in love with. It was fascinating to see how her life played out. She was an admirable woman who managed to live a full life despite her many hardships. This book IS about "The Chaperone". </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THE FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY by Margot Livesey: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This book is also historical fiction - set in the 1950's and 60's in Iceland and Scotland. Several reviews of this book call it a "re-inventive imagining of the classic, JANE EYRE." It was a beautifully written book that I could not put down - for most of the book. However, as a reader, I simply could not go along with all of the many twists and turns that the author built into the plot. I could barely make myself finish the book because of this. </span><br /><br style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I loved the story-line. Gemma Hardy becomes an orphan at 3 when her Icelandic fisherman father drowns at sea. Her kind Scottish uncle becomes her guardian and welcomes her into his family. Gemma enjoys an ordinary life with her adopted family until her uncle passes away. Overnight, circumstances change for the worse for Gemma and she is suddenly hated, resented, and ostracized by her Aunt and cousins. At barely 10 years old. she is sent off as a "working girl" to a private boarding school. When that school goes bankrupt, she is forced to take on a job as an au pair on Orkney Island for the forlorn 8-year-old niece of Hugh Sinclair - a London businessman and owner of the remote Blackbird House. Gemma's life takes off and circumstances at the Blackbird House cause her to deal with relationships and ensuing "flights" that are rather challenging for an orphan with such a hardscrabble life. </span><br /><br style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The beautiful prose and the magic realism of this book - set against the backdrop of Scotland and Iceland - made this a wonderful read. All was spoiled for me as the book neared its end. I simply could not accept the way the author developed the character of Gemma Hardy. </span><br /><br style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">WINNER: <b>THE CHAPERONE</b> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This marks the end of the first round of the Niles Tournamant of Books. Of the twelve books that entered the contest, six remain:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Arcadia</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Yellow Birds</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Beginner's Goodbye</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Round House</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Gone Girl</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Chaperone</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the first contest of round two, Donna considers <b>Arcadia</b> against <b>The Yellow Birds</b>.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-40710993891030098942013-03-28T19:21:00.000-05:002013-03-28T19:21:06.624-05:00A Killing in the Hills vs The Round HouseBy Cyndi:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">A Killing in the Hills </span></i><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller's first novel, uhmmm. For a would-be thriller, the extensive character development and backstory was a distracting drag. I started skimming pages because of the implausible yet predictable plot. Prosecutor Bell Elkins, a single mom and her teen daughter take on an illegal drug ring that</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">s already pulled off a Capone-style massacre of three senior citizens in the hills of West Virginia. It was a chore to get through.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">By contrast, Louise Erdrich's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Round House, </i>pulled me in from page one. Being swept up by a good story is a great reading experience. Take the book as it comes- no preconceptions, anticipations or expectations. So here's my review without revealing the plot, which is only a google away, if you like to know beforehand. This, her fourteenth novel is uncharacteristically suspenseful made more so by my ignorance of the legal quagmire around tribal lands. There were twists and turns, dead ends and red herrings along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hard to put down.</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Therefore, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong>The Round House</strong></i> wins round one.</span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-82042779116369839562013-03-27T09:24:00.000-05:002013-03-27T09:24:22.181-05:00Friends Like Us vs Gone GIrlToday Darlene considers Friends Like Us, an example of chick lit with depth, against Gone Girl, a black-comedic mystery.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While these books don’t seemingly have much in common, they both have characters that are awful, horrible people. All of them are just so unlikeable which made the reading a real chore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t want to give too much away about Gone Girl. Amy Dunne disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary. Police suspect foul play and all fingers point to her husband, Nick. There are many twists and turns, but even so I found the book to be too predictable. The book would have made a decent plot for an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Amy Dunne also had too many things in common with Brenda Chenowith from Six Feet Under to be an original character. And I don’t want to give anything away for the people who haven’t read the book, but what was that ending? All that said, I though the writing was well paced and the book was a page turner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gone Girl: Predictable. Decent writing. Fell apart at the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friends Like Us is one pun after another. I believe the author was trying to be quirky and fun but I found it more annoying than anything. Willa reconnects with her high school best friend Ben (who was madly in love with her, by the way) at their 8<sup>th</sup> year class reunion (yes there is a story behind that, but who cares?). Ben falls in love with her best friend and they become engaged after six months. The threesome are BFF’s who do things like go mattress shopping together until Willa decides to sabotage Jane and Ben’s relationship. I honestly think this may have been one of the worst book I have ever read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friends Like Us: Horrible characters and horrible writing filled with puns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would rather have Amy Dunne as my BFF than Willa or Jane or Ben. They are all terrible, at least she has half a personality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Winner: Gone Girl</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In tomorrow's match Cyndi pits <b>A Killer in the Hills</b> against <b>The Round House.</b></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-29672622639730517102013-03-26T09:45:00.001-05:002013-03-26T09:50:48.302-05:00The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lord Crick has died. While convulsing. And turning yellow. And providing his family with a gruesome corpse. Although young Lord Crick had some health issues (i.e. the pox) and a rather nasty disposition, it really was a ghastly and horrific death. His sister Lady Lydia decides that there must be a further investigation. The gossip against her husband Captain Flynn, who is her brother’s heir, is becoming scandalous. On the advice of her cousin Francis, she travels to London to meet with Dr. Thomas Silkstone, an American physician who is working, studying and teaching with British anatomist Dr. Carruthers. Silkstone, who is quite taken with Lady Lydia, agrees reluctantly to exhume and examine the corpse and answer questions at the inquest. <br />
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When he is at the estate, he finds not just a house in mourning, but a household full of secrets. Silkstone uses his primitive forensic and toxicology skills to study the remains, but he finds more questions than answers, and his list of suspects in the household grows. The tension swells, and the plot twists, but will Silkstone (with some help from Carruthers,) find the answers with his scientific methods before there is another body found on the estate? Harris writes a layered tale of forensic mystery using engaging characters who struggle with the conventions of their time. Silkstone is wonderful as the outsider looking into their society. Can't wait to read the next one in the series!<br />
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<a href="http://nileslibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1875194035_the_anatomists_apprentice" target="_blank">The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris </a>mfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11380405706806270146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-9655778731451152062013-03-25T16:40:00.000-05:002013-03-25T16:40:01.349-05:00Beginner's Goodbye vs Lightning Rods<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yesterday's post was by Barb P. Today Cecilia tackles Anne Tyler's Beginner's Goodbye vs Helen DeWitt's Lightning Rods<span style="font-size: small;"><b>.</b></span></span></b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">First of all, I am already an Anne Tyler fan. So, I knew I would be
biased in her direction. But, after reading both, there is no
comparison in which one I prefer, Tyler bias or not. <br />
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With <i>The Beginner's Goodbye</i>, Anne
Tyler once again captures the heart and soul of someone going through a
trying time. This time, it's Aaron...who lives an unremarkable life
with an unremarkable woman...Dorothy. But, after Dorothy's sudden
death, Aaron's period of adjustment offers more than just grief and
depression. He simply cannot let Dorothy go. This is a touching, sweet
book that is filled with heart and emotion. I found myself laughing at
Aaron more than once...whether this was intentional humor on Tyler's
part... just the sad-sack, vulnerable ways of Aaron manifesting
themselves as comic moments I do not know. I would like to think that
Tyler wanted us to laugh at him a little...so he and her reader's would
try and take life a little less seriously. Tyler, who is known for her
engaging and emotive character studies, really captures the soul of this
wayward man. I would be hard pressed to say it is Tyler's best work
but it is one of her most engaging.<br />
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On the flip side, you have Helen Dewitt's Lightning Rods. Comparing the
Dewitt book with the Tyler book is like comparing avocados and apples.
NOT MUCH SIMILARITY. Dewitt's book is a statement book about state of
sexual harassment and general sexual tensions in the workplace. I would
call it a satire, but it not told in usual "satire" form...with a wink
and a nudge. This story is told with seriousness and devoid of any
humor, which makes it all the more tough to read and even stomach. Now,
I do not consider myself any type of a prude and I do understand what
the author is trying to say here (I guess) but this commentary on the
state of workplaces, sex and male-female relationships just did not sit
right with me. In trying to be witty and edgy, Dewitt just becomes
crude and inane. <br />
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The clear winner here is <i>THE BEGINNER'S GOODBYE</i> by ANNE TYLER. </span></span></h3>
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So far, the books that are moving forward are <b>Arcadia, The Yellow Birds, and The Beginner's Goodbye</b>. Tomorrow Darlene takes up Friends Like Us vs Gone Girl.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-37551319202604626672013-03-24T12:45:00.000-05:002013-03-24T12:45:43.430-05:00The Casual Vacancy vs Yellow Birds<br />
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">The Casual Vacancy</span><span class="Normal__Char" style="text-decoration: underline;"> <span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold;">VERSUS</span> <span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold;">The Yellow Birds</span> </span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial;"><span style="line-height: 13pt;">Personally, I did not care for either book. J. K. Rowling should stick to writing children’s books. Kevin Power’s book has been favorably compared to The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. For me, it </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial;"><span style="line-height: 17.328125px;">doesn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial;"><span style="line-height: 13pt;"> even come close. If you want to read a classic about war and the human condition, read the book by Tim O’Brien. I think it is excellent. However, I will discuss the two books I was assigned by using a Pro/Con list.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">CASUAL VACANCY: A story that takes place in a small town in England with a story line that drags in the ugliest of human behaviors as the town council strives to find a replacement for a vacant council seat. This is Rowling’s first novel for adults. </span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">PROS: </span><span class="Normal__Char">ummmmmm, oh yeah, it was full of dry Brit-Com humor. Rowling’s a good writer. She is a sharp observer of social behaviors.</span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">CONS: </span><span class="Normal__Char">The book is 512 pages!!. There were 15 or more different characters. It was difficult to remember them all, and I personally did not care about what happened to any of them. The ending was predictable and somewhat heavy-handed. I skipped through a chunk of it.</span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">YELLOW BIRDS: Told in the words of a young private in the army who is serving a tour of duty in Iraq. The story focuses on his friendship with another young private and their daily struggle to stay alive amidst the horrors of war.</span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">PROS: </span><span class="Normal__Char">The author had spent time in the military in Iraq, so the story felt real and somewhat like his memoir. One cares about what happens to the characters, although one does not really get to know them that intimately. Well written. A brisk, brief writing style which I personally enjoy. It was only 240 pages, so a quick read. </span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">CONS: </span><span class="Normal__Char">Hey, it’s about war, so it was seriously depressing. The story at times reads as somewhat disjointed and rambling. “Lost my way” a couple times during my read.</span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char">To reiterate, I did not care for nor would I recommend either book. However, since I am required to choose one, </span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char">The Winner is</span></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char"><b>Yellow Birds</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.trbimg.com/img-509c2dc7/turbine/la-ca-jc-kevin-powers-20121111-001/600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-509c2dc7/turbine/la-ca-jc-kevin-powers-20121111-001/600" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Normal__Char" style="font-size: medium;">Tomorrow's contest is between Beginner's Goodbye and Lightning Rods by judge Cecilia.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-42488524780391133742013-03-23T14:15:00.001-05:002013-03-23T14:15:39.679-05:00Tournament of Books: First Contest<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
Arcadia vs The Orchardist</h3>
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6322129564056024924" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; position: relative; width: 600px;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCRhTs22AVMw6hh1E3Mw-4vto-k-HUM1sa0sYa-67Dx7vssSUM" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><i style="line-height: 1.4;">Arcadia </i><span style="line-height: 1.4;">and </span><i style="line-height: 1.4;">The</i><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span><i style="line-height: 1.4;">Orchardist</i><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> have certain things in common. Both are stories of American history. Each focuses on a dramatic historical movement. The Orchardist is about pioneers settling the west, in this case the far western United States. Arcadia represents the twilight of the Utopian movement that started in the nineteenth century, and besides a few exceptions like the Amish, ended in the hippie communes of the 1960s and 70s where Arcadia is set. </span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> Both novels are organized around one main protagonist. Arcadia is tightly bound to Bit Stone, the first child born in Arcadia. Arcadia is seen only through Bit's point of view. The Orchardist centers its narrative around the orchard keeper William Talmadge but moves among other viewpoints, most notably that of Della Michaelson, a teen-aged foundling who settles on Talmadge's property, and her niece Angelene, Talmadge's foster daughter.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">The Orchardist follows Talmadge from childhood, when his restless mother drags him and his sister to a patch of land in Washington state and begins to cultivate the land. Talmadge grows up to become the orchardist, never leaving his land which he has made into a productive fruit farm. His life and his love is the orchard until two pregnant teen-aged sisters, runaways from an abusive brothel-keeper, find shelter with him.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">The characters in The Orchardist are larger than life. Talmadge seems almost a force of nature, especially as described in the novel's opening: "His face was as pitted as the moon...(h)is ears were elephantine...the flesh granular like the rind of some fruit." (Is this passage overwritten? Yes, especially in the clipped, portentous tone.) The other main characters are similarly huge. Talmadge's Nez Pearce friend, Clee and his neighbor Caroline, who helps him with the sisters, are all wisdom and kindness; Della is monumentally damaged by her abusive childhood, and her abuser, Michaelson, is monumentally evil. Other characters, like Jane, Della's sister, figure importantly into the story, but are barely sketched in.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">Yet despite this imbalance and stiffness there remains something compelling in the story of the American west, a romance that never wears thin. So in the intensity and bigness of this book, first-time novelist Amanda Copin has contributed something to our communal story.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">At first glance Lauren Groff's Arcadia seems overwritten too. But you come to see that the tone reflects the overheated and naive world view of the Arcadians themselves. "May they rot in their bourgeois capitalist hell" says Bit's mother, Hannah. Bit imagines the world outside of Arcadia: "Humans out there are grotesque: Scrooges and Jellybys and filthy orphans... a blight called television like tiny Plato's caves in every room." Groff turns out to be a skillful writer, letting us see the overview of Arcadia's life span as a community at the same time as she brings all of the characters and details to life. The pleasure of reading Arcadia is in Bit's close observations of himself and his world, given words lacking to the child by the Bit-omniscient narrator. The narrator's interpretation of Bit's consciousness is convincing.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">The plot of Arcadia follows the birth and death of the commune. At first everyone, including Bit's parents Hannah and Abe, embrace the communal ideal under Handy, the charismatic leader of Arcadia. Gradually, over the course of Bit's growing up, things unravel, drugs suck up a lot of energy, and rebellious newbies make a mess. We leave Bit at the commune in his teens and, in the last sections of the novel we pick up and follow him as an adult as he adjusts to life outside and reconciles with the remnant of the commune that he carries with him. The very last section takes place in the near future when a flu-like epidemic has taken over the United States. Perhaps this goes on too long, and the meaning of the epidemic and how it fits into the novel remain unclear to me.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 1.4;">Despite this last puzzle, and for greater mastery of language, detail, and character the winner of round one is</span><br /><br /><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Arcadia</b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;">Arcadia will make it into the second round of judging. The next contest in the first round is Casual Vacancy vs Yellow Birds, judged by Barb P. Look for that tomorrow.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-88620317868377678462013-03-23T09:20:00.001-05:002013-03-23T09:20:49.313-05:00The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lstKWcHgHzI-IdMZPT6AwNRiSDwtQxeqxOrb3Kmu0DUq8FTuIbW2LY0KeWyN_UTbxF3gcM11KdP3C2e4UQx6MawHNd3Z3jeYOqgwh2iF0Jdpib1K8I8dZDHFwlkO-N7scklNr5VoZ3tlYzW7/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lstKWcHgHzI-IdMZPT6AwNRiSDwtQxeqxOrb3Kmu0DUq8FTuIbW2LY0KeWyN_UTbxF3gcM11KdP3C2e4UQx6MawHNd3Z3jeYOqgwh2iF0Jdpib1K8I8dZDHFwlkO-N7scklNr5VoZ3tlYzW7/s1600/index.php.jpeg" height="320" width="209" /></a>A riveting and ominous tale of loss, love and heartbreak set in both 1919 and the early 1960s. The 1919 story involves a past love who most likely perished in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a woman, Vivian, who cannot get over her loss. Vivian is "the kept woman" to David, a married man who might or might not leave his wife for her. The earthquake ends whatever future they might have, but Vivian is determined to find him and she is still hoping for a passionate, heartfelt reunion all the way until 1919, when she finds out the truth. <br />
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Tying in with that is the tale of Claire, a 1960s housewife who sees her love for her husband and the life she has made for herself slipping away. It's not that she's powerless to do anything about it...it's just that she is unsure whether she wants to stop her sedate, mundane life from slipping out of control. Her story is set during the inauguration of President Kennedy in early 1961; she looks to Jackie Kennedy as an icon for beauty, stability and class. As President Kennedy and Jackie's story sets out, her own story begins to crumble...including her husband walking in on her affair with another married man and then her pregnancy by either her lover or her husband. <br />
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At first, I could not see how these two stories would intersect but as the stories progressed, Hood sets up patterns of misery and disillusionment in each woman that is so compelling that really doesn't matter. And then with the connection between 1961 and 1919 is revealed, it is believable and natural. I've read most every novel (she also writes some nonfiction) Hood has written and to the best of my memory, this is the first time she has set a novel in two different time periods (usually, her novels involve one main character (usually female) with her own set of issues and concerns). Well, for a first time out, the concept works, bringing to life both women, both of their worlds and both of their fully fleshed out emotional struggles. The vibrancy and passion in the writing helps us to both visualize and sympathize with both ladies' tales of pain. A lesser writer would have had trouble creating sympathetic characters out of two adulteresses, but Hood's careful attention to the character's inner turmoils allow us to not only sympathize with the two ladies, but possibly even relate to them. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-385894302234993912013-03-22T15:54:00.000-05:002013-03-22T15:54:28.481-05:00Niles Tournament of Books<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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March Madness has hit Niles Public
Library, only it’s not basketball we’re excited about, but books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reader’s Advisory staff at the
library has selected, seeded, bracketed, and pitted books against each other in
a reading contest that will elevate one book out of a field of 12 as the
tournament champion.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
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It
all started when library staffers together compiled a list of the best reads
among books published last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do
this every year, and usually post the results on this blog and in
the fiction section of the library. This year, inspired by the online Morning
News Tournament of Books (<a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/how-it-works.php">http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/how-it-works.php</a>),
we decided to hold a contest to uncover the best of the best. Twelve of us
volunteered to judge. We paired the top 12 books into brackets and assigned one
judge to determine the winner of each bracket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Each bracket's winner continues to further judgment. Losers are eliminated, but have a chance to be revived as a Zombie.</span>
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Here are the
books being evaluated this year:</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2777455084164644466" name="_GoBack"></a><b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Arcadia</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Lauren Groff</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">The Orchardist <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Amanda Choplin</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Yellow Birds <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Kevin Powers</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">The Casual Vacancy <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">J. K. Rowling</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Lightning Rods <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Helen DeWitt</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Beginner's Goodbye <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Anne Tyler</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">A Killing in the Hills <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Julia Keller</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">The Round House <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Louise Erdich</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Friends Like Us <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Lauren Fox</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Gone Girl <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Gillian Flynn</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">The Chaperone <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Laura Moriarty</span><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">The Flight of Gemma Hardy <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background: white;">Margot Livesey<span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space">Check back tomorrow to see the results of the first bracket pairing</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b>Arcadia </b>vs <b>The Orchardist </b>by judge Beverly.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-53155908855370134382013-03-20T20:35:00.000-05:002013-03-20T20:35:54.984-05:00Company Orders by David J. Walker<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_Y6fLUp4uMIxYgzCPfBA1nn_w6ID3qDsVv9Th5-u5Xw022pO6Cfqa8W2_MSlBptdt70z_E9f-v0j87931VkeWTIXnfFcgfW0fpLCalXLiZaWOEcELlEEMWIsrhlCjBjNs8HYWpA5TCi0EfFA/s1600/company.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_Y6fLUp4uMIxYgzCPfBA1nn_w6ID3qDsVv9Th5-u5Xw022pO6Cfqa8W2_MSlBptdt70z_E9f-v0j87931VkeWTIXnfFcgfW0fpLCalXLiZaWOEcELlEEMWIsrhlCjBjNs8HYWpA5TCi0EfFA/s1600/company.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a>A strong Chicago-based mystery from Chicago-based writer Walker, who has a knack for capturing both the essence of the city and the suspense that fills its streets. In this novel, Walker, a former Catholic priest, uses his seminary background as the backdrop for this latest, involving a priest who gets caught up in an international quagmire. One day, out of the blue, Father Paul Clark's friend is killed right in front of him. Barely escaping with own life, Clark soon finds out that his friend was involved in some less than savory dealings with the wrong types of people. Enter a woman who says she is from the government who has a plan to help Clark. Can she be trusted? Clark spends much of the novel trying to answer that question, a search which leads him all the way to South America. In the midst of all of this, a young man enters him life and shakes his beliefs to the core. <br />
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As mysteries go, this is quite strong. The character of Paul Clark is a believable, convincing protagonist. All throughout the book, no matter what Clark is going through, we feel his pain and can sympathize with his difficult situations. As a priest, he might appear as unrelatable, but Walker gives Clark such compassion and conscience and even some faith crises that we can understand what Clark is experiencing. And Walker also makes good use out of Chicago. Through the pages, I was able to visualize the gritty and dank streets of Chicago where Clark was desperately trying to run for his life. <br />
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This is the second mystery I have read by Walker (<i>Saving Paulo</i> was the other one) and though I liked both, I found myself drawn more this Clark and his set of nerve-wrenching circumstances. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-51976944686358960822013-03-18T14:00:00.000-05:002013-03-18T14:00:49.331-05:00The Witness by Nora Roberts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>In 1981 Nora Roberts published her first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Irish Thoroughbred</i>. Some thirty years later Roberts has written her 200<sup>th </sup>published novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witness </i>and it is a ROMANCE WINNER! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elizabeth Fitch is a sixteen year old daughter of a frigid surgeon mother in Chicago, who fed up with the rigid life style her mother commands, goes to the mall, buys clothes not dictated by her mother and goes to a club with a school acquaintance. She drinks too much, winds up at the home of a member of the Russian mob and witnesses several murders. She runs for her life and calls 911. Ultimately she is in a safe house under the protection of several agents but on her birthday her good guy protectors are killed by fellow agents in league with the mob. Elizabeth escapes and knows she can trust no one.</div>
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Fast forward twelve years Elizabeth Fitch is now Abigail Lowery, a computer genius running a profitable security company, hiding out in Bickford Arkansas with her gun collection and well trained dog. The new handsome chief of police, Brooks Gleason is curious and is not shy about trying to unlock the puzzle of Abigail Lowery. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed way past my bedtime finishing this novel. It is a strong romantic suspense read with good characterization and pacing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her computer hacking skills, sharp intelligence and vulnerability make Abigail an interesting study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brooks Gleason is kind, handsome, smart and of course the perfect male. Roberts is deft with dialogue and the humor is well spaced with the suspense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a cold winter night, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witness </i>provided cozy relaxing comfort.</div>
Mary Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13042431070804068663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-70110934789725711312013-03-13T20:29:00.002-05:002013-03-13T20:32:02.941-05:00Another Piece of my Heart by Jane Green<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd5nKcJ4Hs9rco7QVbT__b8P-K73AswYyx1Xq2-zpny4ZQZ17zgUohS-N2plAiGiQOmUjmcgO_a4eC7z5MPQF5f71DitvLwSb5-OGzZqx9YfhNfuoZWioS8l9mXz9_hCPvJ3IJz8AmItsd9je/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd5nKcJ4Hs9rco7QVbT__b8P-K73AswYyx1Xq2-zpny4ZQZ17zgUohS-N2plAiGiQOmUjmcgO_a4eC7z5MPQF5f71DitvLwSb5-OGzZqx9YfhNfuoZWioS8l9mXz9_hCPvJ3IJz8AmItsd9je/s1600/index.php.jpeg" /></a>Told from the point-of-view of both a stepmother and a teenage girl, this novel really delves deep into what makes a family tick. The stepmother, Andi, is a woman desperate for a child of her own. She marries a man with two children...a pre-teen girl who causes little if any trouble and a full-blown teenager who is more than makes up for her sister's lack of trouble. Andi's struggles with her new marriage, her husband and her step-kids seem realistic and not fake in anyway. Emily, the teenager, comes to life on the page...angst and depression and self-hate all included. Green lets us watch this family's troubles play out...never forcing us to feel something that seems unnatural or unrealistic.<br />
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This is a heartwarming book about the troubles of one family and how they preserve and overcome. This is the first Jane Green book that I read all the way through and I would definitely read her again. She's not totally "chick lit" (or at least this one wasn't). There was a depth to this novel that most Kinsellas and other Chick Lit connoisseurs lack. I liked the characters and the development of them throughout the story. There were times when certain parts went on too long, but over-all, this is a good, solid story about family and the troubles they bear. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-53556121032479518082013-03-13T19:02:00.004-05:002013-03-13T19:03:05.096-05:00The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTSDKy5YOne9ajPnU4uJPsWZtBSRopYNksxU7XRDUpgBUW0myoiTv5uNR3XTHqSryXv7OMsRxnDm2az_H7E5uMWq1bdMtJQb3wLDihVqyk6K5nQ4kNkC_kEK9OZljxLApeY8FaHsNZrxJkL7U/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTSDKy5YOne9ajPnU4uJPsWZtBSRopYNksxU7XRDUpgBUW0myoiTv5uNR3XTHqSryXv7OMsRxnDm2az_H7E5uMWq1bdMtJQb3wLDihVqyk6K5nQ4kNkC_kEK9OZljxLApeY8FaHsNZrxJkL7U/s1600/index.php.jpeg" /></a><br />
This book begins with Japanese "picture brides" on a boat to early 20th Century America to meet their husbands. These brides are young girls (some 12 or so) who have been shipped off by their parents with the intention of having them get married, have families and basically have better lives than they would in Japan. The end of the book covers the heart-wrenching years of the Japanese Internment Camps during the post-Pearl Harbor era in the Western USA. <br />
<br />
I absolutely loved the story, the lyricalness, the lushness and the
tone of this novel. Otsuka has a gift of being able to express series
of complex emotions with just a few words. Her writing style seems
natural, fluid, yet filled with power. She does a fantastic job of creating a scene with as few
words as possible. Less, if definitely more here. After-all, the
novel is around 120 pages. <br />
<br />
Saying all of that, I still found
myself wanting a little more. NOT more of the words...more of the
individual characters and their own stories. This novel is told in the
first person plural voice (or point of view). Meaning: WE did this, WE
did that. With such powerful stories to tell, I wish Otsuka would have picked one or two women to focus on instead of the global "we." This does not mean I did not like the book. I loved it. I just would have loved it even more had there been a little more individual detail.<br />
<br />
But, I understand why she choose the plural voice to write it. The subject matter here is highly emotional...and by keeping it in the plural, both Otsuka and the reader are able to keep a fair and appropriate distance. Either way, a must read for all...Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-79928749887667708112013-02-27T19:47:00.001-06:002013-02-27T19:47:14.617-06:00Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzUwHHAJmuwVNEdlEIT-iQzudVgALjHpUc0SfH6CUZ_G3s6ECxqy5dKXCF8nHq4pY_nWSjrX_9WENABpk2PwVBUOcYmdnsHWMy-7pMA4AL8GSvrVOJ6J-SKzvdCeMvZ9Il7RT1mCfEj8Bf3vu/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzUwHHAJmuwVNEdlEIT-iQzudVgALjHpUc0SfH6CUZ_G3s6ECxqy5dKXCF8nHq4pY_nWSjrX_9WENABpk2PwVBUOcYmdnsHWMy-7pMA4AL8GSvrVOJ6J-SKzvdCeMvZ9Il7RT1mCfEj8Bf3vu/s1600/index.php.jpeg" /></a>This is another psychological thriller that keeps the reader riveted from <i>Gone Girl </i>author Gillian Flynn. This, Flynn's debut novel, tells the story of Camille and the uphill battle she faces as she is forced to confront her past and return her her roots. Struggling as a cub reporter, Camille gets a prime assignment that just might get her name on the journalism map. The only problem is the story requires her to head back to her small hometown to cover the murder of two young girls. Her mother still lives there and Camille has had practically no communication with her since Camille left eight years ago. There also is a new half-sister, who Camille does not know at all.<br />
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Flynn does a fantastic job of interweaving all of Camille's troubles with the case she's supposed to be researching and reporting. And, though Camille is not a perfect character, we do at least begin to like her more and more as the story progresses. She's very troubled (at the beginning, we find out one of the reasons she is floundering in her newspaper job is that she just finished a stint in a psych hospital) and heading to her hometown only increases these troubles. But, Flynn does not take Camille or any of the characters here and send them over the top, as many authors tend to do, especially in thrillers. The story and the characters here are controlled and methodical. All in all, this is a a wonderful thriller with a dark, gritty edge. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-16176331636935212232013-02-27T19:28:00.002-06:002013-02-27T19:28:49.656-06:00Dark Places by Gillian Flynn<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudLgyY2TxcPNbFt8zcv29BLzPt8Nf4nN20i8123GASA1MU7WUa0p26mSnFYLmPG2bz4v3sdPZPb8QzoDGG4yyxL61dVEk_vdOwHmzygGXZN8DpCetSf6qMC_UkSAEEiGskLoTvy6atXgR9RGB/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudLgyY2TxcPNbFt8zcv29BLzPt8Nf4nN20i8123GASA1MU7WUa0p26mSnFYLmPG2bz4v3sdPZPb8QzoDGG4yyxL61dVEk_vdOwHmzygGXZN8DpCetSf6qMC_UkSAEEiGskLoTvy6atXgR9RGB/s1600/index.php.jpeg" /></a>A dark (as the title states), depressing novel with pretty much no sympathetic characters, this is the second novel by <i>Gone Girl </i>author Flynn. The main character here, Libby Day, was witness to her mother and sisters being murdered when she was a small child. In court, she identified her brother as the killer. Over 20 years later, Libby begins to doubt that testimony...did she really see her brother kill three members of her family or did she just believe she had seen it? Libby begins a quest for self-discovery that will take her life into even more dark places than before.<br />
<br />
First of all, Libby is not a nice person. She's a thief, she can be violent, and she only begins to question her brother's innocence after stumbling on a group of true crime addicts who offer her money for trophies from her past. Aside from Libby, the novel is also told from the point-of-view of the mother and the brother (both of those POVs are set before the murders). But, like Libby, neither the mother nor the brother are characters the reader will want to relate to. The brother, Ben, gets involved with Satanism and a VERY bad crowd of friends. And the mother sits idly by while her family crumbles around her. <br />
<br />
See...it's a VERY dark story. But, if you can get past all of that, it is a well-written, edgy piece of fiction that really does keep you reading. Unlike a lot of contemporary thrillers, this one has a solid foundation, as well as great character development and a pretty decent ending. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-87108097105212915562013-01-16T09:46:00.000-06:002013-01-16T09:46:45.030-06:00The Child's Child by Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3AKmBe_pB-EN-j4tdk8oxsia6ouqsKAdzou_NlY4C3S-_6C5KNd4yiMmdlxS8g4DQvmY6JOaBevf68ueYT9astAUpPGjPWP57yGbKbp_VdNiAtIozNrm48slf3kRWQDT7wd_284GcvT56iWF/s1600/ruth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3AKmBe_pB-EN-j4tdk8oxsia6ouqsKAdzou_NlY4C3S-_6C5KNd4yiMmdlxS8g4DQvmY6JOaBevf68ueYT9astAUpPGjPWP57yGbKbp_VdNiAtIozNrm48slf3kRWQDT7wd_284GcvT56iWF/s320/ruth.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
By far my favorite book of 2012 (even though I read it in 2013). It is a strong, fierce thriller that combines social commentary and suspense...all in one well-written story. It is no surprise to me that Ruth Rendell is still writing strong, highly literary pieces of fiction. She is one of the leaders of the mystery genre, especially British mysteries. Writing here as Barbara Vine, Rendell writes what I think is one of her best in years...lending truth to the adage that some things improves with age. <br /><br />The story here starts off in 2011 with a sister and her brother, Grace and Andrew, sharing a home in London. They divide the living space of the house equally, a situation which works fine until the brother's lover, James, comes to live with them. James sets off a series of events that neither Grace nor Andrew will ever recover from. While coping, Grace begins reading a long-lost manuscript, never published because its storyline includes unwed mothers and homosexual characters in the 1920s. That's when a completely different part of the story takes over. Or at least we THINK it's different...because it is set in the post-WWI era. Soon, correlations between Grace's modern-day dilemmas and the historical plot become evident. <br />
<br />The historical storyline revolves around a sister, Maud, the youngest child in a very conservative Bristol family, who gets herself pregnant. After telling her family, they want to send her away. But, her brother John has a different idea. He is homosexual and aware that he will never be able to lead a respectable life as a gay man, so he and Maud begin living together as husband and wife...in name only...so that the child does not seem illegitimate. <br /><br />Both storylines are interesting and compelling but the historical one just captivates the reader with twists and turns that the reader never expects (or at least I didn't). I found both tales together a great commentary on how things regarding sexuality and homosexuality have changed...yet how some things have stayed the same through the centuries. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-57780285752363250592013-01-04T19:01:00.000-06:002013-01-04T19:01:36.309-06:00The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhXv9URmmqOYHVEEm6MesV8aAQjnq0gjAR47qDI7fcTYM4yOSJs2ePsLNrwFw6mR7M4jXTM1Nbq8zolr5ieyQxd-KuLUBeHsN2BTBpcj67jS1Jrqy-O4re0oFe-ckmvMa7d8HQ2IfXgEGhtbjp0IGV7u9nldpztwqKABPkAUg=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="index.php" border="0" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10423" data-mce-src="http://blogs.skokielibrary.info/files/2013/01/index.php_.jpeg" src="http://blogs.skokielibrary.info/files/2013/01/index.php_.jpeg" height="200" width="132" /></a>Anne
Tyler once again captures the heart and soul of someone going through a
trying time. This time, it's Aaron...who lives an unremarkable life
with an unremarkable woman...Dorothy. But, after Dorothy's sudden
death, Aaron's period of adjustment offers more than just grief and
depression. He simply cannot let Dorothy go. This is a touching, sweet
book that is filled with heart and emotion. I found myself laughing at
Aaron more than once...whether this was intentional humor on Tyler's
part... just the sad-sack, vulnerable ways of Aaron manifesting
themselves as comic moments I do not know. I would like to think that
Tyler wanted us to laugh at him a little...so he and her reader's would
try and take life a little less seriously. Tyler, who is known for her
engaging and emotive character studies, really captures the soul of this
wayward man. I would be hard pressed to say it is Tyler's best work
but it is one of her best.
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<br />
Why? Well, could it be attributed to growing older (I first read it
in 2009)? Or experiencing more loss and pain in life? Or maybe just
being in the mood for a sentimental book?<br />
Well, whatever it was that made me change my GOOD read to a GREAT
read, I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this story. There is something
for everyone here…romance, history, sentimentality, friendship, etc.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANbX-RItMVSiQJuYLUuHyG0o06-R1lI25AHYY7XPKIVkznLQc3MSKfUthe92f2_JZslVC_PCrKXdGIkJ3fRYUAJ8tuUoWzJ1XhZPT-IzZHoi9o8YZ08SWh5xoX4zuwj4JscdWoyb7T7T3we87/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANbX-RItMVSiQJuYLUuHyG0o06-R1lI25AHYY7XPKIVkznLQc3MSKfUthe92f2_JZslVC_PCrKXdGIkJ3fRYUAJ8tuUoWzJ1XhZPT-IzZHoi9o8YZ08SWh5xoX4zuwj4JscdWoyb7T7T3we87/s1600/index.php.jpeg" /></a>One of the things I forgot was how immersed you get into the world of
Guernsey and the period of the story (post-WWII). I remember adding
Guernsey to my “must see” travel list right after I finished this book
the first time. Well, this time, I wanted to RUN there. Between the
sense of place and the sense of history, I felt like I was right there,
in 1940s Guernsey, chatting with the characters and partaking of some
potato peel pie. The characters all jump off the page so it is easy to
imagine them conversing with me about books and travel and the hardships
of the war.<br />
Told exclusively through letters exchanged from Guernsey natives to
Juliet, a writer who is searching for her next story, this book begins
in 1946, after the Germans left Guernsey. Juliet lives in London and
somehow, one of Guernsey’s residents comes across a book that has
Juliet’s name in it so he writes to her. This letter strikes up a
series of events that leads to Juliet and some of her friends traveling
to Guernsey and becoming one of the Guernsey family.<br />
No, it is not one of the finest books ever written. But, sometimes
you just need a book to transport you to another world for a little
while…something that takes your mind away from the ordinary and the
mundane. For me, this was that book. Maybe it will be yours too.Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-17717181199327802042012-11-07T18:25:00.001-06:002012-11-07T18:25:19.977-06:00Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7a5l0z7HkMLfLxU3-MMSdJlWKKHw-LpO5381mt_1ZD8oRRHz8XAs57dD8xa7vKYKWKYQASFysl5wcdHxwNE0_0BEPP7Cs-vJQrSy6P2qmSXRZAlFb0x-MGrVRymyGmbJ77wjPcVDjqYPjPtR/s1600/index.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7a5l0z7HkMLfLxU3-MMSdJlWKKHw-LpO5381mt_1ZD8oRRHz8XAs57dD8xa7vKYKWKYQASFysl5wcdHxwNE0_0BEPP7Cs-vJQrSy6P2qmSXRZAlFb0x-MGrVRymyGmbJ77wjPcVDjqYPjPtR/s1600/index.php.jpeg" height="320" width="209" /></a>This is my second Tasha Alexander novel featuring Victorian Lady Emily Ashton and maybe because this one is set in Venice, a city I love, I enjoyed it even more than the the first one I read (<i>A Fatal Waltz</i>). Alexander, like Donna Leon, another author who writes mysteries set in Venice (though featuring a male detective), does a brilliant job of breathing life into Venice. And Lady Emily is a force to be reckoned with...a kin to Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey (set in Victorian England). Unlike Raybourn's heroine, who sometimes is too tough and "un-Victorian" for the times, I felt Alexander and her Lady Emily hit just the right tones of passion and passiveness. Though the ending got a little convoluted (I began to get some of the characters confused because of their titles and their flowery names...not to mention all of the place names), I still highly recommend this series for anyone who likes historical mysteries, female-based mysteries or vivid depictions and/or senses of place. Cecilia C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00929596425472834792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777455084164644466.post-37406183018981046822012-11-06T14:56:00.000-06:002012-11-06T14:56:41.117-06:00Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A fire races though a London private school and a mother rushes to save her daughter’s life. How the fire started provides the backdrop for this suspenseful thriller with paranormal aspects and graced with lyrical writing. <br />
<br />
<br />
This novel with its realistic portrayal of contemporary families is heartbreaking in its tragic elements but appealing in its devotion to the protective instincts that are the core of the love between mothers and children. The twists and turns in the thriller are so well done that the culprit is revealed deftly in the final pages. <br />
<br />
Readers of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Broken Harbor by Tana French will devour Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton. <br />
<br />
Mary Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13042431070804068663noreply@blogger.com0