Read and read and read some more

In March the book I read off my shelf was The Singer by Calvin Miller. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I meant to read them all, but then found that one was enough for now. I know a lot of people love this book, and I really wanted to, too, but for me, it was just ok. If you're not familiar with the trilogy, it is basically a mythical retelling, written in verse, of the New Testament. Instead of God, Jesus, and Satan, you have Earthmaker, the Singer, and the World Hater. And that's really all I have to say about that one. If you're interested, let me know because I actually have two copies of the first two books. I'll be happy to share.


Continuing on with the theme of biblical fiction, I also read a book of short stories called She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror, edited by Tim Lieder. I found this when looking for books by Catherynne Valente. Her story is the only semi-decent one in the collection, but it is the story of Gilgamesh, and even though I understand why it was included, the last time I checked, it's not in the bible. Most of the stories are written by science fiction authors and they are so twisted and gross. Definitely skip this one.



I also finally got around to reading The Shack by William Paul Young. It's the story of a man, Mackenzie, whose daughter is kidnapped and presumed murdered. A couple years after her disappearance, Mackenzie is summoned to the shack where she was last traced and has an encounter with the trinity in the flesh, in order to begin to deal with what happened to his daughter. There are some very moving scenes in this book, and overall, I enjoyed it. There is also a lot of discussion of the trinity, and why God allows bad things to happen and other questions like that for which there are no easy answers. I'm not sure all the author's arguments hold up, but he gets points for trying to explain and for getting people to think.


Now for a fun book - Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl. This book is a charming young adult read, kind of Cinderella meets Pride and Prejudice. Althea, the heroine, is seventeen, beautiful, and very poor. She lives in a crumbling castle with her mother, much younger brother, and two selfish stepsisters. She knows she must marry well in order to save her family and home from ruin, but all her recent attempts to snag a rich husband have failed. Then, some new neighbors and acquaintances move into the estate next door and things start to look up. Very entertaining. Check this one out.



Leaving England, we now head to Egypt for Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. This is the first in a series of books featuring the spunky Amelia Peabody. The story begins in the late 1880s with the death of Amelia's father. She inherits his fortune and soon sets off on a trip to Egypt where she becomes an amateur archaeologist, gets chased by a mummy, and falls in love, among many other things. A fun book. I read it in an afternoon. You should, too.



Back to seriousness - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This is the story of Charlie, a freshman in high school, who is super-smart, but kind of socially awkward. One of his few friends commits suicide the year before, and he is feeling very alone in his new school. Somehow he makes friend with two seniors, and slowly his life begins to change. This book is funny, heartbreaking, and shocking all at the same time. I think it is often banned and challenged in schools because of the content. I recommend this one, but even though it is a young people's book, it is not for the very young.

February reads

I've been reading a lot lately and finally actually read some good stuff! Here are some of the highlights.

For February, the book I picked off my shelf to read was Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding. I have no idea why I own a copy of this, but now I can say I have read it. It's the story of a year of thirty-something and single Bridget Jones's. In diary format it follows the ups and downs of her love life, weight gain (and loss), family crises, etc. Frankly, the character of Bridget makes me tired, probably because I have a hard time separating the character in the book from Renee Zellweger's portrayal in the movie adaptation. It's not terrible, but it's not great, either. If anyone wants a copy, I won't be sad to part with mine. 

Reached by Ally Condie. This is the final book in the dystopian Matched trilogy featuring the characters of Cassia, Xander, and Ky. It is a little slow getting started, but the last half is good. Unfortunately, I've read so many similar young adult dystopian novels in recent months, that I had a hard time keeping the plot lines of this series straight. I can't say more about the story without giving things away, but if you have read the other two books, this one is worth reading, too. I like that it kind of ends on a hopeful note.

Penelope by Rebecca Harrington. This book is funny. I laughed out loud several times while reading it. Sadly, it doesn't have much of a plot, but the laughs make up for it. It's the story of Penelope O'Shaunessy, an awkward, socially-inept freshman at Harvard. It follows her attempts to fit in at school - socially, academically, and romantically. There's really not much more to say. It's one of those books you just have to read. 3.75 stars.

Astray by Emma Donoghue. This is a book of quite enjoyable short stories which span several centuries of history. All of the stories have in common that the characters have some aspect of their lives in which they have gone astray. In some cases it is in the literal sense, like taking a journey, while other times is is in a more figurative manner. What really makes these stories interesting is that they are all based on fact - some more than others, but at the end of each one is a snippet of actual history on which each tale is based. Check this one out.

 Speaking of Jesus by Carl Medearis. This is an interesting book about sharing Jesus, or "not-evangelism", as the author calls it. The main premise of the book is we need to chuck the evangelism tools we learned about in Bible college like the Roman's road and four spiritual laws and just talk about Jesus. He believes people are much more willing to listen if Christians (he won't even refer to himself as such, just as someone who is trying to follow Jesus) don't focus on trying to evangelize someone away from their team/religion. It is an interesting book. While I'm not sure that I agree 100% with what he says, it did give me some things to think about.

Read, read, read, read, read...

I haven't told you what to read (or not read) lately, so here goes.

Last year I didn't have any reading goals, but this year I made one: to read at least one book that I own each month.

For January, I chose The Professor's House by Willa Cather. I bought a used paperback copy of this book several years ago, but never read it, which is strange because Willa Cather is one of my favorite authors. If you've never read O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, or My Antonia, you are missing out and should do so NOW.

The Professor's House is the story of an aging (he's 52) university professor who's life is changing for the worse, or so he thinks. It is also the story of the memory of Tom Outland, a young man whose life is tragically cut short, but still has a great impact on the professor and his family. Fans of Willa Cather will appreciate this book, but if you've never read anything by her, start with something else, like O Pioneers!.

The Truth of All Things by Kieran Shields. I really enjoyed this book. It's a mystery set in 1892 in Portland, Maine and kind of plays off the Sherlock/Dr. Watson model. A prostitute is found murdered in a gruesome and ritualistic manner, and the police detective sent to the scene has to act quickly to solve the case as he soon discovers more bodies, and that the killer is following a dark plan. Very clever and witty, but also a little grisly at times. A sequel called A Study in Revenge was just released. I want to read it very soon.

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault. This book is also a mystery. It takes place in the offices of a dictionary publisher. The two main characters, whose jobs involve sitting at their desks and defining words all day, discover what appear to be clues to solving a murder in the company's citation files. Of course, they take it upon themselves to try to piece the story together. There is a lot of potential for an interesting mystery here, but I don't think the author didn't did it justice. I figured it out rather early on, so the story quickly became boring and tedious to read. Meh.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I knew not to expect more Harry Potter when I started reading this book, but I still expected more from Ms. Rowling. She definitely set out to prove that she isn't stuck in the YA genre and that she can write about sex and use four-letter words. Really, this book is too long, with nothing of note happening for the first 2/3 or more of it, just a ton of characters and  the details of their sorry lives being explained. It is hard to get excited about a book when there isn't one likable character and the setting as circumstances are so grim. Skip it.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I have mixed feelings about this book. It tells the story of a young girl and how her world changes when, one day, the earth's rotation mysteriously starts slowing down, never to speed up again. This book starts out strong, but quickly fizzles. The writing is lovely, but there are quite a few improbabilities and inconsistencies which made it hard for me to read, and the ending is disappointing. Pretty bleak.  2 stars out of 5.



The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey This is the story of two sisters, both exceptional ballet dancers, who dance in some prestigious New York ballet company. For a wannabe ballerina like myself, this book is an interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes at the ballet. It is also a cautionary tale of what it takes to become a prima ballerina as both the sisters become somewhat mentally unstable, as a result of the pressures to be perfect, both to the point of self-destruction, although in different ways. It’s an ok book but not very happy. 3 stars.


Dare Me by Megan Abbott. Another story full of angst, (can’t anyone write a happy book?) but this one is about high school cheerleaders. There is major conflict between the head cheerleader, her best friend and first in command, and the team’s new coach. There is also a love affair, a suicide, or maybe it’s a murder, lots of backstabbing and jealousy. Really, through most of this book I just wanted to tell all the characters. to get over themselves and grow-up. It’s not a pretty story. Don’t waste your time reading it.

Witches and Vampires and Daemons, Oh My!

In honor of Halloween, I like to read something a little other-worldly in the month of October. This year, I picked up Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches.

It's the story of Diana Bishop, a scholar of alchemy and a reluctant but very powerful witch, who can trace her lineage back to the witches of Salem fame.

It's also the story of the charming but brooding Matthew Clairmont, a centuries-old vampire, who of course only looks 35.

One day while researching in the library at Oxford, Diana requests and receives an old manuscript called Ashmole 782. Unbeknownst to Diana, the manuscript has been missing for years and is highly coveted by witches, vampires, and daemons alike, who will stop at nothing to possess it. Her acquisition of it sets off a huge and complicated chain of events, most notably Diana and Matthew coming together in a rather strange and forbidden relationship.

I really liked this book. It's long, over 500 pages, but reads quickly. The ending leaves you hanging, but luckily a sequel came out this past summer. I haven't got around to reading it yet, but I will. Soon.

A fun read. Check it out.

5 Reads, 1 Recommendation

I'm in a rut of reading not very good books, and I need to get out of it. Here are five I read in the past month, of which I only recommend one.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. Like the title states, this is the story of the Fang family: the parents, Caleb and Camille, and two kids, Buster and Annie. The Fang's make their living as performance artists, setting up and acting out ridiculous scenes in public places, and recording the reactions of the unsuspecting people around them. The story alternates between the past, where Buster and Annie are children, and the present, where Buster is now a writer of sorts, and Annie has become a well-known actress. Who they have become as adults is largely shaped by the crazy childhoods they had, and really they are not likable.

I didn't like this one. From the reviews I read, I expected something light-hearted, but there is way too much dysfunction for my taste here. Skip this one.

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones. I really wanted to like this book. It takes place somewhere in a country house in 1912 England. It is Emerald's birthday and she is having a party. Around the time the guests are arriving for the celebration, there is a train wreck nearby, and all the surviving passengers are brought to the house for shelter. Soon, all havoc breaks loose, scandals unfold, and the true colors of the characters are revealed.

This book starts out ok, I actually liked the first third or so, but then there is a weird and not unexpected twist which leads to a silly ending. Skip this one, too.

Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Here's the one I like. This is set in the mid eighties and tells the story of June, a 14-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of New York City with her parents and sister, Greta. June's uncle, her closest friend, is a talented and famous artist named Finn. When he dies from an unspeakable illness, June's world is turned upside down.

Before he dies, Finn charges June with the task of taking care of Toby, his partner, who has been kept from her and likewise charges Toby with taking care of June. Slowly, the two develop a secret friendship of sorts, which eventually becomes life changing for everyone in June's world. This is a story of self-discovery, love, loss, acceptance, and the mending of broken relationships. Check this one out.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This book got a lot of buzz this summer, so I decided to see what it was all about. It's the story of Nick and Amy Dunn. On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears in what appears to be quite a struggle, and of course Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. However, in the middle of the book, there is a surprise twist, and then it is quite a wild ride to the end.

I understand why this one is getting so much attention, it is quite the psychological thriller. However, I can't recommend it mostly because of the amount of profanity throughout. It is no exaggeration to say there are at least four or five instances of the f-word on every page, and for me, that's too much.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann. I kind of liked this book, but mostly didn't. It is written in five sections, each from a different point of view. The action moves back and forth, with some of the plot overlapping in each section, so something that might not make much sense at the beginning of the story is later made clear.

This story begins shortly after the end of WWII and spans the next couple of decades. It is the story of cousins Nick (a girl) and Helena and their families. At the beginning of the book, Nick is reunited with her husband who has been away at war, and Helena is getting ready to marry a Hollywood guy, who turns out to be quite the sleaze bag.

Of course over the span of the book, neither Nick or Helena's lives turn out as they expect. There is a lot of angst and discontent, and as the reader, I had a hard time figuring out the root of it all, especially in the case of Nick. Meh. It won't hurt to skip this one, too.

Read, read, read...

Once again I've gotten behind on my reading updates. So, here are some of the highlights of my recent reading.

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Five books make up this series: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. I chose to read it because the The Grey King is a Newbery Award winner and The Dark Is Rising is a Newbery Honor book. They fall into the fantasy genre with each book containing a quest of sorts and a battle of good vs. evil, or in this case light vs. dark. There are also elements of time travel, strange people and critters, and hints of Arthurian legend throughout. They were ok to read, but not my favorite. I was really glad when I finally finished the last one.

Illusion by Frank Peretti. I've been a fan of Frank Peretti for a long time, however, I read his newest book, Illusion, about a month ago, and I still haven't decided if I like it or not. It is a strange story involving magicians, an accident, government conspiracies, time travel and lots of other things that are hard to explain. It is definitely a compelling read, but also one that will leave you scratching your head and saying "what?"


The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Mayrose Wood. This is the third in the Incorrigible series, and if you haven't read any of them yet, you are really missing out on some fun reading. In this one, the wolf children head back into the woods to track down a runaway ostrich. Along the way we meet mama wolf and of course, more mystery involving the children's origins is brought up. Hopefully there will be a fourth book. I really want to know more.


 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You can't really see it on the cover, but this book is subtitled Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. This book teaches how to pray bold, specific prayers and to  literally and figuratively draw circles around our needs and dreams and not move from that circle until an answer is given. I know that sounds a little like circle-drawing voodoo, but it's not. Read the book to find out more. It's some powerful stuff.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. There are four books in this series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras. This is a dystopian series, set some three hundred years in the future. When people turn 16, they are given plastic surgery to change them from an ugly to a pretty, and the sole purpose of a pretty's existence is to have fun and party. What people don't know is that in addition to making them pretty, the operation also messes with the brain, taking away the ability for deep and independent thinking. Of course, someone has to buck the system and as a result, chaos ensues. It takes four books to get things resolved, which is about two too many. If I were handing out stars and feeling generous, this series might get 2.5 out of 5. It's really kind of dumb. I can think of lots of ways it could be improved.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. If you don't know, Daniel Handler also writes under the name Lemony Snicket. I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events, so I thought I would give his newest young adult book a try. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. It is the story of a high school couple who fall in love. He is a jock and she is from the artsy crowd, which apparently dooms their relationship from the start. Therefore, it is the story of why they break up. The story is whiny and too full of angst, drama, and bad decisions for my taste. Skip it.


The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This is a Newbery Honor book from 1945. It is the story of a poor polish girl who claims to have 100 dresses at home, even though she always wears the same faded and worn dress every day to school. The other girls tease her mercilessly, until it is too late. (Don't worry, there is a happy ending). It's a sweet book with charming illustrations. Check it out.


Ok, of those 14 books, I only heartily recommend 3. I need to find something better to read. What have you read lately that's good?

The Fault In Our Stars ~ John Green

Before reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, you'll need two things:
1. A large chunk of time, because once you start reading, you will want to keep reading.
2. A box of Kleenex, because, well, it's sad.

This is a story about kids with cancer. Hazel is 16 and losing her fight with thyroid cancer, although a new experimental drug has bought her a little more time. Augustus, around the same age, is a cancer survivor, having lost his leg because of a tumor, but nothing more.

They meet in a cancer support group, feel a strong connection, and somehow fall in love, in spite of knowing they can have no real future together.

I really like the way Mr. Green develops his characters in this book. Even though they are teenagers, their actions are often far from the typical teenage portrayal. They are respectful of others and have strong relationships with their parents. Their conversations are witty and intelligent. I quickly became attached to Hazel and Augustus and (kind of a spoiler ahead, but not really) was rather devastated when about half way through the book I realized where the plot was headed.

This book is a witty, sad, honest, and insightful portrayal of how cancer affects people. It will make you laugh. It will make you think. It will make you cry. Even though the target audience is young people, I think can be enjoyed by all ages.

Not to be missed. 5 stars.

Opens At Nightfall, Closes At Dawn

I recently finished reading Erin Morgenstern's novel The Night Circus. It is by far the best book I've read this year, and it is also HP's current book club selection.

The story centers around two illusionists, Celia and Marco, who are pitted against each other in a contest of sorts by their "fathers" when they are just small children. The rules of the contest are vague, but the fathers are determined that there will be a winner, at any cost.

When Celia and Marco are grown, through a series of events the competition becomes centered in the Night Circus where Celia performs and Marco works behind the scenes.

The circus is amazing, travelling from place to place all over the world. It is open only at night and is made up of multiple black and white tents where magical and fantastical things happen - things beyond anyone's imagination. (I can't wait for a movie of this book to be made. It has the potential to be really neat.)

Anyway, the story is too complex to explain more without giving key points away, so I'm going to stop here.

Definitely check this one out. 

The Land of Decoration ~ Grace McCleen

I finished reading The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen about a week ago, and I'm still trying to figure out what it's all about. Is it a book about religion? Is it a book about mental illness? Is it a book about any number of things? I never did come to a strong conclusion about what point the author is trying to make. 

The story starts out strong, but then becomes strange and tedious to read. 

The book centers around a ten-year-old girl named Judith McPherson. She lives with her father (her mother died in childbirth) in a small village somewhere in England.

Judith and her father belong to a very outspoken fundamental religious group that is obsessed with Armageddon and the world as it will be after the Lord returns. They spend their evenings reading the Bible and their Saturdays going door to door warning people about their coming doom.

Judith is constantly bullied and threatened at school. At home, for solace, she builds a model of the town in her room, made of found objects, that she calls The Land of Decoration. Strangely, as Judith begins to manipulate things in her model world, the same things happen in the real world. Judith believes the coinciding events are miracles, but no one will listen to her when she wants to talk about it.

The book is interesting up to this point, but then Judith begins having conversations with "God," and decides that he is using her as his instrument. The spiritual aspect of the book from this point on is just weird. The author's portrayal of God is creepy - at one time Judith even says to him that he reminds her of the devil.

The book also becomes difficult to read because it is chapter after chapter of bullying and harassment of Judith and her father at school, at home, at her father's job - everywhere they go.

Thankfully, there is a resolution of sorts at the end, but I don't recommend reading the book to find out what it is. Skip this one.

Reading Round-up

I've gotten a little behind on my book reviews, so here is a condensed version of what I've read the past month or so.

Crossed by Allie Condie. This is the second book in the Matched series. I didn't like it as well as the first - it's pretty bleak and much more violent. At times (like the first 2/3 of the book) I found it tedious to read because the plot moves very slowly. However, the story is compelling enough that I will be reading the third book, Reached, when it comes out in November.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Satran Foer. I really liked this book. It is the story of an extremely precocious 9-year-old named Oskar Schell. After his father is killed in 9/11, Oskar sets out on a quest which he believes will give him some answers to the reason for his father's death. Also, entwined with Oskar's chapters is the story of his grandparents - how they met, came together, were separated, and eventually reunited. Sad and funny at the same time. Check this one out. The movie is pretty good, too.

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'roark Dowell. This one had been on my to be read list for a while, but after reading it, I'm not sure why. It is the story of a young girl, just starting high school, who lives on a small goat farm. Mild teen angst abounds: making new friends, getting made fun of, disagreements with the parents, discovering boys, but nothing too remarkable or memorable happens. 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I read about this one on NPR's book page where they called it a "Lord of the Flies for girls." I hated that book when I was forced to read it in 9th grade English, so I don't know why I thought this one would be any better. It's the story of 12 or so contestants in the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant who are the lone survivors of a plane crash carrying all 50 contestants, chaperones, and sponsors on a "desert" island somewhere in the tropical ocean. This one is definitely satirical and not for the easily offended. Also, it is way too long. Skip it.

The Goodbye Time by Celeste Conway. I picked this one up at the library because I liked the dress on the cover. Kind of like Ten Miles Past Normal, it's a cutesy young-people's book about growing up where nothing too remarkable happens.

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith. In effort to fill the void of the missing Pulitzer fiction winner, I read the book that won for poetry. I'm sorry to report that modern poetry is lost on me. I didn't like any of the poems in this collection. They are mostly dreary and futuristic with allusions to popular culture that I don't get. Meh.

What It Is Like To Go To War by Karl Marlantes. This was a pick for the Huffington Post book club. I plodded through about 2/3 of it and gave up. Not my style of book at all.



The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer. This is a funny young people's book based around a national Scrabble tournament. It follows three players, all of whom have different reasons for being there, and of course there is lots of self-discovery along the way. And lots of fun scrabble tips, too. And the neatest thing I learned from this book is that the word maraschino is an anagram of harmonicas. Who knew?

Please don't go...we love you so

One of my favorite children's book authors, Maurice Sendak, passed away today. In his honor, I present his classic book Where the Wild Things Are, read by Christopher Walken (or really good Christopher Walken impersonator).

State of Wonder ~ Ann Patchett

At the end of last year when people were compiling their best books of 2011 lists, Ann Patchett's State of Wonder showed up on a lot of them.

It is the story of Marina Singh, a research scientist and doctor who works for a large pharmaceutical company in Minnesota. One of the company's projects is funding research in the Amazon jungle that deals with fertility - specifically extending a woman's fertility into her later years. (Why any woman would want to have a child in her 70s is beyond me, but in the book the pharmaceutical company thinks there is a huge market for it).

The doctor in charge of the research in Brazil, Dr. Swenson, is non-compliant when it comes to communicating her progress and details of the research, so another researcher and colleague of Marina's is sent to the Amazon to find out what is being done.

After he has been gone for a couple of months, word is sent that he contracted a fever and died. So, Marina is sent to find out what really happened to him and to bring back his personal effects.

When she finally gets to the jungle and to Dr. Swenson's camp, nothing and no one is what she expects and by the end, she has overcome some things from her past, and her world is forever changed by her experiences.

The book is a compelling read, with some unexpected plot twists. And of course no story that takes place in the Amazon jungle would be complete without encounters with cannibals, poison arrows, anacondas, and harpy eagles(!), all of which can be found in this book.

Overall, I really liked this book...that is until I got to the last chapter and the author threw in a couple of things that were totally unnecessary. 3 out of 5 stars on this one.

Blood, Bones & Butter

Last month, I mentioned joining Huffington Post's book club. Their second selection is a memoir by Gabrielle Hamilton titled Blood, Bones & Butter.

I was kind of excited to read this one since I usually enjoy memoirs, and to have one about a chef was an added bonus. However, by the end of this one, I was pretty disappointed.

It starts out well. The first third of the book describes Ms. Hamilton rather unconventional childhood. Her parents divorce when she is about 10 and more or less leave her and her siblings to their own devices. She begins working in restaurants soon after, and when she is old enough, takes off to New York City where she works as a waitress and gets involved in drugs and some criminal activity.

The second third describes her escape to Europe, college experiences, and various catering jobs before finally opening her own restaurant in New York City, which quickly becomes successful .

Up until this point, the book is decent. Hamilton gets points for being an excellent writer - some of her descriptive passages about food are quite lovely. But, I really think she should have ended the book here.

The last third takes place outside the realm of the restaurant and cooking and deals instead with her personal life. To be frank, it's not pretty. Most of her relationships are toxic and dysfunctional - a fact of which she almost seems proud. And her personality comes across as being pretty caustic and selfish. Honestly, I'd rather not have read about it.

Read this one at your own risk. A lot of people really love it. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy ~ Margot Livesey

I love the novel Jane Eyre. It's is one of the very few novels that I break my no rereading rule for from time to time.  So, when I heard about Margot Livesey's new novel, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, I was intrigued as it is pegged as a modern retelling of Jane Eyre.

Taking on a novel like Jane Eyre is a bold step, but for the most part, Livesey pulls it off. Most of the action takes place in Scotland in the 1960s. The Jane character, Gemma, is originally from Iceland. When she becomes orphaned she goes to live with her uncle and his family, then to boarding school, and then to be an au pair for an orphaned little girl - sound familiar?

I could probably write a whole essay comparing and contrasting the two novels, but I don't want to. I don't think that is the author's point in writing the novel. If you want to know more about the similiaritis and differences, you'll have to read it for yourself.

I will point out that there is one kind of plot hole that bothered me. *Spoiler ahead* While there is no Bertha character per se, some personal revelations are made that make Gemma take flight from Mr. Sinclair (the Rochester character). However, in my opinion, the revelations aren't that big of a deal. Definitely not big enough to cause one to throw away love and happiness. I went back and read the passages a couple of times thinking I had missed something, but I hadn't. A mad wife in the attic is a much more believable plot twist.

Also, near the end of the book, Gemma heads to Iceland to see if she can learn about her family. This is arguably the best part of the book (maybe because it is where the plot strays the most from the original?) and has gotten me interested in Iceland. I would like to read more books that take place there. If you know of any, please let me know.

I think this book is definitely worth reading. People who aren't familiar with Jane Eyre should appreciate it for the story that it is, and people who are Jane Eyre fans can have fun comparing and contrasting the two.

Treasure Island!!!

I read Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine on the recommendation of someone I trust. Sadly, she led me astray on this one.

It is the story of a never-named girl in her mid twenties who has been floundering in life since graduating from college with an English degree. (Ha ha ha.) For some reason she reads the actual book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and becomes obsessed (hence the three exclamation points in the title) with the book, and especially with the character of Jim Hawkins and what she describes as his core values: boldness, resolution, independence, and horn-blowing.

She decides to apply these values to her life also, which sets off a series of events that are just plain ridiculous.

I think this book is supposed to be satirical, but any satire present was lost on me. I couldn't get past the ineptness of the main character and how the supporting characters helped her along her path to whatever. 

Thankfully it's short - only about 170 pages. Skip it and watch the Muppet version of Treasure Island instead.

Peculiar

I recently read a book by Ransom Riggs called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I really enjoyed this one, although it's kind of out there.

The story is interspersed with a lot of interesting old photographs of "peculiar children." The photos belong to the main character, Jacob's, grandfather. He assumes that the photos, along with the stories his grandfather tells about the people in them to be fake. He soon learns otherwise and sets off on a journey to discover the truth.

Here is the book trailer.

This book has the potential to be really creepy, but thankfully the author takes it in a different direction. An exciting, mysterious, and intriguing story. Check it out. 

The Tiger's Wife ~ Tea Obreht

Last month, the Huffington Post launched an online book club which I eagerly joined.

The first selection was Tea Obreht’s novel The Tiger’s Wife. I don’t think I would have ever picked up this book to read on my own, but because I wanted to take part in the book club, I read it.

It’s a tough book to summarize, so I’m going to steal the summary from Publishers Weekly.

“Natalia Stefanovi, a doctor living (and, in between suspensions, practicing) in an unnamed country that's a ringer for Obreht's native Croatia, crosses the border in search of answers about the death of her beloved grandfather, who raised her on tales from the village he grew up in, and where, following German bombardment in 1941, a tiger escaped from the zoo in a nearby city and befriended a mysterious deaf-mute woman. The evolving story of the tiger's wife, as the deaf-mute becomes known, forms one of three strands that sustain the novel, the other two being Natalia's efforts to care for orphans and a wayward family who, to lift a curse, are searching for the bones of a long-dead relative; and several of her grandfather's stories about Gavran Gailé, the deathless man, whose appearances coincide with catastrophe and who may hold the key to all the stories that ensnare Natalia.”

I finished reading The Tiger’s Wife a few days ago, but I’m still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. It is quite different from the books I usually read, which may be clouding my ability to make a judgment, and the ending was not what I had hoped for, but it's worth reading for the stories of the deathless man, a fascinating character.

The novel as a whole is rather disjointed, jumping back and forth in place and time - almost like a book of tied-together short stories, but is still well-written. I won't criticize too much since the author is only 26 years old.

If you are looking for a mostly serious and gloomy, sometimes violent  book, check this one out.

And join the book club. I linked to it at the top of the page. February's selection is Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Matched ~ Ally Condie

Apparently I didn’t get my fill of dystopian madness with the Hunger Games series, because the other day I came home from the library with Ally Condie’s Matched, another futuristic novel where the government controls all…or does it?

The story takes place in a bleak, futuristic world where everything from how much and what food you can eat, what you wear, what you do with your “free” time, where you work, who you will marry, and when you will die is controlled by the government.

People's knowledge of the world is limited to what the government tells them. It is a very minimalistic society and everything from past history has been pared down to 100: 100 books, 100 songs, 100 poems, 100 paintings, etc. Everything else has been destroyed.

Around a person’s 17^th birthday, he or she attends a special banquet where couples are matched through data that has been collected about each individual. This is the person you will marry, no questions asked. Each person is given a data card with information about their match, and when Cassia, the heroine of the book, receives her card, she is surprised to find not one, but two matches. One is her best friend Xander, while the other is Ky, a boy who has been classified as an aberration, and therefore cannot be matched.

This sends her on a quest to find out why she has two matches, even though the government is quickly tries to cover it up and warns her of trouble if she continues asking questions.

At the same time, Cassia's grandfather dies. Death happens on your 80^th birthday, no matter what, if you are still alive. But before he dies, Cassia's grandfather slips her a poem by Dylan Thomas that he has somehow saved that begins "Do not go gentle into the night / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."The mixed-up match, along with her grandfather’s death, and the word of the poem telling her to fight seem to be the impetus needed for Cassia to begin to rebel against the system. And I can’t tell you where it leads, because that would ruin the end of the book if you decide to read it.

The story continues in Crossed, which I am going to have to read, because Matched kind of leaves you hanging at the end. Check it out if you want a calmer, less violent dystopian story than the Hunger Games.

The Marriage Plot ~ Jeffrey Eugenides

I think Jeffrey Eugenides is a brilliant writer. Unfortunately, he has only written three novels so far, and I have now read them all.

The Marriage Plot, his newest release, might not be as compelling as The Virgin Suicides or Middlesex, but it's still a good read.

It follows the lives of three recent graduates of Brown University in the early 80s. Madeline, an English major, and the two men who are in her life: Leonard (the boyfriend) and Mitchell (the would-be boyfriend).

The story follows the three characters through the end of their college careers and the ups and downs of their lives in the year or so after graduation.

Mitchell has always had a religious bent and heads overseas for a year, traveling around the world while trying to find meaning in his life.

Leonard is brilliant but also suffers from manic depression, something which consumes and nearly destroys him.

Madeline struggles with finding where and with whom she belongs and wishes her life were more like the 19th century novels she studies.

Of course, the story is much more complex than I just made it out to be. If you want to know more you'll have to read it yourself.

I recommend this one, but with reservation because it is laced with profanity, and the characters are rather immoral. If I were giving out stars, it would get 3.5 out of 5.