Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Posted on September 30, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • Huge, huge fan of Chris Bohjalian’s books.

I also recommend:

  • The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
  • Room by Emma Donoghue

Summary from GoodReads:

Chip and Emily Linton wanted to escape a nightmare. Months before, Chip had ditched the jet he piloted into Lake Champlain after both its engines failed. His decision led to disaster: More than three dozen passengers died and Linton himself had lapsed into a PSTD response that verges on insanity. Now, he, his wife, and twin 10-year-old daughters have escaped, or so they think, to a decrepit Victorian mansion in New Hampshire’s sleepy White Mountains. Before long, however, the house and neighborhood around it become scenes of threatening paranormal visitations and the family is thrust into a realm where uncertainty is the only norm.

My Review:

I’m not usually a ghost-story type of girl, but when Chris Bohjalian puts a book out, I read it.

The Night Strangers is the story of a man who is not Captain Sully, of the infamous Hudson River Plane Landing.  It’s the story of Chip, a man who attempted a water landing in a plane he was piloting and subsequently lost the bulk of the passengers and crew on board.

What is unique about this book is the tools Bohjalian uses to tell the story.  Each character in Chip’s family has a voice, but Chip’s voice is in the 2nd person.  Bohjalian makes you, the reader, his voice.  He puts you in Chips shoes.  The result?  Mindblowingly messed-up.

Witchcraft, alchemy, ghosts, mental disorders, strained family relationships, loss, grief, hope, survival – it all exists within the pages of The Night Strangers.  I was unable to put this one down and just gripped onto the sides of my Kindle, desperately reading to find out what happens next.

For fans of Bohjalian’s psychological thrillers, you won’t want to miss this one.  Put it on your list – like me, you won’t regret it.

 

Check out these reviews!

Tell Me a Story

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The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen

Posted on September 29, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • This is another example of the cover getting me.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Would you kill to make the world a peaceful place?

Zed is an agent from the future. A place where all of the world’s problems have been solved. No hunger. No war. No despair.

His mission is to keep that way. Even if it means ensuring every cataclysm throughout history runs its course, especially one just on the horizon.

Zed’s mission will ensnare the lives of a disgraced former spy named Leo; a young lawyer, Tasha, grieving over the loss of her brother; Sari, the oppressed employee of a foreign diplomat; and countless others. But will he finish his final mission before the present takes precedence over a perfect future? One that may have more cracks than he realizes?

My Review:

Lately I seem to be reading a lot of time manipulative books.  Between The Revisionists, The Map of Time and the newest Lawhead series, someone seems to have put out a memo screaming … “MESS WITH TIME, IT WILL MESS WITH YOUR READERS!”. Because that’s what messing with time does; it messes with my head.

The Revisionists is a fascinating look at “what if”.  What if you could go back in time to fix a wrong, to stop Hitler, to prevent the assassination of Lincoln.. you get the point.  What if, in fixing those wrongs and saving those lives – from one to millions, you changed a world that was “perfect” in the future to an “unknown” type of future.  Would it be worth it?  Who makes that decision?

Thomas Mullen deals with those questions and more in The Revisionists.  The “good guys” are those who are going back in time to stop the past from being rewritten.  There’s action, adventure, quite a bit of science and a whole lot of fun in this book.  But, again, it messed with my mind, as all time traveling stories seem to do.

I think, though, that The Revisionists puts a really new, interesting twist on it all.  It addresses new and old political crises, as well as puts the reader in the spot of needing to choose a side as they read through the story.  Fascinating book and I’ll be on the lookout for more from Mullen in the future.

 

Check out these reviews!

At Home with Books

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The Traitor’s Wife by Kathleen Kent

Posted on September 28, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve seen lots of buzz about Kathleen Kent, and when I saw this one on NetGalley I decided to jump into the Kent waters.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin’s household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of his part in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood. A love story and a tale of courage, The Wolves of Andover confirms Kathleen Kent’s ability to craft powerful stories of family from colonial history

My Review:

While I haven’t read Kathleen Kent’s previous books (that apparently give the ending to the story of The Traitor’s Wife), I was intrigued enough to pick this one up and give it a shot.  To give you an example of how much I loved this book, I’ve now purchased Kent’s other book.

The Traitor’s Wife was originally published under the name The Wolves of Andover – and in a way, I wish that title had stuck.  I picked up this book thinking that the title would make sense, and.. while it does in a very subtle way, I just think it gives the wrong impression.

This is the prelude to Kent’s The Heretic’s Daughter.  It explores the relationship between Martha Allen and Thomas Carrier and I loved every single sentence of the book.  I was completely immersed in history, surrounded by lush descriptions and found the heroine to be strong, stubborn and strong-willed without having any of the cloying, disgusting whimpering that historical heroines in these types of books can often end up having.

The love story between Martha and Thomas was so realistic as well.  Not always is love all titters and secretive looks and sneaking out into the barn,  it’s also harsh, it has to be worked at, and there has to be mutual respect between the two people.  Although there was not a whole lot of affection shown, I never once doubted that these two were in love with each other and that the marriage would work.  A strong relationship like that speaks well for both the characters and the author who puts them to paper.

Kathleen Kent has a prominent place in my “authors to watch for” list.  A good historical fiction writer, especially one writing about the early days of America, is not easy to come by but Kent has knocked it out of the ballpark with The Traitor’s Wife.  Put this one on your list to read.

 

Check out these reviews!

Peeking Between the Pages

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Want To Reread

Posted on September 27, 2011
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Top Ten Tuesday is a great meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish!

 Top Ten Books I Want To Reread :

1. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - I love this series – mostly I love the magic system and having recently read The Alloy of Law by Sanderson I just have to say.. I NEED TO REREAD!

2. Faith by Jennifer Haigh -  I saw this title so many times on tours and in tweets.  I almost didn’t put it on my list just because it was so over saturated.

3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - It’s been forever since I read this one and I actually want to re-read the whole series.

4. The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams – I read this book YEARS ago and I just recently found out what the title was (I only remembered snippets of the story).  Desperately want to reread!

5. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton - It’s fall – and with fall comes my desire to re-read Kate Morton’s books.  I think I’ll be re-reading The Forgotten Garden in the next month or so.

6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - I cannot re-read The Forgotten Garden and not re-read The Secret Garden.  It’s been years yet again.

7. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - I read this book as a kid, and my Aunt mentioned it recently and it re-kindled the desire to pick it up again.

8. Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman -  I am an ambassador for this book. I love it and I want to experience it again.

9. Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn -  Another of my favorite fantasy series, I cannot wait to dive back into this one now that I finally own them all!

10. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - I love this series, but I’ve lost my way with them.  Rather than just pick it up again I’d love to re-read my way through them.

Do you have any to add to the list or any thoughts on the titles above? Have you read them? What do you think?
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The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Posted on September 27, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I loved the Mistborn trilogy and was THRILLED to see that Sanderson was revisiting the magic system again.

I also recommend:

  • Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
  • Clementine by Cherie Priest

Summary from GoodReads:

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.  After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

My Review:

I love Brandon Sanderson.  Seriously, the man is genius when it comes to works of fantasy.  He can spin a story like the best of them but what I love the most is his thorough magic system.

I was lucky enough to hear him speak on how he tests his magic systems and could see just how thorough he was.  No breaking rules on his part, Sanderson likes a thorough, thought out system and it really makes a good story sensational.

The Alloy of Law is a fantastic mix of steampunk and western (think Firefly).  It mixes magic with gun-slinging and adds a bit of romance in just to flavor the adventure.  I was immediately connected to the characters, especially Wax.  He was everything I wanted in a hero – especially since there was quite a bit of the inner turmoil going on that just makes a character spark and fly off the page.

I loved The Alloy of Law.  I loved being back in that world, seeing the old magics come to life again, experiencing something new in the way of Sanderson’s writing.  The western thing is fantastic and I cannot wait to read more.

Check out these reviews!

Bookie Monster

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It’s Monday, what are you reading?

Posted on September 25, 2011
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This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

I did better this week! I’m still struggling with some attention-span issues, but I’m improving every day a little bit at a time.  That’s what counts, right?

On the injury front, I got one of my two boots removed from my ankles this past week – it’s still a bit sore and tender, and I have to walk carefully and slowly, but it’s on the mend!  It still hurts to sit and lay down a bit, but I can bear the pain more and it’s not quite as excruciating as it was before (meaning I can sit for longer periods of time on my boppy!)

Books I’ve read this past week (Links to reviews):

  1. The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead
  2. Eve by Anna Carey
  3. Swing Low by Miriam Toews
  4. The Bone House by Stephen Lawhead
Books reviewed these past 2 weeks:
  1. Under the Mesquite  by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
  2. The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Books to read this week:

Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard

The Killing Season by Priscilla Royal

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

The Magician by Michael Scott

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The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Posted on September 23, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve heard talk that this is a “literary horror” book.  Always a term that fascinates me.

I recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but you’d never suspect it. Nonstop sex and exercise will do that for you—and a diet with lots of animal protein. Jake is a werewolf, and after the unfortunate and violent death of his one contemporary, he is now the last of his species. Although he is physically healthy, Jake is deeply distraught and lonely.

Jake’s depression has carried him to the point where he is actually contemplating suicide—even if it means terminating a legend thousands of years old. It would seem to be easy enough for him to end everything. But for very different reasons there are two dangerous groups pursuing him who will stop at nothing to keep him alive.

Here is a powerful, definitive new version of the werewolf legend—mesmerising and incredibly sexy. In Jake, Glen Duncan has given us a werewolf for the twenty-first century—a man whose deeds can only be described as monstrous but who is in some magical way deeply human.

One of the most original, audacious, and terrifying novels in years.

My Review:

I have a bone to pick with this book.  I want to know why books described as “literary horror” need to contain some of the most crude, disturbing, disgusting, grossly graphic acts of sexual perversion.  Why?  It’s not needed and over and over I found myself pulling away from the book and putting it down, thoroughly disgusted both with what I was reading and myself for actually reading it.

This book was not enjoyable.  It’s a shame as well, because it had elements of the gothic feeling that I love and the story was a fascinating one, once one muddled through all the filth surrounding it.  That filth was so incredibly distracting though it makes it hard to say anything else about the book.

This is one that’s talked about a lot online.  The title is catching and people are bound to talk about a title, a book subject and a binding like this (the edges of the pages are trimmed with red, imitating blood).  It’s very much one you want to check out before buying, especially if you are squeamish and prudish like me about graphic sexual acts.

Check these reviews!

Bookie Monster

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Swing Low by Miriam Toews

Posted on September 22, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • For some reason, reading books about bi-polar disorder fascinates me, and this one seemed really interesting, as it’s a daughter writing from her father’s point of view.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

After her father took his own life in 1998, Miriam Toews decided to face her confusion and pain straight on. In writing her father’s memoir, she was motivated by two primary goals: For her own sake, she needed to understand, or at least accept, her father’s final decision. For her father’s sake, she needed to honour him, to elucidate his life and to demonstrate its worth.

My Review:

Let me just say … I did not enjoy Irma Voth – the fiction novel that Miriam Toews wrote and I reviewed just a few weeks ago.  So it was with some trepidation that I picked Swing Low up off my shelf.

I was blown away.

Seriously, this book was nothing at all like Irma Voth.  It was clear, concise, and a beautiful tribute to her father.  Miriam’s voice, as she speaks from her father’s point of view, is crystal clear, heart-breaking and filled with love.  I never once got the sense that he was, in any way shape or form, a bad man.  I understood that he was sick, broken in a way, I understood that he loved his family – his wife and his children, and I wept when we came to the point of his last decision.

All through the book what spoke loudest to me was his daughters forgiveness.  Miriam shows with complete clarity that, while she loved her father dearly, she cannot hate him for what he did.  How powerful is that forgiveness?  It spoke to my heart, it made me weep, it made me appreciate my own parents more and think about just how serious, how dreadful and how dangerous mental disorders can be.

Take the time to hug your family.  Tell them you love them. Read this book if you need a good kick in the pants to remind you of how special they are.

About the Author

  • Information regarding Miriam Toews:
Miriam Toews is a Canadian writer of Mennonite descent. She grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba and has lived in Montreal and London, before settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

For more reviews on Swing Low by Miriam Toews, please follow the book tour.

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Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Posted on September 21, 2011
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 Reason for Reading:

  • One of the decisions I’ve made for my 2012 reading year is to read more cultural books.  This was a bit of a test run for me.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother’s battle with cancer. A novel in verse.

My Review:

For such a short little book, this one sure packs a punch.

Don’t be fooled by the “a novel in verse” – this isn’t a story that contains rhymes or cheesy moments.  This is a beautifully paced, lusciously written story on the life of a young girl from Mexico who, along with her family, moves to Texas with the hopes of bettering their lives.

Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and Lupita has to grow up in ways she never had dreamed as a little girl.

I think I appreciated this story all the more for the portions of Spanish scattered throughout, the beautiful descriptions of home and country and the love shown through sacrifice.

This is not a story to be missed.  It’s short, there’s no excuse not to read it, and it will impact you in ways that novels 3 times its length will not manage to do.

Check these reviews!

Read Now, Sleep Later

Crazy Quilts

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Feel As Though Everyone Has Read But Me

Posted on September 20, 2011
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Top Ten Tuesday is a great meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish!

 Top Ten Books I Feel As Though Everyone Has Read But Me:

1. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - I feel like EVERYONE and their mother has read this book – but I just recently saw the movie! Need to read it!

2. Faith by Jennifer Haigh -  I saw this title so many times on tours and in tweets.  I almost didn’t put it on my list just because it was so over saturated.

3. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Yes, I know it’s not released yet but so many people have the ARC and I am so jealous!

4.Divergent by Veronica Roth – I have this one on my shelf.  No clue why I haven’t read it yet – maybe another case of “but everyone else has”.

5. The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller - I don’t even think I WANT to read this one, but it’s on my TBR just because SO MANY PEOPLE have talked about it.

6. The Passage by Justin Cronin - Another book on my shelf, another book talked about everywhere.  I really should just read it.

7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read Jane Eyre – but never this one.  I wonder why?

8. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer -  This was a big, fat, DNF for me.  I barely made it 1/4th of the way in.

9. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand -  I thought I’d read this one, but somehow it slipped past me (probably had to return it to the library early). Remedying that though!

10. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks - Other fantasy fans are always shocked when I say I haven’t read this series.  I’ve started to collect the books though!

Do you have any to add to the list or any thoughts on the titles above? Have you read them? What do you think?
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