Wild Fell

The scariest thing about "Wild Fell" might be that the author, Michael Rowe, seems to have gotten in my head and taken notes on everything I'm looking for in a book. When I read the description in Net Galley, I thought it sounded like it was right up my alley, and boy, was I right. "Wild Fell" snagged me from the first word and kept me hooked all the way through. I don't normally breeze through books like I did "Wild Fell," but I started it one afternoon and finished it the next night. I simply could not put it down!

"Wild Fell"starts out with the story of a teenage couple who take a boat to Blackmore Island, where the crumbling "Wild Fell" sits. What happens to them becomes the stuff of small-town legend, the type of lore that you'll find in any small town.

The teen lovers' story sets the stage for the rest of the book. Wild Fell makes its return, but not until we meet Jameson Browning. The story follows Jameson (Jamie) through his childhood, with a loving father and distant mother. He introduces us to his best friend, Lucinda Jane, who is better known as "Hank," and his imaginary and incredibly creepy friend, Amanda, who lives in the mirror in his bedroom. We watch him grow up to become a teacher, and get married. Finally, as he's caring for his aged father, stricken with Alzheimer's, and is the victim of an accident. All this leads him to Blackmore Island, and Wild Fell.

I absolutely loved 99% of this book, but, for me, the ending fell a little flat, much in the way many horror movies do. The more I've thought about the ending, the more I've come to accept it, and the more it makes me want to go back and read the whole book from the start. Still, I'm not quite over that, "Aw, come ON!" moment I had when it was over.

Aside from that, there was a lot to like about this book. The story was interesting, fast-paced, and creepy. The language was wonderful. I think I will definitely be checking out more from Michael Rowe.

The Invention of Wings

I was really excited when I got approved for Sue Monk Kidd's new book, "The Invention of Wings," on Net Galley. I re-read her "Secret Life of Bees" last year for my book club and was once again impressed by the way she really draws you into the story through her rich descriptions.
"The Invention of Wings" tells a fictionalized account based on the life of Sarah Grimke, a famous abolitionist. The book starts out with Sarah receiving a slave girl named Handful as a birthday gift, and throughout the book their stories are interwoven. Sarah isn't always a particularly likeable character, but I think that's a good thing. She's not portrayed as a martyr, rather as someone who struggles within herself as she grapples with the right thing to do vs. what is easy and the way it has always been. When she receives Handful, she knows it isn't right, and she is determined to do something about it, but quickly learns that it isn't possible. Sarah has a lot going against her in her quest. First, she's a woman. She longs to become a lawyer and has the intelligence to do it, but her ambitions are shot down because she is a woman. Later, women's rights become another battle she must fight. Second, she struggles with public speaking.
Handful's story is heart-wrenching. Reading it really sends home the horrific conditions under which slaves lived and died.
I thought Monk Kidd did a wonderful job of blending fiction and reality. She picked these characters out of history and breathed life into them. I think it will be considered one of the best books of 2014.

In my last post, I said I was planning to check out "The Christmas Train" from the library. As it turned out, it was in transit to another library, as were all the other copies in the system! I suspect it must have been some book club's choice this month. I'll keep it on my list for next year. I started "Holidays on Ice" by David Sedaris but stopped reading after the second story. The first story wasn't particularly well-written and was mildly funny, but the second one really disgusted me, and I consider myself a pretty cynical person. Life's too short to read books you don't like, so this one went in the "couldn't finish" pile. I'm not sure I'll try Sedaris again any time soon.

I found myself craving something classic, and decided to pick up "The Three Musketeers." I read "The Count of Monte Cristo" about four years ago at this time, and have many fond memories of it. I know it isn't a book I'll get through quickly, but I am sure it will be worth the effort. I'm finding it highly entertaining so far. I'm also doing my annual reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." After that I'm going to sink my teeth into "Andrew's Brain," by E.L. Doctorow, which I received an advance copy of through Goodreads. Then I'm planning on participating in my library's winter reading program. I already have my book list made and I'm ready to tackle it!

Comfort & Joy and A Darcy Christmas

"Comfort & Joy" is my first Kristin Hannah book. I picked it up at a garage sale this summer and saved it for December.
"Comfort & Joy" follows Joy Candellaro, who is facing her first Christmas as a divorced woman. Even worse, the other woman in her husband's life is her own sister. When Joy's sister turns up on her driveway to give her a wedding invitation, she panics and takes off to the airport, where she buys a ticket to a place called "Hope." The plane doesn't quite make it, and she ends up at a place called the Comfort Lodge with a man named Daniel and his son, Bobby.
I knew pretty early on that not everything was as it seemed. The scenes at the Comfort Lodge seemed very dream-like and, given the "twist," I think Hannah did a very good job there. "Comfort & Joy" didn't blow me away. It's a nice story, set at Christmas, and it has a happy ending. That's pretty much all there is to say for it. I'm not sure if I'll read more from Kristin Hannah, but I'm not sorry I read "Comfort & Joy."

Before I picked up "Comfort & Joy," I tried to read "A Darcy Christmas." It was free for Nook a couple of weeks ago on Free Friday, and I was very excited to not only get a Jane Austen-inspired but a Christmas book! And the the cover was so lovely. It's actually three novellas written by three different authors, and as it turned out, I could only get through one of the stories. The first, "Mr. Darcy's Christmas Carol," was basically just a retelling of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," with Mr. Darcy replacing Ebenezer Scrooge. Boring! I plan to do my annual reading of "A Christmas Carol" yet this month, and would much prefer to read the original. The second story, "Christmas Present," was much better. It is a sweet little story, written by Amanda Grange. I thought Grange did a good job of capturing Jane Austen's voice, and I enjoyed the story. The third novella is "A Darcy Christmas." After reading "Christmas Present," this felt like it really missed the mark. It didn't feel Austenesque at all. The prose was far too modern. Needless to say, I did not finish it.

I'm also reading "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd (I got an advance copy from Net Galley), and I plan to stop at the library today to pick up "The Christmas Train" by David Baldacci. I'm not usually so obsessed with Christmas books this time of year, but this year I am! I got approved for "The Christmas Train" on Net Galley, but when I tried to download it, it said that it had already been archived and I can't. Boo. All is not lost, however, since I discovered it's not a new book and in fact my library has it!

The Winter People

Warning: If you have other things you need to get done, do NOT pick up "The Winter People" by Jennifer McMahon.
I've had this book on my "to-do" list since I got approved to get an advanced copy from Net Galley, but I was putting it off because I'm doing National Novel Writing Month and a wise professor once put it in my head that it's not great to read other authors while you're working intently on your own writing. He said he didn't like doing that because it interfered with his own "voice" in his writing. It makes sense to me, especially after I had to read Toni Morrison's "Home" while doing the April NaNoWriMo Camp and it had me feeling terrible about my own writing. So this November, I vowed that I would read only non-fiction. It worked well at first. My book club read "Killing Kennedy" this month. I started "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" but it made me too squeamish so I ended up calling it quits. Then I started Mary Roach's "Spook." Last week, I was arranging my "to-read" list for the next month or so — why yes, I did arrange my list to make sure I could squeeze in several Christmas/winter books, don't judge me.
At the top of that list was "The Winter People." I love getting advanced copies of books, but the problem is that I feel tremendous pressure to read them right away when I'm approved. That and a craving for fiction led me to start "The Winter People."
Jennifer McMahon had me hooked from the start. The story centers around a spooky old farmhouse near West Hall, Vermont, and alternates between 1908 and present day. The 1908 portions follow Sara Harrison Shea, her husband Martin, and their daughter, Gertie. When Gertie disappears one winter day, her mother stops at nothing to get her back. The consequences of what she does continue to affect the people of West Hall more than 100 years later. The present-day portions follow a girl named Ruthie and her sister Fawn, whose mother disappears; and Katherine, who is trying to figure what led her husband, Gary, to West Hall on the day he died.
"The Winter People" is wonderfully creepy. I loved the setting, the characters, and all the intricate details that tied all the stories together. Jennifer McMahon does a great job of making you feel like you are there, and maintaining tension throughout. I definitely will be seeking out more from this author.

A Little History of Literature

I feel like I've been slacking over the past week or so, having not posted a review since the end of last month. The truth is that I've been reading three different books at the same time.
I received A Little History of Literature by John Sutherland through Net Galley. This book is a whirlwind tour of a subject very near and dear to my heart. I majored in English Lit, so this book was a great review for me. I enjoyed revisiting some of my favorite authors and works, and learning about others I'm not familiar with. For those who have an interest in literature, this book is a great choice. It's readable while covering a vast amount of information. I would have loved having a book like this when I was in college to use as a resource.
I'm still working on Stephen King's latest book, Doctor Sleep. I'm over halfway through now and still loving it. I swore I'd never read one of his books again after Under the Dome, but he's definitely made amends with this and 11/22/63.
I also started reading A Good Fall, a short story collection by Ha Jin. I'm finding it kind of refreshing to read short stories for a change. I need to do this more often.

Book Review: Havisham

Havisham, by Ronald Frame: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. (See what I did there?) Okay, I know. Wrong Dickens book. But still, I found myself having a love-hate relationship with Havisham, much as I often do with Dickens. I'll get an urge to read one of his books and spend half of it wondering what the hell I was thinking. Miss Havisham is absolutely my favorite Dickens character. I'll never forget when I met her, sitting in her yellowed silk gown among the rotting remnants of her wedding feast. I wanted Ronald Frame, in Havisham, to create magic for me. Bring me into that cobwebbed world of hers and tell me how she got there. And, for the most part, he did.
Let's get the bad out of the way first. For about the first half of the book (I know that seems like a lot), I found myself getting impatient. I was bored by Catherine's description of her childhood, and the time she spent with the Chadwyck family. There were some good parts here and there (the Hermitage, for one), but mostly I felt like if I had to read one more scene about acting out some play or attending a masked ball, I was going to give up on this book. I'm happy I didn't, because when Catherine returned home, Havisham gave me everything I'd been hoping for, and I was not disappointed. I loved the wedding and everything that followed, even though I'd figured out exactly what happened before Catherine did.
In looking back at my time spent reading Havisham, I'm reminded of a quote by Mark Twain: A classic is something that everybody wants to have read, and nobody wants to read. Like Great Expectations (or any other Dickens novel), reading Havisham was hard work at times, but in the end I'm happy I did. One thing that helped me get through it was to tell myself to treat it as I would a classic. I tend to give those more leeway when reading them, because I think if it's a classic surely there must be something worthwhile to keep reading for. That's what I did, and I was well rewarded.

*I received a free copy of this book through Net Galley.

Book Review: The Bookstore

I tried not to set my expectations too high for this book. With a title like "The Bookstore," I really wanted to love it. The good news is that at times I did. A lot. At other times I was scratching my head.
Let me explain. Esme Garland is a 20-something from England living in New York, where she is working on her PhD. Smart girl, right? Yes, expect for when she is a complete idiot! Which is quite a bit of the time, actually, from about the midway point of the book on. She puts up with about 20 things from her boyfriend, Mitchell, that would have been deal-breakers for me--and he would never even look twice at someone like me. He is a 100%, Grade-A jackass. Esme loooooves him, though, even though I never really understood why.
Another thing that annoyed me about Esme was her attitude at times. Basically she acts as if she is always right, and she most definitely is not. At one point, following a blow-up with her boyfriend's parents, she says, "I was rude, but I was right." Um, no. She complains that her boyfriend and her family are set in their ways, but she is just as bad, really.
As for the plot, it's pretty predictable. Grad student gets pregnant and has to deal with jerk boyfriend. Finds job at quaint bookstore where quirky people abound. Now, to me, being predictable is not necessarily a bad thing. I liked it in spite of that. I mean, there are only so many plots out there; it's difficult to always find something original. To me, it's about how you write it and make it your own, and I think Deborah Meyler does a good job of that.
Even though I wanted to choke Esme at times (okay, a lot of the time), I still found myself liking her. She is human. Some of the stupid things she says are quite hilarious. I also especially like the characters of George, her boss at the bookstore, and her co-worker, Luke. In all honesty, some of the other characters ran together. I had a hard time keeping the other co-workers, customers, and homeless guys straight.
There is some great description in this book and some excellent emotional insight. Once I got past the first couple of chapters, where Esme is going on and on and on and on (and on and on) about what to do about the pregnancy, there was a lot of good stuff. I laughed, I cried, and I looked forward to reading it each time I picked it up, which was the main thing.
Overall, I'd give "The Bookstore" 3.5 stars. It's a good debut effort.

Book Review: Sutton

Sutton, by J.R. Moehringer, is a book I probably would never have read if it wasn't for my book club. I'm so happy I did. Sutton is historical fiction, based on the life of bank robber Willie "The Actor" Sutton. Prior to reading this book, I had no idea who Willie Sutton was.
Sutton follows a newly released Willie Sutton on his tour of New York with a reporter and photographer. Sutton is pushed into the story by his lawyer, but takes charge by insisting they follow a map highlighting important events in his life in chronological order. The novel goes back and forth between Willie's story and his interaction with the reporter and photographer on the tour. What results is a fascinating look into the mind of a bank robber whose career spanned several decades. At times Willie's version of the story is conflicted by others, which gives it an interesting "unreliable narrator" spin.
Willie Sutton is a complex character. This isn't some boring run-down of facts. J.R. Moehringer expertly builds Sutton from the ground up, starting with his childhood. He lays out all the events that lead Sutton to become a criminal, a perfect storm of circumstances that includes his upbringing, economic troubles of the day, friends, and the love of his life, Bess. And we see how, once he gets on this path, it is nearly impossible to go straight again. We see Sutton as someone who wants to be a good person, but who seemingly has no other choice at times than to resort to a life of crime. Once he gets drawn in, greed keeps him going back for more.
I'd give this book five stars, but I was a little disappointed to find after the fact that Willie had two wives and a daughter who were barely mentioned. I would have liked to see more about them instead of so much focus on Bess. I understand that Moehringer uses her as the driving force behind the route Willie takes with his life, but I feel like there is a whole other side of Willie we don't get to know.
Overall, this is a great read. It's a great blend of fact and fiction.

•••

I mentioned Net Galley in my last post. Yesterday I got approved for my second Net Galley book, Havisham, by Ronald Frame. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the title of this book. Could it be? Yes, it could. It's about Catherine Havisham, from Dickens' Great Expectations. I remember very fondly the first time I encountered Miss Havisham. For me, she put the "great" in Great Expectations. I'm excited to see what Frame does with her story. I just hope I'm not too excited. I hate when I get all worked up about a book and set myself up for disappointment.

Vacation hangover

I'm a little out of it this week. On Monday we returned from a short vacation. Even though we were only gone for a few days, getting back to reality has been difficult. It's odd how exhausting a vacation can be. It's not that I did much. I think it had more to do with the almost-3-year-old who slept with me and flopped around like a fish all night. I'm very happy to be sleeping in my own bed again, where no one uses my butt as a pillow.
I got some reading done while I was away, but not as much as I would have liked. Not that I'll ever get as much reading done as I would like. I am almost finished reading Sutton by J.R. Moehringer, and I'm over halfway through the second part of Shift. I'm absolutely loving both of them.
Next up on my reading list is The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler. I was fortunate enough to receive this book through Net Galley. It's my first Net Galley book. For those not familiar with Net Galley, it's a site where professional readers can request early digital access to books. I'm pretty excited about it and look forward to reviewing what I read both here and on Goodreads.
Until not too long ago, I had no idea that publishers offered advance copies of books. I discovered this (wonderful) fact one day when I was toodling around Goodreads and clicked on "Giveaways." I have received several books on Goodreads giveaways (though none recently). The only real problem (if you can call it that) with getting advance copies of books is that I feel obligated to read them as quickly as possible so I can review them. It therefore pushes the other books on my reading list back once again. And, as I've said before, I have that habit of buying a book and letting it sit for a long time before I read it. Nevertheless, I'm excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to read and review these books.