Confessions of a Bibliophile

2013: #17 – The Jane Austen Book Club (Karen Joy Fowler)

Jaime — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:20:50 +0000

Title: The Jane Austen Book Club
Author: Karen Joy Fowler
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Release Date: April 26, 2005
Publisher: Plume
Source: personal copy (PaperbackSwap)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Read the back of the book

In California’s central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.

Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.

My thoughts:

I guess this is one of those books that you should only read if you’ve also read a lot of Austen, because I just didn’t get it at all. And it definitely wasn’t witty.

The only character that was actually interesting was Grigg, the sole man in the group. Compared to him, the rest of them seemed like unhappy, bitter old ladies, even though two of them are not old at all. Most of the time, it seemed like they didn’t even like each other all that much, and it made me wonder why they even had a book club at all. Especially a book club with such a limited scope. They don’t even continue once they’re finished the Austen books! What kind of book club is that? Plus, their conversations about the books weren’t even particularly interesting.

We won’t even speak of the horridly annoying use of first person (us, we) in the narration.

Maybe I was missing some sort of subtle connection in each chapter that related to the Austen book they were discussing, but based on some other reviews I’ve seen, I don’t think I was. I have heard that the movie is actually good, so this may be one of the rare instances of the movie being better than the book.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“A fun, quick read that is best read after having devoured all of the Austen novels.” — The Bennet Sisters
“Overall, while the book has many merits (i.e. The Jane Austen Magic 8 Ball, the parallels between Grigg and Catherine Moreland, and the narrator’s sharp wit), I think this is one of those situations where the movie adaption is more satisfying and successful than the novel.“ — Austenesque Reviews

2013: Sunday Salon – May Edition

Jaime — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:28:08 +0000

Hello all… Long time no talk!

I confess that I haven’t been very into blogging lately. My reading has actually been good this year — I’ve finished 32 books. Unfortunately, my review writing has not been good — I’m 16 books in arrears! I actually have a few reviews that are already written, I just haven’t put together the blog posts.

I think a lot of it is my annual spring doldrums. I always have a hard time in the spring, and spend a lot of time playing games and watching TV in order to turn off my brain. But, I’m coming out of it, and feeling the need to get stuff done again. I had minor surgery last Wednesday (had my adenoids removed), and was lucky that it didn’t knock me too far out of commission. My throat’s still a little sore, and I have a secondary infection I’m having to deal with, but I feel well enough to go back to work tomorrow.

I did have one book that I’ve had to abandon recently. I started listening to Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, and made it a couple of hours into the audiobook before I had to give it up. There’s a big deal made about the death row inmate, Shay, being like Jesus. That metaphor (allegory?) alone wasn’t enough to make me bolt, but the way it was done was. She was so heavy handed with the metaphor. Hey, Shay shows up in the cell block, and then wine starts coming out of all of the faucets! Look, Shay brought that bird back to life! Oh my, Shay turned one stick of gum into enough for everyone on the block! It’s a miracle! If Picoult had been a little more subtle, I think I could have climbed onto the messiah train, but I didn’t appreciate being knocked over the head with a wooden cross.

Thankfully, I’ve read a lot of good books so far this spring! I tore through 6 Lauren Dane romance/erotic romance books, nearly in a row, back in February and March. There have been several that came to me through book clubs — Wife 22 and A Long Way Gone being two of them. Right now I’m almost finished with Falling by Christopher Pike, which I’ve had a few problems with but I’ve found overall satisfying. I’ve also been picking my way through The Last Good Chance by Tom Barbash, which is good, but doesn’t fill me with any sense of urgency, so I’ve often left it closed on my nightstand in favor of whatever I’m reading on my Kindle. And finally, I’m reading The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon, which I think is quite interesting.

What have you read lately?

2013: #16 – The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)

Jaime — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:36:41 +0000

Title: The Snow Child
Author: Eowyn Ivey
Format: Kindle
Pages: 416
Release Date: February 01, 2012
Publisher: Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★½☆

Read the back of the book

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart–he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone–but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

My thoughts:

This is not the sort of book I usually pick up on my own. I gravitate more towards heavily plot-driven fiction, and this book is more of a slow walk through the beautiful, snow-laden woods.

That’s not to say it wasn’t good. There was something charming about Mabel and Jack, even if they spent a lot of their time unhappy and wondering if they had made a huge mistake trying to make their home in Alaska. Mabel’s sadness, in particular, is palpable. By moving to Alaska, she’s merely run away from her grief, not dealt with it, and the isolation isn’t improving matters.

My main issue with the book is that I wish the author had either gone all the way in with the magic or not alluded to it at all. Instead, we get this weird mish-mosh of circumstances that lead to Faina being real, yet not real. I think the book would have been stronger if her (somewhat) logical origins weren’t explained, and the reader had been left guessing who, or what, she really is until the very end.

But, when it comes down to it, this was a sweet story, and I’m not sorry I picked it up after all.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“The Snow Child does not tell the most exciting of stories, and many will probably find it to be too slow for their tastes. Those who do not mind such books, however, will want to pick this up immediately.” — Cuddlebuggery Book Blog
“One of those rare cases where you should believe the hype, this book is a fantastic and thought-provoking tale that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the final page.” — Book Chick City
“Despite the strengths of the novel and my early enjoyment of it, I did not end up loving this book which spans many years in the lives of the characters.” — Caribousmom

2013: #15 – The Different Girl (Gordon Dahlquist)

Jaime — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:05:37 +0000

Title: The Different Girl
Author: Gordon Dahlquist
Format: ARC Paperback
Pages: 230
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: ARC via LibraryThing

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Read the back of the book

Veronika. Caroline. Isobel. Eleanor. One blond, one brunette, one redhead, one with hair black as tar. Four otherwise identical girls who spend their days in sync, tasked to learn. But when May, a very different kind of girl—the lone survivor of a recent shipwreck—suddenly and mysteriously arrives on the island, an unsettling mirror is about to be held up to the life the girls have never before questioned.

Sly and unsettling, Gordon Dahlquist’s timeless and evocative storytelling blurs the lines between contemporary and sci-fi with a story that is sure to linger in readers’ minds long after the final page has been turned.

My thoughts:

This book felt unfinished to me. Though the blurb on the back of the book is correct – it is unsettling. Because the narrator is one of the girls, the tone is very flat and almost devoid of any emotion save confusion. It’s not hard to figure out what the girls are, but why they exist is a question that’s never answered to my satisfaction. I cared about that much more than I cared about May and the drama created by her arrival. If the author wasn’t going to flesh out this world and the situation they were living in, then he should have cut out some of the middle and turned it into a really good short story. Instead, we get a novel with missing pieces.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“I love that this is a quieter novel about thoughts and characters, without much of a driving forward plot but plenty of food for thought.” — The Book Smugglers
“There was virtually no action, no romance, no twists, and minimal worldbuilding. If I had a badge for beautiful covers, though, it would definitely earn it, because I adore this cover.” — Presenting Lenore
“While the novel is not an action-packed read, it does have its moments of suspense and wonder.” — Miss Literati

2013: #14 – Shadow Creek (Joy Fielding)

Jaime — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:20:57 +0000

Title: Shadow Creek
Author: Joy Fielding
Format: Kindle
Pages: 384
Release Date: December 04, 2012
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Source: ARC via Edelweiss

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Read the back of the book

Due to a last-minute change in plans, a group of unlikely traveling companions finds themselves on a camping trip in the Adirondacks. They include the soon-to-be-divorced Valerie; her oddball friends, Melissa and James; her moody teenage daughter, Brianne; and Val’s estranged husband’s new fiancée, Jennifer.

What Val and her companions don’t know is that a pair of crazed killers is wreaking havoc in the very same woods. When an elderly couple is found slaughtered and Brianne goes missing, Val finds herself in a nightmare much worse than anything she could have anticipated.

My thoughts:

I’ve enjoyed Joy Fielding in the past, but this book didn’t do anything for me. The situation that sends this unconventional group into the woods is extremely contrived, and once I couldn’t buy into that, I had a hard time buying into anything else. I also got confused about which teens were actually the killers, and once I finished I wasn’t entirely sure if the confusion was intentional. There are a lot of spoiled brats in this book, which kept me from connecting with any of the characters, even Valerie. There are much better Joy Fielding books out there, such as Charley’s Web.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“Yes, there is something deadly lurking in the shadows of Shadow Creek but really it’s not that terrifying.” — red headed book child
“Shadow Creek is a definite page-turner that will keep you up late into the night as you won’t be able to put it down.” — Book BagLady

2013: #13 – Sarah’s Key (Tatiana de Rosnay)

Jaime — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:43:04 +0000

Title: Sarah’s Key
Author: Tatiana de Rosnay
Format: Audio
Length: 9 hrs 58 min
Release Date: June 12, 2007
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★½☆

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

My thoughts:

This book had some very good parts. Sarah’s story, the story of the Vel d’Hiv round-up, representative of countless other children taken from Paris that day, was tragic and captivating. And because it is the story of a French girl, rather than a German or Polish one, it gives us a bit of a different perspective on what was happening. In fact, Sarah’s story is so good that I wish it had been the entire book. But instead, we are stuck discovering it through Julia.

I wasn’t a big fan of Julia. She was fine early on in the book, when we had Sarah’s narration to break hers up. But later in the book a lot of things about her rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like her obsession with Sarah’s story was very over-the-top, despite the connection to her apartment. Her neglect of her pregnancy, in particular, bothered me. I also didn’t like that we only got the bad things about her husband. He is almost never displayed in a good light, when there must have been some good there for her to marry him in the first place.

I also didn’t care for the way the book finished. Not because of how Sarah’s story ended — that actually made a lot of sense — but because of the relationship that Julia forms. It just didn’t fit for me.

Overall, this story is worth reading if you want to learn something about France during the war. But don’t be surprised if Julia kills it for you.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“That said, I have to say that I found both plot and characters of ‘Sarah’s Key’ to be unconvincing.” — The Buddha Diaries
“This is a good story and tells of a time that is not well known in World War II history, so for that purpose, I would recommend it.” — Crazy for Books
“Sarah’s Key is an excellent novel with many thought provoking questions.” — S. Krishna’s Books

2013: #12 – Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

Jaime — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:46:37 +0000

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Format: Kindle
Pages: 432
Release Date: June 05, 2012
Publisher: Crown
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆

Read the back of the book

Marriage can be a real killer.

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

My thoughts:

This book was nuts. I’m going to do my best to discuss it without spoilers.

Amy didn’t care to know my family, didn’t want to know my birthplace, and yet for some reason, I thought moving home would be a good idea.

This was the point at which I knew things were amiss. What sort of spouse doesn’t want to know about your family, your background? All was obviously not how it seemed in Nick and Amy’s marriage. But who, if anyone, was telling the truth?

The book is very well constructed, so much so that you can completely buy into the improbable circumstances. Because I was late to this particular party, I knew there was a giant twist. So when it came, I wasn’t surprised by its existence, but neither was I surprised by its content. I didn’t guess it, exactly, but it made sense to me. It almost had to be that way, in order for the story to continue.

Don’t expect to be able to root for either Nick or Amy. One’s evil, the other’s a weak whiner, and they’re probably both sociopaths. And that’s perfectly alright with me.

There are actions and reactions in the final act of the book that didn’t make a lot of sense to me, and were actually somewhat disappointing. That’s why I have to dock it a star. But if you like dark psychological thrillers, with characters you can’t quite like, then Gillian Flynn is definitely your girl.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“I have no idea how to rate this book. It is a brilliantly written book, but I hated reading it. I will abscond from a number grade, and that is all.” — The Book Smugglers
“Maybe it was just too long, but the characters didn’t pull me in - I did finish it, and I didn’t necessarily see the twist coming, but it missed a spark for me.” — Adventures of a London Kiwi
“Tense, thrilling and also seriously, seriously twisted, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is not for the faint of heart, but it is unputdownable. A total must read!” — Daisy Chain Book Reviews

2013: #11 – Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Charlaine Harris)

Jaime — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:36:22 +0000

Title: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden #03
Format: Audio
Audiobook length: 6 hrs 45 min
Release Date: March 23, 1994
Publisher: Recorded Books
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆

Read the back of the book

An unexpected legacy has given former librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden some time on her hands, so she decides to try selling real estate. Her mother, after all, is Lawrenceton’s premier real estate agent, giving Roe a head start on this new career. But at her first house showing, Roe discovers the naked corpse of a rival broker. It looks like there’s a cool killer at large, one who knows a great deal about real estate — and maybe too much about Roe.

My thoughts:

This is a good cozy series. Roe has an unusual talent for stumbling across dead bodies — and it’s beginning to gain her a reputation! In the meantime, she’s a bit aimless in her life. The money she inherited in the previous book has allowed her some freedom, but she’s come to realize that she’s too young to live a life of leisure. With her mother being one of the real estate magnates of Lawrenceton, inserting herself into her mother’s business seems like it’s worth a try. Which is how she ends up showing a local mansion to newcomer Martin Bartell, stumbling across a body, and discovering an incredible attraction to this new man in town.

I was glad to see Harris rethink Roe’s relationship with the pastor. He was rather boring, and not suited to her at all. Or perhaps, she wasn’t suited to him.

Overall, I enjoy this series, and they are entertaining to listen to. It’s definitely one I will continue.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“Harris’ light approach to the dark side of mayhem, murder, and real estate games in a small town just outside Atlanta was entertaining, warm, and real; her characters could easily have been my neighbors in my own small town.” — Story Circle Book Reviews
“This was my first of the Aurora Teagarden series, and I’m not sure I’ll be reading the other. I simply didn’t find the characters or the story as interesting enough.” — Read Between the Whines
“I love all of Charlaine Harris’ novels. She just has this knack for writing with familiarity, emotion, humour, quirk, verve and colloquialisms.” — Pooks

2013: #10 – Under the Streets of Nice (Ken Follett)

Jaime — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:04:56 +0000

Title: Under the Streets of Nice
Author: Ken Follett
Format: Paperback
Pages: 216
Release Date: 1978
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Read the back of the book

Follett’s engaging Streets of Nice tells the true story of Albert Spaggiari, the man who engineered the European crime of the century. Intriguingly, he accomplished his 1976 bank heist “without guns, without violence, without hate.” Here is the breathtakingly compelling story of Spaggiari, his “sewer gang,” and the most daring, outrageous theft of the century.

My thoughts:

This has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while, and until I picked it up to read, I never realized it was non-fiction.

I can’t say that the book is particularly exciting, and I’m not sure how much of that is actually attributable to Follett. I believe much of the story is translated from an earlier French work (see his take on it here — he even tried to prevent it from being published!). But though the storytelling isn’t very compelling, I found that the circumstances of the robbery were. It really was quite an ingenious plan, and if everyone involved was as smart as Spaggiari, they probably would have gotten away with it completely.

Available from: WorldCat (book is not widely available for purchase)

2013: #9 – The Paris Wife (Paula McLain)

Jaime — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 03:08:52 +0000

Title: The Paris Wife
Author: Paula McLain
Format: Kindle
Pages: 352
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆

Read the back of the book

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures the love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

My thoughts:

Confession: This book was not on my to-read list. Not in the slightest. The description reminded me of Loving Frank, which I tried to read and did not like, so I had mentally filed this into my “not for me” pile. And then the list of upcoming reads for my book club was handed out, and this was on the top of the list.

I’m happy to admit that I was completely wrong about this book. I found it to be not only readable, but quite interesting. I can’t really call it surprising — after all, it only takes a cursory knowledge of Hemingway’s life to know that he had more than one wife — but certain things about Hemingway did surprise me. For one, I never thought about his early struggle to not only get published, but to find his voice. Living with that sort of artist would be difficult under the best of circumstances, but add in an unfamiliar country and an “accidental” child, and it’s a long row to hoe.

The truth is, though Hemingway later considered Hadley the great love of his life, they weren’t a particularly good match. She was older than him in age, if not in maturity, and never possessed the sort of free spirit that he gravitated towards. I also don’t think she ever had a complete grasp of his work and its importance. There’s one thing she does in the novel that, as a writer, made my heart hurt. She doesn’t do it on purpose, but it is a perfect illustration of her lack of understanding. For a while, she was exactly what he needed — someone to validate his work, no matter what. But when her opinion started to differ from his, you could see him change. There’s more than one occasion when you want to grab him and shake him and ask “who would agree to that?”

Another plus of this novel was its illustration of the jazz age. We meet Gertrude Stein, the Fitzgeralds, and other well-known authors of the time. Hemingway’s circle of friends was not timid. They also were not Hadley’s.

At a certain point in the book, I struggled not to go to Wikipedia and peek ahead in Hemingway’s life. I’m glad I didn’t, and let the story unfold for me on its own. But I did go to Wikipedia once I was done, and if you’re curious, Hadley is the grandmother of Margeaux and Mariel Hemingway. I won’t say more than that!

Overall, this felt well researched, and I thought it was well-written. Whether you’re familiar with Hemingway’s life or not, I think this is a worthwhile read.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

“Hemingway fans, historical fiction lovers, Francophiles and devotees of the Lost Generation will find plenty to devour in McLain’s enveloping work.” — write meg!
“The story is depressing – it’s sad to see their relationship unravel as they become more and more like the “bohemian” (aka licentious and immoral) culture they’ve surrounded themselves with in early 20th Century Paris.” — Beth Stone Studio
“Overall, the read was pleasing, fast, and has engendered in me a curiosity about one of the most famous American authors and ALL his wives. Check it out!” – Cannonball Read 5