Review: Gemini

Gemini, Carol Cassella

Amanda

Published by Simon & Schuster, March 4, 2014, 352 pgs

Source: Netgalley

From Goodreads…

A captivating medical mystery wrapped in a contemporary love story—from a practicing MD whose novels are “just what the doctor ordered” (People).

Across the Puget Sound in a rural hospital on the Olympic Peninsula an unidentified patient lies unconscious, the victim of a hit and run. In Seattle, ICU doctor Charlotte Reese receives a call: Jane Doe will be transferred to her care. But when the patient arrives—with only tubes keeping her alive—Charlotte has to dig through x-rays and MRIs to determine what went wrong on the operating table. Jane Doe’s condition is getting worse each day, and Charlotte finds herself becoming increasingly consumed by her patient’s plight—both medical and personal.

Who is this woman? Why will no one claim her? Who should decide her fate if she never regains consciousness? As a doctor and a woman, Charlotte is forced to confront these issues head on—especially when her boyfriend Eric, a science journalist, becomes involved in the case. But the closer Charlotte and Eric get to the truth, the more their relationship is put to the test. The key to unlocking Jane Doe’s secret is opening their hearts to their own feelings about life and death, love and marriage…and each other.

Filled with intricate medical detail and set in the breathtaking Pacific Northwest, Gemini is a vivid novel of moral complexity and emotional depth from the bestselling author of Oxygen and Healer.

This was definitely a book of important medical decisions, of crazy genetic possibilities and a book about relationships but to me what stood out was that its a story about poverty in the Pacific Northwest and how the poor can slip through the cracks.  Who is Jane Doe? Why was she fleeing with nothing but a canvas bag?  Should a hospital be allowed to make the decisions about her end of life?

I really don’t want to say a lot about the plot because I think finding that yourself is part of the joy of reading, especially in a book like this!  Cassella weaves these questions into an emotional mystery–it took me a while to figure out where the threads were coming together, but maybe other readers will pull it all together more quickly.   I actually really liked the concept of this story, but overall I just really didn’t connect with the characters.  Raney and Bo just weren’t that likable to me and Charlotte wasn’t enough to hold the book on her own.   I was even mixed in the end, half happy at the resolution, half frustrated!

This book did give me a lot to think about though, and touches on important issues that we should all consider for ourselves and discuss with family.  I think this could be a good book club book for discussion.

Goodreads has a giveaway of 20 copies going and no one has entered!  Check it out and tell me if you win!

2.5 stars

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this advanced read copy for review.

Review: Froi of the Exiles

Title: Froi of the Exiles

Author: Melina Marchette

Series: The Lumatere Chronicles #2

Published: 2011 by Viking Australia, 593 pages

Reviewed by Holly

Well, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to say – I was not sure about reading this book, Amanda made me do it, and OMG she was right. AGain. And, I will try not to post any spoilers, BUT, this is the second book in the Lumatere Chronicles, the first being Finnikin of the Rock, so the synopsis of this one may ruin some of the magic of that book. Consider yourself warned – but I’ll save the synopsis for the end of this post, and first tell you exactly what was so amazing about it.

I dilly-dallyed on this book for two reasons:

1. Amanda made me read Divergent, which I loved, and then that series devolved into a hot-mess which I hated. I loved Finnikin, which I read not realizing at first that it was part of a series. I did NOT want this world to turn into something completely silly too.
2. The title character in this book is Froi, who was introduced to us in Finnikin. You guys, Froi is not a likeable guy. In fact, Froi does something really awful in Finnikin – as in, attempted sexual assault. Ugh. I really could not abide the thought of reading a book with that guy as the main character – I mean, was he supposed to be some kind of hero?

Fast forward to my finishing Froi – I sent Amanda a short text: “Froi. Done. Heart hurts.”

The fact that this book tugged at my heartstrings so much – for Froi, and the people he has come to love, and the people who have come to love him – is a testament to Melina Marchetta’s amazing writing. I am not even sure how to describe what she did – Froi’s actions in Finnkin were not swept under the rug, and they were not merely forgiven and forgotten. From his experiences, he grows and changes and becomes better, but it certainly doesn’t come across as an after-school-special type lesson of finding the silver lining in a terrible situation. Rape is a prevalent theme in this book, but it’s not rape as a plot device (I’m looking at you, George R.R. Martin).

In fact, even if you don’t pick up on the subtleties, Marchetta delivers her point with a heavy-hand:

Men don’t rape women because their women are ugly,” cousin Jostien said, but there was a protest at his words. “That’s what my fa said! He says that inside their hearts and spirits they are nothing but little men who need to feel powerful.

Froi is not let off easy for his transgressions, by those around him and by himself. Froi is afraid of the darkness within himself, and he actually reminds me at several points of Dexter – you know, America’s favorite serial killer. Dexter (I’ve only watched the show, not the read the books) goes on and on about his ‘dark passenger,’ and Froi carries a dark passenger of his own. Dexter lives by the code of Harry, and Froi lives by the bond he has sworn to his adoptive homeland and family. I have been siding with Dexter for seven seasons now (have not watched #8 yet!), and, at some point in this book, I began to side with Froi, and hope that he could find light amidst his darkness.

Go read Finnikin, and then read Froi! There’s a third too- Quintana of Charyn, and you better believe that one is near the top of my to-read pile.

Parting Words:

“I fear that I will do something to bring harm to those I love,” Froi said. “So I will follow their rules to ensure that I won’t.”

“But what if you bring harm or fail to protect those you don’t know? Or don’t love? Will you care as much?”

“Probably not.”

“Then choose another bond. One written by yourself. Because it is what you do for strangers that counts in the end.”

Five Stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home… Or so he believes…

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Review: The Chase

The Chase (Fox & O’Hare #2),

Author: Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Published by Bantam Books, 320 pages.

Amanda

From Goodreads…

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, New York Times bestselling authors of The Heist, return in this action-packed, exciting adventure featuring master con artist Nicolas Fox and die-hard FBI agent Kate O’Hare. And this time around, things go from hot to nuclear when government secrets are on the line.

 Internationally renowned thief and con artist Nicolas Fox is famous for running elaborate and daring scams. His greatest con of all: convincing the FBI to team him up with the only person who has ever caught him, and the only woman to ever capture his attention, Special Agent Kate O’Hare. Together they’ll go undercover to swindle and catch the world’s most wanted—and untouchable—criminals.

 Their newest target is Carter Grove, a former White House chief of staff and the ruthless leader of a private security agency. Grove has stolen a rare Chinese artifact from the Smithsonian, a crime that will torpedo U.S. relations with China if it ever becomes public. Nick and Kate must work under the radar—and against the clock—to devise a plan to steal the piece back. Confronting Grove’s elite assassins, Nick and Kate rely on the skills of their ragtag crew, including a flamboyant actor, a Geek Squad techie, and a band of AARP-card-carrying mercenaries led by none other than Kate’s dad.

 A daring heist and a deadly chase lead Nick and Kate from Washington, D.C., to Shanghai, from the highlands of Scotland to the underbelly of Montreal. But it’ll take more than death threats, trained henchmen, sleepless nights, and the fate of a dynasty’s priceless heirloom to outsmart Fox and O’Hare.

Thank you Netgalley and Bantam for this copy for review!

I am a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, but until the first Fox & O’Hare book, The Heist, I had not read anything by Lee Goldberg.  I admit I was disappointed by The Heist, though overall I found the end to be better than I expected.  I am so glad I gave Fox & O’Hare another try! While this didn’t have me in tears laughing like Stephanie and Lula usually do, I was embarrassed to find myself giggle-snorting reading on a crowded train car.

Clearly you suspend your disbelief to believe the FBI is partnered up with #10 on their own most wanted list, so once you’ve done that its easy to accept all the adventures Kate and Nick get into.  Of course money is no object when the government is paying-so why not buy any toy you can imagine?  Of course they can find someone to help pull of any caper and survive!

The sidekicks that Kate and Nick pick up to help are funny, and I particularly liked how Kate’s dad appears with his own Black Ops experiences to use in their adventures.  We see Kate loosening up from FBI agent to more of Nick’s style of con man which is funny-though she still eats like Stephanie Plum! The sexual tension is good, but I’m glad this didn’t jump into a romance immediately.

This was a great light read for me-just what I needed.

4 Stars!

Review: The Enchanted

The Enchanted, Rene Denfeld

Amanda

Published: By Harper on March 5, 2014

256 pages.

From Goodreads…

A wondrous and redemptive debut novel, set in a stark world where evil and magic coincide, The Enchanted combines the empathy and lyricism of Alice Sebold with the dark, imaginative power of Stephen King

“This is an enchanted place. Others don’t see it, but I do.”

The enchanted place is an ancient stone prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row inmate who finds escape in his books and in re-imagining life around him, weaving a fantastical story of the people he observes and the world he inhabits. Fearful and reclusive, he senses what others cannot. Though bars confine him every minute of every day, he marries magical visions of golden horses running beneath the prison, heat flowing like molten metal from their backs, with the devastating violence of prison life.

Two outsiders venture here: a fallen priest, and the Lady, an investigator who searches for buried information from prisoners’ pasts that can save those soon-to-be-executed. Digging into the background of a killer named York, she uncovers wrenching truths that challenge familiar notions of victim and criminal, innocence and guilt, honor and corruption-ultimately revealing shocking secrets of her own.

Beautiful and transcendent, The Enchanted reminds us of how our humanity connects us all, and how beauty and love exist even amidst the most nightmarish reality.

I was shocked when I finished this book.  Shocked that a book about the harsh reality of prison could be so beautiful.  This book is haunting me in a way I cannot remember another touching me right now.  I hope I have the right words to describe how I felt because I feel completely inadequate.

“This is an enchanted place. Others don’t see it, but I do.”

Our narrator is an unnamed Death Row inmate. He doesn’t speak and does everything he can to keep from being seen by the other inmates and the guards, as well as the Fallen Priest and the Lady who work on the Row.  He only interacts with the Warden, and that is as little as possible.  He does not leave his cell, yet he sees so much more than just the walls around him.

The Lady visits Death Row as an investigator into cases coming up for execution.  An inmate named York has requested to die so she begins looking into York himself and how he came to the Row-not the crimes that he is absolutely guilty of.

We’re watching the Lady discover this heartbreaking childhood, while we know she’s also the product of her own equally disturbing experiences.  What makes the difference from becoming York and becoming the Lady?  What should she do with her findings when this man wants to die, and she knows that given the chance to leave prison he won’t stop the same heinous crimes he has already committed?

We meet the Warden and the White Haired Boy and my heart broke for both of them.  I found the Fallen Priest to be pitiable, but he also gave me hope, because despite his feelings of despair, he still had hope.

This book makes you consider the worst of humanity, and they are not just the prisoners.  Yet despite the horrors both explicit and those hinted at in the story,  The Enchanted is hopeful and there is beauty in the magic inside the prison. There is beauty in our prisoner, and so he can see the golden horses and find the enchantment, even though he is capable of horrors never fully explained.  There is still good in the individuals that might be lost to the prison and some find their way out.   While I found myself cringing in anticipation while reading some scenes of this book and moved by the sadness, I was ultimately enchanted and hopeful when I finished.

The Enchanted will be released by Harper on March 5, 2014-read it, think about it and let me know if you were as moved as I have been.

5 stars

Thank you to Harper for this advanced copy for review.

Review: The Museum of Extraordinary Things

The Museum of Extraordinary Things, Alice Hoffman

Amanda

From Goodreads…

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s museum, alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

I think I’ve demonstrated I’m a big fan of magical realism in my reading and this is what Alice Hoffman does best. This book was a wonderful mix of magic vs. science, of history and tragedy, and of love and romance.  Coralie is raised in the Museum of Extraordinary Things on New York’s Coney Island and loves the wonders she sees– the birds, the Butterfly Girl who has no arms and even the Wolfman– even if she is not allowed to interact with them according to her father’s rules.  As a child she doesn’t realize that what she calls wonders, others would call a freak show.  This is a gift of Alice Hoffman’s, putting beauty in everything and in nearly every situation.  Coralie feels lucky to join the Museum as a mermaid when she comes of age–until she realizes her father is not the man of science that he claims to be, but that she’s the daughter of a monster.  

Each chapter starts with flashes back to childhood and then moves forward to the events of 1911.  So when we meet Eddie Cohen, the photographer that captures Coralie’s heart, we already know that he was raised Ezekiel, an Orthodox Jew who escaped from Ukraine with his father.  Eddie has tried to walk away from his past and his faith, but we see how those shape the man he is and the choices he makes once he witnesses the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and begins searching for the missing Hannah.  We also see Coralie progress from obedient child to a thoughtful and observant young woman; and we see her transform in her own mind from a freak of nature to a young woman able to give and receive love freely.   

I really enjoyed following this story and I was so anxious after Coralie first spotted Eddie waiting for them to really meet.  But this was much more than just a romantic love story, this touched on parental love, friendship and questions of faith.  I was biting my nails in the final scenes waiting to see how it all could come out!  I felt invested in all of the characters and even in the wonders of the Museum like the turtle in the end.  The city of New York was a character itself in this book, from the entertainment on Coney Island, to the Jewish sections to Central Park, which made the historical aspect of this book really interesting, without being a typical historical fiction.    

4 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Scribner for this advanced read copy for review.

Review: Bring Up the Bodies

Title: Bring Up the Bodies

Author: Hilary Mantel

Series: Thomas Cromwell Trilogy #2

Reviewed by Holly

I have made some confessions already on this blog – that I don’t really know anything about the book blogging scene, that I once cry cry cried over Christian Slater, and that for a long time I didn’t ever think about reading non-fiction books for fun – but this time, I’ve got a real doozy for you: I am sort of obsessed with Henry VIII.

I know, I know – that might be sort of a trendy obsession, what with the Jonathan Rhys Meyers version on The Tudors, but that’s not where this started.

As kids, Amanda and I got to take a few family vacations to London, and somewhere in there, at age oh, 7, I learned of the British king who beheaded a few wives. What a great story! I was totally into it. So much that, when we visited Westminster Abbey and got to do the tourist thing of making brass rubbings, Amanda chose a nice knight, but I picked good ol’ Hank. He looked a lot like this, and hung in our house for years.

In more recent years, I watched – and loved – the Showtime series, and I was only convinced to start a twitter when Amanda told me that I could follow one Henry Tudor on there. (Note: totally worth it – he says all sorts of funny things.)

Anyway, rest assured that I generally don’t condone the beheadings of one’s wives. Or, breaking off and starting your own church so that you can divorce a wife. Or telling another wife – and the world –  that she looks like a horse. Yet somehow, I find all of these gestures wildly entertaining when they come from Henry.

Now that I have written the longest introduction to a review ever, I shall get on with it. I read Bring Up the Bodies after seeing it mentioned a few places (I am pretty sure I actually first saw it in People magazine – for shame!), because it is a fictional account of the period when the tide turns against Anne Boleyn, ushering in Jane Seymour to be the next in line. It’s actually the second in a trilogy from Hilary Mantel – the first is Wolf Hall, which, according to the synopsis, introduces the power struggle between Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. I haven’t read the first, but – spoiler alert – Cromwell comes out ahead, and he is the central figure in Bring Up the Bodies. Through his perspective, the book covers the period from September 1535 to May 1536, culminating in a less-than-stellar week to be a Boleyn.

I was not in love with the writing style at the beginning – actually, from the very first line of “his children are falling from the sky,” when it did not become apparent for a few more pages that “he” is Thomas Cromwell, and “his children” are hawks named after his dead children. Clearly.

Eventually, I did get (mostly) used to the narrative style, and, thanks to a handy cast of characters provided at the front of the book, managed to keep up with the story. At some point, I got hooked. I wanted to know exactly how they were going to damn poor Anne. (Er, I hope that’s not a spoiler for anyone.)

I wasn’t sure what to make of this book while I was reading it – it took me two weeks to finish, I never did quite manage to keep straight all of the courtiers, and I felt like having watching The Tudors helped quite a lot in understanding Cromwell, Wolsey, and Thomas More. (The fact that I am relying on my education from a Showtime series is probably problematic, yes?) However, now that I’m done, I am thinking that this book will be one that I’ll remember, and I added Wolf Hall to my to-be-read list.

Parting Words: This paragraph made me laugh a little, because it made Thomas Cromwell sound like a guy just trying to do his job, like the rest of us:

During December a landslide, an avalanche of papers has crossed his desk. Often he ends the day smarting and thwarted, because he has sent Henry vital and urgent messages and the gentlemen of the privy chamber have decided it’s easier for them if they keep the business back till Henry’s in the mood. Despite the good news he has had from the queen, Henry is testy, capricious. Any any moment he may demand the oddest item of information, or pose questions with no answer. What’s the market price of Berkshire wool? Do you speak Turkish? Why not? Who does speak Turkish? Who was the founder of the monastery at Hexham?

4 stars

Also, I totally welcome any suggestions for more reading on Henry VIII!

Update: I called Showtime HBO in the first version of this post. Oops. (I watched it on Netflix anyway.)

Review: The Seers (Holders #2)

The Seers, (Holders #2), Julianna Scott

Amanda

From Goodreads.com

After nearly being drained of her ability and betrayed by a man her father trusted, Becca Ingle was left with one clue — Ciaran Shea. He holds the key to the downfall of the power-mad Holder, Darragh, and can ensure the safety of both Holder and Human kind alike… but is he willing to help?

Becca, Alex, Jocelyn, and Cormac set out for Adare Manor to meet with the Bhunaidh, an aristocratic group of pure blooded Holders of whom Ciaran is a rumored member. However, when Becca discovers that they might not be the only ones after the information Ciaran has, everyone begins to wonder if Bhunaidh might not be as uninvolved with Darragh as they claim.

A race to uncover Ciaran’s secrets begins, where the line between friend and foe is blurred, and everyone seems to have their own agenda. Becca will have to call on every ability at her disposal to uncover the truth, all the while knowing that sometimes the answer is more dangerous than the question.

Thanks Christina for getting me hooked into buying both books in this series in like 3 days! Other reviewers describe this series as Harry Potter meets X-Men and I agree with that.  Becca and her younger brother have met the Holders where individuals have one ability only and their strength is varying.  I really like that aspect of the series, everyone has their unique piece of the puzzle and unique weakness.

I have to say that for the first part of this book I really found Becca annoying.  I like that she’s a caretaker and that she’s not afraid to stand up for others, but in the beginning she was over the top for me.  She had just met Steven and was acting like they were BFFs at first sight–girl he was afraid of you when you met him, ease off!  However, Becca chilled out as the adventures at Adare Manor went on and she became much more likeable.  Once she’s not going full speed as the defender of everyone she sees I like her a lot better.  It was nice to see her calm down and think about her father as a person and to think about reconciliation with him.

I really liked the new Holders that came into play and the new skills we learn about.  I enjoyed the romance, it adds to the story without being the whole focus, and Alex and Becca compliment each other so well.   And I love Alex’s Holder abilities-who wouldn’t want him around?  This is just a smart, different YA series that doesn’t feel too young.  I was sad when this book ended and I can’t wait to see where #3 goes!

As a bonus Julianna Scott has a post on the Goodreads page for The Seers with her inspirations for the book and there are some fun pictures!

4 Stars!

Interview with Lauren of Lose Time Reading!

So, we signed up for this Book Blogger Love-A-Thon deal, and, even though I’m still not sure exactly what that means, the best part was that we got paired up with another blogger to interview. It gave us a good reason to check out another blog that we might not have discovered otherwise, and it was super fun coming up with questions for Lauren. We totally enjoyed getting to know her, and you should go check out her blog too – after you read her awesome answers below!

We won’t ask why you started book blogging, because that’s right on your “about me” page. So, we’ll ask this – how has book blogging changed how you read?

The main thing it’s changed was how MUCH I read. I was still a big reader before blogging but I would read probably between 4 to 6 books a month, now I read between 10 and 15 a month! I also have much more broader tastes. I wouldn’t have considered about 95% of the books I read now prior to blogging!

So, you mention that you love organizing AND you clearly love books. Do you keep an organized TBR list? Track your book stats by different categories? (No pressure…we don’t judge either way!

Oh, I definitely love organizing! I do keep an organized TBR although lately I have been deviating from it quite a bit based on my mood. As far as my review books go I do have a TBR to follow with those otherwise it would be a disaster for me. I do track my book stats by different categories… I have Excel spreadsheets for practically anything you can think of(I would be lost without them!). I enjoy keeping track of which genre I read the most of, last year it was contemporary which was a HUGE shock to me! I also keep a bazillion shelves on Goodreads 😛

Okay, we see Divergent on your fave series list! We are not in agreement on the series (our joint review is here). What’s your take on the progression from the beginning to that end?

It’s so funny that you asked this question because lately I’ve found myself really questioning that series. I LOVED the first book, and if I read it again I probably still would. Insurgent I enjoyed as well but Tris really grated on my nerves and honestly, I think if I was to push myself through it again… both Insurgent and Allegiant would be lower ratings. I’m not sure it gave a proper ending to a series that I loved so much initially. I wouldn’t even list it as one of my favorites anymore 😦

E-reader or hard copy?

Hardcopy 100%! I do love my Kindle, it’s light and so easy to take to work but if I had to choose one for the rest of my life, I would always pick the hardcopy.

Favorite place to read?

This is boring… it’s actually my bed. I just want to be comfy when I read and curling up with a ton of pillows, my cat and a book is the perfect way!

Hey, we are terrible at WordPress and doing fancy blog things. Your blog is so pretty! What tips can you tell us to make an eye-catching blog

Thank you ❤ I don’t really have many tips honestly, except do what you love. You look at your blog more than anyone so make sure that YOU love it! Everyone has different tastes so you can’t appeal to everyone! I did a lot of Googling and looking up tutorials and design techniques. I’m constantly adding and changing things and I think that’s the funnest part. I started out on Blogger, but after a few months switched to WordPress because I wanted a bit more freedom. Well… It was terrifying once I started, I had no idea that it was a completely different than Blogger (research would have been helpful!) so I spent a good week learning how to fix things and making a layout to fit a theme. It kind of worked out in my favor though because now I can use WordPress enough to manage and I learned quite a lot! Google really is your best friend!

Favorite book-turned-movie? Least favorite?

I am definitely not someone who likes book-turned-movies but I do have a few favorites (that of course I can’t narrow down!): Anne of Green Gables, The Devil Wears Prada, The Harry Potter series, The Narnia movies, and The Notebook. I think The Hunger Games and Beautiful Creatures are probably my least favorites, at least my most recent least favorites. I didn’t dislike THG but I was just disappointed overall. I also liked a lot of Beautiful Creatures but it was much too different from the book for me to love it the same way. 

You start reading something that you’re just not digging. Put it down, or forge on?

Oh, the question of the year it seems! I’ve only recently been more open to DNFing a book. I have done it in the past but more often than not I will forge on, I just feel like it may get better and THEN what? Code Name Verity bored me to tears for the first 40% of the book but I pushed through and it’s now one of my all time favorites. Recently I have put several books aside though and I realized that I haven’t even thought about them. There are just SO many books, why waste time on something that you are not enjoying? 

Oh we see you mention a requesting/accepting review copies problem! One of us might be developing that problem! What’s the best thing about review copies – besides the obvious free books!?

I like getting the change to read books before they are in stores! I’m not really sure why, it’s just something that I always thought was interesting since I started blogging. I really enjoy being about to rave about a book on release day, tweet about how awesome it is and support different authors as well. I have also had a chance to try books I normally never would have picked up because of it! It’s a neverending cycle though… It really can become an addiction because there are just SO many eyecatching titles!

Favorite book is too hard of a question so, how’s this – what book comes to mind when you think about how much you love reading? 

This is going to be a very random answer but The Baby Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. I have read a lot since I was a little girl and my absolute favorite books were BSC. Whenever I was able to go shopping with my Mom I would make a list of titles that I still needed and then carefully pick out which ones I wanted at the bookstore. She would also take me to secondhand bookstores and I would find a lot of the ones I needed there. I cherished these books, and one of my favorite reading memories was when I was home sick from school with a head cold. I curled up in my bed and read several Super Specials. Despite being sick, I had a ton of fun that day!

^ This answer killed me! I (Holly) could totally relate! Those books were definitely the jam. Leave us a comment with your answer to that last question! (But I bet you can’t top Lauren’s!)

Review: Assassination Vacation

Title: Assassination Vacation

Author: Sarah Vowell

Reviewed by Holly

Assassination Vacation – or Sarah Vowell’s books in general – were recommended by a friend when I was talking about my growing preference for nonfiction books, particularly nonfiction that tells a good story. I googled, and realized the Sarah Vowell has been a regular contributor to This American Life. This boded well, as did the description of Assassination Vacation on Goodreads:

“Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation, she takes us on a road trip like no other — a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit, for political and cultural advantage.

From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood, reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor, remarkable honesty, and thought-provoking criticism. We learn about the jinx that was Robert Todd Lincoln (present at the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley) and witness the politicking that went into the making of the Lincoln Memorial. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue — it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including literature, architecture, sculpture, and — the author’s favorite — historical tourism. Though the themes of loss and violence are explored and we make detours to see how the Republican Party became the Republican Party, there are all kinds of lighter diversions along the way into the lives of the three presidents and their assassins, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, and a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult.”

Excellent, I thought – historical tourism with a quirky, Ira Glass-approved narrator. I was in.

When I started reading though, I didn’t take me long to realize that I was not enjoying this book. And, I had just read this post about the dilemma of reading something that you’re not digging – finish, or not? For the most part, I’m in Camp Finish. I wanted to give the book a fair shake, and I was holding out hope that it would get a little bit better.

The book is divided into 3 sections – Vowell visits sites related to the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. I was well into the Lincoln section, waiting for a chapter-break so I could put the book down for a while, when I realized that each section was a chapter, and the Lincoln “chapter” went from page 18 to 121. In and of itself, I suppose there is nothing wrong with exceedingly long chapters, but I think the reason for not breaking up the presidential sections into chunks, is that there really was no theme or ribbon or story arc to connect one incident to the next. And I don’t mean connect the Lincoln incident to Garfield, etc, but rather, to connect Vowell’s trips together. She starts Lincoln’s story while she sits in the audience of a play in Ford’s Theater, then walks over to the Library of Congress. Then next we get a history of the Surratt boardinghouse and the conspirators, followed by 3 paragraphs on the William Seward House, complete with remarks from the museum director. And suddenly next we are going to the Lincoln’s Birthday wreath ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

All this, and we’re about 11 pages into Lincoln’s section. Vowell jumps from one place to another and  from history to present day, and I just could not ever figure out where she was going and why. She doesn’t tell her pilgrimages in linear order, or in chronological order of the events, and she brings different friends and family members along on her trips who weave in and out of her narratives.

After reading the book, I have no idea if all of the escapades took place over 6 months or 4 years, and I would say that matters because I never really got a sense for why she was visiting all the sites she could related to the assassinations. She did hint at some interesting thoughts and perspectives, as well as throwing in some commentary on the then-presidential administration (W), but I was too distracted trying to keep up with what place she was visiting now, to really get a sense for her motivation – I mean, besides to write a book with a catchy title.

I did enjoy the Garfield (60 pages) and McKinley (50 pages) sections more than the Lincoln one, probably because I did not know very much about those presidents or those assassinations. Also, perhaps because there aren’t quite as many places to visit, Vowell had to slow down and give a bit more detail about each place she was visiting, which made these chapters much less jarring.

Parting Words – there were a few places where this book had great potential to be what I wanted it to be, instead of being a hotmess of just barely related visits to off-the-beaten-path historical sites. This is one of those places:

“And while I gave up God a long time ago, I never shook the habit of wanting to believe in something bigger and better than myself. So I replaced my creed of everlasting life with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ‘I believe in America,’ chants the first verse of one of my sacred texts, The Godfather. Not that I’m blind to the Psych 101 implications of trading in the martyred Jesus Christ (crucified on Good Friday) for the martyred Abraham Lincoln (shot on Good Friday).”

TWO Stars

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday – Rogue Edition

Holly

Hi. Holly here. Amanda is out-of-town and she left me unsupervised. Amateur move, sister.

Amanda usually does these Waiting on Wednesday* posts, which makes sense because, she finishes about 6 books to every 1 of mine. Generally, I can’t be bothered to look at books that haven’t even come out yet, because I’m trying to keep up reading just enough to be able to write a review every week or so. Amanda, however, clearly needs to read all of the book just to keep herself occupied on her daily commute. Don’t worry though, as of this morning, the woman has 1087 books on her to-read shelf on Goodreads. That should do her for a month or two.

Wait, where was I going, besides making fun of my best pal? Right. Waiting on Wednesday.

So, for this Holly-edition of Waiting on Wednesday, I’m not going to tell you about a not-yet-released book that I’m anticipating. I’m going to list a few books that I’m excited to read, just as soon as I finish my library books – which, incidentally, I have managed to renew 4 times since checking out. Here’s hoping I finish before I reach the renewal limit!

 

1. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed – because of this review. Well, actually just because of this line: “Cheryl Strayed can write like a motherfucker, and that talent is on display in every one of her lovely, profane, honest and frustrated columns collected in this book.” Sold.

2. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund – because, since I started trying to keep up with Amanda, I realized just how much YA dystopia, fantasy, sci-fi-sh stuff is out there, and I thought perhaps I’d try to get ahead of the game for once instead of picking up things after everyone else has raved about them (see: Divergent). A lot of the YA reviews I read don’t appeal to me, but this one? Yes. Okay, maybe everyone is already raving about this one, but haven’t seen it all over the place yet.

3. A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom – because I like to know what I’m getting myself into.

 

 

 

* Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.