Finished 11-14-11, rating 2.5/5, romance, 250 pages, pub. 1982

Joanna is a rich girl from California.  Linc is a ridge runner from the Kentucky Ozarks.  When they meet sparks fly and not in a good way, but then Joanna surprises Linc by her kindness, and a different kind of spark ignites.

This is another 1980’s romance I found in an old box from my parents house and I needed a quick read for Kentucky.  I liked the little bit of history about the Ozarks and some of the popular superstitions there.  I’d never heard of foxfire before.  (see the Wikipedia definition and photos here)  I would like to see nature’s foxfire magic someday.

The actual story is fairly typical, although there was a secondary romance that was enjoyable.  The problems with some of these older romances, especially by certain authors (Dailey included) is that they really seem dated.  And the characters always seem to fall in love in what seems like the blink of an eye. Not much depth here, but a quick read.

This is from my personal library.

Finished 5-12-11, rating 2.5/5, fiction, 617 pages, pub. 1989

John and Owen have been best friends forever.  There wasn’t anything they didn’t talk about or share.  Even when Owen killed John’s mom in a fluke of fate their relationship was solid.  John narrates this story of Owen Meany, the small boy with the strange and scary voice who comes from the quarry with nothing to recommend him but his sharp mind.  The story follows their friendship over the many years and then some.

I wanted to like this book.  I expected to love this book.  The reason it was on my shelf was because I picked it up years ago after so many of my fellow booksellers told me I had to read it.  It would change my life. Then I let my fellow blogger friends choose my reading material and 10 of you, bloggers I love and trust, voted for this one.  So, I have to assume the problem is with me and I am one of a handful of people who did not like this one.  If I had not promised to read this I would have given up after I was 150 pages in last summer.

So, why didn’t I like it?  The details, all of those tedious details, made the story travel at a snail’s pace and I felt like I was reading in quicksand.  Not that I didn’t like Owen or the grandmother and Dan, but it was hard to maintain my enthusiasm.  It was a little like reading someone’s daily diary.  There’s some good stuff in there, but you have to wade through all the rest of the stuff no one but the diarist cares about.

It is very political and anti-church (not anti-God).  I had no problem with either of these issues.  I actually agreed with most of Irving’s thoughts here.  But that was probably part of the problem for me.  I felt like I was reading very long paragraphs and sometimes pages of Irving’s views that did little to advance the story.

Okay, so please don’t hate me for not liking this one.  There were parts I loved, I enjoyed their time and exploits at the Academy.  This was my favorite part of the novel.  I was charmed by Owen, but not enough.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Mary, Kathy, Hannah, Linda, Em, Jennifer, MsMazzola, Jessica, Mille, and Margie.  Here’s what they had to say…

“The best structured suspense novel I’ve ever read. I’m not a huge fan of Irving, but this one makes it on to my best books list all the time.”  Mille

“I love Irving, he is funny and Owen Meany will break your heart.”  MsMazzola

“Because I’m hoping to read it in 2010, too.”  Jennifer

“I tried other books by this author and couldn’t get into them, but I loved Owen Meany and have recommended it to others.”  Linda

“Classic. Needs to be read.”  Em

“It’s very readable and an instant classic.”  Hannah

“You will be charmed by Owen.”  Kathy

“Because it’s very readable and a classic.”  Mary

Finished 4-25-11, rating 2.5/5, romance, 293 pages, pub. 1984

It was well known around Russellville, Alabama, that Tommy Lee Gentry drove like a rebellious seventeen-year-old, drank like a parolee fresh out, and whored like a lumberjack at the first spring thaw.  He owned a four-wheel-drive Blazer for his hunting trips, a sixteen-foot runabout for his fishing trips, and a white Cadillac El Dorado to impress the town in general.  He was rarely seen driving any of them without an open beer or an on-the-rocks glass in his hand, more often than not with one arm around some carmine-lipped floozy from up Muscle Shoals way, his left hand dangling limply over the steering wheel and a burning cigarette clamped between his strong white teeth.

first paragraph

Tommy Lee and Rachel were raised together.  They lived next door to each other and their parents were good friends.  When they fall in love as teenagers it was no surprise to anyone.  What was a surprise to the teens was an unexpected pregnancy and a major push from their parents to keep them apart when they needed each other the most.  Now they are both 41 and there are no obstacles between them except the lives they’ve lived while apart.

If you enjoyed the first paragraph I included and would like to know more about Tommy Lee, then this is the book for you.  For me, the story wasn’t deep enough.  Obviously, being a romance and all, Rachel’s love was going to reform the wild Tommy Lee, but unfortunately, I was never really drawn in. Somehow the two of them lived in the same smallish town for over 20 years and yet they never spoke or saw each other.  The missing years made no sense to me.  And I don’t think this is Spencer’s best writing.  It was one of her earlier books and it did feel dated.  I used to gobble up Spencer’s romances as a teen and I remember loving a few of them.  This one was not one of them, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to read the rest of the ones in my stacks.  I just won’t be rushing to do so.  Do you have a favorite LaVyrle Spencer romance?

This was from my personal library.

Finished 1-30-11, rating 2/5, Christian fiction, 266 pages, pub. 2010

“If you think about it that way,” Brian said, “then the ones living in disobedience caused the babies to die.”

Jason felt a flush of pride in his heart for his son.  “That’s right, son.  Our national defense is not in our satellites or computers.  It is not in our military or planes or submarines.  It’s in God alone.  The rest of those things are merely tools.  I think that’s what that preacher was trying to say.”

“I don’t know if all Christians believe that way,” Valerie said, “but we rely on it.”

Julie sat back on the bench.  “You rely on the belief that God will find some way to protect those who are obedient to Him?”

Jason nodded.  “We were protected from the missile attack, and with this boat He will keep us protected for the rest of the mess that’s coming.”

Chapter 9

What would you do if instantly you did not have access to everything you needed for your day-to-day life?  No electricity, no water, no accessible money, no fuel, no food.  That’s what happens to Jason and 80% of the United States when a series of nuclear attacks takes out our electricity.  Things fall to chaos, but Jason and his family are lucky enough to have a boat and live in South Carolina close enough to the ocean that they gather supplies and almost immediately board the boat and take it out to the outer islands to weather the terrorist storm.

So, this is why I agreed to read the book.  I really liked the premise and the fact that the author had some relevant experience as a Navy man and one who had worked in the power distribution field.  His knowledge gave this story some weight in my view.  He’s in the know as far as what could happen, right?  And what could happen is scary.  I loved the first few chapters.  The first chapter was the best one and asks the question husband and I are still talking about.  What would we do with only the resources we have right now.  It’s a great question.

But as much as I loved the premise and first chapter the rest of the novel became less about the terrorist attacks and mostly a religious and political book.  If you like the tidbit I gave you above then you would enjoy this book.  But it was way too heavy-handed for me.  It was less a story than a way to express how some view the end times.  It was about halfway through that I really felt it completely falling apart for me as a story.  And by the end when liberals and atheists were linked together as to why this county had been attacked and why this was no longer a great country, well, I was more than ready for it to be over.

I think church groups would find a lot to discuss in this one. 

This book was generously sent to me by the author.

Finished 1-7-11, rating 2.5/5, thriller, 466 pages, pub. 2007

“You’re lying,” Warren said, still clutching the gun beside his leg.  “I have to say, that’s the last thing I expected from you.”

Laurel refused to acknowledge the gun’s existence, yet it filled her mind with terrifying power.  Where had Warren gotten a pistol?  He owned a rifle and a shotgun, but so far as she knew, there wasn’t a single handgun in the house.  Yet he was holding on now.  Should she acknowledge it?  Was it riskier to pretend the gun wasn’t there?  Would that reinforce the idea that she was lying?  Warren was almost hiding it from her, though.  For now, she decided, she would pretend she hadn’t seen it.

Chapter 5

Laurel had been having an affair for a year before she broke it off when Danny refused to leave his wife.  Now, five weeks later, Laurel has just found out she is pregnant and she doesn’t know who the father is.  She goes home early from work with a migraine and finds her husband waiting for her with a gun.  So, begins a long day of killing, sacrificing, lying, hostages, and discovery. 

I did not like Laurel.  She had two kids and was having an affair with the father of her autistic student.  She was angry that he hadn’t left his wife when he said he would and her pregnancy was just the icing on the cake.  I did not like her husband, Warren, who was clearly off his rocker and I did not like Danny, although he was supposed to be a sympathetic figure.  The fact that all three of these adults had such little regard for the kids made me angry.  I think I was supposed to see all the shades of gray of each of these characters, but some of their actions were so black and white that it was hard to make excuses for them.

Even with all that being said, Iles does know how to write a gripping thriller, so I did finish it, but I really wasn’t all that caught up in all the drama.  I’ve loved the other Iles books I’ve read but this one didn’t do it for me.

This book was from my personal library.

Finished 9-3-10, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 2003

Sequel to When the Wind Blows

I remember reading When the Wind Blows when it came out and really liking it.  I think it may have been my first Patterson novel.   It is about six genetically engineered children who were stolen from their parents and experimented on in secret.  They were rescued by Frannie, a veterinarian, and Kit, and FBI agent. 

Fast forward to this sequel and Frannie and Kit are suing the biological parents for custody, because they love the children so much.  The children, with bird genes, have imprinted Frannie and Kit as their true parents.  The media are fascinated by these children who can fly and the courthouse is bedlam.  When the dust settles the children are sent to their individual homes and a new set of bad guys comes for them. They escape together and find Frannie who finds Kit.

No disrespect to the five people who chose this for me (sorry Mom), but I thought this was bad.  I thought Frannie and Kit were selfish.  The bad guy and his clones said the silliest things.  I thought the love/sex story between 12 year olds Max and Oz was terrible.  Here’s a sample…

“Max, you are very young!” I said. “And you, too, Oz.”

“In human years Frannie.  But we’re more than human,” Max said.  “We’re special, remember?  And we’re also in love.  Deeply, passionately, wonderfully in love.”

She combed her hair with her fingers and tied it up into a loose knot.  “Our bird genes makes us mature for our age.  In fact, I think we’re probably about your age,” she added, her eyes twinkling irresistibly.  “You’re old enough to mate, aren’t you?”

She had me there.

Chapter 81

It was told in true Patterson style with alternating viewpoints and lots of sentence long paragraphs and even more exclamation points.  Um, I can’t recommend this book to anyone.  If you liked When the Wind Blows, reread it instead of looking for a great sequel here.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Donna, GMR, Mom, Sue and Rebecca.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I am totally a fan. I like the Maximum Ride Series but they are not as good as the original Max stories of When the Wind Blows and the Lake House.”  Rebecca

“Awesome writer and a great book.”  GMR

“I havent read this one yet but Patterson’s books never fail to have something in there to surprise me.”  Donna