Southern Reading Challenge Completed

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I finished my first reading challenge!  Woo hoo!  I joined the Southern Reading Challenge hosted by Maggie after I realized that I didn’t read many books set in the south.   We had three months to read 3 books and I did it in 2.  (I’m only bragging about this because I have 3 other challenges that have patiently been waiting for some attention ) 

My favorite of the 3 was the non-fiction Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt.  It was set in Savannah, Georgia and it was absolutely fabulous!  This went on my all-time favorite list and I envision a trip to Savannah soon!  4 1/2 stars

I also really loved When Venus Fell by Deborah Smith, a romantic family drama set in the Tennessee valley.  I loved the spunky heroine and the loving, inclusive family that was willing to take in two sisters as their own.  4 stars

I read Sights Unseen by Kaye Gibbons and thought it was good.  It takes place in North Carolina and chronicles a young girl childhood as her mother is treated for mental illness. 3 1/2 stars

I want to thank Maggie for hosting this great challenge.  I had fun and look forward to next year 🙂

Fave Film #10 – The Breakfast Club

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Breakfast Club with Estevez Estevez1985

Cast- Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy

Written and Directed by John Hughes

Five students are stuck in a Chicago high school library on a Saturday to serve a day long detention.  They start the day as the Jock, the Brain, the Criminal, the Princess, and the Kook.  After hours fighting, smoking, revealing secrets, and fighting teen hormones the five students realize that they are not as different as they originally thought.

Why I love it– I am a child of the 80’s (ages 9-19) and, for me, this is the quintessential high school movie of the 80’s.  It is about stereotypes and cliques and judging people for who they are, not where other students have pigeon-holed them.  I thought it was done perfectly and I loved each of the five for different reasons.  I do confess that when I watched this last night the Princess (Molly Ringwald), who I loved back in the day, had lost some of her luster.   Loved the cast and the story and the absurdity of it.

And let me be honest, if I was going to serve an 8 hour detention what better place than the most awesome high school library I have ever seen?!  I never knew any school to have day-long detentions, what about you?

When I was in high school I watched this so many times I could (with the help of my friends) pretty much recite the whole movie.  Sad, right?  I’m sure that the reason this movie is so high on my list is for pure nostalgia.  It takes me back to high school and it’s a fun place to revisit once in awhile.  I am pretty sure that it does not hold the same appeal across generations, but I suppose I could be wrong.

Here’s the trailer.  View the Brat Pack in all of their glory.

When Venus Fell, by Deborah Smith

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When Venus Fell by Smith Smith: Book CoverFinished 7-14-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub.1998

And those clippings might have been all that was worth telling about Venus Arinelli.  Or about any Arinelli, I guess.  We were culturally jumbled but southern clear through by the grace of a god who obviously knows where odd people will best fit it.  Yet everyone is made up of parts and pieces of their family’s music.  The saddest thing is to forget where our songs end and our parents’ begin, because each of us plays the next note for them.

Before Gib found me, I was sinking into silence.

Prologue

Venus and Ella Arinelli have been on their own for the ten years since their father died in prison where he was being held for crimes against America.  The government took everything and followed them, city to city, harassing them.  The two sisters work nightclubs as a musical duet, Venus on the piano and Ella on her violin.  Then one day an old family friend finds them and tells them about $100,000 that belongs to them, but there is a catch.

Venus, who has been taking care of her weaker sister has an understanding resentment toward the government, so when Gib Cameron shows up she is mistrustful of the ex-secret service man, even if she has dreamt of him her whole life.  Now Gib wants the sisters to come to his family’s inn in a remote, mountainous Tennessee valley to reopen the family business.  Willing to show up for the money the women find the All-American family eagerly awaiting their arrival. 

The family property has many recognizable family members and a few kooky ones and the sisters revel in the feeling of family.  It is the 30 year anniversary of their parent’s wedding on this very land, with this family and they are drawn into the family with little resistance.

This book  is the meeting of southern charm in the Cameron family and modern spunk in Venus, with her corn rows and belly ring.  At first the link between these two families seemed tenuous to me, but the story drew me in and soon I was caught up in all the family drama and everything made more sense. 

I grew to really appreciate the spunky Venus and her prickly nature.  Over the course of several months she facedthe possibility of losing her sister and a growing love for Gib and still did not lose her strong edge. 

I liked this book very much.  The story draws you in and satisfies in the end.

Yellow, by Janni Visman

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Yellow by Visman Visman: Book CoverFinished 7-11-09, rating 3.5/5 , fiction, pub. 2004

I put my orange down and roll it around the plate.  “You must have loved her very much.”

Ivan nods his head slowly.  It reminds me of a child whom one asks, “Are you lost?” who is unable to answer, the admission too great to contemplate.  He takes a sip of his water and then takes my hand in his.  “No more than I love you.”

He should have said, “Ilove you more.” I understand that this is the deal in these situations.

Wednesday

Stella is an aromatherapist whose clients come to her London flat for treatment because Stella cannot step outside her building.  She’s tried and fainted from a panic attack before reaching sunshine.  When Ivan, the gas man, comes to work in her apartment she convinces him to stay and he moves in. 

Things are going well.  She has regular clients, she has her sister and nieces to visit her, George her cat to love her, and a good relationship with Ivan.  At least until he shows up at the breakfast table wearing a gold bracelet with an inscription from an old flame and a new neighbor becomes too  interested in George.  Stella becomes paranoid about the old flame and the new neighbor.  Is she just unhinged or is thre truth to her suspicions?

Stella’s jealousy leads her to ask her sister to follow Ivan and her insecurity leads her to extreme behaviour.  Over the course of the week Stella finds just as many questions as answers and she feels her old, safe life slipping away.

This book is only 173 pages amd covers the span of five days.  Stella is obviously a troubled woman, one that I wanted to shake a few times, but she was also a sympathetic character.  The language was sparse, but beautiful and the book was a joy to read.  I admit that I did not see the end coming.  Which is part of my small problem with the book.  The end seemed to come out of nowhere, with little warning.  It felt a little off from the rest of the novel.

It was haunting and strange and I enjoyed it very much until the very end, which was a little lacking for me.

I picked this up because of the review over at Fleur Fisher reads.  Sometimes I actually get around to reading books from my wishlist!

Awards

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I have been blessed with a couple of awards in the last week.  Thanks so much!

Thanks to Natalie at  The Book Inn  and Hilarie at Never Not Reading for sending my way the Kreativ Blogger Award. In order to accept it I am supposed to list my seven favorite things and send it on to my seven favorite bloggers.

7 Favorite Things

1.  My Husband

2. My’kids’,’ Scout the cat and Max the dog

3. My family

4. Books – buying, reading, and giving!

5. Walks with my hubby

6. Jigsaw puzzles

7. Coffee

**************************************************************************

Humane AwardThis was passed on to me by Michael at A Few Minutes With Michael and Hilarie at Never Not Reading.  Michael is a new blogger, but is already showing what an asset he is to the book blogging community. 

The Humane Award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. This award is to thank them for their growing friendships through the blog world.

 And here are 3 very worthy blogs.  Violet @ Violet Crush, Teddy @The Eclectic Reader, Bonnie at Redlady’s Reading Room

 

Teaser Tuesday- When Venus Fell

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teasertuesdays31Grab your current read.  Open to a random page.  Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!).  Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This was no small thing, in the southern sense of that word.  If a person visited a home in the South for any length of time, whether for a mere one-night stay or weeks, months, even years of habitation, that visitor achieved the status of Company, meaning he or she received deluxe treatment.

When Venus Fell by Deborah Smith, page 4

Cover Image

This is my final book for the Southern Reading Challenge and I am really enjoying it!  So, what pages are you turning this week?

Visit MizB for more teasers.

 

What Book is That? Take Three

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Answers to last week’s quiz here.

Can you identify these books by their censored titles?  Leave a comment with the number, title and author.

censored titles july 09 1

1. Stitches by David Small – Beth

2. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe – Debbie

3. The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent – Kathy

4. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende – Kathy

5. Duma Key by Stephen King – Heather

censored titles july 09 2

6. The Jane Austen Book CLub by Karen Joy Fowler – Violet

7. Testimony by Anita Shreve – Debbie

8. Life of Pi by Yann Martel – Kathy

9. Wrack & Ruin by Don Lee – Gwendolyn

10. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey – Kathy

Slightly Shady, by Amanda Quick

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Cover ImageFinished 7-10-09, rating 3/5, historical romance, pub. 2001

She had to swallow twice before she could speak.  When she did eventually manage to utter a few coherent words, her voice sounded thin and it easily cracked.

“Did you murder that man?”

Tobias glanced at the body.  “No.  I got here after the killer, just as you did.  From what I can determine, Felix was killed on his front step.  The murderer must have dragged him back into this room.”

The news did little to reassure her.  “What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same question.”  He contemplated her with a considering air.  “But I have a hunch I already know the answer.  You are obviously on of Felix’s blackmail victims, are you not?”

Chapter 2

Lavinia Lake and her niece, Emeline, have been stranded in Italy and have had to make ends meet my opening an antique shop.  One night, the mysterious and brusque Tobias March barges in and demands they must leave for their own safety.  As he sends them back to London, the last thing they see is him smashing up the valuables in their shop.

Lavinia Lake is obviously still smarting from his behavior months later when they meet again, over the body of a dead man.  The two headstrong widowers are both used to taking care of things on their own and when they are forced to work together anger and resentment make it challenging for all involved.  The two are on the trail of a the last remaining member of a criminal gang and cannot stop even when it becomes dangerous because their client is paying them to protect her from harm. 

I loved the witty dialogue and the mystery, but was disappointed with the romance.  Tobias was a good character, but Lavinia was such a cold fish that I never did warm up to her.  Although I guessed the murderer pretty early on there were still many aspects that I didn’t figure out til the end. 

This is the first in a trilogy featuring Lavinia Lake (don’t you just love that name?) and Tobias March.  This book set up the trilogy nicely and although this book is not a favorite of mine I am curious enough about some of the characters – such as her niece and client- that I may look for the next book.  The two next books in the series are Don’t Look Back and Late for the Wedding.

Half Year Round Up

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Obviously, I missed the exact 6 month mark, but close enough for me!  I’ve enjoyed seeing other recaps for the year so far and thought I’d take stock of where I am.

Books read – 68    Goal for the year – 130 – This goal is definitely doable, but I’m wishing I hadn’t set my goal so high!

Books I’ve added to my Top 100 list so far this year – The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Watchers by Dean Koontz, The Time Machine by HG Wells, Joy School by Elizabeth Berg, The Pigman by Paul Zindel, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt.

Challenge Progress-

readown3

Read Your Own Books challenge – My goal is 50 and I’ve read 40 so far.  I’m feeling pretty good about this one!

A-Z Challenge – I chose the difficult path of reading a title AND and author for each letter of the alphabet.  That is 52 total.  At the moment I am 9 short, but the 2 books I’m currently reading will count for this which will get me down to 7.  Shouldn’t be a problem.

Southern Reading challenge – 3 books in 3 months.  I’ve finished 2 and have to read the last one by August 15th.  Not worried.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

everythingausten1Everything Austen challenge – 6 books or movies before Jan 1st.  I’m currently listening to my first one in the car.  Still have plenty of time.

New things on my blog this year–

My 9 in ’09 author interviews.  I’ve done 10 so far and have enjoyed the authors who have participated. I still have not gotten a male author to say yes!  I’m working on that.

Quizzes on Mondays.  Sometimes I make them too hard, but I love when you guess anyway!  My censored covers seems to be the most popular.  Maybe you’ll see it again on Monday 🙂

My favorite movie reviews.  This is relatively new.  I came up with my favorite 100 movie list and started writing mini-reviews of these movies.  I’ve only done 3 so far, but look forward to more.

And finally, the post that generated my favorite comments –I loved the responses to my Book Problem Year 2  post.  Everyone refused to believe my piles had gotten smaller!

And thanks for helping me clear my shelves. So far this year I’ve sent readers 28 books from my shelves.  I always post these on the 1st or 2nd  of each month.