Tag: Books

The Shadow Year by Hannah Richell

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The Shadow YearThe Shadow Year. Finished 5-25-14, rating 4.5/5, fiction, 416 pages, pub. 2013

On a sultry summer’s day in 1980, five friends stumble upon an abandoned lakeside cottage hidden deep in the English countryside. For Kat and her friends, it offers an escape; a chance to drop out for a while, with lazy summer days by the lake and intimate winter evenings around the fire. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise and when an unexpected visitor appears at their door, nothing will be the same again.

Three decades later, Lila arrives at the same remote cottage. With her marriage in crisis, she finds solace in renovating the tumbledown house. Little by little she wonders about the previous inhabitants. How did they manage in such isolation? Why did they leave in such a hurry, with their belongings still strewn about? Most disturbing of all, why can t she shake the feeling that someone might be watching her?                                                           (from Goodreads)

Kat and her friends are graduating from university, but they aren’t quite ready for the real world yet, so they find an abandoned cottage and decide to live off the land (which you might say is more real world than anything else!). Kat is in love with Simon, the obvious but unnamed leader, and Mac is the loner who can share his survival skills, and Ban and Cara are a couple in love.  It’s a challenge, but one that is working until Kat’s sister shows up.

Lila and her husband have just suffered a miscarriage and the marriage is in trouble.  Her father has recently died and she has mysteriously been left an isolated plot of land with a rundown shack on it.  She decides to take the opportunity to get away from her husband Tom and fix up the small house on her own.

It didn’t take me long to start disliking Kat, but the group dynamics were interesting so I liked reading about them. Lila wasn’t always the most sympathetic character either, but I didn’t dislike her, I just didn’t care as much about her story until later.  It’s obvious that these two stories were connected somehow, but the alternating storylines were told at just the right pace to keep me riveted.  I admit that the connection itself was not that surprising and even the twist at the end was one I sort of saw coming, but it was a fun ride.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from Richell.

I received this book from She Reads.  Go on over and see what other bloggers think about this one. You can take a look at her writing space (I always love this – I’m nosy) here.

 

The Invisible Man by HG Wells

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The Invisible Man by WellsThe Invisible Man. Finished 4-23-14, 2.5/5 stars, classic, 192 pages, pub.1897

Unabridged audio, 5 hours 30 minutes. Read by James Adams

I loved The Time Machine by Wells and started this book with high hopes.  A scientist finds a way to make himself invisible.  It sounds cool right?  The scientist, Griffin, does have the power, but the basic necessities of life are lost to him.  When he eats, the food can be seen moving through his system and how does he find basic shelter for himself?  Griffin isn’t very likeable, maybe due to the potion or maybe he’s just a narcissistic jerk.  He finds himself having to swaddle his body and face in clothing so he can appear human and live a real life.

The possibilities for this premise are endless and by today’s standards are definitely lacking, but even giving credit for the originality of it at the time it was published, 1899, I just couldn’t appreciate it.  This may be another case of the audio not doing the novel justicel.  I tried to listen to the audio once several years ago and only made it an hour before giving up.  I’ll be reading my next Wells, War of the Worlds,  the old-fashioned way, as it was intended.

Book problem, year 7

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Another year, another wall of unread books.  When I started blogging in 2008 I took this picture of my unread books…

 

Oh, how worried I was. “That’s Max looking a little nervous that all those books might topple over on him!  So, instead of being funny, it made me a little sad that I had gotten this far behind 😦  I will go to the book sale this weekend, but I’m taking Jason to limit my craziness.  But, then I need to spend a few months reading through my backlog before buying anything new.”

Haha!  So, silly I was to think this wasn’t going to get worse.

So, every year I recreate the wall (the same way, because I can get a little OCD about things) and then add the new books I’ve acquired.

For those of you who saw my Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon mini-challenge you will be prepared for my big reveal.

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I managed to read 25 from my stacks last year and give some more, BUT somehow I acquired (through giveaway, book sales, gifts) a net addition of 98 to my overflowing stacks.   That’s a total of 837  unread books.

Some of you may wonder how long it takes me to recreate these stacks every year.  Because I want them in the same place they were the year before I do a few hours of prep by putting the books of each stack together, then another few hours (3 maybe) to move the books to the space. I consider this my workout for the week 🙂 I count, update my lists, take a few pictures for another 45 minutes or so.   It’s always the cleanup that takes the longest, because I’m tired and do it all in a night’s time.  There is no way I’d do this when Gage was awake, I’ve had stacks fall over before, although not this year.

I took this picture a month ago and, thanks to the 24 hour read-a-thon, I’ve already read 6 and gave away 7.  Okay, okay, I’ve also acquired 7 more so the dent isn’t as large as I’d like but I’m working on it 🙂

Time to fess up.  How many books are you hoarding holding in your TBR piles?

Traveling Light for Mothers by Max Lucado & A WINNER!!

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Last week I offered to send my book, The End of Everything, to one lucky commenter.  I would have Gage choose, but he’s napping and I need the break ;).  After placing the names in a bowl, the winner is….

Mystica! 

Congratulations! I’ll be sending the book to Sri Lanka next week 🙂

 

Traveling Light for MothersTraveling Light for Mothers. Finished 4-26-14, rating 3/5, inspirational?, 120 pages, pub. 2003

I read this easy and light spiritual/inspirational book during the 24 hours read-a-thon and it was a perfect time for it.  It was my hot tub reading and it didn’t take me long to finish.  It covered self-reliance, discontent, weariness, worry, hopelessness, and guilt.    I liked the mix of scripture, stories and a splash of stats.  The chapter on weariness focused on getting enough sleep, which gave me a giggle while reading since I was trying to stay up 24 hours reading 🙂

I liked it and am happy that my cousin decided to share it with me.

 

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

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The FirebirdThe Firebird.  Finished 4-26-14, rating 4.25/5, historical fiction, 544 pages, pub. 2013

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

from Goodreads

I finished this almost a month ago so I’ll keep this short.  I loved The Winter Sea, it was my favorite read from last year, and this is a continuation of that story.  I didn’t love it as much as it’s predecessor for one big reason.  It also tells two stories, a modern one that links to a historical one, but in this book the modern story is not at all engaging.  It involves two people who can read minds and travel in time by using their paranormal abilities.  It was just to hard for me to care about Nicola and to a lesser extent, Rob.  They could do too much.  It was too easy.  This was pretty much the first third of the book so I made a slow go of it.  Once we got to Anna’s story in Imperial Russia, I loved it!  Anna is the true star and I loved every minute of her adventures.

This is my second book by Kearsley and I’m still a fan, but do feel like this could have been better.  Since I didn’t exactly fall in love with Rob in this one I’m not in a huge hurry to read The Shadowy Horses, the story told when he was a boy.  Has anyone read it?

I read this one on my Nook.

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott w/ giveaway

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The End of Everything: A NovelThe End of Everything. Finished audio 4-19-14, rating 3/5. fiction, pub. 2011

Unabridged audio 8 1/2 hours, read by Emily Bauer

Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Hood and her next-door neighbor, Evie Verver, are inseparable, best friends who swap clothes, bathing suits, and field-hockey sticks and between whom, presumably, there are no secrets. Then one afternoon, Evie disappears, and as a rabid, giddy panic spreads through the balmy suburban community, everyone turns to Lizzie for answers. Was Evie unhappy, troubled, or upset? Had she mentioned being followed? Would she have gotten into the car of a stranger?

Compelled by curiosity, Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power as the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secret after secret and begins to wonder if she knew anything at all about her best friend.

from Goodreads

Once I finished this book, the one word that kept coming to mind was creepy.  Our narrator, Lizzie, perhaps most of all.  Her reaction at the disappearance of her best friend was puzzling to me, mainly because there didn’t seem to be one.  Her almost-casual willingness to help find her was all about spending time with Mr. Verver.  There were a lot of damaged characters in this book, but none so more than Lizzie.

The writing was good and the mystery surrounding Evie kept me reading, so I’d consider checking out another from this author, but the over-sexualized barely teen girls of this one will probably leave a bad taste in my mouth for awhile.

I know lots of bloggers loved this one, so I do wonder if the narration led to some of disappointment.

I own the hardcover book (even though I listened to the audio) and since it’s not something I want to keep, I’m offering it to one of you free of charge!

Leave a comment with your email address and I’ll throw your name in to win.  I’ll draw a winner on May 15th!

Z is for Gabrielle Zevin Zeroes Zafon Zahn

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The Storied Life of A. J. FikryThe Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Finished 4-26-14.  Rating 4.5/5, 260 pages, pub. 2014

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, but large in weight. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew.      from Goodreads

I spent a few years working in bookstores and loved the experience and, most importantly, the people I worked with.  Book people are the best kind of people, diverse in all ways but their love for the written word.  So, it is no surprise that I loved this book about small town bookstore owner, A.J. Fikry.  When we first meet him he is a depressed man with no interest in being otherwise, until a surprise gift is left in his bookstore.  His life changes overnight and so does he.  He is a transplant to the small town of Alice and had never truly been embraced, but the bookstore itself becomes a community of the best kind and A.J. is swept into the this giving world when he needs it the most.

Lovers of books and small towns will surely love this breezy book, but anyone who appreciates a look into the mind of a life turned around by love will probably like it too.  I think this would make a great tv show. I would love to hang out with these characters once a week to get my literary fix.  Loved every page!

I received this book from She Reads.  Go on over and see what other bloggers think about this one.  HURRY and you can enter to win a free copy!  

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Blogging from A to Z

authorCarlos Ruiz Zafon

I’ve only read The Shadow of the Wind, but I loved it.

movieZero Dark Thirty, 2012

Surprisingly good, with a great female lead.

actorSteven Zahn

Never a lead, but always solid (Reality Bites & You’ve Got Mail being favorites)

bookThe Zero Game by Brad Meltzer

I listened to this one on a road trip when it came out and liked it well enough.  And it starts with Z and that means my A to Z April challenge is officially over.  And just in time because I’m exhausted 🙂

 

T is for There’s To Toms Thoreau with Taylor

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The Doll (Vanessa Michael Munroe Series #3)The Doll by Taylor Stevens. Finished 4-15-14, pub. 2013

Unabridged audio read by Hillary Huber.  14 hours.

I read the first two books in this series and really liked them both, and chose to listen to this one on audio and may have liked it even better that way!

Vanessa Michael Munroe is a tough woman in a man’s world.  She makes her living finding information and selling it to businessmen who need it to make a deal.  She speaks over 20 languages which serves her well since she spends most of her time overseas, blending in with the natives wherever she goes, even passing as a man is if serves her well.  If she doesn’t find trouble first, trouble finds her.  She is enjoying some resemblance of a normal life in Dallas when she is drugged and taken to another country and thrown into the web of human trafficking.

Perfect for international thriller fans and those who like kick butt females.   This was my favorite of the series so far, but do think that if you want to read these books they are best read in order (The Informationist) (The Innocent).

Blogging from A to Z

movieThere’s Something About Mary, 1998

One of my ten ten favorite movies.  This raunchy, perfect-for-teen-boys humor is not my thing at all.  I remember feeling embarrassed at some of the crude things I laughed at when I saw it at the theater.  It was not in my comfort zone, and yet at its heart it was a love story between two characters that I loved and was rooting for the whole way.  It made me laugh and it satisfied my goofy heart.

bookTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I was reading this classic southern novel when we rescued a kitten and she promptly received the name Scout.  It’s a shame this was Harper Lee’s only book.

authorHenry David Thoreau

Transcendentalist writer, who was introduced to the movement by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Emerson is even the one who loaned Thoreau Walden Pond, for his two-year experiement.  Open your mind and delve in!

actorTIE! Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise

Tom Hanks is the more likeable author, but when I look at a list of both of the Toms movies I find that it’s Cruise that has been in more of my favorite movies (Collateral, A Few Good Men, Rain Man) and his role as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder stole the show.

 

R is for Red Roberts Rocks Reeves

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The Cleveland Local (Milan Jacovich Series #8)The Cleveland Local by Les Roberts. Finished 4-20-14, rating 4.25/5, mystery, pub. 1997

Milan Jacovich series #8

I love this old school mystery series set in Cleveland and this was one of my favorites.  Milan is a 43-year-old divorced dad who often finds trouble when his private investigator gig lands him in hot water.   This time that hot water will take him to the resort at San Carlos in the Caribbean.  The murder trail is cold and the Cleveland man was far from home so Milan rattles a few cages and almost gets himself killed.

I liked the relationship aspect of this one.  Milan is developing a great relationship with his oldest son and his long-time friendship with Marko, of the police department, is full of affection.  The two bachelors even consider trying to find a special someone again.

Any fan of hard broiled, private investigator mysteries will like this great, well-written series.  For me, Cleveland was the draw, but it’s the characters that keep me reading.

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Blogging from A to Z

authorLes Roberts

Les Roberts is a Cleveland transplant (like me) but is now a favorite son (me, not so much).  I’ve met and heard him speak three times, plus one time on a panel at Bouchercon, and he has one of the best voices I’ve heard.  Not only does he represent Cleveland in a very real way he also is active for local charities, using character names to raise money at silent auctions. One day, maybe you’ll see my name in print!  I’ll keep you posted 🙂  Here’s the last time I met Les (comes with a bonus pic of baby Gage).

actorKeanu Reeves

As far as I can tell, I have seen Keanu in 27 movies.    I don’t know if he would make any best actor list, but since I love to watch him onscreen he makes me favorite list every time.  He’s come a long way since Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures (loved it).

movieRocky series

I really hate boxing. I don’t understand just standing there beating each other up for money.  That probably just makes me a wimp 🙂  So, imagine my surprise that I love the Rocky series (well, they could have skipped 5).  Any other fans out there?

bookRed Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

I read this one right after college and remember loving it and how it defined the Civil War in all of its ugliness.

 

L is for Lord Lion Lindbergh on Lolly Lane

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Gift from the SeaGift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Rating 5/5, memoir?, 142 pages, pub. 1955

I cannot possibly do this book of poetic beauty justice.  The views of Lindbergh can be considered old-fashioned and antiquated, and they are, but that should not diminish the truth behind her words.  As women, we all still struggle with finding time alone, relationships, midlife, aging.  This slim memoir is to be savored one small chapter at a time and by those who can appreciate that it was written in a different, but no less significant period.  Lindbergh lived a privileged (and in some ways tragic) life, but her words can be appreciated by every woman.  I set aside time to fully appreciate each chapter with no outside noise or time constraints (a difficult task), and felt that I had visited and been restored by the sea.

From my personal library and I loved it.

Blogging from A to Z

 

movieThe Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2001, 2002, 2003

This trilogy, based on the fantasy books by JRR Tolkien, is based in Middle Earth during a dangerous time.  The dark lord Sauron wants to rule over Middle Earth and he must find the One Ring that can make that possible.  The wizard Gandalf, four hobbits, two men, an elf, and a dwarf form a fellowship to destroy the ring, but there are many evil forces at work and they don’t all make it to the end.

Loved every minute of this series, in no small part due to this man

(swoon)

actorDiane Lane

I fell in love with her when I saw  A Walk on the Moon (who also happens to feature that swoon-worthy man above), then I saw  Under the Tuscan Sun and it cemented her place as one of my favorite actresses.

bookThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Who didn’t want to find a secret door in their house to step through for adventure after reading this?  One of children’s books that I think has aged well.

authorLolly Winston

Only two books and I loved them both.  Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately.  She hasn’t written a book in ages, but I’ll be first in line when she does!