Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: The renovation of her grandmother's house changes Willa's life and the town of Walls of Water in unexpected ways.
This book was a major disappointment to me, lacking the wonder and joy that Sarah Addison Allen's previous books have. In fact, If think her writing has actually gone downhill with each subsequent novel, though I still recommend Garden Spells to almost everyone.
The invitations go out to everyone, celebrating the renovation of the Blue Ridge Madam, the house that Willa's grandmother lived in many years ago, and the reinstatement of the Women's Club that was once such an integral part of this town. Of course, that old peach tree must come down. The grandmothers of the last two founding women, Paxton Osgood and Willa Jackson, are in the same nursing home in town. When Agatha Osgood troubles herself to visit Georgie Jackson all the way over on the other side of the nursing home, the two women, one blind and one catatonic, both know their terrible secret will be revealed. Can you guess?
By page 54, I could predict that they would find a long-buried body under the peach tree. Whose body could it be. And who murdered him? You can guess, and I foolishly read the 200 other pages of the book, just to have it confirmed that yes, Paxton's brother would end up getting together with Willa and that Paxton's friendship with Sebastian would turn into something more.
This book was predictable and cliched: a barista who can tell what people need by their drink, a magic wind that whispers, a slick con man who deserved to die. Read a different Sarah Addison Allen book or anything else.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
August Rejects
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
I try to give each book at least 50 pages, but with so many great books out there (and two book clubs a month), I want to spend my time reading books I actually enjoy. I'd rather not spend time writing full reviews on books I Did Not Finish. This list includes the books I picked up and rejected in August:
Fourth Sunday: The Journey of a Book Club by B. W. Read
Summary (from the back of the book):"Over two years, the women undergo a number of trials within their own lives as they confront divorce, illness, romantic highs and lows, sexual experimentation, and career challenges. Throughout the good times and bad times, their book club family provides support, encouragement, laughter, and love." I thought our book club was so unique and special when we each wrote one chapter from our memoirs and then compiled them in an anthology. We were too late in thinking we created another stunt genre because a book club based in D.C. wrote their own novel. Unfortunately, it's terrible. B.W. Read stands for Because We Read. The book was written in a James Patterson style: lots of short chapters, leading/hinting sentences and immediate back story.
I try to give each book at least 50 pages, but with so many great books out there (and two book clubs a month), I want to spend my time reading books I actually enjoy. I'd rather not spend time writing full reviews on books I Did Not Finish. This list includes the books I picked up and rejected in August:
Fourth Sunday: The Journey of a Book Club by B. W. Read
Summary (from the back of the book):"Over two years, the women undergo a number of trials within their own lives as they confront divorce, illness, romantic highs and lows, sexual experimentation, and career challenges. Throughout the good times and bad times, their book club family provides support, encouragement, laughter, and love." I thought our book club was so unique and special when we each wrote one chapter from our memoirs and then compiled them in an anthology. We were too late in thinking we created another stunt genre because a book club based in D.C. wrote their own novel. Unfortunately, it's terrible. B.W. Read stands for Because We Read. The book was written in a James Patterson style: lots of short chapters, leading/hinting sentences and immediate back story.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life by Sandra Beasley
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: A woman's recounting of life and food allergies.
Initial thoughts after reading this book: I'm so glad we're not Catholic. Also, could my prenatal vitamins have caused my daughter's wheat allergy?
Sandra Beasley is lucky to be alive. Given the types of food she's allergic to (egg, beef, shrimp, milk (even goat's milk), soy, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish and mustard) she takes many risks with her diet and constantly recounts her allergic attacks in this book. She doesn't ask what's in drinks, preferring instead to be a good sport, then vomits and spends the night huddled on the couch in a Benadryl-induced haze. Her reluctance to manage her significant food allergies annoyed me, as if she kept trying to prove how normal she was and how she's suffers, just by bravely going along.
But Beasley, along with many people with food allergies, doesn't use her epi-pen, because she doesn't want to be a freak. She also doesn't want to automatically go to the E.R. It also made me wonder if perhaps Beasley's symptoms are psychosomatic, that she enjoys drawing attention from whomever is the star of the day - a new bride, an engaged friend, a birthday girl. It's so unsympathetic, I know, but her reactions, combined with her food allergies and her reluctance to use effective medicine, makes me suspicious.
As Dr. Phil would ask, "How's that working for ya?" It works quite well, because Beasley simply does NOT take care of herself, instead preferring the coddling and special attention she gets. My daughter does have allergies, and we are VERY careful to avoid exposure, bringing instead special cupcakes to birthday parties and always providing safe, fun snacks. But Beasley will take "one bite" pretending that she's being polite, but then undergoing a reaction.
I thought the book lacked structure, hopping from subject and time period, with little cohesiveness. We are introduced to her childhood allergies, then college, years, then her current boyfriend, then a previous boyfriend, with an unclear narrative direction. It surprised me to find out that Beasley was actually a writer, since this book was not an easy read. Perhaps her food reviews (yes, we all appreciate the irony of an allergic food writer) require only a few words, and not the smooth transitions required in a book.
I did like the part on wheat allergies and the Catholic Church's stand on the gluten in the communion wafer the best. Apparently, the body of Christ can only be found in wheat wafers, and the Catholic church suggests taking only part of the wafer as gluten-free wafer, are not acceptable according to the Catholic Church. This was the part that made me glad we're not Catholic.
The other fascinating part of the book, for me, focused on Beasley's visit to a food allergy conference. She encounters charts displays, diagrams and giveaways. I wanted more discussion about the link between the increase of prenatal folic acid and allergies, or the Hygiene Hypothesis or other suggested causes of food allergies. Case studies of adult she knows, and how they manage their own food allergies with their children in the house did redeem the book slightly, but seemed thrown in at the end. I wish I could recommend this book, but the poor writing and the author's self-abuse by eating allergenic foods bothered me too much.
Summary: A woman's recounting of life and food allergies.
Initial thoughts after reading this book: I'm so glad we're not Catholic. Also, could my prenatal vitamins have caused my daughter's wheat allergy?
Sandra Beasley is lucky to be alive. Given the types of food she's allergic to (egg, beef, shrimp, milk (even goat's milk), soy, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish and mustard) she takes many risks with her diet and constantly recounts her allergic attacks in this book. She doesn't ask what's in drinks, preferring instead to be a good sport, then vomits and spends the night huddled on the couch in a Benadryl-induced haze. Her reluctance to manage her significant food allergies annoyed me, as if she kept trying to prove how normal she was and how she's suffers, just by bravely going along.
But Beasley, along with many people with food allergies, doesn't use her epi-pen, because she doesn't want to be a freak. She also doesn't want to automatically go to the E.R. It also made me wonder if perhaps Beasley's symptoms are psychosomatic, that she enjoys drawing attention from whomever is the star of the day - a new bride, an engaged friend, a birthday girl. It's so unsympathetic, I know, but her reactions, combined with her food allergies and her reluctance to use effective medicine, makes me suspicious.
As Dr. Phil would ask, "How's that working for ya?" It works quite well, because Beasley simply does NOT take care of herself, instead preferring the coddling and special attention she gets. My daughter does have allergies, and we are VERY careful to avoid exposure, bringing instead special cupcakes to birthday parties and always providing safe, fun snacks. But Beasley will take "one bite" pretending that she's being polite, but then undergoing a reaction.
I thought the book lacked structure, hopping from subject and time period, with little cohesiveness. We are introduced to her childhood allergies, then college, years, then her current boyfriend, then a previous boyfriend, with an unclear narrative direction. It surprised me to find out that Beasley was actually a writer, since this book was not an easy read. Perhaps her food reviews (yes, we all appreciate the irony of an allergic food writer) require only a few words, and not the smooth transitions required in a book.
I did like the part on wheat allergies and the Catholic Church's stand on the gluten in the communion wafer the best. Apparently, the body of Christ can only be found in wheat wafers, and the Catholic church suggests taking only part of the wafer as gluten-free wafer, are not acceptable according to the Catholic Church. This was the part that made me glad we're not Catholic.
The other fascinating part of the book, for me, focused on Beasley's visit to a food allergy conference. She encounters charts displays, diagrams and giveaways. I wanted more discussion about the link between the increase of prenatal folic acid and allergies, or the Hygiene Hypothesis or other suggested causes of food allergies. Case studies of adult she knows, and how they manage their own food allergies with their children in the house did redeem the book slightly, but seemed thrown in at the end. I wish I could recommend this book, but the poor writing and the author's self-abuse by eating allergenic foods bothered me too much.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: Just after their marriage, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy solve a mystery.
You know by now how much I adore Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And I'm constantly reading books inspired by or involving the characters. This book, which takes place just after Darcy and Elizabeth get married, is really closest in tone (style, syntax) to P&P.
While there is quite a bit more informality between Darcy and Elizabeth, it gave me a small thrill to see them happily married. Soon after their marriage, Miss Caroline Bingley - yes, the same Caroline Bingley who practically destroyed Jane's chance at happiness in P&P - marries an American. That night, she is seen wandering the street, about to be attacked by footpads. Darcy rescues her, and Elizabbeth and Darcy take the new Mrs. Parrish home. After an incident during riding and a botched suicide attempt, Bingley and Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Hurst (Charles and Caroline's married sister) decide to host Mr. and Mrs. Parrish and a Professor of Religious Artifacts and Mr. Parrish's friend at Netherfield, in an attempt to heal Caroline. Darcy and Elizabeth are loyal, so they accompany everyone to Netherfield and stay with them. The book dragged in the middle, but jumps right into the problems.
Bingley and Caroline are involved in a potentially fatal carriage accident, there's a damaging housefire at Netherfield and a stabbing. Who is the intended victim here? Is it Bingley and his fortune? Caroline Parrish? Darcy? Together, and separately, Elizabeth and Darcy solve the mystery and save the day.
While the writing was not as good as Austen's, I look forward to many more novels featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy.
Summary: Just after their marriage, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy solve a mystery.
You know by now how much I adore Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And I'm constantly reading books inspired by or involving the characters. This book, which takes place just after Darcy and Elizabeth get married, is really closest in tone (style, syntax) to P&P.
While there is quite a bit more informality between Darcy and Elizabeth, it gave me a small thrill to see them happily married. Soon after their marriage, Miss Caroline Bingley - yes, the same Caroline Bingley who practically destroyed Jane's chance at happiness in P&P - marries an American. That night, she is seen wandering the street, about to be attacked by footpads. Darcy rescues her, and Elizabbeth and Darcy take the new Mrs. Parrish home. After an incident during riding and a botched suicide attempt, Bingley and Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Hurst (Charles and Caroline's married sister) decide to host Mr. and Mrs. Parrish and a Professor of Religious Artifacts and Mr. Parrish's friend at Netherfield, in an attempt to heal Caroline. Darcy and Elizabeth are loyal, so they accompany everyone to Netherfield and stay with them. The book dragged in the middle, but jumps right into the problems.
Bingley and Caroline are involved in a potentially fatal carriage accident, there's a damaging housefire at Netherfield and a stabbing. Who is the intended victim here? Is it Bingley and his fortune? Caroline Parrish? Darcy? Together, and separately, Elizabeth and Darcy solve the mystery and save the day.
While the writing was not as good as Austen's, I look forward to many more novels featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: Montana firefighters find romance during the fire season.
Nora Roberts must be having a mid-life crisis or lots of senior sex. (She's 61.) In this book, the heroine's father finds romance as well, and even though I know that older people do have sex, the sex scenes seemed more intense than usual.
The romance of Rowan's father and a middle-aged divorced principal took on greater weight in the story, likely because Roberts herself is on her recent second marriage and won't have to worry about birth control any more. Nah! But she does have adult kids, who likely are struggling with her new romance, the Rowan struggled with her father's.
Lately, with the exception of the Bride quartet, her main female characters are adrenaline junkies, with men who are protective, yet like tough broads. In this one, Rowan Tripp is a "salsa-eating, tequila-downing, smoke-jumping stunner with brains and a wicked uppercut."
I figured out the villain pretty early on in the book, and kept wondering why such a smart woman was so stupid! But it also may be that I totally know Roberts' work and can guess the villains, too. The romance didn't have that many obstacles, and that was really nice. If you're a Nora Roberts fan, this review won't sway you either way. But if you're new to her (what, do you live under a rock?), this would not be the one I would recommend. That would be Angels Fall, which was also made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear.
Summary: Montana firefighters find romance during the fire season.
Nora Roberts must be having a mid-life crisis or lots of senior sex. (She's 61.) In this book, the heroine's father finds romance as well, and even though I know that older people do have sex, the sex scenes seemed more intense than usual.
The king became a stallion, rearing over his mate.Whoa!
When she cried out, fisting around him in climax, his blood beat in triumph. And letting himself go, he rode that triumph over the edge.
The romance of Rowan's father and a middle-aged divorced principal took on greater weight in the story, likely because Roberts herself is on her recent second marriage and won't have to worry about birth control any more. Nah! But she does have adult kids, who likely are struggling with her new romance, the Rowan struggled with her father's.
Lately, with the exception of the Bride quartet, her main female characters are adrenaline junkies, with men who are protective, yet like tough broads. In this one, Rowan Tripp is a "salsa-eating, tequila-downing, smoke-jumping stunner with brains and a wicked uppercut."
I figured out the villain pretty early on in the book, and kept wondering why such a smart woman was so stupid! But it also may be that I totally know Roberts' work and can guess the villains, too. The romance didn't have that many obstacles, and that was really nice. If you're a Nora Roberts fan, this review won't sway you either way. But if you're new to her (what, do you live under a rock?), this would not be the one I would recommend. That would be Angels Fall, which was also made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David & Kirstin Uhrenholdt
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: Advice and suggestions from celebrities, nutritionists, chefs and parents about how to connect with your children during the dinner hour.
This book was like the September Issue of Vogue magazine, but for dinner. It's not quite a cohesive book, but a series of short articles, recipes, ideas and games to make eating dinner as a family a goal.
However, it's inspiring and thought-provoking. I loved it. Laurie David, wife of Larry David (Seinfeld co-creator) and environmentalist, hired a chef to cook for her when her work got too involved for her to cook for her kids and still eat together. Their cook Kirstin Uhrenholdt provides many of the recipes but celebrity chefs from Cat Cora to Mark Bittman (currently my new foodie crush) share recipes. Hiring a personal chef is ridiculous to me, but keep in mind they live in Hollywood, where there's often more money than sense. However, if I could afford a personal chef, I would in a heartbeat.
The book talks about meatless Mondays, alternative protein sources and ways to eat better without hurting the earth. There are also game a discussion ideas (my kids eagerly played long), gardening advice, storage advice - really, a little bit of everything; just like a magazine.
What I really wanted, and partially got, were guidelines for how we should act as a family together. Laurie's 10 steps are what I wanted even if Step Five: Everyone Tries Everything led to table pounding, slammed plates and one child in tears.There's also advice from Ellyn Sattler, one of the food experts and someone with whose philosophy I struggle.
I so want my husband to read this book, but he's too busy. (Yes, I do appreciate the irony.) But this advice only reinforces the ways I can practice my beliefs about good citizenship, parenting, and nutrition. My only disappointment was that there was only a casual mention of food allergies and sensitivities, but planning meals when two children have different food issues is difficult even for a nutritionist, and not just a busy mom who loves to read.
Summary: Advice and suggestions from celebrities, nutritionists, chefs and parents about how to connect with your children during the dinner hour.
This book was like the September Issue of Vogue magazine, but for dinner. It's not quite a cohesive book, but a series of short articles, recipes, ideas and games to make eating dinner as a family a goal.
However, it's inspiring and thought-provoking. I loved it. Laurie David, wife of Larry David (Seinfeld co-creator) and environmentalist, hired a chef to cook for her when her work got too involved for her to cook for her kids and still eat together. Their cook Kirstin Uhrenholdt provides many of the recipes but celebrity chefs from Cat Cora to Mark Bittman (currently my new foodie crush) share recipes. Hiring a personal chef is ridiculous to me, but keep in mind they live in Hollywood, where there's often more money than sense. However, if I could afford a personal chef, I would in a heartbeat.
The book talks about meatless Mondays, alternative protein sources and ways to eat better without hurting the earth. There are also game a discussion ideas (my kids eagerly played long), gardening advice, storage advice - really, a little bit of everything; just like a magazine.
What I really wanted, and partially got, were guidelines for how we should act as a family together. Laurie's 10 steps are what I wanted even if Step Five: Everyone Tries Everything led to table pounding, slammed plates and one child in tears.There's also advice from Ellyn Sattler, one of the food experts and someone with whose philosophy I struggle.
I so want my husband to read this book, but he's too busy. (Yes, I do appreciate the irony.) But this advice only reinforces the ways I can practice my beliefs about good citizenship, parenting, and nutrition. My only disappointment was that there was only a casual mention of food allergies and sensitivities, but planning meals when two children have different food issues is difficult even for a nutritionist, and not just a busy mom who loves to read.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A Spy in the House (The Agency 1) by Y.S. Lee
Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!
Summary: A clandestine women's detective agency operates in Victorian London.
Mary Quinn is saved from the gallows at age twelve and is reared in a girls finishing school. When she grows bored with her safe life, she is invited by the headmistress there to train and becomes a spy for The Agency. Dun dun dun. What I hoped for would be details of the training, and quirky teachers, but instead her training was glossed over and we jump to Mary's first job.
She is expected to find details about English cargo ships that have been sunk, and whether or not the owner, Mr. Therold is committing fraud. There's also a main agent who's working on this case, but Mary serves in the Therold house as companion to Mr. Therold's spoiled heiress daughter Angelica. The case didn't seem that urgent or important and I also couldn't figure out what the urgency was, although Mary is under a two week time limit.
Despite a few plot holes and red herrings (I NEVER suspected the true villain), I enjoyed this story. It is chick lit? Hardly. Historical fiction? Yes, a bit. A romance? Barely. Although as a mystery, it felt very reminiscent of its time. Have you read any of the Sherlock Holmes
mysteries? They are quite good and this book seemed to be similar in pacing and tone.
I am eager to discover who else works in The Agency. Having women who work in Victorian households in that sort of in-between status (governesses, companions, etc) and are also secret spies has been done before, multiple times in romance novels, but having an Agency place them? Well, that's a delightful twist. I wanted more of the Agency. Who founded it? Why? What's that story? How could other women in the agency identify each other? Is there anybody inside the royal household? I will be reading more of this series, but won't feel a need to rush through them.
Summary: A clandestine women's detective agency operates in Victorian London.
Mary Quinn is saved from the gallows at age twelve and is reared in a girls finishing school. When she grows bored with her safe life, she is invited by the headmistress there to train and becomes a spy for The Agency. Dun dun dun. What I hoped for would be details of the training, and quirky teachers, but instead her training was glossed over and we jump to Mary's first job.
She is expected to find details about English cargo ships that have been sunk, and whether or not the owner, Mr. Therold is committing fraud. There's also a main agent who's working on this case, but Mary serves in the Therold house as companion to Mr. Therold's spoiled heiress daughter Angelica. The case didn't seem that urgent or important and I also couldn't figure out what the urgency was, although Mary is under a two week time limit.
Despite a few plot holes and red herrings (I NEVER suspected the true villain), I enjoyed this story. It is chick lit? Hardly. Historical fiction? Yes, a bit. A romance? Barely. Although as a mystery, it felt very reminiscent of its time. Have you read any of the Sherlock Holmes
mysteries? They are quite good and this book seemed to be similar in pacing and tone.I am eager to discover who else works in The Agency. Having women who work in Victorian households in that sort of in-between status (governesses, companions, etc) and are also secret spies has been done before, multiple times in romance novels, but having an Agency place them? Well, that's a delightful twist. I wanted more of the Agency. Who founded it? Why? What's that story? How could other women in the agency identify each other? Is there anybody inside the royal household? I will be reading more of this series, but won't feel a need to rush through them.
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