Adult Archives - Page 21 of 55 - Introverted Reader

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin: Book Review

Talmadge is in town selling the fruit from his orchard one day when he notices two girls watching him. They're very young and very pregnant. He dozes off for a few minutes and wakes as the girls run away with some fruit they've stolen. He decides not to chase them because they look hungry. A day or two later, the girls show up at the orchard. He starts cooking extra food and leaving it out for them but they won't let him get too close. Meanwhile, a stranger shows up in town looking for girls who sound an awful lot like the two Talmadge is watching over. Talmadge ponders things for a while and decides to meet with the stranger at his homestead. Talmadge does not like what he sees. The man, Michaelson, eventually offers to let Talmadge have 20 minutes with a nine-year-old girl for $2. Talmadge quickly leaves, resolved that Michaelson will never get his two girls back. I really liked this on audio. Narrator Mark Bramhall's rough voice suited the feel of the story perfectly. I got frustrated with the book though. A large part of it centers around Talmadge trying to find the youngest girl, Della, after she's grown up and left home. Della doesn't seem to give a flip about anything at that point, and she definitely doesn't care that she's breaking his heart. I tried to tell myself that she'd been through unimaginable things and I needed to cut her some slack but I couldn't. Then I would try to remind myself of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the lost sheep and that still didn't work (I don't know what it was about this book that brought out the Biblical references; it's not remotely religious). Della doesn't want to be found and…

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde: Book Review

Welcome to an alternative England, where characters from nursery rhymes investigate nursery crimes and the investigation is more focused on getting a good story than on getting a correct conviction. Jack Spratt and his new partner, Mary Mary, have just been assigned to investigate the death of Humpty Dumpty. But this seemingly straightforward investigation is not all it's cracked up to be. (Sorry, I don't know if that even made sense, but I had to work it in somehow.) I really enjoyed this. Something about the feel of a hard-nosed detective story contrasted with using characters from nursery rhymes just really amused me. And it was an unpredictable whodunnit on top of everything else. If you don't take yourself (or your books) too seriously, you would probably enjoy this. I have also really enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, so if you enjoyed those, you'll probably also like this series. Reviewed October 13, 2007 Read an excerpt. Find author Jasper Fforde on his website, Twitter, Facebook. Buy The Big Over Easy at Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are a weekly feature here on The Introverted Reader. These are old reviews I wrote on GoodReads. Thanks to Angieville and her Retro Friday Reviews for the inspiration and encouragement! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.

The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King: Book Review

Dean Lynch is a Methodist preacher's wife, a role she finds nearly impossible to fill. She comes from a "white trash" background, to use her description, so saying the right thing at the right time and being peaches and cream in all situations just doesn't come naturally to her. When her husband is sent to minister in a church in Crystal Springs, Florida, Dean finally starts to find where she fits in. Unfortunately, that's not with all the catty church ladies. She befriends Augusta, a woman who left the church years ago, taking her husband, and more importantly, their money, with her. Augusta teaches Dean that life is too short to worry about what the church ladies are going to say. This is a tiny thing but it has irritated the heck out of me ever since I read it. At one point, Augusta's young son Gus goes to visit family in Chapel Hill, NC over Christmas. He's thrilled because he'll get to see snow. And then I think snow is mentioned again in Chapel Hill. And then Chapel Hill is referred to as being in the mountains. No. It's not. Nor can it be relied upon to get snow. It's pretty rare down there. Maybe it was supposed to be another town at first and everything in the book wasn't changed to mesh with reality. Whatever happened, this bugged me. Moving on! I did mostly enjoy the book. I liked Dean quite a bit. I wanted to shake her a few a lot of times and tell her to grow a backbone, but otherwise we got along just fine. She goes on and on about how terrible her marriage is and how her husband's a jerk, which he is, but a lot of times I was left thinking that…

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: Book Review

Bernadette Fox is an...eccentric...mother and wife living in Seattle. Her daughter, Bee, is an excellent student and has asked for a family cruise to Antarctica as a reward for earning all A's (or her school's equivalent) throughout her middle school career. Bernadette and her husband, Elgin, can't think of a reason to say no so the planning begins. Bernadette is in a fragile place mentally due to a Huge Hideous Thing that happened when she was still living in L.A. The stress of planning the trip, or having her virtual assistant in India plan it, added to the stress of the terrible parents at Bee's school and the general anxiety Bernadette experiences every day prove to be too much; Bernadette disappears. This book is a collection of emails and other ephemera as Bee tries to figure out where her mom went. This was hilarious but it was also so sad at the same time. The parents at Bee's school were horrific beyond words. One in particular took helicopter parenting to an entirely new level. No wonder poor Bernadette calls them "the gnats." She tries her best to just lie low and let them do their thing but they won't let her. All parents must be joiners! All parents must volunteer in the classroom! All neighboring parents must keep their backyards in the condition that chief helicopter mom dictates! Holy cow. Bernadette herself was an enigma. I liked that she just kind of gives the other parents the finger but it was obvious that something just wasn't right with her. She would go on huge rants about how she hates Canadians and 5-way intersections, both of which are apparently innumerable in Seattle. She seemed to be most honest in emails with her virtual assistant. She chose a house that used to…

Vintage by Susan Gloss: Book Review

Violet Turner owns a vintage clothing shop in Madison, Wisconsin. She's on her own after her rocky marriage ended and she likes it that way. She's always dreamed of owning a shop like this and she's happy enough. Then she finds out that she's being evicted from her building, a good friend asks her to hire a pregnant teenager, and several of her customers' lives are falling apart at the seams as well. Will this circle of friends get each other through these tough times? I did enjoy this a lot, I just had a good idea where it was going from the beginning. I did like all of the characters and the strong stances they took. They've made mistakes in the past but they've learned from them. They're going to live life on their terms now. I think women need to be reminded to do that from time to time. April, the pregnant teen, has had a pretty tough life but she's doing the best she can. Amithi's marriage is disintegrating and she's questioning her whole life. Betsy is a do-gooder who's trying to get them all straightened out. Violet is the main character and I liked her a lot. She's caring, pretty spunky, and trying to keep her business afloat. I especially liked her taste in clothes! I wanted so badly to visit this shop, it was ridiculous! I do actually have a taste for vintage clothes but you would never know it to look at my usual uniform of jeans and tees. I just don't have the patience to dig through all the junk to find the treasure. I need to find a store like this where someone like Violet has done the digging for me! I loved reading the descriptions of the items in the store.…

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review

4 Stars. I just adore Mary Kay Andrews's books because they are so much fun to read! The characters generally come to life for me, I find myself laughing at the trouble they inevitably get themselves into, and the settings feel real. Spring Fever is no exception. Annajane is not perfect by any [...]

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges: Book Review

Um, I think I missed something. This book's average rating on GoodReads is 4.47 as I write this and I'm rating it 2 stars. Where did I go wrong? It's been a while since I finished so I won't be able to get too specific. First of all, I didn't particularly care for the writing style. Something about his writing reminded me of H. P. Lovecraft, who I also don't fully appreciate, so that was a negative. I found it to be a little...overwrought at times. I don't think it was the translation because there were many translators throughout the collection and the style was pretty consistent. And then I think Borges is just way too smart for me. I could see that there was all this philosophical stuff going on in the subtext of his writing, but I didn't care enough to stop and think about it and try to figure out what he was really saying. I was just trying to wrap my head around a world that was created in imagination and then starts to slowly creep into the real world. Or trying to determine which of two characters was the dreamer and which was the dreamed. Or were they the same? And why did this head injury leave this character with a Phenomenon-like memory and intelligence? And what the heck is the point of trying to see if you can perfectly re-write Don Quixote by accident? And if I lived in a never-ending library, would I seriously spend all my time searching for the one book with the answers to Life, the Universe, and Everything (Thanks, Douglas Adams) or would I just sit down with the books I had and leave others to the searching? I think my reaction to this book answers that last question.…

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara: Book Review

Mariatu Kamara was twelve years old when she was caught up in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Most of her village was killed in a raid. Boy soldiers cut off both her hands but let her go. She shares the story of how she learned to cope in the new world she found herself in. Holy cow. I just can't imagine living through the things this young woman has experienced. And she was so young when everything happened! I just shudder to think of it. But she's a strong girl. She knows from the beginning that she must learn to live on her own. From the time she turns down the first helpful stranger's offer to feed her a bite of mango, she struggles to live her new life on her own terms. Her story is inspiring and heart-breaking and important. I know I as an American sometimes forget that most of the world doesn't have it as good as I do. I get caught up in the day-to-day of "I can't believe I have to deal with this at work," or "Traffic is a nightmare, I hate this commute," and forget that in some places in the world, children are killing and maiming each other in wars they don't understand. I for one need a reality check like this from time to time. Anyone who reads this should also read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Mariatu avoids demonizing the boy soldiers but it's still a good idea to get their perspective as well. They were also victims in this terrible conflict. This is by no means an easy read but I highly recommend it. Read an excerpt. Buy The Bite of the Mango at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have…

Salt by Isabel Zuber: Book Review

Title: SaltAuthor: Isabel ZuberGenres: Historical Fiction, Southern LiteratureFormat: Paperback Synopsis: John Bayley meets Anna Stockton when she's in her late teens. He decides right away that he's going to marry her. She looks to be a strong woman who knows how to work. After burying two wives, that combination appeals to John. The rest of the book follows the ups and downs of their marriage and their relationship to the land. Review: My biggest issue with this book was that I somehow felt like I was watching a silent movie as I read it. I felt very much outside the story. I got the feeling that this was done on purpose so that I the reader would be more focused on what the author was trying to show me rather than on how I felt about each character or event. It was effective, but I do like to feel a connection to the characters I read about, so it wasn't a style I cared for. There was a lot going on in this book. The point didn't really seem to be the story itself, but rather to explore man's relationship to nature and also man's relationship to other men. What I took away was a message about humanity's need to dominate our surroundings and how futile that need is. Nature will win in the end. I also took away a message about the futility of our hopes and dreams and how we are ultimately so impermanent that we will be nothing more than a fleeting memory. This is all true, but it's a little bleak for my taste. The author is a poet and it shows in her lyrical, yet succinct prose. She says a lot in such a relatively short book, but she says it beautifully. Salt left me…

NPR Favorite Driveway Moments: Book Review

I'm not an NPR listener but something about this title caught my eye. I downloaded it at the end of the year when I was trying to squeeze in one last nonfiction book to complete a reading challenge. Only about two hours long, I knew I could listen to it in just a couple of days on my commute. The first part was unimpressive. At this point I've forgotten what most of those stories were. I do remember one about a young lady aging out of foster care that made me feel sad for her and others like her. Otherwise, its a pretty big blank. And then I got to the second part. Here were the stories that wouldn't let me go. A young man getting off the farm and into college with not much more than his determination and "Ten dollars and a dream." A small town basketball team making it to the state playoffs, taking the hometown pride with them. An elderly woman telling a story about her misfortune with a...unique... bra when she was younger had me laughing out loud! Following a couple after that big earthquake in China flattened their apartment building with their young son and a set of their parents inside. My favorite was probably the one about the US Marshals who kept their charges safe during school integrations in the Civil Rights era. Most of these had me near tears for different reasons. And I'm seriously not a crier. I don't know if the stories really were that uneven or if it just took me half the book to settle into what NPR is about. But once I got into it, I loved it. I felt like I experienced a huge range of human emotion in a short time span. I was saddened,…