4 stars Archives - Page 19 of 39

Trader by Charles de Lint: Book Review

Max Trader is a luthier who wakes up one morning in a body not his own. After the initial panic and a little further investigation, Trader finds out that charming, womanizing rake, Johnny Devlin, has wished for a different life and somehow they have traded bodies. Devlin has no intention of trying to switch back. He gets a fresh start while Trader tries to navigate his way through the wreckage of Johnny's life. While learning about Johnny, though, Devlin learns a few things about his own life and how he needs to start living as large as trees, to paraphrase. Characters, characters, characters. What draws me to Charles de Lint are his characters, and he did not disappoint with this one. Trader is a mild-mannered kind of guy, mostly forgettable except for his talent, but he's willing to learn from this unbelievable experience he has. He learns to live his life to the fullest and not take a single day for granted. So that one's obvious. What makes this a de Lint book is that even the secondary characters grow and learn and change. Trader and Devlin's switch is like a stone thrown into a still pond: the effects ripple out in ways that you don't see coming. Even minor characters learn self-acceptance, the value of having your own life outside of a relationship, acceptance of others, forgiveness, open-mindedness and all kinds of Important Life Lessons. I've loaned out my copy already or I would throw out a couple of quotes that sum all of this up much better than I can. Expect to see a revised version of this review when I get my copy back. Finally got it back! "The thing to do is to be happy with yourself, with what's in your own life; then if a…

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett: Book Review

Synopsis from GoodReads: Award-winning "New York Times"-bestselling author Ann Patchett (Bel Canto, The Magician's Assistant) returns with a provocative novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest--a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love. In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, State of Wonder presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional resonance and moral complexity. As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness. Stirring and luminous, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy It's been a while since I read this, but I actually remember quite a bit of it. That's a good sign. Details of books generally leave me pretty quickly. Still, bullet points will probably say it best. I wasn't particularly fond of Marina but I don't remember why. It was very slow to get started. Once Marina gets to Brazil, I didn't think she was ever going to leave that first dirty, hot, hopeless town. Ever. The beautiful young people she finds to help her were irritating as hell. The drug that Dr. Swenson was working on left me sending stink-eye stares in the general direction I think my parents live in. "Don't even think about it, Mama. Just…

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline: Book Review

Molly Ayer has messed up one too many times. She's caught up in the foster system and her latest mistake has left her with a choice of either fifty hours of community service or going to juvie. Her boyfriend searches around and finds out that his mom's employer, 91-year-old widow Vivian Daly, needs help cleaning out her attic. Everyone agrees that this can be counted as community service so Molly heads over to the old woman's house. She initially sees it as a chore but she's pleasantly surprised when she realizes how much she and Mrs. Daly have in common. In New York in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Niamh Power is left an orphan when her recently-immigrated family is killed in an apartment fire. She lives in an orphanage for a few months but then the Children's Aid Society sends her out to the Midwest on an "orphan train." Chaperones would take scores of kids around to different venues and basically give them to whomever wanted them. No one knew which would be worse--not to be chosen at all or to go to a bad family. Either way, the entire process was humiliating and nerve-wracking. This was such a good book. I hadn't ever heard of the orphan trains, but they were a reality in American history from about 1850 to 1930. Apparently over 200,000 children were relocated in this way. Can you imagine? With all the red tape today? Just show up at the train station and pick yourself out a healthy-looking boy to help Pa out around the farm. Of course you'll promise to send him to school but who's going to check up on that? Nobody. And who's going to make sure that you're feeding him enough? Again, nobody. And if Pa occasionally gets a…

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: Book Review

In WWII France, the French police rounded up over 13,000 Jews and held them in a huge stadium, the Vélodrome d'Hiver, for days before shipping the survivors off to concentration camps. This is the fictional story of one little girl who was taken and what her life might have been like. It's also the story of a modern-day journalist researching Sarah's family. This review is not going to do this book justice. I've waited a couple of weeks to write this and my notes on it are in all honesty pretty fragmented. I read Sarah's story with a cold horror in the pit of my stomach. There were so many ways that everything went wrong that all I can say is that I was just horrified. There were moments of kindness, as there almost always are in Holocaust stories, but the biggest part just left me speechless. Any Holocaust book that captures that feeling is an important one. We can't ever be allowed to forget what happened. What knocked this down to four stars for me was the journalist's story. I didn't care. Parts of it were important for showing how the effects of something that happened over 60 years ago are still being felt today, but I could have done without most of the personal drama. It was insignificant in the context of a book about the Holocaust. One little preachy thing. I could not help but be reminded of the New Orleans Superdome and Hurricane Katrina as I read this. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm trivializing the history, because I promise I'm not, but a stadium where people are trapped just brings it to my mind. This story somehow made the recent event a little more real for me and I can't believe that something like…

The Big Beautiful by Pamela Duncan: Book Review

Cassandra Moon, firmly in her 40s, is finally getting married. She's been taking care of others all her life and now she's looking forward to having someone else take care of her for a change. All she has to do is walk down the aisle and say "I do." So why does she find herself in her wedding dress, driving like a bat out of hell in the honeymoon limo and heading for the coast, still a single woman? She must be crazy. She ends up staying with her Aunt May and Uncle Walton in Salter Path, NC. She loved visiting there as a child and she's hoping to get some time to herself to figure out what she really wants. Everyone else is always telling her what she should want and she's tired of it. She just needs some downtime to get things straight in her own heart and mind. I have enjoyed all of Pamela Duncan's books but this one is my favorite. Cassandra first showed up in Moon Women. In my review of that book, I wrote, "Poor Cassandra. I wasn't entirely happy with her story, but there's a glimmer of hope for her. I'll have to dive into The Big Beautiful soon to see how she ends up." I am much happier with her story now. She does a lot of growing up and thinking and gets a stronger backbone. I want to start praising her to the skies but I don't want to spoil anything. Her development and her reactions all felt real and right. She has a great big heart and I think she finally starts to focus on her strengths and blessings rather than her shortcomings. I just love books where women make that journey successfully. The other characters in the book were…

Heartless by Gail Carriger: Book Review

**SPOILERS FOR SOULLESS, CHANGELESS, AND BLAMELESS** Alexia Maccon, nee Tarrabotti, is back in residence at Woolsey Castle. She's gloriously pregnant, not very happy with the way the infant-inconvenience is trying to slow her down, and firmly resolved to keep on with her daily business as usual. When a ghost appears to her and manages to gasp out a warning about a plot on the Queen's life, Alexia starts trying to stop events before they get out of hand. Alexia is back and how I do love her! I haven't reviewed Blameless because I was a little disappointed in it. Not that it wasn't good--it was--it just didn't live up to the incredibly high expectations I have for this series. With Heartless, I feel that we're back on track. What I really love about this series is the characters. They are all just so memorable! We're getting up to a pretty big cast now and I have no trouble keeping track of them. Of course soulless, pragmatic Alexia is far and away my favorite, but Lord Maccon, Lord Akeldama, Madame Lefoux, Floote, Biffy, Ivy--I just love them all. I sit reading, grinning like an idiot, with the occasional giggle (Zombie porcupines? Really?) and laughter (There's a new character at the end whom I just can't wait to see more of). This being a book about Alexia Maccon, the action is of course practically nonstop, if leaning a bit more toward waddling than striding. I would snatch it up every chance I got just to read a few more lines. The climax has to last 50 pages but it never flagged; it just kept getting better and better. By the time things wrapped up, I was delighted with how thoroughly Ms. Carriger had managed to shake up London's supernatural scene. Read this…

A Dash of Magic by Kathryn Littlewood: Book Review

**SPOILERS FOR THE 1ST IN THE SERIES, BLISS** Rosemary Bliss feels incredibly guilty; she lost her family's magical cookbook to her evil Aunt Lily and now everything in their hometown of Calamity Falls just feels drab. To make matters worse, Aunt Lily is everywhere Rose turns--on the TV, on the radio, and now on the grocery store shelves with Lily's Magic Ingredient. Something has to be done. Rose and her older brother Ty sneak onto the set of Lily's TV show, where Rose challenges Lily to a bake-off. Basically, whoever wins the prestigious Gala des Gâteaux Grands in Paris gets to keep the magical Bliss Family Cookery Booke. With an assortment of Bliss family members, talking animals, and magic ingredients, Rose flies off to Paris to do her best in the world-class competition. I still love this series! I hate to cook, but I have a sweet tooth that won't quit, so baking is right up my alley. The Bliss family are all so quirky and endearing that I just have to love them. Earnest Rose who feels more responsibility for everything than she should; charming Ty, trying to win over all the ladies; funny Sage with his microphone hoping to mine his conversations for hstandup comedy gold; and little bewitched Leigh, spouting off Lily's praises at every turn. They're funny and adorable and so loyal to each other. I just love them. The other characters are great too. Balthazar Bliss, a many-times-great grandfather, is roped in to help and he's cranky and funny. His talking cat, Gus, is delightfully sarcastic but comes through when he's needed. A talking mouse, Jacques, finds himself involved as well and discovers that his bravery is much bigger than his tiny body. They all add to the fun of this magical little book. The…

Apologies to My Censor by Mitch Moxley: Book Review

Mitch Moxley hits a personal low in his mid-twenties. His career is pretty much nonexistent and he's tired of the cold, gray Toronto winters. He starts looking for jobs overseas and stumbles on a job working for a state newspaper in China, the China Daily. He applies and lands himself a one year contract. He heads on over, knowing that he isn't really prepared for life in Communist China but not really understanding what that means. He has issues with censorship at the paper almost from the beginning and quickly gives up trying to change anything or doing any actual reporting. He makes some friends, offends some people, drinks a lot, and starts heading down that tired old expat path. Luckily, he does change directions. He finally goes into life in China with a bit of a Yes Man attitude and finds himself in some unbelievable situations. He watches all the buildup for the Olympics. He starts doing some serious reporting. Through it all, he slowly slides closer to the Chinese side on the Foreigner/Chinese scale. I like reading books about people who are brave enough to pack up and move away from everything they know, not just to another city, but to a whole different country. I can't even begin to imagine the culture shock, especially going from Canada to China. I have been disappointed a couple of times in other books when the author chooses to write about his or her experiences partying and drinking. That is not even remotely what I'm looking for when I pick up this kind of memoir. Mitch started down that path and I got worried but then he turned himself around and started writing about life in China, not life in bars. He started getting out and experiencing things that I can't…

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: Book Review

Jacob Portman grew up believing every word of his beloved grandfather's fantastic stories--the levitating girl, the invisible boy, the strong children. Grandpa Portman claimed to have grown up with them all in a special orphanage in Wales. As Jake grows older though, he realizes that the stories can't possibly be true. After Grandpa's shocking death, Jake has a hard time. He witnessed everything and he can't believe what he saw. He's either going crazy or the world is a scarier place than he realized. He feels that the answers to his questions lie back in that Welsh orphanage. He convinces his father to take him for a visit, and Jake finds much more than he expects. I loved this! It was so different and quirky. I feel pretty safe saying that if the cover and a quick flip through the pages entice you, you'll love it as well. The one thing that knocked my rating back a little is that it occasionally felt as if the weird old photographs were dragged in. They didn't always present anything that was necessary for the story, so it pulled me out of the flow a little bit. But mostly it worked very, very well. I liked Jake, but the peculiar children...I really liked them, especially Emma in the end. Their peculiar abilities were very cool to read about, especially after seeing their pictures. I really didn't have a clue where the plot was going so I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. It took some very unexpected twists and turns and I have to say that I'm looking forward to the next installment. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes a taste of the inexplicable in their fiction. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review. The paperback…

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister: Book Review

One Monday night a month, a group of students gather in a quiet restaurant kitchen to attend The School of Essential Ingredients. Owner Lillian tells them from the beginning that she does not have a list of these "essential ingredients," nor does she offer them recipes. "All I can say is that you will learn what you need to." As the focus shifts around each of the students and Lillian, it is obvious that the essential ingredients are essential to life as well--time, patience, savoring the moment, starting fresh, doing what's good for yourself, and learning from your mistakes. I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am a world-class picky eater so a book centered around food should not have done anything for me. But it was written so beautifully that I was even ready to admire the redness of a tomato or the honesty of killing your own crab for dinner. I'm looking for a quote to offer up, but really, just read the book. It's all gorgeous and it's impossible to choose a little bit to quote. I loved the way that the students grew during the class and took away exactly what they needed. The harried mother losing her identity, the grieving widower, the girl barely out of high school who needs a serious self-esteem boost, the aging woman losing her memories...they all come out of the class better able to live their lives. There was just one little aspect of the ending that I was not happy with. It tied things up a little too neatly and didn't ring exactly true for me. I can't say more without giving things away. When you have the time to sit down and savor a book about food and life, give this one a try.…