Book Reviews Archive - Page 45 of 79

Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs: Book Review

It's impossible (for me, anyway) to read a forensic mystery without comparing it to the Scarpetta novels. This one was awesome! I haven't read a forensic science mystery this good since the early Scarpettas! These novels are the basis for the TV series, Bones. I've never watched that show, so I didn't come into this with any expectations and I can't compare the book to the show. But the book by itself was really good. This is the first in a series featuring Dr. Temperance Brennan. She's a forensic anthropologist who has just relocated full-time to Montreal. The book opens with Tempe being called out to a scene to decide if bones found by city maintenance are old, archaeological-find-bones or new, current-crime-that-needs-to-be-investigated bones. To paraphrase the book, "Old bones don't smell." The science in the book was fascinating and--I'm assuming because the author is herself a forensic anthropologist--authentic. The characters, especially Tempe, are well-drawn, complex, and interesting. The plot started out a little bit slow, but once it took off, I couldn't put it down. I took it with me to an optometrist visit and didn't even notice that I spent two hours in the doctor's office! My only complaint is that some stuff seemed really obvious to me. Not everything, just some things, but they were kind of big things. I kept wondering, "Am I really supposed to have figured this out already for some reason? Or is Tempe really that clueless sometimes?" I am not a person who figures out Agatha Christie mysteries before Poirot reveals the solution. I read a mystery and I'm surprised at the end. For me to figure out something in a mystery before it's spelled out to me is very unusual. This didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the book. In…

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater: Book Review

POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR SHIVER AND LINGER!!! Now that Grace is a wolf, Sam finds himself at loose ends. He and Cole are rattling around Beck's house and generally irritating each other. Mr. Culpeper is still determined to do something about the local wolf problem. Cole is determined to find a cure. The wolves' lives are in the balance as this trilogy races to its conclusion. I've waited entirely too long to write this review so it will be short and vague. I still really, really like Cole and Isabel, which is weird because I think I would loathe them in real life. But when contrasted with Sam's passiveness, I'm drawn to their action and determination, even if does appear to be self-destructive. Sam? He's just too good. Like, if you kicked him, he would just look at you with big hurt eyes silently asking how you could do this to him as you drew your foot back to kick him again. Grow a spine, dude. I don't think I was entirely caught up in the book until about halfway through. At first it felt like more of the same. Sam misses Grace and Beck. Isabel is angry. Mr. Culpeper is angry. Shelby is crazy. Cole seems to be angry. But Cole and Isabel are driving this book. When it became apparent what was going on, my interest definitely piqued. When I knew I was getting close to the big climax, I sat for a couple of hours in my dining room chair, hanging over my empty dinner plate, reading for the finish because I could not put the book down long enough to even put my plate away. When I finally finished, I was stiff from sitting in one position too long and I had to do some major scrubbing…

Memory & Dream by Charles de Lint: Book Review

Or, a love letter to Charles de Lint's Newford books Izzy Copley is a college student majoring in art when she first meets world-famous artist Vincent Rushkin. She feels unworthy when he chooses to start teaching her his secrets. There's a reason that he's so secretive. He has a nasty temper and he frequently lashes out at Izzy, both verbally and physically. She's so in awe of him that she lets him get away with it. He finally teaches her the real secret to his work. Each painting is like a doorway to another world, allowing the subject of the painting to take physical shape in our world and stroll around on our streets. Izzy is breathless at the thought. She's delighted when she sees figures that previously only existed in her imagination living their lives on the streets of Newford. And then Rushkin shows her exactly how monstrous he can be. If I'm trying to be objective on this re-read, Memory & Dream is probably 4 to 4.5 stars. But for sheer nostalgia, I'm bumping it up to 5. This was not my first de Lint book but it was definitely an early one. I was working at my little local library as a high school senior, re-shelving books, when I discovered him. The covers (all three that the library owned anyway) caught my eye so I took one home. I'm pretty sure Spiritwalk was the first. I think this was the second. And I can still see why I've been in love with de Lint's work ever since. A 16-17 year relationship. We're on the record books at this point! I would consider this to be the first real Newford novel despite the fact that it's technically number five. The initial book, Dreams Underfoot, is a solid start…

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente: Book Review

September is bored at home. Her dad is fighting a far-off war and her mom is working long shifts at the factory. When the Green Wind comes along and offers to take her to fairyland, she jumps at the chance. But all is not well in fairyland. Good Queen Mallow has disappeared and The Marquess rules in her place. The Marquess has introduced laws and bureaucracy to the fey. It isn't long before September finds herself on a quest that sets her at odds with The Marquess, and that is never a safe place to be. What a delight! I was immediately thrown back to my favorite classic children's fantasies--Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz... I'm sure there are more, but those are the big ones. Yet it was wholly its own story when it came to actual plot. There were nods to other books, but the characters and places that September encounters on her journey were unique and fun. There's the loyal wyverary A-through-L (He's a cross between a wyvern and a library. Yes, a library), Lye the soap golem, Calpurnia the velo wrangler, Saturday the marid, Iago the panther of storms, and many, many more. Each will live in my memory for a long time to come. I will think of them fondly and dream of the adventures we might have had if only a wind had offered to take me to fairyland when I was a child. I really liked September and her loyal friends. September feels like a real little girl. She's heartless sometimes, as the narrator points out, but she's one of the most loyal and true characters you will ever meet. She literally sails to the end of the earth for her friends. She's brave and resourceful and…

Naked Came the Leaf Peeper by Brian Lee Knopp: Book Review

4 Stars. Zany, unpredictable, and hilarious are probably the best words to describe this Western North Carolina tale. Written by 12 local authors, each getting a chapter, this seems to be a competition to see which one can throw the biggest curveball out for the next author to catch. They each did an [...]

The Wayside School Collection by Louis Sachar: Book Review

Wayside school is just a little different. The builder built the school sideways, so it's 30 classrooms stacked on top of each other. Mrs. Jewls's class is on the 30th floor. That makes for a long hike for her students. The students at Wayside are a little different as well. One boy has a literal compulsion to pull a girl's braids. One student sleeps all the time. Everyone calls a new kid by the wrong name and he never corrects anyone. One new kid shows up wearing a raincoat and there's a huge surprise when he takes it off. The teachers at Wayside are a little different too. The first teacher is horrible and when she disappears, the students get a teacher who is just as wacky as they are. Yes, life's a little different at Wayside, but that's the way they like it. I can remember my 4th grade teacher reading the first book to my class. We thought this was the funniest thing ever! I had high expectations going into it, and I wasn't really let down. It wasn't as funny to me now as it was to my 9-year-old self, but I can definitely see why I loved it back then. Don't get me wrong--it was still hilarious, but I found myself giggling or smiling instead of laughing out loud. I wasn't too sure about Louis Sachar as the narrator at first. He's not terribly exciting but he grew on me. He has an earnest voice that perfectly set up the crazy things these kids did in all seriousness. I felt the first book was the best but the other two were worth checking out as well. The end of the second one got waaaay weird and ended in a not-very-happy place. I was surprised. But readers…

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: Book Review

Tally lives in the future, in a world where, at the age of sixteen, everyone is made superhumanly pretty. The thinking is that by leveling the playing field, so to speak, racism, bullying, low self-esteem, and all the negative things that can be associated with personal appearance can be eliminated. But not everyone wants to be made pretty. I love, love, LOVE the idea behind this novel. A book that points out how obsessed we are with appearances, is very readable, and is aimed at a young adult audience? In a way, I wish there were more of them. This is a terribly important message. Add to that the less-obvious-but-still-there message about sustainability and the environment? Sounds like a winner to me! And it kind of was. Westerfield pulled off the "preachy" stuff without sounding preachy at all. The story was pretty action-packed and I really did keep turning pages. There was just something missing. I'm having a very hard time putting my finger on it. Partly, this truly felt like a young adult novel. I do read a fair amount of YA, so that's not typically an issue for me, but this really did feel young. I think I wanted a little more meat to the story. (I really am having a hard time with this.) I felt like there should have been more history between Tally and Shay in order for everything to happen the way it did, but then that would probably have changed everything. So I guess the storyline feels a little forced initially. I think I was partly frustrated with Tally for just not telling everything she knew. I'm a firm believer in confessing what you did wrong, getting it over with, and then generally finding out that things go a little easier for you…

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie: Book Review

Minerva Dobbs is a sensible girl. She's an actuary, the man she's dating is a sensible choice, and her clothes are sensible and "slimming." But then there are her shoes. Her shoes hint at the real Min. Her shoes are fun, frivolous concoctions. One night, Min meets Calvin Morrissey in a bar. As she's heading over to introduce herself to him, she hears her just-minutes-ago-turned-ex-boyfriend make a bet with him that Cal can't get her into bed within a month. Ouch. >_< That one stings a little. But Min isn't going to take this lying down, so to speak. She decides that she can play this game as well. She'll go out with Cal, string him along and make him and the barely-ex look like fools. At least that's the plan. Cal's charm is almost impossible to resist, as are his amazing good looks. I did love this, but worst thing first. I listened to this book, and while I loved Deanna Hurst's narration, I picked up on a serious fault in the writing that I probably would have overlooked in print. I swear, every other sentence, and sometimes every sentence, ended with said. I obviously don't have anything in front of me to give a real example but it was literally this bad: "Those are great shoes," Cal said. "They're my favorites," Min said. "They might be mine too," Cal said. "Watch it, charm boy," Min said. "I'm being honest. They're great shoes," Cal said. Again, NOT a direct quote, but it might as well be. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue for a while there. It was driving me crazy! But it didn't take me long to get caught up enough in Cal and Min's almost-romance that I was able to overlook it.…

Ava’s Man by Rick Bragg: Book Review

4 Stars. My uncle has been telling me for--oh, years now, that I just have to read Rick Bragg. I do take his recommendations seriously, but my to-read list is out of control and I'm just now getting to him. How I wish I had listened to my uncle earlier. I will not be waiting years to read more of Bragg's work, that is for sure [...]

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: Book Review

It seems like I run into references to Dorian Gray pretty frequently (Most recently in James Blunt's song "Tears and Rain"). I decided to pick this up because I was tired of not understanding the references. The Picture of Dorian Gray begins with one of Dorian's friends, a painter named Basil Hallward, just finishing his portrait. Lord Henry is visiting Basil and happens to meet Dorian. Henry sort of becomes the devil on Dorian's shoulder, asking something like, "Isn't it a shame that this portrait will be forever beautiful, perfect, innocent, and pure, but you will age, wither and die?" This hits Dorian hard. In a temper tantrum, he prays that the opposite should happen. He wants to live unsullied and have the portrait bear the marks of his living. His prayer is answered. This frees Dorian to live the life of cruelty, debauchery, and addiction that he wants. The portrait is hidden away in the attic and it looks more and more horrifying. But since Dorian is forever a beautiful 20-year-old Adonis, no one ever knows about his secret life. To me, this book was cautionary tale about not judging by appearances and how you might be able to hide your sins, but you can't hide them forever. I was shocked to read the introduction (after finishing the book) and find out that the critics at the time of publication thought the book was immoral and terrible! The first version included some "homoerotic" scenes which upset readers in the 1890's. Wilde's popularity wasn't helped by the fact that he was jailed for two years, basically for homosexuality. It seemed to me like Oscar Wilde and Dorian Gray became the same person in the minds of readers and no one wanted anything to do with the book or the author.…