Introverted Reader

Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris: Book Review

Marigold and Christian are living out their happily ever after, but they aren't perfectly happy. Little spats and hurt feelings have started creeping in. Could Olympia's evil be influencing their lives? And what about the rumors of a woman who washed up in a village downstream not too long after their wedding? It can't be Olympia. Can it? This was still cute, it just wasn't quite as cute as the first book. My biggest problem was just letting go and enjoying the story. As an adult, I had a problem with the way Olympia just came home and took charge. Not one person anywhere stood up to her. Really? I just couldn't let go of how soldiers who didn't like Olympia still raced to do her bidding. Otherwise, I did like that "happily ever after" doesn't mean "perfectly happy ever after." Arguments creep into the best of relationships and you have to remember to appreciate each other. It's a good lesson for starry-eyed little girls. Ed's mixed-up idioms were still entertaining, and I liked the addition of Sleeping Beauty's cousin, Lazy Susan. She has her own little message to teach. King Swithbert was an example of the consequences of idly standing by and not making a stand. Stan Lucasa on the other hand? I liked him, but his ending came out of nowhere! Still recommended for fairy tale fans, but adults might not enjoy it as much as the younger set. My review of the first book, Once Upon a Marigold. Read an excerpt. Find author Jean Ferris on her website. Buy Twice Upon a Marigold at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you…

The Gunslinger Born by Stephen King: Book Review

Peter David and company retell the story found in Book Four of The Dark Tower Series, Wizard and Glass. I didn't realize this was basically a re-telling of Wizard and Glass, I just assumed it was some sort of "Further Adventures of the Gunslinger" kind of thing set when Roland was young. I had a hard time reading Wizard and Glass because I had picked up on the ending somewhere. I was a little more resigned to it here, but still, this isn't my favorite of Roland's adventures. I did like the artwork a lot. I thought it captured the moods of the characters very well, and I enjoyed scoping out each frame. I felt like this would have been hard to follow if I hadn't read the book first. It's been so long since I read it that I still had a little bit of a hard time following along. It felt like it stopped very abruptly too. Maybe the next will pick up and explain the ending a little better. That's really all I have to say. It was well worth the time I spent reading it, and I'm sure I'll get around to the rest of the series at some point. Find author Stephen King on his website. Buy The Gunslinger Born at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. I didn't post last week because of the holiday, so over the past two weeks I've Reviewed:The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, read by Denis O'Hare Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund The Maze Runner by James Dashner, read by Mark Deakins Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham Dissolution by C. J. Sansom Read:The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, read by the author The Color Purple by Alice Walker Airman by Eoin Colfer Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder Currently Reading:Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess' Stardust Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, read by Peter Altschuler The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain Up Next:I have Fool Moon by Jim Butcher waiting for me at the library and I've already checked out The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop, so those will be coming up soon. My birthday is next Monday, so I might not be around. We're trying to plan a very last minute trip out of town. I hope everyone has a great week (or two)! What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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July 11, 2011

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom: Book Review

Vicar General Thomas Cromwell is sending his man, Matthew Shardlake, to investigate a brutal murder. As he brings Reformation to England, Cromwell is trying to subtly force monasteries to "voluntarily" dissolve, and the man he sent to the monastery in Scarnsea has been killed. Shardlake needs to find the killer--and try to convince the abbot to close the monastery. This was really good historical fiction. I was drawn into the story immediately. I can't claim to know much about the period, so I don't know how accurate it is. What I do know is that every time I picked this book back up, I was immediately transported to sixteenth-century England. I don't know how Sansom did it, but his descriptions left me feeling that I had just visited a cold, snowy, monastery on the coast, where the monks live a little too well and know more than they are telling. Shardlake was hugely likable. He's a jaded, acerbic, lonely, humpback lawyer who is still somewhat naive. He fervently believes in Reformation, but he can't see that the road Cromwell is taking isn't necessarily in the best interests of the country. The mystery was solid. I never had any idea what was going on until the very end. But once I found out, it all made sense and fit together. My biggest complaint? The color puce is mentioned five times in the book. Who ever says "puce?" It really stood out to me and got on my nerves. Does the fact that I counted them give that away? But that's a tiny thing to complain about. I will definitely be reading the rest of this series. I recommend this one to readers interested in Reformation England, fans of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (although I've only seen the movie),…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: Aibileen Clark

Aibileen Clark, from The Help by Kathrynn Stockett, is a patient woman. She has raised white women's children in Mississippi in the 50's and 60's. She has loved them when they were small and then been hurt as they grew up, learned the values of the culture around them, and shunned her. That's the way it's always been. But Aibileen is out of patience. She is now working for an absolute horror of a woman. Miss Hilly is launching a campaign to get all the black "help" in the city their own bathrooms. Not because they might like their own space, but "because of disease, you know. You don't want to catch whatever they have. And who knows what kind of disease they might have." (I'm paraphrasing, but this is very true to the idea) Yeah. How do you work for that kind of woman? By telling the truth. Aibileen starts a project with Skeeter Phelan, a white society girl who wants a career, of all things. Aibileen helps Skeeter write a household hints column for the local paper. She also tells her the truth about what life as "the help" in Mississippi is like. She holds nothing back, good or bad. She recruits other women into the project to tell their stories. And they all have stories. Oh, boy, do they have stories. I loved Minny (see my Character Connection post about her), but I related more to Aibileen. I wouldn't say that I'm as patient as she is, but my temper is a loooooooooong slow burn. Once it goes, that is it. I am done with you. I figure if you have pushed me that far, you are asking for whatever I dish out. Aibileen has that loooooooong slow burn, but she burns through to righteous anger. She…

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July 7, 2011

Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham: Book Review

Ludelphia Bennett is worried about her mom. After several miscarriages, Mama finally seems to be carrying a baby to term. But she is coughing a lot and looking weaker every day. When the baby comes early, Ludelphia doesn't know what to do. She asks their neighbor, Etta Mae, for help. But Etta Mae has a bad reputation since she came back to the little town of Gee's Bend, and everyone thinks she made things worse instead of better. When Mama gets sicker and sicker after the birth, Etta Mae challenges ten-year-old Ludelphia to go for help--in the next town over. Does Ludelphia have what it takes to leave Gee's Bend and make it back? There is more to little Ludelphia than you would think at first glance. She has lived in the microscopic town of Gee's Bend all her life, but out of love for her mother she is willing to journey alone to the next town. Of course she meets unforeseen obstacles along the way, but she ultimately meets them head-on with all the grace she can muster. She must be a beautiful quilter as well. Her quilting is what helps her to think clearly. She accumulates little pieces of cloth along the way to make a quilt for Mama when she gets better. Each piece will tell a part of the story of her journey. I really liked the sense of community that the people of Gee's Bend shared. Of course they didn't all get along, but they looked out for each other and shared the little they had. My one complaint isn't even about the book itself. I read the Author's Note as well, and apparently this book is loosely based around some true events in the town's history. I would have liked a little more of…

The Maze Runner by James Dashner: Book Review

Thomas suddenly awakes in a box as a group of other teenage boys looks down at him, calling him unfathomable names like "shank" and "greenie." He has no idea how he got there or where he came from. All he remembers from his past is his name. He eventually learns that this group of 50-60 boys live in the heart of a maze. They've been looking for a way out for years and haven't found it yet. They must return to the Glade every night, or else they'll be locked out and left for the Grievers. Thomas starts to have a feeling that he knows more about the maze than he first thought. Turns out he's right. Eh. Ya know, dystopian novels are just not my thing, yet I keep trying. At what point do I give up? Is it good that I keep trying or is it a waste of my time? I just don't know. My problem with this book was that absolutely no one would tell Thomas what was going on. Granted, they don't know a whole lot about what's going on either, but someone could at least say, as soon as they get him out of the box, "Look, dude. You're in the middle of a gigantic maze. None of us knows how we got here. None of us remembers anything before waking up in that box. We get supplies weekly. Don't get caught outside the Glade after dark because these horrible monsters that we call Grievers will kill you. Yes, we've been looking for a way out but we haven't found it yet. Any questions?" Instead it's just a whole lot of, "Shut up with the questions! We'll explain tomorrow." And then, when tomorrow comes, it's "Shut up with the questions! I'll get to that…

Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund: Book Review

What I knew about Marie Antoinette before reading this book (spoilers ahead if you don't know anything at all about her): She was married to Louis XVI, she said "Let them eat cake," she was queen during the French Revolution, and (possible spoiler here)-------------------------she was beheaded. That was it. Three out of four isn't bad. She never actually said "Let them eat cake." According to the author, it was the wife of Louis XIV, two generations earlier, who said that. So, if you ever win tons of money on Jeopardy for knowing the correct question to this answer, I expect a small slice of the pie for enlightening you on that point. :-) Okay, seriously, I'm avoiding writing this review, because I'm not going to do the book justice. The whole appeal is how Marie Antoinette just came to life in these pages for me. So she was a real person--it's hard to make characters seem this real, whether they're historical figures or not. In fact, it might be harder when most people just have a vision of a thoughtless queen who wasted money while her people starved. But she was so complex, I just can't even begin to spell it out. I didn't always like her, but she was always real, and I could see how some of what happened was her fault, but some things were beyond her control. I got to the last section, during the revolution, and found myself wanting to drag my feet through it and avoid the unavoidable. But I wanted to see exactly what happened, and Sena Jeter Naslund's writing style is just beautiful to me, so I found myself actually racing through it. And she handled the ending beautifully. I should never have doubted her. The wild emotions going through Marie Antoinette,…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: Mrs. Murphy

Mrs. Murphy is a tiger cat who co-habits with "Harry" Harristeen (a woman) and Tee Tucker, a Welsh corgi. They live in the tiny town of Crozet, Virginia. For such a tiny place, Crozet has an awful lot of murders. Luckily for everyone, Mrs. Murphy is on the case in this series of books written by Rita Mae Brown and her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown. Mrs. Murphy is the feline equivalent of the sensible matron. She has her playful moods, as all cats do, but she is very practical as well. She understands that anyone could have a clue, and so tries to maintain peaceable relations with the other animal inhabitants of the farm and town. She and Tee Tucker have a great relationship. They both love Harry and use that as a place to start. Mrs. Murphy appreciates Tee's loyalty and they investigate many crimes together. Pewter is a neighboring cat. Mrs. Murphy has less patience for Pewter. Pewter is an, um, over-indulged Persian who whines a bit and likes her treats a little too much. They eventually make their peace as well. Mrs. Murphy also has the unenviable job of cluing the humans in to what is going on while keeping Harry safe at the same time. These are tough jobs, but Mrs. Murphy is up to the task. The series begins with Wish You Were Here. Who did you connect with this week? Link your post on Mr. Linky, then be sure to go check out the other Character Connections! Don’t you just love larger-than-life characters? The ones who jump off the page and grab you? Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t be indifferent to them. I would love to know about the characters who just won’t leave you! Most of you will probably…

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June 30, 2011

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand: Book Review

Seabiscuit. An American Legend. I think the only reason I even know the horse's name is because of the movie they filmed a few years ago. I'm obviously not a horse-racing fan, right? I don't even remember why I grabbed this at a library book sale. A friend here on GR must have given it a good review. But I am so glad I read this. I've gotten much better about reading non-fiction over the past six months, but I was amazed at what a page-turner this was for me. I've been reading non-fiction before bed, thinking that would be a good time to squeeze it in because I wouldn't have to worry too much about getting caught up in the story and staying up all night. Bad move with this book. I was doing the "one more chapter" thing quite a bit. It was just a perfect mix of an underdog story and excellent writing. Hillenbrand has a gift for putting you right into the action. Not knowing if Seabiscuit was going to win or lose any given race, my stomach would knot up and I would start reading faster as he came out of the gates. I was worried about injuries. I was furious with jockeys whom I thought were cheating. My heart pounded as Seabiscuit came down the home stretch and I read ahead to find out if he pulled it off this time. What the heck has happened to me?!? Where did the woman who thought "Non-fiction is boring" go? This horse and his team are truly all-American legends. It seems that we love underdog stories and Seabiscuit, owner Charles Howard, trainer Tom Smith, and jockey Red Pollard were all underdogs at some point. Reading about their struggles and triumphs and, yes, even failures, was inspiring.…