Introverted Reader

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Review: I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb--4 Stars Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier--4 Stars Winner of Sweet Nothings by Janis Thomas Read: The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, read by Joshua Swanson Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride Currently Reading: The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt Up Next: I just downloaded A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (read by Jayne Entwistle), so I'll start listening to that on the drive to work in the morning. I want to re-read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry before my book club meeting at the end of the month, so hopefully I'll get to that this week as well. What are you reading this week? 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.

10 Comments

April 14, 2014

Read more about the article Movie Review: <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>

Screen and Stage Review

Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

So, since I pretty much slammed Noah last week, I thought I'd tell you about a movie I did like. We went out to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have fairly solid geek cred, but that's based mostly on my love of fantasy novels and the occasional tv show. I don't read superhero graphic novels. I'm not knocking anyone who does, they're just not really my thing. I love the Iron Man movies and at least liked all the others that fall into the "Marvel Universe" but I only really got hooked when we saw The Avengers. Man. That movie was pretty much perfect. Plenty of action and smart one-liners. What more could I ask for? When Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered on ABC, my husband and I were quickly hooked on that too. We rush through dinner to make sure we catch it and if we're running late, we sit in front of the tv and eat. So now we're to the point where we have to catch the movies in the theater, the sooner the better. I liked the first Captain America but didn't love it. The guy's just too goody-two-shoes for me. All his talk of loyalty and honor just makes me feel like a lesser mortal. In his second movie, he's starting to question his orders and I like him better for it. He's not sure if he's doing the right thing but he desperately wants to. That, I can relate to. There's plenty of action (And I could follow it! I hate action scenes that are too fast and complicated.) and a few laughs along the way. I kind of figured out who the Winter Soldier was early in the movie but I quickly dismissed my suspicions.…

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April 9, 2014

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai: Book Review

Malala Yousafzai was only fifteen when she was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban for speaking out for education for everyone around the world, but especially for girls, and especially in Muslim countries. She miraculously survived and now has an even larger audience for her message. I think I'd heard a little bit about Malala before this book came out but only a little. Then I just happened to catch her on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart one night and I was blown away. This young lady is intelligent, well-spoken and seems to be fearless in speaking her mind. I can't remember if Jon Stewart asked if he could adopt her or vote for her (probably both) but I echo that sentiment. I knew I had to have this book after seeing her speak. The Malala in these pages is everything I expected her to be. She makes it clear that she's not perfect but her conviction rings throughout the book. She knows it is one of her basic human rights to get an education. She has a brain and she wants to use it. She is disturbed by the spread of a version of Islam that she doesn't recognize. She doesn't want the Taliban keeping the populace in ignorance and gaining even more control. She thinks we should all make an educated choice in our beliefs, whether those beliefs are personal, political, or religious. She begins by painting a picture of Pakistan as she saw it before the Taliban started gaining control. It sounds like a beautiful place with a troubled past. Then she tells about all the ways, both little and big, that the Taliban started to affect daily life. This was the scariest part for me. It felt like it could happen…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Giveaway: Sweet Nothings by Janis Thomas. Enter by midnight Monday night! Posted: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, read by Mark Bramhall--3 Stars Movie Review: Noah--2 Stars Review: Sovereign by C. J. Sansom--3 Stars Winner of my giveaway of my ARC of The Fountain of St. James Court; or, Portrait of the Author as an Old Woman by Sena Jeter Naslund Read: Nothing finished this week. Currently Reading: The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, read by Joshua Swanson The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt Cold Granite by Stuart McBride Up Next: I should finish The Lady in the Tower in a couple of days. I'll start reading The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi after that. What are you reading this week? 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.

7 Comments

April 7, 2014

Sovereign by C. J. Sansom: Book Review

Matthew Shardlake has been summoned by Archbishop Cranmer to assist with some law work as King Henry makes a royal progress through the rebellious north. He must also try to keep a prisoner alive for later questioning. But conspiracies still abound in the area and Shardlake's life is endangered when he stumbles onto something. Reading this felt like slogging through the mud created by the never-ending rain in the book. It just dragged on and on and on. Finally, in about the last hundred pages, the action picked up and everything started to get interesting. I enjoyed reading more about Shardlake and Barak, but overall, I have a lot of problems with the book. There were a lot of typos that drove me crazy. The Bealknap case (remember that from Dark Fire?) is still. dragging. on. C'mon and let it die already! With Shardlake being in the barbarous north, he obviously doesn't really understand the dialect. The explanation of some of the more common terms was unbelievably clumsy. One character basically says out of the blue, "Oh, by the way, old boy, did you know that gate means street up here?" Yes, it really was that bad. Reading this so soon after Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth was actually pretty interesting. In Pillars, we get to see how important the monasteries are and the hard work that goes into building a cathedral. In Sansom's books, the pendulum has swung the other way and they're being destroyed. I've never really thought too much about how much art, architecture, and history was lost in these kinds of purges, but the juxtaposition of the two books really brought that home for me. I'll keep reading, and if you've read the others, I would recommend you do the same. It was still…

Read more about the article Movie Review: <i>Noah</i>

Screen and Stage Review

Movie Review: Noah

Saturday was rainy here so my husband and I headed out to the movies. Our decision-making process while choosing the film was, "Which one will be better on the big screen and which one will be fine on the tv?" Noah won and The Grand Budapest Hotel got saved on the Netflix queue. Noah lost me from the beginning. It dragged on and on and on and bore very little resemblance to the Genesis story as I remember it from Sunday School. I think it started going way off track when Noah was killing people, even in self-defense, and finally derailed when I realized that the "fallen angels" that had appeared in the Garden of Eden were going to stick around and help Noah build the ark. They looked like big rock Transformers. Seriously? Then Noah went all ultimate eco-warrior. They were all going to die. Not just the wicked world but him and his family too. His family would ride out the flood on the ark to make sure the animals made it through okay and then live out their days in solitude. No procreation allowed. He would do anything, including infanticide, to make sure that's the way it went down. Talk about alienating the audience. Add a sullen teenaged Ham to the ark and a murderous stowaway and you've got yourself a hot mess. The bit about a naked, drunken Noah got dragged in for no purpose I could see. One of the few things in the movie that I remember from the Bible and it was just a throwaway scene. And then suddenly they all lived happily ever after. My husband says he would give it 3.5 stars so we think my Baptist roots might be showing. But why mess with a story that's already epic enough…

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April 2, 2014

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…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Giveaway: The Fountain of St. James Court: or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman by Sena Jeter Naslund Review: Vintage by Susan Gloss--3 Stars Review: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple--4 Stars Review: The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King--3 Stars Review: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde--4 Stars Read: The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, read by Mark Bramhall I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb Currently Reading: The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt Cold Granite by Stuart McBride Up Next: I'm making slow progress so I won't finish any of these anytime soon. I do need to download a new audio book as soon as I get this posted. I'm leaning toward some Rick Riordan but we'll see what strikes my fancy once I actually start looking around. What are you reading this week? 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.

6 Comments

March 30, 2014

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…