Rating: ★★★★☆ 

This is going to be short because I don’t have a lot of time or energy, my apologies.

This book was recommended to me by a guy I worked with and when I mentioned it to my husband he knew about it and said he’d wanted to read it as well.  We got it and he was supposed to read it first but he’s been busy with school work and hasn’t had much time for leisure reading.  I was reading The Satanic Verses at the time and just needed something else to read.  This was a great choice because it was relatively faster paced and infinitely more interesting.  I had read one other book by Neil Gaiman, Stardust, and really liked it so I figured I’d like this one as well.  Gaiman is a terrific writer.  He has the ability to tweak reality and create these fantastic worlds that don’t seem so unrealistic.  I love when a story gives you all you need to know to figure out the ending.  I don’t by any means mean predictable.  I just hate when the ending comes out of nowhere and it seems like nothing in the story actually contributed to it.  This story was not like that.  It was kind of like you were given pieces to the puzzle and when you put them all together you could really see the full story.  I really enjoyed the book.  The dialogue in it was great and Gaiman writes so that the reader is visually inspired.  You can imagine everything perfectly in your mind and that makes for a more interactive and entertaining read.

I’ve started following him on my google reader.  Check out his blog here.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Did I miss something?

I have a thing about not finishing a book I start, I always hope that in the end things will come together.  There maybe three books in my life I didn’t finish and in this case I think I should have added a fourth.  This book was on my 1001 Books you must read before you die list so that was another reason to finish, I wanted to cross it off my list.  I think I didn’t like this book because I didn’t really understand it.  I could only read 30 pages at most in a sitting, and when I was reading I found my mind wandering from the words on the page.  The first 150 pages or so were completely not what the back of the book described and I was very confused.  The mystical aspect of the book got very annoying because I don’t know much about Islam and the angels and djinnis. (I’m curious to see what my husband thinks of this book because he has a much broader knowledge base to pull from.  Although, I think because I didn’t like it that much he’s less likely to want to read it.)  The many many characters made the book hard to follow because people were being transformed and possessed all over the place.  Each section involved different people and different characters some in their own bodies some not.  By the time we got to the major event in the book I was wondering why it took so much background to get there.  I got the good vs evil and I even understood the man without a state depression that can effect emigres I just didn’t get how they all fit in together.  I really feel like I missed something.

Writing

Sometimes even if you don’t understand what you’re reading completely the writing can make it all worthwhile.  I always think about how in Lolita, Nabokov wanted to see what the response would be to a story that was morally repugnant but beautifully written and his book was beautifully written.  I did not get the same feeling from this book.  There were a few sections that I found really amazing but when I went back to re-read them I couldn’t find them.  I had high expectations for this book because it was so critically acclaimed.  Rushdie is a hated man in a lot of places for this work and I wonder if it isn’t the reaction by the Muslim communities that created all the interest in this book and not the writing or story itself.

What did you think?

New Moon-

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Slightly better than book 1 but not much.  I think this was my favorite of the books because I really liked Jacob.  I think it’s because I could relate to him better than Bella or Edward.  I thought Jacob was the most real character in the books.  He had facets to his personality that were real.  He had a sense of humor, he got angry, he felt love and jealousy, he was compassionate and loyal.  Bella and Edward were like two drones.  I know Bella had reason to be on automatic pilot and Edward is a Vampire after all, but if he can love her so deeply he should be able to feel other emotions as well.  Of course the fact that Bella drops everything to help Edward after he was a jerk was annoying.  The feeling that theirs is an epic love is kind of a stretch at 17 but girls eat that crap up.  Bella can’t be human without her vampire, ironic right? When thinking of this book I just focus on Jacob it helps my head to not explode.

Eclipse

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

This book was not the best.  I gave it three stars because so much happened?  I’m not sure what my reasoning was.  I’m glad we learn more about Jacob and his family, I’m glad Bella makes a decision, I’m glad this was the second to last book.  Victoria is still on the loose and wants to get Bella, they know that she’s coming and both Jacob and Edward vow to keep her safe.  Blah Blah Blah.  Honestly, I’m glad there was a fight and action in this book because it was getting boring.  I was still for Jacob at this point and really didn’t think that Bella would become a vampire just by a simple decision.  It seems that Edward is putting obstacles in her path to keep her from that because they are demands that he knows she will have trouble with.

Breaking Dawn

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

If I could give this book a negative rating I would.  It was terrible, and a complete waste of time.  I read the first three and so had to read the last.  I kept hoping that there would be something redeeming in this book to save the series.  Like maybe Meyer was working up to something great?  No, utter disappointment.  It really seems like she signed a four book deal and had to come through on the fourth book even though there was nothing left to write about.  The series could have easily ended with the third book, she could have put the wedding at the end and then they lived happily ever after.  Boom!  We could have been spared the crap that was this book.  Seriously, a unexpected, rapidly progressing, life stealing, pregnancy?  Then of course she almost dies giving birth and Edward has to change her.  Turns out she’s really good at being a vampire?  She has an ability to control herself, weird because she couldn’t do that at all before.  And her stubbornness is now a virtue?  She has a hard head that no one can get into so she’s special?  The freaking name of the baby? Nessie?  Jacob imprinting on the baby? Bella light?  It was all just too much.  I was all about Jacob until this.  I guess Meyer felt she had to throw him a bone? And then at the end there’s a build up to something and then nothing happens?  Beyond lame.  I was so pissed at the end of this book.  Really what was the point?

It seems like Meyer put in everything people were complaining about.  Bella is too weak so in this book she’ll be super strong and protect people, not enough overtly Mormon sentiments that’s ok we’ll add a TON in this book.  Join your husband’s family, become one of the pack, we’re not of this world, you’re not complete until you are married and have a child.  Please, this is all just crap.  Crap crap crap.  AHH!!

Oh and by the way, Jacob and his family, not werewolves after all.  Why not just say that in the beginning?  What was the point of him being a werewolf for 3.8 books?  It seems like an insignificant point to make, lycanthropes they are not that is obvious.

The series overall-I think I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of exposition and these books were just that.  Most books follow the format of plot point, exposition, plot point etc.  This moves the story along, creates a passage of time and a sense of going somewhere.  These books were the opposite, the plot points were added as a way to make sense of all the exposition.  I think that’s why teenage girls like this series so much, it’s a teenage soap opera.  I could go on and on about why the series sucked overall but it boils down to terrible writing.  It’s obvious that she was writing to a demographic but I can’t even say that that is the problem because lots of authors do that and are very successful.  Writing for young adults or children should be entertaining yes but it should also have an overall message, hopefully one that contributes to their development in a healthy way.  It’s sad that someone would feel these things to be true and and upsetting that they would want to put them out there for our daughters to read.  The fact is  young girls everywhere are reading this and eating it up and now we have to try to teach them that giving up everything for a guy is not the answer.  A successful relationship is based on trust, love, and partnership.  Sharing your life with someone can be magical but losing yourself for the sake of a guy is pathetically tragic.

Sucked big time is right.

I put off reading this book because my husband said he hated it.  For some reason, I took his opinion into consideration before I thought about the fact that he was a teenage boy when he read this.  I saw the BBC film adaptation of the book before I read it.  The good thing about this is that I could imagine the events unfolding as I read them, the bad thing is that I was expecting the book to be like the movie, and they never are.  I confess that I picked this book as the next book to read because I have the pocket library edition and I needed a book I could easily hold with one hand because I’m holding my baby girl in the other.  I had finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes before this and was in a Victorian era kind of mood.  I love this era of writing even though the authors of this period are so varied and so diverse.  I expected there to be similarities between Austen and Brontë, but there were very little.  This book was very Gothic, which I really enjoyed.  Austen focuses on society and peerage a lot in her stories and this novel had none of that.  It was so interesting to read a book of the same era and see so many differences and very little similarities.

The character if Heathcliff is so complex.  At times I found myself completely disgusted with him and then I’d be sympathizing with him.  He was a terrible human being, he had no respect for other people, he devoted his life to creating grief and pain and yet, he loved so deeply.  Was he a victim of his circumstances?  Would he have turned out differently if he had been treated like family instead of like the hired help or was he just born evil?  Why could his love for Catherine not bring about redemption?  This book totally went against everything you’d expect from a novel.  The lovers did not end up together, they did not have babies and grow old, and they did not live happily ever after.  Catherine decides to marry for position instead of for love and knowing this Heathcliff leaves to make something of himself.  When he comes back he is bent on taking revenge on everyone who wronged him and in his eyes that is everyone.  It doesn’t die with those directly involved.  He takes it to another level and tried to hurt people using their family, using their children.  He marries the sister of Catherine’s husband to try to become the heir of their estate. He forces his feeble weak son to marry Catherine’s daughter to make her miserable.

Ultimately his plan works, everyone hates him and is miserable in their lives.  He dies alone, and strangely enough the days leading up to his death are really the happiest days he has, because he knows that he will soon be with Catherine again.  He is also confronted with what he always knew, you can’t stop love.  He sees his nephew Hareton and Cathy falling in love despite themselves and is reminded of how his love for Catherine started and blossomed.  Knowing he is going back to that love seems to bring him peace.  He is buried with her and her husband, which I laugh about when I picture the three of them squished in spots for two graves.

Overall I liked this book but I didn’t love it.  I’m eager to read another Brontë and see how they compare.  What did you think?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I know going into reading these books that there could be some gruesome stuff inside.  I’m not really opposed to it because it’s part of our society, unfortunately.  Most of the time it’s pretty far removed from me and I can’t really imagine either someone I know doing it or it happening to me or someone I know.  I don’t know if we are conditioned that way because it’s easier to deal with or what, but this story was different.

Dr. Brennan has been haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend all her life and when the remains of a girl fitting her description are found, Dr. Brennan becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her friend.  The only problem is she has actual, present day, remains to analyze and this case she’s more interested in is not top priority.  That’s not all that’s taking a back seat, her relationship with Detective Ryan is all but over as he has to make some pretty serious changes in order to give his daughter the stability she needs to thrive.  (The unending sacrifice of parents…sigh).  That part was pretty upsetting to me as the thought of not having Detective Ryan in the stories going forward is a big thumbs.  I really like him.

Anyway, Dr. Brennan and Det. Ryan are working a case together regardless of what might happen in her personal life and since she’s having a hard time dealing with the feelings about her childhood friend that are resurfacing she calls her sister and she comes for a visit.  Dr. Brennan’s sister is a mess and because of that is always getting into trouble.  Luckily this time, she’s here to help and actually does lend some moral support as well as amateur detecting.  Dr. Brennan finds out some shocking truths about her friend and also uncovers a horrendous crime ring.  With the help of her sister, he boyfriend and a cold case worker she manages to solve more than one mystery and is finally able to put the past behind her.

The crimes in this book involve those against children.  Maybe it’s because I have kids now that child trafficking, child slavery, and all around child abuse makes me sick.  Literally makes me sick to my stomach.  I can’t help but imagine that’s my daughter or my son they are talking about.  The crimes in this book are not made up, they happen all the time to helpless children all over the world.  Parents need to educate themselves on how to raise a child who would not fall victim to a molester and how to recognize the signs that someone is trying to harm your child.  I liked this book because it talks about things that are considered taboo but I’m fairly certain the aim of the author was to bring awareness.  Let’s not stick our heads in the mud and say it won’t happen to us, let’s do something to stop it.

Visit any of these sites and get involved some how.

www.sctnow.org

stopchildslavery.com

http://www.ecpat.net

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

I had taken a break from the world of forensic anthropology to explore the supernatural world of Bon Temps.  On my desk there have been a stack of books that I have been slowly getting through.  Two were by Kathy Reichs and since I knew I liked these books and they didn’t take long to read and would help me cross them off my list and get them off the desk I decided to read them.  I can’t even remember which number in the series this book is but that’s ok.  The truth is I started the other one first thinking it was the next in line and found myself completely confused when the characters referenced stuff that happened in the previous book that I couldn’t remember.  Then I realized, I was reading them out of order.  75 pages into the other book I had to stop and start the other one.  Luckily there wasn’t too much spoiled.

This book brings us back down south where Dr. Brennan is finishing up a class.  She’s teaching students how to be “in the field” when they discover a body.  That’s not really surprising because that’s what they are looking for, evidence of an old burial ground before the site can be cleared for development.  The weird thing is, this body is not old.  Not as old as it should be.  Then, as they tends to happen, bodies start piling up everywhere.  Dr. Brennan finds herself playing coroner as well as her other duties because her friend the coroner is very sick.  She does what she can to find out how these seemingly unrelated dead bodies are actually related, because they always are!

This book is a test of will for Tempe.  Sick friend, an unhappy land developer, an uncooperative Sheriff, an annoying ex-husband barging in, papers to grade, bodies to examine, murders to solve, and a love life to manage.  This book has the works.  I’m finding that the actual murder solving part isn’t as interesting as the interpersonal relationships have become.  Life between Andrew Ryan and Dr. Brennan is getting strained due to their other responsibilities, he just found out he has a troubled teen who needs him, and she seems to be pulled back into her other life; neither of which makes for a good way to continue a relationship.

The murder gets solved, they save the day, and a bad guy goes to jail.  It’s kind of a creepy story about treating people like livestock.  Maybe that’s why it wasn’t my favorite part of the book?  I liked her being back in South Carolina, it makes her life seem more real when the stories are from both places she calls home.

What did you think?

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

I was going to review these stories separately but I really didn’t get a lot of them.  I do love the way Salinger writes but there is something unsettling about his stories.  He seems to like the interactions between adults and children.  A lot of the stories in this book have a child and an adult interacting.  It’s kind of weird, or is that just me who gets the creepy crawlies from that?  A lot of people speculate about his propensity to include young girls in his stories saying he was attracted to them.  That seems evidenced by who he chose to involve himself with at times, but an older man with a younger woman is nothing new.  Some think perhaps he secluded himself because he didn’t want to be tempted by the young girls out in the world?  Or he used his seclusion to carry on secret relationships with younger women?

Others think he used the character of a young girl as a representation of all that is innocent and pure in direct relief to much darker and complexly disturbed characters.  When you put his writing into the context of the time he wrote that seems to make more sense.  Sexual predators were not on people’s radar as prominently as they are now.  It’s easy for us to jump to conclusions in 2010 but he wrote in a post WWII era.  He wrote of adolescence, to adolescents.  Perhaps he was a creepy old man obsessed with youth, but he was undeniably one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.  Reading Salinger is not just an intellectual experience, but a physical one as well.  His writing strikes you so hard you can feel it.  I love that.

Do you like Salinger?

Nine Stories by J D Salinger

I don’t have a lot of time on my hands these days so this is going to be short.

The 9th installment of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Mysteries was AWESOME!  Sookie finds out some interesting information about herself and of course what she learns puts her in terrible danger, actually it puts her in the middle of another war.  She has more family than she thought but this long lost relative comes with strings attached.   He hasn’t been in contact because Sookie’s grandfather forbade it but he’s dead and now the door is open.  He doesn’t want anything to do with Sookie’s brother, and can you blame him?  Sookie knows that’s for the best because her brother would try to suck this guy dry and that would be bad.  Still she doesn’t like keeping things from her brother even though he’s a butthead.

Eric gets his memory back because they destroyed the spell book of the witch who cast the spell on him?  I think I’m remembering that correctly.  Which means he remembers everything from his time with Sookie and talk about awkward!!!  Bill is still hanging around, he still loves her and is sorry blah blah blah but she’s really hurt by what she learned at the Vampire summit.  She’s not likely to forgive him enough to invite him back to her bedroom and now that Eric has his memory back would she want to? I can’t wait to see where things go with the three of them in the next book.  The end of this book was pretty intense and I think Bill proves pretty decisively that he does love her and would do anything to keep her safe.

Sookie experiences a lot of sadness in this book.  It seems that people fall in and out of her life pretty easily and there’s not much she can do about it.  I loved getting lost in Bon Temps for a couple hours and can’t wait for the next one to come out on paperback!

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!  I’m not sure if it’s because I saw the movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law before I read this and I could picture them acting all the stories out or what but this was a great book.  I’ve never read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories and now I can’t wait to read the rest.  I just got a Sherlock Holmes App for my phone so I can read the other stories they were so good.  Did I mention I liked this book?

So I love mystery stories, I love cop shows, and whodunits.  I love the suspense and the reveal of what happened and how. I’ve now come to realize I have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to thank for all of that.  Some of my favorite characters are based on Sherlock Holmes but with a twist.  Adrian Monk from the show Monk, Gregory House from the show House and so many more.  They use observation and common sense to solve problems.  They take into consideration everything they see and hear and don’t let anything escape them.  Deductive reasoning, I love it!

The stories in this book are all interesting problems brought to our friends Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson.  Having the stories told from the point of view of Dr. Watson is just genius.  There’s no way they could be told by Holmes himself, they would seem too pretentious.  Watson has a great voice and you can tell her is in awe of Holmes’ intellect and powers of deduction.  He tries to better himself and learn by example but doesn’t always get there.  I love how Mr. Holmes encourages him to offer his opinions even though he is inevitably wrong every time.  These stories are highly entertaining, short enough to read one in a sitting, and cunning enough to make you want to read more.  I can’t wait for the others!

What did you think?

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle