Title: Dracula in Love
Author: Karen Essex
ISBN: 9780385528917
Pages: 384
Release Date: August 10, 2010
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Dracula in Love follows the story of Mina Murray, who becomes Mina Harker, the main female character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Essex reimagines the classic story from Mina’s point of view and reveals what was really going on under the surface.

Review:

I really enjoyed Karen Essex’ previous novel Stealing Athena, so I immediately knew I wanted to read Dracula in Love.  At the same time, however, I was a little bit hesitant – I’m very tired of the vampire craze and books on the subject don’t really appeal to me.  However, since it was based on the classic novel, rather than an urban fantasy about vampires living among us, I thought it might make a satisfying read.

I’m glad I gave Dracula in Love a chance because it was a very creative novel.  Essex reinterprets Bram Stoker’s Dracula, giving us a three-dimensional, strong, and independent Mina.  She’s well-written and sympathetic, while also being very modern for the time she lives in.  I appreciated that Essex fleshed Mina out so well and gave her a story of her own.

Essex entirely reinvents the classic story in this book.  The beginning of the novel sees Mina as a teacher, then follows the course of Dracula.  For anyone who’s read the novel, the events will be very recognizable, though it is very nice to see Mina’s interpretation of them.  As the novel progresses, though, Essex makes Mina’s story her own, very different from anything else I’ve seen.  Where the novel ends up turns more into historical fantasy than fiction and stretches the imagination quite a bit, but I did love the twist at the end, with what happens to Mina.

Dracula in Love is a creative twist on a classic novel, and I really appreciated Essex’ imagination.  I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I hadn’t recently read Dracula though.  It is written in a similar style to that book, and as a result, it’s very slow.  That’s not a criticism because Essex was clearly trying to reflect Stoker’s writing, but I’m not sure I would have appreciated that writing style had I not been familiar with the original.  While I do recommend Dracula in Love, I’d definitely read the classic novel first if you haven’t before done so.  It will make you appreciate this book much more.

Title: The House of Tomorrow
Author: Peter Bognanni
ISBN: 9780399156090
Pages: 368
Release Date: March 4, 2010
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Sebastian lives in a geodesic dome designed by Buckminister R. Fuller.  Since it was the first geodesic dome built in Iowa, it’s something of a tourist attraction.  Sebastian’s parents are dead, so he lives only with his eccentric grandmother, cut off from the rest of the world.  However, everything changes in an instant when Sebastian’s grandmother has a stroke.  He connects with Jared Whitcomb, a punk teen who was visiting the dome when Sebastian’s grandmother fell ill.  Sebastian’s relationship with the Whitcomb family will change everything and open his eyes to the world around him.

Review:

The House of Tomorrow is a creative and interesting novel about one boy’s search for a sense of self and a place to belong.  Sebastian is a strange boy.  From his awkward inability to handle himself in social situations, one might assume he’s a high functioning autistic, but that clearly isn’t the case.  Sebastian simply has never been socialized.  He was homeschooled by his grandmother in the geodesic dome, and she has never given him the opportunity to interact with other people his own age.  The only time he talks to people other than his grandmother are his brief interactions in the dome’s gift shop, which he handles.  Therefore, meeting Jared really broadens Sebastian’s worldview as he tries to have a normal friendship with a boy his own age.

Sebastian is a completely charming, wildly innocent boy.  He doesn’t want to defy his grandmother by being friends with someone outside the dome, yet he can’t resist the allure of the Whitcombs.  Through his interactions with them, he begins to understand what it means to be a teenager.  He establishes his own sense of self that’s separate from his life at the dome.  Bognanni writes Sebastian’s voice very well, and he is an excellent narrator.

The House of Tomorrow centers around music, yet it’s not a book about music.  It focuses on music’s ability to bring people together and heal them.  Jared listens to music in order to escape the misery of his every day life.  He and Sebastian play music so that they can express themselves and deal with their frustrations at what life has thrown at them.  It added an extra layer to the sweet, true friendship between Sebastian and Jared.

If you can’t tell, I really adored The House of Tomorrow.  It was so unique and lovable.  Every second I spent with it was enjoyable and I’m so sorry it’s over.  This is a book I’ll be handselling for the foreseeable future; I can’t wait to see what Bognanni comes up with for his next book.

Title: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Source: Publisher

When I received Committed for review, I put it on the back-burner for awhile.  Middling reviews, coupled with the fact that I wasn’t really that interested in reading it, made me decide to prioritize it pretty low.  However, I noticed it recently and decided I’d give it a try.  After all, it’s about Gilbert’s exploration into marriages in other cultures.  I love reading books about travel and that part of it sounded interesting, so even if I wasn’t her biggest fan, the book had to have some redeeming qualities, right?  Right??

Wrong.

To be fair, I only made it 35 pages into the book, which is probably a record for me – I usually give a book until at least page 75.  And the cultural tidbits were indeed interesting, but Gilbert was unbelievable.  Her preconceptions, prejudices, and utter ignorance made me so angry that I couldn’t continue with this memoir.  Case in point:

“In the modern industrialized Western world, where I come from, the person whom you choose to marry is perhaps the single most vivid representation of your own personality.  Your spouse becomes the most gleaming possible mirror through which your emotional individualism is reflected back into the world.”

Umm…no?  Doesn’t the fact that it’s your individualism mean that your spouse cannot be a mirror, because you are both individuals?  Granted, I’m not an expert on marriage and haven’t been married for long, but my husband and I have different personalities.  We definitely complement each other in some ways, but we diverge in others.  He is most definitely not a representation of my personality nor a mirror to my emotional individualism.  We are both our own independent people.

“If you ask any typical modern Western woman how she met her husband, when she met her husband, and why she fell in love with her husband, you can be plenty sure that you will be told a complete, complex, and deeply personal narrative which that woman has not only spun carefully around the entire experience, but which she has memorized, internalized, and scrutinized for clues as to her own selfhood.”

What????  I really hope that the story of how I met my husband is not a deeply personal narrative because WE MET IN A BAR.  Not much spinning I could do about that, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to.  Sure people ask, and I respond truthfully, but clearly, this is not crucial to my selfhood.  I can’t say I really know anyone who has constructed some grand tale about how they met their spouse (though sometimes the stories are really good on their own).  People I know don’t define themselves through their spouses, nor do they deconstruct how and when they met their spouses, and when they fell in love, for clues to their own identity.  That’s one of the most ridiculous and ignorant generalizations about Western women I’ve ever heard.

“Whatever the details, you can be certain that the modern Western woman’s love story will have been examined by her from every possible angle, and that, over the years, her narrative will have been either hammered into a golden epic myth or embalmed into a bitter cautionary tale.”

I’m sorry, but I don’t know anyone, male or female, who defines themselves through their spouse the way that Gilbert thinks every single Western woman does.  (Also?  Seriously, you think Scandinavian women, who are trending towards not even getting married to their male partners anymore, fit into these ridiculous generalizations?  Get your adjectives correct, you’re talking about American women, even though you don’t know much about them either.)  My love story with my husband isn’t an epic myth.  I don’t even really consider it a love story – I’ve never thought of it that way.  I love him, he loves me, we work together to be happy – that’s about all the thought I, and most people I know, have given it. 

I realize this is not a nice review.  I also realize that, at the end of the book, Gilbert might revise her opinions on American women and marriage, and come to the conclusion that she has no idea what she’s talking about.  But I wasn’t willing to give it that chance.  I don’t want to read a book by someone who starts out with such painful preconceptions that she applies to all Western women, rather than just her experiences.  After reading these pages, though, I can understand why GIlbert was so ambivalent about marriage if this is what she thought it was.  There has to be a reason for her strange ideas, and they might have been revealed, had I kept reading.

This is likely going to be the longest “Unfinished” review I ever write, and I wasn’t sure if I should even write it, considering I got 35 pages into the book before putting it down.  But I think it’s important to get my views across, especially because I felt so strongly about these passages in the book.  I certainly hope that Gilbert came to a place of peace with the idea of marriage by the end of the book, and understood that while getting married and the person you pick is incredibly important, examining how you met your husband is not vital to your own identity.

Edit: After writing this review, I discussed Committed with some Twitter people, and Natasha from 1330v informed me that, later in the book, Gilbert discusses the marriages in her family and it becomes clear why she has such a warped view of marriage.  I think this information would have been very helpful earlier in the book, as well as Gilbert presenting the musings above as opinion, rather than broad generalizations.  If I had been cognizant of those details when reading these sections, I may have chosen to continue with the memoir.

Title: The Cold Light of Mourning
Author: Elizabeth J. Duncan
ISBN: 9780312558536
Pages: 288
Release Date: April 28, 2009
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Penny Brannigan is mourning the death of her dear friend Emma.  Though Emma was much older than her, the two were kindred spirits.  A manicurist, Penny distracts herself by listening to her customers discuss the upcoming wedding between local darling Emyr Gruffud and his fashionable fiancée, Meg Wynne Thompson.  But when Meg Wynne goes missing the morning of her wedding and Penny is apparently the last one to have seen her, she finds herself in the middle of a puzzling mystery.

Review:

I’m always in the mood for a good mystery, and The Cold Light of Mourning was perfect for that!  The twists and turns were very well written.  I couldn’t see them coming and was extremely surprised by many of the revelations in the novel.  Despite this being her debut novel, Duncan knows how to keep readers hooked, clamoring for more.  The setting of Wales is also great for the story.  It really gives the entire novel that perfect “cozy mystery” vibe. 

Penny is an absolutely wonderful main character.  She’s smart and resourceful, and it’s really astonishing how her mind works.  She has the ability to take two completely disparate events and tie them together in very creative ways.  As a result, she becomes indispensible in the investigation of Meg Wynne’s disappearance.  The secondary characters are also intriguing, though not as well developed.  Penny’s friend Victoria really sparked my interest, and I can’t wait to learn more about her in a sequel.

The Cold Light of Mourning is the first in a series; the sequel A Brush With Death has already been released, and I am absolutely sure I will be reading it.  Elizabeth J. Duncan is a talented new voice in mystery writing and I’m so glad she’s on the scene. 

Title: Envy & Splendor: A Luxe Novel
Author: Anna Godbersen
ISBN: 9780061345746 & 9780061626333
Pages: 432 & 416
Release Date: January 27, 2009 & January 1, 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Teen/YA, Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: Envy: 4 out of 5, Splendor: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

In these last two books of the Luxe series, Anna Godbersen brings her teen society tale to a close.  Gossip and secrets about as these characters each try to find happiness, sometimes at the expense of others.

Review:

I enjoyed both The Luxe and Rumors, so when I received Envy and Splendor for review, I was eager to get to them.  I really wanted to see how Godbersen would wrap up this intriguingly delicious series and see if the characters would end up finding happiness.

In Rumors, I felt like not much happened because the entire novel seemed to be setting the stage for the next book.  That wasn’t the case with Envy.  Many characters drastically changed their situations, setting the stage for an explosive and gripping finale.  I must admit the Henry-Diana storyline frustrated me, as the artificial constraints Godbersen used to keep them apart seemed to be in place merely to keep that particular plot going.  However, the rest of it was very satisfying.  Elizabeth’s story in particular really got to me, as it’s unclear how she will find happiness after the events at the end of Rumors.  I also appreciated that the more despicable characters seem to have been set up to fall.

Despite the fact Godbersen was trying to tie up the storylines of the series in the last installment, Splendor, she still managed to introduce enough twists and turns to satisfy the reader.  This book has its share of unexpected events and startling revelations.  The author also resolved all dangling threads with varying degrees of satisfaction.  I was happy with some of the resolutions and not so much with others, but I have to commend Godbersen for not taking the easy way out.  She defied my expectations multiple times, proving her creativity again and again.

Envy and Splendor were fun reads, but I’m glad I’ve finished with the series.  While Godbersen did manage to keep things interesting for the most part, I’m not sure The Luxe series couldn’t have been a book shorter.  Still, I’ll likely be keeping an eye out for her new novel Bright Young Things.

Thanks to the great people over at Touchstone, I have one copy of The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory to give away to a lucky reader!  This giveaway is open to those with US mailing addresses only.  It ends on Monday, September 7.  I’ll pick one lucky winner on Tuesday, September 8.  To enter, please fill out the form below.  Comments on this post will not be counted for entry.

Title: The Red Queen: A Novel (The Cousins' War)
Author: Philippa Gregory
ISBN: 9781416563723
Pages: 400
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

In her second novel in her trilogy about the Wars of the Roses, Philippa Gregory focuses on Margaret Beaufort, heiress to the House of Lancaster.  Married to Edmund Tudor when she is just 12, Margaret gives birth to her son Henry at 13.  From a very young age, Margaret is convinced that she is destined to become the mother of the king, and devotes her life to ensuring that will happen, at any price.

Review:

I really enjoyed the first book in the Cousins’s War trilogy, The White Queen, which focused on Elizabeth Woodville, so I was really looking forward to The Red Queen.  I love seeing the same time period from different points of view, and Gregory masterfully accomplished that with this novel.  We get to see the same events that Elizabeth narrated, but from Margaret’s rather stingy point of view.

I really did not like Margaret Beaufort.  This was no fault of Gregory’s though; in fact, I don’t think readers really were supposed to like her.  She’s portrayed as ruthless and ambitious, stopping at nothing to ensure that her son Henry Tudor gains the throne of England.  She is also incredibly self-righteous and has a pretty ridiculous sense of entitlement.  She believes that she is blessed by God, and that God wants Henry on the throne.  She sees Henry, not as a loving mother, but as a pawn to achieve her ambitions.  At one point, she actually says:

“My son was born only to fulfill my destiny, and if he cannot do that, I don’t know what use we are to each other.”

What a kind and generous mother Margaret must have been, driving her son to the throne to satisfy her own ambitions from day one.

Considering my strong feelings about Margaret, it’s a testament to the talent of Philippa Gregory that I enjoyed this book so much.  Usually, if I don’t like or at least sympathize with a main character, I don’t really care for the book.  But in this case, I found Margaret simply fascinating.  Her ruthlessness and utter disregard for anyone else captivated me.  I could not put this book down and thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent with it.  While I didn’t like her as a person, I appreciated how smart she was and how she was able to manipulate those around her to satisfy her aims. 

As with all Philippa Gregory novels, The Red Queen is impeccably researched and is incredibly informative.  Gregory relates historical details in an easily digestible way, and they really add to the story.  If you’re planning on reading this novel without having read The White Queen, you shouldn’t have a problem.  As companion novels, they cover the same time period, so reading them in a different order won’t really ruin anything, especially if you are already familiar with the history.

The Red Queen was an absorbing novel, and I’m really sorry that it’s over.  Gregory’s third novel in this trilogy is not going to be about Elizabeth of York, as everyone (including Gregory herself, initially) assumed, but will be about Elizabeth Woodville’s mother, Jacquetta.  I’m not sure how that will play out, but I have faith in Gregory’s vision and can’t wait to read it.

Title: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Author: Mary Roach
ISBN: 9780393068474
Pages: 334
Release Date: August 2, 2010
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: Publisher 
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In Packing for Mars, Mary Roach takes on the science of space travel.  Rather than focusing on traditional science, such as escape velocity, Roach looks at humans living in space – what are the psychological, physical and biological implications and results when it comes to humans and space travel?

Review:

When I first heard that Mary Roach was writing a book about space travel, I was at once intrigued and hesitant.  On one hand, while I haven’t read anything by Mary Roach before, I’ve heard amazing things.  I knew she’d give the subject the in-depth treatment it deserved and it would be an enjoyable read.  Additionally, I was really happy to see that a book about space flight was getting mainstream attention, as most don’t.  However, I was hesitant because I have read a lot about space flight – would it have any new information for me, or would I be disappointed by its contents?

In the end, I was really pleased with Packing for Mars.  Roach takes on an almost entirely unexplored facet of space travel – its effect on the astronauts and people involved.  She reviews the physical, emotional, and biological effects of space travel, from bathroom issues in zero g to the benefits and drawbacks of an all-liquid diet to the effect of space travel on bone density.  The entire aim of the book is in the title – what will it take to get to Mars?  If we send astronauts there, what shape will they be in when they arrive?  (As a space fan, I have to say I love that this is the point of the book because I would like to see us put together a Mars mission in the future).

Roach is very witty, her sense of humor evident on each page.  Admittedly, there were some pages that I skimmed because I can take only so much potty humor (literally), but generally her wit served to soften the information for the reader.  Additionally, it’s clear that Roach did her research before writing Packing for Mars.  There’s an entire chapter-by-chapter bibliography in the back of the book.  While I do wish she had included more astronaut memoirs for the personal touch (after all, they are the people who went up there), she had the science part of the equation more than covered.

I really did find the science of this book fascinating.  The information on what space flight does to human bone density was especially interesting, as my husband’s uncle is an astronaut and broke his hip after returning from a six month stint on the International Space Station.  Doctors speculated it was because of his experiences in space; now I understand why.  Additionally, her review of the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia was fresh and interesting.  I really appreciated the time and effort she put into each of her chapters, and her enthusiasm was palpable.

Packing for Mars was an enjoyable and entertaining read from beginning to end.  It never dragged, and I appreciated the insight Roach provided into the science of human spaceflight.  I also agreed with many of her opinions, including the statement that if you only read one astronaut memoir, read Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane (a rare, five-star review for me).  Roach is an engaging, talented writer, and I’m definitely planning on going back and reading some of her earlier works.

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Sunset over the mountains in Edwards, Colorado

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Title: The Irresistible Henry House: A Novel
Author: Lisa Grunwald
ISBN: 9781400063000
Pages: 432
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: Amazon Vine
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:

In the late ‘40s, a baby was brought to the practice house at Wilton College in order to teach young women how to care for a child.  This was nothing new – in fact, it was happening all over the country.  The girls would practice with him or her for a couple of years, and then the toddler would be sent off to an adoptive family.  But this baby was different.  Martha Gaines, the house mother and Home Economics teacher, fell in love with young Henry and couldn’t bear to be parted from him.  She adopted Henry House, and this novel recounts the repercussions of a boy having not one but tens of mothers and, thus, not knowing where he truly belongs.

Review:

I found the premise of The Irresistible Henry House simply fascinating.  The idea of a house baby being raised for a few years by a collective group of mothers learning to care for him or her – it’s so foreign, and yet it was a common practice back in the 40s and 50s.  Grunwald depicts this very well – the atmosphere is believable and the program is clearly well-researched.

Every character in The Irresistible Henry House is just waiting to be dissected.  There’s Martha Gaines, the director of the Home Economics program and eventual “mother” to Henry House.  Martha firmly believes that children should be kept wanting.  They need to be trained – if they start crying at 12:45 PM, but naptime doesn’t end til 1 PM, then they should be left alone until naptime is officially over.  A child also should not be touched too often.  It’s interesting to see how Martha’s ideas about mothering affect Henry, as well as how Dr. Benjamin Spock’s method of child-rearing challenges her views.

Psychiatrists and psychologists could write a book about Henry House and still have unanswered questions and puzzles.  As Henry grows up, he becomes increasingly complicated while at the same time incredibly simple to figure out.  The consequences of having multiple mothers, and therefore never connecting with one woman as his caregiver, are clear:  Henry cannot commit.  And it’s not in the “he’ll never propose to his girlfriend” kind of way, but in a warped way that means Henry is completely unable to choose anything or anyone over something or someone else.  This leads to Henry seeming heartless and cruel, but really he is just indifferent.  Despite that, the reader can’t help but sympathize with him.  He’s not depicted in the best light, yet Grunwald makes us love him anyways.

Henry is also an incredibly gifted mimic.  He has the ability to reproduce what he sees on paper and is a very talented artist.  However, he has absolutely no creativity.  While he can draw anything he sees, he cannot produce something of his own volition.  It’s as if a part of his soul, the part that loves and commits to one person, to one job, to one city, is missing.  Because of that, he has nothing to speak to him, to tell him where his creativity lies.  Perhaps it’s that act of choosing that ignites our passions, that inspires us to create something out of nothing. 

The career path that Henry stumbles into, that of an animator, is also very interesting.  Grunwald delivers detailed descriptions about Henry’s life working on the Disney movie Mary Poppins.  I never knew how exactly hand drawn animation worked, so these insights were captivating.  It also made sense for Henry, a gifted copier, to pursue a career in which he reproduced drawings of already created figures.  It reinforced his inability to be original in his artwork.

The Irresistible Henry House was an absorbing read.  Though I read it in pieces, I believe I could have read it cover to cover in one sitting because it was so intriguing and well written.  Grunwald’s prose is clear and precise, and she develops many complex characters with the ease of a seasoned professional.  It’s a book that I’ll be recommending to anyone and everyone for a long time to come.

Some of you may remember that, about a year ago, I reviewed a little book called Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji.  I really enjoyed this look at pre-revolution Iran and thought it was a great piece of multicultural fiction.  The author recently contacted me and offered two copies of Rooftops of Tehran to give away to my readers, in celebration of its 6th printing (yay!).

Not only is he offering two copies of this book, but they will be signed.  Even better, this giveaway is open worldwide, as Mahbod wants everyone around the world to have a chance to win and read this book.

So, to enter:  fill out the form below.  Comments on this post will not count for entry, so make sure you fill out the form!  This giveaway will run through the end of the first week of September.  It will close on Monday, September 6, and I’ll choose two lucky winners on September 7.  As mentioned previously, this giveaway is open internationally!  Good luck!

Title: She's Gone Country
Author: Jane Porter
ISBN: 978-0446509411
Pages: 400
Release Date: August 23, 2010
Publisher: 5 Spot
Genre: Chick Lit
Source: Publicist
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

Shey Darcy has returned to Texas with her three sons after living in luxury in New York for most of her adult life.  Her husband, John, has left her for someone else, and Shey is left to pick up the pieces.  She finds solace in returning to Texas, in being near her family, but it’s a huge adjustment for her boys.  And, if things weren’t complicated enough, there’s Dane Kelly, the man that Shey’s been in love with since sixteen.  Will Shey be able to let go of the past and find her place, or will she always be haunted by “what if’s”?

Review:

I’ve really enjoyed Jane Porter’s previous chick lit novels, so when life was getting too busy and I wanted a light, easy read, I immediately turned to She’s Gone Country.  I was excited to kick back and relax with an author who has proven herself to be a pro at writing believable and sympathetic female characters

I enjoyed getting to know Shey and seeing how she dealt with the hardships life had thrown at her.  Her boys were definitely acting out, confused by their father’s behavior and unable to find comfort in their new and strange surroundings.  Shey did her best to help them through the rough times, and though she definitely indulged her sons, I felt like she was a devoted and caring mom.  Though I wasn’t intrigued by her professional career as a model, the book didn’t focus on that so it wasn’t really an issue.  I did love Shey’s activism towards the end of the book, and wish that revelation had come much sooner – I would have appreciated more development of that topic.

I can’t say that I loved the relationship in She’s Gone Country as much as I thought I would.  Dane was certainly a good man, and it was easy to understand the attraction between him and Shey.  But the way it was written, the style and the steps through which it progressed, made it seem like much more of a romance novel, rather than chick lit.  In some cases, there is a fine line between romance and chick lit, and this is one of those books where it’s difficult to tell.  While I do like chick lit, romance isn’t generally a genre of interest for me, and as a result, the relationship didn’t really work.  I found myself skimming those pages, and as the Shey/Dane romance is one of the main storylines, the book left me dissatisfied.

She’s Gone Country was still enjoyable, and if Porter chooses to write a sequel (the open end seems to invite one), I will definitely pick it up.  I did really like Shey and would love to revisit her character and see what the future brings her.

This is the first time I’ve ever pre-written and scheduled a Sunday Salon post, but as I’m traveling again this week (I’ll be gone for over a week), and I didn’t get to do a Sunday Salon post last week because of traveling, I wanted to make sure I got at least one in there!  I’ll also be traveling for the next two weekends, so there may be another pre-scheduled Sunday Salon post wedged in there.

I do enjoy traveling, but I have to say it will be awhile before the travel bug starts biting at me again.  I feel like this year has just been go, go, go, and with the stress of school, I was really looking forward to a break.  Unfortunately, I’m traveling pretty much non-stop through Labor Day weekend, but after that I have nothing planned until Thanksgiving.  I’ll have some people coming to visit, but at least I don’t have to be the one doing the traveling!

Since school has ended, I’ve noticed my audiobook progress has slowed down drastically.  While before I could easily finish one per week, now that I’m not driving 45 minutes each way to campus, it’s taking me a little longer to get through them.  I still enjoying my audiobook kick. 

I read a lot of different books this week, and enjoyed most of them.  Packing for Mars by Mary Roach was a lot of fun, and has inspired me to pick up her backlist.  I’ve heard they’re great on audio, so that’s the format I’ll probably choose for those.  The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner was also great.  It was a fresh take on a vilified queen, and I enjoyed learning about her.  Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner was enjoyable, but nothing remarkable, while The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard was really breathtaking.

Well, that’s about it.  Even though I’m traveling, I’ll still be checking email constantly and reading all comments, so I’ll still be around!  Happy reading!

Title: Escape
Author: Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
ISBN: 9780767927574
Pages: 448
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Publisher: Broadway
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Audiobook
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Carolyn Jessop was born into the FLDS, or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She recounts her upbringing, the emotional and physical abuse she witnessed, and her desire, above all, to get an education and become a doctor.  At the age of 18, Carolyn was  married to 50 year old Merril Jessop, a leader in the FLDS community.  Carolyn discusses her 17 year marriage, the abuse she and her children suffered at the hands of her sister wives, and her eventual flight from the FLDS.

Review:

I’ve read a lot of novels about polygamy, but I never actually tackled a memoir.  I knew they were out there, but I wasn’t sure I could handle the horrors such a book would contain.  When I noticed that my library had Escape by Carolyn Jessop available for download on audio, I thought that sounded like a good way to digest the book.  I was right – audio was the perfect format for this heartwrenching and astonishing memoir.

Escape was very difficult to listen to.  I couldn’t have it playing when my husband was around, because the few times it was, he would get incredibly angry at the abuse he was listening to.  There were times I had to shut it off, just to have some time to absorb what I was hearing.  While I knew about the abuse that went on in these polygamous communities from the fiction I’d read, it was still so jarring to hear it in a memoir.  While I loved the audio production, I wonder if that made it that much harder – I came to think of the narrator, Ann Marie Lee, as Carolyn.  It seemed like Carolyn was sitting there, telling me what she had experienced.  It made it very personal.

That being said, I’m very glad I chose to listen to it on audio.  It helped me to really grasp what was going on, and Ann Marie Lee was an excellent narrator.  She conveyed emotion incredibly well, and her voice actually evolves as the story progresses.  She is naive and scared at the beginning, and gradually gains confidence through the listen. Additionally, Carolyn tends to repeat some of the basic FLDS information, and I’m not sure if that would have been frustrating in print.  It worked fine in audio.  The running time is almost 16 hours and it was unabridged.

I don’t want to turn people off from Escape – it was an extremely powerful read.  While I can’t say I enjoyed it because of the difficult subject matter, I’m so glad I read it.  I was always making excuses to listen more, choosing to clean rather than sit down and read a book, just so I could listen for longer.  Carolyn’s resilience and strength were awe-inspiring, and I really admired her honesty and frankness.  This is one of those books I think everyone should read, just because it’s so eye opening.  Carolyn Jessop has a second memoir out, Triumph: Life After The Cult – A Survivor’s Lessons and I will definitely be listening to that on audio as well.  This was an incredible read, and despite the fact that it was difficult on audio, I’m so glad I chose that format.

Title: Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City
Author: Holly Denham
ISBN: 9781402241147
Pages: 544
Release Date: August 1, 2010
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Chick Lit
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City picks up a few months after Holly’s Inbox.  Holly Denham is still a receptionist at a British bank and is dating Toby.  Her family is still a bit of a disaster, but all in all, things are going well for Holly.  But of course, that can’t last and once again Holly is plunged into the drama of life.

Review:

Like its prequel, Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City is written in email format, so though it’s almost 550 pages, it’s not long by any stretch of the imagination.  The email format makes it incredibly easy to read and gives the reader glimpses of what’s going on in Holly’s life without completely immersing them in the story.

Unfortunately, Holly didn’t appeal to me in this novel quite as much as she did in Holly’s Inbox.  I still found her quirky and funny, and I did enjoy her attitude and how well she handled difficult issues.  Her sense of humor is great, as she’s very witty.  However, I couldn’t blame Toby for keeping Holly at an arm’s length.  Her tendency to get blackout drunk every weekend was a little ridiculous.  I wouldn’t say that Holly had a drinking problem, just that she had no sense of self-control.  I found myself rolling my eyes every time a Monday morning email would discuss Holly (a) being found drunk and almost passed out on the street (b) oversharing with her coworkers because she was so drunk or (c) inviting random strangers over to her house because she was so drunk.  It just seemed very immature to me.

However, Holly cleaned up her behavior about halfway through the novel, and that was a welcome change.  It made the book much more fun to read.  I have to admit that the email format made the ending a little anti-climactic – I would have love to read about exactly what happened in all its gory detail!  Still, the resolution to the story was extremely satisfying and I’m glad that events played out like they did.  While Holly’s behavior bothered me, I’m still glad I read Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City.  If you’re planning on reading these, I’d recommend doing it in order – since this one is a sequel, it spoils events in the first book!

I’ve just added a “Space/NASA” category to my review database so you can more easily find reviews of astronaut memoirs, science-y books about space, and more!  It’s located in the “Books by Genre” section – you can get there using the Review Database link in the tabs, or go directly there through the link below.

Space/NASA Category in S. Krishna’s Books Review Database

Title: The Quick and the Thread: An Embroidery Mystery
Author: Amanda Lee
ISBN: 9780451230966
Pages: 336
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: Signet
Genre: Mystery
Source: WOW Blog Tours
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

When her best friend informs her that there is an open shop space in her small town of Tallulah Falls, Oregon, that’s all Marcy Singer needs to hear.  She packs up and makes the move from California to Oregon after securing the shop space and a place to live.  She fulfills her dream of opening an embroidery shop, but things aren’t going to be as easy as she hoped.  The morning after her opening reception, the former owner of the store is found dead in her storeroom.  Wanting to clear her name, Marcy begins to dig into the mystery.

Review:

I do enjoy the occasional cozy mystery, so when I got the opportunity to be part of the blog tour for the first novel in a new mystery series, I jumped at the chance.  The Quick and the Thread was a very satisfying mystery that was quick and enjoyable.

I really liked the character of Marcy.  She was fun and independent and had a lot of personality.  She wasn’t perfect, but she was very genuine.  The secondary characters are also interesting, but not quite as well fleshed out as Marcy, especially the men.  Of course, Lee will have plenty of follow-up books in order to accomplish that task!  I can’t say I really liked Sadie very much.  She and Marcy argue a lot more often than best friends should, especially considering their respective ages.  Also, I didn’t feel like she really had Marcy’s best interests at heart.

The mystery in The Quick and the Thread was well done, though I did have a suspicion of who the culprit was pretty early into the novel.  It was satisfying to watch it unfold, and I was thrilled that I was correct in my predictions, though there’s no way I could have guessed exactly how it was going to play out.  The writing could have used a little more polish, but on the whole it was a lot of fun.

The Quick and the Thread was a satisfying cozy mystery.  Amanda Lee is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent, a prolific mystery writer, and while I haven’t read any of her other novels, I’ll definitely be looking some up.  It seems like she’s a great author for a quick mystery fix.  I also would love to continue with this series, as Lee has put together a very enticing atmosphere and fun characters.

Title: The Lovers: A Novel
Author: Vendela Vida
ISBN: 9780060828394
Pages: 240
Release Date: June 27, 2010
Publisher: Ecco
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

Yvonne is a widow.  Her husband Peter was recently killed in a car accident and she is bereft.  She’s also noticed that she’s old all of a sudden, not the youthful woman she remembers.  Yvonne decides to go to Turkey for a few weeks, to visit the place where she and Robert honeymooned in order to capture some of the spirit of that lost time.  Upon arriving, she meets some interesting people and tries to get to know them, which has tragic repercussions Yvonne couldn’t have foreseen.

Review:

I loved Vendela Vida’s previous novel Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, so it was with excitement that I read her newest, The Lovers.  While The Lovers was interesting on its own terms and took advantage of Vida’s atmospheric writing, it didn’t quite live up to the mysterious nature of Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.  The lack of that mystery really took away from The Lovers’ potential.

The Lovers is about Yvonne’s journey to understanding and acceptance, but it doesn’t come easily.  Yvonne is utterly alone, physically and emotionally.  Vida describes her isolation well.  As Yvonne reflects on the twists and turns her life has taken and the unique parts that make the whole of her identity, the reader sees him or herself in Yvonne.  Vida makes Yvonne’s struggle and emotions very easy to identify with and understand.

The ending of The Lovers is very strange.  While Vida ties some storylines up beautifully, others are left dangling, unaddressed and unresolved.  It seems too rushed, too abrupt.  The reader is left wondering what happened to the other characters in the novel, those that Yvonne chose to strike up a friendship with.  A more fleshed out ending (and a more developed novel in general) would have been much more satisfying.

The Lovers is an incredibly contemplative novel.  There is little driving the novel forward.  Instead, it moves along at its own reflective pace.  It’s very well-written, showcasing Vida’s immense talent and creating beautiful prose to tell a story and convey emotion.  It’s a moving piece of literary fiction, albeit with some flaws.  Even so, I’ll definitely be picking up Vida’s next novel.

Title: The Life You've Imagined: A Novel
Author: Kristina Riggle
ISBN: 9780061706295
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 17, 2010
Publisher: Avon A
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Publisher 
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Anna Geneva is a successful lawyer in Chicago who has poured her heart and soul into her job in order to make partner.  She’s so close, when a close friend dies and her boss orders her to go home for some time in order to deal with his death.  When she arrives at home, she stays with her mother, Maeve, who is having trouble coping with the world around her.  Anna’s close friend Cami has also moved home, but her situation is more troubling.  Her alcoholic, violent father makes home the last place Cami wants to be, yet she is so desperate she doesn’t have a choice.  And Amy, Anna’s friend from school, is finally getting married, and though she is beautiful on the inside and out, she is afraid that her fiancé Paul will never truly love her if she gains back the weight she has tried so hard to lose.  These four women, connected through their friendships, must examine their lives in order to understand the choices they have made and where they will go from here.

Summary:

I really enjoyed Kristina Riggle’s debut novel Real Life and Liars, so I was looking forward to her second book.  I follow Kristina on Twitter so I’ve been watching the writing process of this one closely.  Though I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about when I received it for review, that didn’t matter.  I knew I wanted to read it, regardless of the subject matter.

The Life You’ve Imagined is very different from Real Life and Liars, but it has one very simple thing in common:  extremely well-developed and sympathetic characters.  Riggle is wonderful at creating characters the reader intuitively understands.  It’s easy to see yourself in each of the people she depicts.  Their insecurities, hidden longings, secrets – the reader will feel each and every one of these deep down as they read them on the page.  It makes the experience of reading this book wonderful, especially as these characters grow and change.

The main message of The Life You’ve Imagined is both hopeful and realistic at the same time.  What is the life you’ve imagined?  Are you living it?  For all of these women, the answer is no, in some form or another.  But that doesn’t mean that life can’t be wonderful anyways.  As we grow, we adjust our expectations to match our experiences.  What are the choices that have brought us to this point, and where will we go from here?

This novel isn’t perfect.  Things don’t end in happily ever after – that’s not real life.  I thought things would end differently for some of the women, especially Amy.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t like the book though.  Instead, it reinforced the world we live in, the balance between hope and reality.  You can’t face reality without hope, yet if all you have is hope then the reality of things is unbearable.  It was a beautiful balance that really makes the reader reflect on their own situation.

I really enjoyed The Life You’ve Imagined and hate that it’s over.  Riggle shows great promise with this novel, and my expectations have only gone up for her work.  I am eagerly anticipating her third book in order to see where she goes next.

Title: Life After Yes: A Novel
Author: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
ISBN: 9780061894473
Pages: 368
Release Date: May 18, 2010
Publisher: Avon A
Genre: Chick Lit
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Quinn has just returned to New York after a weekend getaway to Paris with her boyfriend Sage, where he proposed to her and she said yes.  Now that she’s returned home, she doesn’t feel the overflowing joy she thought she would after being engaged.  Instead, she feels uneasy and unsure about everything.  Less than a year after 9/11, Quinn is still haunted by the memory of her father who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.  In this novel of life, loss, and what it means to grow up, Quinn begins to come to terms with what her life has become and how to move on and leave the past behind.

Review:

I’m always searching for quality chick lit that transcends the frustrating stereotypes of the genre, so when I first read about Life After Yes over at Write Meg, I was immediately interested.  Just a few days later, I got a review offer from the publisher and accepted based on Meg’s review.  I was eager to delve into this novel and see if it spoke to me.

I really loved the character of Quinn.  While I didn’t agree with all of her choices, I understood where she was coming from and why she was having so much trouble accepting her life as it was.  I completely got why she was having doubts about Sage, and why she couldn’t help but think about her father and how her life would have been different had he been around.  Quinn was completely stuck in the past, and couldn’t move on with the present until she dealt with what she thought she had left behind.

Quinn’s real name was Prudence (Quinn was her middle name), and I loved how Rowley worked that into the novel.  Quinn was waffling between being prudent with her life and taking those grand gestures, the ones that really mean something.  Should she be careful or should she throw herself in and experience everything life has to offer?  It’s a great debate, and I love how Quinn matures through the novel as she ponders this question.

The writing style of Life After Yes is actually quite literary, which was a welcome surprise.  Additionally, Rowley injects a lot of philosophy into this novel.  Quinn is clearly a smart woman, and Rowley makes sure the reader understands that from the very beginning.  Chick lit needs more protagonists like Quinn in order to continue to be a viable genre.

Life After Yes was a great read, complete with a wonderfully written, completely human main character.  Quinn makes mistakes, but underneath she’s just trying to figure things out one day at a time.  Her numbness from her father’s death has taken over her life, and it’s really gratifying to watch her slowly allow herself to feel, to open herself up to those around her.  It was a well written novel that I definitely recommend.

In honor of finishing Packing for Mars by Mary Roach yesterday, here’s a picture of the Enterprise Space Shuttle (designed to be used within Earth’s atmosphere only) from the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space Udvar-Hazy Center.  The picture was taken by my husband.

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here

Title: The Unexpected Son
Author: Shobhan Bantwal
ISBN: 9780758232038
Pages: 352
Release Date: July 27, 2010
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Multicultural Fiction
Source: Author
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Vinita Patil has been living in New Jersey with her husband Girish for the last 25 years.  One day, she receives an anonymous letter in the mail saying that her son is dying of leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.  Vinita is puzzled by this letter, as the only child she has is her daughter with Girish.  But as she reflects on the letter, she realizes its implications if it’s true, and is caught in a tangled web of lies as she fights to save her son.

Review:

I have enjoyed Shobhan Bantwal’s previous novels, so when she contacted me about her upcoming release The Unexpected Son, I jumped at the chance to review it.  I enjoy Bantwal’s talent at incorporating a suspenseful story with serious issues in today’s India, and this book was no exception.

Vinita Patil is a wonderfully smart and strong woman.  She often follows her heart rather than her head, but she’s not overly impulsive and really cares for the people around her.  When she learns about her son, all she can think of is caring for him, trying to heal him.  Her guilt at abandoning him and anger at those who lied to her are overwhelming – she couldn’t believe what had happened, even as she comes to realize he ended up with a much better life than she could have provided at such a young age.

Bantwal also tackles some serious concerns in Indian society in The Unexpected Son.  First, the treatment of young, unmarried pregnant women is shocking.  It is still an incredibly taboo subject in society and enough to ruin not only the girl’s prospects at ever having a good life, but often also her family’s.  Additionally, I appreciated Bantwal’s take on the regional, cultural violence in India.  She portrays the clash between Kannada and Marathi in Vinita’s hometown in India.  The desire for cultural and linguistic supremacy has led to physical clashes between the groups.  Since India is still a young country, these violent movements are issues that Indians must face every day.

The Unexpected Son was a suspenseful read that also illuminated aspects of Indian culture and society for the reader.  Bantwal consistently writes entertaining cultural novels with unexpected twists, and this novel was no different.  If you’re looking for a lighter cultural read that still will teach you something, look no further from The Unexpected Son.

Other novels by Shobhan Bantwal:

The Sari Shop Widow
The Forbidden Daughter

Thanks to the wonderful TLC Book Tours, I have a copy of Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge to give away!  This contest will run through Sunday, August 22.  It’s open to the US & Canada.  Please fill out the form below to enter – comments on this post will not be counted for entry.  Good luck!

Title: The Island: A Novel
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
ISBN: 9780316043878
Pages: 416
Release Date: July 6, 2010
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Genre: Beach Read. Women’s Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In order to reconnect with her daughter Chess before Chess’ wedding, Birdie decides that she will take her to their vacation home on the small island of Tuckernuck.  Just a few weeks later, Chess breaks off the engagement with no explanation, then finds out a few days later that her ex-fiancé was killed in a rock climbing accident.  Worried about Chess, her sister Tate and their aunt India join the two on Tuckernuck, trying to help Chess and face their own problems.

Review:

While I really enjoyed Elin Hilderbrand’s Barefoot, I have been somewhat disappointed by the soap opera nature of her last two novels A Summer Affair and The Castaways.  Still, I was eager to pick up The Island to see if it measured up to Barefoot, and I’m really happy to say that it did.  The Island was a fun, breezy beach read with a lot of heart.

Don’t get me wrong, The Island has plenty of drama.  Each woman is dealing with her own issues.  Though they are all aware of Chess’s problems, they keep their own hidden, trying to sort through them on their own.  I personally liked Tate the most – she was smart and successful, but her life was lacking in the romance category.  Returning to Tuckernuck gave her the opportunity to pursue Barrett, her teen crush who only seemed to have eyes for Chess. 

The Tate-Chess sister relationship was extremely complicated.  They certainly loved one another, but Chess was lashing out at everyone around her in her grief.  Tate wanted to help, but at the same time resented her sister for having such an easy life.  Chess certainly had her share of hardships, but through Tate’s eyes, her life was golden.  Everything came easily to her, including Barrett, and Tate was always left behind.  It’s interesting to see Tate work through those childhood feelings and come to a place of respect for Chess.

The Island was a perfect beach read.  There was a great balance of drama, relationships, bonding, men, and just figuring things out.  Additionally, Hilderbrand’s descriptions of Tuckernuck (no electricity?) definitely piqued my interest and made me sad that it’s a private, invitation-only island (yet I understand this – how else would they keep up their charm?)  It’s a fun read with some interesting characters, and I definitely recommend it for a quiet summer day.

Title: Apollo 13
Author: Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger
ISBN: 9780618619580
Pages: 432
Release Date: July 31, 1995
Publisher: Mariner Books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, History
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:

On April 13, 1970, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were aboard Apollo 13 heading to the moon.  The world wasn’t really interested in their voyage; after all, we’d already beaten the Russians to the moon.  What was the point in going back?  However, the situation changed drastically during a routine stir of the oxygen tanks.  This is the story of all the people who came together to ensure that Apollo 13 made it home safely.

Review:

Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies.  The quality of the acting and the production always takes my breath away.  The story almost seems dramatized because so much goes wrong for these three men on their crippled spaceship.  It’s hard to imagine what they went through, and what the people on the ground were thinking, knowing that the lives of these astronauts were in their hands.  I decided to read Jim Lovell’s memoir of the events in order to gain a better understanding of what happened during the fateful mission.  Though originally titled Lost Moon, it was repackaged as Apollo 13 when the movie was released.

Apollo 13 doesn’t follow a true memoir format.  Instead, it’s a comprehensive look at the days the spacecraft was in the air.  The reader gets a birds’ eye view into Odyssey (the command module) and Aquarius (the lunar module), into the minds of the men who are stuck out in space.  But Lovell and Kluger also include what is happening on the ground.  Clearly, Lovell couldn’t have known exactly what was happening since he was on the ship, which makes me think they relied on interviews in order to complete that portion of the book.  Either way, I have no doubt that it’s historically accurate.

Despite the fact that it’s non-fiction, Apollo 13 reads like a fiction narrative.  The book is fast-paced and suspenseful.  Seeing both what’s going on in space and on the ground really gives the reader a clear picture of how drastic the situation was.  Additionally, it keeps the memoir from being a dry and dusty collection of experiences and turns it into a living, breathing account of the 5 days of Apollo 13.

I was also surprised at how much was jam-packed into the pages of Apollo 13.  It turns out that, rather than dramatizing the story for the movie, they simplified it.  A lot more went wrong than was depicted in the movie.  Perhaps they thought it was just too complicated, or maybe they thought it would seem overly dramatized – after all, as I was reading it, I couldn’t believe how many things went wrong for the astronauts.  It really makes me realize how lucky we were to get them home alive.

Apollo 13 was an exciting read that I highly recommend.  It didn’t drag at all and kept me interested from beginning to end.  This is a book that would be great for NASA and Apollo newbies, because most of us are already familiar with the story from the movie.

Title: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Author: Chelsea Handler
ISBN: 9781416596363
Pages: 264
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Publisher: Gallery
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Essays, Audio
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Chelsea Handler, host of the late-night show Chelsea Lately, recounts events in her life in this series of essays.  Complete with her trademark off beat sense of humor, Handler expounds on subjects such as little people, redheads, and her stint in the Los Angeles women’s prison.

Review:

I’ve only watched Chelsea Handler’s late night show a few times, but I found it amusing.  Not laugh-out-loud funny, but humorous enough to consider reading her books.  Though I had Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea in print, I decided to listen to it in audio after learning that Chelsea herself was the narrator.  I’m glad I made this choice, as Chelsea’s enthusiasm and deadpan sense of humor really came through on audio.

If you are easily offended or have a delicate sense of humor, turn back now.  Don’t even bother reading the rest of this review because you will severely dislike this book.  Chelsea’s sense of humor is just wrong.  She makes inappropriate jokes, drinks WAY too much, and just generally laughs at things she really shouldn’t.  However, she’s hilarious while doing it, and if you can laugh at these types of jokes, you’ll probably find this book really (wrongly) funny.

As in most essay collections, some of the pieces in Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea work a lot better than others.  I loved her essays on her time in the Los Angeles women’s prison and her babysitting experiences, while the two pieces on her dad and his utter ridiculousness fell flat with me.  I’m not sure if it was because of the medium or they would have been that way in print as well, but either way, they seemed to drag.

A note on the audio production:  as mentioned previously, the narrator for Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea is the author herself.  She’s a talented voice actor – she’s easy to listen to and she expresses emotion very well through her voice tones.  I really enjoyed listening to her on audio and would definitely consider listening to her other books if she was the narrator.

Title: Shade
Author: Jeri-Smith Ready
ISBN: 9781416994060
Pages: 309
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Teen/YA, Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

The Shift seperates everything in life these days – before and after.  Those born before the Shift were normal.  But everyone born after – everyone sixteen and under – can see ghosts.  No one knows why it happened.

Aura is a sixteen year old girl who is happy and in love.  Her boyfriend, Logan, is about to get a record deal for his band, and what’s more, she knows he’s completely in love with her.  Though she’s haunted by the death of her mother and mysterious circumstances surrounding it, nothing can dampen her enthusiasm.  But when things go horribly wrong and Logan is killed, Aura begins to question everything around her in an effort to cope with his death.

Review:

When I was at BEA, I stopped by the Simon & Schuster YA stand in order to talk to a publicist about the great books they had coming out over the next few months.  The publicist asked if I enjoyed paranormal YA, and I said that I hadn’t been reading as much of it lately, but I did like it.  She said she’d send me Shade by Jeri-Smith Ready.  I thanked her and promptly forgot about it until Shade arrived at my house a week or two after BEA.

After reading Shade, I completely understand why the publicist thought I’d enjoy it.  It’s a creative novel that really sets itself apart from other YA paranormals that I’ve read.  I liked getting to know Aura.  She was strong, smart and resourceful.  Of course her teen angst over her relationship with Logan and their true love made me roll my eyes as it always does, but I thought her desperate efforts to hold onto him were believable. 

The other strain of the novel, where Aura explores her past and her mother, were what really captured my interest in Shade.  Smith-Ready has clearly laid out the groundwork for a complex and puzzling mystery.  Why did the Shift happen, and what did Aura’s mom have to do with it?  This aspect of the novel kept me engaged and reading, wanting to know more.

I really enjoyed Shade and will definitely be picking up its sequel.   It was simple and easy to read, yet Smith-Ready has set the stage for an explosive second novel.  If you enjoy paranormal YA, yet are sick of the vampires, werewolves, and angels, give this book a try and see if you find it as refreshing as I did.

Title: Confessions of a Rebel Debutante
Author: Anna Fields
ISBN: 9780399156311
Pages: 304
Release Date: April 15, 2010
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Source: Curled Up With a Good Book
Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Summary:

Anna Fields was born to be a Deb.  But when she’s kicked out of her Cotillion class, she becomes a “Rebel Deb,” the antithesis of the good Southern girl she was bred to be.  This memoir chronicles her days as a Deb, from high school through college, and follows her work in Hollywood, finally ending up in New York City.

Review:

Just from the title, I thought Confessions of a Rebel Debutante sounded like an amusing read.  Being familiar with Southern culture, I appreciate its quirks at the same time I enjoy making fun of its ridiculousness.  Anna Fields seemed like she was the same way, so I was looking forward to seeing what she had to say.

Unfortunately, this memoir did not live up to my expectations.  First of all, there was no real story behind the memoir.  It starts with Fields’ days being prepped to become a debutante, glossing over her subsequent dismissal from Cotillion, and speedily zips through her life, focusing in on the strangest spots.  Though some of the anecdotes definitely could have been amusing in a non-fiction essay collection, putting them together in a book just didn’t work at all.  The book doesn’t tell a coherent story or have an overarching message, or reveal a lot about Fields.  It’s just there.

The last half of the book consists of Fields’ experiences in Hollywood, and basically turns into a tell-all about various celebrities she met.  I picked up the book to read about Fields’ experiences being a Debutante (which it turns out, she wasn’t) and Southern culture.  I wasn’t really interested in Julia Roberts and Kirstin Dunst not eating lunch with the rest of the cast of Mona Lisa Smile or Chris Pine’s womanizing.  The gossipy turn it took was unexpected and very unpalatable.

When Fields finally moved to New York City, she went on a bit of a diatribe about the culture and people in the city.  She expresses disappointment that all the people she met seemed to automatically think she was a Christian fundamentalist who only watched Fox News and flew the Confederate flag, just because she was from the South.  That frustration was very understandable.  But then she went on to make vast generalizations about all New Yorkers, without realizing she was doing the same thing to them that they did to her.  For example, she mentioned how all of the women wanted to have the class of the great Southern dames, but never would.  While this can certainly be said of some women, is it really fair to peg all the wealthy women of New York City that way, especially considering Fields’ complaints about their treatment of her?  The entire book had that same mean spirit, which wasn’t very endearing.

All in all, Confessions of a Rebel Debutante was quite a disappointment.  I considered putting it down multiple times, and now wish I had done so, rather than persevering to the end.  In essay form, with more focused writing and a coherent theme, it could have been an interesting book.  If you are a fan of celebrity tell-alls, perhaps you will find this book amusing.  If you’re looking for a funny southern girl memoir, though, I’d definitely look elsewhere.

Title: Once in a Blue Moon
Author: Eileen Goudge
ISBN: 9781593156145
Pages: 336
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: TLC Book Tours 
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Lindsay Margaret McAllister Bishop didn’t always have an easy life, but she has succeeded despite the odds.  When she was very young, her mother was sent to prison on drug charges.  Lindsay and her younger sister, Kerrie Ann, were separated and placed in foster homes.  Lindsay was lucky enough to be adopted by a loving couple and had a good upbringing.  Lindsay’s never forgotten about Kerrie Ann though.  When Kerrie Ann shows up on Lindsay’s doorstep out of the blue, Lindsay is both happy and shocked – after all Kerrie Ann wasn’t as lucky as Lindsay, and has turned out more like their mother.  When Kerrie Ann reveals that her daughter was taken away from her, Lindsay realizes she’s in over her head, as she has problems of her own to cope with.

Review:

I enjoy stories about sisters, and Once in a Blue Moon was no exception.  Goudge portrays the tension between these two women very well.  Lindsay is pragmatic and successful.  She realizes that she was lucky in her upbringing.  She has trouble with Kerrie Ann because she sees their irresponsible mother in her.  Kerrie Ann showed up on her doorstep expecting help and a place to stay, and Lindsay doesn’t know if she has the strength for that.  Kerrie Ann, on the other hand, feels that Lindsay is ashamed of her.  She wasn’t lucky enough to be adopted by a picture perfect family and has had to make it on her own.  She resents Lindsay for the luck she’s had, while realizing she is asking a lot of her.

I sympathized with both these women, though I have to admit Kerrie Ann drove me slightly nuts at the beginning of the book.  I could completely understand why she acted the way she did, especially considering what she’d been through, but I was with Lindsay all the way.  It made Kerrie Ann’s growth over the course of the novel that much more satisfying. 

The overarching story of the custody battle is gripping.  This isn’t a book where you can automatically assume Kerrie Ann will win back her daughter, especially considering the mistakes she’s made, and continues to make.  It was really heartwarming to see how these two sisters, despite their differences, band together in order to help one another. 

Once in a Blue Moon was an enjoyable women’s fiction novel.  I appreciated how realistic the characters were and how well Goudge portrayed their relationship.  This would make a great book club selection.

Tarara Winery in Leesburg, VA

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Title: Shiva's Arms
Author: Cheryl Snell
ISBN: 9780615340814
Pages: 209
Release Date: March 27, 2010
Publisher: The Writer’s Lair
Genre: Multicultural Fiction
Source: Publicist
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:

When Alice married Ramesh, she did so because she loved him.  She was used to the American way of life, and never expected that his mother, Amma,  would play such a large role in their lives.  Unable to adjust to her constant presence, Alice engages in a battle of wills with her mother-in-law in order to have some semblance of control over her life and the lives of her husband and son.

Review:

Shiva’s Arms was an interesting look at the cultural differences between the American and Indian ways of life.  Snell does an excellent job capturing South Indian culture and rituals.  Amma’s attitudes and expectations are culturally typical, even though they seem extraordinary to Alice. Admittedly, Amma is exaggerated, but Snell created a solid story through her characters' attempts to overcome these cultural differences. 

The main issue running through this novel is a lack of communication.  Ramesh fails to let Alice know what she’ll be marrying into and what will be expected of her.  As a result, Alice is completely unprepared to be a part of a traditional Indian family.  Once the two are married, Amma and Alice have almost no communication.  True, part of that is because they don’t speak the same language, but it’s mainly due to the fact that neither wants to communicate with the other.  Amma is a matriarch, set in her ways and she expects everyone to bend to her will.  She makes no accommodation for the fact that these expectations would be unreasonable even for a modern Indian daughter-in-law. 

However, Alice is not much better.  She makes her displeasure with Amma known very publicly.  Rather than trying to understand Amma’s desires and discuss them with Ramesh in order to come to some sort of compromise, she simply gives into her anger.  Both of these women are strong willed, refusing to see where the other is coming from.  They manipulate the men, vying for some sort of control.  I couldn’t really identify with either of these women.  While I understood where they were coming from and why they were acting as they did, coming from an Indian-American marriage myself, I didn’t see why they couldn’t try to communicate.

Shiva’s Arms is a short book, though it covers a very large time span.  Sometimes, the time frame was confusing because it isn’t clear how far ahead things were jumping.  At one point, I assumed Alice and Ramesh’s son was just a little boy, but a few pages later, he was driving.  It made for choppy reading because I had no idea what was going on sometimes.

This was certainly an interesting novel, and Cheryl Snell shows promise.  I didn’t love the characters in this book, but I thought the culture was very well portrayed.  Additionally, the way Alice and Amma finally overcome their differences towards the end of the book is satisfying.  Alice’s devotion is touching, especially considering what Amma has put her through.  I just wish it could have come at less of an expense!

Title: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training
Author: Tom Jokinen
ISBN: 9780306818912
Pages: 288
Release Date: March 23, 2010
Publisher: Da Capo Pres
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

In this book, Tom Jokinen recounts his time as an undertaker-in-training at a funeral home in Winnipeg, Canada.  He uses his experiences to deliver information on the funeral industry, as well as to comment on its practices.

Review:

A word of warning:  if you don’t have at least a somewhat morbid sense of humor, don’t even bother with Curtains.  If you do, though, then you might find this book as delightful as I did.

Tom Jokinen has a dry wit that works very well in Curtains.  He describes funeral practices in detail, inserting enough commentary to keep the narrative entertaining.  Additionally, he finds himself in the funniest situations.  For example, at one point he’s driving a hearse with a dead body in the back and listening to Mr. Roboto by Styx.  Upon reflecting, he turns off the radio, thinking that Mr. Roboto is probably not an appropriate song to send a person off.  It’s these kinds of moments that make the book worth reading – inappropriate, yet morbidly amusing.

Additionally, I found the tidbits of information Jokinen relayed to be very interesting.  I didn’t know much about funeral homes or death practices when I began this book, so I feel like I learned a lot.  Though Jokinen does not shy away from detailed descriptions of the processes used to prepare a body for burial, or the process and aftermath of cremation, I was never really turned off.  I don’t do well with graphic violence, yet this didn’t bother me.  Jokinen’s matter-of-fact method of communication worked very well.

The greater commentary about the funeral industry was surprising.  Jokinen relayed information that I didn’t expect (mainly, the growing popularity of cremation).  It was really interesting to read about the politics between different funeral homes, as well as the relationships these institutions try to develop with the living.  Jokinen’s discussion was simply fascinating and I was engrossed from beginning to end.

Curtains was absorbing, which I hoped for, and very funny, which I really didn’t expect.  I feel like I didn’t really do the book justice with this review.  If you enjoy non-fiction, don’t hesitate to pick this one up.  It’s interesting, fun, and very easy to read!

Happy Sunday everyone!  This past week was very good for me.  I read about 6 hours a day on the weekdays, and the only thing I had to do besides usual errands was get my hair cut.  I could get used to this VERY quickly.  Once again, I had a great reading week and I really feel like I’m catching up on all those outstanding review copies.  I know, I know it’s a losing battle, but I haven’t given up the fight yet.  What’s even better is that I’m also reading plenty of my own books and library books. 

Yesterday was a gorgeous day (as opposed to those 100 degree days we’ve been having), so my husband and I ventured out to Tarara Winery, which is about an hour and a half away from us.  There are a lot of vineyards in Virginia, yet we’ve never actually been to any of them, so we really enjoyed going yesterday!  The tasting was fun, and we walked around the property a bit, and of course, it was just gorgeous.  It was nice to get out of an urban environment for a day!

As I said, I had a wonderful reading week this week.  Some of the highlights were Room by Emma Donoghue – yes, it is really as good as everyone says it is!  I also finally read Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie and just loved it.  I was raving about The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett on Twitter, which is a mystery featuring a forensic anthropologist and was very well done.  I also had a few disappointments this week, unfortunately, but overall I enjoyed what I read!

I promised I would reveal the winner of my The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry giveaway today.  According to Random.org, the winner is lucky number 41, which means Heather Figearo is my winner!  Congratulations, Heather!  I’ll be mailing the book out to you in the next few days.  I’m still running my giveaway for The King’s Mistress, so feel free to enter that if you haven’t already.

Reviews posted this week: